RECONNECTING

I didn't realize it had been 9 months since I last posted on my blog. It has been an eventful time - some good, some not so good. So, a quick recap of the time I've been gone.

September was a time of learning to adjust to a life without Oscar. After 10 years of having him as a part of our lives and under our feet it wasn't an easy task. But we have managed. It was also a month when our little family became more scattered as Naomi went to the University in Calgary, Hannah settled into Kamloops to learn esthetics, and Josh once again relocated to high school in Whitehorse.

October was not exceptionally good to me. After suffering with laryngitis at the beginning of the month, the middle brought an infection in my thyroid, and the end brought a complete physical collapse. In the past 2 years I had completed 18 university courses while working full time. Near the end of the month I felt like I had hit the proverbial brick wall. I was completely burnt out. I went through the motions at work each day, then would come home and collapse. It has taken me months to overcome this, but after some much needed rest, I finally feel like I've made it through.

November meant a rush trip down to Kelowna when my mom became very ill and was in the hospital. Thank goodness she pulled through and is doing well now.

December began with Josh being in a car accident in Whitehorse. He was uninjured, but the truck suffered a hole in the side and a dangling muffler. This month also brought about some very exciting news - I was accepted for educational leave from work for the 2011-2012 school year. This means I will receive 70% of my salary and a guaranteed position when I return after obtaining my teaching degree. We were also privileged to have Naomi and Josh both come home for Christmas and were able to spend boxing day with Hannah. The month ended with Hannah being in a car accident and breaking her hand, thus being off from her esthetics course for 2 months. But at least she was not seriously injured.

January was just cold!

February was very busy and full of not so great adventures. It began with us bringing Josh home from Whitehorse to complete his grade 12 from the comfort of our home in Ross River. He was just having too much fun in Whitehorse. The middle of the month saw me go to Vancouver to have 2 root canals redone. This resulted in me spending a week lying on the couch crying in pain. So much fun!

March began with a trip to Edmonton - I was a chaperone for the grade 9/10 trip. It was a lot of fun, but so cold. It ended in much excitement when I was accepted into the teaching program at SFU for next year.

April was low key personally but was filled with trips to Whitehorse for work. Between Brian and I we made 6 trips to town in 5 weeks. That's a lot of traveling.

May was another busy month. It started with yet another field trip to Whitehorse and bringing Josh into town to write his LPI tests. Then I spent 10 days in Kelowna assisting my parents after Dad's hip replacement surgery. I arrived home just in time to send Brian off on yet another field trip and Josh to Tagish to spend time with his girlfriend and her family.

Now here we are in June and the school year is quickly winding down. I have just 2 days left in my career as an educational assistant. The next time I work in Ross River it will be as a certified teacher.
After such an eventful year if will be nice to just relax for the summer.

FAREWELL TO OUR BELOVED OSCAR

How I wish that everything happening in my life was roses and sunshine. But I guess that is not to be. I have been planning to post about our summer vacation, but just haven't gotten around to it. And now something has happened that I need to post. Yesterday was a very sad day for our family as we had to say goodbye to Oscar. He was such an wonderful dog. He had some very quirky traits, such as eating his food in colour order (green, red, yellow, then brown) every time, getting frantic when he could see the bottom of his food bowl (that evil dog print pattern), only eating when Brian was at the table, the way he could manage to take over the entire couch even though he wasn't very big, and would follow Brian wherever he went. He loved to go on hikes with us and would look so disappointed when we didn't take him. He was so small when we first got him 10 years ago that I would put him in the pocket of my hoodie when I went into the bank. I remember how the kids taught him to swim by dropping him in the water and making him swim to shore. I remember how he used to walk into our neighbours homes in Kitimat if they left their door open, and how he wandered to a friends house in Ross River to track us down when we went to visit without him. So, it is with great sadness that we lay him to rest. He truly was an integral part of our family and will be greatly missed.

A TRIBUTE TO MY MOM

Well, we've begun our vacation yet again. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been very cooperative. We've been experiencing a deluge of rain, rain, and more rain. I keep hoping that the rain will stop and we will get some sun, but we are now in Fort Nelson and haven't reached the sun yet. Driving the Alaska Highway is always a fantastic experience. Yesterday as we left Liard Hotsprings I had my camera in hand. The problem is that there are so many spectacular photo opportunities that we would be stopping literally every 10 minutes to get a picture, so I did what any sane, middle-aged woman did, I snapped the photos through the window. I was sitting in the back seat, so couldn't always get a great view. After I snapped the first photo I started laughing as I recalled our family photo albums from my childhood filled with photos my mom had taken from the front seat of our Winnebago. So, this is my Northern Rockies tribute to my mom. (Excuse the blurry photos, that's what happens when you take photos from a moving vehicle.)
Part of the highway winds right along the edge of Muncho Lake. It's beautiful, but I live in fear of meeting large trucks on this section.




We did stop for a quick rest and managed a couple nice photos. The wind was bitterly cold up near the summit.




Notice the fresh snow on the mountains?

This is the area when you drive along the edge of a cliff. Usually there is an abundance of stone sheep on the road, but sadly we didn't see any on this trip.

This is on the way down the mountain towards Fort Nelson.

OUR PRE-HOLIDAY HOLIDAY

Brian and I decided that since we needed to go to Whitehorse to bring Josh back from school we would take a few days and have a pre-holiday holiday. This is only right and just considering we are officially on vacation from work. Of course it began to rain just before we left home, hence the extremely muddy trailer. We couldn't even see out the windows due to the mud. The pictures do not show the full extent of the mud splatter, but the mud on the truck is a pretty good indication.


Our first night we stayed at Frenchman Lake. A bit of a drive down a gravel road, but that didn't deter us. It had stopped raining by the time we had finished dinner so we sat by the fire and made some smores.




We stopped for the next night at Fox Lake. We found a beautiful spot right by the lake, but unfortunately, the wind was insane. The waves were rolling in like ocean breakers. But Brian found a empty campsite that was cut off from the wind, so we were able to sit by the fire and enjoy a relaxing evening.





It took us 3 days to make the 400 km drive. But it was so nice and relaxing. Definitely a needed mini-vacation.

19!!!

Today I am feeling a little shell-shocked. I can't believe my little baby girl is 19. Days like this cause me to reflect on the past. I remember anxiously waiting for her to be born and after it was over saying to my mother-in-law "why didn't you warn me it would be that bad?" To which she replied "what could I say?" She was such a quiet little girl. I remember when she was in kindergarten, grades 1 & 2 and refused to speak at school. We had to video tape her reading to prove to her teacher that she could do it.






She has grown into a beautiful young woman. The name Naomi means delightful, pleasant. She has definitely lived up to it. We are so proud of you, Naomi and love you more than you can imagine (even when you put the truck in the ditch).