Unusual Work

Friday was an unusual day for me. Sue woke up feeling very under the weather. She had picked up whatever bug the kids had, so I needed to stay home from work and help with the kids.

Sprout and I ended up having a very enjoyable day together which was a great way to spend what should have been a work day.

We started off with a walk at Highrock Park with Yoshi. This park is close to our new house, and is an off leash park. There is also an amazing viewpoint looking out over all of Victoria. We could see downtown, the arena, the breakwater, Gorge Vale Golf Course, and the navy base. Sprout pointed and reminded me that last year we went to the base, got on a bus and did a tour of the Christmas lights. He even pointed to the correct parking lot we boarded the bus. That boy has an amazing memory.

Later in the day we played in the back yard for a bit. I got him a toy golf set a while ago, but we ended up playing hockey with it. We passed the ball to one another, and he had some pretty good accuracy. Every once in a while we had to get off the ice and go sit on the bench to watch the zambonie. Yes, he has a very active imagination.

Right before dinner Sprout then helped me fix his train table that got a little broken during the move. Some bracket screws got ripped out of the particle board. I was able to rig together a fix for it, and with Sprout supervising, we got the job done. He was quite happy to get the table back in action.

He was in such a fun mood all day, and I got to do all sorts of fun dad things with him.

Enormity Everywhere

A new morning routine is in the works. A little over a week ago we moved. I’m pretty excited about the new place but there is still a ton of work to be done.

The move itself was pretty smooth, but that was a weekend full of back breaking manual labour. Friday night we had some friends over for dinner and beer, then we shlepped boxes to the new place. Saturday was an all out move fest. The movers came and grabbed as much stuff as they could then emptied their truck at the new place. Meanwhile our cleaning lady did her magic at the old place, but we had a limit on her time. Then I started the final clean of the rest of the house. The sunroom and basement needed a lot of attention, and so did the carpets throughout. When all was said and done the place looked almost like it did when we moved in.

The next day the enormity of the move hit us. Boxes everywhere. Looking around the house I began to feeli like maybe it was too small. As furniture got place I started seeing quick and striking differences. Very quickly the house felt like it was big enough. Now that we have been here a week, I know that it was just the clutter everywhere that made the house feel tiny.

One of the things about the house that we loved was the lack of carpeting. Hardwood throughout, and nice, old hardwood at that. Of course, hardwood doesn’t damp the sound, and our dog has long claws. And likes to get up at 6 am. And our new yard isn’t fenced.

So far the new morning routine involves one of us (usually me since I am awake) jumping out of bed at the first Yoshi noise. Then he eats, and gets a quick pee in the yard by himself. Then we take him on leash around the block so he can work out number 2. Of course it is still cold and dark out, and I would much rather be laying in my nice warm bed.

The house is awesome though. Much quieter neighbourhood, still close to all the same amenities, and so far, great neighbours. The second night we were in the house our neighbours to one side came by and welcomed us to the hood and brought a lovely tin of home made chocolate chip cookies. 🙂 A very nice welcome indeed.

Weekend Tweeted

Last weekend, the fam and I headed to a hockey game. It was a friends child that was playing and we had a great time at the game. We had driven there, and Yoshi was in the car. When we got back to the car, below is what greeted us.

Shocking. As soon as I saw it I was quite angry with Yoshi. It wasn’t hot in the car, and I really didn’t know what could have gotten in to him. He happily jumped out of the car and was happy to see us. Then the ref in the soccer game next to the car tweeted his whistle. Yoshi tucked his tail and ran to the front of the car. We had parked next to a field not thinking about what may happen. There were kids warming up for a soccer game, but neither Sox nor I thought through what might happen.

Instantly I felt sorry for Yoshi. He was very stressed out and this was the result. Imagine what could have been if he had gotten into the front seat? These pics were taken the next day, so no, the cat food and diaper box weren’t in there with him.

Handler Season

My last Ulti game of the season was a doozy. It was cold and very windy and I can’t quite tell if I enjoyed the game or not.

I didn’t get much of a warm up, so I ran on the field cold. It was an up-wind point, and it ended up being a very long point. This took th elife right out of me. I need a good warm up if I am to feel good and play well in a game.

AS it was I tried to run for the first few points and see if I could get comfortable enough to handle in the wind. Well, that plan didn’t work out and I got pulled into handling right away. That didn’t work out so well for me. It was a difficult throwing game. Very few passes made it to their intended destination.

The only throw I was proud of during the whole game was when I was a handler. We were being zoned and I had the disc. The cup was pretty effective in shutting me down and the count was getting pretty high. I could see one teammate who was standing there clearly open. He wasn’t moving, and wasn’t cutting. He was directly behind the man counting. I had no choice but to toss a hammer. It turned out to be a perfect hammer and was right on the button. Awesome.

The end of my season is here, and I can’t say I am going to miss it. I don’t feel like I clicked with the team. I never actually felt like part of the team.

Now I will need some other form of regular exercise. I am wondering if I can get back into a weekly Thursday morning swim.

Busted Nights

I’ve been lucky enough to play poker tonight and last Friday. I haven’t played in a long time previous to last week, and it reminded me of how much I do like the game.

Last week I busted out which I was fine with. I wasn’t playing all that well, and I was getting very good cards when I really needed them. I still won a few hands, and I still had a great time.

Tonight was different though. I played much smarter and tighter. I kept myself under control and didn’t chase hard hands. I folded at smart times. At the end of the night I was up quite a bit.

Counting both weeks together I was up $12 (lost $10 last week, won $22 tonight).

I think the only thing stopping me from playing every week with the work people is that I have Ulti on Thursdays, and they play on Fridays. This means I would be out of the house for dinner and maybe bed time, two nights in a row. I just can’t do that to Sox.

Ulti is ending pretty soon, so maybe that means more poker in my life?

Dessert Ineptitude

It was enough to make me want to never go back to Spinnakers. I wanted some dessert tonight so I called them up to see what they had on the menu. The lady I talked to listed everything then when I asked if I could place an order she said they don’t really do that any more.

I was incredulous. They wouldn’t let me do a takeout dessert order. What? We’ve done it before from their restaurant, but all she could offer was that they are now discouraging that. I have a hard time believing that they would rather have people come in and sit at a table on a busy Friday night and eat dessert. Wouldn’t it be better for a restaurant to do a quick takeout order and keep the table open.

Maybe it was the way she handled it that ticked me off.

I ended up going to Save On Food to get something. Their customer service is pretty awful too. I saw what I wanted in the bakery section and it was behind a counter so I needed some help. There were three people working in the deli right next to the bakery, but they pretty much ignored me.

Finally one of the ladies in the deli (high school age) asked if I was wanting something. I said I wanted to get one of the desserts in the case. Her reply was that the guy who was working in the bakery was on a break or taking the garbage out. Then she said she couldn’t help since she didn’t know how.

I was awestruck. It must have showed. She mentioned that the guy would be back in 10 minutes or so and asked me to come back. I had no other shopping to do and was getting ready to walk out of the store empty handed. The girl then mentioned she would give it a try and see if she could do it. She entered in some code and the price that came up was for a dollar more than the one on the dessert.

I was starting to correct her and was seriously going to walk out when the bakery guy returned. Lucky for Sox and I that he did, but what a bad experience. Every time I go in that store I regret it. Their employee training must be horrible. I certainly don’t blame the girl for her ineptitude, but I do blame her training and her managers. I know that it can be hard to approach strangers and offer them help, but that is part of the job at a grocery store.

In the end we got dessert but both places I dealt with left a bad taste in my mouth.

Something Rounded

More packing tonight. I actually threw out something that was very difficult for me to throw away. I’ve already written about how hard it is for me to throw some stuff away.

This item was something I made for my mom and dad way back when I was in elementary school. Maybe grade 2 or grade 3. I can still remember making it while sitting at my desk in the classroom.

It was a Christmas craft and we were making wreaths to hang on our door. We actually used ours for a long time, but for the past 10 years (at least) it has been in storage.

The tidbit you are missing is that it was made of a rounded out coat hanger, and strip of green plastic garbage bag tied to it. Tie on some ribbon and glittery pine cones, and you have the Christmas wreath that I made 20 some odd years ago.

Yes it was ugly. Yes I wanted to keep it. Yes I got rid of it. I hope some day my kids will make something that special to them.

Sometimes Meatloaf

He is a good dog and he does listen. Sometimes. These shots were taken during dinner last night. Sox and Sprout had gotten up from the table, but Beet and I were still there. Beet was cleaning up her plate and Yoshi came to investigate the plopping on the ground noises. Bits of meatloaf and peas.

To his credit Yoshi looked at me, then stared at the peas for a long time, but he did not make a move on them until I told him he could.

Yes, those are some of the peas on the floor in the second picture.