Thursday, July 09, 2009

Belated Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments?

Created by Mrs 4444, Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

- this is where I clear my head and I'm lucky enough to get here often. The Rocky Mountains, in particular, Bow Lake off the Icefields Parkway is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Breathe deep and take it all in. Just watch out for grizzlies.

- Dad told me today that my sons are the luckiest boys in the world to have Jonathan and I as parents. "If anyone was meant for this challenge in life, it was you guys. Think of the joy they bring you." Is it joyful when your six year old runs into your room buck naked, does a somersault and lets loose some toxic fumes and obnoxious noises when his butt's in the air in front of you?

- What do you say to an 8 year old who has been bullied on the playground? What advice do you give for his response to the kids who called him a really mean name? Because his reaction was to argue with logic why he isn't what they say he is, which only fueled the fire to even cause his best buddy to join in. The best we could come up with is to teach him a bunch of bad words to say back. Now what is Mom to do when all she wants to do is build a cocoon around her son, smother him in hugs and kisses, then go out and hunt those little sh*ts down....?

- We've got a wooden birdhouse that hangs from our back deck. We're in our third summer season with it and have at least 3 bird families that nest and have babies in it every summer. I got to wondering.. should we be cleaning it in the fall? Because there must be a lot of poop in there.

- Last night Jonathan, my dad and I hung out at a place called Ranchman's for the Calgary Stampede. We got there around 4 in the afternoon and the place was already overflowing with people. Captain Morgan made an appearance and handed out rum shooters.

(in Dad's defense-he wasn't drunk *yet* in this pic. he just blinked when the flash went off)


It was my only drink of the night because I was driving, but I have been thinking about it ever since. I am not a big drinker. To call me a social drinker would even be generous, but I am now obsessing about the flavour of that shooter, that I don't have a name for. It went down as smooth as butter and I had assumed there was a new buttered rum flavour on the market. I just came back from the liquor store and alas, there is no such thing. Now I am a woman obsessed. I suspect I'll be making recipes all summer, trying to recapture the memory of that taste. Hopefully I won't be in need of an intervention by September...

- Taylor Swift has been one of Jake's favourite artists since we first saw her open for Brad Paisley a year and a half ago at the Saddledome. She came back out for the Stampede and Jake and I went to see her perform on Wednesday night with Kellie Pickler and a new country band on the scene, Gloriana, opening for her. I expected for it be fun because I knew how much Jacob would enjoy it. I did not expect to be as entertained as I was. It was worth every penny. Who would've thought?


- I have decided that one of my favourite things about living out here is that I wake up to birds singing every morning and a full sun by 5am that doesn't sleep again until after 10:30 at night. The days are full and long and the air is fresh. I live in a beautiful neighbourhood with no threat of development changing any of it at all in the future and I've got the best neighbours we could have asked for.

- This week I am looking forward to seeing Lisa. It's supposed to be a playdate for Jake and Ella & Owen, but really it's an excuse for me to have some grown-up chat with my bestie. How sad is that? My whole life I could do without having a best girlfriend to talk to everyday. I have always had good friends, but could go weeks in between talking or seeing them. Lisa is someone I need to talk to on a daily basis or something's missing. She's my life-saver on a daily basis and really the one person who keeps me sane. Since school let out a couple of weeks ago, I haven't had opportunities to see her and then she and I have had too much going on at home to even fit in our regular chats. So here's to Jake and Ella's playdate! ;)



- Guess who was in town the last few weeks? We have had a full house since mid-June. My mom was out for a visit just in time to see Jake perform in his end of the year dance recital. Then she took him back with her to Toronto for two weeks. The next day my cousin Michelle, her boyfriend, Matt and best friend, Ashley came out for a 10 day visit.



We had a fun time with enough road trips to do a round trip from Toronto to Calgary; to the Badlands (Tyrell Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller), to the Columbia Icefields, to Radium and Golden, BC, through the Foothills from Longview, AB through the Spray Lakes and to Canmore and finally to every nook and cranny in Banff. We visited Banff, Yoho, Jasper and Kootenay National Parks and saw so much wildlife that it made all the driving worth it.



My dad flew Jake back out with him this past Wednesday and we have been enjoying his stay ever since. We also had the pleasure of having Marci in from San Diego and we got to meet her new man, Kyle.



We had a great night hosting a barbecue for them and our only regret was that her visit was too short.

So after Pop leaves tomorrow, we've got the whole summer ahead of us with no more visitors on the agenda so we can get used to being a family of 5 again (plus a Gamma). Here's to a quiet summer!!

5 comments:

Mrs4444 said...

Looks like you are making the most of your summer! I LOVED the comment about the joys your kids bring you; hilarious! I'm so jealous of that you can be that close to God any time you feel like it-gorgeous!!

KatBouska said...

I love Taylor Swift too...and I'm super jealous of your clear your head spot. Wow!

And I love the picture of the wolf in the rearview mirror! Very creative. :)

Stacey said...

Mama Kat- I laughed out loud when I read your comment about the clear head spot. I can't take ANY of the credit. First, because it's not my video and second, because most of it is the filming of the jumbotron!

I'll accept all credit for the wolf photo. Kind of proud of myself for that one.

Margo said...

That concert sounds amazing. And I can't imagine being jealous of my camping trip when you have that much beautiful wilderness right there. Even if you aren't camping, that's still an amazing view.

Have you considered calling the bar and just asking for the recipe of the drink? They'd probably give it to you, and it'd prevent that September intervention... :)

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you really had a good time!! My sisters and I are going to see Taylor Swift on Saturday! I'm glad to hear she's worth it =)

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