06 December 2008

Meredith's Birthday 2008: Part Two

The morning after Meredith's birthday dinner on Friday night, we all piled in Stacy's vehicle and drove up to McCall. Oh, how I love McCall. I would live there some day.

McCall in summer

Ack! How can you sleep when all this beautiful scenery is passing you by?! Although I guess I can't be too hard on Kara and Karla, since my parents said the same thing to me for approximately 8 years while I slept in the back seat of the family Suburban.The Birthday Girl
Yes, it's really this pretty...
The road to the hot springs. I love these hot springs - it's commercialized and you have to pay to get in, but there are five or six different rock pools, all different temperatures. You can always find the one that's just right.
On the way out from the hot springs. Tall pines, bright green pastures, happy cows.
Karla and Meredith enjoying their milkshakes at Cougar Mountain Lodge, right before someone (?) spilled an entire shake on the floor. They make them on an old-fashioned milk... uh... shaker, circa 1950's.Heading home!
Ahhh... I could stare out the window at this all day.
2008 was a really high year for the river. This is the beginning of a long section of rapids...




We drove back to the valley just in time to see the Emmett Cherry Festival parade! This is old-town Emmett, with an appropriately old pickup. I love old red pickups. But sadly the vendors at the festival were out of new red cherry pie. Very Sad.

A really fun weekend that will be hard to top next year!

Meredith's Birthday 2008: Part One

From the camera archives again.... :-)

Meredith celebrated her 28th birthday this year! She and I were actually driving down to Nevada on the day of her birthday (June 6) for her cousin's high school graduation, but we aren't ones to miss an opportunity to celebrate. We simply postponed to the next weekend.

Get off the phone Meredith! Let's get this party started!
Meredith and her friend Stacy
Karla, Meredith's co-worker (and friend)
Meredith and me. In our Night-Out-on-the-Town Black. It's tradition by now.
The Reef is a Carribbean/Jamaican place downtown, serving lots of dishes with Jamaican jerk sauce (awesome jerk burger!) and Meredith's new favorite, coconut-crusted chicken. The view from our table (second story).
Blown glass artwork hanging over the stairwell that leads up to the restaurant. I hope they have good insurance.

Part two next...

Better Late Than Never

I might as well have five posts titled the same as this one... I cleaned out the memory card on my camera today and transferred everything to my computer. So I have a few posts coming with ancient pictures. Not that May of this year is really ancient, but, you know...

Earlier this year I was able to fly to California to spend Memorial Day weekend at my parents' house, along with my brother Jerry and his wife Bernice (currently from Chicago) and their little James. Can I just say that James is the cutest kid ever? Yeah yeah, I hear you yelling "Bias!" yada yada yada...
James teaching Jerry and Bernice how to use the computer My parents' house, where I grew up from age 5 to 22. It's the "family farm", on my mom's side, along with the 60 acres of almonds surrounding it. But no, we aren't farmers. For the 1,374,835th time.
The jasmine my mom planted in front of the garage door. Smells. So. Good.
We may not be farmers, but we are ranchers! My parents raise a couple beef cattle every year or so, for their own use. Although I'm not sure Betsy here is really destined for that purpose. She seems waaay too friendly.
Ooops... Did I do that?
Whatever, Betsy. You're always looking for attention, just because you know people can't resist your big brown Jersey eyes. But I'm ok with that. I really am. I'll just hang out over here with the goats.
Bernice and James. James! Hey James!
Yeah I'm talking to you, kiddo. Hi.
Can I just squeeze you now? You little gangsta you.

Christmas is here!

Originally I was going to title this post "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum! (insert other lyrics here)", but when I searched for the lyrics, I found out that the song was all about how pretty and "loyal" a fir tree is, and I was unimpressed. Christmas is better than that.

Here is my Christmas tree, in all its dwarfish glory. There is a star on top, but sadly I didn't realize I was leaving it out when I took the picture. Sorry, gold star!


If you click the picture, you can see a close-up version. I have collected these ornaments over the past 10+ years from various people and stores. It seems I have an affinity for stars, hm.
Purple star, top left (you can barely see it - it's setting sideways): this is from Melinda D, whom I have known for many years. I think this was a Christmas present a few years ago.
Silver bell with red gingham ribbon, top right: This was attached to the top of a canister of gingerbread pancake mix given to me at the V Family's house for correctly reciting the 12 days of Christmas.
Large silver sparkly stars, middle left and right: I bought these at Macy's Christmas store in the fall of 2002. I remember because I was at Master's College at the time and my friend Miriam K was in Costa Mesa for a work conference. I drove an hour and a half down to where she was staying, and we spent an evening shopping at South Coast Plaza - the biggest, most upscale mall I've ever been to, quite possibly. One visit was enough.
Gold pinecone, middle: I remember this one well. I was somewhere in my early teens (?) and my friend Elizabeth had invited me to stay with her family in Gualala Bay for Thanksgiving (or some weekend really close to Thanksgiving). Her mom gave us crafts to do with some of the other kids there, and we had a lot of fun with the glitter. I also had a huge crush on her brother at the time and he helped me build a sand castle at the little beach near our cabin, which you had to use a rope ladder to access. Good times. No, I never did date her brother. [Side note regarding Google maps: From the default overview of the US, I typed in "g bay, california" and was directed to California, Maryland. huh? So I typed in "california" and the same town appeared. Whaaaatt....? Third time's the charm, I guess...]
Red mitten, back right: You probably all remember these from Starbuck's last Christmas. I got two gift cards, and yes the mittens were cute, so I kept both of them. Too bad they don't have opposing thumbs.
Gold metal star with long red thread, center: Did I get this from you Mom? I've had it for a few years, and it's spent a lot of time out and about, free from the Christmas storage boxes.
Blue and white paper snowflake, center right: This is from my friend Sarah C, whom I met at Master's. I was too intimidated to talk to her in the beginning because she was tall and artistic and gorgeously Italian, but we became friends by ditching the second half of Systematic Theology together in favor of frozen yogurt in the caf at 8:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays... that was the only class in my entire school career that I ever ditched. She was from New Jersey and hating life in Southern California, and I was from Northern California and hating life in Southern California. She encouraged me to get out and explore LA instead of studying (Getty Center!) and I encouraged her to cut her long hair short the day before she went home for Christmas. Neither of us returned to Master's in the spring, and so I have never seen her again. Our lives have gone in very different directions but we still keep in touch through that great equalizer, Facebook.
Red and white cloth ball, back right: I have no idea. If you gave this to me, would you please let me know? :-) Ditto on the red star, lower right.
Crystal stars with gold tips, upper left far back, and lower left, center: I think I bought these, but I have no idea where or when I got them.
Green pear, lower left in the back: This was from an ornament exchange either at work or with a church group, I can't remember. At first I thought, "Oh! A.... pear.... ?" but since then it has grown on me and I will keep it for a very long time. Pears are at the top of my Most-Liked-Fruit list, in case you were wondering. And even if you weren't.
Smore girl, bottom center: Oh yes, the Smore girl... what would life be without smores?? I got this as a gift from someone in my family, it was either Bernice or Mom. It makes me laugh. It even has blonde wavy hair. Someone put in a very special order to the Christmas ornament factory that year.
Little silver stars, everywhere: I bought these, which came a dozen in a little silver bag, at... at... somewhere. I know they were on sale.
Also on the tree, behind and to the left, barely visible are two other ornaments. One is a tiny little snowman with wire loop angel wings, with my name printed on the front. That was from Mom (or course!). The other is one called "Tea for Two", given to my by Bernice I think, and it's two little people who have sugar cubes for feet, forks for arms, and teacups on their heads. Their bodies are made out of cupcakes and they both have a tea bag draped across their arm. The tea bags even have little tags that dangle.

The tree is pretty much the extent of my Christmas decorating, with the exception of little white lights around the windows and 2 electric candelabras that my mom gave me to put on my windowsills. I really like the way they look like candles sitting in your window at night. Last year I also added this arrangement to my collection, which was a gift from my boss Heather. It has little sparkly pine cones! :-)


I didn't intend to make this such a reminiscent post, but Christmas ornaments have memories built in, right? Especially ones gathered across many years. That's why I love decorating my tree - I'm reminded of God's many blessings.

29 November 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

What did I do for Thanksgiving? I...

Cooked a Very Large Bird to within an inch of its everloving life

And proceeded to abandon bird in oven while I skipped off to the movies with a friend.

The Bird did quite alright, however, so we congratulated it with a gift of carving knife and fork. Then we ate it.


We: Meredith (far right), Kim (henceforth known as the Prison Twins), and Kim's friend Kyle (gotta have the requisite plaid)

Mashed red potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, and gravy accompanied the turkey and were enjoyed by al-- uh.... those who were not picky. The picky person(s) who shall remain nameless does not enjoy cranberries. But you know what Dad says, "You don't like it? Great! More for me!" We didn't make stuffing, since 3 out of the 4 of us don't like stuffing, which is a majority for non-stuffing-ness, which automatically disqualifies Not Liking Stuffing from the Book of Pickiness.

After several insane rounds of Uno Attack/Attack Uno/Call it what you wish, we broke out the pumpkin and apples pies, and oh my.... Kim makes one of the best pumpkin pies ever! May her mother be blessed and lard too. Her whipped cream even stayed stable from her house to my house to 3 hours in the fridge to overnight in the fridge and sitting on Patricia's counter. There had to have been something special in it. Other than copious amounts of powdered sugar.

I think the four of us will remember this Thanksgiving for a long time. At least until next year.

19 November 2008

Two Sides of The Same Coin

RIGHT LOBE: Tomorrow's Thursday. Hey! Tomorrow's THURSDAY! [saunters down sidewalk, whistling] Woo-hoo!! Yeah! weeeek-END! weeeek-END! weeeek-END! I'm going to bake and hang out with friends and drive and go to a football game and....

LEFT LOBE: Tomorrow's Thursday. Oh no. Tomorrow's THURSDAY. AAAHHHHHH! Where did all the time go? I still have to finalize Legal's year-end savings report and edit HR and Finance's year-end financial report texts and process these invoices for capital procurement and review the budget development system overview that's 60 pages long and .... AAAHHHHH!!! [buries head in hands and wonders how late the bus runs on Thursdays]


"This is your brain, on budgets..."

.

12 October 2008

What Do You See?


...

...

...

...

...

...

...

I see a happy old mountain man with a beard. My coworker Angee? She insists I could make a few thousand on this blueberry tea bag by selling it on Ebay because... "it looks like Jesus!"
I think I'll just keep him on my desk. :-)

03 October 2008

Presents from MaryEllen

Last night involved a ton of plums, a bag of free makeup, and a happy drive off into the sunset. Ooh la laa! Ok let me explain.

Apparently it's been a year since MaryEllen and I last met up for a complete and total girlfest, as evidenced by the distant memories of the BSU game on the tube last fall, and hey look! They're back on the blue! A year is too, too long. This is what we do when we get together. We have a girlfest. This usually involves talking about guys, trying on various makeup samples from MaryEllen's latest collection of Ella Rose stuff, talking about guys, eating burgers and homemade peach pie compliments of Rosemary (MaryEllen's mom), talking about guys, saying hi to Dave (MaryEllen's dad) and then letting him have his peace as he watches the BSU game or political debates, talking about guys, talking about church and where we're both at, and talking about guys. Did I mention we discuss the men in our lives? The Good, The Bad, and The Excellent?


Oh yes, the drive off into the sunset. It was only half-happy, because I had to fight traffic for an hour to get to MaryEllen's house. This was just at 5pm, as the sun was starting to go to bed but screaming all the way in its 2-year-old toddler angst glory, with bright, piercing, autumn light shining through everyone's windshields as they swerved and nearly missed the approximately 1.35 million construction workers in the mid- I mean, on the side of the road... the orange vests were everywhere, down the whole freeway to Caldwell, like the dirt from your shoe that mysteriously follows you all over your house even though you left the treads by the front door. Anyhoo. I really do love sunsets, you know?


MaryEllen's grandpa lives next door, and the property has been in the family for who knows how long. Anbody? Anybody know? So there's a plum tree out front, by the road, and the poor thing was just bent halfway to the ground with fruit. We grabbed bags and made quick work of relieving it of its extra weight. I can still hear her Texan accent as we walked back to the house.... "Oh thank you ever-so-livin'-much honey... I was scared I wouldn't lose those few pounds around my hips before I have to get all dressed up for the holidays. You just saaaaaved my life, bless your heart." Why you are so very welcome. The pounds can come to my house. In the form of clafoutis! Oh my. This is going to take miles and miles of extra hiking. And a few times up and down Table Rock. And maybe a few rides out and back to Lucky Peak (26 miles, anyone?). Oh my.

See those two bags in the background? Full. Full to the brim with plums. Woo-hoo! I started off the clafoutis by putting a teeny bit of butter in the bottom of the dish. Everything's better with butter. Then I layered halved plums in the pan.

A clafoutis is basically fruit in a dish covered and melded into one huge pancake. Good stuff. :-) Here you see the ingredients for the batter to pour over the plums: flour, sugar (I used brown), eggs, milk, dash, and an exceptionally large dash of vanilla. Just pour it in. There you go.

See how the edges are puffed? Perfect, chewy goodness. And you can smell the vanilla a mile away.

I surprised myself by liking this one. Because I am not a bread-pudding, soggy texture type of person by any means. This was a little different. You had to wait for it to cool and firm up a bit. Then top with whipped cream. Everything's better with whipped cream. Mmm... the plum skins taste like canned cherries. No, not those cherries from the store that are physical manifestations of some chemist's bad dream (although I do like the marachinos once in a while)! I mean the cherries your grandma canned when you were 10 and she must have put kirsch or brandy or something in there to make them taste so strong...

Not only did MaryEllen give me plums, she gave me makeup too! I don't wear a lot of makeup (getting out of bed and on the bus in 30 minutes kind of makes you pare down your prettifying routine, you know?). But I'm excited about MaryEllen's business Ella Rose and I think she's got a good things going. Who wouldn't want to work from home doing something she feels passionate about? And even if I don't wear this ever day, a girl's gotta have a few colors up her sleeve (in her drawer?) to pull out once in a while, right? Right.

Aren't they pretty? Thank you MaryEllen! Now can you come to my house and help me? So my bathroom walls don't acquire the same shimmer as my face?

15 September 2008

Go take a hike!

YAY! I finally got out there and boy did it start with a bang. I went hiking tonight for the first time since having foot surgery in March, and my friend Kim and I decided to tackle Crestline Ridge in Camel's Back, a 5+ mile loop. I feel great. My foot hurts a little, but nothing some ibuprofen and relaxation tomorrow won't fix. Coming out of the park and headed up the ridge, we passed a mixed group of adults and kids doing some mountain biking. A few of the kids looked like they were about 5, so this was definitely a training session. We kept passing each other on the trail as they stopped to take breaks and then caught up with us again. At one point the littlest guy told the adult behind him, "I can't pass those girls, they're going too fast." ha ha :-)

In other celebratory news, in spite of me losing the company-wide bakeoff last week at our annual picnic, apparently my coworkers feel the judges were incorrect:
Aren't they "sweet"?

05 September 2008

Chocolate emergency!

These are treats I got from my mom in the mail a few weeks back... yes, there's a story. My friend K had invited me to a "fete du chocolat", an annual chocolate party at her Italian friend's house. Everybody brings a savory dish containing chocolate, plus a bar or two of solid chocolate. The bars get chopped and plated, the wrappers are hidden, and after lunch we pass the plates and write down our impressions of each. This year there were 22 samples! I brought 3 of those, which I had never tried before, but they looked interesting: Hot Indian Chai Masala, Japanese Green Tea with Jasmine, and Moroccan Green Tea with Curry. Anyway, back to the picture above. I went back and forth for two weeks over which dish to bring.
Chocolate pasta? But what would I serve with it? And it would get cold on the way there. And I wanted to make it myself, but I don't think I could get it done Saturday morning in time to be at the party by 12.
Mole? No... there will probably be several moles there. (There was one.) And that takes a long time to make too, although there are some jarred versions at Mexican stores.
Hmmm... what about hagelslag? It's not really a lunch dish, but I could sort of morph it into an appetizer, maybe. In Holland people eat it for an afternoon snack, and when we were growing up it was breakfast food. But this is a possibility.
Hem...haw...hem...haw...

Suddenly it's the week of the party and I'm still up in the air (are you surprised?)! "Mom... help!" :-) So she ran down to Mar-Val, Ripon's unofficial Dutch store (it's a regular grocery store... with half an aisle dedicated to Dutch food. Unusual, no?) and put some hagelslag in the mail for me. What I didn't know was that she had also included one of my favorite magazines!

I love getting mail...

P.S. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the chocolate tasting. Well... as the plates were being passed, there was clearly an un-favorite. It was quickly named the "fish chocolate". In the end, I was awarded "Most liked chocolate" and "Most disliked chocolate"... the fish chocolate! Can you guess which one that was?

Summer Rain

(several weeks ago...)

Happy Day

I received an email this morning from Sallie Mae, my student loan lender...

"Dear Margaret M Haveman:
Congratulations! This is your official notification that you have completely paid off the student loan [#1]. We are pleased to have had you as a customer and wish you the best of luck in the future. Thank you!"
Customer Service

WOO-HOO!!!!

I do have one other loan with them, but this is major progress, my friends.
So I celebrated by making a couple purchases tonight at Boise's annual Art in the Park. :-) Among other things, I got this:
my new maple syrup jug
My family always makes our own syrup at home, #1 because it's cheaper and #2 because we all like it better. We use maple extract in a simple syrup, and it turns out with a stronger maple flavor and thinner consistency than storebought. Once you make a batch, you need a place to put it, right? That's where this loverly jug gets to participate.
I go to Art in the Park every year, and I love the pottery. Vendors come from all over the northwest for this event, towing their handmade goods with them. Last year I got a hat from Hatterdashery. Previous years' treasures:
Real leaves embedded

I use these every day

03 September 2008

Today's "Deep Thoughts with Ri"

I'm the only person I know who has to wash both ice cream scoops every time she does the dishes.

It's wonderful to be loved, but sometimes it's even better to be liked.

Never promise your friends they won't get attacked by furniture at your house. Stuff happens.

My-Fridge-Is-Empty Dinner

Take some good, substantial noodles (Marco Polo in my case) and boil them.
Add basil that languished in the fridge for a few days before you took pity on it and chopped it up to freeze into basil ice cubes for future use. 1 cube should do it here.
Add a can of tuna.
Add big crumbly flakes of pecorino-reggiano.
Toss.

Unconventional?
Bachelorette food?
Delicious?
Check check.
Check.

02 September 2008

Going Home

Driving

past hugs from little arms and baby kisses
past silver filled hills with rusty faces
past twilight lit sand patches glowing like glaciers
past coffee from a rock

to my town.

24 August 2008

On using insufficient equipment

Yesterday was our department's annual picnic. Nobody likes to go to these things, but we do it because it's a "team-building" event, and if you don't go at least every other year, you're not a "team player". Whatever. I do actually enjoy hanging out with the co-workers with whom I work on a daily basis, and we have been known to stage margarita nights, which are inherently fun. Anyway.
My co-worker Shannon is a biker (that's "biker" as in bicycle rider, not motorcycle rider. Any biker of either kind worth their salt will be quick to make the distinction). She thinks nothing of accompanying her husband on 50-mile rides throughout the Treasure Valley countryside. I can only hope to get that far some day.
During a group pow-wow around our boss' M'n'M jar last Wednesday, we were discussing the upcoming picnic at Lucky Peak, and Shannon mentioned that she and Jerry were going to ride out. Our supervisor Heather and I looked at each other and said "That sounds fun!" Pretty soon we were making plans to meet up on the Greenbelt and ride to Lucky Peak together.
On Saturday, I left my house 10 minutes late because I couldn't bag up hot chocolate chip cookies unless I wanted to end up with a chocolate chip cookie dough block. As enticing as that sounds, it might not go over so well for a group of people expecting dessert in the form of cookies.
[quick side note: I just got some granola out of the oven and thought it might make a good snack over yogurt. I put some yogurt in a cup and then spooned the granola over. It literally *sizzled*... woah...]
When I got to the Nat (our meeting spot) I texted Heather and Shannon. Heather was running late after unexpectedly staying up really late the night before, (she later admitted she was still eating breakfast when I texted her) and Shannon's car was taking longer than expected to get the oil changed (over 2 hours!). So I pedaled on ahead.
And boy was I glad I did. All of that huffing and puffing I did on the way over would have been really embarassing! It ended up taking me almost an hour and a half to bike 13 miles. I was disappointed to take so long and struggle so hard up the hills, but it was worth it because I am now determined to buy a better bike. One with gears. I should probably tell you at this point in the story that Heather arrived 10 minutes after me (on her mountain bike) and Shannon came soon after (on her road bike). It took Shannon about 45 minutes, and she had more miles to go.
The way back was a little better, probably in large part due to the refreshment stop at the golf course, but the section from where we parted to my house was extra, extra hard. I realized when I rolled into my yard that my front tire was losing air and only about half as full as it should be. Good thing I made it home.

I finally understand the look bikers give me when I tell them what I ride. "Cruisers are not real bikes."

23 August 2008

Northwest Tour, Part 3: Lake Roosevelt

I couldn't show this picture until after Brad & Charlene's wedding, for fear of my life. Brad was not going to see The Dress, no matter how hard he tried to devise ways to get around the rule. :-)

From Vancouver Island, I ferried back over to Anacortes, where my cousin Henry picked me up. We headed out to Lake Roosevelt for some fun and sun with his parents and about 5 other families who go to the lake annually. Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jennie have been coming to Lake Roosevelt for 16 years! It certainly is a great place to vacation and spend time on the boat.
Every morning I would crawl out of my tent, head down to the full bathrooms (showers!!) and return to a breakfast of yogurt and fresh blueberries, compliments of Aunt Jennie. When everyone had finished breakfast and had their stuff together for the day, we would all pile into the pickup and drive the short mile down to the lake. All we had to do was unload the chairs, the ladder golf set, and our selves, and we were ready to go for the day! I would usually spend a half hour or so each morning laying out on the beach reading... it was so relaxing. Pretty soon it would get hot and we would start up the boats to go skiing, wakeboarding, "air-chair"ing, and tubing. One afternoon a group of us decided to go cliff-jumping. We drove to the little ferry dock (yes there is a small ferry that goes back and forth across the lake!), hopped on and 5 minutes later we were on the other side. I brought my camera and decided to stay down on the shore with Jocelyn, mainly as a cover for my cowardice--I wasn't really enthused about jumping from that height (bad childhood diving experience ha ha :-), but I was happy to take pictures of others doing it.
Philip followed the ferry over and let me cruise around on the jet ski for while
The Jumpers
Henry doing the helicopter
We got to see amazing sunsets almost every night

By the end of this trip, I had completely forgotten about my job and everything else back in Boise. That's a great kind of vacation--a real one! :-) It was a very relaxing, encouraging, and fun time. I loved seeing so many friends and family members I had missed for years. I wasn't ready to come home at the end, but it's still good to be here. I can't wait for next year. :-)

17 August 2008

Memorable Quote

"On the act of cooking: I despise recipes that promise results without work, or success without technique. I have eaten too many short-cut piecrusts to trust anyone who tells women that pastry made with oil is just as good as the 'hard' kind. Mere facility, of course, is no more a guarantee of good taste in cooking than it is in music; but without it, nothing good is possible at all. Technique must be acquired, and, with technique, a love of the very processes of cooking. No artist can work simply for results; he must also like the work of getting them. Not that there isn't a lot of drudgery in any art - and more in cooking than in most - but that if a man has never been pleasantly surprised at the way custard sets or flour thickens, there is not much hope of making a cook of him. Pastry and confectionery will remain forever beyond him, and he will probably never even be able to get gravy to come out the same twice. Interest in results never conquers boredom with process."

~Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection

Memorable Quote

"...(P)eel an orange. Do it lovingly - in perfect quarters like little boats, or in staggered exfoliations like a flat map of the round world, or in one long spiral, as my grandfather used to do. Nothing is more likely to become garbage than orange rind; but for as long as anyone looks at it in delight, it stands a million triumphant miles from the trash heap.
"That, you know, is why the world exists at all. It remains outside the cosmic garbage can of nothingness, not because it is such a solemn necessity that nobody can get rid of it, but because it is the orange peel hung on God's chandelier, the wishbone in His kitchen closet. He likes it; therefore, it stays. The whole marvelous collection of stones, skins, feathers, and string exists because at least one lover has never quite taken His eye off it, because the Dominus vivificans has his delight with the sons of men."

~Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection.

12 August 2008

I Love My Dentist

Today's appointment proved me cavity-free for a whole year. I couldn't believe it. This achievement is Olympic-gold worthy, my friends, to a girl who has had at least one cavity at every single dentist visit ever. One memorable visit in my early teens (?) uncovered 5 cavities. In one sitting! Oy. So today I'm celebrating. Because I love my dentist.

10 August 2008

Northwest Tour, Part 2: Duncan, B.C.

The view from the back of the ferry to Sidney, B.C.
Another ferry just like the one I was on.
See the kayakers in the background? My next day job.
My other day job.
Ay, matey!
Whatever floats your boat!
And... my third day job. They are all part time, see?
The Chapel at Shawnigan Lake boarding school. Charlene teaches flute here,
and this will be the site of Brad and Charlene's wedding ceremony.
Brad's (Charlene's!) SmartCar. Surprising amount of leg room!
Shawnigan Lake School grounds
The Happy Couple :-)
The old trestle bridge we explored
Back to front: Charlene's brother Steve, Charlene's friend Colin,
Charlene's fiance Brad, Charlene, me
Between the...ah...trestles? of the trestle bridge
Steve and Charlene down by the river under the bridge
Charlene contemplating whether she should move
before the dog shakes water on her again.
Charlene & Brad

We made 6 pans of boeterkoek for the wedding reception.

Charlene with curly hair and me with straight hair!

Thanks for a fun weekend Charlene!! The $115 was *so* worth it. :-)