Day 149 (May 29, 2010): Birthday Party at Smilee's Restaurant!

Today Mel and I went to our friend Joey's,  mother's (Nancy) b-day at Smilee's restaraunt in Sherwood Park. It was a buffet meal and was Chinese and Canadian food. It was good food and I was very gluttonous. Mel doesn't take advantage of a buffet meal like I do. She fills up too fast. 

It was a suprise party that Joey's sister Trudy organized and Nancy was very suprised. We stayed for a while and visited with a friend of the family, Alexandra and Trudy's friend Kyla and Trudy's daughter Mackenzie. It was a fun time.  Trudy took some pictures and will be posting them on facebook so we will steal one later and add it to the blog.

Day 148 (May 28, 2010): Empty Glass for Water videos

Today Mel and I were told by my mother to check out a 3 part video on youtube about Aboriginal drinking water crisis in Ontario. They are having contaminated water issues on some of the reserves in Ontario and would like the Federal Government of Canada to pay to have it fixed.

Ken Says, "My only issue with this is that the Aboriginals already get alot of money from our government every year but they continue to want more every year.  If they would accept the fact that they are no longer living like they did when Eurpopeans first got here then they would realize that they are like the rest of "born-in- Canada" Canadians and not special living off the land Aboriginals. Then they would benefit like the rest of born Canadians instead of not having to pay taxes yet still get money from tax payers and then still asking for more help instead of just organizing your money a little better and not spending it and expecting more. I believe that if the Aboriginal Community would accept what we did to their people x amount of generations ago and move on, then I believe that they would have better lives or just live off the land like you claim you do in tee-pees and no technology, but to sit on the fence, yeah you will have problems. Basically, they need to make a choice, either live traditionally or modernly but it seems like they are having a hard time managing living between two worlds".

Mel Says, "Ken and I had quite the discussion about this.  I am not going to write it all down here because it will take too long. This whole issue is about alot more than just drinking water, however, I do believe that if basic needs are not in place then other parts of people's lives will be affected in a negative way."

Day 147 (May 27, 2010): Fuss Cupcakes

MMMMM!!!! Chocolate with mint icing and Carrot Cake - these were Ken's.

I had Chocolate with Cream Cheese Icing dipped in Fresh Coconut.

Of course Ken got milk with his.  I had a peach Italian Soda.

Today we went to Fuss Cupcakes to try them out.  We have two specialty cupcake places within walking distance of our house.  The one one, Flirt Cupcakes was closed. So that made the decision for us, we were going to Fuss.

We enjoyed the cupcakes but both agreed that they were WAY overpriced for what we got.  They are just regular sized cupcakes and they cost almost $3.00 each.  For that price I think they should be a bit bigger than an normal cupcake.

Day 146 (May 26, 2010): Muscle Power & Nutrition Magazine

Tonight we were supposed to test drive a car.  I was really looking forward to this one.  We aren't planning on buying a new vehicle we were just going to test drive a "dream" car or truck or whatever we saw that we liked.  Unfortunately I got a bacterial eye infection that was gross and painful so our plans got changed.  Throughout the day at work my eye got progressively worse.  I called my eye doctor around noon and had planned on going in the next morning to have them take a look at it.  By 4:00pm it hurt so much that I couldn't wait until the next day to go in.  I drove home (which I probably shouldn't have) and waited for Ken.  I got an appointment for 6:45pm so we ate supper then headed to the eye doctor.  I had my appointment and then needed to pick up a prescription.  By then we were pushing 8:00 and my eye was driving me nuts.  I needed to get home and put the salve in my eye. Ken asked me what we were going to do about our activity tonight......we were in the Shoppers Drug Mart at that moment standing near the magazine rack so I told him to buy a magazine that he had never bought before.  Magazines are expensive!  It was over $8.  Oh well.  We went home and I put the salve in my eye and laid down in bed.   I had sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't doing an activity tonight......then Ken laid down and began to read his magazine right beside me.  It was then that I realized that I could be part of this activity.  I asked him to read me one of the articles.  It was actually kind of fun.  He read an article called "The Massive Number" 777.  It was about a guy who eats a crazy amount of calories for 7 weeks.  The diet is different each week and he increases the calories each week until in week 7 he is eating 5,000 calories a day!!!!  The idea is that he will gain muscle mass because he is a body builder.  We had quite a few good laughs at the amount of food he eats, especially for his snacks, they are bigger than most of my meals!  It was really nice to just relax, laugh and listen to my husband read my a story, lol.

Day 145 (May 25, 2010): Fishing Rods

Today we decided to learn about our fishing rods.  I have always used a "closed cast reel".  My old fishing rod is on the left.  "Closed cast" means that you can't see the fishing line.  The whole reel is closed up.  A closed cast reel is sort of "old school". Most people now use "open cast reels" like the one on the right.  The reason that I have never switched over is because there is a bit of a different technique for casting an open cast reel and frankly I was just to lazy to learn.....not that it is hard.  Anyway, my old fishing rod is kind of a piece of junk. It was not very much money to begin with and it seems to just be getting worn out.  The other day when we were fishing with my brother at the river it was giving me some problems.  My brother, Brent, had an extra rod.  The one on the right in this picture.  He gave it to me so I didn't have to buy a new one to replace my junky one.  So my activity for tonight was to learn how to use it.  Ken and I took it out on the lawn and I cast it a few times.  I can definitely use it.  It will just take some getting used to.  Hopefully it is as lucky as my old one, because I usually catch more fish than Ken, lol.

Here is a picture of Thor my helper!

Ken's activity today was to learn how to clean his reel on his rod.  This was a DISASTER!!!!  It needed cleaning because when he went hunting a few weeks ago he took it with him on his treck through the bush and up the mountain.  It got lots of sand, dirt and debris in it so it was sticking a bit. 

He started by attempting to take it apart.  As soon as he started taking off the casing a bunch of springs and stuff popped out.  We worked for a long time trying to figure out how to put that stupid thing back together.  After alot of frustration we decided to give up.  We put all of the pieces in a zip lock bag and I guess we will have to take it in to a fishing shop somewhere to see if they can put it back together. If not, I guess he will get a new rod too!

Day 144 (May 24, 2010): Fishing, finally!

So today marks our last day of our visit home.  We had planned on going fishing and camping all weekend while we were in Saskatchewan but the weather didn't cooperate with us.  On Friday when we drove up the weather was beautiful.  It was sunny and warm and the sky was clear (as you can see by the pictures of the Santa Clause).  Then when we woke up on Saturday morning the wind was blowing (over 80 km/hr) and it was rainy and cold.  It was too cold and windy to take the boat out on the lake.  Sunday was much the same.  We woke up this morning to a bright and sunny day.  What a bummer, today we are leaving.  We have to get in the car for our 8 hour drive home and once again it will be a bright, sunny drive!  Just our luck.  Anyway, we decided to take this opportunity to go fishing for an hour or so with my brother before we got in the car for our long ride home.  We went to the river by our farm and cast our rods a few times.  It was so nice to be outside in the fresh air and just enjoying nature.  While we were fishing there was a Prairie Chicken thudding his wings near by and we also saw a beaver swimming around the river.  Ken and I didn't catch any fish but my brother caught 2.  He generously gave them to us so we could bring them back to Edmonton and enjoy some fresh fish one night this week. 

This is a picture of me saying goodbye to Scooter.  I am really not wanting to get in the car.  I wish I could just sit here and enjoy this nice day.  Don't mind the expression on my face, the sun was really bright!

I just had to show you this picture because it totally cracked me up.  Right before we were getting in the car to leave the dogs chased a squirrel in to this shed.  If you look closely you can see it peaking down at Bailey from the crack above the centre of the doors.  Bailey has absolutely no idea it is up there watching her.

Day 143 (May 23, 2010): Brunch with Family

This morning we were invited over to my cousin's house for brunch.  These are cousin's on my mom's side of the family (yesterday we visited with relatives on my Dad's side of the family).  My cousin Katherine is graduating high school this year.  It was her that we bought the camping stuff for.  Now that she opened her gift it is no longer a secret.  Her grad is next weekend so we won't be home for it but at least we got to see her and give her the gift in person.  I also got to see her dress which is beautiful.  I can't wait to pictures of her in it.

We got to visit with alot of our family today.  If I counted correctly there were 20 of us at the brunch.  Wow, thanks for cooking for all of us Cheryl, the food was fantastic! Breakfast food is my favourite!

Day 142 (May 22, 2010): Visit with my grandpa!

Today we were lucky enough to have a visit with my grandpa.  He is currently living with my aunt in Regina, which is 3 hours away from "home".  My grandma is living in long term care in the hospital in Preeceville, the town where they are from.  Since it was a long weekend my aunt decided to bring my grandpa for a visit.  He is elderly and get tired very easily so making the 3 hour trip on a regular two day weekend is too much for him.  Anyway, we visited for a couple of hours.  We talked about the weather and HOCKEY, one of his favourite subjects.  It was so nice to see him again. Since we only get "home" a couple of times a year we were very fortunate to be there at the same time as him.

Day 140 (May 20, 2010): Separate things again..

I just realized that I totally  missed this day and blogged about Day 141 before Day 140....oh well. It might show up in the wrong order on the blog but whatever. 

Anyway, Ken and I had to do separate things today because of my work schedule.  It was also a very busy day because we were getting ready to go to Saskatchewan for the weekend tomorrow (the day I already blogged about, oops!).  

Ken decided to learn about his gun today.  He was cleaning it and had some trouble putting one piece back together so he took it to a special gun shop and they showed him what he needed to know.  As you can tell by this very vague account of his "activity" today I don't really know much about it.  Perhaps he will have time to clarify this in the blog later, lol.

I played some games online today.  I am not much of a "gamer".  I really suck at video games that take alot of coordination like Hockey or combat games.  I have found in the past that I did enjoy puzzle and word games though.  I haven't played any in a really long time.  Today I went on msn games and played a couple of puzzle games and a word game.  I got through quite a few levels on each and was quite proud of myself.  I think it is good to challenge your brain in a different way every once in awhile.  Although if I really wanted to challenge myself I should have taken out the playstation and tried hockey, maybe next time!

Day 141 (May 21, 2010): Saskatchewan including Santa Claus at Watson

Today we drove 8 hours from Edmonton to my parents place near Sturgis, Saskatchewan.  The drive is always really long but we do our best to make it entertaining.  Today I took some pictures of the beautiful bright sky (good thing I did because it was the only sun I saw all weekend!).

We also stopped at Watson, SK and took a picture of the Santa Claus statue.  This is something that I have known about my whole life and driven by countless times but have never really put much thought into taking a closer look at.   Watson is a small town of about 700 people.  When we get to Watson on our journey home we feel like we are sort of  entering the "area" near where I grew up.  In other words we feel a bit closer to home eventhough we still have a couple of hours to travel.  On a sign outside of the town it says something like "home of the original Santa Claus parade".  Here is the statue:

Day 139 (May 19, 2010): Buying camping stuff

I got this pic off the internet, this is not what we bought.  I couldn't post a picture of it yet, we haven't given the gift yet!!

Today we bought some camping gear as a gift for someone (can't say who right now). It was so fun to look through all of the camping stuff and pick out our fav's to buy, even if it wasn't for us.  I could spend HOURS in camping/outdoor stores looking at all the cool stuff.

Day 138 (May 18,2010): "The Urban Dog" has moved or doesn't exist?!?!

Today our idea was to go to "The Urban Dog".  It is supposed to be a high end, really cool pet store.  I got the idea and the information off of the Old Strathcona website the other day when we were reading up on the history of our community.  So I checked out the website and got the address and thought that we were all ready to go.  When I pulled up at the correct address I couldn't see the store so I got out of the car and looked around and sure enough, the store with the address where "the Urban Dog" was supposed to be was empty!  "Okay, plan B"....I had to be leaving for work in about a half hour so I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a new idea.  I had a look around and spotted a funky looking store two doors down.  It is called "Polly Magoo's Ltee".  I found a description of it on the Old Strathcona website and this is what it said "From Bangkok to Marrakesh, we import unique clothing, jewelry and home décor. From funky to sophisticated, Polly Magoo's Ltee…a world of beautiful things."  It was very cool inside.  They had all sorts of things like Women's clothing, shoes, jewelry, furniture and knicknacks.  They had alot of unique stuff and as I was checking it out I made mental notes of a few things that I would go back and buy as gifts for certain friends.  I never would have found it if "The Urban Dog" hadn't moved or closed down or whatever happened to it.....I still haven't figured that out.

Ken went to "Gordon Price Music" in lieu of "The Urban Dog".  Polly Magoo's isn't really his thing, lol.   He says that Gordon Price Music is a really nice store.  He thought the selection of music books and instruments was quite good compared to some of the other "guitar" stores on Whyte Ave.

Day 137 (May 17, 2010): Old Strathcona History

We live in a community that is rich in history and it actually has been documented quite well.  We decided to learn more about the history of our community today.  We read the "history" section on the community webiste: http://www.oldstrathcona.ca/  It is so cool to read about it.  The decisions that were made regarding our community in the past still impact us today.  This community was built based on the railroad; the very railroad that our community garden borders today.  Our garden is even named after it, "the Stratcona Rail Community Garden".

This was a great website for me. I really enjoyed the history lesson of the place that I live in. I was suprised to know that Whyte ave was named after one of the officials from the railway company. I am really glad that in the 70's the community stood up and said no to the building of a major highway through old strathcona. That made me proud. Everyone should check it out.

Day 136 (May 16th, 2010): United Cycle Stanley Cup

I found this picture on the internet, it shows how big the cup is....

Today Mel and I went to the Stanley Cup here in old Strathcona and read the diffenent names on it. It has the winning teams and the palyer names since the 79-80 seasons and all the teams from the remaining years. It was donated by United cycle and required over 400 man hours to build. It is 12 and one half foot tall.  It is pretty cool.

Day 135 (May 15, 2010): Garden Work Bee

Today Mel and I participated in the first work bee of the year for the garden and it went really well. Mel is the big garden head (the Chair of the group) so she was there for a few hours and I came to help out with the removal of a whole bunch of chemicals and garbage from the area that other workers gathered. We took all the debris to the Eco Station on 99th street. Mel also dug holes to bury compost and cleaned out the shed. Mel had a great day outside while I was sweating like a mad man.  The temperature was in the 20's.

Day 134 (May 14, 2010): Hosting Pub Night

Today Mel and I hosted pub night at our local community league.  It is usually from about 7pm to 1am but we tried a different theme this time.  We did a TGIF theme from 5pm - 10pm.  Mel bought some more hearty snacks (cheese, pepperoni, crackers etc)   than the usual because it was over supper time and there was beer, wine, liquor, and pop already there with some wicked chips. Mel also bought some apple juice for the kids because there was a baby sitter there.  The turnout was really good. I was actually surprised at the amount of people who showed up. Mel and I invited a few friends (thanks guys for making our debut as pub night hosts a hit!) and she also sent out an email to the  people in our community garden and some of them showed up too. It was really nice to see that many people show up for the event. We had some wonderful conversations and as usual met some new neighbours and friends.

Day 133 (May 13, 2010): Used Book Store

Today we went to the Old Strathcona Book store.  It is a used book store in our neighbourhood.  The thing I like about it is that you can sell them your old books for store credits towards new books.  I'm sure that this is the way it works at other used book stores but I used to always go to places like Chapters and Coles where you couldn't do that.  They have quite a good selection of books which makes it possible to find something you would enjoy. 

By the way, I got home really late last night and I completely forgot to blog about this so I guess "we lose" the 30 day blog challenge:(  Oh well.  It has encouraged me to try blogging more often.

Day 132 (May 12, 2010): I love you in another language

Today we learned to say "I love you" in another language.  This idea was given to us by my friend Jen. Thanks Jen!  We used this website to find the translations:
 http://www.links2love.com/i_love_you_languages.htm

I found it interesting that I already knew a few of them. I also found it interesting to see the similar ones from different languages.  We decided to learn this one:  Danish - "Jeg Elsker Dig"   It is really interesting to see the way that language evolves.....I think that in another life I would like to be a linguist!

Day 131 (May 11, 2010): 3 favourite things in our community

Today we decided to do a community photo project.  We each took the camera at different times of the day and took photos of our 3 favourite things in our community.  Not surprisingly, since we are married and have some of the same interests, two of the places that we chose were the same and the one of Ken's that was different was my 4th choice and just about made the cut.

Mel's 3 favourite things in Old Strathcona, Edmonton, Alberta:

The River Valley....unfortunately this picture doesn't accurately show what I love about the River Valley.  Mostly this picture shows downtown but I would have had to go downtown to take a picture of our side of the valley.  What I love about the river valley is that by walking only 10 minutes down my street I enter an amazing part of nature.  The valley is filled with parks, trails, wildlife, earthy smells and NATURE.  We have picnics, BBQs, football games, walks and hikes in the valley.  We love to spend time there. It is a place for us to connect with nature and each other.  When you enter the river valley even the temperature of the air changes.  Instead of the air being dry, dusty and warm like a big city it is moist and cool. 

Our Community Garden.  It doesn't look like much at this time of year.   People just started planting this weekend.  You should see it in the summer.  It is lush and green.  It is a place for me to relax and get my hands in the dirt.  Similar to the River Valley, it is a place to connect with nature in the middle of the concrete jungle.  We also have made a lot of friends by being a part of our community garden.

The Farmers Market.  I love the atmosphere of the market on Saturdays.  The hussle and bussle is invigorating to me. Ken hates it because it is too crowded and crazy for him, lol.  Besides the fact, that I like the fresh produce and cool crafts, I really like the feel of the place as well as discovering new things and new vendors from time to time.  Also, since it is a 5 minute walk from our house I see some of our neighbours and gardening friends there.  It is a very social place.

Ken's 3 favourite things in Old Strathcona, Edmonton, AB:

Our Community Garden: I chose this one because I enjoy what we get from it.  I have a love/hate relationship with the garden.  I hate doing the work but I love the results.

The River Valley: I enjoy spending time here because it is a visual escape from the scabby city! LOL

The Community League: this is a picture of the outdoor rink. I enjoy spending time here in the winter skating.

Here is another picture of our community league.  I also like coming to pub night, eventhough I don't drink alcohol.  It is a social place that is not like a "bar" atmosphere.

Day 130 (May 10, 2010): Metaphysics

Today I went to "A Sense of Serenity" it is a metaphysical store in our community. http://www.asenseofserenity.ca/    Here is a description of the store from the website:  "Nestled just off Whyte Avenue in Edmonton’s cultural hub of Olde Strathcona, A Sense of Serenity has been fulfilling the metaphysical needs and wishes of its patrons since 2003. Ausha, the store’s proprietor, has converted the space from a vacant store front to a charming and warm oasis that invites customers to come back and experience the rejuvenating elements her store has to offer. "

I find the whole area of metaphysics and spirituality in general very confusing.  There are certain things that I am drawn to and certain things that I absolutely don't believe in.  What is most confusing to me about it all is that I don't know why I believe in the power of certain things and not others.  Is it based on my values, upbringing, life experiences, ability to have faith, education about the matter or what?  I don't know.  It is definitely a question that I would like to explore further though.

Anyway, back to the store.....the atmosphere is charming as the website describes.  There was alot of cool stuff.  Unfortunately because it was a work day today I couldn't spend a ton of time in there.  I think that it would be good to go back and visit it again when I had more time.  Also, the person who was working there, not sure if it is the owner or not, is very helpful and if I had more time I would have asked more questions.  Perhaps more knowledge on these types of things would clear up some of my confusion.

Ken got back from his hunting trip today so hopefully he will soon have some updates for you on what different things he did this weekend.  They had alot of adventures but didn't see any bears. 

Day 129 (May 9, 2010): Digital Photo Frame

Today I went through my thousands (literally thousands!) of pictures on my computer and saved a bunch on my memory stick so I can put them on my digital photo frame at work.  It was fun to look through old photos but it was also hard to pick which ones to put on it.  Here are a few of my favourites:

The Red Wings celebrating their win when we went to watch them play in Detroit at Christmas.

My brother is a volunteer fire fighter.  This is him in his gear.  The playschool was visiting the fire hall that day.

Ken skating on a home made rink that my brother made for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Ken and I on our honeymoon.

Oden dressed up in his bat costume at Halloween two years ago. Doesn't he look impressed!

Baby Thor on the pumpkin this past year at Halloween.  He was so little then:(

Our nephew, Trysten, opening gifts on Christmas morning this year.

My mother in law, Betty-Lou and nephew, Trysten.  We had so much fun tubing that day.  What a great memory!

My niece Bridget going through the ice maze at the ice festival 2 years ago.

Great Saskatchewan sunset.  I took this photo right when I got back from Korea.  I missed those sunsets while I was gone.

Audrey and I in Yeoido Park in Seoul, S.Korea.  One of the few green spaces.  We have alot of good memories there.

Oden and Thor looking out the window at our old apartment.  Thor is even bigger than this now.  He's not a little puff ball anymore.

Anyway those are a few of the pictures that I put on my digital frame.  I look forward to enjoying the memories while I'm in my office at work.

Day 128 (May 8, 2010): The Handmade Mafia

Check these out, they are chocolates!  Aren't they beautiful?

Here is the lovely packaging they come in.

My Aunt and I had one of these chocolates at the "Handmade Mafia" market today. They are delicious!  Here is a link to the webpage.  http://www.jacekchocolate.com/chocolatepackages.html  This lady makes these chocolates with REAL ingredients like lemon rind in the lemon chifon chocolate (no artifical flavouring). She has her spring collection out right now but it always changes.  What a great gift idea!  

I could go on and on about these unique chocolates but I should tell you something about The Handmade Mafia which is where I went today:
"The Handmade Mafia is a monthly market and collective of local designers and handmade makers galore! To be part of the family one must either design or make their items themselves."

They have a facebook group that you can join.  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=85089515560

The market runs once a month.  There was jewelry, clothing, paper goods, cupcakes, fun hair accessories, chocolates etc.  I actually heard about this at the Royal Bison craft show that I was at last weekend.  The difference between the two was that the Royal Bison was all crafts and art while the Handmade Mafia included food as well. I think I will probably end up back there again sometime when I have gifts to buy for people.

Day 127 (May 7, 2010): Planting my garden!

(this is not my garden, lol)

Today I planted part of my garden.  I love gardening and I have been chomping at the bit to get in the garden.  I planted spinach, swiss chard, lettuce, radishes, carrots, and turnips.  I will plant other things later but it is too early to plant them now.  Of course my back is already tightening up from bending over but it's totally worth it.  I forgot my camera but maybe I will go by the garden tomorrow and take some pictures....right now it is just sticks in the ground marking the rows but I could put a before and after picture later in the year.

We are actually part of a community garden of which I am the chair.  It is alot of work, organizing almost 40 gardeners but it is alot of fun too.  I really enjoy giving back to my community and keeping a small part of our city green.

Day 126(May 6, 2010): Manicure, Pedicure and Facial!!!

Today Ken left for his hunting trip.  His thing today is to start a journal.  He has never written in a journal before and he thought it would be nice to journal about his trip.  The closest thing he has ever done to journalling is this blog and lets face it, I do 80% of the writing on here.  Anyway, he will add his journal writings to the blog when he gets back from his trip.

I had an awesome day today.  I had a meeting at work this morning from 8-11am.  That kind of sucked because usually on Thursdays I have the morning off and don't start work until 1pm.  I spend my mornings with a long workout at the gym followed by a relaxing steam in the steam room then a tan in the tanning bed and I slowly get ready for work then have lunch and head to work.  I like my usual Thursday routine.  However, because I had the meeting to attend this morning it kind of messed with my usual schedule. I didn't have to be back at work until 4pm this afternoon though so I decided that instead of going to the gym in between I would finally use up my gift certificate for "Friendly Nails" that I have had for over 4 months. I earned the gift certificate from a healthy eating contest.  It was hard work earning it so I was kind of holding on to it for a special day. I thought today would be good since I was pouting a bit that Ken was leaving for four days.  (I know 4 days doesn't sound like much but we spent the first year and half of our relationship apart most of the time because he was working out of town and we decided that we prefered spending our time together so he gave up that job and since then I have enjoyed having him around more) The manicure, pedicure and facial were AWESOME!!!!  I haven't felt that pampered or relaxed in a long time!  I almost fell asleep during the face massage part of the facial.  It was a very enjoyable 2 hours.  I really need to pamper myself more often!

Day 125 (May 5, 2010): bubble tea and sadly no photobooth

(this picture looks very similar to our bubble tea, however our straws were not that big and we didn't get fruit on top or spoons. The first time I tried to suck it through the straw Ken said it looked like my head was going to explode, lol)

Tonight our plan was to go to a photobooth at the mall and get some pictures taken.  I was really looking forward to this one.  I called the mall to double check if they actually had one or if we would need to go to another mall further away.  They said that they did have a photobooth. So off we went.  When we got to the mall and finally found the photobooth it was out of order. Now what???  It was getting kind of late in the evening and I have a SUPER long day tomorrow (a split shift starting with a meeting at 8am and ending with a parenting group at 9pm) so I just wanted to get something done and get home to bed.  I also had in the back of my mind the fact that I still needed to blog about this, tonight!, when I got home.  So we walked around the mall trying to decide what to do.  Then I remembered that when we were looking  for the photobooth we saw a place that sells bubble tea.  I have been curious about this bubble tea that I have been seeing everywhere lately.  When I was in Korea I had bubble tea but it was real, hot tea, with gelatinous tapioca bubbles in it.  The stuff I have been seeing everywhere lately looks like slush with dark coloured bubbles in the bottom.  Also, all of the flavours seemed fruity.  It seemed really different than what I had experienced as "bubble tea" so we decided to try it out and see what it was all about.  We decided just to share one as it was almost $5.00 for one and we didn't even know if we would like it.  I told Ken he could pick the flavour and of course he picked the one flavour that I didn't like, blueberry, so I told him to pick again.  This time he picked strawberry.  I like strawberry so we went for that.  Ken described it as tasting like a strawberry Campino candy.  He hit the nail right on the head!  The slush was exactly like strawberry Campinos.  He tried one of the "bubbles" first.  He said it tasted like nothing and he didn't like the consistency.  When I tried it I really chewed them up and discovered that they taste like tea so I guess that is where the name "bubble tea" comes from.  The tea is in the bubbles. The consistency is sort of like gummy worms but a bit more chewy.  Overall, we thought it was just okay.  Neither one of us would buy one again.   I can think of alot of things that I like better that I would rather spend $5.00 on.  Also, I'm sure they are loaded with sugar, artifical flavouring and colour so they are probably not that healthy either.  At least the kind we had......

We still plan on going to a photobooth for pictures some time.  Next time I think we will just go to West Edmonton Mall because they have about 40 photobooths so one of them has to be in working condition.

Day 124 (May 4, 2010): Card Making

Tonight we are making cards for our Mom's for Mothers Day.  I can't tell you anymore about it right now.  I will add pictures after we mail out the cards......

Day 123 (May 3, 2010): Memorize a poem

I thought I had my poem memorized in the morning and then when I was talking to Ken in the afternoon I tried to tell him my poem and realized that I had forgotten it.......I suck!  It wasn't even that long and I still forgot it.  I am still working on memorizing it though so I haven't given up yet!  Anyway, here it is:

You Win


It’s crazy, but you’re all I want and need;

You win; I’m yours forever; I concede.

By Joanna Fuchs

This is Ken's:
 
Those who can live without love


Are not ready

For the world of aspiration.

To me, his sounds more like a quote than a poem but it was listed as a short poem, so what do I know!  We had to do this activity separately today because of our work schedules.  I think it is nice that we both picked love poems.

Day 122 (May 2, 2010): Mill Creek Ravine Clean Up and Blogathon!

Yikes, I just joined a blogathon!  Now I have to blog everyday for the month of May.  That means no more posting a bunch of days once a week......I hope I can do it!  Here is the link for more info:  http://michellerafter.com/the-wordcount-blogathon/


Today we volunteered with some members from our community league and community garden to pick up garbage in our local ravine. It is called the Mill Creek Ravine. The clean up is organized by the “Keepers of the Creek”. http://www.strathconacommunity.ca/keepers.htm

The weather was a bit cool but it didn’t rain until after we were done so that was good. We picked up garbage for a couple of hours then Ken and Joey went home to watch the Montreal Canadiens game. I stayed in the ravine and joined the others for a BBQ. There were a lot of people who came out to clean up the creek. I think it is a wonderful project and will definitely help out again next year.

This is me picking up garbage!

Joey's dogs, Ben and Polar.

Polar!  I love these dogs to bits!  They don't mind at all when I squish them:)

After the BBQ some of the kids had fun climbing up and down the hills.

Day 121 (May 1, 2010): Our "low impact" day

Wow, May 1st!  That means that we are 1/4 done this year....I am very proud that we are still dedicated to this project.

Today we decided to have a “low impact” day. We didn’t put enough planning in to our day to have a “no impact” day. Our low impact day included going to throw the football around in the park next to our community garden, walking to get groceries (we usually drive), eating lunch at a restaurant next to the grocery store and going to a craft show in our neighborhood. The craft show was called the Royal Bison craft show. There was lots of cool stuff. A few of the vendors had crafts made of completely recycled materials, like journals that had old records for the front and back cover and recycled paper on the inside. I also saw microchip jewelry that was really cool. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff was really expensive so we didn’t buy anything. Anyway, it was a really nice day to be out and about walking around our neighborhood.

http://www.royalbison.ca/

Day 120 (April 30,2010): Unsuccessful craft project....

Today our plan didn’t really work out the way we wanted it to. We were supposed to do a sort of craft project to make an insulated case for Ken’s spotting scope for his bear hunting trip next weekend. I like to do crafty things so I thought this would be fun for us to do together. As it turns out we realized quickly that what we “thought” we could do wouldn’t even come close to working. The thick foam that we had wouldn’t fold up or mold the right way that we needed it to. So we had to come up with an alternate plan that really just included wrapping the scope in a towel and putting it in the bag, lol……not much of a craft project! Anyway, our friend Joey came over to visit and with his help we worked on packing up Ken’s stuff for his trip. We had a lot of laughs with Joey, as usual!

Joey brought his dogs with him and they had to chill out on the balcony.  This is them looking in on us.  You will see better pictures of them in an upcoming post.....

Day 119 (April 29, 2010): Learning to draw cartoons

Today we decided to learn how to draw some cartoons. On the internet there are lots of different websites that give tutorials for cartoon drawing. I am not much of an artist at all so I thought it would be really challenging. Actually, it was quite easy. I didn’t draw any of the super hard stuff though. Here are some pictures of our drawings. Ken did the penguin and I did the other two.

Day 118 (April 28, 2010): Bubbles!

Today we played with bubbles. It wasn’t a very nice day outside so we had to stay inside and blow bubbles. It was really fun though because the cats were very intrigued by the bubbles. Oden sort of stayed back and watched them from a distance. When we blew them near him he watched them fall to the ground and disappear. He looked so puzzled. Thor, as usual, was more aggressive. He would chase them and try to hit them. Some of the bubbles fell to the ground and didn’t pop. He would sniff them and then they would pop in his face. It was so funny!

Look at his curiosity!

That is as close as Oden got.

Thor says, "where did it go?".

See the bubble?

Lots of bubbles!

Day 117 (April 27, 2010): Visit with my brother

Today we visited with my oldest brother Trent. He was in town for training. We only see him once or twice a year so we were really excited to see him. We went for dinner with him at Earls, near his hotel, and then watched the hockey game and visited. We went back to his hotel room and visited some more. We were there until WAY too late for a week night but it was totally worth it because we don’t see him very often.

Here is a picture of Trent and I.  See how his hand is blurry?  That is because he was about to give me bunny ears but he was too slow, lol.