Me & RBC

For the last few years RBC has hired me to shoot their large gala and it is a blast each time! I get to see lots of people I used to work with, they put me up in a hotel and I get to eat at the fancy dinner during the awards. The organizer greets me with a hug and fusses over whether I've had enough to eat or drink, whether my room is ok and offers me drink tickets for the bar! (sad waste, I know!). It's a pretty cushy job even with the driving time and late hours taken into consideration. The paycheque is a nice perk too!



My friend Alisa used to be head of this department and hired me the first year but has since moved on to another area with RBC but I was able to have a quick breakfast visit while I was in town. She has always been a huge supporter and encourager to starting my business and convinced me my work was worth being paid for. Everyone should have an Alisa cheerleader in their corner to help them K I T (go watch Bowfinger if you want to know where we get that from haha! It got us through some crazy days when we worked at the downtown branch where we met)

Bear!

You might be a redneck if the bears take your garbage bin for a walk! On our way to the bus stop one morning we found the carnage below. The local bear (bears?) had had quite a night down our road and hit 9 or 10 of these treasure troves of trash along our road. Seeing how easily the bins were knocked out of place and how far they were tossed was more than a little disconcerting and changed our storage practices until the cold weather set in!

Our bin on the left, should actually be up against that grey fence and the bin you see on the right is supposed to be in the driveway on the right, next to the black post! I singlehandedly managed to wrestle both bins back into place. woot woot!

Last Swim!

We had a few nice days this fall and the girls were warm enough to want to jump in the pool to cool off. Honey was first to jump  in and was already turned around and making a beeline for the ladder before she even surfaced! Apparently swimming on Sept 29 is a very effective way to take the heat out of a girl!

(technically I think Murray got the last swim of the year in Oct- just so he could say he did! but there's no proof so we can't guarantee his claim...)

Abuse!

I completely forget what this was about but Lovey certainly lets her sisters get away with murder sometimes!

How many sleeps til tennis???

Somebody (looking sporty with a tennis visor and jaunty high ponytail) is wishing for some court time with some curly, short haired lady... who could that be?!?!?!? :)))

Racing Wrapped Up!

Honey enjoyed the short season of cross country running! Well, most of the time anyway. In one race she got a stitch part way through and had to walk the rest as everyone else passed her. She was so upset to finish last that she skipped the finish line altogether and didn't even want to collect her ribbon. Her other races went well and she improved her standing most weeks. The last race was so bright and sunny (not usually a problem during cross country season!) that I couldn't even see her to take a picture. The photo just below here is of her last race. If you look closely, you might notice her bangs flying in the air behind the girl in the orange shorts. The photographer in me hangs her head! thank goodness this wasn't a paid gig!

One of our post school/pre race picnics. So thankful for nice weather this fall that allowed us to eat outdoors and not have to run home for lunch in between!


So many racers! This was the "stitch" race.

Honey heading for the finish!

iDisaster

If it's not one thing around here, it's another! This morning I was in the shower when Lovey came in to use the washroom. I reminded her not to flush or she'd burn me from lack of cold water. The next thing I know she's shrieking with utmost horror in her voice:

Mummy! MUMMY!!!!!! My iPod is in the TOILET!!!!!!!! MUMMY!!!!!!!!

I peeked out around the curtain and witnessed the disaster firsthand. The whole "don't flush" thing worked to her advantage as the ipod hadn't sunk all the way down and was resting on a pile of toilet paper. It was definitely wet but wasn't quite totally submerged.

Me: Get it OUT!
L: (paralyzed with fear for the iPod coupled with fear of touching toilet water & accompanying substances)
Me: Just grab it! You've got to get it out of there!
L: (stuck, except for the glassy eyed stare swiveling between me and the bowl of human waste)
Me: the longer you leave it, the less chance you have to get it working! (still no action) Get it OUT!!!!!!!!

She is suddenly spurred into action and makes a grab for it (extreme handwashing later!)

I told her to go turn both dials on for the oven and set it on the lowest temperature, I've got soap to get rid of and I race through the rest. (sorry legs, maybe next time!). While I'm doing that Lovey is so panicked and freaked out that she can't remember how to work the oven & screaming like a depraved lunatic does nothing to jog Sweetie's memory either. When I get to the kitchen they've set the temp but not turned the oven on (separate dials). Obviously we've slacked off on the cooking duties too long! We throw it in around 9:45 and begin the fun, time-filler game of "will it, won't it?!?!?". It was a long afternoon for one little girl!

Murray was out at the time of the incident but came home shortly after to monitor the drying out while we went to church and he stayed home with his bad cold.

On the way home from church, Sweetie starts pondering about saving up for a new iPod. She hadn't see hers since last Saturday and despite her "it always turns up" attitude. It hadn't. She wanted to know if we had any jobs she could do to earn extra money. I reminded her that hadn't worked out so well for us last time and she dropped that idea in a hurry!

She then wondered if we'd buy her a new one for Christmas. I told her that would take our entire shopping budget and no one else could get any presents if we did that. The other 2 quickly disabused her of that notion. She then decided it would be ok if we just gave her some cash towars it, like maybe $50. I said I didn't think that would be a fun gift to give.

Then they moved on to fundraising ideas. Hmmmm. They decided it was too cold for a lemonade stand but she still had a gum making kit from some Christmas past. The bonus being that even if she didn't sell any, she'd have lots of gum made up for herself to chew! Lovey was on board and started making signs when we got in the door. Meanwhile, Sweetie is outside playing with the little swing they made out of a stick and some rope hanging off the tree in the front yard (she'll make someone a nice manager someday!)

While she's swinging, she notices something on the platform. IT'S HER iPOD!!! Sitting outdoors for 8 days straight. More screaming ensues as she realizes this is not good, not good at all for an iPod. (check out their handmade swing to the right of the picture)

So now we have a two for one drying station and we wait and we wait. Lovey's was in there for almost 6 hours and Sweetie's was in for about one. To our utter astonishment BOTH turn on and are functioning fine so far.

Here are the two extremely fortunate and incredibly ecstatic girls.

More valuable lessons learned today:

-even though Mum says to never put the iPod near the toilet or sink, it doesn't matter, you can dry it out anyway!

-you don't have to really look hard for anything, you can either track it on "find my iPod" or it'll turn up eventually anyway and even if you leave it in the damp outdoor fall weather for over a week, Dad can fix it for you!