beautiful breezey evening walking at the forks...

Michael was sensing that I was going a little stir crazy (I had been confined to our home, carless on a Saturday doing homework all day while he went to haul dirt for some extra cash) and decided that it was time to do something special. So, we went for a walk at the Forks. It was lovely! We were out at my favorite time, when the sky is an awesome deep royal/navy blue. We walked across the infamous foot bridge (this structure is some what of an eye sore and also criticized for looking like a phallic image, since it was built while the gay mayor was in power), and found a really great little gelati place, I had gelati that tasted a lot like hedgehog ice cream, which does not exist out here in the flat lands. It was wonderfully scrumptious! Overall I really enjoy living in Winnipeg, I like it here (I know all the west coast people think I'm crazy, but you don't know what it's like to live in sunshine about 90% of the time, you'd never want to go back to dark & rainy either), but I am realizing that there are two things I don't like: the lack of good hard ice cream (although BDI's almost makes up for this with it's amazing soft serve and hot fugde) and the lousy grocery stores.

tribute to the treasure hunting grounds....

ok, so across the back lane from our house (it still feels weird to say that we have a back lane...Abbotsford really doesn't have any of that, and even now, we don't really use ours), there was this house that has been vacant since we moved here. The owner, Mr. Klassen, lived in a seniors home nearby and would still come by on his pedal bike to putter around, we think he was at least over the age of 80 and we were quite impressed that he would ride his bike over. Then Mr. Klassen passed away, less than a year after his wife. The children, particularly Brandt, then began the HUGE process of cleaning up all the STUFF in this house.

Michael being his natural friendly self went over to chat with Brandt and got the chance to look around at the place. It became his treasure hunting ground. He would go over when Brandt was around to see all the amazing stuff in the garage (I have to admit it was at least a little amazing, there was so many collections of things, really old things). Michael dragged me along to see it one day, there was a peg board about 4 feet by 4 feet filled with bottle cap openers, just as an example of a collection. There were old irons (the kind you stick in the fire to get them hot), a couple of phonographs and I can't really remember what all else, but lots of old STUFF. Anyway, Michael would come back home from these treasure hunts with wide bright eyes, and then he'd tell me something like, "this guy had huge stacks of old Eaton's catalogues, amazing!" Brandt would also leave piles of STUFF in the back lane for the garabage people to pick up. I'm not sure who picked up more....the garabage truck or....Michael. He began bringing home stuff from the place on a regular basis, I of course got frustrated and drew the line: no more! if you find something you think you really want, something else has to go back. Much to my dismay I discovered that Michael had been squirrelling things into our detached garage (we call it the loft) without my knowledge and without bringing something else back (I found out when I had to go in there for something recently). Oh well, I have decided that I should really give him space and get over the STUFF collecting because I won't really be able to stop it anyway. I think God knew we would need that detached garage when we bought this house!

this is the best I could do for a before photo

So, the tribute part of this post is to say that the old house has been torn down...we got to watch. Acutally, we were in bed (it was 7am) when Michael bolted up and exlaimed: "I think that beeping is a bulldozer!" He proceeded to the kitchen patio doors with the camera to catch the action...in his gitch! This means I no longer have to wonder if Michael is sneaking stuff into the loft. Here's a clip or two:

trials & triumphs of owning an older car

well, i just have to say that our car has been through a lot. we bought a 1992 Honda Accord just before we moved to Winnipeg (from now on referred to as the "black car"), we decided this would be a good way to own our own car outright, and be able to afford the possibility for repairs. See Michael has a 1991 Honda Accord (referred to as the green car) that has been parked for some time, after it didn't quite survive being used to push a full size pick-up out of the way (aka: rear ender), which we figured would still be good for parts.

it started at some point this winter when the car went into the ditch front end first and filled with water up to the driver & passenger seats. it didn't start after that. Michael did his best to check it out and find the problem himself to no avail. Then he asked his coworkers if they knew a good mechanic in town and they did. So Michael called this guy up and it turns out that he knew exactly what was wrong from what Michael described to him. The computer in our lovely car, is directly under the passenger's feet, which meant it was under water and likely fried to a crisp. It turns out that this mechanic used to work for a Honda dealer, and also has a few older Accords himself. Cool how God could see the big picture when He had us buy this car and arrange for just the right mechanic close to where Michael works. Long story short, we were able to pull the computer out of the green car and it worked, despite the manuals saying it wouldn't because the cars are actually different years. Yay! Michael pulled out the carpet so we could clean it and dry it out, this involves taking pretty much every piece of plastic on the inside of the car off and the seats, to get at the carpet. Michael put the seats back in and we have been driving car without an interior for several months. I'll come back to this in a moment.



The other car story is more recent. Occasionally I've had the key not turn, but if I jiggled the steering wheel so that it would lock, then everything would work fine. Then one day Michael and I headed out and he couldn't turn the key either. He fiddled and jiggled and then it worked, so we let it pass and didn't think anymore of it. Two days later, Michael called me from work at 6pm or so to say he couldn't get the car to start but he was going to call our mechanic and see if he couldn't figure it out. So, I waited...finally Michael called back saying he had given up for the day. Luckily I had our friend Arlene's car that week, so I could go and pick him up. The next day the mechanic came to actually look at the car and they discovered that the ignition had seized, so they pulled the ignition out of the green car only to find out that it didn't quite fit. The did figure out that a screwdriver (or the actual key) could be stuck into this crank thingy on the other end of the shaft that the ignition and key turns, so Michael could at least start the car to come home. The mechanic took both ignitions and set to work to piece together bits of both ignitions and the next day he put it in the black car. Here's a picture of the car without an ignition (the white circle is where we could stick the key in and turn it).



Back to the fact that we had a car without an interior....this past weekend Michael put it back together! Yay! It is so so nice to have a whole & complete car again! I'm so amazed at Michael's ability to take things apart and put them together again. I would be way too scared to take apart the inside of a car for fear that I wouldn't be able to figure out where all the little pieces went when I had to put it back together again!

the hills are alive...

Last night Michael took me to Sound of Music at Rainbow Stage as the final instalment of my birthday gift. It was awesome! Rainbow Stage is an outdoor theatre (well, actually it has a domed roof, but no walls). I don't have pictures because they don't let you take any, but let's just say it was a great experience...one I think might become a family tradition... thanks so much Michael for a great memory!

golden...

Michael and I went flew to Toronto for a weekend in August, just a quick Friday to Monday trip (that was all Michael could manage to take off work). We actually flew early in the morning there and late at night coming home, so that Michael would be available over the phone and have access to a computer during office hours. His family is actually in Aylmer, so we got to do a bit of driving too, but that was fine by me, it meant I could take a nice nap. Anyway, we went to celebrate with Grandma & Grandpa Peters their golden anniversary.

grandma & grandpa then & now

It was really good weekend celebrating and visiting Michael's extended family (there are some from both sides there). Here's a few pictures, hopefully I can add more later...

this is a camp fire night we had with the Peters clan at Uncle Jake & Aunt Cindy's place (thanks for having us over Uncle Jake & Aunt Cindy!), it was really nice to hang out and relax and as well as catch up with everyone.

We also had a "disco" (pronounced deesko), which is basically an outdoor version of the classic Mexican meal of tacos cooked in an old disker (piece of farm equipment, for those of you who don't know, and don't worry I didn't either). Michael is over seeing the cooking of the meat with his cousin Terry. We also had a good time here, and got to witness a huge thunder storm, complete with lightening and lots of wind and even a power outage! It meant we had to move everything into the garage and take cover, but it was still fun. Ok, actually I loved it, because I love storms.

card making...

One of the things on my to do list this summer was work at making cards so that I would have a stash ready for the times when I'm busy during the school year and need a card ASAP. I know to some of you this is totally normal and common sense, but I've always found it hard to make cards without a person in mind for the inspiration. I also acquired some "new to me" slightly used stamp sets with some birthday money (thanks Dad!) I think they will pay for themselves quite quickly! So, here's samples from my first attempt (I have to confess that these are all borrowed ideas).

I was trying really hard to make some "manly" cards, that's why there's so many with leaves on them. I figured a guy could appreciate a leaf better than a flower or butterfly, but Michael informed me that guys don't give two hoots about leaves. According to Michael manly cards would have wheels and chrome and trucks and tools on them. Thus far, I haven't discovered or invested in such a stamp set, does one even exist?

first place!

well, i don't have much for pictures, but Michael played in on our church softball team this summer. They entered their team as a first division team and half way through dropped down to 2nd division. But they finished the year strong and got first place in their division! If I can get my hands on more pictures I will!

that's Michael on the chair in the corner of the picture

our lovely score keeper...

the "coach"

scary answering machine messages...

on Tuesday July 24th I went to Austin for a baby shower for Angela and as I pulled on the driveway I could tell that Michael wasn't home...which is a little irritating, since he should've been home from his softball game already. When I opened the door, I discovered his worn clothes strewn about the entrance and confirmed that he was not home (my irritation level has gone up a few notches by this time). So, I put down my purse and go to the answering machine...which is dutifully blinking red to let me know that there's a message. I push play and hear this message, "This is Jacelyn, Michael's coach's wife. Michael got hit in the face with a ball" (at this point my stomach does something funny and I suck in my breath)...the voice continues, "but don't worry, it's ok, he's conscious. We're taking him to the dentist to get him stitched up, call me on my cell." Needless to say, all feelings of irritation have disappeared and been replaced by great concern. I called and found out that they were in the process of stitching him up and he should be home soon, I didn't need to bother coming down. So I waited and waited, it took almost two hours. When Michael got home he explained that it was because the dentist was such a clown (as in funny) that all the laughing amongst everyone made the stitching take a little longer than normal. The dentist even cleaned up the nasty scrape on his leg from sliding for a base while they waited for the freezing to kick in.

For all my nurse friends, I'll now go into more details of the wound, if you don't want to read this paragraph, skip it. Apparently Michael was going for a low grounder (hit by a very big & beefy man) that must have caught some kind of edge and bounced unexpectedly high, catching Michael in the mouth. His tooth punched right through him bottom lip, Michael told me he had to pull his lip off the tooth. He also had a half inch deep gash in his upper lip. We don't know exactly how many stitches there were, a few in the top lip, a few in the bottom and one on the outside. The craziest part is that Michael didn't have time to eat supper that day, so he was really hungry and now he couldn't eat! He could actually barely drink either, but he managed to get down a smoothie.

The dentist told Michael to talk as little as possible for the next 24 hours. Well, that's not exactly easy considering what he does for a living (he talks on the phone all day as a dispatcher). The trouble was that his boss was out of town, so Michael had to go to work or there would be no one there. So, I went with him! I got to be Michael for a day! It was pretty interesting explaining to people what happened and repeating everything they said to me on the phone, so Michael could tell me what to say out of one side of his face, and then I would say it into the phone. I have to say it was nice to see what he really does though.

The pictures show the progression of his injury from the night it happened, the day I went to work with him when it got really swollen and the day after that when it started to come down again. He looked totally normal by Sunday, and has been kissing me again since two weeks after the injury. :)

bc in july

ok, so our trip to BC was a whirlwind of visiting with people. Thanks to all of you who took the time to see us, it was great! We really appreciated the warm welcome we got from many of you! Unfortunately I don't have that many pictures as proof, but here's a few courtesy of Sylvia, from one of the picnics we had (thanks Syl).



Another highlight for us was Coldstone's! We made the trip down to Bellingham on Wednesday, which was the hottest day we had while we were there, (it was apparently a balmy 38 degrees celsius) in a car that doesn't have air conditioning (affectionately nick-named "the donkey"). Boy did that ice cream taste good when we got there! Mmmmm-mmm.

weekend in courtenay...

Ok, so we had a long day of travelling to get from Winnipeg to Courtenay, BC (that's on the island, for those of you who aren't sure, and it's about half way up the inland coast of the island). My Dad informed us at the airport that he had booked a marine tour for the next day at 8am, gulp! We arrived in Courtenay totally exhausted, having spent nearly 24 hours travelling by plane, car, & ferry, but were greeted by very friendly B&B hosts, and a beautiful place to stay. It's called the Baywood House, and we highly recommend it! In the backyard, which faces the bay, there's a beautiful garden patio with a fire pit, too bad I don't have a picture of that.

The collage of pictures is the suite that Michael and I had to ourselves, gorgeous isn't it? Anxious to get some rest and be ready to enjoy the boat ride, we crashed pretty much right away. The boat tour was a ton of fun, the guide was a great story teller. We got to see lots of wildlife: sea lions, seals, bald eagles, seagulls (does that even count?), and hold an octopus! The guide had prawn traps that we got to pull up and keep the catch from (that's where we found the octopus). So, he showed us how to take off their shells, and then promptly popped the fresh meat in his mouth. So, Michael and I sampled that as well. It has a pretty sweet mild flavor, it's the really really slimy texture that requires some blocking out to avoid the gag reflex kicking in.

The rather ugly looking teal green fish in the middle is a link cod, which was unfortunately just a little bit too short to keep, but it was fun to watch the guys catch it! The lighthouse is one that is actually still manned by real people who live there all the time, which is less & less common these days apparently.

If you're wondering why we went to Courtenay it was for my cousin Luke's wedding. It was a great weekend relaxing, and helping out with last minute details, since nearly everyone was from out of town.

If you look closely at the bottom right of the picture below, you'll notice the corner of a white blanket. This was one of the last minute details that I took care of. Heather wanted a white blanket for the flower girl to sit on so she wouldn't dirty her dress (not that it helped, the flower girl was sitting on the edge of it and digging in the dirt during the ceremony!). Anyway, I went to Walmart in search of a plain white baby blanket, but there was no such thing. So, I checked to see if they had white fleece and they did, so I bought a metre, and borrowed the scissors from the lady who cut it to cut a fringe into the edges, and then we tied the fringes into knots, viola! a blanket!