About Me

My photo
Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

VANCOUVER 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS

Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the 2010 Winter Olympics,
these are some questions people the world over are asking!!!!

Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an
International Tourism Website (frightening, isn't it!)

Obviously the answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked.


Q:I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow?(UK)
A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch
them die.

Q:Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA)
A:Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q:I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto-can I follow the Railroad tracks?
(Sweden)
A:Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q:Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? (Sweden)
A:So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q:It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to contact
for a stuffed Beaver. (Italy)
A:Let's not touch this one.

Q:Are there any ATM's(cash machines) in Canada? Can you send me a list of
them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (UK)
A:What did your last slave die of?

Q:Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada? (USA )
A:A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is
that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is
every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q:Which direction is North in Canada? (USA)
A:Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when you get here and
we'll send the rest of the
directions.

Q:Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (UK)
A:Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q:Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A:Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh
forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in
Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the hippo races. Come
naked.

Q:Do you have perfume in Canada? (Germany)
A:No, WE don't stink.

Q:I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth.
Can you sell it in Canada? (USA)
A:Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q:Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female
population is smaller than the male
population? (Italy)
A:Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q:Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada? (USA)
A:Only at Thanksgiving.

Q:Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round?
(Germany)
A:No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is
illegal.

Q:I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its name.
It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)
A:It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of
anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself
with human urine before you go out walking.

Q:Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A:Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

Friday, December 02, 2005

VANCOUVER BLIZZARD!


Vancouver (Reuters)

Vancouver Blizzard 2005 - Revenge of the Commuters

Chilled Vancouver commuters faced their second day of winter hell today, as an additional one-quarter centimeter of the peculiar white stuff fell, bringing the lower mainland to its knees and causing millions of dollars worth of damage to the marijuana crops. Scientists suspect that the substance is some form of frozen water particles and experts from Saskatchewan are being flown in. With temperatures dipping to the almost but not quite near zero mark, Vancouverites were warned to double insulate their lattes before venturing out.

Vancouver police recommended that people stay inside except for emergencies, such as running out of espresso or biscotti to see them through Vancouver's most terrible storm to date. The local Canadian Tire reported that they had completely sold out of fur-lined sandals.

Drivers were cautioned to put their convertible tops up, and several have been shocked to learn that their SUV's actually have four wheel drive, although most have no idea how to use it.

Weary commuters faced soggy sushi, and the threat of frozen breast implants. Although Dr. John Blatherwick, of the Coastal Health Authority reassured everyone that most breast implants were perfectly safe to 25 below, down-filled bras are flying off the shelves at Mountain Equipment Co-op. "The government has to do something," snarled an angry Trevor Warburton. "I didn't pay $540,000 for my one bedroom condo so I could sit around and be
treated like someone from Toronto."

Sunday, November 13, 2005

ME AND MY CAR




This is one of the photos I took the same day my daughter and I went walking in Bear Creek Park. I really like this one. Also, here I am with my car.

AUTUMN PHOTOS & ALASKA CRUISE





Photos are ones metalxmonkey took at Bear Creek Park on a beautiful autumn Sunday last weekend. She has a knack for photography, I think.

Finally, I got my computer up and running again! Plus finally managed to get through all the emails that were waiting. So, I'm wondering who is interested in going on the Aug. 20-27 Alaska cruise and would be interested in being a room mate. The reason I chose this particular cruise is because it goes further North than the other one, which I did summer of '04 on Norwegian Cruise Lines. I do want to see what the cost is going to be, though, before I "book." So, if anyone is interested in rooming together, let me know. I would want a stateroom with balcony because I found that it is great to watch the scenery go by in the comfort of your own room. Out on deck, it can get very windy and cold. The rooms on NCL were much bigger than I had anticipated, which was a pleasant surprise for someone who'd never cruised before. Feel free to post here or get in touch via email. Thanks. Have a great day, everyone!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

YOUNG WIDOWS

This is what I posted on clickgirl (Brenda's) site about my dream of writing an inspirational book about women who became widows far too young.

Brenda and Jackie! This is absolutely amazing! You can definitely count me in on whatever comes from this. I have always wanted to travel, but like Chandra, couldn't find friends who had the either the time and/or the money to join me. Also, I've always been afraid that if I gave up the security of my teaching position to do what I really wanted, I'd end up homeless.

This whole adventure has been so eye opening to me. I realize now that life is too short to not try to realize our dreams. Besides travel, my dream has been to write. From meeting so many wonderful women through Richard's search, I am now working on making my dream come true.

I am going to spend the next few months working on the financial aspects of ending my teaching career and beginning a new one writing. I have been thinking of all the women I met who became widows very young in life (between the ages of 40ish and 60ish) and I would like to write an inspirational book of surviving one of the worst tragedies a woman can imagine. Losing your husband at an age where you are too young to be relegated to the back pew of the church but too old to easily meet suitable or available men is more than difficult. No, we do not NEED a man, but most of us really do want to have someone to love and someone to love us. It is just simply in our nature.

We are all survivors. Most of us have had to raise our children alone. Most of us have had to work full time while doing so. Some of us have had support (financial and/or emotional) and some of us not.

All these years, I thought I was one of a very few young widows and in a category of my own. Now I realize that is not true. If I can help one young widow through my dream of writing about "our" survival, it will all have been worth it.

I've never done this before, but am willing to learn all aspects of writing and publishing in order to realize this dream. Maybe you, Brenda, have some ideas of how to go about this (since you're in the media environment). Maybe we could eventually do a documentary. Something. Anything. We need to get this story out.

Regarding divorcees. I know that they have gone through or do go through a lot of the same grieving processes that widows do. But I have no experience of that. Let me try to do this one project and if it's successful, maybe I could do something similar for you.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has lost her husband from accident, illness, violence, or suicide (like I did), was in the age range I mentioned above, and would like to take part in this venture. I would use pseudonyms so as to make it easier to tell your story fully. Please contact me through my blog. Thanks to all.


10/22/2005 11:05 PM

Friday, October 21, 2005

Bear Creek Park




On Wednesday, October 19th, my Grade 4s participated in a cross-country run at Bear Creek Park near to our school. Our school won the overall trophy and my Grade 4 boys won the trophy for all the Grade 4 boys who participated (a lot of schools). I am so proud of them all. I would love to post a photo of "my kids" but it wouldn't be appropriate, so I thought I'd just post a couple of shots of the creek in the area where they ran - along the trail around the park and through the trees with all the changing colours of Fall. It is a beautiful location.

Also, here's a photo of me and my Dad on my birthday. Notice at almost 85, there's not a grey hair on his head, although his forehead has grown a bit higher over the years.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

PUMPKIN LOAF

Mix the following ingredients - IN ORDER - and then fold into a well-greased 9 X 5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 80 minutes.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinammon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup oil (Crisco or Mazola)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts OR pecans

BON APPETIT!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Friday, September 30, 2005

Oh Baby!


Guess Who?

Heaven


An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the world.

For his first chapter he decided to write about American churches. So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to Orlando, thinking that he would work his way across the country from South to North.

On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read $10,000.00 per call. The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for. The priest replied that it was a direct line to Heaven and that for $10,000.00 one could talk to God. The American thanked the priest and went along his way.

Next stop was in Atlanta, there, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Orlando and asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to Heaven and that for $10,000.00 he could talk to God. "O.K. thanks" said the American

He then traveled to Indianapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and New York, then on to Portland and north to Seattle. In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same $10,000.00 per call sign under it.

Upon leaving Seattle, the American saw a sign saying "Route 5 North to Vancouver CANADA" and decided to see if Canadians had the same golden telephone.

He drove for awhile and finally arrived in Ladner, BC. Sure enough, there again in the local church was the same golden telephone, only this time the sign under it read 25 cents per call.

The American was surprised and so intrigued that he asked the church's pastor about the sign.

"Father, I've traveled all over America and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches, I'm told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but in every state the price was $10,000.00 per call. Why is it so cheap here?"

The priest smiled and answered: "You're in Canada now son, it's a local call."

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

My Mom - My Age (about)


This is especially for Willemina because I told her that she reminded me of my Mom when my Mom was around our age. I remember her as always being so beautiful, even just before she passed away at age 82 in 2002. She was a very intelligent woman, social and chatty. I really miss her as we were very close.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Before and After




On Sept. 11/05 Robbie went in for his shave and a haircut, etc. What a difference!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Manhattan Beach Pictures





Here are some photos from the weekend at Manhattan Beach. Wednesday evening, some of us went to the Pier to meet Richard and then over to the RockNFish for dinner. My roommate was Connie from Georgia (also a teacher)and we've become fast friends. Check out that shark!

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Please Don't Pick My Mommy!


Dear Mr. Roe,

Please don't pick my Mommy to go on a trip with you! I would miss her SO much 'cuz she's such a great cuddler. Sometimes she lets me sleep with her. She gives me lots of love and kisses and pets and when I give her a "high five" she gives me cookies. I understand you're a "Cookie Monster" so you know how much I'd miss my cookies! But, if you find her irresistible (like I do), I guess I'll just have to make do without her for a while. Just make sure you bring her back safe and sound.

Sincerely,

Robbie

Sunday, August 21, 2005

You know you're a teacher when...

* you grade papers in the car, during commercials, in faculty meetings, in the bathroom, and have even been seen grading in church.

* you cheer when you hear April 1 does not fall on a school day.

* you can't walk past a crowd of kids without straightening up the line.

* you can gulp down a full lunch in 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

* you know the best end of semester lesson plans can come from Blockbuster.

* you know the shortest distance and length of travel time from the classroom to the office.

* you have never heard an original excuse.

* you know the best places to find used gum.

* you feel the urge to snap your fingers in public at children you do not know to correct their behaviour.

* you want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8 to 3:20 and have summers free."

* you hear the heartbeats of crisis; you always have time to listen; you know you teach students, not subjects; and you know you are absolutely non-expendable.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

It's Great to be a Woman

We got off the Titanic first.
We can scare male bosses with the mysterious gynecological disorder excuses.
Taxis stop for us.
We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
No fashion faux pas we make could ever rival the Speedo.
We don't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
We can congratulate our team mate without ever touching her rear end.
We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
We have the ability to dress ourselves.
We can talk to the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.
If we marry someone 20 years younger, we are aware that we will look like an idiot.
We will never regret piercing our ears.
There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
We can make comments about how silly men are in their presence because they aren't listening anyway.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Manhattan Beach Meet and Greet

Hi everyone! I'd love some input about the LA (and Chicago) meet & greets. Who is thinking about going and who is definitely going? Do you think we go to BOTH nights or just one? What are you planning to wear? What else could we do while in the area (e.g. during the day/s)? Feel free to put in comments, questions, suggestions, etc. Thanks.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

BRAS

A man walked into the Women's Department of Macy's in New York City.
He told the Sales lady, "I would like a Baptist bra for my wife, size
36B".

With a quizzical look, the saleslady asked, "What kind of bra?"

He repeated, "A Baptist bra. She said to tell you that she wanted a
Baptist bra and that you would know what she wanted."

"Ah, now I remember," Said the saleslady, "we don't get as many
requests for them as we used to. Mostly our customers lately want the
Catholic bra or the Salvation Army bra, or the Presbyterian type".

Confused and a little flustered, the man asked, "So what are the
differences?"

The lady responded, "Well, it's really quite simple.

The Catholic type supports the masses,

The Salvation Army lifts up the fallen,

The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright."

He mused at that for a moment and then asked, "So, what is the
Baptist type for?"

"They", she replied, "make mountains out of molehills".

And, if you need more information here's some more:

Have you ever wandered why bras are lettered A, B, C, D, DD, E, F,
G, H and how the letters are actually used to define bra sizes? Well,
if you have ever wondered, but couldn't figure it out, here's the code:

A. Almost Boobs

B. Barely Boobs

C. Can't Complain

D. Dang!

DD. Double Dang!

E. Enormous

F. Fake

G. Get a reduction

H. Help Me, I've fallen and can't get up.....

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

SOMETHING FISHY

A woman is in bed with her lover, who also happens to be her husband's best friend.
They make love for hours, and afterwards, while they're just lying there, the phone rings.
The woman picks up the receiver.
Her lover looks over at her and listens, only hearing her side of the conversation...
She is speaking in a cheery voice:
"Hello? Oh, hi. I'm so glad that you called. Really? That's wonderful.
I am so happy for you. That sounds terrific. Great! Thanks. Okay. Bye bye."
She hangs up the telephone and her lover asks, "Who was that?"
"Oh" she replies,
"That was my husband telling me all about the wonderful time he's
having on his fishing trip with you."

BEACHES



The first picture is the Pier at White Rock, which is on the east side of Boundary Bay. Doesn't the pier remind you of the picture we've seen on SB's blog (Manhattan Beach)? The second picture is my grandson Noah playing on "my" beach on the west side of the bay. Vancouver and environs have some of the most beautiful beaches ever.

JELLYFISH

If you don't laugh out loud after you read this you are in a coma!
This is even funnier when you realize it's real! Next time you have a
bad day at work...think of this guy.

Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He
performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an
E-mail he sent to his sister. She then sent it to radio station 103.2
on FM dial in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job
experience contest. Needless to say, she won.

Hi Sue,

Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a
bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work,
so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's
not so bad after all. Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first
must bore you with a few technicalities of my job.

As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to
the office. It's a wetsuit. This time of year the water is quite cool.
So what we do to keep warm is this: We have a diesel powered industrial
water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the
sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to
the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose. Now
this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with
no complaints.

What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose
and stuff it down the back of my wetsuit. This floods my whole suit with
warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi.
Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to
itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse. Within
a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my
back, but the damage was done. In agony I realized what had happened.
The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my
suit.

Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't
stick to it. However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate. When I
scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the
jellyfish into the crack of my butt. I informed the dive supervisor of
my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to
the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing
hysterically. Needless to say I aborted the dive. I was instructed to
make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five
minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression.

When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass
helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter
running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it
on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out,
but I couldn't poop for two days because my butt was swollen shut.

So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much
worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY :)!!!!!

Monday, August 08, 2005

Crackpot Friends

Two Pots

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the end of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the
woman one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?

That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower
seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.

"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. To all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers.

Why Women Are Crabby

Why Women are Crabby

We started to "bud" in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find that anything that came in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So came the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra contraption that the boys in school would snap until we had calluses on our backs.

Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner). Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we cramped, we got the hormone crankies, had to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had.

Our next little rite of passage (premarital or not) was having sex for the first time which was about as much fun as having a ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn't end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Then it' was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we didn't spend the entire day leaning over Brother John. Of course, amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we were preparing to have Rosemary's Baby.

Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a watermelon whole and we pee'd our pants every time we sneezed. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER.

Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while the OB says, "Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hearmeroar. Calm down and push Just one more good push (more like 10)," warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the ***** (and hubby) square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 10lb bowling ball through a keyhole.

After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find that when all that "cute" wears off, the beautiful little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.

Then come their teen years. Need I say more?

When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our early 40's - while hubby had his somewhere around his 18th birthday.

So we progress into the grand finale! : "The Menopause," the Grandmother of all womanhood. It's either take HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned "buds" or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or, sweat like a hog in July, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.

Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men when men get off so easy INCLUDING the icing on life's cake: Being able to pee in the woods without soaking their socks...

So, while I love being a woman, "Womanhood" would make the Great Gandhi a tad crabby. Women are the "weaker sex"? Yeah right. Bite me.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Sawyer Glacier


As we travelled up Tracy Arm in Alaska, we passed many, many icebergs of incredible shapes and sizes. The water was a beautiful turquoise and the icebergs reflected this in their lower halves. When we finally reached Sawyer Glacier, the ship's captain announced that we were as close as we could go; if we went any closer, it would be too dangerous. So, next time I go I want to take the special excursion where you can take a smaller boat right through the ice floes close to the foot of the glacier. At any rate, the whole experience was phenomenal and unforgettable.

Monday, August 01, 2005

Inukshuk


This picture is of an inukshuk on the BC side of the Alaska/BC border. The inukshuk is an Inuit symbol depicting direction and distance. Several cities were engraved on it and I was very surprised to see my own hometown there. That’s why I’m pointing. A stylized version of the inukshuk is the official logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver.

ALASKA


With all the talk from RR today of the possibility of a cruise to Alaska, I thought I'd share some photos taken last summer. It was my first cruise ever and I swore I'd do it again. Absolutely LOVED it! The photos may not be that clear but I was using an old Ricoh TF-900 (on telephoto a lot). Enjoy and may it encourage others to sign up to go. This picture is at White Pass Summit - border between Alaska/British Columbia. We had travelled up the mountainside via replica coaches pulled by vintage diesel locomotives. We passed the Gold Rush cemetery, several waterfalls, went through Tunnel Mtn, over a steel bridge (scary!) and past Dead Horse Gulch.

Sunflowers


When I was watching Pop & Me again last night and saw RR standing in a field of sunflowers, I suddenly remembered that I had taken a photo of a sunflower field when I was travelling in France in '97. Did you know that they are so called because they turn to the sun all day long - they face the sunrise in the East in the morning and gradually move until they face sunset in the West in the evening? They are Daughter #2's favourite flower, so took a few photos, got them enlarged and framed for her. She was thrilled and to this day has them on her bedroom wall. My camera is an old Ricoh TF-900 that still takes good photos, but I'd love to get a digital like Cheryl's. (You take such beautiful photos, C.) I love the beauty of nature and would be taking shots of everything - from flowers in my garden to the wonders of the world I hope to see some day. Since I'm not artistically inclined in painting or crafts, perhaps I could express myself in photography. And, since I love to write, wouldn't it be great to publish a book of photography with accompanying text! Dreams - aah.....

Friday, July 29, 2005

The Men in My Life



Just thought I'd try to attach a couple of photos of the current "men" in my life. Go ahead - laugh!

Childhood Memories

I just thought it would be nice to get away from the "romance, travel" mode for a bit and think back to when we were children. One of my fondest memories is when my family went camping in the Banff area (border between Alberta and BC). I was about 5 or 6 years old and loved to slide down the HUGE slide at the campsite. I slid all afternoon and literally wore a hole in my pants. Then, that night, a bear came into the campsite. My Dad (macho man) took a broom and chased it out of the area. Through the canvas of the tent, we could see the shadows of the bear with my Dad chasing and yelling at it. Another summer when I was about 8, we camped at Wasa Lake in BC (hot! hot! hot!) and spent most of the days in the lake floating to stay cool. In the early evenings, we read comic books like Little Lulu and Archie and Veronica, and then we roasted marshmallows on an open fire. Good memories. Let's hear yours.

Leslie

Thursday, July 28, 2005

First Post - and it's not even by the blog owner!!

So my mom needed help in figuring out how to 'blog' and called on my computer prowess to get her started. Basically, I'm the one who came up with the cheesy name - The Pedalogue - because my mom, as she has already said in her profile, is a teacher (pedagogue) and I'm corny that way...something I got from HER side of the family ;)

So this entry is pretty much to make sure I've set things up properly for her. I'll tell her in the morning if it worked or not...well I'll tell her tonight as I head up to bed, but I'll EXPLAIN it in the morning.

Enjoy blogging away!!

Leslieinvancan's daughter, metalxmonkey (my LiveJournal handle)