SLEEPLESS NIGHT, A HAZY SUNDAY, AND MALIBU RUM THAT CHEAP?!

A very young couple have moved into the basement suite. They flew in from Toronto with four suitcases between them and an uncle picked them up and brought them here in his truck. She had called that morning to make sure I would be home to give them the keys. When they arrive I take them down back to the suite and show them in. They don't have a stick of furniture. Apparently they have been looking at the local classifieds online and he takes them right back out to get a futon they found in one of them. The next afternoon I am sitting out on the deck, trying to write my ten pages, when I see him pull in with them again, two new bikes in the back of his truck. As the guys unload them, she takes a few bags of groceries out of the cab along with a laundry hamper full of household supplies. I stand up and walk to the rail.

"Hi!" I call down. They look up at me, "Oh, hi!" "Say, I was just thinking. I am going to go garage sale-ing on Saturday to find some books to read. Would you like to come along and see if you can find anything you might need?" "Oh sure," they both answered. "Great. I plan to leave early, eight o'clock. Can you handle that on a Saturday morning?" "For sure." the fellow answers, " Thanks!" "No problem." I reply. And they go inside.

A bit later I am in the kitchen. The son comes up for something to eat. I point to the desk where I put the kitty collar I found. "I found that laying on the side of the road. Is it Jasmine's?" He picks it up. "No. This isn't hers." I breathe a sigh of relief. "I can't imagine where she is. She isn't coming for me." "I don't think she's in the house," he replies, " but it's so strange because she almost never goes out and when she does she comes right back." I tell him I sent an email to his mom asking what color the cat's collar is but didn't mention that she's gone missing again.

Friday night I set my cell phone alarm and it doesn't go off. I check why and I thought I changed the time to 7 but it still reads 8. Hmmm. Good thing I am up early anyway. I get ready to go garage sale-ing and then take the car around to the back driveway and drive up the steep grade to the basement suite door. It's open and they are ready to go. I have a notebook full of garage sale addresses I pulled off of the internet last night right before I went to bed. The young hubby is armed with GPS on his iPhone and the young wife is in the back with a map. We are good to go.

It's a disappointing day. I can't find a single book by the two authors I am looking for; Catherine Cookson and Dick Francis. I do find a paperback copy of Twilight, and I buy it for .50c because I want to know what all of the fuss is about. I find four other books for the same price at various other sales that look promising but I am very disappointed not to find any by CC. The young couple find a DVD player for $2., a globe for $1, and a small variety of housewares. But really, overall it was only a good day to garage sale if you were looking for child and infant items. There were scads of that, very, very cheap and in great condition. I almost broke down and bought a tiny pair of Converse-like runners but restrained myself. Shonah wears Converse all the time and I thought it would be great to give them to her one day when she had a baby. But that is so far off it's just silly to buy them now.

While we are out I get a phone call from a producer with Front Line Pictures and he wants to know my availability for a show on the island. Wide open....wide, wide open. I ask about accommodations and they have rented 3 large houses. The one I would stay in is right on the water, with a hot tub, and five bedrooms that would house the makeup and wardrobe girls as well. Fabulous! I know both keys for those departments on this show and it would be a blast. He tells me I should hear from the Line Producer today or tomorrow. I am excited.

At noon we give up on the garage sales. I take the couple to the grocery store so they can stock up on heavier items that would be a pain to try to get home on a bike. They are so grateful. I don't mind in the least. It's great to have the company.

When I get home, there's an email from the lady of this house and she confirms that the cat's collar is indeed pink with white polka dots. My heart sinks. She says the son had emailed her so she knows the cat is missing. She goes on to tell me that it's not my fault. They know the screen comes loose on the bottom of the door and didn't tell me that it can be tucked back into the frame. I still feel bad.

I cook up some salmon Donna gave me with a box of scalloped potatoes for dinner. It's tasty and Buttons, the other cat, enjoys bits of salmon I feed him. I clean up and then start reading Twilight. I don't put it down all evening. I find a HUGE logic error in it though and that bugs me. Aren't editors the publishing world's equivalent of script supervisors? Shouldn't they have caught that?

I go to bed at around midnight and wake up at three thirty with my guts in a roil. Great. Food poisoning. I spend the next two hours in and out of the bathroom. At about 6 am it dawn on me that the boxed scalloped potatoes probably had MSG in them. I go look at the second box I bought and, sure enough. I hate MSG. It should be illegal to use it.



Normal view with some smoke haze........................................View today with extreme smoke haze.

There is such a heavy haze today, the sun is barely managing to make it's presence felt through it. I look on line to see where the fire is and find out that smoke from fires nowhere near enough to be a threat has blown into the valley here and settled. They don't expect it to clear until the middle of next week.

Due to the lack of sleep I decide to skip church. I get up at about 9 and make a cup of tea and sit out on the deck and continue reading Twilight. It's not a half bad story really. I am actually enjoying it. Shonah texts me at about 10:30 to ask if I am in church and if I want her to come over for lunch. I text her back that 'no I'm not. And yes I'd love that.' I then text her again and ask if she wants chicken strips and yam fries or spaghetti, as that's about all the food I have. She texts me back 'chicken strips and what do we need to make a peach pie?' I look around the kitchen and text her. 'Crisco in the blue box, 10 peaches, and ice cream.' She texts back that she'll bring all that with her. I am looking forward to having her here and hanging out a bit this afternoon.

While I am blogging this, the phone rings and it's Ron Oliver, my favourite director. "Hi there!" I answer. "I just wanted to let you know that I am in Palm Springs and I am standing in Costco in front of a very large display of Malibu Rum and the large bottle, one point seven five liters or something, is fifteen ninety nine." He says without preamble. "Oh thanks a lot," I reply, "called just to gloat did you?" "That's right," he says, "Hang on a minute, I am just talking to my boyfriend." I then hear him say, "I just called Sandra Montgomery to tell her that this bottle of rum here is fifteen ninety nine. It sells for fifty five dollars in Canada." I am laughing on my end. He comes back, "Sorry dear, just had to tell the boyfriend who I am talking to. He is holding a six foot lava lamp he is thinking about buying." I laugh, "Where is he going to put it?" "Oh I will tell him where to put it," he replies, "and it won't be anywhere near eight-oh-one I tell you that." Eight-oh-one is the number on his house and how he refers to it all the time. I laugh again. I tell him about the potential job on the island and he wishes me luck. "Well I must go. I just called to tease you with the Malibu, bye bye and dazzle the producer with your personality and the job will be yours." and he's gone. I love that guy.

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.