Liss's LogBook

Lobster Party 2007

2007-06-09T13:18:00.000-03:00

G'day!

Friday June 8th our annual staff lobster party was held at the Bathurst Marina. This is an event that everyone really looks forward to every year (for obvious reasons :). I really debated whether I should attend, considering I'm still on crutches...but my rubber arm was twisted!

Tammy was once again our designated driver, so Jana, Tracy and myself all piled into her Jeep. We were on the road by 5:00. Of course before leaving Miramichi we HAD to make a stop at Tim's (Tammy needed something to drink too afterall..:), and while we were in Douglastown I decided to take a picture of the newest construction. This is the future home of Shoppers Drug Mart..

Once Tammy had her coffee fix, we were on the highway to Bathurst! Seeing how I don't get out much, I was quite camera happy most of the evening. Of course I had to get a shot of the girls on the trip up. Here's Tammy driving...

Jana and Tracy in the backseat sipping on some refreshments... :)

The drive up was quite uneventful picture-wise. The other carload of girls actually saw a moose on the road. We just blasted the tunes and sang, and laughed, and finally we were on the road to the Marina. The houses/cottages along Youghall Beach are out of this world. Some of the most beautiful that I've ever seen! This is one that really caught my eye though, if I could build a house from scratch it would look just like this one...

And finally..we're there!

As we pulled into the parking lot, the first person I saw was my old manager Al(he transferred to Newcastle in December). I haven't seen him since then, so it was nice to have a chat. He was really surprised to see me there!

We were there pretty early, so we immediately went in to claim a table for our group. The Marina is a really nice building, this was my view..

And the view when I turned around.. :) (Told ya I was camera-happy!)

After a few minutes, we realized that the outside deck was open to us as well. It was a beautiful evening, so why were we inside? I decided to abandon ship and head out for some fresh air and more pictures...

Soon after, we were all beckoned inside for the lobster feast! The funny thing? I was having so much fun, I'd almost forgot we were even having lobster. That says a lot! The meal was delicious...mmmm...yummy lobsters...

After the meal, we headed back to the deck until the entertainment started. I snapped a picture of Tammy and Tracy..

A really bad picture of myself (I look a little looped in this one)..which I was! :)

And Jana, who didn't want her picture taken, but too bad! Heh, heh..

Eventually we all went inside. Al was our MC for the night, and after a slideshow, the 50/50 draw (which Jana the lucky bugger won..$220), the festivities began.

These pictures are probably really hard to see (it was too dark), but I figured I'd add them in anyway. First up was a crazy bunch dressed up with garbages over the top half of their bodies and the bottom half clothed to look like..well, I don't know what the looked like actually! Anyway, they danced around and everyone had a great laugh at them...

After that, another group did "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"...our group won! :) The prize...a whole pile of lotto tickets. So, we may become millionaires yet, ha ha!

The final bit was "Deal or No Deal" and they did an awesome job. It was hilarious! Here's Howie...

The prize board..lots of money to be won! Heh heh..

Here comes the "North Shore Models"..with their "suitcases"...

One of the funniest models.. :)

Once that stuff was overwith it was time to draw for doorprizes, and then the dance started. Tammy and I both won a magnum of champagne! Tammy doesn't drink, so she cracked hers open right away and we gave it a good home. I'm surprised the people that ran the bar there didn't complain!

Kinda funny seeing crutches and champagne together isn't it? Let me tell ya, the two don't mix very well! :)

Anyhew, we stayed on till almost midnight. We were one of the last groups to leave, suprise, surprise! All in all I had a blast! The only two complaints I have is the wet tile in the bathrooms (not fun on crutches), and not being able to dance (again, the damn crutches). Other than that it was great to get out, and especially great to spend time with my co-workers again! I missed you guys, and can't wait to get back in action!

Till next time,

Liss :)

Summer Is On It's Way!

2007-05-14T17:38:00.000-03:00

Hello everybodee!

It's been awhile! The fact that my life is not too exciting lately, and that I've become addicted to Facebook, has kinda kept me away from my blogs. I figured I should do some kind of an update anyway, so here goes..

The past month and a half I've mostly spent housebound with the occasional drive and many trips to physiotherapy. Nothing very exciting. Things are progressing along much better now, especially since I've been given the OK to take off my "bionic brace" when exercising. I'm scheduled to start back to work on June 18th, (restricted work for the first 2 weeks though), so hopefully all goes well. I can't wait to get back to my old routine!!!

The rest of this post will just be some pictures that I took recently. First up is this crazy picture I snapped of my cat Teddy. He was in "mid-meow"..ha ha..

I figured I should add some pictures of Katie-Pooh since I mentioned her dilemma in my last entry. She's gotten much better, unfortunately she still has a tilted head. You can see how she holds it sideways in these pictures..poor girl!

This is a picture I took today standing inside of the kitchen. Because I'm special needs for a little while yet, and I'm really loving my deck, Darcy made a few additions. :) A ramp, and some handrails! Now, I can go in and out as often as I want throughout the day with no help..woo hoo!

Had to take a pic of our gravity chairs, these are the most comfortable things to sit in EVER!

The patio set..

And last but certainly not least, my handsome dude Mitch!

So, that's it for now! This coming weekend a whole crew of us are heading to the camp, (my first time since February). I'm really looking forward to it! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them on the camp blog, it's been neglected too..

Take care everyone!

Liss :)

My "Overdue Update"

2007-03-29T13:49:00.000-03:00

Howdy everyone!

Hope everyone is doing well...sorry it's taken me a long time to update! Figured it was time to fill ya all in on what's been happenin' the past month, and for those of you who already know..feel free to skip on through! :) So, here goes..

I finally had my ACL reconstruction surgery on March 16th. I was admitted to the hospital where I remained bed-ridden until March 21st. It sucked! I wish the doctor would have explained beforehand about being bed-ridden, that was something I did not expect. Maybe I could have prepared myself a little better for it...then again, I probably would have been even more nervous (if that's possible). Relying on nurses for absolutely everything that you need is just no fun! I am SO glad the whole ordeal is overwith.

Apparently the surgery went well. I've since seen the surgeon, who checked on his work and removed the staples from my knee. He says so far, so good! The scar(s) shouldn't be too bad, not that I really care anyway...hey, they don't call me "FrankenLiss" for nothing! I now have to wear my "bionic brace" constantly..even when I sleep! Not sure if I'll ever get used to it...it's so annoying! It has dials on the sides which can be set for "degrees of fluctuation" in my knee. I'm currently at 30 degrees, and it's supposed to move up 10 degrees every week until I reach 90 degrees. Exciting huh? :) This week I start back to physio..today is my first day actually! I'm really excited to get back, and it'll be nice to go outside again..ha ha! Approximately eleven weeks left on crutches..I'm hoping I'll get rid of the damn things sooner than that though.

I'd like to again thank all of my friends and family for everything...the hospital visits, the phone calls, the get-well wishes, the gifts, the flowers, cards..just everything! The time I spent in the hospital is quite a blur (thanks to my morphine injections..:)..so, sometimes I forget what I even talked to people about when they visited me! And I thought I was handling it so well! LOL

The other thing I should mention is my poor dog..Katie Pooh! She's been having some major health problems lately. The other night she had some kind of "spell"..and began walking like she was drunk, head tilted to one side, falling down..practically paralyzed. We figured she'd had a stroke, she is nine years old now! It was late so we put her on the couch and I stayed up with her all night till we could get her to the vet in the morning. I figured they'd put her to sleep for sure, I was SO upset! Saying goodbye was so hard, especially since I couldn't go to the vet's. The vet did a bunch of tests, and it turns out she's gonna be OK. She has something called "Canine Vestibular Disease"...something she should recover from. Apparently symptoms can last anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks. All she needs is some TLC, and the vet says we should see a big improvement each day. He was right! She's able to walk again, even climb the steps on the deck outside by herself. She's eating again too, but her head is still tilted to one side. Poor thing! Hopefully she'll get better soon..

Mitch brought home his report card yesterday and is doing very well! I'm very proud of him this year..he managed to bring his marks up in 3 of his classes. He's looking forward to his summer vacation already though..heh heh! Here he is looking for vacation, and I'm looking to go back to work! :)

Anyway..still no photos of me..maybe someday I'll take some pics! Not! :) Believe me, you're not missing much! My friend Rick decided to get creative and make his own picture of me. He was worried it might be in "bad taste"..but I think it's hilarious! I may as well laugh, feels better than crying! I should give ya a bit of info though; Rick said that when he heard how long my surgery lasted, he began to wonder what else they may have fixed on me. He and another friend of mine, Brian, got to talkin' and Brian came up with "termi-knee-tor"..and the rest is history!!! :)

Well, that's all for now!

"I'll Be Back..."

Liss :)

Muddlin' Through...

2007-02-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Well..this is amazing! I did my camp blog post, and figured it was about time to update this blog too. Two posts in one day! I'm on a roll...ha ha!

Unfortunately, I really don't have too much to talk about. Life has been pretty tame for me the past few weeks. I'm pretty sure everyone knows about my "mishap"..so I won't bother explaining all of those details. I will give ya's a brief update on what's been happening the past week though (for those of you I haven't talked to on email and MSN).

Ummm..where to start? I had day surgery on Feb 15th, which was basically just a scope of my knee to assess the damage. They also cleaned out the debris in there, and clipped off broken cartilage. They discovered that I severed my ACL ligament, which is apparently not a good thing. It's located underneath the kneecap and connects the bottom leg bones to the top leg bones. I'm now waiting to have another surgery to replace that ligament, and will be the proud recipient of a "donor" ligament. The tentative surgery date is March 26th. Till then I have to undergo lots of physiotherapy which I started this past Friday. I was a little nervous about the physio, but it's really great! I'm learning lots of new stuff, and actually looking forward to my next appointment on Monday. It's also nice to get out of the house...startin' to get a bit "shack wacky"! The doctor said I'll be on crutches for approximately 12 weeks following my next surgery, so it looks like I won't be walking until the end of June! That sucks...but things could always be worse!

Before I move off of this topic, I wanted to give a huge "THANK YOU" to all of my family, friends and co-workers. Everyone has been so kind, helping out with daily stuff, bringing food, gifts, the list goes on! I consider myself one lucky girl to have such amazing people in my life...thank you all! :)

So, that's enough of that. As far as pictures..sorry folks! No photos of Liss in this condition, cameras are an absolute no-no in this house right now! :)

Instead, I started going through my picture folder and decided to post a random bunch of pictures. None of these are related in anyway (well, some are)..but mostly they are just shots that I like and didn't get to include in previous posts. Some are pictures that I scammed off of Mom's camera, and since she hasn't been posting pictures I figured I may as well go ahead! Sorry Mom! :)

This first picture was actually taken by Kim on the day we left for the Stones concert, but it's very appropriate for this point in time. If you were to walk into my house at any given moment (in the past 2 weeks), this is probably how you'd find Darcy...

He has unfortunately become "Molly Maid", and now does all of the laundry, dishes, cooking...well, just about everything! He's been a trooper about the whole thing, wish I could be more help, but such is life!

Recently Colleen sent me some pictures too! I absolutely love this picture of Daniel..he's growing up SO fast!

And here's a cute one of Coll and Daniel, taken during Christmas at her parent's house...

Melanie came over for a visit with Ben a few weeks ago, and when she was bundling him up to leave I had to take a picture. Nothing cuter than babies bundled up in snowsuits! Hee hee..

This is a picture that Mom took of Mitch at her house...not often I get a half decent picture of him (without his hair hanging in his face, or him making a face)..so I really wanted to include it. I just wish it wasn't so blurry..

Nick and Kari had some fun with Mom's camera this past fall..these were taken in Mom's backyard. I really like all three pictures, so I included them all...

Another pic from Mom..heh heh! This was taken at Halloween, Nick and Kari actually won a prize at the Opera House...cool costumes!

Here's Matt and Karine with Mom's cat Rosie in her lap...taken at Mom's when they were home at Christmas..

This bunch of pictures were all taken at my Nan's house on Christmas Day. I didn't have my camera with me, so thanks Mom!

I should explain this one a little better. Every year it's tradition to have Christmas dinner at Nan's and when we were kids, they always got a shot of the five grandchildren together. This is the first time in MANY years that all of us were together, so we had to pose. That's my cousin Jen sitting beside me on the back of the couch, and her brother Mike sitting beside Matt...

We also celebrate Nick's birthday on Christmas day..so here he is with his cake. The look on his face is hilarious..

This last one is of Ben and I at Mom's house on New Year's Eve (we were babysitting for Mel and Jody)...

So, that's it for now. As the title says, I'm "muddling through", and making a little more progress everyday. This past Saturday morning, Kim, Darcy, Mitch and I looked through two boxes of really old pictures. What a laugh! Why am I mentioning this? Well...the 'ol scanner is gonna get lots of use this week, because my next post is going to be a trip down "Memory Lane". Now, that should be good for a laugh! Heh heh!

Take care everyone!

Liss :)

The 24th Annual "Silver Bedpan" Curling Bonspiel

2007-01-29T16:22:00.000-04:00

Howdie everyone!

This past Saturday my Mom invited us to curl in the hospital bonspiel, otherwise known as "The Silver Bedpan". For the past few years the turnout has been pretty low for the event, (last year there were only 14 teams). Since Mom was organizing it this year she told everyone that planned to attend to bring someone along. Much to her surprise 28 teams registered, which was awesome!

It was held at the new curling club which is located at French Fort Cove. I believe it's called the "Eco-Center", or something like that. It's a beautiful building, my only complaint is there's no bathrooms upstairs! :(

Before I get into pictures (which I have lots of), I wanted to explain how Mom set up the bonspiel. Each team had to play 3 games throughout the day, only 4 ends each. Then there was the complicated "points system"..heh heh! If you won the game, you got 4 points. A tie was 2 points. Each end that you won, was worth 2 points, and a blank end (no score) was a point for each team. Oh, and you also got points for the spread between the final score, which maxed out at 3 points. Still following me here? :) So, basically the most points you could possibly get for one game is 15. I normally wouldn't bother with all of this info, but it'll come into play later on in the story!

Mom set up the teams, so she put Darcy, Nick, Kari and I together with Darcy skipping. Mom skipped her own team which included my Nan and two of her co-workers from the hospital. Mom also made the mistake of putting her team against our team for the very first game..heh heh!

Here's a picture of our team when we first arrived on Saturday morning...

We had to wait a little while to play our first game, since there were already people on the ice. So, I wandered around and took a few pictures. This is a shot of the rink from the upstairs..

Everyone waiting to play...I really dig the look on Mom's face in this picture! Darcy is totally oblivious! :)

This is a shot of the entrance to the building. It's nice, but really bare! They desperately need to display some stuff there..

A picture of the "prize table", there were actually enough prizes for everyone to get something which was nice.

The coveted "Silver Bedpan" trophy..ha ha!
After taking those pictures, it was time to play! I must say, we played a great game! You have to remember that it was Nick and Kari's second time curling and Darcy and I haven't curled in years and years. We kicked Mom's butt..and she wasn't too impressed! At one point she was even yelling down the ice to Darcy saying, "Don't you skunk me Darcy!"..ha ha! We ended up finishing with 15 points, which put us at the top of the pack right from the get-go. Not too shabby!

Between games we hung out upstairs, had a few beers, and talked strategy! Not! No strategy for us..well not really! :) Here's everyone sittin' around..

This picture has a story behind it. Kari had to ask for the day off work to play, and this picture is the proof that she was actually in a curling bonspiel and playing for a silver bedpan. Look at Nick's face..hee hee!

A picture of the bar, and there's Mom looking out the window thinking up her future strategy..:) Couldn't resist Mom!

And here's what happens when Darcy has the camera...the next two shots are up close and personal!

Soon, it was time to hit the ice for game #2. We faired not too bad actually, we played against a team that also had 15 points. I must admit the competitive streak was coming out and we were all a bit worried. We managed to win the game and pick up 11 more points! Woo hoo! Once all of the teams had finished their second game we were in 2nd place. However, our final game was against the top team who was going into it with 30 points!

We decided to have a few more beers while we waited (don't think that helped our game much)! But hey..it's all for fun right? Kim showed up during the last game, so we have some actual shots of us in action..heh heh! Thanks for the pics Kim!

This is my Nan getting ready to throw her rock. She never ceases to amaze me, she's so "hip" for her age (and I won't mention your age Nan..no worries)!

This is one of my favorite pictures..Mom getting totally annoyed with Darcy! Hee hee..

The next few are of Mom and her team..

These next couple were taken right before our last game. This one of Nick and I cracks me up, Nick looks so serious! I think he was busy scoping out the competition...

And this is my team saying a prayer before we begin our last game..ha ha! Priceless!

The next bunch of pictures pretty much speak for themselves, so I won't bother explaining..

So, when it was all said and done, WE LOST! :( We did play a pretty good game though. We actually picked up 2 points on the first end, another point on the 2nd end, and then they took a point on the 3rd end. I thought we might actually win, especially since we had a 2 point lead, but they stole 3 points in the last end. We choked! But, we were still pretty happy with ourselves. Overall we came in 4th place, which is pretty good considering there were 28 teams.

After that game, we headed home to get cleaned up and have a few drinks before the prize ceremony and dance later on that evening. It was decided that Mom would cram all of us in her car since we were all drinking, so it was a tight squeeze! Darcy took the hatchback again, a replay of the "Stones Rescue"!

The prizes were awarded by random draw, (except for the top team). Mom was MC for the evening..here's a pic of her doing her duty..

Nick's name was the second one called, and I know Kim mentioned this in her post, but I have to say it again (it's too funny)! If you know Nick at all, he's the world's worst decision maker (not including me of course)! He stood at that prize table forever! About 20 more people went up to pick prizes and still, he was there browsing through everything. Everybody noticed and was laughing at him! Here's a picture of him trying to decide..

Finally he made a decision, which got a round of applause from the crowd! This is what he came back with..and he doesn't even drink coffee!

Darcy and Kari both got metal stools, but for some reason Darcy decided to pose with Mom's prize..

For the first time in history I made a quick decision and grabbed the hot pink rubbermaid container. :)

Once the prizes were all handed out, Mom had to give up the microphone (and I think she was more than happy to)! Gordioke Karaoke took over, and I have to say that this guy can really sing! He puts on a great show, and even has lots of props for people to use (wierd hats, plastic instruments, hula hoops)..lots of stuff! If any of you saw that picture of Nick playing the guitar on Kim's blog, you'll know what I mean when I say it makes for some great entertainment! I couldn't resist getting some video of Gordie singing, he was really awesome. I've decided to leave out the video of the other people singing (figured I'd spare ya that much..ha ha). So to see Gordie you can click here and here!

A great time was had by all, thanks for the invite Mom! By 11:00, we decided to head back to the house, and Dad offered to pick all of us up. It was a tight squeeze, but we managed to fit somehow! We carried the party on till the wee hours of 4:30am, and had a blast! :)

So, that's it for now! I'm sure nothing exciting will be happening till our next camp trip which is not for a couple of weeks. Till then, take 'er easy everybody!

Liss :)

Da "Weather Bomb"!

2007-01-20T20:13:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

Remember in my last post I was talking about how it felt like spring? Well..not anymore! On Friday we were hit with what meteorologists call a "weather bomb"..and let me tell ya it was da bomb! :)

Most businesses shut down for the day (including my work..ha ha), school was cancelled, and everyone had a "snow day".

Here's some pictures..

This couldn't be ignored! Jake loves playing in the snow..

Well..that's about it for now! Nothing exciting has been happening, and I've got nothing more to say (for the first time..:).

Later,

Liss

January Thaw..and Some Extra Pictures!

2007-01-09T20:29:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it's January already, especially with the strange weather we've been having. What ever happened to snowy Christmases? It's been so mild, rainy, foggy..we even had a thunder and lightening storm! Actually, Kim took some video of it, which you can check out on her blog.

I figured I'd throw together a post with some older pictures from Festivus that I didn't get to put on, some from New Year's visits, and some from this past weekend. It's quite the "mixed-bag"!

Less talk..more pictures! This is a picture from a few weeks past (a pre-Festivus party if you will..ha ha!). I thought it was about time I put a decent picture of Jana on here..and no Jana, it's not one of your butt! For those of you who don't know her that well, when a camera points at her, she prefers to show that side! I have SO many "butt pictures" of her it's crazy! One of these days she'll learn...ha ha!

And this my friends, is the last "Santa Hat" picture you'll see of me for another whole year! I'm so sick of looking at that damn hat! :) I really wanted to include it though, because for once Kim and I took a half decent picture together! Believe me, this is a really rare occurrence!

Around New Years (can't be sure of the exact day...), Darcy's brother Mike, his wife Norma and son Ryan came over for a visit. Ryan plays electric guitar and has the same Marshall amp as Mitchell, so the two of them put on a show. They did a pretty good job playing together, and I must say that Ryan is like a mini Angus Young! He has all of his moves down pat. Of course, I had to take a picture of them...serious business here folks! :)

On the 30th, the Martin clan rolled into town, and so did Gammy (Dan). Coll and Daniel had been here for the whole week. The Martin's came over, we had supper together, and later on the Gammy clan arrived. Poor Autumn was getting rather bored with her visit here, (Mitch was playing his new XBox), so thankfully Mitch remembered that he had a huge stash of Play-Doh that he's never used. Once that was brought out not only was Autumn and Arianna entertained, but Coll and Jen too! Ha ha! :)

Here's Coll and Daniel..Daniel enjoyed playing with the plastic scissors from the set, we figured he'd probably just eat the Play-Doh! :) He's so sweet..and growing up so fast!

Jen and Arianna working away...look at those rosy cheeks on Arianna! :)

Autumn with her "serious" pose...she's so cute!

This past weekend, (on Saturday), it poured rain all day long. Our backyard looked like a pond, it was crazy! Here's some shots of how the yard looked to give you an idea of how much freakin' rain we had...

The funny thing...after all that craziness, we had a snowstorm on Monday! Schools were closed, even work shut down early for Pete's sake. I have to admit, I was very happy to see the snow (unlike most people). I don't think it'll last very long though, especially since it turned mild again. It kinda feels like spring here..slushy and muddy..ick!

So..this weekend is our "Farewell Scott" party at the camp (weather depending). Hard to believe he's headin' out west, but he's not alone! It would be interesting to know how many people have left Miramichi this past year. There's lots of jobs here now anyway! :) My step-sister Jen and her boyfriend Rick have left as well. In fact, they should be arriving in Grande Prairie tonight sometime. All I can say is good luck to all of you guys...I wish you all the best! Keep in touch, and you'll be missed..

Well..guess that about sums 'er up! Take care everyone!

Liss :)

Festivus Is Over For Another Year....

2006-12-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas/Happy Festivus! I can't believe it's already finished. Although it's sad in one way, it's great in another because I'm completely exhausted! :)

We all had a fun and busy week! Lots of visiting, partying, the usual drill. The "main" party night was on Sat. the 23rd, which was the night Matt and Karine arrived from Ottawa. Everyone came over to our place, minus a few who couldn't make it due to the crappy weather we were having. This entry is all about that night, since it's the one I have the most pictures of. Before I get into it though, I will say that we all got together again on Christmas Eve and played Cranium and another new game called "Imaginiff"..which was really fun. Christmas night Coll and Dan arrived from Gornish and Matt and Karine came over. We all had a few beers, but everybody peeled out quite early. Later in the night I had a visit from Melanie, and the two of us stayed up till the wee hours gabbing..ha ha!

Boxing Day was a big bash at my sister Jen's place, it's our "Christmas" with Dad, Donna, Jen and Jody. It was storming that day, but we still all managed to make it, and we had a great time. Good food, and great laughs! Unfortunately I couldn't stay on for the party that night, everyone else did though, and they all had a blast! I was just way too burnt out for another night of partyin'! :)

It was decided that we'd make a trip to the camp for one night (on Thursday the 28th), so Wednesday we all pretty much layed low. Actually, Wed. night Matt, Karine, Mom and I watched Anchorman and laughed our asses off. (It was a gift from Nick..thanks!) I won't get into the camp trip details, as I'll be doing a post for it on the camp blog.

So, without further ado..I'll get back to Saturday night's party pictures. First up, a picture of the Christmas tree...

This is a group "table" shot, and I have many of those..ha ha!

I crack right up every time I look at this picture! Notice Matt's head..hee hee! It looks like he's wearing a beaver pelt or something..it's really Kari leaning into the fridge behind him. The look on Karine's face is pretty funny too! :)

The fridge is kinda cutting out part of this one, but oh well! It's the only one I have of everyone together (except for me, and Dad and Donna who were also here for awhile).

Matt and his "drinkin' shirt"...

Nick and Darcy singin' a tune..

Kari, Nick and Matt...this picture is kinda screwed up, but I figured I'd add it anyway. Actually a lot of pictures from that night are screwed up...but so was the photographer, so that's probably why! Heh heh..

Quite a bit later into the night, Karine had fallen asleep in the chair, and guess who decided to keep her warm? LOL

About the same time that Karine had fallen asleep, Matt was getting to the same point, except he was still upright! LOL...an 11 hour drive will do that to ya..and so will many, many beers!

Kari and her gin..ha ha! And Nick was lookin' a little sleepy too!

And finally, the three McGloin kids...too funny!

Festivus 2006 was a blast! I wish everyone could have been here...but there's always next year! Have a Happy New Year everybody!

All the best in 2007!

Lissy

Mitch's Birthday Party

2006-12-17T18:50:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Can you believe that one week from today is Christmas Eve? I can't get over how quick this month is flying by! Festivus will soon be upon us ..hee hee! Because of that, I figured it was about time to update my profile picture, notice the Santa hat? LOL

This past weekend was crazy! I'm actually going to do two posts, starting off with Friday night...Mitch's 13th birthday party. We had lots of company; 6 of Mitch's friends, Darcy's parents, Mom, Dad and Donna, my Nan, Jana and Kim. The kids had a great time, they were pretty wild (considering they drank 5 bottles of pop it was understandable though), but they eventually calmed down (around midnight). :)

Three of the kids spent the night, and they didn't go to sleep until 6am, but they were actually pretty quiet. They didn't wake me..that's all that matters..ha ha! Anyway, I have lots of pictures so here goes..

I'm not sure what Mitch is doing here, but he looks surprised..

A bunch of the kids in the livingroom, they were playing PS2 and munching out..

Everybody watching Mitch open his gifts...

Mitch showing off his new model airplane..

Mitch unrolling the Stones poster that Jana gave him...

This picture has a little story...every year Donna brings fudge and Darcy's Dad (Bim) munches right out. He absolutely loves the fudge, so much that the past two years he snuck some in his pocket before he left. This year Donna made him a special bag and wrapped it all up for him..hee hee! This is Bim opening his gift..he looks so excited! :)

A pic of Mitch's cake...

And of course, what would party pictures be without one of Mitch blowing out the candles..

So, Mitch made out pretty good. He got lots of cash, and some really nice gifts! Lots of models to build, a playstation game, an MP3 player, a Robo-Sapien..just to mention a few. I think the kids really enjoyed themselves and the adults did too!

Every year, Mitch's birthday gives our families the chance to see each other and get caught up on the past year's events. It's really the only time of year that we all hang out together for an evening. It was really nice to see everyone...thank you all for coming! Till next time,

Lissy

Festivus is Comin' ...

2006-12-12T16:19:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

I finally switched to beta..yay! I think I'm the last one! Anyway, I figured I'd do a quick post to see how different this version is. It's been a busy month so far, lots of staff Christmas parties, retirement parties, and now plans are underway for Mitch's 13th birthday party which is on Friday night.

Only a couple of weeks left till Festivus, my vacation week, and most important Matt and Karine are coming home! I'm so excited! I'm sure we'll have a blast.

I figured I'd include a few recent pictures. This first one is of a Christmas cookie that Kim decorated..nice job Kimberley!

This is Jake playing around in the snow...

A Christmas bulb on our tree outside (Darcy took the picture..I think it's very nice)...

And a couple of blurry shots of our tree in the backyard...I wanted to include these so Jade could see our "outdoor Christmas tree"..

So, that's all for now! I'll keep this one short, but stay tuned for some upcoming Festivus entries..hee hee!

Matt and Karine's Wedding -Rehearsal Party and Early Wedding Day

2006-11-29T15:33:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody! I know it's strange for me to do a post on Matt and Karine's wedding a month and a half after the fact. I've been meaning to do one for awhile now, but I was waiting on pictures, I've been procrastinating (as usual), and this site has been giving me lots of grief uploading pictures.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me for the event, so I had to rely on friends and relatives to share pictures with me. Before I get started I have to give a big THANK YOU to Brian and my step-sisters Jen and Jody for these pics. Thanks guys! :)

This'll be a two-part post (hopefully it won't be backwards this time..eh Kim?). I decided to start out with some pictures taken on Friday night at the rehearsal party which was held at Matt and Karine's house, and end with some earlier wedding day pictures. The next post will be more "late-night" pics...a little nastier too! Heh heh! Since I already talked about the wedding in a previous post, and most of you have probably read Matt's entry, I'll just get right down to the nitty gritty!

Friday night after the actual rehearsal (which was held at the Brookstreet Hotel), everyone headed back to the house. Karine, her family and bridesmaids came over for a quick hello, and then left for Rockland for the night. This is a picture of Karine just before she left...

Here's a nice picture of Jen and Jody, both were busy looking through a stack of pictures..

Gene and Tony hamming it up...

There were more pictures from Friday night, but most were very similar to the ones on Matt's MSN page so I didn't bother. So, moving on to the actual wedding day now!
This was taken in the hotel (waiting for the elevator)..we were either headed to the wedding or the reception, not sure which. From left to right is Dad, Donna, Kari, Nick and myself.

I didn't include any pictures from the ceremony (again..Matt has lots of those). Afterwards the family moved outside for some group shots..I had to include this one of Matt and I. I really like this picture!

This is a group shot of friends taken in the lobby of the hotel. I'll try to name everyone; front (l to r) Mike Melanson (usher), Gene Fowler, Tara Fowler, Paul Bingham, and on Paul's lap is Karine's sister (maid of honour) Marieve. I hope I spelled her name right! Back row (l to r)Leslie Melanson, not sure who he is(sorry), Matty, Gary? - Yolande's boyfriend, Yolande Martin and Brian.

Here's a nice pic of Dad and Donna having a waltz, in the background you can see Mom dancing with her brother Tom...

I love this picture of Matt and Karine trying their luck with the hula-hoops! They both did a great job of it! I should mention that instead of tinking your glass to make the bride and groom kiss, you had to get up and hula..and make it last for at least 5 seconds. Lots of people were up for the challenge too, so there was lots of smooching goin' on! The funniest part was when the head table decided to change the rules a bit. If any of them managed to succeed at the hula, they got to choose any two people that they wanted to kiss. Tony and Mike got up, did great at it, and then requested that Gene Fowler and Paul Bingham kiss. They actually did too! Wish I had a picture of that! LOL

This is some people who were sitting at the "fun table"..Tara, Jen and Jody. Kari and I were convinced we would have the best table, "Table 6"...somehow it didn't turn out that way eh Kari? Maybe if I had of stopped crying long enough..I was an emotional wreck the whole day! Oh well, it's not every day that your little brother gets married!

That's it for this one! There's still more to come, but I must warn you all, the pictures won't be so tame! Stay tuned!

Lissy :)

Matt and Karine's Wedding - Later in the Night!

2006-11-28T19:58:00.000-04:00

OK everyone..here's Part 2, the scary pictures! Hee hee! All of these were taken much later in the evening...put it this way, the party was rockin' by this point!

First up, a very funny picture which includes Nick, Claire (Tony's Mom),Karine, Matt, Paul, and another girl I don't recognize (sorry). Karine looks so beautiful, but leave it to my brother's to ruin a great shot.. check out the identical looks on their faces...hee hee!

Here's a great one of Tara and Karine...quite the dance moves girls!
The new "Mrs. McGloin" showing off her "pipes"...what a great shot! I love the expression on her face!

Here's Mom getting a big kiss from Kenji (or as some call him, Kenny G..eh Kari? ha ha). Kenji was the master of ceremonies and is a really good friend of Matt and Karine.

This is Kari, yours truly, and my aunt Cathy rockin' out to one tune or another. The music they played was the best I've ever heard at any dance! Ah..good times!
??????????????????????????????????????????? You're guess is as good as mine..but damn it's funny!
This is Kari, Nick, Jody, Matt, Tony and Shawn (? I think that's his name..correct me if I'm wrong Matt). This was taken during one of "Miramichi Connection's" drink breaks in the hotel room...

Now this picture is by far one of the funniest I've ever seen! I laugh every time I see it! I'm still trying to figure out what the heck Nick was doing, (impersonating Elvis or Meatloaf maybe?). If anyone has a clue, please let me know...
So I know I've been kinda cruel posting some of these pictures..sorry everybody! To make up for it, I figured I should post a REALLY bad one of me! This was taken in the wee hours of the morning, I think I was just about ready for bed! Matt and Nick still look pretty alive though...

Man, what a horrible picture..but I guess it pretty much sums up how I felt by that point! Toasty! Hee hee..

So there you have it! A great time was had by all...I can't remember ever being to a wedding where I've had such a blast! Matt and Karine...I think you should renew your vows next year, and have another! LOL

Till next time,

Lissy :)

A New Truck!

2006-11-08T16:58:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! This is gonna be a quick post. Most of you know, but for those of you who don't, we have a new truck! Well, it's new to us anyway...it's a 2001 Yukon SLT. Our other truck has seen better days, so it was time for an upgrade. I took a few pictures, so here goes..

As you can see, it has lots of room (especially in the back for the dogs..bonus!). Anyway, that's all for now! Oh, I should mention that Kim has FINALLY updated her blog, you can check it out on my links. (I figured I'd mention it since everyone has probably given up checking for posts..ha ha!). So, till next time!

Liss :)

Halloween Is Over For Another Year...

2006-11-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! We had great weather for the first time in a couple of years, no rain and it wasn't even too cold! The other strange thing? We actually had 20 kids come to the house for treats, usually we only get about 5. So, this was Mitch's first year going out on his own with his friends (without Darcy and I driving him around everywhere). I feel SO old! What really hit home was seeing pictures of Daniel (Coll and Dan's little guy)and a visit from Jody, Melanie and Ben. My "little" boy is almost a teenager! Yikes!

Anyway, I'm heading off to work, just wanted to post a few pictures from last night. First up is one that Coll emailed to me yesterday (thanks Coll). It's Daniel in his costume, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think it's "Blue's Clues"...he's so cute!This is Ben, and of course I'm holding him :)..he was "Winnie the Pooh", he laughed and giggled the whole time he was here..
Here's my great-nephew Aidan all dressed up as a dragon, (my niece Ashleigh's son). Hard to believe I'm a great-aunt (once again I'm getting OLD..ha ha).
And here's Dean getting ready to dive into Mitch's Halloween stash..lol!! He was pretty excited, he even helped Mitch sort out all of his candy (remember doing that?).

Well, that's all for now, gotta run! Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Liss

I'm Back!

2006-10-26T21:16:00.000-03:00

Hey everybody! I know, it's been quite a while since my last post! I figured it was about time to tell you all what I've been up to for the past month. Since the Stones weekend, my life has been quite hectic! I guess the "main event" would have to be my brother Matt and sister-in-law Karine's wedding in Ottawa. They were married on October 14th, which is also Darcy's birthday!

So, Mom and I left for Ottawa on October 10th (Tuesday), and my grandmother, aunt Heather and uncle Tom came along in Nan's car at the same time. We actually managed to keep track of each other the whole trip, which surprised me. The whole thing went smoothly except for the traffic jam we hit in Montreal! We were stuck on the "Pont Champlain" , (bridge..for those of you who don't know french..ha ha), for about one and a half hours. That sucked bad! We made a few detours, one being to Alexandria to drop off Nan and Heather, and the other to downtown Ottawa to drop Tom off at his hotel. Mom and I then proceeded to get completely lost, and finally we called Matt for some directions to the Queensway. We arrived about 3 hours behind schedule, but oh well!

The rest of the week was fun..the rehearsal party and wedding were a blast! It was the BEST wedding I have ever attended in my life, very well done guys! I think everyone there had the time of their lives...so many great memories! Unfortunately I have no photos (someone wouldn't give me our camera), but I did take lots with Mom's camera. Matt has all of those pictures, plus lots of others and if you'd like to see them you can check them out on his MSN site.

Anyway, a good time was had by all! Mom and I stayed on till Tuesday the 17th, which was a whole week away for me. It was a nice vacation! Our trip home went very well, no traffic jams, and we made it to the camp road in 11 hours. A first for Mom and I...woo hoo!! That's where I got dropped off..believe it or not! Lots of people really didn't think I was crazy enough to be dropped off in the middle of the woods. Obviously, they don't know this chick very well! LOL

So, Darcy and Mitch were at the end of the camp road waiting to pick me up, and there I remained for the rest of the week till Sunday. Dean and Jade were also there, (actually Jade left on Thursday), and Scott and Kim were up on the weekend. It rained the whole time we were there (apparently I brought the rain with me..or so I was told anyway!) I won't get into detail about the camp trip since it'll be posted on the camp blog eventually..I've got lots of posting to catch up on!!

Anyhew..it's been a busy month. It was back to work on Monday, which was really sucky after being away for 2 weeks. It's SO hard to get back in the groove after vacation. Unfortunately, because of privacy reasons I'm not allowed to discuss work on here, but I can say that on Tuesday I was offered a new position within my workplace. I accepted it, and will start on Nov 6th. I'm pretty excited about it, it'll be nothing like my old job, and I have lots to learn. I think it's a step in the right direction though!

This coming weekend I am going to be very busy yet again. My workplace is sponsering a Big Brothers/Big Sisters fundraiser, and I am volunteering my time from Friday night through to Halloween. They are having a haunted house, it's called, "Fear Factory", and it's open to adults and older kids. It's quite a big project which has been in the works for a few months. Lots of businesses in the community are helping out, and many people are volunteering. Apparently I will be a factory worker/tour guide, should be interesting! They have a website, if you're interested you can check it out here..

So, that's about it for me, for now! Lots going on..never a dull moment! After this crazy "Fear Factory" weekend, my next three weekends will be spent at the camp. Darcy and Dean will be spending a whole week up there deer hunting, I'll just be going up on the weekends (I think I've had enough vacation time this month). Well, that's all for now guys! This turned out longer than I had planned!

Taker easy!

Liss :)

More pictures from the Stones Weekend!

2006-10-01T16:44:00.000-03:00

OK, I'm happy to say that Kim has been released from the hospital, she's feelin' great and I've got some of her pictures and video. The funny thing is that her pictures are mostly all taken at Jen and Aaron's house too..I guess I wasn't the only one worried about losing my camera. Here's a shot of the departure from our place (Darcy and Brian in the front, I'm in the backseat). The plan was to give Kim the finger..hee hee!
Kim has no pictures from Friday night, but thankfully has lots of Aaron's recovery the next day. Here's the girls making sure that their Dad is OK, notice Arianna is cleaning him with the lint brush..

Aaron all snuggled up with his "Dora the Explorer" blankie...you can see Darcy outside the window.
Poor Aaron!!! :)

This is taken inside Steve's Diner, don't we look like such a happy group of people?Oh, and in my last post I said I wouldn't talk about the concert (since I have no photos), but I forgot to mention our drive home. After all the miles put on Brian's car (Ottawa to Miramichi, Miramichi to Moncton, Moncton to Truro, Truro to Halifax, Halifax to Truro, and finally Truro to Miramichi)..we actually broke down in Barnaby. There we were stuck on the side of the highway, in total disbelief that we got SO close to home before this happened. Man were we ever lucky! Here's a picture of our breakdown..And here's a quick video of it (notice Brian's hand movements..too funny!) Check it out here... All hope wasn't lost anyway, I had my cell phone and called Mom to come and pick the five of us up. Brian got the car towed later that day, and she was fixed in no time (fuel pump). Kim took a video of our drive with Mom, you can click here to check it out.

So, that's about it! I may have another video to add later on...still waiting for Kim to send it. So, my next post will probably be on the camp blog. The long weekend is coming up and we're having a HUGE party up there. Till next time,

Liss

If Ya Start Me Up.....

2006-09-29T19:40:00.000-03:00

Well, I have to say that last weekend was the best time of my life!! It's taken me a week to settle down long enough to even bother with a blog entry. As most of you all know, we spent our weekend touring around in Brian's car with our main focus being the Stones concert in Halifax.

Friday after work I arrived home to find Kim and Darcy on the deck (Kim had already consumed three raspberry-vodka martinis and was feeling no pain..ha ha!). The three of us hit the road to drop Mitch off in Black River and then back to our deck to await Scott and Brian's arrival. Scott was working till 5:00 and Brian was on his way from Ottawa. We blasted some Stones tunes, had a few beers and finally Brian showed up around 6:00pm. We gave him the grand tour of our new backyard..lol..and then headed off to pick up Scott. After a few stops, we were on our way to Jen and Aaron's in Riverview.

We had quite the trip..lots of fun actually! I won't get into much detail, but we made a few minor detours (eh Brian?), and we eventually found our way. :) When we arrived Aaron had a great fire going in the backyard and both of the girls were asleep. Of course we all migrated outside and spent the rest of the evening there. Here's a few pictures from that night...

It ended up not being too late of a night (much earlier for some of us..Scott!), we all knew what the next day had in store. The next morning we woke up expecting bacon and waffles for breakfast (Aaron had told us all about it the night before)..but he was in no shape to be cooking breakfast for anybody! Ha ha! Instead we all had some coffee and decided to hit the road and grab breakfast somewhere. Before we left, Autumn and Arianna were both coloring a picture, Jen was trying to get ready for their trip to Miramichi, and Aaron was in the fetal position on the loveseat..lol!! Here's a picture of the girls...
So, big thanks to the Martin Family for having us for the night. We all had a blast! We'll have to do it again sometime, except next time Aaron we'll be expecting those waffles! :)

So, we all headed to Steve's Finer Diner (I think that's what it's called) for some breakfast. This place is a 50's style diner, with one whacked out jukebox! After spending nearly an hour there, we were off to Truro to check into our hotel. Luckily we had no problems, our room was ready even though we were early. We had time to veg for a bit, change into warmer clothes and then make the trek to Halifax for the concert. And unfortunately, that's where I have to cut my story off! I have absolutely no pictures from the concert. Luckily our sneaky 'ol pal Brian snuck his camera inside, and he's gonna cover the concert part of our trip. So, if you're interested in hearing more you can check it out on his blog , whenever he gets it posted!

I may post more pictures and video later on, Kim has a bunch from her camera. Unfortunately Kim has been admitted to the hospital and is currently out of commission for a while. Hope your feelin' better soon Kim!

So, that's it for now folks! Lots going on ....Dean and Jade are home now, and Coll and Dan are home for the weekend too. So, till next time!

Cheers!

Liss

Some newer pictures!

2006-09-17T19:17:00.000-03:00

Well, this is gonna be a short one! I figured I'd post some newer pictures of the deck door, the other ones didn't do it any justice at all. First up is a picture of Mitch and Trenton proudly posing with their new pistol BB guns. Anybody ever watch "A Christmas Story" (one of my all time favorite movies)? Well, they have both been warned..Here's a few shots of the new step and door, it looks much better with the siding replaced and the trim painted. Next up will be the outside storm door...

Well, that's about it! Not much to say...stay tuned for tales from Nova Scotia! Hee hee!

Lissy

It's Been Awhile!

2006-09-16T14:16:00.000-03:00

Hi everyone! I know, it's been awhile since my last post, like Matt said, we've all been slackin' lately. So, we or I should say Darcy has been very busy trying to finish up the yard renovations. So much to do before the snow flies! Lots has happened since I last wrote; Darcy finished the front step, planted some sod on both sides of it, finished putting the siding on out front, removed the kitchen window and put the new deck door in, built a step leading from the door onto the deck, fixed up some trim (it still has to be painted), ah the list goes on and on! I honestly don't know where he finds the energy! Everything is finally coming together, and it looks like a whole new yard...I feel like I've moved to a new place.

Anyway, I've been taking photos over the last couple of weeks, but I've just been too lazy to post. I know, I'm pathetic! So, I guess I'll give ya a "looksy" as to how things are coming along.

Here's the new front step. It really looks different from that big porch, it takes some getting used to! I really love it though, and Darcy put our solar lights around the front (thanks Dean and Jade..they look better here than at the camp). The path to the backyard gate has been widened some too, we needed some extra room for the four-wheelers, ski-doo, etc.This was taken when the window was being removed, along with lots of pieces of siding.....
Here's the new door from the inside view. Right now, my kitchen is a freakin' disaster zone..I can't stand that! All part of the renovating process, but I hate the chaos. It's only gonna get worse from here because we have to move our fridge, stove, washer and dryer, heaters, everything! We haven't got to the "moving" stage yet, but that'll all take place this coming week. Fun fun!And, here's the door from the outside view. When I took this picture, the new step was not built yet (it's really nice). The siding is almost replaced now too...I'll take more pictures later when it's all done. We also have another storm door that's being put on this coming week, it's really nice. It's just one whole pane of glass, or a whole screen. That'll be nice in the summer, and when it's on it'll brighten the kitchen up. I have to say that since the door has been in, the deck really feels like a deck now. It's so great to just open the door and let the dogs run, or go out there for coffee in the morning with my PJ's on (without being viewed by the public)..lol!
So, this has been Darcy's third weekend in a row on-call, man do I ever miss the camp! It sucks to be home every weekend, I'm really lookin' forward to this coming weekend...the Stones in Halifax! Woo hoo! We are heading to Moncton on Friday night to stay at Jen and Aaron's place (thanks for having us guys!), and then heading out the next day for Truro (where our hotel is)..and then to the show! I'll be posting about that adventure I'm sure..I wish they'd let us bring cameras inside.

Last night after talking to Jana, we decided to have a quiet evening sipping on some beers by the fire. Well, the mellow evening turned into quite the last minute get-together! We had been sitting around (Jana, Darcy and I), enjoying the fire, just vegging out really. A little while later Kim showed up, she was just getting off work. I knew that Coll and Dan were in town, but I also know that Friday nights they usually just stay at her Mom's, so I wasn't expecting to see them. Anyway, about 10:30 we could hear people outside in the yard and a knock at the gate. We were surprised to see Melanie, Jody, Ben, and Daryl P and his girlfriend. I haven't seen Daryl in years and years...it was quite the surprise! Since they had all arrived, I figured I should phone Coll and invite her and Gammy down. So, they showed up about 11:00...turned out to be a pretty great time. It was great to see everyone again! Sometimes things we don't plan turn out to be the most fun! Anyway, I managed to snap a few shots...here's Melanie, Colleen, Jana, Kim and Kate sitting around the non-existent fire..ha ha! We had run out of wood..sorry guys but we weren't expecting a late night!
Here's Gammy, Daryl and Coll all standing to one side of the fire, on the other side Melanie, Kim and Jana are about to dig into the chip bowl. Ha ha!I did get some other pictures, but they weren't that great..oh well! Good times, lots of laughs...and most important great friends! I know I sound like a sap, but I consider myself blessed to have had such a great group of people to hang around with all these years. Not many people can say they've had the same friends since they were a teenager!:)

Well, that's enough for one day folks! On to bigger and better things...till next time,

Lissy :)

Family Get Together At Nan's

2006-09-04T15:36:00.000-03:00

Hi again! I really didn't plan on doing two posts this weekend, but what the heck! Yesterday we were invited to my Nan's house for a family get together. My uncle Tom is currently home (he's been out west for the past couple of years), and my uncle Peter and aunt Jan were also home from Halifax. Tom is a chef, and he was cookin' up a feast for everyone, so we just couldn't pass it up! Plus, it was a chance to see everyone before we all head to Ottawa for Matt and Karine's wedding.

It was a beautiful day, so I roamed around taking lots of pictures, of course :)! This is one of Nan's many flower beds..I wish I could have got a better picture of Peter's new car! It was sandwiched in with all of the other cars, so this is the best I could come up with..it's a 2006 Nissan Maxima, leather interior, man this car has everything! Really nice...Nan is in the process of having a new barn built in the backyard (my uncle's Harry and Tom are constructing it). Here's how it looks so far..they are waiting for the siding to come in.
Here's a pic of Nick's girlfriend Kari and Darcy relaxing on the deck...
Everytime Mitch goes to Nan's, he HAS to bring a toy of some kind with him. This time he chose his "XMOD", which is a really small remote control car. All of the guys were in the driveway taking turns playing with it..too funny! The only sucker who I got a picture of was Nick! LOL...
Here's Mitch (Mr. Serious) and his uncle Nick...
Everyone on the deck, you can see Darcy's legs on the swing, Mom gabbing to Darcy, Mitch showing Peter his car, and a piece of Kari..lol
Nick took this shot of Mom, Kari and I. I finally have a picture of the three of us!
Anyway, we all had a great meal..and some even better desserts! It was a nice break away from housecleaning and yardwork, so thanks for having us Nan! Till next time,

Liss

Labour Day Weekend Is Here Already!

2006-09-03T12:13:00.000-03:00

Hey everybody! It's been a while since I've posted, I've been slacking big time! I was talkin' to Dean this morning on the webcam and after seeing all of his posts (he's been drivin' 'er), I kind of felt guilty. I can't believe that the labour day weekend is here! Summer is almost officially over, man it flew by quick! I'm excited for the fall though, it's my favorite season.

So we've been busy the last week! Still working on the yard, and trying to get Mitch ready for "back to school". He's excited to go back, the last week he's been bored out of his mind! I'll be glad to get him back on a routine, and actually have him go to bed at a half decent hour. He's a nighthawk (just like his Mama!) :)

Mitch has been slacking in the blog department too, so I should mention that his hamster, "Lois Griffin", has now become "Peter Griffin". Ha! Ha! Apparently baby hamsters don't develop all of their "parts" right away. This makes me think that George was probably "Georgette" all along, since he was lacking in that area. Live and learn folks, live and learn!

Today our rabbit Emma died..Mitch discovered her while we were talking to Dean. We certainly aren't having much luck with our animals this year! I'm not sure how long rabbits are supposed to live, but Emma was 4 years old, I think she had a pretty long life. Mitch had his friend Dakota spend the night last night, and the two of them had Emma running around Mitch's bedroom for a few hours. She usually stays in the cage (because of the dogs and Teddy), so they feel guilty because they think they gave her too much exercise. I told them not to worry about it, at least she had one last "hoorah" before she went out. :)

Since animals seem to be my "theme" here, I should mention the squirrel troubles we've been having. Since we put up our bird feeder in the back yard, we have a squirrel who eats ALL of the seeds. He actually opens the feeder up, dumps the seeds on the ground, then proceeds to pig right out! He drives Jake absolutely crazy! He's quite the chubby little fella, here's a shot of him..So, after a week of dealing with the bugger, Darcy decided to get a live trap. We don't want to kill him, just capture him and relocate him somewhere else..lol! So, we set up the trap (filled it with bread and seeds), and put it right underneath the feeder. Here's a picture of him sitting beside the trap..
So, you see the little door that's raised up? The squirrel walked up to the trap, stood up on his hind legs, and pushed the door down! Smart or what? We tried to reset it lots of times, but he just kept closing the door. So, I guess we have a new pet now...he'll make up for the ones we're losing! :)

Anyway, Friday night was pretty mellow. Scott and Kim came over for a few beers, and we decided to have a fire in the backyard. It was really cold that night, but the fire helped keep the chill off. I took a few pictures of them sitting around the fire...
Yesterday was a beautiful day, much warmer than Friday! Darcy spent his day painting both concrete steps and the basement of the house, and building rails on the front step. I stayed in and cleaned ..fun fun! I was thinking, last year on the same weekend everyone was rockin' out at the Stones concert in Moncton, and I was home cleaning! Next year, I have got to do something better! Last night Jana came over and we had another fire outside. It was a much warmer evening, so we stayed out pretty late. It was another mellow night, but we had lots of laughs.

So, that's about it! I think I've raved on long enough. Today Darcy is putting sod out front beside the new step, and I get to finish cleaning...I'm procrastinating! I took a few pictures of the step this morning, so I figured I'd put them on....

I can't wait to get the siding on the front of the house! That'll be this coming weekend...I'll probably post more then! Take care everyone! Hope you all enjoy your long weekend!

Liss

Canoe Trip on The Tobique River - Friday

2006-08-21T20:12:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone! This past weekend Darcy and I took a trip with Mary and Chris to Plaster Rock. We stayed at "Chappell's Campground" (which is a very nice place), and took a canoe trip down the Tobique River. I have to say, the Tobique is the nicest, cleanest river I have ever seen. We had such a blast the whole weekend and met some very interesting people!

We arrived at our site around 7:30pm. We had lots of sites to pick from, and we could have camped right along the river bank like all of these people.. But, we chose to go further away into the corner of the field..that way we wouldn't be disturbing our neighbours..heh heh! It didn't take long to set up camp..luckily Mary loaned us her little tent (ours is HUGE..and we really didn't need one that big). This is taken right before we started setting up camp..
Here's the site we had...
Darcy testing our coleman stove..I think it's working just fine! Check out the look on his face..lol!!!
Here's Mary and Chris's "hotel"..very comfy! The tent was their livingroom..
And the back of the truck was the bedroom. Mary (er..Martha) looks so relaxed!And what would a camping trip be without fireworks? Boring! We didn't have many, but it was still lots of fun!
Later in the evening some people from down the road came up to visit, and they ended up staying to party with us for a few hours. They were from Perth, and were a very friendly bunch. I got a group shot of everybody..from L to R is Derek, his girlfriend Jennifer, Mr. Brown, Mary, Chris and Darcy. Just look at Chris! What a laugh! (inside joke: I thought Darcy was supposed to be Stuart!)
We had a great night! The sky was clear and I got to see more stars than I've ever seen before! I actually left everybody at one point and went out to sit in the middle of the field so I could get a better view. I obviously appreciated much more than anyone else! Oh well..they don't know what they missed, because it was just so awesome.

Overall it wasn't too late of a night. We all knew the next day would be a very long one (which is absolutely was!). Good thing we didn't go too overboard or it could have ruined the canoe run, which was so much fun! Read on to the next entry for Saturday!

Later,

Liss

Canoe Trip On The Tobique - Saturday

2006-08-21T16:28:00.000-03:00

Howdie! Time to continue on with Saturday's events! Very early that morning, (somewhere around 6:00am)we woke up at Mary's request to see a deer in our campsite. Mary was standing there feeding her some bread. Unfortunately I could barely open my eyes let alone find my camera so I didn't get a picture. I did manage to get some later, since the deer figured out where to come for food and made many more appearances.

Mary, a.k.a "Martha" cooked up a huge breakfast and we all started packing our canoeing gear. Chris went to the gate to arrange for our pick-up (we had previously paid 10 bucks/canoe for them to drop us off about 1/2 hour down the road)..but there was nobody there! We were anxious to leave, and worried about the impending rain later that day. We decided to ask our new buddy Derek if he'd give us a lift..he happily obliged.

So we loaded on our canoes and piled in the back of Derek's truck and we were off. So if any of you have ever seen the movie "Dumb and Dumber" you'd remember the "Mockingbird" song..with all the people in the back of the van? Well, we were in a truck, but we still felt like we were in that movie..what a laugh! We sang that song many times..well, Darcy and I did anyway! About 1/2 hour later we were there!
This picture is a bit crooked, I was trying to turn around without flipping the damn canoe..it was quite an effort! You can see Chris and Mary in the background..
Here's the happy couple..Chris was casting a line. He and Darcy both fished a bit, but there were mostly suckers swimming around so they gave up rather quickly. While we were on the river, I took some video..the quality is not the best and it's pretty loud with the wind blowing..but it works! So, feel free to check them out here, here , and here. And for some video of the ducks we fed you can click here.
Here's the rain on it's way..we worried about it, actually thought about cutting the trip short halfway through..and then said to heck with that! Who cares if we get wet? By this point, the coolers were getting much lighter, so all caution was being thrown to the wind.
We arrived back at the campground around supper time, and we were all in fine form! (As you can imagine!) We decided to eat something, which put everyone in a very blah state, and our paralyzer supply was almost gone. Just when we thought we'd have to crash..in pulls our new buddy Derek! Man, does this guy ever have good timing. He was on his way to the general store for some beer and asked if we needed anything. So we put in our order and in the meantime had another visit from our friendly neighbourhood deer. This time I managed to get a picture!
We also spent a good deal of time setting up tarp town. We knew it was just a matter of time before the rain hit, and we were prepared for it! Mary pulled out the biggest tarp I've ever seen in my life..and we set up a great little shelter. Later on, Derek, Jennifer, Mr. Brown, and another couple (I forget their names), all arrived and we had a fun little party goin' on. Here's a pic of us sittin' around under the tarp..
The best part was the rain didn't last, it only came in spurts. We still had a fire going the whole time (which is the most important part!), and after a couple of hours our company left. Shortly after, Mary and Darcy went beddy-bye..Chris and I decided to venture on down the road to Derek's trailer to join their party. What a time! I won't get into details..but I met a new friend who I like to call "Giggles"..that would be Chris! We didn't get back to our site till around 3:30am, where we found poor Darcy trying to dry out by the fire. The inside of the tent was damp and cold..yuck! Nothing worse than trying to sleep in a wet tent!

Despite being up half the night, we all managed to wake up relatively early to pack up and hit the road. No pictures from Sunday..put it this way, the Plaster Rock was a rough ride home, Thank God for gravol!

Till next time,

Lissy

Tearin' Off The Porch

2006-08-17T18:25:00.000-03:00

Howdie! Figured I'd do a quick post to get you all up-to-snuff on what we've been up to. The past two days we've been tearing the front porch off of the house, and what a gross job it's been. The wood was so completely rotten, black and stinky! It's hard to believe that nobody has fallen through that thing!

Tuesday night the roof and posts were taken down, then all of the wood was put in the truck and trailer and Darcy and Mitch hauled it up to the camp. I stayed behind and picked up shingles and garbage..fun fun! Here's what the front looked like that night ..Yesterday Darcy tore the step off, which really sucked whenever we had to get in the house! The dogs especially had a rough time, poor Kate took a nose-dive right out the front door and got a faceful of sand. Can't wait to get that deck-door!

Anyway, after the wood was loaded in the truck Darcy and I headed 'er for the camp for another wood drop-off. We also had to pick up our camping supplies for our trip this weekend. So, I know this is not "life at the camp" blog, but I couldn't resist a few camp pics! I miss that place so much!
I can't get over how good the lawn is coming in up there, and how green it looks!
And I had to get a pic of the huge woodpile! This is for our "ceremonial porch burning" which will take place next weekend (see Coll..you gotta come!) It should be a great fire! LOL
So, after we unloaded all the wood, and grabbed our camping gear we headed back out to that awful highway. Just as we were cruising along a corner, and going downhill, we had to hit the brakes to avoid this...
How ridiculous is that? The ambulance was parked right in the middle of the road! We probably shouldn't have been taking pictures, but at least we didn't capture the injured people! That car parked on the side was some guy driving from Quebec who happened upon 4 teenagers who had ditched their car many miles back. He picked them up (one guy was bleeding real bad...major head injuries)..and used his cell to call the ambulance. He then kept driving till he met up with the paramedics, he actually flew past us, but at the time we had no idea what was going on. We ended up sitting there for about 10 minutes until buddy moved his car, by that time we had a line of cars behind us and were waiting to get rear-ended by a transport or something. It was a strange drive home!

When we finally got back (safe and sound), we pulled in the yard to see this...
Poor Teddy! He lost his front porch home, so he was just sitting there chillin' on the only thing left..the concrete step. I laughed but felt quite bad for him too! He's gonna have a hard time adjusting to a much smaller step, guess we'll have to get him acquainted with the deck!

Anyway, that's all for now. We're going away for the weekend with Mary and Chris to a campground on the Tobique River (in Plaster Rock). Apparently it's a beautiful spot, you set up your tents, and they take you down the river where you put in your canoe. Then you canoe back to the campground (it's supposedly a 7-8 hour trip). All I can say is I hope the weather is nice, and that the river is not too challenging since I've only been in a canoe once before! Should be good for a laugh anyway! I'll be bringing my camera along, but not while I'm in the water for obvious reasons. Have a great weekend everyone!

Liss

A BIG Boat on the River...How Exciting!

2006-08-15T16:22:00.000-03:00

Woo hoo! The blogger site is letting me post some pictures! I felt like taking a minor break from our renovation stuff (blog-wise), and showing you guys what all the excitement was on the river today! I got to work this morning and immediately noticed this huge boat, I should say yacht or ship...anchored in the river right in front of the wharf. It stood out like a sore thumb! What a beautiful boat! Anyhew, once I started work, I heard lots of customers talking about who owned it. Apparently it's here from Bermuda, and some people said that it's Sean Connery's..while others are saying it's Alan Jackson's. (I think the Alan Jackson rumour started since the big outdoor country concert is happenin' in Moncton this weekend). You all know how people love to tell stories around here! Heh heh!

So, being the nosebag that I am, I went home to get my camera and binoculars and spent half of my lunch hour on the wharf trying to see who was on the damn boat! Of course, I saw nobody, but I did get some pictures! Here they are..this is just a shot of the wharf, nothing special..The BIG boat...isn't she a beauty?
When I was walking back into work, dodging various bulldozers, trucks, etc..I figured I'd take a few more pics of front street. It's still torn to pieces, but at least they have the new curb in now..If you zoom this one in you'll see that guy staring back at me..he probably thinks I'm trying to take his picture..ha ha!
I can't wait till all of the construction is done! Anyway, that's all for now..I'll let you all know if I ever find out the real owner of the boat! Later,

Liss :)

The Deck is Finished!

2006-08-14T18:48:00.000-03:00

Hello everybody! Can anyone tell me what the heck is wrong with this darn blogger site? I've been sitting here trying to add pictures and I only managed to get three! That really sucks! I figured I'd put up what I have so far, and I can always edit and add more in later on.

So, as most of you know we spent the weekend finishing the deck (I should say Darcy finished the deck!). I'm not great with a cordless drill, so I found other projects. Here's a picture of it completed..I love it so much! The best part is when you are sitting down you still can't see over the fence. :)Here's our firepit..that was my project. We had dug up some old patio stones that were in front of the shed and so I dug a huge round hole, transplanted the sod, then filled it in with crushed rock. After leveling it, I put in the patio stones. Voila!
Here's how the deck looks with the lights Darcy installed along the bottom of it. They are dusk till dawn lights, so they turn on and off automatically. They give just enough light, very subtle.

Unfortunately that's all the pics for now (damn you blogger site!), I still have lots more for another day! We had our deck christening party..kinda! The only people who showed were Kim, Rickey, Michelle, Cleve and family. We couldn't have a fire because it had rained all day and the wood was soaked! We also were forced to take the party inside by 10:30pm because some of us were being too loud! LOL Oh, well! Kim and I had a great time drinking our Banana Popsicle drinks, thanks for the recipe Brian :). They were very tasty! We all had fun regardless, next time Darcy won't be on call!

Oh, our new door is not going to be here till next week now! How ridiculous is that? So, as I'm writing this, Kim is outside watching Darcy tear the front porch off of our house. This should be interesting..I've gotta go see it! More later,

Liss

Still Workin!

2006-08-10T22:39:00.000-03:00

Hi everybody! I'm finally posting...I know, it's been a couple of days which is apparently too long for some people (eh Dean?). Before I get to the pictures I figured I'd fill you in on what we've been up to for the past few days.

Tuesday evening was spent finishing the gate and beginning to dig sod from the side of the house, where the deck is being built. Wednesday we had lumber delivered as soon as I got home from work, (thanks again Mark! lol), and Darcy, Kim and Rickey all arrived shortly after. The four of us and Mitchell carried all of it from the driveway to the backyard, and we continued working till dark. Darcy started building the bottom sections of the deck, while Kim and I dug up sod and started transplanting it along the fence where the lawn was massacred. Rickey helped out with both jobs back and forth as needed..we had a great little system going and got lots done! By the end of the night two bottom sections of deck were completed.

Today we woke up to RAIN..sucky! We figured the night would be a complete waste, and then the sun came out at about 6:30. Kim came up to help out, and unfortunately I wasn't much help at all! I'm so freakin' sore! Now I know that everyone is sore (Darcy!)..but I am just a whiner! So I did minimal work tonight, mostly held boards while Darcy leveled them. Kim brought many loads of crushed rock (which was dumped in our driveway), to our backyard. She created a nice little path that runs from the gate entry right down toward the firepit. It looks really nice! Thanks Kim! Darcy managed to put the next two sections of the deck-bottom on, so we're good to go for deck building this weekend..woo hoo! The weather is not supposed to be too bad, hopefully it will cooperate. Our door for the kitchen is on order, but won't be in till next week, so that'll be Monday's project. The deck is gonna come first after all.

Anyway, here's a few pictures I took tonight. This is the gate..a view from the driveway. I'm glad we decided to keep the gate relatively high, you still can't see too much into the backyard.This is an inside view of the gate, the picture is a little blurry, but you can still appreciate the fine craftsmanship! LOL

By the way, since the gate has been added our dogs can now run free in the backyard. It's great for us and them! Here's a quick video of the three of them running around for the first time...they are quite excited! Check it out right here!
Here's the bottom two sections of deck, Darcy is busy working away on section three. You can see the deck blocks on the grass, which gives an idea of how far out the deck will extend. It's going to measure 16ft by 20ft. We decided to build the deck low, for privacy reasons, and we'll just build steps down from the door onto the deck. We're putting a railing all around it..and pretty soon we'll have to buy patio furniture. I wanted to take a picture of the work that Kim and I did..I'll try to explain. All along the fence was crushed rock, it looked really gross! The first bit of grass closest to me in this picture is all transplanted sod, and the rest we covered with topsoil that we dug up from under the deck. I wish we didn't run out of sod, but we can always buy some grass seed!
Here's Darcy and Kim working away..while I'm running around taking pictures! I'm savin' myself for this weekend's work, honestly guys!
Darcy playing peek-a-boo!
Later in the evening, just before we were ready to come in for the night, we had the coolest sunset ever! I had already put the camera away, but decided to run in and take a few shots. Lots of really cool clouds, and the pictures are really neat! I couldn't resist adding in a couple of them...check out those colors! :)
And what would a sunset be without our bridge? Not the same! I tried to take this from the corner of the yard, and had to zoom in lots to avoid our neighbor's yard, so forgive me if it's a bit blurry. Wish I had a tripod!
So that's it for tonight folks! Time to hit the sack and get all rested up for this weekend's work. I can't wait to christen my firepit and sit on my patio with a nice cold beer! Cheers!

Liss

Finishing Touches! - Sunday and Monday

2006-08-07T20:00:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone! This is my last entry for today..I'm ready to hit the sack and it's only 8:00! Guess I'll just get on with it!

Sunday morning we woke up early once again and went out to complete the fence. It actually didn't take too long, and it was a beautiful day! Rickey stopped by for a quick visit, we had a little break and then continued working. We decided to start the fence section between the shed and the house. Unfortunately we couldn't build the gate since we had no hinges and all the stores were closed yesterday and today. The other unfortunate thing was the hole for the post had to be dug by hand (by yours truly), 4 feet down. Luckily it's really sandy so it didn't take very long to dig, and I had the cement mixed and poured in no time. We wanted to get it done early so it would set in time to build the fence that night.

We also had a huge pile of fill that was dumped in the middle of the yard by a bucket loader, and it was time to get it off the lawn and spread out in front of the fence. All that shovelling is such hard work, but it's so worth it in the end! The back corner of the yard was another major concern. As you can see below, the fence stops right before it, leaving a gap between it and the chain link fence. Plus there was lots of junk in front of those trees, so we had to figure out how to block it in and make it look half decent! Here's the before shot...And here's how it looked after! At least now the dogs won't be able to jump over to the neighbours yard. Plus it looks much cleaner, now we just need some topsoil and grass seed!
Here's the little firepit or should I say firebowl, that we bought. I'm very anxious to have a little fire right in my own backyard, but we've been too tired at night to even bother yet. Now that says something doesn't it? LOL
I know that this is a boring picture but I wanted to explain how uneven the yard is. This is how deep we have to dig to remove sod and earth from the side of the house where the deck is going to go. It's gonna be lots of digging, but the deck has to be on somewhat level ground. Darcy started digging some of it up today, until the rain started. That'll be another job for tomorrow or the next day depending on the weather.
Here's Darcy trimming up my Christmas tree....
And Darcy planning on burning the bows that he cut off...he didn't really, but you could tell the thought crossed his mind!
Here's the fence we built last night. I love how it blocks the view to the backyard! The space beside it is where the gate will be. That's tomorrow's job!

So that's it so far! I think we did pretty good for one weekend! We got a lot further than we estimated, so that's a bonus! Tomorrow night we have to build the gate, work on levelling the ground and buy a door for the kitchen. We may even start cutting out the kitchen window! We want the door in before we build the deck..and that's another job for later in the week and the coming weekend. So, I'll keep posting each time something new happens. Chow for now,

Liss

Fence Building Day! - Saturday

2006-08-07T16:52:00.000-03:00

Well, I must say that we could not have begged for better weather this weekend! It was sunny and breezy, not a bit muggy! Perfect building weather! Saturday morning we were up bright and early, Rickey headed home and we headed to the yard (after lots of coffee) :). Darcy and I worked on our own till about lunch time, then Cleve and Mom came to help for the afternoon. We had LOTS of visitors, friends, family, neighbours, people just driving by...very crazy! I added a few "visitor shots"; here's Cleve's daughter Tiffany holding Jody and Melanie's little guy Ben. Very cute!This picture cracks me up! Dad, Jody and Cleve "supervising" while Darcy cuts the arc shape at the top of the fence..good job guys!
Here's Melanie, Mom, Tiffany and Ben...Marlee (Michelle's daughter)was supposed to be in the picture too but she ran out of it just in time!
Here's Darcy levelling a bottom board..that's Trenton on his bike in the background. We had sent all four kids (Mitch, Trenton, Tiffany and Marlee) to the town pool for the day, but they came back early. They weren't too bad though, except for the water fight they had inside the house..GRRR!!
With me being the only person taking pictures, I felt left out because I'm in NONE! Believe me..I was there! LOL So being the moron that I am, I decided to take a picture of myself..:) Dig that sunburned face! Luckily it's the only place I got burned!
Here's Darcy going with a load of fill for the bottom of the fence. We had to put down lots of fill because walking in our back yard is similar to a space walk on the freakin' moon! It's so uneven! We're filling in as many low points as we can and then we're going to cover it up with topsoil.
I decided to take a walk next door to see how our fence looks from their viewpoint..poor buggers! They are perfectly OK with it though, we discussed it with them long before, but it still must suck for them!
I took this picture standing in the back corner of the yard by the shed. I think it gives a good effect of how freakin' big our yard really is..not to mention our fence! Ha ha! I never realized how much space we have back there until now. I LOVE it!
We worked SO hard all day Saturday! All of our company was gone by 5:30, Mitch went to spend the night at Trenton's so Darcy and I worked till dark and finished the whole fence except for two partitions. I wanted to finish it all..but I was so damn tired and sore that I just couldn't! Plus, it was getting dark, so we called 'er a night and decided to finish up the next day. So, now I'll have to do another post for Sunday and today! I think I'll do it right now and get it over with, that way I'll be all caught up before tomorrow's events. Later,

Liss

Setting Fence Posts - Friday

2006-08-07T15:16:00.000-03:00

Howdie folks! It's been a couple of days since my last post..so much for my plans to post everyday! We've been very busy, so I'm backtracking to Friday, and then I'll continue on from there. Everything will be in reverse, but oh well!

So, Friday was the "setting fence post" day. As soon as we got off work, Rickey arrived to help out, and he, Darcy and I began the process. First levelling the post, then strapping it into place, then mixing many wheelbarrows full of cement to fill it. Each hole took 3 wheelbarrows on average..lots of work! Man those things were heavy! It was slow going, and after a bit Cleve and Michelle drove by. Cleve yells out, "Do ya want some help?"...betcha he's sorry he asked that question. LOL!! So, Cleve came over at about 5:00, just as Rickey was heading home for supper and Darcy and I made a run for some beer. (We had to keep our worker bees happy!). Once we got in the groove, things went much better! Darcy and Mitch started levelling the posts and putting them in, while Cleve, Rickey and I mixed the cement and dumped it in the holes. We worked straight out and had it all finished by 8:30 pm. We were impressed that there was still daylight left! Here's some pics..

This picture was actually taken on Saturday morning, just a shot of what things looked like before we started on the fence...
After all of our hard work, we came in to get cleaned up and relax. Cleve headed home early because he had to work the next morning. A bit later, Aaron and Jana both arrived and were in the mood to play some tunes. Rickey spent the night here, no way he could drive home..and Darcy hit the hay early (he was on call). Unfortunately he ended up being called in to work twice that night, so he would have been better off staying awake with the rest of us loons. Anyway, despite being totally exhausted and sore, we managed to stay up till 2:00am. Not too bad! We didn't want it to be too late since we planned on waking up very early to start on the best part, the fence!
So, that's it for Friday's events. I'll post Saturday's fence building in a bit! Stay tuned!

Liss

Drillin' Some Holes!

2006-08-03T18:20:00.000-03:00

Hey everybody! I'm happy to say that everything is still going according to plan..so far! (I should knock on wood or something!) Our lumber was delivered at 4:00, right on time! Thanks to our buddy Mark and of course Kent's..heh heh. Here's a shot of the lumber and bags of concrete..Darcy rented quite the weapon to drill the post holes with..take a look at this bad boy..We know Scott is planning to leave tomorrow for a peaceful week's vacation at the camp. That's why he got sucked in to helping out tonight...thanks Scott! It's the suckiest job of all, but somebody's gotta do it!
Another shot of them drilling away..talk about slowing down traffic on the corner! Everybody was trying to see what the hell they were up to..it was too funny. Just makes me want that fence even more!
These are the holes on one side, all finished! This side didn't take too long, the other side is another story! They're still out there trying to dig through bricks at the moment...you'd be surprised at some of the stuff you find that far down in the ground! And "Here Comes Trouble"...heh heh! That shirt was meant for you Mitch!
Well I think that's about it for today's events. Tomorrow we have to set the posts in cement..I actually have to help out with that part, so I'll probably have to rely on Mitch for pictures. Should be quite interesting I'm sure! Later,

Liss

Some "Before" Pictures

2006-08-02T19:51:00.000-03:00

Hello again everyone! I figured I'd better listen to ol' Matt and take some pictures before Darcy goes crazy with this whole fence-building project. Some I had already taken, so here they are!

This is a view of our front porch, which we'll be saying "bye-bye" to very shortly. It's so old now, starting to sink in the ground. We'll be tearing it right off and replacing it with a new step, (not as large), and some nice landscaping along the front. I can't wait, it's such an eyesore right now.

Here's a view of the backyard, with the old fence still intact. Notice the side of the house, very plain! There will soon be a deck there, and the window closest to where I'm standing (the kitchen window), is going to become a door leading out onto the deck.

Here's a view of the walkway into the backyard, we are building a gate attached from the house to the shed. That way the whole yard will be completely enclosed, we get privacy and our dogs get full run of the backyard.

Another view of the yard, with that old ugly fence! UGH!

Darcy decided to cut down one of the trees, it was in the way of where we want the fence to go. You can see Darcy in the middle of the branches...

Here's the tree much later on.....very interesting huh? LOL

Tonight Darcy brought a torch home and cut down the old metal fence. Here's a view from the street. I'm so glad it's gone! That huge pile of sand was dropped off today. It's gonna be used for mixing concrete. Tonight, after the fence was tore down, Darcy, Kim and I walked around the yard with a measuring tape and bright orange spray paint. Darcy marked the spots where he and Scott will dig the fence post holes tomorrow night. Friday we'll set the posts in concrete, and Saturday will be deck-building day! Can't wait! Stay tuned ...

Liss

Got Our Building Permit!

2006-08-01T16:29:00.000-03:00

Howdie everyone!

I figured I'd write a quick post to say that after two weeks of legal crap, we finally got our building permit! Yay! Now we will be dedicating the next few weeks to building our new fence and backyard deck. I'm so excited! I'll be posting throughout the process, with lots of before and after shots. I can't wait to have some privacy...living on a busy corner sucks.

I have no pictures from last weekend at Jody and Mel's house. I forgot the camera in the truck, didn't even think about it! We had a great time, (thanks for having all of us over guys!), hopefully we'll do it again soon. Maybe next time the fire can be in my backyard (we just bought one of those copper firepit thingy's). Yet another thing to be excited over..you all know how much I love campfires! :)

Last night Mitch and I went to the movies, we saw "Monster House". This wasn't a movie I would have picked, I really wanted to see Pirates of the Caribbean (gotta LOVE Johnny Depp!!). But it was Mitch's choice, so away we went! I have to say, I really enjoyed it! It's a great movie, really funny, and one of the main characters voices was Steve Buscemi, (which was a bonus). If anyone gets a chance, check it out sometime!

Well, gotta run! More on the home renovations another day.....

Liss

Changes on the 'Chi

2006-07-29T17:27:00.000-03:00

Well guys, this is gonna be a short post, we're getting ready to head over to a party at Jody and Mel's. I just wanted to show ya's some changes happenin' here..for those of you who no longer reside along our beautiful river! :)

So, I'll start with the "Historic Water Street Business District", as they all refer to it now, it's being torn apart BIG TIME! This is the view of Water Street, ain't that pretty?
Here's a view of Ben's..along with the huge crater that was once a road. Imagine the fun I have walking to work everyday!
Another view, notice the Ambassador building is now tore down? Lots of great memories from that place...but it was a major eyesore!
For those of you who didn't know, we have a transit bus now! It's only costs a toonie to go around the whole river (complete with bus stops). Told ya so Matt...:)
After taking these pics, I decided I should take a few of the Douglastown "Power Center"...lol...that's honestly what it's called! This is the new Boston Pizza, which is on one side of the road (there's also another strip mall beside it but the photo didn't turn out).
This is a pic of the other side of the street, across from Boston Pizza. It's a strip mall with Staples, and lots of other stores. They are continuing to build a lot more, I'm still not sure what is coming..but there's lots of rumours about a Home Depot.
On the way home that night I snapped a few shots while crossing the bridge. They all turned out blurry of course, but I really liked this one anyway!

So that's it for now...company is arriving for the pre-party before we head over to Jody and Mel's bonfire. Hmmm..maybe I'll get some pics over there! Till next time,

Liss

T.G.I.F!!!!!!!

2006-07-14T08:04:00.000-03:00

AAAAHHHHH! Friday has finally arrived! I'ts Irish Fest here on the river this weekend, lots of tourists, hustle and bustle, and guess who's gonna miss it all? I'm heading to a much better place, the camp! Woo hoo! Can't wait to sit down in front of a nice campfire...
Some of you may remember me mentioning the "girl's night" that I had planned for Saturday night. Before I get further with this story, I must say that this was not MY idea. I admit to making the plans, but only because so many of the girls had talked about it for so long. Anyway, after inviting somewhere around 12 of my closest pals, only 4 have agreed to come. VERY disappointing! So, the plans have been officially trashed! It is now come one, come all..should be a great time regardless! Not sure where we'll fit everyone who is planning to come, but it'll all work itself out. The moral of the story is..don't try to plan a party with a group of women only! I know I'll never do it again!

Anyway, I'll post the camp trip on the camp blog, minus pictures...Darcy will be keeping the camera with him all week. The pics will have to come later on! Well, time to head off to work, hopefully the day will fly by! Till next time,

Liss

Back To The Grind!!!

2006-07-08T14:18:00.000-03:00

Well I must say that this has been one tough week for me! It's always rough getting back to the grind after a week of vacation. Luckily, the time flew by really fast and it's already the weekend again, it's hard to believe that a week ago I was going to the fireworks at Parliament Hill! I have a feeling that this summer is going to fly by much too quickly..

Mitch had a really hard time adjusting when he got home. Our first day back, and he's saying, "What do we have planned for today Mom?". The trip to Ottawa got him in "planning mode", so now he feels that every minute he has to have something to look forward to. He was quite disappointed to learn that I was going to work, so disappointed that he flew the coop to Dad and Donna's house for a couple of nights. Darcy and I were too boring for him! I figured since he was gone, I would just relax and get caught up on some much needed sleep. Things don't always work out that way though, instead we visited lots of people, and had lots of visitors. But that was nice too! Our first two days home were spent showing our parents pictures and video from our trip..plus a couple of visits down to Dad's to drop Mitch off and pick him up again. Colleen, Danny and Daniel had been home for the long weekend, so they stopped in on Monday before heading back to Gornish. Daniel is growing like a weed, and we got to see him eat pears for the first time..too cute!

A couple of nights Kim stopped by, and Rickey was here once too..we hadn't seen him in ages! Rickey is planning a trip to Ottawa in a couple of weeks, so he wanted to see how we made out, what the drive was like, and so on. Melanie stopped in with Benjamin for a quick visit..that reminds me, she had sent us a really cute picture of him...
While we were gone away, our friends Michelle and Cleve moved into their new home..congratulations guys! I wish we could have helped you out with the moving, Sorry! They are both really excited, and they have a really nice place, in a quiet subdivision, very private! I'm so jealous! Heh heh! We were invited over to their house last night, unfortunately I just didn't have an ounce of energy left! I think it's a good thing that I have no plans for this weekend..maybe next time guys! I ended up sitting here last night talking to Coll and Dan on MSN, and she sent me some new photos of Daniel, and this one of all the Knowles boys (Danny's brother's Dave and Troy, Danny, Danny's Dad Brian, and of course Daniel). I think it's a really nice pic, I find Daniel looks so much like Troy!

On a sadder note, Mitchell's hamster George died on Thursday, poor George! Mitch was pretty upset about the whole thing, it was the first time he had a pet that was just his. He and Darcy buried him in the backyard, and now Mitch is already thinking about what kind of pet he'd like next. He doesn't want another hamster because they don't live long enough. We told him to wait a while, the last thing we need right now is another creature..as most of you already know! LOL

We talked to Dean today on the webcam, he's getting really excited to come home this fall. So are we Dean..we miss ya buddy! And Jade, we miss you too! I was so glad to hear that she decided to come home with him, originally she was going to stay in Korea. They'll be home for a couple of months, during hunting season..go figure! I don't mean to wish my summer away, but I can't wait!

And speaking of "can't wait"..I'm so excited for this coming weekend! I'm going to the camp, woo hoo! Do I ever miss that place! I'm having a "girls night" on Saturday night up there, it should be a blast! All of us are heading up on Friday, and on Sat. Darcy, Mitch and Chris are heading off into the wilderness to sleep in a tent and go salmon fishing. Darcy is starting off another week of vacation...lucky bugger! So, he and Mitch are staying up there all week long..I get to come back home and work! :(

Oh well, I guess I can't have it all! I don't have anymore vacation days until October, (Matt's wedding, and a camp trip with Dean and Jade)..and then of course Christmas! I love having Christmas off, and this year Matt and Karine are coming home too, so that's a bonus! Anyway, the camp trip will be posted on the life at the camp blog..so you can check out the details there! Oh, and if you've read the blog from our Ottawa trip, check out the two new videos I added! That's enough typing for one day! Till next time,

Liss

Ottawa Trip - Saturday June 24th

2006-07-04T21:54:00.000-03:00

So here's the first of many entries on our trip to Ottawa to visit my brother Matt and his fiancee Karine.

We arrived at 4:30am ON. time, and immediately hit the sack! We were so exhausted! Saturday morning we awoke to an awesome breakfast that Matt cooked for us, his hashbrowns are the best! We then got cleaned up and hit various stores to pick up supplies for the BBQ/party that was going to take place that evening.

Karines parents arrived around 3:00, they were both driving bikes..Very cool! They are really great people, and we were so glad to finally get the chance to meet them. Soon after, their friends Jamie and Stephanie came over with Stephanie's parents. They are all from NF, and are very friendly people. Stephanie was very pregnant, due any day.. (we've since learned she had her baby the day we left..congratulations Jamie and Stephanie!). So we all had a wonderful meal..
And relaxed on Matt and Karine's new patio set..Here's a pic of Jamie and Stephanie...the proud parents-to-be!Here's a really nice pic of Matt and Karine...Later in the evening lots more people arrived, and that's when the party got started!
We met some of their friends;Jason, Tyson, Tony (who we've known for years), and Matt even surprised us by inviting our friend Brian over...(well Darcy had already guessed the surprise-as usual) heh heh. Anyway, we all had a really great time, maybe a little too much fun actually! Our little party got interrupted by security people, and we were forced to take the party indoors. We still had a great time...good memories! Read on..

Liss

Ottawa Trip - Sunday June 25th

2006-07-04T21:37:00.000-03:00

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day, we were all recovering from the backyard party the night before. We got our wake up call at 9:30, we were all heading out for breakfast with Jamie, Stephanie and her parents. After eating, we headed home, got cleaned up and took a little tour around with Matt to see some sights of Kanata. These pictures are a couple that we took of Matt and Karine's front and backyard, very pretty!

These were some geese that we saw near the golf course, which is located beside the hotel where Matt and Karine will be getting married in October. Here is some video of the geese..click here Above is a pic of the hotel, and we also went to Scotiabank Place, formerly the Corel Center. It's the home of the Ottawa Senators, and it's a gigantic building. Too bad we couldn't go inside..

Not much more to say really, we mostly vegged out that day, we were still very tired from our trip up. Read on...

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Monday June 26th

2006-07-04T21:11:00.000-03:00

Monday was a sunny beautiful day, so we decided to spend the day downtown, touring Parliament, the downtown market, and lots of other stuff. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves..This is the Parliament Buildings up close, notice the RCMP are right in front..
Another view of the Parliament, overlooking the Rideau Canal, what a gorgeous place..
Darcy lighting the cannon..heh heh..
Here's the eternal flame, which was no longer eternal, it wasn't lit! What's the chances of that?
Darcy in front of the War Memorial, and the tomb of the unknown soldier, it was the place he wanted to see the most.
Here's the downtown market, lots of cool stuff here! Mitch spent almost every cent he had, but he got lots of stuff to show for it.
After touring around all day we went to an Irish Pub for supper, it's called the Hart and Crown. A really nice place, Matt and Karine enjoy going there. We ate outside on the patio and ordered fish and chips, Darcy had to take a picture of his plate, it was the biggest portions of fish we ever saw!

Overall, we had a really great day, lots of sightseeing and great pictures. Too bad I couldn't fit them all on here! Read on..

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Tuesday June 27th

2006-07-04T20:35:00.000-03:00

Tuesday was Mitch's favorite day of all on our trip. We visited the Aviation Museum, and if you know Mitch at all, you know how much he loves planes. The museum was so huge, and there were many makes and models of planes, helicopters, etc. We took about 80 pictures inside the building, but of course I'm only limited to a couple on here..This is a piece of one of the Avro Arrows that were destroyed. Mitch couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it, he didn't believe Matt when he told him it would be there. Mitch had built a model of this plane last year, so it was very special for him to see the real thing.
Here's Matt and Mitch pretending to fly a plane, this picture makes me laugh everytime I see it! Too funny!
Here's Mitch in front of a P-40 plane...

After our tour through the Aviation Museum, we headed off to the Science and Technology Museum. It was extremely cool, lots of interactive stuff, and interesting things to see. We went into a thing called the "Crazy Kitchen", where the floor is crooked, the walls and lines are painted at wierd angles, and it makes you really dizzy. We laughed so hard..then we were off to the simulator, which was a space mission to Mars. I won't get into the details of the ride, all I can say is we had a "very successful mission"..and we couldn't stop laughing about it for the rest of the day.

We did see lots of other stuff too..
Here's Matt and Karine pretending to be hockey players...look at Karine's face! Heh heh!
Mitch standing beside an old fashioned steam train, we actually got to go inside of it too! Very cool!
And this is a pic of the first ski-doo ever made..by Bombardier, pretty wierd looking.

I wish I had more room for all the pictures we have of these two places, but I'd be here for days posting. They were both really interesting places to visit. After our tour, we tried some Vietnamese food for the first time, in a restaurant called the Golden Turtle. It was really good, not at all what I expected. Mitch was most impressed with the chopsticks, and asked if he could keep his. Our waiter said, "If you put them in your pocket when you leave, I won't see anything". So, Mitch put them in his pocket, and then sat on them when he got back in the car. They snapped right in half! Doh! Oh well, it was good for a laugh anyway! A great day had by all..read on..

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Wednesday June 28th

2006-07-04T20:09:00.000-03:00

Wednesday we started out early and went shopping. We went to IKEA, my favorite store..Darcy and Mitch weren't too impressed by it. After that, we went to Lee Valley, which is Darcy's favorite place, and we had to go there to pick up a chisel for his Dad. It was a pretty cool spot..here's a pic of the building..After that we decided to go somewhere for lunch and Matt and Karine really wanted us to try schwarma's, which are a type of lebanese food. So off to Mr. Shwarma we went, and we all really enjoyed them. They kind of reminded us of donairs, except with chicken or beef, and instead of donair sauce, it's a garlic sauce. They were very yummy! We then headed for Bayshore Mall, and toured around there for the rest of the afternoon. By supper time, we were all tuckered out and decided to head back to the house to veg out.
Here's "four-eyes" Matt..hamming it up for the camera..
Karine reading her book, by this point we were trying to figure out what movie to watch that night, we were too tired to do much else..
Mitch with his $5 purchase..the last of his money, it was burning a hole in his pocket!
And soon we looked up to see this freaky looking sky..we knew we were in for a downpour. We all headed inside, made some popcorn and watched "Dog Soldiers", which is a really good werewolf movie. It freaked Mitch out, but he insisted on watching it with us. I think we all passed out by midnight..read on..

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Thursday June 29th

2006-07-04T19:23:00.000-03:00

Thursday we had a busy day planned in the city of Hull, Quebec. We left the house around lunch..after eating Karine's delicious pancake breakfast. We planned to spend the afternoon at the Canadian War Museum, and then grab a bite to eat before meeting Brian at the Imax Theatre at 6:00. So, we got to the War Museum, and found a free parking space for 2 hours, which we figured would be lots of time. Little did we know, that place is HUGE..and all the displays have lots of reading. It would take about 5 hours to go through it properly, so we were a bit rushed. We managed to get free admission inside, because Karine agreed to fill out a survey beforehand, that saved us $50..woo hoo..good job Karine! Anyway, the museum was totally amazing, lots of interesting things, but overall there was a feeling of sadness. Which is understandable, considering it is a War Museum. Anyway, I'm only putting in a couple of pics from there, we have lots, but these are my favorite ones..this is Adolf Hitler's actual car, it gave me the chills to be standing beside it, very creepy..And this is a place they have to simulate the trenches in World War I, you walk through and there are soldiers lying on the ground, guns laying around, really creepy, Mitchell jumped in the picture and he stands out like a sore thumb, so bright in the dreary background..
So we rushed out of there just under our two hour time limit, and headed off on the great search for a place to eat in Quebec. We were all very hungry by this point and couldn't find a place to eat. We stopped at one place, which was only a cafe, left there to go to Henri Burger, it was closed. Then we got stuck in extremely slow traffic, and tempers were flaring. That's when we saw a "Mike's" Restaurant, and after waiting about 20 minutes in traffic finally got there. We all had a great meal, and had lots of time to make it back to the Civilization Museum which is where the Imax is. Of course we had to make a stop at a gas station to buy some cheap Quebec beer first, and then we were off.

The Civilization Museum is a beautiful place! It's directly across the river from the Parliament Buildings, and the building itself is very unique. The have gorgeous scenery, a zen garden, water fountain, parks, the museum..so much to look at. We parked in the underground garage and then went inside to find Brian. We didn't see him right away so went outside to get some pics..Darcy and I by the water fountain with the Parliament Buildings in the backdrop.This pic was taken inside of the museum, it's the ticket booth for the Imax, but just look at the size of that canoe!
This is taken outside the building..the architecture is so gorgeous! So after wandering around for a while, we finally found Brian and he brought Brent with him! That was cool because we hadn't seen Brent in four or five years, a really long time, and it was great to see him again.

We soon discovered that the show we had planned on seeing, "Kilamanjaro" (I think I'm spelling that wrong, oh well), in the dome, was not playing till 8:00pm, and it was only 6:00pm. There was another show playing in the Imax, but not the dome, it was called "Greece", and it was starting at 7:00pm. After lots of discussion, and Darcy blaming the showtime dilemma on Brian , and Brian blaming Darcy for wanting to drink cheap Quebec beer...we decided to see the earlier show. Mitch was not too impressed, he really wanted to see the dome, so did I..but oh well! We were all pretty tired out from our long day, and the thought of two more hours of waiting seemed unbearable to some. Especially those who felt like drinking beer (right Darcy)! Anyway, the show was pretty cool, I felt a bit sick during certain points..it's so freaky! All I had to do was close my eyes, and take a deep breath..then the sickening feeling would pass. Very cool experience overall, next time I want to see the dome though!

After the show, Brent and Brian decided to come over to Matt and Karine's for a couple of beers. They both had to work the next day, so it was an early night, they left around 11:30, the rest of us hit the hay by 12:00. Read on...

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Friday June 30th

2006-07-04T18:09:00.000-03:00

We all decided to take Friday as our one and only day of rest, we were all joking about going to visit the "museum of museums". We had our fill of that, and wanted a day to veg out, and veg out we did. That day Matt, Karine and Mitch watched the soccer game, Darcy and I msn'd Kim, and I read part of a book (Matt's book which I brought home with me..sorry Matt, I will give it back..). Darcy managed to get some pics of a morning dove's nest which is in the tree in Matt and Karine's backyard..Mitch played around outside with his new super-sized squirt gun..And later in the day, we decided to have another BBQ outside. While cooking up a storm, Matt was on the phone calling a bunch of people and inviting them over for a party, our last big hoorah before we left Ottawa.Tony and Cheryl came over, Cheryl was tired so only stayed for a couple of hours. Brian showed up around 7:00, and then later on a couple of Matt's neighbours came over too. Darcy kept asking Matt to invite his friends Jeff and Kelly-Anne, because they have a dog..Darcy was really missing Jake by this point. They did come over, and they brought Toby, who is a very cute and very wild Boxer.

The night continued on, and despite being worried about noise complaints, we all still stayed outside..until the wee hours of daylight! We even had the guitar out for awhile, tried to play a few tunes, but nobody could remember the words..heh heh! Probably for the best, since it was quite noisy. We had lots of laughs, a great night had by all. I'm including this pic of Karine laying on the lawn laughing her ass off! It's too funny! Sorry Karine!
Anyway, we didn't get any more pics that night, which was definately a good thing..but we sure had a pile of fun, and paid for it the next day! Read on...

Lissy

Happy Canada Day!

2006-07-03T21:02:00.000-03:00

Happy Canada Day! The majority of us didn't begin the day till almost noon, since we hadn't gone to bed till daylight the night before. Mitch woke up early in the morning and got sick..great way to start the day. Little did he know, he was starting a trend, unfortunately I also spent my day in the same state. No pity for me though, mine was self-induced. So with only a few measly hours of sleep, we had to get outside and clean up the HUGE amount of bottles in the backyard, plus cups, garbage, what a mess! For some reason Brian and I got stuck with the job, Darcy helped out near the end. Then, it was off to Mickey D's for breakfast, which turned out to be lunch since it was way too late for McMuffins. That didn't sit so great, so we spent the rest of the day lazing around, trying to nap, and eating gravol..fun fun! Matt and Karine layed downstairs watching the soccer game, Darcy was up and down like a yo-yo, and Mitch, Brian and I sat upstairs listening to the "Footloose" soundtrack...great times! It was actually quite funny...lots of laughs.

Because of the state we were all in, and the impending rain, we decided not to head downtown early for the Canada Day Events. We figured we'd wait till later, and drive down rather than take a bus, then just go to the fireworks. We never left the house till 8:30pm, with the fireworks starting at 10:00. We somehow managed to find a parking spot downtown, totally flukey, and then walked to the hotel where Brent and Brian live. We went up to see their place, get a drink of water, and get ready to head out for the show. They only live about a 10 minute walk from parliament, which was a bonus. We also got to meet Aggie (not sure if I'm spelling this right or not..forgive me)...this is a picture of him sitting on Mitchell's lap...He's a ventriloquist puppet that Brent and Brian bought on ebay..too funny! We'd heard a few great stories about him, so we were really glad to get the chance to meet him..heh heh!

So, we headed on our walk to parliament, and the downtown was CRAZY! Lots of happy drunk people, high-fiving, yelling "Happy Canada Day", waving flags, all that jazz. It was really cool! I held Mitch's hand pretty much the whole time, I was so scared of losing him in the crowd. The fireworks were amazing, extremely cool..here's some pics..

We also have lots of videos, here are a couple of cool ones. Check them out here and here... After the fireworks, we headed back to the hotel, we all needed a bathroom break and a drink of water before heading back to Kanata. Luckily, Brent was there, he had just got home from work. It was good that we had a chance to say goodbye to both of the Dickson boys before we left. So, with goodbyes said, we headed back to Matt and Karine's where we watched our firework videos, and then hit the hay at 12:00pm. We had a severe thunder and lightening storm, so we never got to sleep until 1:00am, then the dreadful alarm went off at 3:00am..time to get up and head for Miramichi! UGH!

It rained the whole trip home, right through all 3 provinces, what's the chances of that? The traffic was great, since we picked such a wierd driving time, so that was a good thing. Mitch got sick in the car just outside of Montreal, sorry Nick! Heh heh, we cleaned it up and gave him a gravol, then he slept right till he got home. The drive overall wasn't that bad, just really tiring! Plus, I was sad that our vacation was over, I'm really going to miss Ottawa! It is always so nice to come home though, like they say, there's no place like home! Thank you Matt and Karine for putting up with us for a whole week, and for being such wonderful hosts! It was the funnest vacation I've ever had, never a dull moment! Best of all we so many great memories of each and every day we were there..times we'll never forget! We can never thank you enough for your hospitality..hopefully we can return the favor someday! So, that's all folks! Till next time, Lissy

A Visit From Coll!

2006-06-20T08:45:00.000-03:00

Well it's another beautiful day here..so far. I think they are calling for some showers later on today. We can't complain, it's been nice for so many days...summer is finally here. Last night (Monday), we got a visit from my friend Colleen, and her son Daniel, who is 6 months old. They are home for a couple of days, they just got back from a family vacation to Colleen's brother's house in Oshawa, Ontario. It was Daniel's very first airpline trip..and he handled it like a pro! They had a great trip...and now they are getting ready to set off again to PEI for the upcoming weekend. They are renting a cottage, and making the trek with Coll's husband (Danny)'s family. They should have a great time, hopefully the weather will continue to be nice for them. They leave the same day that we leave for Ottawa, so it was nice to get a visit in between.

Just as I was getting ready to take some pics of Daniel, Darcy was in the process of leaving the driveway for fishing..and of course he took the camera with him. So luckily, Coll recently sent some new pics of Daniel, from June 16th, so I will post those. The pic of Coll and Daniel together is a bit older, but I had no newer ones of the two of them together. Isn't he a cutie pie?

Well, this morning is really flying by...I should go get ready for work. That's all for now, later!
Liss

Happy Father's Day!

2006-06-18T15:35:00.000-03:00

I'll start out by saying "Happy Father's Day" to all the Dad's out there...especially my Dad of course! So, you're probably all wondering why I've started yet another blog..the answer is really quite simple. "Life at the Camp"..is just that..there's lots of other things going on that I'd like to post about, but a lot of the time they aren't relevant to camp life. Believe it or not, we do have a life besides the camp...and we also have friends that are having babies, getting married and all that jazz! These are all things that I'd like to post about...so there you have it!

Anyway, today is Father's Day...and it's a beautiful day! 32 degrees outside, with a nice breeze blowing, and it's not humid and muggy! We've had a really nice weekend, and we deserve it after almost 2 straight weeks of rain. I got to see my Dad this morning; he, my brother Nick and my husband Darcy spent their morning moving the new appliances that Dad bought (a stove and fridge I think). After that, Darcy took off to spend his day fishing in a canoe at the lake, (with Chris-a friend of ours). I can't think of a better way for Darcy to spend his day, it's what he loves best, except for hunting of course!

My son Mitchell and his friend Trenton are upstairs practicing their electric guitars..they are trying to start a band. Lots of racket coming from his room...but they are getting better at it! I'm going to relax for the rest of the day...or maybe not, Kim just arrived. Gotta go and make some plans with her..she's pet-sitting for us next week while we are gone to Ottawa to visit my brother Matt and his fiancee Karine. Later folks! Liss