Chooo Choooo!

We've spent a few days trying to find some sort of activity to do over the weekend as a family. I was hoping we had time to go to Drumheller and see the museum and other sights. I just didn't have enough time off to make it worthwhile so we found something else. The Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions in Stettler, AB was the prime choice. We all really enjoyed it. It's an historic train that takes you to a tiny town called Big Valley, feeds you a good dinner, allows time for you to sightsee some adorable museums and a bright blue church with 3 antique organs. We even got permission for the boy to play the old pump organ. The real fun though was the entertainment on the train and the staged robbery. I am so glad we stumbled upon this out of the way treasure. We're thinking about going again for the Christmas special. It could be a real treat.

Footsteps In the Night

I couldn't settle down to sleep last night, as usual, so I was reclining against the pillows finishing up my book. The breeze, not the hurricane we've had all week, was gently moving the blinds creating a little background noise but something else caught my ears. It wasn't a sound I had heard since moving to the city. Clip-clop, clippity-clop. I sat up and squinted into the dark night to see five horses trotting down the street. I shook my husband awake and asked him if he thought I should call the police. It was 1;30am so I wasn't sure anyone else would notice but we saw a truck with blinkers on and thought they must have belonged to them. HEHEHHEHEHEHE we were wrong. Five minutes later I can see flashing red and blue lights and hear that clop, clop along the hardtop again. Five horses trotting the other direction this time with a full police escort of 4 mounties. I don't think they knew anything about herding animals though. They hadn't blocked off any side streets the horses could escape down and they forgot about the large unfenced park across the street. Those horses saw a chance for freedom and took of like a shot! Those poor mounties!! You should have seen them trying to four-wheel it across the soccer fields after the horses!!! Completely made my night!

Poached off another blog

I was trolling the blogosphere and came upon this gem:
If it’s inside it doesn’t count

A friend of mine reports on her blog that the women in her ward got chocolates this past Mothers Day.

All really very unremarkable—chocolates are a very ordinary default Mothers Day gift in our church, after all.

Well, unremarkable except for the latte fillings the ones from her ward had, that is.

For those of you who are not LDS, a ward is the equivalent of a parish. It's just the local congregation.

A Great Read!

I work so far from home now that I don't make it home for lunch hour. I took up crosswords, sudoku, and chatting with the other associates, but after a while I got really bored. Since one of the areas I oversee is Stationary, I see all of the books that come in. One caught my eye. It wasn't the title or cover that grabbed my attention. I don't really know why I picked it up but I am really glad that I did. It's called "THE HELP". What a fantastic read. It's set in the deep south in the early 1960's and focuses on White Junior Leaguers and their African-American maids. If you pick up one book this summer, this is the ONE!!!

Vancouver Island Pictures

Posted on the work blog!!! Pictures for your viewing pleasure.

A Taste of the Wildside!

We took a trip over to Vancouver Island for the last couple of days to take in a few of the must see places. One of the police officers, a long story I'll get to another time, suggested we go to Ucluelet while there. What a fantastic drive!! The views were astounding and the weather perfect. We did a little sight seeing, threw some stones into the ocean and picked sea glass. On to Tofino. Cute little village! We were getting a little hungry by this point so we stopped at a gas station and asked the man behind the register for a good restaurant. Without hesitation he recommended the "Wildside". Remember that. Always ask a local where to eat. What a favor he did for us. The place looks horribly shabby. It's a tiny shack nestled among other tiny shacks that happen to be adorable little shops and it serves food to kill for. The husband ordered a salmon burger. A beautiful, fresh fillet of salmon on a wholewheat kaiser roll with fresh green leaf lettuce, fresh tomatoes, onion, mayo, corn relish, smoked tomato relish, and avocado. The boy ordered a chicken burger: again green leaf lettuce, fresh tomato, onion, mayo, bacon, cheese, smoked tomato relish. I had the shrimp burger: panko crusted fresh caught shrimp with chili mayo, green leaf lettuce, tomato, and red onion. These were the freshest of ingredients straight off the boat and tasted like heaven. They use local products and you can taste the difference!! Oh and the fries? Fresh cut potatoes with chunky sea salt; just right!
If you ever have the chance to drive the Pacific Coast Rim make sure you stop here for a meal. You won't regret it!!!

Recommendation Day

I've been hanging out on the web a lot lately as I try to plan the daughters wedding and have found some great sites. I was thinking about presents for upcoming events and saw this site called www.snaptotes.com. They can put a picture on almost anything. So cute!!
One more recommendation for the day. Have you discovered "As Sistas in Zion" yet? These women are hilarious!!! I love their fresh take on life. It is so refreshing to find women who love the gospel, don't take themselves too seriously, and spread the fun!!

Oh the pain!

I love popcorn! I've admitted it, finally! It's not that I just love it; I eat it at least 3 times a week. Things have now changed. Popcorn has betrayed me. As I was eating my lovely snack late one night last week, I heard a crack and began to feel grittiness in my mouth. I spit it out and felt around my mouth with my tongue to see if something was amiss. I found that the wisdom tooth on the upper left side had a rather large section that was now missing with sharp edges poking my cheek. Being new to town, I hadn't yet found a dentist so I left it for a couple of days while I found one who could fit me in. Two days later I found myself in a dentist chair with a large pair of pliers in my mouth as the dentist wrenched my tooth back and forth, back and forth with all his might to remove the offending tooth. I thought he was going to rip my head right off my neck. It was unreal! Finally I heard a popping sound and it was over. Now I have a massive hole in my upper jaw and liquid foods are my new food of choice. Popcorn you have betrayed me! ...........But I still love you!!!

More Pics!

I've posted some more pictures on the work blog

It's Spring!!!!

Today I went outside at my lunch hour to find that suddenly the sun was shining, snow melting and it was warm. Really! I'm not kidding! I was so excited that I texted the hubby and told him to go out too. When I arrived home I found him and the boy outside shoveling the last of the icy snow off the edge of the driveway and onto our 1.5 metre high snow pile. Just a reminder of all the hard work the hubby has put in over the long winter. I was so thrilled by the warmth that I went into the garden shop and bought 5 hydrangea bushes to add to my collection of orchids. Now it looks like springtime in the house too. So lovely to see flowers blooming and hear the birds chirping again. I feel a bizarre sense of excitement and freedom. I LOVE spring!!