Alison from PG Library Rocks on Breakfast Idol!

September 29, 2008.

PRINCE GEORGE: A reserved, unassuming media liaison from the Prince George Public Library, proved that getting Mike Benny to “work it” in a tiger print skirt was the secret to success. Allison from the library was given the nod from Breakfast Idol judges (with the highest score ever recorded on The River's Breakfast Idol) and also won approval from River listeners. She topped the polls with over 12,000 votes to win the 2008 edition of The River's Breakfast Idol.



Alison used to work as a reporter at The Williams Lake Tribune. Way to go Alison(:

Friends(:

Bears are looking for food

Last night I met my friend from high school at the Red Dog. It was wing night and very busy there. So, when I arrived there was no parking left except out back by the dumpster. Not thinking anything about the dumpster, I parked beside it ad went in. Melissa and I had a great time catching up. We talked for over 3 hours. Then when it was time to get going home the waitress came up to me and asked if that was my car by the dumpster. She says oh great...you can't leave.....the police are coming. What the police are coming? Yes..because there was a mama bear right at my car and her 2 baby cubs had climbed up the tree beside the dumpster. So, we wait for the police to come. The bears are not moving. The police come and it's still not safe for us to leave. The waitress then tells us the the police would like to escort me to my car even though the bears are still there. My very intelligent friend then asks the waitress to ask the police to to move my car out front. To my surprise, they actually agreed to do it. I was very thankful..because you don't ever want to mess with a mama bear and her cubs. So, I made it home safely. This is just a reminder to all that the bears are out there, so be careful and make sure you have your fruit picked off your trees and your garbage locked away so the bears can't get at them.

We didn't make it to October...

Every year we try to not turn the furnace on until Oct. 1st. Well, we didn't make it this year. I woke up freezing this morning. It was 14C which makes it 58F. Way toooo cold. So I broke down and turned the furnace on. I guess that's not too bad, only a week early. By this afternoon it'll be so hot and we will be back in shorts and tank tops. What else can you expect from the good old Cariboo? Did I mention that I had to scrape my windows and defrost the car before heading out this morning? Along with the cooler temperatures in the fall, we also have a very bad cold/flu going around. My son picked it up from being at school. I always dread this time of year because when Mike get a cold, it goes from bad to worse because of his asthma. I still remember the many times he was in the hospital and had to be on oxygen to breathe. Now Sean has picked up a nasty cold and it was so bad, he slept on the couch so we wouldn't get woken up by his hacking and barking all night. He's not going to work today, so it must be pretty bad. I rarely catch a cold, so keep your fingers crossed. I have purchased a big bottle of codeine cough syrup and lots of Neo Citrin (Life Brand because it tastes better). That should get us through this nasty cold/flu season.

Papa Hugh is in a book

Papa Hugh stopped by my sister's place to share with us that he is in a book.... a dog book of all things! A lady down on the dikes took a bunch of photos of the regular walkers and their pets. So Hugh had his picture taken. Hugh is my best friend Robin's dad and my sister's father in law. I think it's neat he had his picture taken. Hugh doesn't have a dog, but he walks around he dike to stay in shape.

Gary is 8 and had a great Lego Birthday Party

Those cakes look awesome. I'm sure my sister spent a lot of time getting that together. I enjoyed doing stuff like that when my kids were younger. Do kids ever get tired of themed birthdays? My daughter is 14 and she had a Jack Skellington b-day party this year. My son is 12 he wanted a Bone b-day party. Now that my kids are older, they want ice cream cakes. So, the bakery gets to do all the decorating and not me. Really, I'm OK with that(:

The Golden Rod's Last Ride...

It is with sadness that we must say goodbye to The Golden Rod. We've had that bike since the late 70's. My dad wanted to buy it from my grandparents neighbors, but they refused to sell it and it ended up in the dump in Prince George. Dad rescued it and cleaned it up and painted it gold for my sister. She enjoyed many a ride on that bike and so did I. Then came the 10 speed era and poor Golden Rod was shoved in the corner of the yard, where she stayed until my kids were big enough to ride her. Now that my parents are moving, they cannot keep the bike. The tires are worn out, but the brakes still work. They are the old fashion kind. To stop you pedal backwards. I'm going to miss that Bike. My son enjoyed taking The Golden Rod out for one last ride before it went to the Wildwood dump.

Summer is still hanging in there

The weather in the cariboo has turned to fall overnight, but by late afternoon, summer is still hanging in there. I enjoyed a nice BBQ with my parents last night out on our deck. It was nice and warm and the sun was shining. There won't be too much more sunny days left as the fall weather approaches, so we try to enjoy them while we can. Early evening the sun went down and we all had to grab a sweater to keep warm. We walked around the property and looked at our bikes and decided that we were done riding them for the season. Next we picked the apples off the tree. My dad helped my son out by shaking the apple tree until all the apples fell off. We needed to get all the fruit picked because there was a bear spotted near our place. Last year we were not quick enough and the bear ate all the apples and left a steaming pile of apple dung in the back yard.We strolled around some more and looked at the siding Sean is working on and then went inside to check out the reno's in the spare room. Then we enjoyed a few games of Wii bowling. We are trying to spend as much time as we can with my parents before they leave. Honestly, I don't know how I'll feel when they have moved on. I try not to think of it because it makes me sad. We were very blessed to have my parents around for us and our kids. I'm sure the kids will miss them lots too. Now if only they would get internet...we could video chat and that would be awesome. If not I'm sure the long distance phone bill will increase dramatically or we can always text them on their cell. One thing for sure is, it will be strange not having them around.

I drove the convertible to work today because I'll be able to have the top down on they way home. I'm going to enjoy what sun I can get. It seems that summer was very short this year. Where does the time go?

Foot note

I thought I would update you on what is happening with my swollen ankle. They narrowed it down to a very rare skin disorder called loprodermatosclerosis. Which basically means hardening of the tissue. I have abnormal/blocked blood flow to my deeper veins. A very rare disease that effects 1.1 in 1000. It was hard to detect because I do not have varicose veins which is a tell tale sign of vein blockage. I started wearing the support hose the dermatolagist told me to get. I was surprised to find a more attractive stocking in beige and black for only $29.99 a pair. They feel really tight on my ankle,but the swelling seems to be minimal, so that's a bonus! My doctor thought I might need a steroid injection; Fibrinoltic enhancement, Stanozol. I am going to see him in a month and he will determine at that time if I need the stereroid or not. So here's hoping the stocking works.
Lipodermatosclerosis (LDS or liposclerosis)
This refers to a thickening in the tissues underneath the skin. It can only be detected by feeling the leg. It is a very obvious change in the tissues. They become hard and woody and lose all their normal suppleness. It is particularly obvious in some patients with varicose veins. This is because it can be easy to feel the difference between the relatively soft and compressible vein and the surrounding hard, incompressible tissues.

Another busy weekend

I just finished putting the last coat of paint on the walls in the spare room. Sean will probably put the moldings up top this weekend. Then he has to lay the new floor ( left over laminate). Once the floor is done then the bottom moldings get put up along with new closet doors so they match the rest of the house.


Once the spare room is done, there will be room for my Grandma's China Cabinet. I'm quite happy that she is giving it to me. The china cabinet I have right now doesn't match our house decor, so I have it in the porch. We will also be working on the porch this fall and getting it looking more modern. The sponge painted clouds on the walls must go. We are hoping to paint it similar to the kitchen and put up wainscot.

Now I need to get doing the laundry....another busy weekend!

The first day of school

Mike has the same teacher I had in grade 6. She is teaching grade 6/7 this year. She is very strict, so we are in for rough ride. It'll be good for Mike because his grade 6 last year was...to put it nicely-very casual! Kels is settled into grade 9.

We are at it again....

Labour Day keeps us busy. We went through clothes and gave away the ones that don't fit or we just will never wear again. My closet looks so much better. The kids went through their toys, clothes and movies to give away. Their rooms look so much better. Now on to the spare room/ junk room. Well, we de-junked it. 2 trips to the dump. We pulled out the carpet that was stained and blue and found some old carpet underneath. We will be putting laminate flooring in there, so that carpet has to go too. It's getting a fresh paint job...what ever color we have left over enough to use will be the color we choose. We will finish it off like the rest of the house with new moldings and new closet doors. Our camper is being used right now for storage of the futon and a few other things from the room we couldn't part with(: I'll do the painting on the inside and Sean will continue with the siding. After the spare room is done, we will move on to cleaning the porch and painting it. It should be done by Christmas..I was going to say Thanksgiving, but that's only 6 weeks away. So the fun continues....