Something I have been thinking about recently are friends.

I have made some new friends this year and that makes me happy though I miss the friends I feel I have lost this year along the way. I guess that's what bothers me the most is the feeling of losing friends those who were close physically and emotionally and those who are distant/online. How is it that so many different people can come into one’s life and become so very close only to depart ever so quickly? I have no idea but as I look back over my 38 years my husband is the only friend I have had for more than just a few years. We have been together for 16 years and married for over 14. I don’t understand how people can keep close relationships with friends for their entire lifetime or close to it? I mean I am making some reconnections on facebook with old acquaintances but very few, like 3 maybe, were ever very close. How does a person go from being close (spending huge amounts of time together) to being someone you rarely speak with? I know that people are meant to be in one’s life for one reason or another but, it is sad when the relationship changes to the point where you rarely speak, call or see each other.

I have no idea why I am thinking this except that I am missing my friends, people who like me for no reason other than I am me. I am even missing those who need me for what I can be or do for them. I often have felt a lot of the friends I have had in my life were there because I could help them in some way and have usually been more than happy to do so. Oh well, I guess I am done here. I will go watch my TV and wonder when my next friend will enter or leave.

This is one thing I can say is that I have one good friend, my husband, and the rest are acquaintances, though some of them were very important friends and a large part of my life for a time.

I am finally back. I will try to keep up with my blogging this year. Thats my new years resolution. We will see how it goes.

So far we have had a good start to the year. We have met our Learning Consultant with the new program we are with. We have met new homeschoolers and the kids are as active and busy as always. I took the month of September to wrap my head around things and just to recover after the summer.

Today we are off to park day with some homeschoolers, then a quiet evening at home.

So talk to you all later. Please leave comments as I do enjoy reading them.

A

It has been quite some time. I had the chance to talk to a friend online last time for the first time in quite a while. She has promised to KICK me in the rear to post here more often. Hopefully that will be the incentive to post regularly.

Hello All,

Hope everyone had a great Dec 25th. I know some people don't celebrate Christmas, and others celebrate different things.

We celebrate Christmas but not christ. Christmas is a great reason just to spend time with family and friends. Nothe the only reason or time I know but...it works. I know I know it has gotten very comercial, and is an excuse for people to spend money which they may or may not have. But it is a fun time of year.

I love Christmas because it is when we get to see people at fun and social events. People seem to smile more and though they maybe rushed they make time for their family and friends.

We had fun this month with 4 different parties, and an early Chrismas with my mom as they went to see my brother and family for the actual day.

We were able to enjoy a nice quiet day yesterday with just the 5 of us. We opened our presents, not that there were many. The kids mostly got Scholastic books that I have been putting away for the last 3 months. We did get them the Harry Potter 4 video. Santa (yes, I still believe) also came with a nice bike that he found laying around deserted on his trip for the kids. It has some work that need to be done. He also gave the kids some dvd's that we have been wanting to see, including Harry Potter 4. Boy were the kids (especially my 11.5 yr old son who doesn't believe in Santa) surprised when they unwrapped the 2nd HP4 dvd. Poor Trawets face was one of pure shock. LOL We did go across the street with a repaired childs rocking chair and some tarts for our friends. After that we came home and cleaned up the kitchen from when the kids made us breakfast in bed, and made stuffing and put the turkey in the oven. Then I made a bunch of sandwiches, and put out tarts, popcorn, jello and we sat in the livingroom and watched Spiderman 3 and ate. Poor kids dad and I fell asleep during the movie. Then it was time to do the veggies for dinner, and by time that was all done we were eating our turkey dinner in the livingroom again watching Transformers at 9pm.

Today we  just get to veg. Dh is working as it is beautiful out and he and his friend have a large landscaping job to do. Hopefully they can finish it soon so we can get paid and pay our Jan rent, hydro and phone before they are all cut off.

I know we have New Years next week and we are as of yet usure of what we are doing. Probably just going to stay and watch movies as usual. Adnarim is hoping to get a call (our phone is out) about babysitting for New Years, at least people know where we live and can stop by and ask her.

Well again I hope all of you had a great day yesterday and a wonderful new year next week. Take care and stay safe. A

The following ramblings are some things that have been bothering me for a while. So read at your own risk.

I find that many (not all) christians seem to be controlled by a book written so many hundreds of years ago by a man and not their own thoughts and conscious. I also find many of these same people feel that I and others like me are lost or missing out on something or need to be prayed for or lead to the "truth". I am not lost nor looking for the meaning of what troubles me.

It seems that they are unwilling to believe so many things and they look to a book to answer their problems and tell them what to do.

I guess that is the biggest part of me not believing. It seems to me that people who are religious are not very tolerant of other people, ideas, peoples preferences or lifestyles that are not their own or in the book. I find that this very old book can be interpreted in so many different ways that people are able to make it say what they want it to. Now this is not everyone but it is a lot of people. It is like they are afraid that someone with different ideas will shake their belief. I would have to say that if someone was able to do that then their faith is not very strong.

The kids are going to participate in a Quaker service on Sunday and look forward to the differences between, Christian (previous school), United, Baptist, and home church. They like learning how different people believe different and how those people worship.

As much as they like these activities they tend to think more along the same lines as I do. The earth is thousands of years ago and people have evolved and grown and learned a lot in those years. Including how to work together, write and govern themselves. Ancient civilizations didn’t just happen they are a result of many years of change and growth.

I am also frustrated with the warning emails that go around in the different homeschool groups, both online and offline. If I wanted your opinion on a movie or book then I will ask. Until then keep your emails to yourself. I can not wait to go see the Golden Compass; it looks like a great book and movie. Now if you don’t like the book or movie why is that? Have you read it? Or are you reiterating something in an email that has been spammed out to the entire world wide web? If you want to know more about the book and movie do some research yourself and make up your own mind. READ the book. I wonder if those who send the emails and warnings around realize that they have just boosted the movie ticket, and book sales past what the author has expected. Nothing like making something a big deal out of something to get people interested.

I also am a horrid person because I believe in Magic, witches, and ghosts, and love the Harry Potter movies and books. I also believe in the super natural and aliens and that we are all here as a result of the big bang theory and that god is a theory, a belief that ancient man created to give meaning to the things they didn’t know about or understand. I am not saying that we understand or know all now but we are much more highly evolved now than we were first making tools and creating fire so many thousands of years ago.

Who is to say that we are not some fish in a huge fishbowl, or that we are not puppets on strings? Because sometimes I feel like both.

I don’t know as I said before you read at your own risk.

Hello Everyone,

It has been 3 months since I have last blogged. It has been a very busy 3 months.

First Adnarim came back from SOAR her week long international Guide camp. A day later we left for our holiday. To start off we had a 4 hour wait to get off our island. That was not fun, but we met some very nice people and their children. We headed out to see Acraisydaisy and her family in the next province. So we got to see the beauty of our own province on the way. There is so much history and geography to see it was great. The kids took tons of pictures as we drove through the mountians, so did we.

We finally hit our neighbouring province late at night the day after we left. We stopped at a truck stop and had a sleep in the van while the skies opened up and poured. The next morning I got up and started to our destination. We made it to Nonnahs by 8am, before her kids were even up. They didn't know we were coming so we sat in the livingroom while she woke up her kids and sent them out to eat. Boy did they ever get a surprise.

We had a great week out there. We took the kids to the West Edmonton Mall for a day and we got to see the sights and take cool pictures. We experienced an Alberta thunderstorm, and saw the outragious food prices for ourselves. 2L of milk was almost $4 we only spend $4 on 4L. The fruit prices were out of this world. It was a good thing we brought most of our food.

As we were heading home back to BC we drove through Banff and Jasper National parks. Did you know you have to pay to drive through the parks? Well you do. We were shocked and not impressed with that.

We saw some amazing things on our drive. We saw the Athabascan Falls which have been eating away at the rocks for thousands of years as the glacier melts. We got to walk on the Athabasca Glacier that as it melts feeds many rivers in Canada and 3 oceans. We saw and took many pictures of the glaciers. We went to Lake Louise which was very cool as well. As we got back into BC we stopped and saw the Spiral Tunnels at Kicking Horse Pass, and drove along all the road construction from Ab to Revelstoke, BC. Man it is a bit freaky to be driving on those very narrow mountian roads while there is road work.

We made it to Penticton after a 2 day leisurely trip from Central Alberta. We got fresh fruit at nice prices and just enjoyed ourselves for a few days, did some square dancing and vegged. 2 days before we were due to leave Penticton Nonnahs and her 3 kids met us and camped. Then we brought them back to the island with us. My mom and step dad (who we met in Penticton) let the kids take turns riding back to Hope in their motor home and kept the 2 older girls for an extra night out while we went back to the island. This was good as our poor van was way over loaded with the belongings of 9 people and 7 bodies, and 50lbs of fruit we brought home.

We made it home very late on Aug 12. Kcorb headed out the next morning for an Advanced Inclusive Leadership Workshop on the 13th, and the girls were dropped off by my mom as well. Dh came home on the 17th and then my youngest 2 went to Cub Camp from the 19-26th upisland. We picked them up on the 26th and went back up for a long weekend square dance on the 30th, with my moms clothing store as they were in Calgary with the majority of the shop. Our house guests stayed at home for some quiet family time while we were gone for the weekend.

Well that is August, I don't think I forgot anything but I may have.

Hello one and all. I have been busy for the last couple months and have not updated my blog. Hope you didn't think I disappeared completely. My last update was after I got back from my trip with my step dad and step sister. We had a good time.

Well here is the update from then to now.

The May long weekend (in Canada) we took our Cub pack to a local provincial park, which happens to be an island with our bikes. We had a great time biking and hiking around the island. We also did our last major badge testing.

The following weekend Adnarim went to the last Scout camp of the year, Araik had a sleepover with her friend and Trawets stayed home while dh and I went to our homeschool parents social for the evening. It was his first time home alone and he did really well.

The first weekend of June dh and the older 2 took the StreamKeepers course, Araik went to Guide camp and I had a nice Saturday. On Sunday she had her ride-a-thon to raise money for the theraputic program she is in and we picked up dh and the other 2 and went to their Music recital. We also had friends come out from Alberta for a surprise visit. On Tuesday that week we picked up these friends and my kids were speechless when they were surprised and went out to our hs groups yearly sports day. That Wednesday Araik had an appt with a specialist and so we had to go to that then spent more time with our friends before they left Thursday. Friday June 8, we went to the Titanic exhibit at the museum with our friends who are moving away and had a wonderful time. What a neat thing to see. Then my sons friends showed up for his 11th birthday. Saturday we did something but I cant remember what, and on the Sunday we went to a party for someone dh works with.

The next week was pretty quiet. We had a visit with our teacher, the girls had their last Guide meeting and we were workng on putting together or lapbooks. On Saturday Araik went to the early bday party for her friend who moved to Ontario the following weekend, and we went to a Scouting farwell party for the same family.

The week of June 18 was busy, Araik had an appointment at the childrens centre. We had our year end Scouting Picnic. The next day Araik crashed her bike and knocked herself out. We spent 2 hrs at the local hospital where they cleaned her up, checked her out and xrayed her face to see if she broke anything. She did a bang up job, so much so that the dr made an appointment for her to have an EEG at the hospital down Island. She looked like a walking mummy as she banged herself up pretty good. She and Adnarim had a final sleepover with the sisters who moved away. The 4 girls had a great time but parting is very sad. Especially when best friends move across the country, it might as well be to the far ends of the world. We will all miss this family very much. The mother and I got along well as did the girls. And the dad is very nice and the Scout troop will lack as a result of his absence. That friday we took our Cub pack to our year end Area camp. We had a good time.

The following week was pretty quiet. We have started going to baseball Wednesday am with one hs group and alternating afternoons with the 2 groups park days. Araik ended the week (July 1st) by being attacked by a dog down the street and getting a pretty good bite to the back of her right thigh. When will it end? The first week in July was pretty uneventful, it was soo nice not to leave home for 6 days. What a change.

Now we are at last week, Araik had her EEG and the Tech thinks that everything is ok but we are waiting for official results. Park day as usual. Adnarim and her friend took the St. John's Ambulance babysitting course. We bought a new tent for camping on Saturday. The kids put the tent up yesterday and they all slept in it last night. It is now raining, which is nice after last weeks 36C temps (that is about 100F).

Now for the remaing of the summer we are busy. As of this Saturday one or all of our family will be away until the end of Aug. Adnarim is heading to SOAR (Guide camp) on Sat for a week, then we head out for a bit of a holiday with my mom. We will be bringing friends back with us for a visit. After we get back Dh is at a leadership training camp, and when he comes back Trawets and Araik head to Cub camp for a week. Then over the long weekend we are camping and taking my moms store and running it as they will be somewhere else with most of the stock.  At that point we are again in September.

Wow where will the summer have gone? I love my summers as they are unplanned and open for options. Not this year. We are soo busy it wont be funny. Fun yes but... I like my open schedulals, that just aren there in the "school year". Oh well I guess we will survive.

So if I dont update my blog between now and September you know why. We are busy and will continue to be so. I guess it keeps us out of trouble. Or DOES IT?? It remains to be seen.

I hope you all enjoy yourselves and have a great summer with your families. A

Hello Everyone,

I was gone for a week on my trip with my Step dad and Step sister. What fun we had. It was a working holiday as we took their Sqare Dance shop to a 50th birthday dance for a club in the interior of BC. It is a very LONG drive up there. We broke it up with a stop in Clinton for the night to stay with a friend of my mom. Then it was off to Prince George. There are still piles of snow in the camp groupnd where we stayed but spring is slow in arriving up there.

The weather is early spring, weather (for us) but was nice. The trip was pretty. Driving through the mountians, most decidious trees are still bare and that is weird to see. Looking out over the mountians and seeing evergreen trees here and there then grey sticks reaching into the sky. Our trees here are all in full blook and very green.

In Clinton we were taken up to the top of the mountian and were able to see the Fraser River snaking its way through the valley and had our pictures taken standing in the snow to show the kids.

We got to drive through tunnels in the side of the mountian, and count the endlessly long trains. One we stopped to take pictures of and count for the kids was 152 cars long. Some trains are even double stacked. Where we live the trains are small, 2 engins and 4 freight cars, or the one car dayliner that travels up and down our island everyday.

All in all our trip was 7 days long and a couple thousand kilometers. It is nice to be home. I needed a few days to rest up after all that driving.

Well we have been busy again. But then aren't we always busy. It sure seems so.

Friday we went to one of the Cub Leaders houses for our annual INDY Camp. After a week of having no voice, it still had not returned. Thankfully it showed up Saturday. The Cubs spent Saturday finishing putting the Soap Box cars together (we have 4 in our pack) then painted them. They cooked their own lunch over the campfire (hotdogs and Smors). They were then given the challenge by Rikki-Tikki (we were at his house) to set his brush pile on fire. Now this pile has been growing for the past year and a half and it has been one wet winter. So the kids took to the task with gusto and did a good job of working together. One group managed to get a nice fire started that kept going. The other fires just didn't want to take. Rikki-Tikki then put his tiger torch to the pile and we had fun. Baloo's wife brought us a yummy Mac and cheese for dinner, what a treat not to have to worry about cooking a camp meal. Then we went inside the basement and learned about some knots while we warmed up, or should I say COOKED, by the wood stove. It had been a pretty wet weekend up to that point. We then took the kids out to the campfire and had a nice time before going back inside and watching Flushed Away projected on the wall. It isn't often that we watch a movie at camp but it is a nice treat. I think we sent the kids to bed around 11:30 or so. Then Sunday, I banged my pot and lid together to wake everyone up around 7:30 because the kids had to have their gear packed and tents empty before having breakfast. Because at 10am we were having our races. Parents started showing up and we took a bunch of pictures. Then took the cars to the side road that has a nice slope and set to giving them the race rules. All 18 kids and it was fun. This year the Green car won, with the Orange coming in 2nd and the Black and Blue cars tying for 3rd. It doesn't really matter what car won the kids all had a good time. What a fun way to work on their Carpenter and Handicraft badges. I wonder how the cars will be painted next year. The neat thing about the races is that the a local paper photographer showed up as we were finishing and took pictures of the kids racing (we had to add a couple extra runs) and even 2 of the leaders were elected to run races, they didn't know they were going to. LOL What fun. I will have to watch the paper this week to see if they made it in.

After all the kids left we finished packing up our gear and taking down the tents and tarps. Then we headed home. The dog was happy to see us. He doesn't like being left alone for the weekend but he is a good puppy.

Yesterday we had a quiet day at home. Sleeping in and relaxing. The kids all have another camp in 2 weeks, that makes 3 this month. I then went to the moms meeting at the other hs group around where we live and when I got home dh went out and did some work for an old friend. Trawets had a friend over, it was a complete surprise and he didn't know he was coming but it has been so long since they played together we made it happen. I then let Adnarim sleep over for 2 nights at a friends. Today was a veggie day around here. But Araik and Trawets went for a bike ride to the ball park, then to the post office to check the mail. They played on their computers and did some chores.

Tomorrow we have friends coming over in the am to work on our Weather lapbooks. I forgot to get the cotton balls and will have to run out first thing in the am to do it. Adnarim will be home and dh will pick up Trawets friend on the way back home. This week is spring break for the school kids in the area.

Thursday dh is taking an info session on starting his own business. He is looking at taking part in a program that will help him get started. He is looking at doing handy man stuff, as well as building cabinets, furniture and even windows and doors.

Friday my friend is coming over on the ferry. We saw her and the kids last in Aug. So this is fun. I haven't told the kids they are coming I will just go get them and bring them home and SURPRISE.

Well I guess that is all for now. I think I have gone on long enough. Take care all. A