Nights in Rodanthe

Great movie! Love how Nicholas Sparks movies translate to the big screen. I still think The Lake House is my favourite but this one was pretty good too. Aaron is in Vancouver for umpire meetings and Arden is at Emma's for her birthday. Sounded like a chick flick night to me. Watched Swing Vote too. Not really that great but ok. If tomorrow is as nice as today I am going to clean the house, open some windows and let the winter staleness escape the house.

Thoughts on being an orphan

Well, I am officially an orphan. It is a very strange feeling. My dad died in 1981, when I was 13. My mom died in 2005, when I was 37. And today my stepfather died, and I am 40. Lots of emotions today. Yes I am sad but he had no quality of life so even if it sounds cliched, it is a blessing. I had my first dad for 13 years, and this dad for 26 years. It doesn't seem long enough even combined. I always get mad at my students (or anyone for that matter) when they don't appreciate their parents - one day they will be gone - there is a sense of security in having parents, now I am alone with my own family - weird feeling. I drove to Vernon today after my step-sister called to say he was experiencing heart failure. He died before I got there. I really wanted to get to say goodbye, and I felt a bit like I had let my mom down but hopefully she could see that I was trying to get there - even through snow on the Coquihalla. Gayle and I went out for lunch then we went to clear the stuff out of Dad's room. I got a couple of photos of him which made me happy since I don't have any since he had his stroke (or whatever it was) I really felt for Gayle, all three of her parents died at Noric House (where Dad was) - that is really sad. When she phoned Sean in Costa Rica he told her that his 4 year old daughter Serena had said this morning that "Grandpa died" - even before Gayle had gotten hold of him - very strange. We don't give kids enough credit.

Anyway, I hope Dad, Mom and Dad are all having a drink with Grandma and Grandpa Chesterman and Grandpa Sayers. I hope they are playing a good game of cards and are smiling down on all of us. I hope they see their grandchildren with a sense of pride, and I hope they save a place for me at the table.

Friday the 13th

Actually, it was a good day. I went to Surrey to get Lily's passport. Had a bit of trouble with her photo - had to go get another one, but I had two people helping me who were awesome. They were so nice and really tried to get the first photo approved. We weren't totally sure that they would accept the second photo but I am being optimistic. After that I went to Langley to get some Valentine's gifts - t-shirts from Old Navy, and then to Clipper Street to take advantage of their BOGO sale on Bind-it-All coils. Next it was on to Costco (or the 500 dollar store as we call it) We then all went out to Papandreas for dinner - love!! Greek food and it was especially good tonight. So much for Friday the 13th.

Ouch

OK, so I have this tooth problem. It started on the weekend. When I eat or drink something hot I just about hit the roof. The problem is I can't isolate which tooth it is. I went to the dentist today and there is nothing on the x-ray. We think we have pinpointed the tooth but now he put some sensitivity stuff on it to see if it helps. If not, .... root canal... AHHHHHH. It is my second from last molar on the bottom right and apparently there are three nerves in that tooth. It takes about and hour and a half for a root canal. I am afraid to eat or drink anything hot right now. The dentist said it really doesn't hurt once the freezing is done but an hour and a half with my mouth open - and that sound - I dread the sound of that drill already. I am strong, I am strong, I am strong.....

Too much stuff

Holy crap do I ever have a lot of scrapbooking stuff. I have been sorting and organizing my craft room for the past two days and it is scary. I went through a phase where I would buy every slab from Costco. This has resulted in 4 Cropper Hopper vertical paper holders full of patterned paper. This doesn't include the "name brand" patterned paper that I have sorted separately. It is good to go through everything. I really want to start using this stuff. Doing mini-books has inspired me to use up this old paper. I also gave a 3 inch stack of this paper to Arden.

Lily must be having a growth spirt but she doesn't want to sleep. She was up 3 times last night and doesn't want to have a nap. Right now she is crying (screaming!) on the spare bed but she has been up since 5:30am and needs to have a nap - so do I for that matter.

Happy Birthday Bev!

Happy 49th Birthday to my friend Bev. She is the best. Very caring and giving. She is like a (very young!) grandma to Arden and Lily. I hope she has a great year.

Movement

Started to get movin' this weekend. Scrapbooked on Saturday and organized some scrapbooking stuff today. Tomorrow I am taking Bev out for brunch for her birthday. Last week I drove to the pool and walked to pick up Arden twice. If the weather holds I will keep this up and try to weave up and down a few of the streets to make the walk a bit longer. I am feeling a bit more motivated so hopefully I can get out of this slump.

Tuesday stuff

Really feeling the need to be more active. I feel like a slug and am starting to look like one. The sun is shining today and I must take advantage of the good weather. I need to go for a walk every day. It has become too easy to sit on the couch all day. I hate how I am feeling about myself and then I get angrier because I don't do anything about it. UGH!