Almost a month ago?

Well this is quite pathetic. My last blog was almost a month ago and in it I start telling you how I was sick. Well.... not much has changed. I'm now on day 7 of this month's bug. It started as a flu, then a cold and now I've got a cough that kept me up the entire night yesterday. Oh well.... life goes on.

Lots has happened!

Firstly we had a cheerleader and a pirate for Halloween. We once again went trick or treating with Todd & Rayael's kids along with Justine and Tricia with Hunter, Rob & Sherry with Kyle & Mariah and Brian and Beth with cutie Sienna.




I had a lovely visit from Craig and Jacquelyn a few days later and we ate cake with tea. And we laughed, we cried.....it was a beautiful thing.





Then I started my second cake decorating course - fondant and gum paste. And this time, I get to do it with Tricia - YAY! Way more fun with a friend. The bonus is there are only 3 of us in the class so lots of room on the decorating table. Looking forward to see what we learn this time.

Last but not least, last week we had a surprise visit - Kelly rang me asking if I wanted to run. I said I couldn't (heading to the cake course) so we hung up. A minute later her phone rang me again only for me to hear my sister's voice at the other end! She and Mike and Jack had gone to Seattle for a few days and decided to come up to visit for some extra time. They stayed from Tuesday night until Sunday morning. So much fun, seriously the most beautiful baby boy around.

(Sorry I gave you my cold Anna and Jack!)





Then Friday we had the pleasure of having Miles & Louise and 2 of their kids with Ken & Debbie (and Erica) come over for a pizza supper. It was fun to all be together in the same city!

And yes, although some of my friends think I'm nuts....I've already done my Christmas decorating! Yippee.....almost December.

Next week my Mum arrives after her missionary work in Honduras!

The Weekend....

Nothing new to report here. I've been sick since about Thursday and it appears I may have given it to Darrell. Not too great since he works another 10 hour shift tomorrow, but like he said - it's not like working at Sears when you had to be 'up' all the time. Might not be so bad. Actually, I'm up blogging because 'going to bed early' wasn't working for me. Having no use of either nostrils makes sleeping a real nuisance. Who knew noses were so important?

We (as a result) laid very low this weekend. All except for taking Zachary to his football games and Brooklyn to dance class. Zachary was with a team for 2 weeks and was then asked if he'd consider moving to a different one which was lacking players. We (myself and Z) pleasantly said 'Sure' in an effort to help out wherever possible (Z at this point was not bothered about it). Big mistake. The new coach is....how should I say?.....very uptight and takes things far too seriously for a bunch of 8 year olds. First practise there was a new boy - never played before in his life. He was crying by the time the game ended. And he chided the ref yesterday for not making good calls in our game. A FOURTEEN year old ref who just wanted to go home after a day's work but couldn't because our coach was in his face. It was embarassing actually. And don't get me wrong, I don't want to be that parent that kicks up a huge fuss - there will always be people in authority in your life who are not your favourite, or with whom you disagree. You have to learn to live with that. But come on, they're 8 years old.

And then there's Brookyn's musical theatre class. Different story - great teacher and B is in her ELEMENT! She sings and moves with such sass and attitude you would think she was born in the theatre. She must get that from Darrell! Yep, can't wait for that recital.

Well, I'm going to try hitting the hay again and see what happens. Ciao.

Life Change

Well the Richmonds have experienced a big change as of late. It started a month ago with a letter that began as follows:

"After having worked for your company for the past 22 (!!!!) years, please accept my letter of resignation."

YEP - Darrell has left Sears. He is now the general manager at Richlock Rentals (owned by his cousin) and although he works long days (7am to 5pm to start) he has EVERY weekend off. He has worked weekends ever since we met (17 years ago), and this past weekend he enjoyed 3 days with his family. NOT WORKING!

It is a miracle.

Flowers? For Me?

Well I was going to post a pic of my anniversary flowers but it didn't quite work out on the day of my anniversary so here they are now. They were beautiful. Our anniversary dinner, on the other hand, not so much. We went to Spinnakers (never been before but people have recommended it). I ordered the pork tenderloin. After cutting into the first piece Darrell & I were both alarmed to see that it was flaming red. This is PORK people! From a PIG! What are you trying to do here? KILL ME ?????? So needless to say we sent it back only to cut into the 2nd plate of it and discover the same thing! The waitress was very apologetic so I wasn't upset but by the time my meal came (NO, did not order pork again), Darrell was completely finished. They brought me bison ribs the 3rd time around. I have to say, we will probably never go back but if YOU do - get the Bison ribs. Very delicious. Their effort at apologizing was a 20% discount. That was $9. You know what? My dinner should have been for free. I worked in the restaurant business and that is just what you do. So yes, overall not too impressed. However, dinner at GLO on Monday night more than made up for it!

This Tuesday was the last day of my cake decorating course. I wanted to take the 2nd course in the series but they're running it on Wednesday nights when I have choir so that's out. But, the kind instructor said she will run the Fondant and Gum Paste course on Tuesday nights in November to make sure I can go so I've signed up for that one. I've worked with fondant before (see a few posts down for pic.....) but never Gum Paste. I'm actuallyr really looking forward to it - there is this amazing carnation we will be making - looks really lifelike. This past Tuesday we learned roses which was not rocket science, but I doubt I would have figured it out if I had not been able to see someone do it right in front of me.

Fall....Cakes....Marriage....Children

My days are flying by. In an effort to minimize daycare for my in-laws (well, Joanne namely), I am now working Monday to Friday. Brooklyn is in school full-time (grade 1) and my boss is so flexible that we've changed my schedule to accommodate that. So, I now finish work at 2:21 (I know....long story....) each day. The days wing by me and in fact I didn't even mind working my first Friday as it came so fast.

And we still have cakes coming out of our ears for this Cake Decorating Course. There will be even more as I've decided to sign up for the second one. Although Darrell thinks I might be the teacher's pet or perhaps driving the other people nuts because I'm always finished early and end up leaving 30 minutes before anyone else!



Yesterday was our Wedding Anniversary. 14 years!!! I know, crazy how time flies isn't it? Darrell bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, really beautiful. I'll try to post a pic at the end of this post. For our anniversary dinner we had Cheeseburgers, french fries and caesar salad. Nice - don't you think? We're actually going out later this week to celebrate it (see cake course above) as I was out last night due to the busyness of our Fall.

I must confess, Fall is not my favourite time of year. I love summer. And yes, I know I've already complained about making school lunches but it's just one of the reasons why my summers are so much easier. No taxi services are required to soccer, dance, cross-country meets etc. Having said all of that, I had the joy of watching Zachary in his first cross-country race on Saturday and I have to say, highly enjoyable. He did not disgrace himself in the least but he was a little ticked he wasn't in the top-20 as only those boys got a ribbon! It was a race between all of the private schools, and the funny part was that when he crossed the finish line, he didn't look all that tuckered out. We asked if he tried his best and his response was 'yeah, kind of'.

Actually, there is my segway into this week's funniest Zachary moment. Conversation in the minivan on the way to school:

Me: Brooklyn, did you meet any new people at dance yesterday? Or introduce yourself to anyone new?
Brooklyn: No, I don't like doing that.
Me: Why not?
Brooklyn: I just don't like it (nervous perhaps??)
Zachary: You should just do what I do when I see someone new.
Me: What's that Zachary?
Zachary: I trip them.
Me: What!? Why?
Zachary: Because then you have to go over to apologize to them, and you can say hello at the same time. Works every time!
Me (in fits of hysterics!): But what if they fell down and hurt themself?
Zachary: Well at least you'd know you got their attention!

My son - the master of Social Interaction :)

Weekend Update

We had a blast of a weekend. We picked up Kelly from work, caught the 5pm ferry, then drove to Kelowna to suprise my sister in her new house for her birthday weekend. The kids knocked on the door at 11pm - Anna answered with mouth wide open and ecstatic with the surprise. Then we all walked in the door - all except Kelly - and carried on laughing and crying in disbelief. As we were getting louder baby Jack awoke - at which point (and this was the best part) Kelly walks into the house and completely nonchalantly says "don't worry - I'll get him" and proceeds to go to the nursery. Anna just about lost it. It was great. Mike had arranged the whole thing as well as a birthday party at their friends place.

We had great weather - spent some time walking in Peachland, took the kids to the beach and Anna, Kelly & I visited Mission Hill & Quail's Gate wineries. Good times.

Also went a bit hog wild with chocolate cake................

AND - Darrell bought a Wii while we were in Kelowna. Never before had he seen one, played one or researched one. He'd only heard from Aaron how much fun theirs was, and from Brooklyn & I how much fun we had playing it at Jeni's. Let me tell you - if you try the boxing - prepare for soreness! Great workout.

Back to School and Class....for almost all of us....

I hate packing school lunches. My parents always taught me never to use the word hate. We always said "Really don't like" so as not to invoke the intense emotions brought on by the word Hate. But I don't care. I HATE PACKING SCHOOL LUNCHES. It's not that it takes very long to do. But it is one of those things that you put off because you don't enjoy, and at the back of your mind all evening you're telling yourself you need to get it done. Before you actually make school lunches, it is like you have a nag on your shoulder constantly reminding you you haven't done them yet. This is why I love pizza day at our school. Don't get me wrong - I would not willingly choose to give pizza to my children on a daily basis. However, our school offers alternating pizza and hot dog days on Thursdays for a nominal fee so Yes, I participate. It removes that nagging voice from the back of your mind, the one that prevents you from thoroughly enjoying that episode of ER or takes the pleasure out of an evening down at the mall.

Well, it's Wednesday night and we have made it through the first two days of school. Brooklyn is now in full-time and at the new PCS campus (old Montessori school). The new campus is very cute but I can't help feeling a little disappointed that it will now be 2 years before Zachary and Brooklyn are back at the same campus again. I always wanted an older brother growing up - I thought it would be cool on the school playground to be able to find him if ever I were in trouble or getting bullied. Brooklyn will, I guess, have to settle for taking care of her own business. Oh who are we kidding? Like that will be a problem......!

And I have taken to starting the Wilton Cake Decorating Course. I've wanted to do it for ages, actually signed up a year and a half ago but had to cancel out. So in light of the upcoming wedding cake, it seemed like a smart thing to do. It doesn't actually look like this course will be of any benefit bearing in mind the cake the bride wants for May, but it will at least give me the experience in certain decorating techniques that I always wanted to learn correctly. (And the bride is as of yet un-named in this blog, only because I wasn't sure how much is public knowledge....but if you read my comments I'm sure you can figure it out!)

Well my friends, 1am now and I really nee to head to bed. At least I can now that the ham and cheese sandwiches are all sealed and refrigerated.