After Prom...

This is Diana right after the limo dropped her off, with her friend, Becki.

After dinner, Diana got to introduce Trae to all of her friends at the prom. There was a lot of good reaction to Diana's new look :) And to Trae *wink*

During a break in the dancing... Trae & Diana took a little walk together... and I'm gonna make you wait to find out what happened, but you can probably guess.

Today was the final wrap-up.

So here's Diana with Steph...

And with Jen, Krista & Eddie.

Everyone left now, and the five weeks of the 'thing' are over (until June, when Diana & Lee do a quick jaunt to NYC to do some final stuff).

We'll all see the result in July!

Prom!!!

What a cool experience. More will come in July!!

A new favorite

Here's a link to a cartoon site. There is language occasionally, so be warned.

http://xkcd.com/

Here's a sample:

Dang!

Myrna sent me an interesting email with a bunch of weird shoes being sold in Japan.

Diana doesn't have much to complain about with her 'normal' four-inch heels, eh?

I wonder if they wad up cotton like Connie did when she danced in toe shoes for ballet?


Diana liked these ones best, just for the confusing footprint.

Happy Mother's Day!

There once was a Student named Trevor,
Who thought he was rather clever.
So he wrote a poem,
and sent it home,
To the greatest mother ever.

Happy mother's day Mom!

The best part was the pretty dang positive phone call today. He's keeping up with his classes and his team in Civ class won the Concrete Frisbee competition!

Yay!

Happy Mother's Day!

A Thong

Diana was given one today for the 'thing.'

I had to explain that the first time I ever even saw one was in "Crocodile Dundee" when that girl goes to wash her stuff in the water, and she's wearing a thong bodysuit.

Until then, I don't think I'd ever seen one.

In the 70's, we wore Dittos jeans, but I don't think the thong was invented until after I was in high school. I did know girls that just 'went without' or wore Underalls so they wouldn't have panty lines.

Thong underwear didn't come into being until the 1990's according to Wikipedia.

She was supposed to try on dresses for Prom today. I don't know if the underwear was needed for a slinky dress or what.

I think the gals were surprised at Diana's reaction.

"MOM!!!"

lol

Prayers for my dad

would be appreciated.

He's in the hospital, on morphine, and it's looking like it's getting pretty close to him going home to the Lord.

Thank you.

Sunday - going home

Okay - so she had a bit of a sunburn...

We flew San Diego to Phoenix (not my favorite, very bumpy), and then Phoenix to Eugene.



We had the most awesome flight attendant on the way home.

The first thing I noticed was that he was wearing Danskos like the kind I use for work. He knew all about the thing Diana is doing, and was thrilled to meet her.

The two of them had tons in common, and she's drawing him as a chibi here.

He was a big Anime/Manga fan, and has attended conventions & done cos-play as well. He basically spent most of the flight talking with Diana (I think he handed out the pretzels a little late) and at the end of the flight, he had her announce the final prep for the passengers on the plane using the phone.

Riki and Diana exchanged webpage info, and I'm sure they'll keep in touch. All these anime kids are like family to each other. They both cheered each other up immensely. Too funny.

Thanks for a great flight Riki! You were fantastic!

Cool Gift from Renee

Diana had to open it immediately, even though it was after midnight.

This is an oyster in a little tuna-sized can, that you open and then get out the pearl.

There's a necklace that goes with it, but I don't have a photo of that since Diana hasn't taken it off yet.

Just a way cool gift & Diana was thrilled to get a real pearl that she got out of the oyster herself!

Saturday in SD

Diana was busy all day, but Carolyn & family were able to come down to visit with me. We hung out at the hotel a while, and then headed over to Horton Plaza for some shopping. We met up with Renee & Patrick there, as well as their friend, Thomas. Thomas promised Carl a helicopter ride some time...

Carolyn was sad she'd miss seeing Diana, but she still left her a cool manga. Diana was just going to be getting back too late for a chance to see them.

We had lunch at the Karl Somethingorother brewery (thanks!) and I think the kids liked the "beach" and the pool. Thanks for driving down to visit - that was great!

In the evening, Nae and the guys came to pick me up and we went to a diner on Coronado Island. Renee was pointing out stuff along the drive, but I could barely see anything because it was NIGHT!

We got back to the hotel to wait for Diana, and sat in the Lounge so we'd be sure to see her when she got back. It wasn't until 11:30 that Diana got in, and she had a nasty sunburn. Turns out the sunblock they had was waterproof, and she is allergic to that, so she didn't use it. Oh well.

We hung out with Nae & the guys a while longer and then we headed up to the room. Diana loves the manga and the little Hello Kitty charms & stuff she got.

There's an extra post on what Nae gave her coming up...

Hello San Diego!

Diana & I got to take a trip to San Diego over the weekend for the thing.

We arrived Friday evening, and managed to hook up with Renee & Patrick. They treated us to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

It was WAY FUN seeing Renee again, and meeting her guy. He is very nice and knows a lot about music & anime & other stuff, so we all had plenty of conversation going around

Thanks very much for dinner!!!

I think Nae likes San Diego very well :)

I survived & I'm home again

I'll tell ya about it after I sleep...

:)

The Curse of the Thyroid

Well, the main part of the curse is over. I had a great endocronologist who used a very strong treatment on me which worked and cured my thyroid condition.

However, before I was diagnosed, I recall standing in line at Knott's at the parachute jump ride with Carolyn & my dad. I was looking up at the parachutes, and Carolyn told me to stop, because my neck looked "gross." I'm like, how does a neck look gross when you're 14?

So, we get into the little basket thing for the ride, and it goes up and all of a sudden, I get hysterical. I'm a little ball on the bottom of the basket, screaming bloody murder. It was so bad that when we came down, they let me off and Carolyn & my dad continued for the other 2 rides up & down. I had been on that ride before, as well as roller coasters, etc. without a problem.

Fast forward to the 90's. Lee & I are going to take a trip to Albuquerque to visit his sister Karen & her family for Thanksgiving. I'm petrified of flying, and I can't use my 'normal' method of dealing with valium + Irish coffee, because I have small kids. At the time, I had insurance that allowed for "mental health" and part of the benefits included counseling or hypnotherapy.

Froggy had a doctor friend that also taught self-hypnosis, so I went to see him. In figuring out my phobia of heights, he put together the thyroid condition and the onset of the phobia happened at the same time. Turns out the thyroid pushes against the pituitary gland (at least that's my best recollection), which affects emotions - like fear.

So even though the thyroid part was taken care of, I'm still left with an totally unrational fear of heights. On the plus side, I did learn the self-hypnosis technique that allows me to fly in an airplane and not have panic attacks. On the down side, I have to work at it and focus to get through it. The best thing I took away from the self-hypnosis therapy was that when I feel the fear build up, I should let it pass through me, vs. letting it take me over. The self-hypnosis helps keep the fear at bay - but sometimes it does build up anyway.

So - yeah - curse of the thyroid.

Stressors & Relaxors

Flying in a plane. Jobless hubby. Dad being very ill. Teachers wanting to move Connor to a different school. Son in college not figuring it out fast enough. Daughter involved in something way cool, but stressful nonetheless.

A fun trip. Finances are 'okay'. Dad hanging on way past what was thought. Support from other district folks to do the best for Connor. Son is getting better. Daughter will remember this experience for the rest of her life, and it will help move her along even more than she was doing on her own.


I need to keep exercising & eating right. Laugh a lot (good thing I married Lee). Have some chocolate or wine now & then. Play with Connor.

Diana's new duds

Today, Diana got to do a little shopping spree for the "thing."

Check out those heels! She wore them to church tonight too, to break them in.

Cute, huh?

:)

The Epic Cake

Courtesy of Mary.

She remembered my favorite is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

She did not remember to let the cake cool before frosting it - but it tasted great anyway!

Thanks Mary!

Happy Birthday to Me

Lee made me a nice egg/cheese/fake ham & muffin sandwich for breakfast today. Yummy!

He stopped by later during my lunch break at work and brought me some flowers :) I knew we were going out to dinner, so I didn't want to go out to eat for lunch as well.

Diana got a new party dress today to go with her shoes. She got to wear them out to my birthday dinner at Red Robin. She got noticed a bit there by a guy she knows from school that's a bus boy there. Fun stuff.

She's still trying to figure out how to walk in the shoes.

But the Red Robin mascot gave her roses & a stuffed bear while he was down on one knee. hee.

And I got carded for my glass of wine! Ha!

After dinner, we watched the Stargate "Ark of Truth" movie, that Lee rented, and had some tiramisu. Again, yummy!

Thanks for all the nice wishes - phone calls, emails, cards. It was an interesting & fun birthday!

Respect the Shoe

What do you think of these?

Oh Deer! Shoes

If you don't know why I'd post this, never mind.

Weird Weather

Saturday we had hail, mostly.

Sunday we woke up to snow.

By the afternoon it was completely gone & my tulips picked up their heads again :)

Connor likes Spongebob Legos

As most of you know, we are having a "thing" at the house for the next few weeks that I'm not at liberty to discuss in my blog (so if you know what it is, please don't refer to it in comments or I'll have to delete!).

In any case, due to the "thing," there are times when we need Connor to be quiet in a different room than the living room.

I had found a Lego set for Connor and hidden it away to give to him at his birthday. His birthday came & went and I totally forgot I'd hidden this Lego set!

So Diana remembered it, and we were able to pull it out for Connor to assemble to help him stay quiet & busy. The first time I helped him figure it out, but since then he has taken it apart & reassembled it about 5 times now. He only needs help if he can't get the pieces apart now :)

I cheered up the social worker

This morning, the social worker assigned to my school came in to our classroom rather distraught. Because of the specific population of students in my room, we need a washer & dryer for all the washcloths, shirt protectors (bibs) and various blankets, etc. that the kids use.

The lady came in this morning with a coat that needed to go through the laundry too. She was upset because she is frustrated with the parents of some of the kids that think it's okay to get their drugs and let their kids sleep outside. Well, I'd be upset too.

I let her rant a bit, because she needed an ear. Then I said, "You know, my husband has a solution for that."

I told her Lee's idea of creating dorms on elementary school campuses, where the kids would stay Monday - Friday, and then mom/dad could get them over the weekend if they were clean & had a safe place to go. During the week they'd get good, solid meals, have tutoring available, and would have activities for free time instead of just TV or video games.

Of course, she realized all the rigamarole and beauracracy involved in ever bringing an idea like this to fruition, but at the same time, it kind of gave her hope. She said she only ever hears how horrible the situation is, and no one ever has ideas to fix it.

This is one of those things she can suggest the next time she goes to one of those conferences she attends for social workers. She really cheered up thinking of all the good things that could be accomplished for these kids that would be served by a situation like that.

Maybe if others with great grant-writing abilities can get involved? People with ties to the community who know where the money is for things like that? People who know about Children's Services who don't have a place to keep the neglected kids? People in the law field with an understanding of serving children's needs? Who knows?

Look for elementary school dorms down the road... maybe when we get vouchers?

:)

Cup of Snow

Connor loves ice. If we go to a restaurant, he starts right in on the glasses of ice water with a spoon.

At home, he wanted ice cubes in a glass to chew up. He's very good about asking for a "glass of ice cold water, please."

Our friend, Sue, mentioned it might be due to an iron deficiency. There's also a condition called Pica, in which people eat non-edible things (paper, dirt, etc. which Connor has also been known to do - tho not so much lately).

I have added a multi-vitamin to his routine (when I remember), and if he's asking for ice water, it's a nice verbal reminder to give it to him if I've forgotten.

Then I looked at his teeth. They aren't cracking, but it looks like he's developed little craters in his molars. Maybe they were always there, but I'm thinking chewing chunks of ice daily probably isn't helping the teeth.


I mentioned that to Lee & he found our little food chopper, and we started making crushed ice for Connor that way. I don't like to use the machine as much though, because the ice cubes stick and then you're grinding the engine, etc.

Then I remembered Carolyn had given me this handy Pampered Chef ice shaver (or I bought it? I can't remember).

So now instead of "glass of ice cold water, please," Connor will say, "cup of snow, please!"

Everybody's happy!

Uh oh -- Godzilla is coming!

I didn't know earthquakes came in swarms...

Swarms of Earthquakes off the Oregon Coast

It can only mean one thing...

I'll have to keep an eye out for Godzilla traipsing up & down the I-5.

Muahahahahahahahahahahahah!

Nerdy is as Nerdy does

There are a lot of things I like to do that could be considered nerdy. I can't blame my husband completely, since I was already on the way into nerdiness long before I ever met him.

I had a pretty typical childhood, I think. I really enjoyed reading & drawing (could be nerdy) and I especially liked Fantasy or Science Fiction (definitely nerdy). I kept my Barbie dolls around for a long time, although toward the end when I was 16, it was really more to make the clothes than "play" with them. Still, having Barbies in your room at 16 would have to be considered nerdy.

I wore glasses & braces, with my hair in ponytails. After age 14, I got on the chunky side. That just can't be considered cool.

I rocked on our Atari playing Gunfight! I beat everyone in the family. Nerdy.

When I got old enough to babysit, I had some money to spend here & there. I saved most of my money, but would allow myself a little bit to spend. I spent it on comic books - mostly Spider-Man (Amazing SM, Peter Parker the Spectacular SM, Sensational SM, and Marvel Team-Up). I also liked Spider Woman, Silver Surfer, Cloak & Dagger, Dazzler - those all were introduced to me in the Team-Ups. I didn't really read any of the teams except the odd X-man book. I didn't read anything but Marvel either.

I would go to Danber Drug by my Alpha Beta and get 3-5 comics and a bunch of candy bars & go home and read & eat. About this time I discovered it's possible to be so captivated by what you're reading that you don't notice you've eaten your candy. I switched to Bit-O-Honey then so at least it would take longer to chew, and I wouldn't feel like I had missed out on tasting the candy. Sounding pretty nerdy here...

I really, really had to work to learn to dance. Lots of time was spent in my room trying to figure out the beat and how to move. I used the reflection in my window to see what I was doing. It took me until I was 16 to get it. Again, nerdy!

My favorite movie for a very long time was Star Wars. I collected the bubble gum Star Wars cards for all three movies. I still have them. NERDY! I wish I still had the Luke Skywalker 11.5 inch "action figure" that I got from Carolyn one year. Oh well.

I created a comic book character (Bolt). I can count all the dates I had in high school on my fingers. I attended one so-called party. I was either an extra or background choir for our theater productions. Nerdy!

On the cool side...

I traveled to Germany 3 times, and could speak German fluently.

I went on a cruise in the Caribbean for a week & was the 'date' for the one guy my age (and 6 other girls).

I did figure out how to dance, and was even complimented on my dancing by stangers numerous times.

I went out on dates after I started college.

All this before I met Lee :)

The Pacific Northwest According To Jeff Foxworthy

1. You know the state flower (Mildew).
2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
3. Use the statement 'sun break' and know what it means.
4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the 'WALK'signal.
8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it's not a real mountain.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Veneto's.
10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.
11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon,Yakima and Willamette
12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
13. You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.
14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark while only working eight-hour days.
15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
16. You are not fazed by 'Today's forecast: showers followed by rain,' and 'Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers.'
17. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
18. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
20. You notice, 'The mountain is out' when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.
21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.
23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
25. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.
26. You measure distance in hours.
27. You often switch from 'heat' to 'a/c' in the same day.
28. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
29. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk season (Fall).
30. You actually understood these jokes.

More on Trevor

The new term has started and he seems off to a good beginning. He is still solo in his dormroom (but keeps the other side clear or he'll be charged for a single room). He said another student on the floor above has already gone through three dormmates (!!!) but since his first dormmate left, he hasn't had any new ones. I told him to check and make sure he's not being charged for a single. I would think there would be some kind of paperwork involved, so I doubt he is, but it's good to be sure.

He got A's in his two Civil Engineering classes last term which is great - that's his major. He'll be having a study group on a regular basis for his new Civ class this term - also good. He is utilizing the free tutoring for his other classes now.

The only hiccup in this term? He was hoping to do an archery class for his PE. Turns out the archery range is 30 minutes away by car. I'm thinking, hmmm. It's a campus right next to the high desert. How hard is it to set up an archery range facing the desert? Oh well. I don't know if he could have taken the bus, but he's going to just do the regular on-campus PE option instead. You go in, work out, check off your time & turn it in at the end of the week. He did the same thing one summer at the YMCA to fulfill his obligation for PE in High School. That should work out fine as long as he remembers to turn in his time.

Trevor seems really happy at OIT. He has made more friends there than in pretty much all his other years of education combined. Whenever we drop him off at the train or bus station, he already knows kids he can hang out with on the ride back to school. I think that's way cool. He really feels he belongs there, and that hasn't been the case with Trev since he was young, I think. It wasn't a huge deal to him, but I know he feels comfortable at OIT, and that's a huge deal to ME.

I also tried to take archery when I was at CSUF. The first day of class I noticed I was the only girl, and all the guys looked like they were only there to understand their AD&D elven characters better. I only say that because they were all stereotypical nerds. :P And this was before I'd met Lee and & played AD&D myself, and still thought of myself as somewhat cool (ha). So I withdrew from archery & did something else.

And I became cool after I ran a Girl Scout troop. Ask my scouts.

I also became a nerd, but that's a whole different post.

Happy Anniversary!

My parents celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary yesterday.

They met when they were both staying at the home of a lady who rented rooms to young German people in Montreal. My mom was a temporary guest, while my dad was one of the original tenants.

My mom was only there for 3 months or so, and then she had to go back to Germany. My dad worked until he could afford to go back to Germany, and they got married there in my mom's hometown (which Diana got to visit last June).

They wound up going back to Montreal, starting a family, and then when I was six, we moved to Southern California. We lived in Orange County for the next 25 years, and after Lee & I got married, my dad was about ready to retire.

On a visit to friends in British Columbia, they discovered a really nice place to build a house, so that's what they did. After Diana was born, my mom & Carolyn moved up to Kelowna, and my dad finished up his job until retirement. Once he moved up, Carolyn moved back down.

Since then, their home has been our vacation destination every summer. They live in "Canada's Hawaii" with a lake monster & everything. Just a beautiful place to be.

So happy anniversary Papi & Mami! We love you very much!

Breakfast of Champions

On Friday, we were invited to attend the Breakfast of Champions at the High School. Connor & Diana were both off school, and I got the early part of the morning off since we wouldn't have students in my classroom either.

The breakfast was an opportunity for teachers to honor the students who had done an exceptional job. Teachers were asked to describe their students in three adjectives and then give an example. The students then chose a type of applause for the audience to give them - most chose the "Hobbit clap" which was three claps then put your hands up to your head, wiggle your fingers and in a high-pitched voice say, "blellelelelelelelelelle."

We had Bagel Tree bagels & donuts (Connor ate three), juice, coffee, etc. It was a nice breakfast. It would have been a bit better if the staff had gotten the message that it started at 8:00, instead of 8:30 as was posted on the school calendar. So we didn't get as much of a chance to visit with Frau Bahr, Diana's teacher. The photo also shows Erin, who was also recognized by Frau Bahr. Erin went to Germany with Diana last June too.

We were very proud of Diana for being singled out this way for this recognition. The other way our high school recognizes students is "An Evening of Excellence" which Trevor got for Math a few years ago. Either way, we're proud of our girl!

Spring Break - Friday, the long drive

I forgot to check the weather reports. It was clear and cold in Kelowna when we left at 6:00 am after saying good bye to my parents. We stopped at Tim Horton's for fresh donuts for Trevor & a muffin for me, and then it was south to the border at Osoyoos. It's only 2 hours going this way vs. 5 hours if you go over the the 97C (connector) and the Coquihalla toll highway to the Trans-Canada Highway. We usually go the I-5 route and use those, but I was thinking I'd have less weather issues if I stuck mostly to the valleys & high desert on the 97 down to the border of Oregon.

Also, gas was 1.26 a liter in Canada. With the exchange, it works out to more than $5 a gallon!! So if I could avoid getting gas in Canada, so much the better. I was able to go back & forth from Omak, WA without a fill up :) Washington gas is awesome. I don't know why, but we have always gotten great mileage, no matter what car we were driving.

The border crossing was easy - no line at 8:00 am. In fact, I had to go through on the truck side, since the car side was still closed. You only answer whatever questions they ask, and you are always very respectful.

We got gas & a few things at Safeway in Omak, and that's when the snow started. All the way through Washington until we got down to the Columbia river!! It was mostly just little flakes, but continual for the whole 7 hours that we drove through the state! I was worried about Blewett Pass, but it was fine - we were a few cars behind the snowplow, and they plow down to the asphalt, so I never even slipped at all. I had all-weather tires, but chains were in the back if I needed them (which I didn't). But sheesh! It's the end of March!!

We stopped at a rest stop just before the big gorge above Yakima (but you couldn't see it through the snow cloud) and I had to use the ice scraper to get the 1/2 inch-thick crust of ice off the bumper up to the hood of the van. It was on the headlights & everything.

All the areas that were clear of snow when we came up were covered. We stopped at Goldendale just before crossing into Oregon, and filled up the car for the last leg home. Just after that, the snow finally stopped.

Once we were going along the freeway along the Columbia, we had a lot of hail come down, but only little pellets, so i was good. I don't often see hail built up on the side of the road though.

We arrived home at 7:00 pm. We probably would have made it sooner, but we were going slow over the mountains & stuff. That was fine though - no accidents or any other trouble along the route. It's a long drive, but if I didn't do it this way, we wouldn't have been able to visit. It's worth it :)

Spring Break - Thursday

This morning Trevor & I took my dad to have his Hemoglobin "booster" done - that's a 3-hour drip while he rests in a bed at the hospital. It helps with the cancer and gives him a little more energy. After that was done, we went to Denny's for a nice lunch. And it snowed those little snow pellets again while we were there.

Trevor & I did a little shopping while we waited. Diana wanted a specific book from a collectables shop in Kelowna - the fire hazard store. They have great stuff, it's just that it's stacked everywhere in no particular order!

In the afternoon, I grabbed all the kids for a geocache again. I still had a travel bug to drop somewhere & I needed a big enough cache. This one is on Okanagan Mountain (which should have been a clue). The drive was the shortest distance from my folk's neighborhood, however the HIKE was at least a MILE through all the burned area from a few years ago.

This cache was in an ammo box, and hidden in rocks, so it survived the fire! I let Mike use the GPS, and it was Catherine that found the cache. The coords were about 20 feet off, so I was surprised we actually found it! And it was a ways off the trail, and we had to trek over mountainside to get back to the trail again! Luckily, there wasn't anything more dangerous than deer droppings :)

We wound up a little late getting back, and Connie was all ready to go out with me & my dad while Trevor & Omi had a nice dinner together at home. Connie recently got a nice bonus and we were celebrating. It was a great last evening out before heading home.

Spring Break - Wednesday

I ran my dad around town today. He had to have some bloodwork done and do some other errands.

We had a nice visit in the afternoon. I should have taken out the digital recorder when I asked my dad about what happened after he arrived in Montreal and started his life in Canada. I got to hear about his ex-fiance and another gal he dated, and the whole story about how he met my mom & all that. I should probably create a timeline and have them fill in the holes for me soon, so I can add that stuff to his biography. The current version of the biography goes from his birth through the war and then stops at him arriving in Montreal.

In the evening, I headed over to visit with Connie & her family a little more. Mikael made a curry-potato dish that was very tasty. I got to chat with Catherine a bit. I really like her comic art style. I told her to scan some of her stuff at Opa's house and send it over via email :) She's got some pretty funny stuff ;)

Connie has a photo of the two of us, but she hasn't sent it yet - prolly because I haven't sent her any of mine yet? Whoops. Better do that soon.

Spring Break - Tuesday

I got a nice massage today. The Grand Okanagan Hotel & Spa

Carolyn & I had sent our sister, Connie, a massage certificate for Christmas. She's been doing so much to help my folks out with my dad's cancer stuff & all, and we just wanted to let her know how much we appreciated it.

She hadn't used it yet, though, because she wanted to go with someone. So my mom thought it would be a great early birthday present for me to go and get a massage too.

Connie & I got to use the exercise room (we just talked & stretched) and then the Eucalyptus Steam Bath. There was a little confusion over whether the cups of water the attendant had brought were for drinking or for pouring on the steam thingy. After Connie poured half of hers on the steam thingy and it did absolutely nothing, we decided to drink the water :)

Then we showered off & met our therapists. Connie had booked a room with two massage tables, so we could continue to catch up & talk while we got the massages. Some people fall asleep, but my therapist was working pretty hard on those knots in my neck & shoulders and while it was working, I wouldn't have slept anyway!

Connie had to scoot off to work right afterward, so she took me back to my folks. After lox & bagels for lunch (tasty!),I took my dad out in the afternoon to his doctor appointment, and to do some other errands. He's getting around okay, but slowly.

Trevor got to spend time with his cousins & play video games. Later in the afternoon, I took Connie's kids out with me to find a geocache. I had two travel bugs I'd brought with me, and we got to drop one off. The kids thought it was pretty cool. Trevor just thought it was too cold.

After dinner, I watched TV with my parents. Busy day!