My Web Design class

Wow! Almost 2 years since I have last done a blog here. The last post almost coincides with when I started on facebook.


On May 7th and May 14th I am taking a class on learning web design. One of the components of the class is to make a blog at blogger. So I figured I would use my old blog to do this on.


My homepage is a great place to learn about Saskatoon.


The picture I chose to use to show up is:

I will add more to it next week when I am back for the next class!! Hope that I learn how to make things look pretty.

My goal in the future is to have a webpage for our community association...coming soon :)

Our Summer Holiday

It is hard to believe that 3 days ago we were sitting 2200km away at the top of a glacier that is deeper than the CN Tower is tall and has been there for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

We left for Calgary on Monday, July 23 and got home yesterday, July 28th. In those 6 days, we went to Calaway park, Banff, the Columbian Ice Fields, the top of Sulpher Mountain, the Calgary zoo, the Calgary Science centre and went to see Harry Potter and ate in wonderful places like Chucky Cheese.

Here are some of the pics that we took along the way. This is the bus that took us onto the ice fields. These buses are specially made by a company in Canada and there are only about 25 in the world. The Columbian Ice Field Company owns all but one of them. If you ever decide to take a tour of Alberta, make sure this is on your list of must do. It is about a 4 hour drive from Calgary (2 from Banff) and it is well worth the drive. The Ice Field is located in Jasper National Park and the drive to get there is amazing. When you get to the pavillion and get your tickets for the ride, make sure you have lots of money as it is not cheap. We were lucky as we used our airmiles and were able to get the tickets for free. From the pavillion, we took a tour bus to the site where we got onto the bus you see pictured above. This is the bus that drove us right on to the ice fields. Part of the trek is going down an incline that is a 32 percent grade. This is one of the steepest grades around as most of the ones you drive on is only an 8 percent grade. This part freaked me out a bit but once we got going down that incline it really did feel safe. One woman behind us dropped her camera and it did a pretty good slide down the centre before it was stopped and handed back to her. The cool thing was the couple sitting in front of us were from North Carolina and I had a nice little chat with them. Note in the picture that the girls are wearing sweaters. The temperature that day got to 41 C but on the icefields, with the wind, it was a mite chillier.
This picture was taken at the Calgary Zoo before my camera decided it didn't want to work anymore. We love the Calgary Zoo and it has some of the most amazing animals there. My favorite being the giraffes and the hippos, which I didn't get pictures of, but am just as happy that we got to see them. My other favorite was of the anteater which was one of the coolest looking animals I have ever seen.
This is on top of Sulpher Mountain in Banff. To get to the top of the mountain we got to ride in a gondola. The gondolas are fairly small so we had to ride up in 2 seperate cars. To me, it is not a fun journey as I am totally paranoid during the 8 minute ride up that something is going to go wrong. When we were going down, it did stop for a few minutes which totally freaked me out, but I did my best to remain calm for Boo who was with me at the time. It was only a routine safety check which I am glad that they do but I wish they would have waited until I was off.
The Weeping Walls. This picture was taken on the drive from Banff to the Icefields. Along the drive, there are many points of interest that one can stop and have a look and take pictures. This one was my favorite and the cool thing is that the Saskatchewan River is formed just a few miles from this spot and we were able to go and put our hands in the water. The river there looks nothing like it does when it gets here. The river is formed from the runoff of a glacier rightly called the Saskatchewan Glacier. We got to see where it comes off the mountain in huge rush and meanders along the mountains getting bigger with every mile. There were some spots where the river was much wider than it is here but also much shallower. The colour of the water is amazing because of the rock flour that is mixed in with it that disapears after it leaves the mounains.
This is the picture of the Icefields that we were on. When you are standing on the glacier surrounded totally by these vast mountains, it sure makes you feel small. Where we stopped to get out and walk around a bit, there was a little creek of running water that we were allowed to fill our waterbottles up in. The water was amazing. There really is no taste as it is as fresh as you can get it and there are no pollutants or chemicals to give it any taste. And much colder than any icecube could make it. The kids got a kick out of that.

It was all in all a wonderful trip, knowing this might be one of our last big family vacations before the girls, mostly Kat, become adults, made it all the more memerable.

Both Cor and I have another week of holidays before we have to go back to work so we are going to enjoy some more relaxing days, maybe get some of the work around the house finished and spend some afternoons in our pool in the backyard.

Plant pictures

My Lamb's Ear. I know there is a Latin word for it but I cannot remember what it is called. I didn't know this would get little yellow flowers on it and am quite impressed that it did.
I have thought all along that this was Columbine but it is not and I don't remember what it really is.
My Hosta. Every year it gets bigger. One year I am sure it will get the flowers that it is supposed to get.
I lost the tag for this so I have no idea what it is except that it is a perrenial. There are buds on it so it is going to hopefully flower soon.

My Japanese Bluebells. This also has buds on it so it will flower at some point too.

Last night when I got home from work, Cor was already home and had the firpit going so that the kids could roast hotdogs for their supper. Cor had bought a brand new cast iron frying pan for the bbq and after baking it, then oiling it and then baking it again, he has been using it almost daily on the bbq. He loves to cook cut up potatoes in it and I have to admit, they are tasty. So while the kids ate hotdogs, he made us pork chops with potatoes and salad. I love a husband who can cook.

This weekend he has to work, but on Saturday night, we are going to a friends house for a surprise birthday party and then Sunday being Father's Day, it is our annual family get together which used to be at Pike Lake. Now we have it at my parents house as it is too cumbersome to get everything needed to the lake. It should be fun

The Start of our Summer Garden

This is what this area looked like when we first started out this spring. The clematis from last year was starting to come back on the right hand side and I had rearranged my deck to make it look more homey and more comfortable.

This is the front flower bed that I have been working on trying to get full of perrenials for the last couple of years. There are a few things in there that keep coming back year after year and have basically come with the house. There are a few things that I have added that have come back and a few that didn't come back at all.

This is my little flower bed that is in the front of the house in my lawn. We built this a few years ago and this is the one area where I have not added any perrenials, I keep on doing annuals in this bed.

This is the new look for the end of our deck. We were going to do bricks to build up the flower bed but decided to go with rocks from the farm. What the heck, they were free and it gives it a great look. We ripped out all of the clematis and moved the trellis back several feet. We put the blocks in and then put red bark down. This is now my 'zen' area and I have sat out there on several evenings just enjoying the peace and quiet.

This is the same thing from the other side. There are still a few things we need to do. Get rid of the empty flower pots, put up my lights on the trellis and at some point probably buy a fish or two to put in the new pond. On the end of the trellis closest to the fence is a stain glassed bird feeder that the birds are already using. I am hoping that some of the flower will attract butterflies and maybe even a hummingbird or two. I have never seen a hummingbird and I would really like to.

Too Early in the Morning

Well we are being told that this weekend is going to be a scorcher out. Finally!! We have been waiting for warm weather. The problem with this place though is that it is never just nice. It is either too cold or too hot. Never a nice in between.
My goal this weekend is to finally get all the plants that I have bought into either the ground or a pot. I think it is time. I bought almost everything last weekend and I think except for one more store that I want to go to, I should have everything that I want.
We survived Kat's birthday party last weekend, barely. Teenagers are a loud bunch, let me tell you. I think there were 12 in all, but I pretty much lost track of them. Upstairs, outside, downstairs. They were not able to stay doing one thing for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. But all in all they were a pretty good bunch of kids. Only at one time did I get angry and that was when they decided to smear cake on each other. I think they knew I was unimpressed when I went into the family room with a garbage bag and some paper towels. At least they didn't get any on my couches.
It has been a fairly good week. On Monday, I had to take Shorty to see the pediatric orthopedic specialist for his 3 month hip check up. The last time we were there, she was a little worried about his hip and said that if it didn't improve much over the week, she might consider admitting him into the hospital and putting him on traction for a while.
But when she walked into the examining room with his x-rays and a big smile on her face, I knew that wouldn't be the case. His hip is coming along grandly and everything is going along as it should be. She wants to see him again in 9 months, which to me is great as it is normally 3 months.
Tuesday afternoon was my monthly afternoon off. I had booked Boo into see the family doctor for a quick check up. She has been getting her periods way more frequently than a 13 should be, in fact more frequently than an adult should be getting them. So I wanted to get that checked out. Only we didn't get to see the dr. He ended up having an emergency of sorts with a patient that was already there and I said that we would rebook for another time. Boo was very happy about that as she didn't want to have to talk to him about this problem. So we are going to wait another month or so and see if things change, and if not we will just rebook it.
Exciting news on the work front. I am being upgraded to a bigger office. It is the one right next to mine but is twice the size. At the moment, the whole clinic is being redone with new paint and they are installing laminate flooring. Very nice looking. The three head people meet quite frequently and at the last meeting they were trying to decide what furniture to give me that is already in the clinic. They then decided to let me pick it out instead of doing it for me. I am so tickled about that. So last Friday, the office manager and I walked around so that she could show me all that I could pick from. I got to pick the one that was secretly on my wishlish. Teehee. That office is set up right now with a corner desk that so when you sit at it, your back is to the door. That was one thing that I was really dreading. I have no desire to sit with my back to the door. So instead, my office is going to look like a bankers office. My chair will be facing the door and I will have to walk around my desk to sit down, which is fine. There will also be a chair or two on the other side of my desk so that patients or therapists can sit to talk to me instead of standing at the door. The best part is that I will no longer have people standing over my shoulder watching what I put into the computer. Yesterday, my boss was looking around the clinic a bit and he went into my soon to be office and came back out to say that it should be ready in about 2 weeks. I said that was fine, no problem. He looks at me and I say "but I am really excited about it" and sort of clap my hands. He says "oh, good!". I am dying to get into that office but I don't want to look like I am pushing :) So I have been doing my best to downplay it a bit. I guess I did it a bit too much. hehehe.
Kat started her new job this week too. She is working at Superstore in the HMR department. It is a newer department since you guys last lived here. It is part of the deli and there they make the pizzas, the bbq chickens, salads, etc. There is a till in that dept so that people can buy their food right there to eat. It is like a little cafe type of thing. She started her training on Wednesday and the only fear we had was that they are not allowed to have wild colored hair, green, blue etc. Well on Sunday night, I dyed the girls hair black again for them. Well, they turned blue! Not a bright blue, but you could sure tell it was blue. I did phone the company and complained. I am receiving a coupon for a free hair color :). Anyway, when Kat went in on her first day, she is the one who pointed out her hair and let the manager know what happened. They were okay with it, and so to make it a bit safer, she wears a Superstore ballcap overtop of her hair net. She is very happy to be working. Right now she will be getting about 3 shifts a week until school is over and then it will probably increase for the summer. She will be taking a week off when we go on our summer holiday.
This year we are going to Calgary for a week. July 23 will be the day we leave. We used our airmiles to get us free into the zoo, the science centre, both of which are right in Calgary. Then we are also going to spend a day in Banff and for that we used our airmiles to get us onto the gondola, the hot springs and the ice fields tour. All in all, I think we are saving close to 500 bucks. All of that for free!!! We also plan on going to Calaway park, Heritage Park and the Aerospace Museum. That in total, should come to about 150 bucks. We are quite excited. The hotel that we booked is actually a suite that has a bedroom and a kitchenette. Free breakfast and an indoor pool with a waterslide. So it should be the perfect vacation.
I guess I had better get my butt up and moving and start the day!! Have a great weekend.

Finally A Nice Day Out

We are finally going to be having a decent weekend for a change. Yesterday was the first day we had seen the sun in about 7-10 days. I think I am going to go shopping and buy some outdoor plants.

I am typing this blog from my own very new laptop!! I have been looking and looking for almost a full year for a laptop and we are finally able to afford one. I didn't go for one that cost thousands of dollars, but just your basic dual core 1gig memory and 80 gig harddrive. It is a hp pavillion dv6000 in case you want to look it up. Now if I can only get my wireless internet to work, I will be a happy camper. I think I am going to have to buy a new router.

Kat turned 15 on Thursday. Cor was working nights so I got my mom to order chinese food and the kids and I had Katie's birthday supper at mom and dad's house. It was great for the kids to spend time with their grandparents with all of the scares we have had in the last few months(more on my dad later).

So Kat's birthday party is today. We let her invite a ton of kids here for an afternoon and night party. A few of her girlfriends will be spending the night so I think it will be a verrrry long night but that is okay. We have bought 4 dozen hotdogs/buns, 4 bags of chips, 4 bottles of pop, 48 cans of pop and a huge slab cake. I hope that is enough.

My dad came home from the hospital last Wednesday, May 16. He seemed to be okay when he got home but as the days went by, he seemed to lose more and more of his speech. My dad's sister (who used to be a nurse many moons ago) made mom worry more by either calling and giving bad new or expressing her worry to the point of madness. On Monday, the holiday, my aunt called me to talk and expressed her worry about him. I let her talk because I figured she needed to vent and was okay with that. The next day, I am at work and my aunt calls me there. She had been talking to a speech therapist that she knew at the hospital and after describing my dad's symptoms, the therapist said that dad should be taken back the hospital. So she tried to call my parents and after getting no answer, she called me at work. She was at the point of going over to my parents and sitting there until they got home so that she could personally escort them to the hospital. So I get off the phone with her and try my parents house to get no answer. I call my brother and he said that when he talked to mom that morning, dad was out in the garage riding his stationary bike. Of course, I start to think really bad thoughts and start to panic. I call my boss and tell her what is going on. I tell her that I am thinking that my dad might be back in the hospital. So she tells me to phone the hospital and then to phone her back when I am done. So I phone the hospital and find out that dad was indeed there but he was also released already. So I phone my boss back but her phone is busy and I try and work for a bit until she gets off the phone. A few minutes later my boss comes into my office. She tells me that while I was phoning the hospital, she tried calling mom and dads house again and of course they are home by that time. My boss tells mom why she is calling (they have met several times before) and my mom gets very angry and blames my aunt on all of it. I can understand why she got mad but on the other hand, I think I did overreact just a tad. My boss says that I didn't overreact at all and I am so grateful that she has really big shoulders for me to cry on. I have used her shoulders a few times in the past, more often in the past couple of months.

So, the result of my dad being back in emergency is that they did another cat scan and saw that his brain is still a bit swollen and he still has some fluid left over from the surgery they had to do before. Instead of re-admitting him (thank goodness) they put him back on steroids to help reduce the swelling. By that night, when we went over for a visit, he was already improving. I will keep you updated on how he is doing.

Tomorrow after all of Kat's friends go home, we are off to do a 5km fun walk to help support liver transplant. My bosses' daughter and my co-worker had a liver transplant when she was very young. She is now twenty something, engaged to be married but unfortanately is sick with something they still haven't been able to diagnose and she has been unable to work. We are all praying that she will come out of it okay. So this walk should be fun, maybe not the actually walking, but since a bunch of us from work will be doing this, at least it will be entertaining. Our whole family is doing the walk so it also gives us a chance to do something as a family.

There is more I want to write, but I need to get off my butt and help clean the house before we get overrun with teenagers.

When we first moved into this house back in 1999, this tree barely reached the top of the fence. Now, although a very common tree around here, we are very proud to see it getting as big as it is. At this time of the year it is nice to have some color in the yard besides brown and green.

Thanks to everyone about the good wishes for my dad, but unfornately he has had a set back.

Last Monday night, my mom phoned to chat after my scrapbooking class. She mentioned that she was quite worried about my dad because he was unable to finish his sentances. He had just been diagnosed with a sinus infection and I thought it might be just the pressure and the pain that was causing him to be that way.

The next day on my way home from work, my mom called me on my cell phone to say that they had admitted dad back into the hospital. I guess at lunch time he was not able to say 2 or 3 words together to form a sentence. So my mom took him to St. Pauls to find out what the problem was. While there, they did a cat scan to find out that my dad had a bleed on his brain. They figured it was from the heavy duty heart medication he had to be taking that caused this.

So they took my dad by ambulance to University Hospital where they deal with these sorts of problems. When we went to see him that evening, he seemed fine to me and we thought that he would just be in for the night for observation.

The next day when my mom went to see him, he had gotten worse. I took Shorty and Boo to see him after supper (Kat had seen him the night before) and although he understood everything we said to him, he was unable to have a conversation with the kids. Unfortunatley I didn't realize how bad he was and if I had known, I would not have taken the kids with me. Shorty didn't seem too upset about it but Boo was in tears when we left.

From there he just seemed to go downhill. Although he was on a medications to clot the blood and to decrease the swelling, it didn't seem to be working. By Thursday night although he really wanted to communicate with us he was unable to do so. Evertime he tried to say something, he would get very frustrated and just end up going "shit". If it wasn't that, he would just go "whatever". The new plan was to do another CT scan to see where he was at.

On Friday they did the cat scan and by 4:00pm, they phoned my mom to get her consent to operate on him. He was on the list to have surgery that evening to drill two burr holes in his head to remove the excess blood that had pooled on his brain. We went to the hospital that night to see him but left before the surgery started as he was very tired and spent most the visit asleep.

Dad didn't end up having his surgery until Saturday night at around 11pm. We went and saw him yesterday afternoon and were quite worried because his surgery had to keep getting bumped due to other emergencies that kept coming in. But we were assured that he would get his surgery as soon as they were able to do it.

Last night we went to a friends birthday party who is turning 40. At first I really didn't want to go because I thought I would be too worried about my dad. But I am so glad that we did as it was very comforting sitting with friends and talking about it and also everything else. I had instructed my mom to call me on my cell as soon as she heard any news and around 10pm I called her to see if she had heard anything. An hour later she called me back to say that they had taken him into surgery. At 2am she phoned to let me know that he was out and awake and alert. He had some decreased ability in his right hand and that seemed to be impoving. He was able to talk but I don't know at this point if he is able to form sentances. We will be going up this morning to see him.

It has been a very long week for me. On Monday, Cor had left for a 5 day course in Edmonton and didn't come home until Friday afternoon. On Monday night, about 1/2 block from our house a man was stabbed. He didn't die but it is still scary to have that happen so close to home.

I am so glad that last week is over but I wish it was Friday again so that I could have a day or two of rest. This week coming up will be a very busy one as I have something going on every night until Friday. The good news is that next weekend is a long weekend and I will be able to relax for 3 whole days!!! Kat leaves this Wednesday for a band trip to Moose Jaw to play in the Kinsmen Band and Coral Festival. She is really looking forward to it and has been practicing her clarinet all weekend. They will be playing a Medley from "Shrek". The fact that this trip is costing me $255.00 wasn't all that fun, but hey, what can you do?

I want to wish you a "Happy Mother's Day" and hope that you have a great day!!!