Apr 5 (Mon):  It was a great weekend after a somewhat stressful week.  The truck radio saga continues.  It's still not fixed and this week I had some choice words for them, followed by Andy with some further choice words.  I finally ranted to fix it or take it out or take the truck back.  After that we made a bit of progress with our salesperson stepping in as our champion.  It turns out the guy who does the radios was not even calling the dealership back.  They are evaluating their future business with him.  We'll see what happens tomorrow!

Our next challenge arrived with the ringing of the doorbell on Wednesday night.  It was a guy from All Wildlife Removal asking if we'd noticed how our vents on the roof were all bent up.  He pulled his ladder off his truck and Andy went up on the roof with him.  They found all 5 vents looking like this thanks to raccoons.

They did a quote for us and we had them come back Friday.  They searched the attic, but luckily didn't find any critters squatting there yet.  They fixed all the vents and put mesh cages on them, plus left one with a one-way door for 24 hours just in case there was something in the attic they hadn't found.

     

And they also put mesh where the two sides of the house meet, where the 'coons can wedge themselves in and push the fascia up to get in.

The final bit of stress for the week came when Mom had to put Gabe in the hospital.  She'd taken him to his idiot doctor on Tuesday and they got sent home.  By Thursday he couldn't even stand, so she had to call an ambulance.  Then she got yelled at by the hospital doctor over how sick he was and might die.  Talk about injustices in the world.  Gabe is since stabilized but remains in an isolation room in the hospital.  When we go in we have to put on a gown and gloves.  He is in renal failure that they are trying to improve with drugs rather than dialysis first, and he has an enlarged heart, is having trouble breathing, and he is swollen all over from fluid retention.  He's been told he won't be able to go home again - he has to go to a long-term care home.  Now Mom is stuck dealing with his animals.  She and Dad have already adopted the young dog, but the old dog will have to be put down very soon, and we need to find a home for the cat.

I also did not enjoy commuting to Toronto Tuesday and Wednesday - one night it took me an hour and fifty minutes to get home.  My work sent me to the "Canadian Conference on IT Audit, Governance and Security" put on by CICA (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants) at the Toronto Sheraton. 

I was expecting it to be a real sleeper, but I enjoyed 9 out of 10 seminars I attended - and the food was fantastic (always the way to keep me happy)!  The first day, for lunch, we had Chateaubriand! 

I also wasn't crazy about missing one of Andy's cancer check-ups and maintenance treatments for the first time Tuesday, but we kept in touch with lots of texting.  Scroll up and click on "Andy's Lymphoma Log" for her comments on the check-up.

So, we were very pleased when the long weekend rolled around (even though I worked Friday morning).  Friday afternoon, I went to visit Gabe in the hospital, then came home and worked with Andy on prep for our secret Easter challenge.

Saturday afternoon, we went to Toronto to see:

We loved it.  Great sets, great costumes, great dancing, really good songs, and excellent actors.  In fact, the guy playing Dr. Frankenstein used to play George on Desperate Housewives, but Cory English, who played Igor, had to be our favourite.  He was hilarious.  It was partly due to the great lines he had, but mostly due to his great delivery.  But this is also the first time we've ever seen anyone lose it during a live show.  He was fighting it and mostly winning, but had to wipe the tears from his eyes - but it made him even more endearing and the scene more fun for the audience.  As well, Igor and Dr F were fabulous dancers - so light on their feet!!!  Here are Dr. Frankenstein, the Monster, Inga, and a few with Igor in them.

     

And then Sunday, the day of truth, came.  The family came over for Easter and we put them through "The Amazing Race - Easter Edition" (in lieu of an Easter Egg Hunt).  Mom, Dad, Andy & I were the "Officials".  We held two heats for the competitors, but all racing the clock.  Between each challenge the contestants received their next clue in a coloured, plastic egg.  (The kids' eggs even had an issue with bunny fluff in with the clue - I guess the Easter bunny is shedding for spring!)

     

     

     

     

Challenges included colouring in the last two words on their t-shirts, singing Oh Canada, carrying 5 Easter eggs on a spoon, carrying wood from the pile, hopping through some hopscotch, finding their ears, counting the windows on the house, and filling a small container with water from the big container.  The big winner was Grace, followed by Monica.  The girls actually smoked the boys.  Ben came last as he finished without his rabbit ears so had to go back for them.  Those dastardly ears were trying to foil all the contestants!  Prizes were given:  a pansy in a bright ceramic pot, a Kinder Egg, and the kids got a bonus stuffed ducky each.

Afterward, some presents were exchanged.  Mom got the kids some clothes, and the kids gave us some crafts.

We think these are hilarious!

We did a funky family portrait:

And the table was set for dinner, complete with Easter Crackers for the first time!

One bonus from the week - the crocuses are fabulous!

 

Apr 13 (Tues):  The first grass cutting of the year is done.  Oh boy, about 30 more of those to go.

So, Andy left on Thursday for the big trip - the Habitat for Humanity Global Village build in Pokhara, Nepal.  This is just as we left for the airport.

Yes, she was tired already from the excitement, and then she only got 7 hours sleep in her first 48 of travel. Oh brother!  Communication is very difficult.  The hotel she's at has wireless, but no computers for guests, so she has borrowed the laptop of a team-mate a couple times to send me very brief emails just to say she got to her destinations ok.  I was sad when she first left, but reminded myself of all the sick people I seem to know or know of lately and stopped feeling sorry for myself.

As she travelled, I did my best imitation of Mom, by keeping track of Andy with a flight tracker.  It was actually pretty cool.

Her first flight was to Brussels, Belgium, connecting to New Delhi, India, then overnight in the airport till flight #3 to Kathmandu, Nepal.  She met up with some of her team and stayed there overnight, then they flew to Pokhara on Sunday.  Today it was 38^o C there.  I hope she's not melting.  She actually got some "gauze" clothes before she left from a local store called "Jus B'Gauze".  One more bit of trivia, the time in Pokhara is 9 hours and 45 minutes ahead of us here in Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

Saturday I spent most of the day doing both of our chores, then picked the kids up in the late afternoon.  Brought them home for a sleepover and Mom came and stayed with us too.  We had a hot dog roast, taught Grammy how to play Cadoo, and watched a movie.

In the morning, the four of us went to the "Amazon Voyage" exhibit at the RBG (Royal Botanical Gardens).

  

It was ok, but not as good as I was expecting.  There were some nice interactive things, but too much reading, and the much advertised Anaconda wasn't even real.  Some animals, however, were real, but we couldn't touch them.

Piranhas:

Can't remember the name of the critter on the left, but on the right this is an albino boa constrictor.

   

Tarantula:

Caiman:

One of the Stingrays has apparently taught itself to moon visitors...no, seriously to swim upside down.

After a lunch stop at Mickey Ds, I took the kids to a park that Andy suggested and they had a blast.

This was a pretty cool park - look at the dirt bike track.  There's also a splash pad, and the kids were wailing with laughter on the plain, old swings.

Last night I had a nice dinner at Vickie's, meeting her new boyfriend, Doug, and hanging out with Jorge (the guitarist from our wedding) and Cheryl.  Vic made a stir fry with tofu that was the first palatable tofu I've ever had, and I'll even go as far as saying it was quite good.

And, like I said, tonight I gave the grass its first cutting of the year.  Soon our seedlings will be ready to fill the garden.  I can't wait for home grown tomatoes!  Andy was trying to build a contraption out of straws before we left for the airport, but I already had something in mind.  I used straws too, but didn't feel the need to discard the top of the mini-greenhouse like she had.

 

Apr 19 (Mon):  A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Moms Kalpana & Sarodha, and new big brother, Andrew, on the arrival of Ava.  Kalpana gave birth yesterday at 2:05 am.  Ava was 8 pounds, 15.4 ounces after finally coming out into the world.

Andy is doing very well.  She's been playing team doctor, patching up a couple of her workmates, and just generally enjoying the build.  The heat hasn't bothered her too much, but she is sweating and therefore drinking lots.  I get a short message every couple days.  I was a bit concerned that the volcano would delay her return trip, but her airline announced they have diverted all their Brussels connections to Athens, so we're thinking she might be ok.  Of course, she didn't really know anything about it till I emailed the news as they are very out of touch there.  Of all the pictures of the ash that I've seen, these are my two favourites:

   

It's really amazing, if not somewhat humbling and scary.

I've been keeping busy, partly due to my late aunt's husband being in the hospital.  Mom mostly looks after his affairs, but I've been trying to make sure I see him every 2nd or 3rd day.  He doesn't have anyone else and is in a bad way physically and emotionally.  At least he's been transferred to a much nicer hospital so that he can start dialysis, and it's closer for us too.  He's also had 2 heart attacks in the last couple weeks.  Hopefully he's now on the upswing.

Thursday night I had a really nice time with my management group from work.  One of the ladies finished her MBA course, so we took her out to Emma's Back Porch to celebrate.  It was a nice sunny day, but just a bit too cool to sit outside.  Still, you can't beat the view of the lake.

Friday night I was on a mission.  The same shed that we bought last year was on sale again and we always said we should have another one.  It's great because it's more like an outdoor cabinet - is non-intrusive, unlike the the boxy ones.  It sits up against the house and doesn't stick out like an ugly sore thumb.  The more we can load in these, the less clutter we have in the garage.

But to get it, I had to rent the monster-sized van, drive it home, get it unloaded and pushed, shoved, wiggled, and cajoled into the back yard and under the deck roof so the box doesn't get wrecked yet if it rains.  (It's only 6ft x 4 ft x 3 ft.)  Then return the monster van of course.  Mission complete!

Saturday, I had a lovely breakfast with Huguette at Cora's then we went laptop shopping for her.  I also tweaked her interest in 50" TVs and iPod Nanos.

The iPod intrigue came about as I was showing her the one I bought Andy for her trip, the 16 GB Nano - orange of course.

I sent her off with over 700 songs, 7 movies ripped from DVDs, some pictures, 2 podcasts, and the world clock displaying the 4 time zones she'd be needing.  I also threw in a power adapter as she wasn't taking a laptop to recharge with.  By the way, I LOVE this little thing!!!!  It's amazing!  And even though the screen is tiny, the movies look crystal clear.

Sunday morning, I had a nice breakfast at Mom & Dad's.  Mom said Scot was bringing the kids over for breakfast so asked if I wanted to join them.  When I left the Wii was going full tilt.  This is the new dog that Mom and Dad have adopted, Patches.  She's a sweetie, but still getting comfortable with being treated properly like a dog....eating dog food, not people food, and being taken for walks.  She's about half the size of a black lab.

The rest of the weekend was spent with numerous chores and a couple hospital visits.  I also watched "Inglorious Basterds" and "The Hurt Locker", both of which were......intriguing.

One of my chores was "growing" the other two mini-greenhouses, since the first one worked out so well.....for the plants that is.  They're stretching out nicely.

From the outdoor group of plants, the peach tree is looking good this year after lots of babying.

I hope the hot & cold weather doesn't mess with it, and that the bees get busy pollinating.

And look at this stupid Forsythia bush - what's with the top part???  Where's the yellow?

This is our new addition this year, Athena.  I can't wait to get the water running.

 

Apr 25 (Sun):  Yesterday:

Yup, my weary, world traveler is home and we're both very pleased.  Right now she's gone for a nap - and that's after sleeping almost 11 hours last night.  But, she is allowed after 2 flights that were 9-ish hours long with only a short break in between, and before that 10 hours in New Delhi airport twiddling her thumbs basically.  By the way, if you hadn't already heard, apparently New Delhi airport is a "hole".  She has certainly had an adventure, and I'm not going to steal her thunder beyond the 2 pictures below.  I'm making her a dedicated web page and when she's all rested up, she's going to write her own trip blog with plenty of pictures...that is once she's sorted through the over 1200.  When it's ready, there will be a link at the top of this page.

What and exactly where these pictures are, I have no idea.  A couple more things....we got really lucky that the erupting volcano subsided just in time for Andy's flights to not be affected.  The most amazing thing I think I have heard since she got home is that she is "kinda sick of Indian food".  I didn't think it was possible!!!

One bit of sad follow-up news this week is that Mom and Dad gave their new dog away.  It's not totally sad as Dad's sister, my Aunt Cathie, and her husband met the dog, fell in love with it, and offered to take her.  So Patches went to a really good home where she'll be loved and well looked after, but Mom and Dad loved her too so didn't want to see her go.  Unfortunately, she had bit me at Easter and ever since none of us could be 100% confident that the kids would be safe around her, plus the kids were afraid of her.  Under these conditions, Mom and Dad didn't feel they could keep her.  We all think she's a sweetie, but there's always that doubt in the back of your mind.  At least she's with someone who will bring her to visit.

I had a pretty regular week with a couple nights visiting my uncle at the hospital and doing all my chores like grass cutting, grocery buying, and getting the winter tires swapped off the car and the SUV.  But Friday night I had a blast.

It was a CHAM reunion.  We do this occasionally - a bunch of us that used to work at 820 CHAM radio (back in its "hey days") get together.  I worked there for 11 years with almost everyone in the following pictures - some of the greatest people you will ever meet.  Gotta love Kelly's smile!

From left to right:  Roger, me, Joe, Dory (who I never actually worked with), Catherine in the back, Matt (who I didn't work with 'cause he ended up with my old job), then moving forward:  Sean, Doug, Lisa, and Sharon.

Sean waxing poetic...

Hmmm....somebody must've told a bad joke...which is what radio people do a lot!

At some point Kelly decided she was going to rob the place.

I guess I decided I was going to help her.

And that's about how the night went.  I hit the wall and came home, but found out most of the rest of the crew closed the place down.  I never could totally keep up with them, but I also had to get up early in the morning and get the house sparkling for my honey's return.

Just to wrap up, a couple of things...we watched this today and really liked it:

And our Smart Meter got put in this week. 

I came home one day to find a notification and all the clocks flashing.  The rates changes haven't kicked in yet, but I'm very hesitant that this change will burn us after hearing controversy that bills went up instead of down.  The hydro's response was that the old meters must not have been very accurate.

 

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