Puttering through life

How can a mere 24 hours be so remarkable and rejuvenating? Well, take some very dear friends I met during my two years at Augustana University College, add mountains (magic in itself) and toss in cross country skiing, good food and a whirlpool and presto you have created a recipe for a good time.

We converged at my place on Saturday and took two vehicles to Canmore, Alberta. The day was perfect. The weather was warm with clear, beautiful blue skies. In a mere hour we had exited the hustle and bustle of Calgary, traversed the foothills and were greeted by the mountains. We weaved our way through the town to Canmore Nordic Centre Provinical Park. After renting skis for me (this was the first time I have ever officially skiied in my life), we donned our gear and hit the trails. I did my best to keep up with the ladies. I was a sorry display of athleticism but there was no way you could remove the stupid smile on my face or the determination in my heart. I wiped out twice. Once out of stupidity. I wanted to turn around to take a picture of the landscape but neglected to remember I had trees tied to my feet. The second time I lost my balance heading down a hill trying to get my skis into the groomed tracks. At the end of a few fantastic hours in the mountain air exercising, we all left with a little bit of sun on our face, aches in our legs and shoulders and words still streaming from our mouths.

We rounded out the day with a dip in our hotel's hot whirlpool to ease the aches away. Then enjoyed a fantastic Spanish and Mexican food at Tapas restaurant and begoda. The meal was divine.

It has been a long time since I have spent time with these 3 great friends and we had a lot of catching up to do. It was interesting to hear about the paths everyone's life has taken. It was enlightening to find out what each person does to motivate themselves, cope with upheavals and participate in the world around them. I was inspired. I also felt such peace and contentment being present and in the moment with these friends.

Once again I am finding friendship the key to good living. I cherish these moments and hope to create more.

Our time in Alberta is quickly approaching its end. Only 3 more months and so many "tourist" items left on my list. Thankfully February has provided enough days with decent weather that we have managed to squeeze in some Calgary attractions.

J and I took the kids to the zoo at the beginning of the month. We had a great time. The weather was perfect, the animals were alert, and the kids well-behaved. J managed to take some wonderful animal pictures while the kids and I delighted in watching

hippos sleep,
red pandas race around their enclosure,
giraffes saunter,
tigers roll on their backs or pace through their home,
rays skim through water,
and a baby gorilla play in the straw.

The zoo was a great way to spend time as a family. So great that we invested in a membership. All we have to do is attend at least 3 more times and we will have paid it off.


For Valentine's day we combined family time with visiting the Calgary Tower. After traveling downtown via the C-Train (which the kids still rave about to this day), my mom-in-law and I took the kids to the top of the tower while J and his dad went to some photo exhibits. It was a hoot watching the kids walk on the glass floor and observe the world in miniature below them. They thought it was neat "sitting" on the buildings and watching the cars and C-Train travel by. The glass floor initially freaked me out. It is amazing how your sense of sight strongly affects your body's reaction. I actually had the sensation of falling when I was stepping on the floor. We spent about an hour cruising through the Calgary Tower and enjoyed attempting to see the sights through the clouds and snow surrounding the tower. We capped our day off with lunch at a restaurant and then supper with my family (sis, her kids and my folks). Two free meals, a tourist attraction, and well-behaved kids created a special day to remember. Check out the train yard, Saddledome, and Stampede grounds as seen looking east and slightly south from the Calgary Tower.

Although I've been plagued by mice and run into by cars, I've been able to keep smiling. Why? I'm going on a holiday. Four girlfriends and I are traveling to Dublin for 4 days. Why? Because we deserve it of course.

Also we are celebrating our collective birthdays. Four of us met at Algonquin College's Library and Information Technician program. We soon discovered a similarity. We were all close in age and had January and February birthdays. We have tried to get together to celebrate our birthdays over the years (I've known these friends for 13 years now). This year we are taking it one step further and traveling abroad. Dublin may seem like a strange choice for a winter get-away but it will suit all of our personalities.

So three cheers for holidays...hip, hip, hooray!

I'm not sure how I want to describe yesterday's events. Generally I'm not feeling shaken or scared but I am sort-of ill at ease with the situation. Right now I feel very removed from the incident. So this post might come off as cold, factual and objective.

I was rear-ended yesterday while stopped at a red light. Lil bug was in the back in her car seat and I was on my way to retrieve monkey boy from preschool. Lil bug and I are fine. Our lovely new RAV4 has bumper damage but it is completely drivable. My main concern was making sure someone was able to pick up monkey boy. I just didn't want him to be left waiting. The problem was that J had the cell phone. Thankfully the man who hit me let me use his phone. I called my folks at home and on their cell (my thought was they had a car and could get to monkey boy the fastest). Problem was there was no answer. I left a desperate message with them requesting they pick up monkey boy. I then called J. He was there and said he would handle things with monkey boy by calling the school and arranging a taxi ride over to the facility. Relief reigned supreme. It wasn't until later did I realize that I neglected to let my loved ones know I was okay and so was lil bug. I feel strange that I was more concerned about the child waiting for me and not the one who was in the accident with me. I guess because I knew she was okay and babbling about what happened I put my worries aside for her.

After exchanging information (while listening to my daughter hysterically cry because a strange man was in our car and I refused to let her out of her seat because we were still in traffice), we finally reached the police by phone. We found out that we needed to go to a police station to file a report as the police would not send out a car to an accident where the parties were not injured and the vehicles did not require towing. I insisted we go together to the station and file right away. Ironically enough the police station is a mere 5 minute walk from monkey boy's preschool. After putting the paper work into motion, I used the station's phone and reached my folks. They were on their way to meet J and monkey boy at the preschool with a car and car seat. I told them to drop by the station to see if I was still there before they left the area. As we wrapped things up with the police, my whole family arrived and my daughter declared "Daddy, I'm at a police station." Hmmm, not something I think either J or I hoped to ever hear from her especially when she is only 2 years old.

Well there is my tale.

We are still plagued with mice. We've caught two more since my last report and we think there may be more. They are pretty sneaky creatures. They can lick the peanut butter right off the trap without triggering it sometimes. Frustration reigns supreme and my kitchen floors and cupboards are littered with sealed food products, They think they are winning but we too can be persistent and patient.

The scoreboard reads:

Mice 4
Humans 1

Yes you read that correctly. It is no longer one mouse we are combating. We have been invaded by mice. My theory for this takeover is warm weather seduced the mice out of their houses, roofing work on our townhouse condo unit created an opportunity for the mice to explore homes, the cold weather and some shingles returned, and the mice were "trapped".

No sooner did the sweet kitchen mouse meet her demise when another one emerged from hiding. I'm referring to it as the living room mouse. When kitchen mouse was "caught", J kindly took care of the remains and inquired whether or not we needed to keep the trap. I dismissed his worry of another mouse and returned my attention to the boob tube. As he dressed to take the mouse remains to the garbage dump, I heard a scratching scamper coming from the play area. I turned my head, peered into the dark and spotted it. The living room mouse.

She is a crafty and bold one. She walked over to the table area to locate the crumbs on the floor by first traipsing through monkey boy's toy cars, then the fisher price farm set and under the little tikes semi-trucks. As long as there is no movement, she happily explores. When J and I approach, she scampers away in a flurry. We've set more traps but so far she evades them. I guess kitchen mouse wasn't as bright. She seemed to walk right into our trap a mere two minutes after it was set with peanut butter.

I hope we catch living room mouse tonight. I'm getting miffed, royally. I hate mouse turds and worrying about our food. I dislike the idea of scouring this house to rid it of mouse droppings.

I truly hope only two took up residence. I'm not sure if I could handle a full scale assault.