february 2012

february 24

it’s been a very weird week. monday afternoon, my dad got rear-ended by a truck which kindly shunted him into the path of a very large oncoming train. fortunately, the truck driver then reversed back enough that my dad could get out of the way of the train [and its very unimpressed train driver!].

nothing about the rest of the day was good. my friend connie kindly picked up the older children from school and took them to her place so I could check on my dad, pick up zoe from daycare and try to find a doctor for my dad [who was ok, all things considered, but shaken up and having a few vision problems]. my family doctor told me to take him to ER, i tried a new clinic near where we live [but it wasn’t open yet] and then finally tracked down somewhere i could take him.

on the way home from picking up zoe i saw a house fire so needed to pull over for a quick 911 call. the doctor we took my dad to couldn’t see him for 2 hours, which gave us enough time to get home, eat and take all of aly’s guiding stuff over to connie's. then it was back to the doctors before heading home to start the insurance process. fortunately, with the insurance being state-run in bc, the insurance process is fairly straightforward.

the next day, toby was off school ill so i took the morning off work while my dad took the car in to be assessed by the insurance company. unfortunately they decided it could be repaired! [we were already trying to sell it because we could only export my car, not sascha’s] fortunately, sascha did a little negotiating from kelowna and got them to reconsider so, with a bit of luck, we should be rid within the next 2 weeks and i won’t have to take anyone for a test drive!

we were supposed to [finally] be heading to kelowna for the weekend this weekend, but since snow was forecast even here this weekend, it was going to be a very unpleasant blizzardy drive over a mountain, so we’re here getting the house ready to put on the market and sascha’s stuck in kelowna, with only the curling championships to entertain him! he’s been traveling back and forth between seattle, LA and kelowna, but gets to spend 2 straight weeks in his kelowna apartment this week and next. we’re hoping to take a trip to LA with him as soon as possible.

with moving in my mind, everything around me has suddenly taken on a rosy glow: the people, the house, the scenery, my job, the community and the children’s school. i remember doing this when we were leaving california – trying to appreciate every second; trying to take it all in; trying to remember all the details. sigh..

february 5

we watched the last 2 harry potter movies last night. i loved them both but unfortunately, it only fed my new addiction - wizard 101 - which my dear son got me suckered into. when we got up this morning, we found him controlling 4 different wizards. i swear he's going to be an air traffic controller. it did make me wonder why he's incapable of playing a single-player video game and listening to me give him instructions about doing homework or eating a meal though!

zoe got new shoes last week. i'd forgotten how giant shoes look at this age when they go up a size or 2. i don't see dora shoes, i just see giant purple flippers on the end of her feet!

something dawned on me this week - in england, when you get the weather forecast, chances are your weather is pretty much the worse in the bit of europe you're looking at - spain and italy are there taunting you with their lovely temperatures and you've only got chilly/damp scotland to comfort you. i realized though, that the rest of canada has got to be looking at vancouver's temperature with envy. i checked with sascha [who grew up on the brink of the arctic circle] who confirmed my theory! our next move should be to somewhere warmer again :)

latest zoe-ism: the water was too cold. my hands couldn't breathe and they had very low energy'!

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