NOT QUITE FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, BUT....

I was in bed by 8:45 last night, completely exhausted.

I have five friends I have known for twenty years and the six of us meet as a group, or try to, twice a month. I love these women and we've seen each other through a lot of stuff. This weekend was a doozy.

One's mom died. One's son got married. One's son had a baby girl. One's daughter had a wedding shower. And I had a mammoth garage sale (Larry and Willy were no-shows) to get rid of the last of my things that I don't have stored in one of those friend's crawl space. (The sixth friend didn't have anything significant happen this particular weekend, but her whole life is one long soap opera.)

While trying in vain to stay alert during my friend's daughter's shower, which my daughter came down from Kelowna for and stayed with me (she's a bridesmaid), my dear friend couldn't help but notice how exhausted I looked. She made the comment that, the fact that I just sold a lot of things I had some emotional attachment to thus experiencing another layer of shedding my former life was most likely playing a significant part in how tired out I was. I hadn't thought of it, but I think she was probably right.

And the two very strong Margaritas I had at the garage sale probably didn't help.

That and going to a late night show with Shonah on Thursday night to see Toy Story 3.


Waiting for the movie wearing3D glasses ......Pretty Wedding Table......................Garage Sale Necessities............................Stuff That Didn't Sell

WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?

Ooof!

All I did for my birthday was eat, eat, eat. One friend took me out for breakfast, another for a late lunch, and then my friend I live with made me a T-bone steak dinner and then took me out for dessert. I honestly don't eat that much food in three days. Then the day after, I went to see Isolde, my son's girlfriend, to get my hair done. She was appalled when she realized it had been my birthday (they both forgot) and so ran out while my color was processing and surprised me with a beautiful posy of flowers and a little box containing a strawberry and cream pastry and a chocolate mousse slice. Oh my! We both had a taste of each... amazing... and then I polished off the strawberry cream (as it would have spoiled in the heat, so I really had no choice!) and saved the mousse for later.

After my hair was done I drove over to North Vancouver to see my daughter and we ended up going out for sushi once her hubby got home.

I swore I wouldn't eat for a week. But now, I am heading out on a 'date'. I met a fellow on Plenty of Fish who lives in Victoria but is over here for the day to visit his dad. We have arranged to meet for lunch at the Olive Garden. I go with hesitation. I am pretty much over the on-line dating experiment (on and off for 6 years). I'm tired of expending the effort to get to know someone and then have it go nowhere. And I am tired of feeling like I don't measure up to the most ridiculous expectations for what my figure should be. Hey guys... I am 52. I had three kids. I post full length shots. There should be no surprise when you meet me. Yes. I need to lose weight and I state that in my profile.

So off I go with no expectations. Other than it probably won't work out.

Either way, I am taking my profile down today.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

It's my birthday again today. One year to the day since I started this blog. When I think back, it feels like a lifetime ago instead of just a year. So much has happened since then. And if I had known how it all was about to play out, would I have gone - on a wing and a prayer as someone recently put it? I can't say. Probably not. So I am glad I didn't know because, even though the attempt at joining a sailboat and the resulting fiasco was wrought with a lot of stressful moments, it was also an amazing experience. I went to Florida for the first time. I drove myself across the panhandle and down to the Florida Keys (using a GPS) for the first time. I spent a month with a much loved cousin I hadn't seen for almost two decades. I got the darkest tan I think I have ever had. I went snorkeling in the best waters I had ever snorkeled in. I drove Alligator Alley and saw gators laying in the ditch beside the road. I went to Miami Beach and walked the street with the Art Deco buildings I had only seen in movies. I met some wonderful new people and made a new friend. I bought a pink mosaic flamingo as a souvenir.

A good friend took me out for lunch for my birthday today. She was talking about how she has a sense of adventure that she doesn't get a chance to let loose because her life is here with her husband who doesn't share her adventurous spirit. I am thankful that I am free to let mine loose. Sometimes, lately, it doesn't feel like I can let it loose because I am restricted by a lack of finances. But my mind soars.

I still have not given up the dream of spending some serious time in the Caribbean. I have a boat lined up that I can join, if I choose to. I have a place to stay on Tortola for free, if I decide to skip the sailing and just go for a visit, and I have friends I can visit on Anegada, thanks in large part to this blog. I WILL get there one way or another. I just know it.

So here's to dreaming big and following where your spirit leads.

GONE TO THE DOGS

Shonah turns 25 today. Wow. I can't believe that my baby is 25. Christopher, my eldest, is turning 30 in September. Life is going by way. too. fast.

Shonah arrived from Kelowna last night and we talked and talked for a couple of hours before heading off to bed as we had an early alarm.

As we are getting ready, Shonah tells me that she wants to know what we are doing because she can't get excited about the day, really. So I tell her that we are going DOG SLEDDING!! She is SO excited to hear it. She says "I knew it!" and I ask how she could possibly have known. She says that she tried to think about what there was to do on a mountain that we all would enjoy and that was what she came up with. Her only doubt was that she wasn't sure you could dogsled around here. She says that she has been telling her friends at work for the past three months that she wants to go dog sledding but the only way she figured she could was to go up north in winter and she didn't want to do that. She really is excited and now grinning from ear to ear and can't wait to get going.

We are out of the door by 7:45 and stop at Tim Hortons for breakfast to go. We get downtown to pick up Christopher and Isolde by 8:20 but are kept waiting till 8:45 for them to come down. We meet Rob and Ashleigh at the gas station in North Vancouver, just up the road from where they live, and fill up both cars. They are taking their own car up to Whistler as they have to leave as soon as we are done because they have a ferry to catch to Vancouver Island to go surfing for a few days.

It is really raining hard for most of the drive up to Whistler and I am so disappointed but hoping that it turns to snow by the time we get there, and it does. We check into the Outdoor Adventures office and, once we've all signed waivers and paid, we are loaded into a shuttle bus and off we go. There's two other groups with us so it looks like there will be about 6 sleds or so going together.

We drive along the highway for a short bit and then turn off onto a narrow logging road. It's full of ruts and potholes and it becomes the most bone-jarring ride I think I have ever experienced. My teeth feel like they will rattle right out of my head. About 20 minutes of that, and some of it with a steep drop off to a river on one side, we arrive at the departure point. I can see the trucks with kennels on them that the dogs are brought up in.

We all pile out of the bus and gather around one of the guides as she talks about the dogs and the trip we will take. Apparently, the husky dogs you normally see in photos of dog sledding aren't what we will be using today. Those dogs get overheated in this warmer climate and also aren't very fast. She says they are more for movies and photo ops than for really pulling sleds. Our dogs are bred for sledding and are a mix of about 7 breeds and are wiry. She tells us that they may look thin to us but, in fact, some of them are carrying a bit too much weight. They eat 5000 calories a day and there's lot of zinc and fish oil in their diet. The zinc helps protect their feet. She say's that they live to pull the sled and, as soon as they are hooked up, they will bark like crazy and just want to go.

When a litter of dogs are born, they are each given names in a theme. Thus two of our dogs are from the 'Breakfast' litter - Muffin and Sausage; two are from the 'Mexican' litter - Guacamole and Chiquorita; one is called 'Push' because when she was born her hind legs were paralyzed so she was slated to be put down but the owners kids wanted her. One day they picked her up by her hind legs and pushed her along the kitchen floor to move her about. The next day, she could walk! The last dog is called Maryanne - not sure what her litter's theme was. Maybe Gilligan's Island?

Muffin and Sausage have a brother called Muesli and when Paris Hilton came to Whistler and dog sledded with this group, Muesli became famous for peeing up Paris' leg. Apparently, we are warned, the dogs will do this sometimes if you get close to them because they want to mark you as theirs. Note to self - stay away from the dogs.

We get a few instructions on how the sled braking system works and what to do when going up a steep hill - the musher gets off and runs behind while keeping hold of the bar - and if you don't do that, the dogs will look around to you as they run to 'ask' you to get off.

I don't want to 'mush' the dogs but Shonah sure does so we have a guide that will ride on the front of ours to relieve Shonah when she wants to ride. His name is Jordan and he will take care of our three sleds; Christopher and Isolde are together on one and Rob and Ashleigh on the other. Once we all start to get into the sleds, the dogs go crazy. They aren't even hooked onto the sled yet. They really can't wait.





As soon as we are all loaded up and the dogs connected, we take turns leaving up the short hill to the trail. We will leave about 20 feet between each sled. Shonah and I are third to last. Christopher and Izzy are right in front of us, Rob and Ashleigh right behind. The ride is surprisingly smooth. I expected it to be really bumpy. Shonah is loving 'mushing' the dogs and is doing a great job.

The one thing I never thought about when planning this was that dogs like to poop. If there is one smell on the face of the planet that makes me want to vomit every time, it's dog poop. Our lead dog, Muffin, seems to have the runs. She keeps stopping to poop for the first 5 minutes of the trip. Then for the rest of the run, she farts about every 2 minutes. Jordan is riding up front so he smells it first and warns us, most of the time, so I spend a lot of the trip holding my breath. A couple of times he fails to warn me and one of them I take a deep breath through my mouth and get a mouthful. I nearly lose my breakfast.

At the halfway point of the trip, we make a small loop around and then head back. The trail divides into two lanes right before so that there's room for those heading back while you're still heading to the loop. Apparently, if both sleds stop here, the dogs from the other sled WILL pee on you. Another territorial thing. Please don't stop. Also, when making the loop, sometimes the sled will go up the snow banks to the side and then tip over. If that happens, the person in the sled has to just lie there and the other person will tip you back upright. If I were to get out, the dogs would then take off and leave us standing there. Please don't tip over. We make it through the turn-around and the passing lanes without stopping or tipping. That makes me very happy.

Shonah has decided that she doesn't want to stop mushing so she rides standing on the rails and hanging onto the bar all the way. I am so proud of her. She's doing a fabulous job and she is loving every second of it. Ashleigh has also declined to take over mushing, so Rob does it all the way. I am pretty proud of him too - the London city lad! Up ahead, Christopher and Izzy trade places and she mushes the dogs back. Heck, I'm proud of all of them.

Part of the trail runs along the river and Jordan tells us that most days they see moose at the water's edge. But today there aren't any. The run takes just over an hour. When we get back, there's hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us. Also, a photographer took photos of us mushing along the trail, but I forget all about that until we are back on the bus and halfway down the logging road. I am really disappointed because I'd like to have seen them and, if there was a good one of Shonah, buy it for her birthday. We will have to be content with the one Jordan took while we were underway. I actually really like it.

Once we are back in Whistler Village Ashleigh and Rob have to leave straight away. They have two and a half hours to make it to Horseshoe Bay for their ferry booking. We hug goodbye and they take off running while we walk around the village for a bit. There's a sale on at the DC store and Christopher is looking for a snowboard so we go in and have a look around. I love the colorful display of toques and snap this photo.

We head out of Whistler, having decided to eat at the Milestones in Yale Town instead of up here. We stop in Squamish at another boarding outlet store and Christopher finds a snowboard there. We continue on our way and the weather quickly deteriorates into an all-out storm. We can see whitecaps on the water down below the Sea-to-Sky Highway in the Strait. The rain is coming down in buckets and Shonah has her windshield wipers on high and they are barely keeping it clear enough for her to see the road. I get a call from Ashleigh. They made it to the ferry terminal on time but all the ferries out of Horseshoe Bay are canceled for the day, due to the storm, so they won't be going to the Island. They want to join us for dinner but the Lions Gate Bridge is closed as well, due to trees in Stanley Park coming down in the wind, and they don't want to drive the long way around. So it's decided that we will eat at Milestones in North Vancouver instead. I am sorry they can't make their trip but am also really happy that they can now join us for Shonah's birthday dinner.

We end up having a fabulous time over dinner. We take our time over appetizers and beer, and then order our entrees. I have an amazing chicken breast in mushroom sauce with garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley of squash, baby carrots and new asparagus. It's to die for. Shonah has a hamburger because, even though she'd like a proper dinner, she loves hamburgers and Milestones makes one of the best. I think we end up being there for three hours and every minute was perfect.

Ashleigh and Rob head home because they are just exhausted. The rest of us head to Christopher and Izzy's for some birthday cake. I made it yesterday. German Chocolate with Chocolate Coffee Whipped Cream Frosting. Mmmmmmmm. Only we are all too full from dinner to finish even a small slice each.

I drive home and we arrive to no power and the road closed due to a tree down on the lines. We find our way from the car to the door by the light of Shonah's iPhone, and use it to find candles and then, soon, fall into bed. As she gets settled under the covers, Shonah says to me, "Thank you for planning this day. It was the best birthday I ever had."

I can't even tell you how happy that makes me.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS ALL AROUND

Saturday morning and it’s Bethany’s birthday today and Fran has a feast of a breakfast planned; crepes with 4 different toppings – peach sauce, mixed berry sauce, Nutella, and lemon & sugar (my favourite), along with bacon, turkey bacon, sausages, fresh fruit platter, and croissants. My head feels normal today and, for once, Fran is going to let me help her in the kitchen. I get started on the two fruit sauces and Fran sends Tom off to the grocery store for the croissants and a couple of other things. He comes back inside to tell us that two of the neighbours have a garage sale. Fran and I go grab some shoes and our wallets. We are both suckers for a yard sale.

Fran buys some plants in lovely pots; I see a cute candle holder lantern and ask Fran if she wants it. She says no so I buy it for two dollars. It’s dusty but once I wash it, it looks fabulous and I decide to give it to Bethany as a birthday present as I wasn’t able to get one yesterday when my shopping trip was cut short. There is a toaster oven for two dollars and I debate whether or not to get it for Ashleigh and Rob, as I know they wanted one and didn’t get one, or a toaster, for a wedding present. I call to ask but there is no answer so I leave a message.

After about half an hour we head back to the kitchen to get on with breakfast. Fran is in a bit of a panic as we have wasted precious time at the garage sales. I go wash the lantern and put it on the kitchen table. It looks great there and now Fran wishes she had bought it. I ask her if she wants it but she say’s no, to give it to Bethany as she will love it. I go to Fran’s stash of gift bags and wrap and pick out a bag to put it in. That done, I get back to the fruit sauces. Ashleigh calls and says that Rob and she have talked it over and they have decided that they can just afford the two dollars for the toaster oven. We both laugh at that and I run back over to the neighbours to buy it.

Once back, I mix up the batter for Alyssa’s gluten-free crepes. Fran has everything else covered so I get stuck in to washing the pile of dishes we have used to get the meal ready. Alyssa and Glen arrive, Bethany and Chad aren’t far behind them. Fran gets the crepes going and soon we are all sitting down to one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long, long time.

Fran refuses to let me help in cleaning up so she, Tom, Alyssa and the boys do it all. They set up the kitchen table to play a game of Carcassonne but I bow out, as I don’t feel like playing. I go to my room and set about finishing my packing up and then gathering up the gifts etc. that I need to take to Ashleigh & Rob. I am eager to get on my way and will be making a stop at my friend, Brenda’s, to catch up and give her a hair cut. She is the only person I still cut and I enjoy it. I load up the car and head out. I am glad my head is better today or I wouldn’t have been able to borrow Fran’s car – she wouldn’t have let me drive. I get to Brenda’s and we have a great chat as I cut her hair. I stay about an hour after her hair is done; we have so much to talk about. Her business is coming along so well and she shows me a web site that she is building. It looks amazing and the tools she used to make sure she shows up in searches astounds me. I will have to remember it if I ever get around to revamping my script supervising website one day.

I am excited as I drive to Ashleigh’s, as I can’t wait to see them. There is a ton of traffic on the road; it’s the ColdPlay concert tonight and this must be everyone driving in for it – it’s the right time. Shonah is going to the concert tonight and I am envious. The last time they were in town I couldn’t go because I was between shows and wanted to save my money, but I vowed I would go the next time they were in town no matter what. I had no idea then that ‘no matter what’ would mean I was without a home and broke. So, needless to say, I didn’t buy a ticket. Besides, I was supposed to be in Guatemala right now, working on upgrades to the catamaran with David.














I eventually get to North Vancouver and load up with the presents. Fran gave me a little foldable luggage cart and I have put Ashleigh’s pile of presents on it; they are tied together with tulle. When I knock on their apartment door and she opens it, her eyes pop at the stack of gifts. We hug for a long time and it is so good to see her and hug her again. I give Rob a big hug and kiss and then drag all of the gifts into the living room. Ashleigh opens her birthday presents first and is taken aback by how many pieces of her dish set she is unwrapping. It’s so great to see and I am loving every second. Then I give them their presents from Florida. They love the picture frame I picked up at Bealls that looks like three windows with awnings over them… very beachy. I suggest they put it up in their bathroom, as the colors match, and put honeymoon pictures in it. They love the idea.

Rob goes off to pick up some pizza and wings that they ordered and I ask Ashleigh about how life is going for them. They both are so happy with each other. And they both bought bikes a couple of weeks ago so that they have something fun to do together on weekends that is also good exercise. They love it and just today spent the day with friends Christa and Jeremy biking the seawall in Stanley Park. Rob comes back and we sit down to eat. Ashleigh looks at me as I take help myself to a slice of pizza and says, “Ok, start talking.” I laugh. “We want to know everything that happened.” she says and they both look at me expectantly. I ask them if they have read any of the blogs and they say they have but not the last few, so I start to fill them in. They keep eating as I talk but I can’t talk and eat at the same time so my pizza goes cold. When I am done, they are finished eating and I bite into my cold food. Ashleigh feels bad that I didn’t eat while it was hot but I don’t mind a bit. It has been so much fun to tell them about moving the houseboat and all that entailed and we laughed a lot. Strange how things that go terribly wrong and are so stressful at the time are so hilarious later. I don't have many of those sorts of tales to tell as a rule, because I am usually so over prepared. This trip has made up for it.

After dinner, Asheigh says, "Rob was wanting a haircut but I guess you don't have your scissors." I say, "You are in luck! I stopped on my way here to cut Brenda's hair so I have my scissors in my purse." They are happy and say that Rob is so desperate for a cut he was ready to let me do it with the kitchen scissors or even the ones on his Swiss Army Knife. No need, a happy coincidence means I can cut his hair with my hair scissors and I get down to business.

Far too soon it is time to go and I leave very reluctantly. I know I am not going to see them again for a while. They have plans to go to Kelowna mid July so I know I will see them then, but that is a month away. We hug each other tightly and I kiss them goodbye. I drive away feeling very happy that I got to spend an evening with them in their cute little apartment, and that I will see them in a month.

By the time I get home, I realize that my head is back to where it was yesterday. That is to say, I am in a lot of pain.

The next morning, I get up early to go to church with Tom and Fran. We are leaving early so that we can stop in at Bethany and Chad’s new apartment and see their new couch. I am looking forward to seeing their place as I have heard it is beautiful. When we walk in, I cannot believe the size of it. It’s huge! The kitchen is one of the biggest I have ever seen in any house, let alone a condo. The living room and bedrooms are big as well. And everything is finished in lovely, contemporary colors and with lots of wide crown molding on the nine-foot ceilings. The main bathroom is huge with a deep Jacuzzi tub and a separate large shower. I am so happy for them and wish that Rob and Ashleigh could get into a place like this soon. Heck, I wish I could get into a place like this soon. It would be a fabulous place to live.

After church, Tom and Fran and their kids are celebrating Father’s Day with a barbeque so I decide to let them have their day without me hanging about, even though they protest that I am welcome to join in, and call Carol, another one of the six mom's, to see if she wants to get together. She does and she comes to get me and we drive down to White Spot for the Legendary Burger and some yam fries. Yay Yam Fries!!! I have missed them so much.

We eat our burgers and yam fries and get caught up with each other’s lives. She has been reading the blog faithfully so is up on what is going on. She is so glad I am not out on the open sea with some stranger. She was not crazy about me going from the very beginning and had a lot of misgivings. But at least she gives me credit for being gutsy.

I have to be back at Fran’s for four o’ clock because Shonah is coming to pick me up at about 4:30. When I get back I finish up packing the rest of my bits. All the winter clothes and other stuff I don’t need just yet are in my big suitcases and a couple of smaller bags and I take them all downstairs and leave them in the entrance hall. Tom will put them in their crawlspace later in the week. I pile the two large duffel bags and my backpack, which are going with me to Kelowna beside the other bags and then go to wait in the family room with Fran. My head is aching from the exertion and I enjoy just sitting there and chatting. It’s not long before the doorbell rings and Shonah is there with the two friends who came down with her for the concert. She told them to pack light so that there would be room for my bags in her trunk. She takes a look at all the luggage in the hall and says, “Oh-oh. We have a problem.” I laugh and tell her that not all those bags are coming with us and point out the three that are. She is relieved and we haul them out and they fit just fine in her trunk. Shonah hasn’t seen everyone for a while so we all go upstairs and visit for about twenty minutes. Unfortunately Alyssa had to leave for work so Shonah doesn’t get to see her. They have been best friends since kindergarten and don’t get to spend time together anymore so it’s a shame.

We hug our goodbyes and then all pile into Shonah’s little VW Rabbit and wave goodbye to the Abbuls. I am so grateful to Tom and Fran for letting me stay for the past few days and I will miss them.