A fun Halloween through the eyes of a 2 year old…

… but first a rant.

We haven’t gone for our H1N1 shots yet. Alberta has dropped the proverbial ball on this one. The Province has warned about the pandemic that is H1N1, has advised that we all need to get vaccinated, has offered the vaccine for free, but only have 5 clinics for a City of 1 million people. The next thing that happens is the media buys in and H1N1 related deaths are ALL the news ALL the time! I have to tell you they got to me. We changed Andrews Halloween plans because of all of it. He was supposed to go to a party at Gymboree, but until he is vaccinated, we won’t take the chance. We haven’t gone for the shots because it is a 6-10 hour wait (if you are in line by 6am), then they (without warning) choose a spot in line and tell the people from there that they won’t get their shots this day... After they have waited for 6-10 hours… Fightin words. This is one of the problems with universal health care, You are forced to play by their rules. On top of everything, they ran out of vaccine.

Bottom line. They freak you out with all the warnings, then tell you, quote “this is a 3 month vaccination plan, not a 3 day vaccination plan” Ron Lippert, Alberta Minister of Health.

SO…

Instead of dancing and partying with other little kids, we partied at home today.

First things first though. 2 days ago we carved pumpkins. It was a blast. Andrew normally is very timid with his hands as he doesn’t like them getting dirty for too long. Not this time though. He was in to his elbows digging out pumpkin goop.

 The freshly carved pumpkins finish the decorations at the front stoop…

Last night it was Poppop and Nans turn. Andrew hasn’t been feeling too well lately so they came over here, pumpkins in hand and Andrew showed them what he learned the night before.

I got a MUFFIN!!!

Back to the Halloween PARTY!! We got up pretty late (8am) and made some breakfast. I think Andrew was too excited for the party, that he didn’t feel like eating too much. Except for the chocolate caramel ball that he thoroughly enjoyed…

After breakfast we marched. I have the Kazoo and he has the flute whistle and we march! He is really good at it, he imagines he is in a parade because as we walk past mommy, he waves and says “Hi Mommy!”  

Once we were done marching, it was music time. He has a whole bin of musical instruments and he understands them all!

Today he brought out his Key-tar and was rocking out on it, so I decided to finally bring out the real guitar. I have been avoiding showing it to him as I didn’t think he was ready for it. He was. He took my pick and very gently and musically started to strum the guitar. He has been playing guitar for 7 minutes now and he is already better than me… LOL.

That was a LOT of fun. We just hung around for a couple hours after that, reading and playing, until it was time to dress up and go show off to Auntie Nicky, or Auntie Ginky as Andrew says, and then go over to Poppop and Nans to Trick or Treat around their cul-de-sac.

I am SUPER CUTE! wooowheeee….

Thanks Uncle Dean and Auntie Ginky…

Come on Poppop and Nan, I am READY for all the candy!

1 house down and a bunch to go! Lets GO… sugarhighsugarhighsugarhigh!!!

After a couple hours of super fun, we came home for some supper and a little bit more candy scavenging at our neighbours houses and then we were in for the evening while the rest of the neighbourhood came to our door. At 8pm we blew out the candles in the pumpkins, turned out the lights and took Andrew upstairs to bed. Normally he fusses for a 1/2 hour or so. He was out in approx 1 minute. Poor guy was totally wiped.

Our plans changed due to the H1N1 scare, however I think Andrew enjoyed it just as much, and I know we did… Goodnight now…

Pic of the day… the boy with the lollipop is ready for work… 

Runnin runnin, I’m runnin runnin…

I am running again. yay.

I ran a race on Saturday night. It was the Nike Human Race.

It is run all over the world. The runners who registered for the online tracking of their runs, ran a total of 799,314 miles, 10k at a time. This is the equivalent of just under 128,000 runners worldwide.It was pretty neat to be a part of that and from a local level it was a well run event.  The more I run the more I meet nice people. There were a  few people I knew there and it was nice to touch base and see what they have been up to over the summer. People who run are similar to people who RV. Just plain nice. There is an honesty to running that you can’t fake.

I also started a new 1/2 marathon clinic, but not as a mere runner, but as a group leader! There were 35 people that signed up for the clinic, so that makes it quite challenging for the instructor and group leaders but it usually thins out to half by the 2nd or 3rd week. Last night I ended up running with the slowest runner. For some reason there are about 6 people that signed up for this clinic that have not ran a mile in their life. I actually advised the lady I was running with to change clinics. Go back to a learn to run or a 5k clinic. I told her it would be more rewarding and that she would probably avoid a lot of frustration and possibly some debilitating injuries trying to keep up with the rest of the group. This running thing I do is for a lifetime, not just one race or clinic. We are not trying to build elite athletes here, just people who love to run.

That said. She never showed up tonight for the club run.

So… I got to run out front, going fast, where I like it. I had 3 people with me and it was a really good run.

I do have a pretty big beef about the clinic tho. The instructor they got has never run with the Running Room before. SO, he comes in yesterday with no idea about the program promoted by the store. Tonight he came to me and asked if I could help him. Yeah, sure I can. Just follow the plan. The Running Room stores have an incredible track record of graduating runners to their goals, so don’t mess with the program. I advised him to go and read the Running Room book. He said he has had the book for a couple months but hasn’t read it yet. Big surprise. I gave him a couple critical chapters to read so he can be ready for our next run on Sunday, but boy does he have a bunch to re-learn. He is a nice guy, and has been running for years, but this plan is very specific in it’s delivery and the people taking the course rely on the structure. So, good luck Mr. Teacher.

I am happy to be back in the structure of the run club, and I know it will be a great winter of running. The goal race is on Feb 14th and is called the Hypothermic Half… hehe.

Home notes: Traci had been battling a cold, and Andrew has picked up a bit of a sniffle. We got our seasonal flu shots last week, but are waiting until Andrew is a bit better before going for our H1N1 shots. Also, Traci is starting a company called “Getta-Gift” making gift baskets. She has all kinds of baskets designed for all kinds of occasions. It’s an exciting time here in the house! We will be starting up a website for her and then it’s sell sell SELL!

Pic of the day… Andrew shopping… Nuff said!

Football Game!

Dad (aka Poppop) took me to the Stampeders game tonight. While he has season tickets, its the first game I've been to in a couple of years. Calgary played Edmonton, and if Calgary wins they assure themselves of a playoff spot.

Dad has season tickets to the Stamps, but we cheer for the Roughriders.

It’s pretty funny actually. If you took all the people that moved from Saskatchewan to Calgary, The amount of people in Calgary would be larger than Saskatchewan’s largest city. For those readers from the states, Saskatchewan is the province next to Alberta where Calgary is located. Alberta has been the place where most people move from Saskatchewan, but people from there remain VERY loyal to their football team.

The stadium holds about 30,000 people and whenever Saskatchewan come to town, at least HALF the fans are in the Green and white of the riders. It is pretty good fun, save for the occasional fight or drunken buffoonery that inevitably comes out of the end zone seats, where most of the Saskatchewan fans sit. The people that sit around Dad’s seats are really nice and we always have a fun time egging each other on.    

So tonight's game was against the Edmonton Eskimos, no real rivalry issues, as whenever the stamps are playing anyone else besides the Roughriders, we cheer for the stamps. The game started REALLY slowly. well into the 2nd quarter it was still 3-1 for Edmonton. But after the half, Calgary turned up the offence and ended up winning 30-7. So again for the benefit of our American readers, you can score a single point in the CFL by missing a field goal or having a punt kicked though the end zone. I know, I know…

It was a fun game, relatively low key, but fun. We did leave before the game was over as it was a bit cold, and we didn’t want to be stuck in traffic.

Thanks Dad, it was good fun!

Pic of the day. This couple were both sniffing little bottles of (what I can only guess is) aromatherapy while waiting at a traffic light. She was actually putting the stuff behind her ears…

Dunkin…

A Cookies and milk dunkin sequence…

That is some tasty cookies and milk….YUM!

Posting catch-up and general drivel…

…I have been remiss on one posting that should have been written at the LATEST July 26th. Andrews 2nd birthday was a terrific party. He had his cast on for 3 days by that time, but was dragging it around without complaint by then. We had a bunch of my family here, and some close friends. Andrew loves anyone's birthday, but he especially loves his birthday. The Cake was amazing. Mary Jo made the cake again, remember the one she made for my birthday last year? She is truly an Artist. For those who are not on the up-and-up of children's TV programming in Canada, the cake is of Toopy and Binoo, one of Andrews favorite cartoon characters. What fun we had!    

Since then it has been non stop action. We have camped a lot, and those stories are related in past episodes of this blog. We have run races, had date nights, visited with family, and worked. Boy oh boy have we worked. Every moment not spent camping has been spent working. I know a lot of people who read this blog are full time RVers, some are retired, but some still have to work a bit to keep the candles burning bright, however for the most part, they choose when and where they work. Typically it is a workamping gig that keeps them in the Campground, pretty much looking after other campers. What a life. I envy the lifestyle. I own a company with my Dad here in Calgary, and on most days this summer, it has not been worth it. The slumping economy has changed our business pretty dramatically this year. When things were high flying, the customers were nice people. Now that things are tighter they turned into jerks. We didn’t change how we do business, and our operating costs didn’t go down, but they want more from us. There are MANY days that I sit and daydream about having worries like *where are we going to go next* or *North, South, East, or West*. I even envy the toughest working positions I read about because they are normally simple jobs where the work is laid out in front of you and you don’t have to plan, sell, collect, remit, balance or anything else mind bending.

I guess I need to qualify the above a bit.  We love the work we do. We work hard but we create amazing landscapes that we are very proud of. There is a reward at the end of this long tunnel, and we will find it. The thing is though, I won’t do it at the expense of not seeing Andrew grow up. This probably slows the work plan down a bit, but all in all I think it makes me a better person. Besides, 25 years from now, do you think I will look back and wish that I had worked more?

Anyhow, that's a bit of a rant that I’m not sure will be appreciated here, except maybe by the people I an envying, and you know who you are.

Andrew has had a really good summer. Traci took a voluntary temporary lay-off from her position, which just happened to be back in May. We were talking about her taking the summer off anyway, so her and Andrew have had an amazing time this summer, playing in the yard, gardening, going shopping etc. They sing and read and watch movies, and generally enjoy this amazing time together. The voluntary temporary lay-off has turned into a permanent lay-off as the market in her business has not turned around yet, but she got a severance package and we re now starting to explore her options, maybe doing something she loves, like basket decorating and centerpiece making for weddings etc. Maybe she will stay home until Andrew is ready to go to school in 3 years time. That would be ideal, but we will see. It kind of depends on our company and it’s immediate future. We stay positive and keep working hard on our plan, and things always seem to fall into place for us just when we need them to. The bright side of the whole down economy, is that Traci got to spend another summer with Andrew fulltime. She is an amazing Mom and Andrew is growing up an Amazing boy because of it!

So what has Andrew done this summer that I haven’t blogged about? Well, he has been to the Zoo, Heritage Park, He has seen live shows, such as the Backyardigans, The Wiggles and Toopy and Binoo, He spends quite a bit of time over at Poppop and Nans where he learns things like how to play with a laser pointer and he teaches Nan how to operate the DVD player. He just love to garden too. Today he went to his first hockey game. Poppop and Nan have season tickets to the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League and they took him to the matinee game today. We are coming to realize that he LOVES any kind of performance and the crowds that go along with them!

We are now entering the winter season, which is normally slower for me, so that gives me the opportunity to spend lots of time with Andrew.

I am going to teach him how to skate, and we are going to go sledding a lot, plus we are working on finishing our basement. A few months ago, I took over our guest bedroom upstairs for my office and that left us needing a place to house guests. We decided to proceed with our basement plan and that included a murphy wall bed, that can be employed whenever needed, but not take up any space in the giant play area that is going to be our basement when no one is visiting. There is going to be a craft kitchen down there as well as all the rough in’s for my future 110” screen home theatre package. The best part of our basement so far, is that we purchased very cool subfl0or panels. Why are Subfloor panels cool? because they take a cold concrete floor and turn it into a warm wood floor just like any other floor in the house. When we are down there, it won’t feel anything like a basement, and that is cool. These panels are NOT cheap, but they are worth every penny.

So that pretty much catches you up to date in Non blogged stuff. Oh, yeah. I had a birthday too, Last Saturday. It was a low key affair, but was perfect. Traci, Andrew, Poppop, Nan, my sister Nic and my BIL Dean were there to help me usher out my 36th year.

And… always the same weekend as my birthday is Thanksgiving. Canadian style of course. It is pretty much the same thing as the US version, just without the triple header of football and ridiculous shopping sprees. It was the same crowd as my birthday, just a different menu.  

Oh yeah, this is Nan’s new cat, Helen. Well, Helen was her name at the shelter, but it was changed to Tessa. So now we call her the cat formerly known as Helen.

Wow, what a long blog. Probably a record. Anyway, most people who read this blog, have ties to RVing is some way. for the short term future I may include some items here that are related to RVing, like our future camping plans etc, but for the winter, it will be a bit more about our day to day stuff. I may talk about my running and training, as I will be starting a full 16 week program for a 1/2 marathon in February called the Hypothermic Half…LOL. Call me crazy, but I like running in the cold. I then will be considering a full Marathon. maybe. So, in the meantime, we will be following our RVing friends blogs down in the warm states, while we patiently wait for the May long weekend so we can get back out in the camper. Meanwhile, I will try to relate our funny and interesting stories from cold Calgary.

Thanks for reading, goodnight now.

Pic of the day. We gave Andrew a haircut as he was being bothered by hair in his eyes.  Remember Lloyd Christmas from the movie Dumb and Dumber? hehe. We fixed it the next day.