TOP SECRET NEWS REVEALED...

Well, if you think you are getting R-rated tabloid news with this announcement, you may be sorely disappointed. But the top secret news that I have been working on isn't really top secret at all. However, a portion of the plan was completed yesterday. We are now the proud owners of lot #278 in beautiful downtown Ross River. Hopefully next week, or soon thereafter, we will also be the proud owners of a 3-bedroom house complete with broken windows that need replacing, carpet and panelling that need to be torn out and replaced, and a deck, fence and shed that need to be built. Also, this house has to be moved. Sounds enticing doesn't it??? Anyways, as soon as the snow melts and the ground softens up a bit we will begin work on installing our septic system (or rather pay someone to do it for us!). If we are ever able to get our camera to download pictures onto the computer I will take some pictures and post them too.

GENIUSES

Well, today was report card day and it was officially confirmed that our children are at genius level. Obviously they take after their mother. LOL. Actually they all did quite well. I am very proud of them all.

A genius in the making!!!

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

Well, it seems that spring is finally here. We have had temperatures on the plus side for 2 days in a row now. Of course that means that the snow is melting off the roof and since there are no gutters on the back of the house where we really need them, there is a continual deluge of water running off the roof. Oscar tries valiantly to dodge this dreadful thing whenever he goes outside. He stands well back of the door and barks to be let back in, but, alas, he still has to run the gauntlet when the door is opened for him. He never escapes all that water. I can't laugh too hard though because the same thing happens to me, only I am not standing barking to be let in the house.

THE SUMMER COUNTDOWN IS ON

Guess what? Only 12 more weeks of school left. Yayyyy! These last weeks always go so fast. The teachers are trying to pack in a whole bunch of special fun activites that they haven't done the rest of the year. By doing this the kids leave for summer holidays all pumped up about how fun school was. By the end of August all they remember is the last fun filled days of the previous year. It's a sneaky thing these teachers do, but it works. I guess I am part of that just by working at the school, but I won't take full responsibility. Actually right now I am working on education week. We are bringing in people from the community to do presentations for the kids regarding what opportunities there are for them. I want them to see past just Ross River and realize that there are many things they can do. I'm pretty excited about it. One of the other teachers has even got Skills Canada to come and do some stuff with the kids. They are bringing a carpenter that will do some special projects with the kids. Speaking of Skills Canada, they have given our school some money for shop and kitchen supplies. So, the secretary, Judy, and I get to go to Whitehorse to spend $1500 on kitchen supplies. Ah, if only they could be used at my home too. So, that is what I am busy with these days. It's just work, work, work. I have other things on the go too, but they are top secret. Maybe one day you will find out but not yet. For now you will just have to be content with being curious.

SPRING????

Once again I don't have much to say. However, I have emerged from my bundle of parkas, boots, toques and fleecy line mittens to tell you this. Every morning I look expectantly at the thermometer hoping that we are getting nearer to the 0 mark. This morning once again I was sorely disappointed when it said -39. I guess the spring fairies are stuck in the okanagan keeping everyone there warm. Eventually they will slip free of your evil grasp and come my way. If not I will deal with everyone this summer (after the ice has melted off my body that is).

I THOUGHT IT WAS SPRING

Here we are March 14, spring break is over, which theoretically means that spring should be here. However this morning when we left for work is was -40. Does that sound like spring to you? Somehow the sight of big winter boots, huge down parkas, full face framing hats, and fleecy lined mitts doesn't evoke visions of spring. I guess the groundhog was wrong - there were more than 6 weeks of winter left. Maybe it was a psychotic groundhog or something.

Oh well, whether it is spring or not does not change the fact that we have less than 13 weeks of school left this year. One of the other teachers is also counting down, however she doesn't count March (because we are already in it) or June (because we only go for part of that month). That leaves her with 2 months of school left. Sounds good to me however you put it. The only down side to this short amount of time is making my body swimsuit worthy. It will probably never happen though so, I just worry my little head about it.

ANOTHER MEMORABLE HOLIDAY MOMENT

This moment also occured last summer - the summer of flat camper tires! We had returned from our vacation and after a couple weeks at home drove down to Liard Hotsprings to meet Eric and Jo who were coming to visit. We had a great time there with them.

Here's the kids hanging out in the cool part of the hotsprings.

Anyways, after a couple days of relaxing it was time to go home. Jo and I were driving the truck and pulling the tent trailer. About 20 minutes out of Liard one of the camper tires blew. Of course, in the truck you can't feel a thing from the camper. However, I looked out the mirror and saw what I thought was dust. But being smart as a whip, it only took me about 10 seconds to realize it wasn't dust, but smoke from the tire. So, here we are with a blown tire in literally the middle of nowhere, with 2 hours to go before we reach the next town, and only a small gas station between. Our spare had gotten a hole on the way down to the hotsprings, so we were stuck. But brilliant minds came up with a plan. Brian and Eric put the spare back on the camper and were going to start driving and hopefully make it to the gas station. Jo and I took their car and headed to Watson Lake where we could, hopefully, buy a new tire and then head back to meet them. On the way, Jo and I stopped at the gas station and asked about tires, we were nice as pie, but to no avail, he didn't have any of the right tires. It was a good thing we stopped there too. As it turns out Brian and Eric also stopped there and the guy there only patched the tire after he found out they were with us. It's a good thing we were such angels. Anyways, after Jo and I got the tire, I left her and the girls in Watson Lake and drove back to meet up with the guys. By the time I met them they were about 45 minutes out of Watson and everything was good. Needless to say, after approx. 10 flat tires in one summer vacation, we sold the trailer.

YET ANOTHER MEMORABLE MOMENT...Is there no end to them????

This one occured when we were living in Kitimat - the memory of it still makes me smile. We were going to Kamloops for Christmas in our Wagovan. Our kids were pretty small back then, so we managed to squish April into our car too. We were loaded down with luggage and Christmas presents, I'm sure the car was dragging on the ground. So, the six of us were on our way. The roads were pretty slushy and our windshield sprayer didn't work, so Brian was trying to wipe off the windshield with napkins, etc, while we were driving down the highway. We had to pull over every 15 minutes or so to wipe it down with snow. You would think that this all by itself would be something to remember. However, that is not all, oh no, that is not all. We had stopped in Williams Lake to buy chicken, etc to eat on the way. Well, with the car as packed as it was we didn't have room to carry along a paper bag of chicken bones and dirty napkins. So, we pulled in at a rest area just before we got to 100 Mile House and unloaded our garbage in an appropriate garbage can. Brian was just getting back into our loaded little car when he looked up and there is this truck backing up at full speed towards us. He squealed to a stop beside us, stormed around his truck and approached Brian. He looked at our BC license plates, nodded to himself and then yelled through the window "Look at that sign - FOR TOURIST USE ONLY!!! What part of tourist don't you understand!!!" Brian, looking somewhat bewildered started pointing to the car and trying to explain that we were tourists. Finally the psycho garbage man dragged Brian over to the garbage can, snatched off the lid and exclaimed, "Aha!!!". Then he looked down and saw that there was only a little chicken box in the bottom of the can. He apologized by saying, "Sorry, some local keeps dumping their garbage here. I've been trying to catch the perp for months." The funniest part of this whole episode is that he actually used the word "perp". Aaahhhh, another fond memory.

MY OBSESSIONS...

I seem to have one of these obsessive disorders. For instance, I am very obsessive about the placement of things such as cutlery. It all needs to be lined up properly or it will drive me nuts. I know that considering the state of my house this seems very unlikely, but, alas, it is true. I am also obsessed with spelling. It irks me when I see blatant spelling mistakes. One of my newest obsessions is flossing my teeth. This also seems very unlikely considering the rotten state of my teeth - if only I could have had this obsession when I was 25 years younger. I developed this obsession after Santa put a flossing stick into my stocking at Christmas. You just clip a new floss end on and away you go. Some nights I spend an hour playing with this new toy flossing and reflossing my decaying teeth. My most painful obsession is falling. Just yesterday I was feeling pretty good and realized that I hadn't participated in this passion of mine in at least a couple of months. So, as we were heading outside, I made sure that I fell down the stairs. I didn't just bump along down the stairs, I flew into the air and landed with a thud and a yell on the stairs. It is a good thing they were coated with a thick layer of snow or I could have seriously hurt myself, maybe broken some bones. However, I just have a few very tender spots - behind my shoulder, on my buttock and the back of my leg - each place that hit a stair edge. But now that I've satisfied that compulsion I should be good for a few more months. Maybe I need another obsession that is not quite so painful.

MEMORABLE HOLIDAY MOMENTS

So begins a series of memorable moments. I thought of this one when I was lying in bed last night listening to Josh and his friends enjoying their sleepover at 3:00 am.

Anyone that has travelled the Alaska Highway up to the Yukon may remember Pink Mountain. Last summer we had the experience of staying at the campsite there. We had been travelling all day through the pouring rain and were anxious to get home. However, home was still over a days drive away, so we decided to stay at Pink Mountain. We set up camp and everything was looking pretty good. Little did I know though that the bathroom was unisex. So, me being a rookie, walked into the bathroom. There were 2 stall doors to my left and 2 stall doors straight ahead of me. Not knowing which were the toilets and which were the showers, I decided to try my luck with the doors straight ahead. Wouldn't you know I chose the showers. Not only that but there was a man getting dressed in the unlocked stall, with only his underwear on. I was invited to join him which I politely declined. Then I went to the bathroom in record time and disappeared from the bathroom long before he emerged from the shower stall. So be forewarned that if you ever stay at Pink Mountain, it would be wise to have your own bathroom in tow.

JOSH

Josh will be 12 years old next week. He is almost an exact replica of his dad, from looks to personality. He has a scientific mind and examines everything, whether it is something on t.v., in a book, or just what someone says, he has to figure out all the possibilities. He is destined to be a great scientist.

He is also a real prankster, particularly where Naomi is concerned. He loves to play jokes on her and shoot her with his ball gun. He is just a fun loving guy.

He bought himself an xbox this past year and is becoming an ebay addict, always looking for a deal on games.

He is having his birthday party tomorrow since it's spring break. So, we will be spending the night with 5 (almost) teenage boys in the house - that's a scary thought. He is pretty excited about it.

We are very proud of him and love him to death.

At the present, his goal is to be a NHL goalie. He wants to be on the Calgary Flames with Kippersoff.

HANNAH

Hannah is 13 years old now. At the age between being a kid and growing up. She is tending to stay more towards the being a kid side of things. She is definitely not in a hurry to grow up. She has been referred to as one of the "two crazies" (the other being Josh) for a number of years now. She has lived up to this name very well - always doing and saying crazy things. Sometimes she comes up with the most bizarre twist on things that we just burst out laughing. She is very good natured and laughs along with us.
As most 13 year olds, she hates school. She has fun when she is there, but detests the work. Sometimes at school, I will walk around the corner and find her and her friends running down the hall. They will all burst out laughing and Hannah will look guiltly at me and smile. I usually just smile and walk away.
She just got braces in January, much to her chagrin. Her teeth are straightening out very fast and she lives in the false hope that they will take them off within a couple of months.
She is very independent and always has been. We were watching home movies a while back and there was Hannah. It was Christmas time and she wanted an orange. I said "no, no, Hannah" and she looked at me and kissed the orange. I said "no, no Hannah" again and again she looked at me and licked the orange. I seem to remember that she got the orange in the end. Maybe stubborn is a better word than independent.

Her goal is to become a carpenter.
We love her dearly, she brings immense joy and laughter to our lives.

NAOMI

I wanted to feature my kids just because they are so great.

Naomi is 14 now, she will be 15 in June. That means that she will be able to get her learners license. She has been counting down to this for over a year. It is a little scary to think that she will be driving me places. It probably means that trips to Whitehorse will take a lot longer than 4 hours.

She is one of the greatest people you will ever meet. We haven't had any of the normal teenage rebellion with her. She is one of these all around nice people. Very polite. She loves to laugh. When her best friend, Kimberlee, is here they never stop laughing. Yesterday they were making themselves sarongs, even that was a laugh-fest.

Naomi and Kimberlee!

I can't say enough good about Naomi. She has been a joy to us since she was born. Now she is a beautiful young woman and is still a great joy.

Her latest career goal has been to be a primary teacher.

Love you lots, Naomi.