70

My Dad turns 70 today.

That used to seem old to me.  But now since I am well over half way there and my Dad seems the same as he ever has been ... 70 seems young.

We will celebrate today.

Celebrate a man..... a husband, a dad, a papa

He is so much more than that, if that were not enough.

He is a disciple, a mentor, a friend, a sports fan, a good cook, a mediator, a negotiator, a gardener, a world traveller, a patriotic Canadian and a son of Africa who has one of the best chuckles in the world.

He has lived an amazing life - all of which he has or is writing in his memoir.... from northern Ontario to the northern Cape.....to Boarding school and University to meteoric corporate success, to going into Ministry and travelling to some of the most dangerous and interesting places in Africa (Oh the stories!) to coming back to Canada to raise support for the work in Africa.... world traveller but happy homebody..... fierce defender of justice and fairness and due process and a calm voice of reason and integrity in the midst of a storm.

A man at ease in his own skin as he walks a path he knows he was called to.

I love you Dad for all you have shown me and taught me but most of all for being true to yourself!

Happy 70th Birthday

My Thanksgiving List

1. Faith
2. My immediate Family - Allan, Lindsay, David......Spanner
3. My extended family - Mom & Dad, Jill & Russell, Amy, Joshua, Jonathan,               Erin, Michael, Zebedelia, Ian
4. My family in law - Mom and Dad Byres, Wendy and Darren, Callan, Ira and           Eamon, Shane (and Hazy too)
5. My friends.....far too many to list....
6. My colleagues - who inspire me.....especially JC
7. My home
8. My job
9. My town
10. My country
11. Sunrises
12. Sunsets
13. Sun
14. Nature....especially water and trees
15. Hot showers
16. Jazzercise and the Jazzer peeps especially JT
17. Good food
18. Bacon
19. Beautifully set tables
20. Eating dinner with my family every night
21. Candles
22. My pillow
22. Jeans
23. Road trips
24. Writing / Blogging
25. Taking photos
26.   Traditions
27.   Adventures
28.   A good story
29.   Tea
30.   Coffee
31.   Seasons
32.   Red
33.   Good runners
34.   A challenge
35.   New tires....... :)

I was going to write 25 and ended up with 35......and I could go on.....so very blessed....

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Trying Tires

Its the Friday before the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend and I find myself in the sterile and chilly waiting room of a tire dealer.  The Mazda 5 needs 4 new tires.

"Needs" according to all the tire experts..... who probably planned their change to be "needed" long before they are really unsafe.....but in this safe and risk averse culture and having no desire to be driving on icy roads with bad tires....here I sit....with a schwack of cash in my purse and some dudes working away on the M5.

I am feeling grumpy.  I should feel thankful.  I am trying.

I am sure when I wake up in a cozy log cabin in the woods tomorrow I will feel better.

Not just because I will be in one of my happiest places on the earth.  Not just because my peeps will all be close.  Not just because the view from my bed of all the Fall colours will be soothing.

It will be SO good to just be away.  To slow down. To rest.

I will breathe deep and sigh deeply and sink into the couch in front of the fire and read.

We will chat.  We will laugh.  We will snuggle. We will debate.  We will read.  We will drink wine.

And we will eat.

We manage to pull of a full turkey dinner on Sunday with the BBQ, a 2 plate propane stove, a convection microwave and an electric frying pan....a couple hours of  chaos and then a feast with the family!

So as they attach my fancy new tires that will apparently do everything short of making me cup of coffee and before I drive across the City to pick up a "happy" organic, unmedicated turkey,  I am practicing my feelings of gratitude and thankfulness.

I plan to make a long list of people and things I am thankful for this weekend so on days like today I remember.

Maybe new tires will make it onto the list :)

Wordless Wednesday - Chinatown Vancouver

Balancing Act

This weekend has been a balancing Act in more ways than one......

Balancing work and ..... not work
Balancing family and friends
Balancing calories in and...... in
Balancing vacation budgets with savings......or not

And I did pretty well on most counts.

Our friend (who happens to be an actual chef) made us a wonderful meal and it was lovely to catch up with him on Friday night while Lindsay was at home with a friend and David was at the Lions Football game with Papa.  

I worked out with my friend Sue at Jazzercise on Saturday morning which was great....both catching up with the always lovely Sue and to get a sweat on.

Then Lindsay and I headed out to a dreaded grocery run to Costco and Save-on so we consoled ourselves with a nice breakfast to fortify ourselves.

You can see how the calorie balancing may be going awry at this point although I had lost 1.6lbs this week.... until this point....

We did the groceries. unpacked, made soup and grilled cheese for the victorious soccer boys and then drove Lindsay to a babysitting gig and David went off to hang out with friends.

At my request, and although he is super busy with many things, I asked Allan to sit with me and go through our trip - the details and the finances.  We went through a list of what is done, planned and paid for and what is not..... and we reviewed the money in our vacation account which I have babied and managed and built up over the last 5 years for this very purpose.  My absolute goal was to do this trip entirely on cash we already had saved....including all the technology we want to take, the luggage, the insurance ..... every.last.thing.

Turns out that was a bit of a pipe dream.  

I know #getarealproblemsister...... but it was hard for me, I even shed a tear or two.  But as usual my calm and level headed spouse was reassuring and realistic and did not mock me.  As he pointed out we have a generous budget, this is a once in a lifetime trip...... so a few things will have to go on a credit card.... 

Allan will help me not freak out when an opportunity presents itself that costs money.....but is worth doing..... I don't want to come home regretting not doing something for the sake of a few hundred $.  

I am grateful we had the time to go through the 31 days we have on the road, to share some of my burdens and to get some clarity on the things that still need to be done.  We called my SIL and talked through our budget and things to do when we are with the family and that was helpful too...thanks Wendy!

It's all going to be OK!

We ate a very unbalanced meal for dinner on Saturday night - yummy but not....colourful..... as per the Canada Food Guide shall we say!(aka vegetable deficit)

I stayed up until 10:32:58pm to bid on a bookcase for work on the bidding wars site - I WON!  Wondering if that might count as overtime?

This morning David had to do a shift at the school car wash for his Explorations Program.....and by car wash I mean some enthusiastic but unskilled teenagers with soap and sponges...... the car has swapped the dirt for soap residue :) and I happily parted with $7 for the privilege!

After that I went to Chinatown with my friend Emily who was on the hunt for lanterns for the upcoming West Richmond Community Centre Lantern Festival on October 17th...... I took the big camera and we had a fun time buying lanterns and strolling around this old and fascinating part of the City ..... we found a swap meet on Hastings which was interesting.

We stopped at THIS delightful, funky eatery on the way home and had a great long Americano (OK I had 2) and delicious flat bread for lunch on a hot, sunny Fall day.  We talked non-stop as we always do and it was just what I needed to get out of my head space for a bit and enjoy time with a dear friend.

My household were holed up doing homework most of the day but Lindsay got done early and hit the kitchen to bake for the long weekend coming up at the Cabin, Allan mowed the lawn in the sunshine and David built robots while I booked Ostrich rides...... yes rides..... which I am really hoping is covered under allowable activities on our emergency medical coverage.......and the day after the Ostrich rides we ride elephants into the bush..... I have my fingers crossed our B&B has laundry facilities and soft seats.

We went out for a Thai Food feast with my parents tonight which was lovely and the children serviced the grandparents iPhones for them at the dinner table!  

A weekend that, though some things were not exactly as I planned or hoped, was , nonetheless, a very pleasant one.......I am looking forward to an early night.

Oh..... we also found a new way to torture obedience train Spanner..... Do NOT read his eyes - they say bad words in dog.  Hats are not his "thing" apparently.

Counting Chickens

There is that old addage "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".

Really?

Isn't that (counting chickens before they hatch) called being a visionary?

What if we didn't count our chickens, or care or plan for them or imagine their life as they grow up?

Isn't it better to count those eggs, nurture them, give them all they need so they do indeed ALL hatch?

Why do we say shouldn't count them?  Are we afraid?  Risk averse? Fatalistic? Apathetic?

Where do realism and vision collide and when?

And why?

I know, I know...... what is with all the weighty questions with no answers Mrs Byres?  

I am just mulling these questions over.  

They come from situations in my life, of course, my work and volunteer life..... I am curious about what YOU think?

 “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”  

Nelson Mandela

TEA

I was going to write a post about the restorative quality of a cup of tea and the role tea plays in my life and in my sanity....and then I started looking at quotes on tea...and really .... I don't have much to add..... 

“Okay, this is the wisdom. First, time spent on reconnaissanse is never wasted. Second, almost anything can be improved with the addition of bacon. And finally, there is no problem on Earth that can't be ameliorated by a hot bath and a cup of tea."                             Jasper Fforde

 “Dad was at his desk when I opened the door, doing what all British people do when they're freaked out: drinking tea.”                                                                                                              Rachel Hawkins

“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.”                                                                                     Lin Yutang, The Importance Of Living

“In Ireland, you go to someone's house, and she asks you if you want a cup of tea. You say no, thank you, you're really just fine. She asks if you're sure You say of course you're sure, really, you don't need a thing. Except they pronounce it "ting". You don't need a ting. Well, she says then, I was going to get myself some anyway, so it would be no trouble. Ah, you say, well, if you were going to get yourself some, I wouldn't mind a spot of tea, at that, so long as it's no trouble and I can give you a hand in the kitchen. Then you go through the whole thing all over again until you both end up in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting.                                                                                                       C.E. Murphy

“A cup of tea would restore my normality.”                        Douglas Adams

So from the cup of tea my husband brings me in bed every morning to the one or two I have when I get home from work....

for all the conversations and stories told over steaming, perfectly proportioned mugs, of strong english breakfast, or Murchies No. 10, (milk after tea) cuppa's........

from the stories of my Irish Grandma putting whiskey in her tea to get through a bad day or a head cold..... 

to making early morning tea for my parents through my school years

tea is part of me.... 

in a way coffee (though I love it so) will never be!

“So the small things came into their own: small acts of helping others, if one could; small ways of making one's own life better: acts of love, acts of tea, acts of laughter. Clever people might laugh at such simplicity, but, she asked herself, what was their own solution?”                                                                                                                          Alexander McCall Smith