you wake up and your first thought is… hmmmm i wonder what the proper way to fold a fitted sheet is. and you know you are in bigger trouble when you look for a youtube video that will demonstrate….

and you know your in BIGGER TROUBLE when your gf says… wow we (used in the royal we sense of the word) should re-fold ALL the sheets on the shelves like that!

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the day my dad went sailing off into the big ocean in the sky.

It’s a sad day to be sure… as the date approaches it looms for me. But in many ways there is some positive aspects, as it approaches it’s also a time when the memories of him, who he was, what he brought to our lives is at the forefront of my consciousness… making me feel his presence in big way. 

I could write a thousand posts about him, he was a very special man. He meant so much to every life he touched, most especially his family. He was not only an amazing father, he was a great grandfather.

He wasn’t really a cuddle the baby kind of grandfather, more connected to the grands when they reached an age that they could talk/walk…. so early on he was given the grandfatherly title of Grumpy (well for some reason, Poppy to the western grands).

My and my older sister’s kids got the most benefit of grumpy time, as at that point in time my parents had the energy and time to take them off on boat trips without us hovering parents around. Those times spent were magical to them.

My youngest son posted the video below on youtube this week (sorry the sound somehow missing on the video… also sorry for the rude hand gestures!)… it’s a video of him jumping out of a plane to celebrate his 18th birthday…. an grumpy inspired act to be sure.

My dad did a similar jump to celebrate a birthday… his 70′th.  He had been wanting to do a jump probably his whole life, but never got the chance until then. (i suspect it was a permission issue from my mother as well!). He was off on a trip to Australia on his own, and i’m pretty sure  that jumping was a part of the plan all along. He certianly never told anyone he was going to do it, and in the end he likely had more fun telling the tale.

He had a series of pictures that lead up to the actual jump, that didn’t really lead you to believe he was doing other than going for a small plane ride… He didn’t let on in the build up of the story that he had jumped from the plane he was showing pictures of. But then suddenly with a flourish he would unveil the piece de resistance picture of him flying through the air ….  HUGE grin on his face.

The funniest part of the shots, was that being a bit overweight he had these fairly large jowels. Because of the wind velocity, his face was literally flying too. Priceless shots, a thrill of a life time for him, and so happy he did get to fly.

We all miss him so much, 10 years hasn’t lessened that pain. He was so big in our lives, and we are all bereft without him being her to share in our own adventures, and to watch him live his. I’ve thought of him a lot on this journey, seems like he’s been a passenger all the way along.

I just came back from a little nature walk on my own….. and i’m happy to report I’M ALIVE! 

I had a yen to hike up to the water falls this afternoon, take a break from work… to get a little exercise and fresh mountain air. I decided it’d be nice to go by myself, without an entourage. You know, some good ol solitude.

What didn’t occur to me at the time i made that decision… is in these wildlife filled mountains of BC, there’s plenty of reason to hike with an entourage… they might come in useful as bait for cougars, coyotes and bears!

Well maybe i wouldn’t use ALL of the members of the entourage… maybe i’d start with the smallest and oldest member…. but ya get the point don’t cha?

I’m a nature girl at heart, have been on plenty a hike through the forest on my own… but hiking through a BC forest all by your lonesome can get your overactive imagination a running! Especially an overactive imagination that’s been influenced by a recent addiction with the TV series Lost. Where there is even more possible things to worry about… giant polar bears, black smoke that grabs and kills you, THE OTHERS…

Let’s just say that next time i go… full entourage.

In yet another show of desperation confidence, my deb deb has just left to run an errand, and she’s left me in charge… whoa

I got my no-tell-motel sweat shirt on, name tag in place, and am ready for action! Well hopefully i’m ready for action? Gulp! In any case, if someone walks in right not they will just have to wait till i finish my post, won’t they?

Thought i’d show ya’all a montage of our space. (plastic on outdoor space will come off in a few weeks… but think you can envision)

We’ve had the pleasure of beginning the process of changing our address/province of residency… run into a couple of road blocks at the get go…. don’tcha just love bureaucracy??

Pssst, you’ll never guess….  i broke into sacred territory today…

i, yes i… kimi.. was given access to the WASHER AND DRYER. And i.. yes i… kimi actually did laundry!

Not just allowed to do a load of our laundry… but i did load after load of no-tell-motel laundry. UNSUPERVISED (well depends on what your actual definition is of “unsupervised”)… but UNSUPERVISED.

Those of you who know me, know that even though i’m a talented web designer, artist, writer, lover, mother, friend (well depends on how you define all those!) i am not ever, ever meant to do laundry…. EVER.

And those of  you who know deb deb, know that all things laundry and kitchen cleaning… well nuf said…. shall i re-itterate… “SACRED”.

So today was one of the first days of having rooms to clean, phones to answer, things to do… you know, all things associated with running a no-tell-motel. And being one of the first days, deb deb was running off her feet. So in a feeble attempt to help, i offered my services… and in an even more feeble voice in that attempt, offered to handle the laundry. As suddenly there were mounds of it.

And guess what? she BIT!!!!

So, there i was, queen of my domain, the laundry domain… one that i should so not be in charge of… but one that i was suddenly in charge of. And  GUESS WHAT????

i ROCKED

i washed, i bleached, i removed fluff, i removed stains, i folded.. i even folded according to instruction, i didn’t mix light and dark, i even pre-soaked… telling ya i rocked.

now i’m tired again… but elated to have broken into sacred lands!

My deb deb at her new job, ready for the next person to wander in through the door … think she’s pretty darn happy to be working again! Looks good on her doesn’t it?

It’s a good thing that it’s not that busy right now, giving her time to get her feet a little wet…. by the time the busy period arrived in mid may she should have her systems in place and all her little ducks in a row!

I’m happy that she’s working again too… now i can kick back and slack, ha! nice to have a wifey bringing home the bacon… i could get darn use to this.

Today is set up my own little office in one of the many spare rooms (you know, just in case i decide to work), also puttered about in the garden… went for a walk, continued to move our stuff in… doing my little nesting thing!

Still trying to figure out how to tell ya’all the stories i’m sure will happen here. Obviously without divulging too much accurate information, and getting my wifey fired! Cause you know i’m a big ol gossip, and NEED to share stories with my internets… and well i’m sure there will be plenty to gossip about at the no-tell-motel!

Sunday night, taking a break in the day… tired now!

We were able to move into our luxurious apartment yesterday, have been spending the time moving stuff from the trailer, and nesting in our new space. I think i’m tired because there is just so much room.

Though i haven’t actually counted, there has to be 1500 steps from bedroom to kitchen…. as apposed to 10 steps! It’s amazing how you totally adjust to a small space… and how a space that most people would consider small can seem palatial.

This space we are in is probably the same square footage as the bungalow we sold in the spring, maybe a bit smaller. But it seems like an absolute mansion… i mean really, what are we going to do with it all?

One of the fun aspects of the place is it has a yard, and garden… I absolutely love to garden, and this place will allow me that. Plus i’ll take on the overall plantings of the motel. So in that vein, today i puttered in the back yard, bought a few primroses to plant, swept, gazed and other wise got my gardening gene active again! looking forward to that!

We don’t have lot of stuff to fill the place, just the stuff in the trailer, but at some point will send for the things we have in storage. In the meantime, i’m setting up my office in one of the bedrooms and found this treasure of a chair… now if i can only find a desk!

Getting settled at the no-tell-motel (**see below), things are going swimmingly. Everyone is treating us so well, which is making it all seem like a great fit.

We’d never seen the place, they’d never met us so it was a great leap of faith on all sides… sometimes leaping pays off, sometimes ya land splat! Thankfully splat wasn’t in the plan.

Deb deb’s been going through the ropes with the people who run it now… ready for the take over tomorrow am.

The appartment we are getting as part of the deal is amazing… not at all what i was expecting. It’s huge, plenty of room for us, even a back yard and garden… plenty of room for all future visitors.  So book your flights, pack your bags and head on down… would ya!??

The trailer also has a spot… just at the end of the parking lot, right next to the path up to the most amazing waterfall. The whole area around here is actually as amazing. Mountain views from everywhere, right near the Fraser River, and much else.

My honey’s happy to be out of the trailer and into an actual space… but i’m having a little seperation from my coocoon issue.

So today i’m happily working, blogging from within. I know i’ll be ok, it’s all part of the master plan (ha you say us have a master plan!). I think i just need a moment to adjust to non trailer life again.

**NOTE: no-tell-motel is my new name for where we are at now. I’m not sure about blogging about the actual name of the place…. as it’s part of a bigger company so not sure what the policy is…so being safe than sorry!

Well we have arrived safe and sound in Rosedale, BC and our new adventure has begun! Will write more details in the morning, maybe even take a picture or two of what surrounds… just wanted to let ya all know we made it!

Made it… not without incident…. at the last exit to our destination our trailer door somehow flew open. Its’ pretty bent, we can’t lock or close it properly… so me thinks a fresh cup o coffee in the morning with help figure it all out!

Sheesh, seems to me the last mile or so to our final approach to california was also fraught with the trailer mal-functioning! What’s up with that? Maybe the airstream’s way of saying, move onwards little girls, move onwards?

So, end of day two of the drive up to our new adventure in Rosedale, BC. Yesterday we headed up with full intent to get as far as we could on day one… figuring that would be the day to capitalizeon driving energy! We were 6 hours in and got stopped in our tracks in Redding, California by a snow storm…. SNOW IN CALIFORNIA YOU SAY???

Turns out, it snows in them there NORTHERN californian hills!

In order to combat the millions of unprepared motorists, they enforce chain laws… in that you need to have tire chains on you, and be at the ready to put chains on all tires of the vehicle/s you are intending to traverse them there hills  in… yikes say these there canadian girls! And in order to enforce said chain laws, they have chain check points…. so no getting around that… dead in our tracks!

So we stop.. we book ourselves into an actual hotel, we purchase a couple of tire chain combo’s, and we drink down a couple of margarita’s… and we regroup.

This morning the chain restrictions were lifted (apparently for the first time in two weeks!), and we tentatively headed off into the big unknown. I personally say tentatively as i’ve personally been awake nights imagining traversing Oregon and Washington mountains in the dead of winter… so it loomed BIG for me.

It turned out to be a piece of cake…. we’ve seen worse us US wide travellers! phewf!

The funniest thing ever tho was Mount Shasta…. it’s beautiful, and stunning…. but funny cause it looks EXACTLY like the picture of the mountain my friend karen drew of us on our airstream dream. As we were heading up around, over and beyond it i kept waiting to get stuck on the top of it…. just like the picture.

Thankfully we didn’t!

The other very weird co-incidence was that last night we booked into hotel room 107, and tonight just outside of Vancouver, Oregon… you guessed it… room 107… what’s up with that?

reasonable facsimile of mount shasta… i did shoot a picture of it, but it’s trapped in my camera… so this ‘ll have to do