BACK TO SCHOOL
You know, I've never been one of those Moms who can't wait to get their kids back to school. I think the fact that I only have one child makes it easier to enjoy having her around all Summer. People who have more than one have to listen to the kids argue and fight, so I can understand why they are so anxious for Summer Holidays to be over.
Also, I happen to be blessed with a child who allows there to be peace in our home. I see how some kids can be confrontational and defiant, where Alicia is quite easy going and so am I. Plus, she is very sociable so she's not in my back pocket all the time. It's actually a rare treat if we get a chance to do something together once in a while.
Whatever the reason, I'm quite sad that we have to get back into the chaos of school schedules and soccer schedules. I love the freedom that summer offers. Sleeping in, not always having to be somewhere at a specific time, daylight lasting past four in the afternoon. Plus, this is a very expensive time of year! We've got back to school clothes, school supplies, school fees, soccer fees, new cleats, school photos, then it's Alicia's Birthday, followed shortly after by Christmas!
If you'll excuse me, I have to go whore myself on the street now...This might take a while.

Okay, so I never said I was any good at photography. I can highlight your hair in two different colors with a plastic fork, but I can't get one good picture of a whale on a whale watching trip. All of my photos were of the splash a whale makes when disappearing into the water. Lame. I did get a little video footage on my digital camera, though. Not the best, because I couldn't zoom in enough and the whales kept their distance, but enough to prove that we did, in fact, go whale watching....We did!

In other news, Alicia went away with her boyfriend's family for a week on Monday. They rented a cabin with another family at Shuswap Lake, about a five hour drive from here. I haven't heard from her, and I hope she's having fun. I enjoy the break from responsibility on the rare occasion that she's gone from here, but at the same time I miss her, and my mind wanders to her throughout the day.

I only have one client today, which I will come in for at 6:30pm. What a drag to have to come in for a 45 minute cut and blow dry. It's a good thing I live so close to work.

Now I'm going to do some shopping for Drew's Birthday prezzy. I'm going to look for a little TV for the camper. Maybe one with a built-in DVD player so we can pop in a flick in the evenings.

I often talk about my childhood, which usually involves my older brother, Mike. He was the sibling closest to my age, so we spent a good deal of time playing together. Each play session almost always ended in a huge fight. I've posted about the joy he found in tormenting me, but I don't want to misrepresent him. He has been known to do some very loving things, too. When I turned 7, my sister got me a stuffed monkey for my Birthday. This is Joe. He has seen me through every illness, every joy, and daily playing. He had a personality, relationships with my other stuffies, and he understood me better than anyone.

One night, after having slept over at my friend's house the night before, I discovered that Joe was missing from my over night bag. After practically turning the bag inside out, I had to accept the fact that I had left him behind and would have to sleep without him. This would be a first in a long time. Joe was always tucked in under my arm. Well I cried and cried, knowing my best friend was at least a mile and a half away. There was no way I would sleep a wink!

As I lay in my bed, my mom talking to me and soothing my broken heart, my brother appeared in the doorway with Joe in his hand. He had hopped on his bike and rode all the way to my friends house to collect my most prized possession. He was my hero that night, and as I lay my tear stained cheek on my pillow that night, all was right in the world because of my big brother.

This picture was taken after I gave Joe new fir, and new eyes. Before I did this, he was grey and bald, and his eyes were torn and falling off. If I had a scanner I would include pics of before, during, and after the transformation. My family was amazed at the restoration. Today he sits on my headboard, but I will confide in you that every now and again, when I've had a really bad day, I tuck him under my arm and hug him tight when I go to sleep. He still holds a special place in my heart (My brother's not too shabby either!)

So tomorrow I'm going to the wedding of a friend I've known for 25 years. We met in grade 5, and are still friends. She asked me to sing at the reception, so I wrote her and her hubby a song, and will perform it with my guitar. I'm a little nervous. I could just see myself forgetting all the words. I'm gonna print them out and frame it, so I can give it to her when I'm finished. That way, if I get into trouble, I can glance up at the lyrics.
I did buy a hot, hot, hot, little dress to wear, so at least if I screw up the song, I'll screw it up in a smokin' dress!

When Alicia was about two, I was dating a guy named Bob,whose family always got together for Sunday dinner. Alicia was going through that fussy age, when they can't sit still at the table for five minutes, so eating out could sometimes be a little stressful. Bob and I were fairly new, but I was really enjoying getting to know his family. They were very kind, and had a great sense of humor.

One Sunday, we were all around the table, and Alicia was squirming and whining, and just making a pest of herself. So I decided to remove her from the room, where she was being overstimulated. I picked her up and walked through the doorway out into the foyer, and around the corner, when I hatched an evil plan. Peaking around the corner to see the reactions, I began clapping my hands together forcefully while saying, "don't you...ever...mis....behave...at the table...again!"

Well I almost peed my pants when I saw the horrified expressions on Bob's poor family's faces. Their forks suspended in mid-bite, their eyes darted around at each other as if to say, "Is she really beating her child in the next room?" Their mouths hung open in shock, so I couldn't even contain myself. I burst into gales of laughter, and half a second later, so did they. I think they were all so relieved that I wasn't a crazy child beater, they had to laugh.

Sometimes I don't know what gets into me...but it's sure fun when it does.

A few years ago, I was at a baseball dance with my team that took place in a sports bar. It was a nice establishment, but the ladies bathroom had only two stalls, one of them out of order. On one trip to the bathroom my girlfriend was chatting with a woman we didn't know. I didn't hear what they were saying, but I caught the lady say, "...three months" while gently rubbing her slightly swollen tummy.
Shortly after, a woman emerged from the only working stall, and I exchanged glances with the stranger who was rubbing her tummy. We weren't sure who's turn it was, so I said, "Awww, I'll let the pregnant lady go first."
"I'm not pregnant," she said with horror in her eyes.
That's when I frantically began to explain that it wasn't that she looked pregnant, it was that she was saying, "...three months" while rubbing her tummy! Of course she didn't want to hear it, did her business, and then fled the scene.
Oh, how mortified I felt. Later on, my friend and I saw the woman "dancing" in a very jerky, unusual way, and my friend commented that maybe she shouldn't be dancing like that in her "condition."
Ever since that day I made a promise to myself and the universe that, unless there is a little bald head emerging from a woman's body, I will never comment on someone's pregnancy again!

So as usual, I'm posting from work, so I don't have time to download pics from our whale watching trip (plus I don't have my camera here.) It's funny because when my Aunt Ellen and her hubby Curtis went, my aunt had said she was so captivated by the whales, she didn't manage to get many good pictures. I was so determined to get some good photos, I ended up experiencing most of the whales through the tiny screen on my camera ! Having trouble getting a good shot, I eventually just put the camera down to avoid missing all the action. We had some iffy weather on the two and a half hour boat trip through the Georgia Strait. Thank God for the big orange float suits they give you to wear to keep you warm and somewhat dry. There are a few different boats you can choose from to go on, some more covered and cushy than others, with sides that had wind screens. We chose the most basic open motor boat that seats 12 because we wanted to be more "at one with nature." We felt that we could go to the aquarium and see whales through windows. We wanted to see them up close and personal. When we finally reached the whales at the farthest point that the whale watching tour is willing to go to see them, they were headed toward our departure point, so the tour that was scheduled to go after us would have had a shorter distance to travel to see them. Also, we took so long getting there, that there was a very limited amount of time we were able to stay. They had to get back for the next group. Very unlucky for us. The whales themselves were spectacular. What a beautiful sight to see such nature in our own backyard.
The trip home was only about an two hours, since he took a shorter route. However, we did manage to run into a nasty hail storm that lasted about 15-20 minutes by my estimation. My sister and I giggled through most of it. I guess we were giddy from our adventure. By the time we got back, the sun was shining and my bladder was bursting. There was a washroom on the boat, but it was a little tricky and I have a shy bladder, so I waited. Anyway, I will go through my pics and post them soon. I've been so busy with work right now and my new sweetie, plus our computer is in Alicia's room where she and her friends seem to be hibernating for the summer, so good luck on ever getting computer time. Oh well. I've been floating around without a care in the world for the last 3 weeks, anyway. Takes a little more than that to ruffle my feathers. I'm in too good a mood;)