They're home!!!

Doug and the boys are home. They are a little more tanned than when they left but otherwise they look the same as they did before they walked out the door Friday at noon. Doug and his boys went camping as a Father/Sons affair this weekend. They borrowed my parent's Kombi and went to MacGregor Point on Lake Huron for two nights. This is an annual event for the three of them to spend time alone and away from friends and family and they have been planning it for weeks.

Speaking of planning, this weekend was all about talking about the plans we have and friends have in the coming months. I spent Friday night with my sister. We spoke a little bit about the plans we have for our Run/Walk next weekend to raise money for Breast Cancer research.

***** If you would like to sponsor me for this event then just click here and make a donation to sponsor me. I am running/walking in Guelph, Ontario. *****

Other plans she and I discussed included the wedding she and Chris are planning for next year. They have booked a location (other than their house, in case of inclimate weather) and now have to contact an officiant. I asked if she knew what she was going to wear so that I could plan my wardrobe but she does not know as yet.

My friend Amy and I talked about our plans for family vacations next year. I thought we were the only ones planning to go to Disney World with the boys. Her Mom and Dad surprised the whole family with a trip to Florida for next spring. We are not going until next winter (2008) AND IT IS a **HUGE** SURPRISE for the boys so PLEASE do not say anything. We will not be able to afford to take any vacation time until then (although Doug isn't really eligible for vacation time until next June with his new contract) but that's okay because it will take us until then to save for our trip.

We are SO excited!! We have wanted to take the boys on a major vacation for a long time and this opportunity presented itself so we are going to jump at it. Maybe the year after we will be able to save to go to Calgary if Jennifer and Nino are still living out there. I would love for the boys to see the western part of Canada. It is so different than here and I know they would have fun. Cross your fingers for Calgary, Alberta, Summer 2009.

I am taking the boys to Maryland next month. A friend is traveling from Phoenix, AZ to Washington, DC. Another friend is going to be in DC from her home in NJ. Another friend from PA is talking about joining us. All of us have a couple of friends in VA. So, Fergus, Quinn and I are going to drive to Germantown, MD to stay with a friend and her family. It is going to be a great reunion for many of us. We are also hopeful that our friend from IA is able to join us but she hasn't committed yet. What travelers we are!!

Other that the run next weekend and MD next month we don't have any other major plans around here. Doug is working crazy hours so he and I might plan a date in the next couple of weeks, IF he can spare the time for hanging out with his wife.

What are your plans in the next few months???

It looked funny so . . .

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) - Blackie Rabbit

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) - Moose Tracks Oatmeal

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) SLee

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Orange Whale

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) - Marie Fergus

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - LeeSa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink, put "The") - The Brown G&T

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) - Sam James

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) - Soap Lego

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names) - Elizabeth James

As I look at it I realise it doesn't read as entertainingly as it did for my friend. Oh well. It *is* still fun.

Good Monday to you

Well, I need suggestions. I have just found out that my hours at the hospital are about to be cut . . . AGAIN! I love, love, love what I do and what I teach. I get a HUGE rush out of speaking in front of large groups. I love being able to take time with each group to get to know some of them a bit to be able to answer their individual questions about birth.

In a community where the population is in a steady rise, there are fewer people taking prenatal classes or wanting to. Some are vying for the few spaces in the free classes offered by the region. Most however, just do not.

What should I do now? I am having some thoughts (especially as I try to prepare to re-apply for school this winter) that perhaps I should do something small and local. Some of my other thoughts suggest I try to follow my desire to do more public speaking. I wouldn't even know where to begin to step into that role. I would love to write more. (Or start writing again.) I know writing wouldn't be a paying gig (as much as that would be lovely) but it may the catharsis I need.

The boys don't know how stressed I am about this. I am keeping it pretty mum at the moment as Fergus would really worry if he knew something was bothering me. I have hardly spoken to Doug about it because this is the car photographer's busy season. They are out until all hours every day shooting pictures of the new cars coming out.

I should tell you, because I think it is incredibly funny the idea of it all, that "they" (Toyota) will bring vehicles in on truck under the cover of night and drive them into the studio at Toyota. Bill, Doug et al. get a few days to take all of the pictures Toyota needs for their advertising and then they load the trucks back up with the vehicles and away they go.

If they have to take shots on location and the vehicle image has not been released to the public as yet, the trucks take them to the location site for shooting and then load them up again. Neat for Doug. He has had a chance to drive some really nice Toyota and Lexus products that aren't even on the market yet. Seems hilarious to me though (who could care less about the new vehicles coming out) that there is all of this secrecy.

Anyway, I guess that's my humour at the end of a more sobering message. Please send your career suggestions to me as soon as possible!!!!

A neat quiz

I was sent a link to a neat quiz in which you choose the topics that are important to you and prioritize them relative to the upcoming American election. (It is an American site) I have now determined (or at least the computer has) who I would vote for IF I was an American and IF I wanted to vote in their election.

My Results were as follows:
Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D)- 95.24% match
Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) - 77.78%
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) - 76.98%
New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) - 73.02%
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) - 69.84%
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) - 68.25%
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D) - 66.67%
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden (D) - 65.08%
Businessman John Cox (R) - 46.03%
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) - 38.89%
Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson (R) - 32.54%
Texas Representative Ron Paul (R) - 30.16%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) - 28.57%
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) - 19.05%

If you want to check this quiz out for yourself or try it yourself then click here.

What's new here??

Not a lot and yet . . . so much.

The world around us has returned to "normal." The schoolyard behind our house is full of screaming children again as they are back to school. The boys are busy trying to decide what clubs and sports groups they want to participate in. We are back to going to the library on a regular basis. We also need to find some great fieldtrips to plan since Fergus is not returning to Shady Grove this year.

We celebrated the last long weekend of the summer by traveling to my BIL's mom's place. She, Liz, lives between North Bay and Huntsville so is about a three hour drive north from here. They live on a small body of water, Eagle Lake, and while it is inhabited by cottages and houses on one side, it is crown land on the other. That means that it can't be developed any further and will stay nice and quiet. There aren't many watercraft on the lake other than a couple of boats and some people out skulling.

At night, once dark, you can hear the wildlife across the water on the crown land. Some of it is really easy to identify and some of the noises we heard were unrecognizable.

We were invited to a lake party while we were there too. The boys had a chance to play with other kids instead of hanging out with adults all weekend. They weren't too sad to be with adults though. The adults took them fishing, swimming, out of the ATV's, etc. You know, stuff only parents can do and activities we don't have access to here.

We came home on the Sunday evening. Doug had a lot of work to do for Horvath so we came home to allow him all of Monday to work on it. It was going to be a smooth ride straight home since we didn't leave Liz's place until after 9:00 Sunday night. We were going to be ahead of the long weekend traffic.

Wow! Were we wrong! We had a tire go flat as we traveled at 120 km/hour on the highway. Two sleeping children in the back seat. 11:30 at night. What would we do? Find ourselves grateful for the 24hr roadside assistance that comes with our new cars is what. I called Volkswagen and they sent someone to help us change our tire while the boys slept on. Thank goddess for the full-size spare in the boot of the car. This meant we could drive more than 50 km. on the tire. We were still more than 50 km. from home.

After that adventure we were glad that the rest of the week was totally smooth. We did go raspberry picking on Tuesday but otherwise, nothing really exciting.

Last night we had company. Friends, Dan and Catharine, whom we haven't seen in MANY years, live in Orangeville (about 35 minutes from Georgetown). They came by with their 5 year old daughter and had coffee and dessert. Doug and Dan were friends when they were in grade school. We haven't seen them since we all left the Collingwood area just after we got married.

What on tap for this week?? I don't know. Hopefully I will make myself spend time sitting down and working on the Grade 12 Biology course I need for my school application.