An unconventional life

Every now and then someone enters your life and leaves an imprint disproportionate to the length of time you have known each other or the amount of time you spent together.

Scott Taylor was just such a person.

He came into our lives a few weeks after a certain brown labrador did. 

And when I say came - I mean we begged him to come to our home and tame our wild thing.  

He walked into our home, as he would on more than one occasion, hat on head, long hair in a ponytail, a twinkle in his eye and more insight into dog behaviour and how to manage it than we will ever know. 

Scott is a large presence physically and emotionally.  

He does not beat around the bush - he tells it straight.  So he sat us down - without the dog and promptly dismissed any myths we had about dogs.  "This is not a Disney movie - this dog does not love you" "Your family is a pack and Spanner will be wherever in the pecking order you let him"  "This dog can be a jerk if you let him - your behaviour will determine that" "Teachers and Social Workers are the worst dog owners - way too soft!" 

We sat wide-eyed and wide-eared and I frantically took notes (determined to buck the teacher/social worker trend)

And then he asked to meet Spanner. 

In 30 minutes he tamed that little monkey into totally obedient submission.  Spanner did things we did not know any dog could do much less a mischievous puppy.  All of this in the family room.  And Spanner was completely exhausted from the mental gymnastics Scott had him doing.

Our jaws were on the floor. 

That was the start of our relationship.  

For two years Allan and David (sometimes Lindsay and I too) drove to Point Grey to do dog training classes with Scott.  Scott's friend Sue had bred Spanner and she and her dog Solo came too.  David would help Sue with Solo while Allan worked on Spanner. Scott was the benevolent emperor of the room.  Sometimes storming around barking orders and other times sociable and chatty.  But always completely spot on with the dog training.  Scott knew Spanners Mom (Tanka) and Grandad (Hudson) and he recognised the traits that needed work and helped Allan to manage them.  

He would return to our home and do some on-leash training with me and the kids who struggled with 65 pounds of labrador when said labrador spied a squirrel, a person, a candy wrapper..... within an hour Scott had Spanner walking with us all and then off leash with him on Steveston Hwy - an unbelievable display of Scotts incredible wisdom and skill with dogs. 

Scott died tragically a few weeks ago and we have carried our sadness around with us as well as many questions we wish we still had the chance to ask him.  Today we joined an incredible mix of people to remember Scott - a man who had hardship and heartache but found a way to live out his passion and in so doing inserted himself into the stories of so many. 

So much of enjoyment we have had with almost 6 year old Mr. Spanner was thanks to Scott and the hours Allan devoted to the training.  Allan and Scott found a way to communicate and worked on some projects together.  Allan the educator helped Scott the dog trainer to connect better with his clients while Scott imparted so much knowledge that Allan has so diligently used to make Spanner the delight he is to our family.

Scott will forever be remembered in this home.  With gratitude and a few good stories.  

Go well our friend

xoxo

Allan, Nicky, Lindsay, David and Spanner Hudson Byres

And so it begins....

So the big 52 week milestone at the gym came and went.  

And then 53, 54, 55.....

It was sorta anticlimactic.  

And the thought of another consecutive 52 weeks until the next milestone seems unattainable with an overseas trip etc...

So when they announced they were having an 8 week "Warrior Challenge" at the gym - we thought - what the heck! It will give us new focus and new drive. 

I was a little.... well ok.... a LOT ...terrified.

A Warrior Challenge sounds terrifying no?  This sort of image sprang to mind....

But no one can work out in all the armour and I am pretty sure the Dojo is a no weapons zone.... so WHAT could it be?

Coaches become quite vague all of a sudden, but also utterly confident that this is just what you should be doing.  But WHAT are we doing.....???

Despite the subterfuge we signed up and showed up on Saturday to be oriented. 

145 people divided into teams - each with a head coach.  A brief overview of the WHY...ya ya .. lets get to the WHAT people....

But no... first to the measurements..... UGH.

I suppose if one wants a measurable goal then one has to be measured.  

And weighed. 

A few more instructions and encouragement and then to wait for the weekly video on Sunday to detail the week 1 physical and week 1 nutritional challenge.

So we went home and carbo loaded.  

I'm not kidding - it had the feel of the last supper. 

Sunday morning arrived.  We waited and ate a big breakfast - we're not stupid.... nothing is Officially ON until the video is out. 

It's week 1 - how hard could it be?  They will start us off easy I'm sure.

The video was posted.  

We clutched our coffee cups and hit play.

Blah, Blah , Blah.... Week 1 physical challenge is.... do 500 push-ups.  

I'm sorry?  WHAT did he just say?   Even he paused to let that sink in.....

5 0 0 

Allan had already calculated it was 72 a day and some keeners had already posted they had done 100.  

WHAT????? - I was in disbelief. 

I haven't done 500 push-ups in my life.  I'm the girl with the gimpy arm remember.  I only started doing push-ups about 5 weeks ago.  And they are ugly.

5 flipping hundred. 

Oh yeah - the nutritional challenge (which unlike the physical one is cumulative) ... Nothing but water after 8pm at night.  Now that seems reasonable to me. ANYONE can do THAT.

500 push-ups

I ranted and raved around the house for a bit.  Told Allan we should have signed up as one person and halved the load.  And a few other things. 

I did the groceries (no chips I swear) and went for a walk and to a lovely art workshop that I made a cool shadow box diorama thing at.  Walked home and had tea with Allan.

And did 25 push-ups on the living room floor

As wannabe warriors do - apparently

I wanted to cry.  

I cleaned the floors and prepped the vegetables for dinner.  

Allan came back from the man house and made us do 25 more.

It's unbelievable.  It's madness

I have done 50 push-ups

A lovely Sunday roast is in the oven so we can eat before 8pm, settle on the couch and watch the Call the Midwife, sipping our water and be free and clear

Except for those next 25 push-ups which WILL be done. 

If you see a slightly round, middle-aged woman in the elevator tomorrow who seems unable to lift her arm to hit the button....please...for the love of all that is good...ask her what floor she needs and hit the damn button for her. 

Thank you.

Spring Break 2018

There is never a more loved or longed for vacation in our family than...Spring Break.  

For whatever reason the stretch from Christmas is long, or Christmas is so busy we start the year tired...or something....

But when we get Spring Break in our sights we start to breathe again.

This year was no exception except for the exception that only 2 of 4 Byres actually get Spring Break now.

That's odd.  

We have so many wonderful Spring vacations Oregon coast, NYC, Disneyland, California, Tofino.. to name a few.  

As you'll know Allan and I had a wonderful restorative break in Ucluelet this Spring Break and Allan had another week off when we got home (Dear powers-that-be please never go back to only one week Spring Break!).  He did lots of chores (re-caulking the shower, cleaning up the man house aka garage /workshop etc) but also had lots of time to play which for him right now means wood carving. He did some cooking, some movie watching, some reading and we had a few social engagements.  As I type this he is getting off the boat from a crabbing expedition with his buddy Fil.

My week was less enjoyable as our field continues in an HR crisis such as I have never experienced.   One wonders how we go on when there are so few people to hire.  Sigh.  And the demand for child care services is surging as Government made an historic investment in reducing fees.  It's a bit of a perfect storm but the good ship SRCC will sail on through as long as we can.  The upside is I am getting to be on-the-floor with actual children more than ever - it's such a good reminder of why I slog through budgets and interviews and funding applications and new facility development... and quite honestly 4 year olds are some of the most interesting people on the planet.

So as the cherry blossoms pop around us we start the final sprint of the school year - June commeth sooner than you think!  And for me the opening of our 6th child care facility on July 1 means it's going to be quite the sprint.    The new centre is in a castle - I kid you not.... very cool space to work with.

Our beloved children are much much closer to the end of their respective years - the end of 3rd year for Lindsay (one more to go) and the end of 1st year for mr. D comes mid-April.  Lindsay is not coming home this summer as she found employment in Victoria and has her apartment until the end of August  - it makes total sense as she finds her new sense of place over there and it helps her feel more settled and less pulled in 2 directions.  Thank goodness we have the trip to South Africa together or I would be bereft!  David will be home in slightly under 3 weeks and we can't wait to have that boy back.  He has a job and will be working in a local law firm until we get on the plane.  He and Lindsay fly home ahead of us to get themselves settled back into housing and readying for the school and David has some training for his new Residence Advisor (RA) position for next year! 

It is quite unbelievable how fast the months fly by.  

So we journey on into Spring (come on Spring - you got this!) and then into the glory that is summer.  Already the evenings are long, the soil is warming up for planting and the jackets stay on their pegs in the front hall more often than not. 

Ahhhhhh.