Another Boring Title

Sorry I haven't updated for so long!
The school group we have right now has been here since Monday, and leaves tomorrow- our first week-long group this spring. It's been very busy.
Things in the kitchen are going pretty well...better than at first, anyway! I am learning both to
1. speak up and voice my opinions, and
2. shut up and let things pass.
Its a fine balance, and I certainly haven't perfected it yet.
I've also discovered a love of soccer! Who would've thought. I started playing with the last two groups and have had soooo much fun with it. I've scored one goal, and had a few close shots. I seem to be better at defense though because I'm not very accurate at kicking, but I'm not afraid to "get in there".
This last week I've been waking up at around 5:30 AM every morning! I would lay in bed forever, paranoid about oversleeping, until I bought a box of Corn Pops and discovered the cheap little Tucan Sam alarm clock with the projecter light, inside. Now I can press the little button every five minutes and the time will light up on the wall.

*click*

5:30 AM

"OK, I'm fine...sleep."

*click*

5:35 AM

"Geez Jill, you're crazy its only been five minutes. Sleep!"

...

"Oh no! What time is it?!?!"

*click*

5:45 AM

"ARGH!"

And so it went for a very long time.
Finally I decided to do something about it.
I got up and went for a run/walk at 6 AM. I know Mom, aren't you proud?
Yesterday I made a record and slept in until 6:50 AM, so I went for my walk this afternoon. I'm hoping to cultivate a good excercise habit.

It has been called into question whether I am actually at Camp Homewood, and not hiding in my parent's basement, avoiding contact with friends and family. The fact that my visit to Karissa's didn't work out, and thus did not post pictures seems a little too convenient. Alas, you will all have to hold on a little longer for visual proof of my residence here. I'm bugging Mike to help me get my laptop connected to the internet, and then I promise I will post a picture if it kills me.

Anyway, this is a decent sized post, so none of you can complain! I'm off now.

The Return of G.I. Jill

I couldn't sleep Friday night.
I lay awake in my bed, eyes wide open, trying not to move so that the sqeaky bunkbed wouldn't wake up my roommate. I was too excited and nervous about going to Yorke Island!
Sleep must have come at some point, but I woke up way before six, when everyone else started getting up.
Mike had given me some camo pants, and I popped on a few sweaters, thinking the thicker the better! In my bag I stuffed a waterbottle, rain-gear, and my camera.
By six-thirty we were at the lodge dividing into vehicles and heading off to the ferry.
And we were off to Sayward!
(At this point I realized it might have been smart to have eaten breakfast)
I think we arrived at the wharf at around 8:30-9:00 where the bright yellow barge was waiting for us. We piled all the paintball gear and personal baggage in and began the 1/2 hour ride to the island.
It was amazing! So much fun.
I haven't googled it yet, but apparently Yorke Island was used as a military base during WWII. There were 260 men living there, waiting for the Japanese to invade! It was a pretty small island, so I'm not surprised to hear the rumor that they all went stark raving mad living there for a few years without contact with the outside world!
When we landed we brought everything up to a clearing above shore.
It was very eerie knowing we were the only people on that island when the barge left to pick up group #2!
Fellow LOST fan, Zoe, and I were going nuts! It looked and felt exactly like that Island, and when we started discovering the old abandoned buildings, the only thoughts on our mind were "Dharma Initiative"!!!
Seriously, we wouldn't have been surprised to have a large dark cloud start chasing us...that or a polar bear.
Luckily there were no "others", though the boys did try and scare us a few times!
We started paintball almost as soon as group #2 arrived, and at first I wasn't going to do it, but then changed my mind.
Most of the guys there were like six feet tall so I was feeling pretty intimidated.
Once I started though it was addicting! The real fun began when Mike took me under his wing and showed me "the ropes".
It was a hostage situation.
Jeanette was captive in one of the buildings with six terrorists guarding her. We had 20 minutes to rescue her before they carried out their threats!
As soon as the game began Mike and I took the left "flank", and secured a stairway, where we met up with Bean.
A hostile was on the roof, but with some team-work, and "cover", he was taken down.
Suddenly Mike had moved on, and then I saw Jeanette booking it down the path! She made it to the safe-house and shouted "GAME OVER!".
We played until 4 PM, stopping only for lunch.
I only got hit once, and that was in the mask, so I STILL don't know what it feels like to get a "real" hit. And my biggest regret is that I didn't get anyone. ARGH!
But we're all addicted now, so I'm sure I'll get another chance.
I'm hoping to set foot on Yorke Island again, maybe with my Dad because I know he would feel like he'd died and gone to heaven exploring that island!

(Maybe I'll upload some pictures this weekend at Karissa's if she'll let me!)

Coming Soon To An Island Near You...

Through the dim light of the early AM, the gray fog parts and reveals a cold metal barge, breaking the even colder ocean water before it.
Huddled close to one another, shivering, and casting anxious glances about each other, a sorry group of motley Homewood staff contemplate the upcoming moments when the barge will land.

York Island.

Their destination is small island just a half hour off the shores of Sayward BC; an abandoned milatary base with a dark and grisly history of paranoia and insanity!

An excellent place for PAINTBALL!!!

Its true my friends. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be heading out for a day of paintball on York Island!

I'M SO STOKED!!!

(To be continued...)

I Am Leaving Homewood

Ha! Just jokes. C'mon now, did the title get you even just for a second?
I only did it because I didn't want to write "tagged" like everyone else does...
Because the fact is that my lovely mother has "tagged" me to fill out this little thing:

Three Things I'm Afraid Of:
1) Spiders
2) Being chased
3) Rejection/Abandonment

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1) Mindy Boody
2) Cortney T.H.
3) my roommate, Zoe

Three Things I Love:
1) A cat's purr
2) Sitting around a campfire at night with good friends
3) The color green

Three Things I hate:
1) Rudeness
2) Misquitoes
3) Crying

Three Things I Don't Understand:
1) Math
2) People who think they are better than everyone else
3) Where candle wax goes when it burns

Three Things On My Desk:
1) My scrapbook
2) "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen
3) A candle

Three Things I'm Doing Right Now:
1) Listening to music
2) Typing
3) Talking to Zoe

Three Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1) Go to Ireland
2) Marry
3) Write something worth reading

Three Things I can Do:
1) Listen
2) Find humor in nearly every situation
3) Clean windows

Three Things I Can't Do:
1) Sing
2) Dance
3) Be perfect

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1) Birds outside your window
2) A friend who needs to talk
3) The soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring"...yes I know I'm a nerd, but its great music.

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1) A baby screeching
2) The aforementioned misquitoe
3) Country/Rap/Hip-Hop "music"

Three Things I'd like to learn:
1) How to ride a horse
2) How to sew
3) How to do woodwork

Three Favorite Foods:
1) Whip cream
2) Chocolate
3) Teriyaki Chicken Stir-fry

Three Shows I Watched As a Kid:
1) The Magic Schoolbus
2) Wishbone
3) Arthur

Three Things I Regret:
1) Not getting into sports when I was younger
2) Getting my hair cut really really short when I was 12...the pictures still haunt me.
3) Letting other people's opinions of me influence how I feel about myself.

Three People I Want to Tag:
1) Karissa
2) Ryan
3) Rebekah

Bargain Master!

I bring happier news this day.

I have never been much of a Bargain Master (note the capital letters. It is a title). Bargain Masters are crazy people who can find brilliant things for brilliant prices. Oftentimes the brilliant prices come as a result of their bartering.
The mere thought of arguing over a price makes me uncomfortable. Normally I would willingly cough up the extra cash, or just not buy the item, rather than barter for it. Needless to say, the merchants in Guatemala made a killing off me...

However, I have recently come into my Dutch heritage, and perhaps one day I will become a Bargain Master.

The other day we borrowed the movie "Emma" from the lady at the movie store (The store didn't actually carry it, it was her own personal copy). As probably most of you know, I absolutely adore that movie!
I found myself in the movie store the next day by coincidence, and apologized for not having it on hand to return it.
She told me not to worry, because she didn't even like it that much, and I could buy it if I wanted.
Gazoo!
I wasn't about to let the opportunity drop.
"How much do you want for it?" I asked.
"How about $10?" She said.

This is where I pause and explain the sudden transformation. See, my Dutch ancestry rose up and revolted against paying $10 for a used DVD, and without thinking (that is key to the transformation I am referring to) I said,

"We-e-e-e-lllllll, I could buy it new at Wal-mart for $10."
"Ok, how about $5." She said.
"Done." Said I.
And I bought that glorious DVD that I have wanted for a very long time for the wonderous price of $5.

And if that isn't really a good deal, don't tell me so, because right now I feel like a Bargain Master.

Territorial

If you've ever had a dog, you may have experienced a time when a visiting dog came over and sniffed your pup's food dish. Maybe taken a nibble.
The typical reaction your dog has is to bite that offending visitor's head off. Sometimes though, the owner will intervene and tell their dog to "be nice". Poor dog is caught between defending its territory and obeying the master.
I can now sympathize with those poor pups.
Last night was the first night the new cooks actually worked with us in the kitchen.
I prepared myself to be very open-minded and accepting...all that good stuff. After all it is THEIR kitchen now, and they will have their own way of doing things, and I have to be ok with that. I'm just the peon now.
At first it was just fine...but then just random stuff started to bother me.
For one, the kitchen knives have ALWAYS been washed by the clean-up crew. It has never been a problem- no one has ever cut themselves; they ARE ALL over 10 years old after all. However, the rule that the cooks must now wash their own knives has been implemented because it is safer. Sure its just a small thing, but I can't pretend it doesn't bother me.
Secondly, I always do the fruit and veggie platters. They are my pride and joy.
This morning I was stripped of my fruit platter privilege without ceremony, and ended up doing basically nothing except stirring syrup.
I hate feeling useless, but this morning I was.
Reading this, I sound pathetic, but that is how I feel. Just little things build up and I'm just not feeling excited about the coming months at all anymore.
Maybe I'm overreacting. Probably. But it just sucks, especially because being in the kitchen was so fun before. And soon Jeannette will be leaving me to do the "program", and I'll be left to fend for myself in the lonesome wilderness of kitchenness.
Its very hard to try and be positive right now.

no hope for an interesting title, sorry.

Tomorrow after lunch the group we have in will leave, and we'll be off for a few days celebrating Easter.
Sort of.
It just kind of sprang upon me and I didn't really think about what I will be doing.
Most of the staff will be off visiting their families, but not moi,...sniff sniff.
Sooo....one of the girls I work with has invited me to her home, and I may just take her up on it. It just feels weird to be away from home at this time, because I've never been away from family for big holidays. Its really strange.
In other news, I've been here for precisely a month now, I believe. Time really flew by, and so much has happened. Its been a lot of fun so far, and I'm so excited for more new staff to come in!
Anyway I'm horrendously tired right now, so I'm going to go. Happy Easter!

April Fools

Nature has played a cruel joke here.
Yesterday was sooo warm it actually felt like summer. We shed our sweaters, long pants, and shoes, trading them for beach attire. We were all certain Spring had come at last. It was glorious.
At around 5 PM today it snowed.
Not just a few little flakes.
BIG HONKING HUGE FLAKES THAT STUCK.

This makes me sick!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I feel I've been afflicted with some sort of disease that completely cripples my ability to create interesting titles. It pains me deeply.
Well the group that came in last weekend were called the "Fun Knits Knitters". They must suffer with some strain of the same problem.
And what a strange group! Most were older ladies, settling down on the couches with their needles and yarn within minutes of arrival...though there was one knitter man. Maybe he was hoping to score a date with Deb or Joan. I don't know.
Cooking for them was...interesting. Initially we had three Gluten intolerant guests, but by the end of the week we had seven (supposed) "Glutens", and three "Dairies" and a Diabetic. They were indignant that we weren't preparing proper food for them. Gah.
But there were fun people too. There was one older lady who had just had all her bottom teeth taken out, so she brought her own blender and cutting board so that she could make shakes out of all the food! Sick. But very funny. And she was super cool, and fun to chat with.
We also had one lady who loved our food so much she hated to see anything thrown out...so she would gather what she could and take it back to her room with her! Hilarious.
The weekend did not go smoothly, and there were many stressful moments, but it was not all bad either. And the food was good...when there was enough to go around.
When the camp was over three of us girls decided to head out to Nanaimo for our two days off and shop! I was excited, but didn't end up buying much because, lets be honest, this years summer stuff is pretty lame. Or maybe I'm just too poor to buy anything nice :P
The cooks moved in today, so yesterday was spent cleaning the Ivy House (previous residence of Mike & co.) from top to bottom; painting, scrubbing, vacuuming, and arranging furniture. Bachelors can be so disgusting.
Jeanette and I baked over 1,200 cookies today on top of our regular cooking schedule, and Mike got his tooth knocked out today by one of the girl staff here, when she threw a rock at him. hah. hah.
I'll admit I was not in the best of tempers when I found out, especially since he just paid his "last" visit to the dentist in Victoria two days ago.
So today I write to you weary in my bones and in my mind. Its been a very long, long week.
But on the bright side, it was a very nice sunny day. Yes Paul, I made a pun. Sort of.

Back to Work

So my week since Monday has been slackness to the extreme. I feel I'm being spoiled.
There have been no groups in that need cooking for, so I've had free time galore. Yesterday it was sunny for the first time and i spent a lot of time reading down at the point, which was glorious. The rest of the week has been cold, dreary, and rainy. I've played with the Schurman kids a bunch, which has been awesome. Such cute kids! They can't seem to remember my name though, but that will come in time. I hope!
Tomorrow a ladies retreat starts, and the menu is fantastic....and very time consuming! I'm sure I'll be working my butt off, so this might be my last post until the end of the weekend. Thanks for all the comments and emails! Its nice to hear from everyone.
Signing off...

Irish Experiences

I'll bet you were all shocked and horrified that I didn't post yesterday, wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day. My Irish-loving ways suddenly seemed cheap, artificial, and put-on. A fraud.
But that is not the case, my dear friends. Do not doubt me. I was in fact celebrating the Irish ways and didn't have time to post.
1. The Irish love food. I was cooking it. Nearly all day. There is a men's retreat going on right now, and let me tell you they eat A LOT. Jeanette does way more than me and she only got 30 minutes off between (approx) 7 AM- 7 PM. EEEK! But she will get her reward soon, as she's heading off to Mexico for Spring Break today!
2. The Irish raise sheep. As it would happen, one of the girls that lives here grew up on a sheep farm right here on Quadra Island. Her mom still runs the place, and yesterday evening we got a phone call saying, "Come right away if you want to see a lamb born!"
We raced out the door to their farm and arrived just as the ewe started to give birth! AMAZING! What an unbelievable experience! The lamb was black and very big and cute and slimy! I was actually very surprised how quick and clean the birth was though.
We hung around for a bit and held some of the older lambs (VERY CUTE!) and then discovered that the ewe was going to give birth to ANOTHER lamb! Then Sarah's mom told us it was a "breach" (I think everyone knows what that is...) and we all got worried.
The legs started coming out (it was whiteish) and she pulled the rest of it out and quickly wiped away the slime from its nose and mouth, but it wasn't breathing. Explaining everything as she was doing it, she began to swing it by its hind legs which would have been really funny if we weren't so worried. She said that this would make all the goop that was clogging its lungs come out of its mouth and then it would be able to breath. For a few minutes we just watched as she alternately swung and wiped.
It began to breath a little!
Very exciting!
Eventually it was doing just fine, and it even began to walk and nurse a little. What a resiliant little thing! Compared to her brother, she was very skinny and small. And covered in poop because of the "strain" of the difficult birth...gross. Thinking I was being sympathetic when I said, "Poor little Crapper.", I actually cursed her with the name, and she will henceforth be known as 'Crapper'. You just can't win sometimes.
3. Yes, the Irish love their pubs and alcohol. Last minute the girls asked me to come along with them out for a drink to celebrate St. Patty's. How can I say no to celebrating all that is Irish? I admit I was a teensy bit nervous because...all right here it is...I've never been to a pub before! As a good little homeschooled Christian girl I never did underage drinking. But now that I am 19, the time seemed right.
We went to the Heriot Bay Inn which was actually quite nice. Guiness was the special but I didn't think I would enjoy/be able to finish it, so I ordered a Mike's Hard Lemonade which tasted like pop. Mmm. We talked for a while there, and I told the story of St. Patrick because I was the only one that knew it, and we all had a good time. It was very fun!
So that was the most Irish day of my life so far. I'm hoping to improve it by spending St. Patricks in Irleand one day!

I Miss You : )

Hello everyone!
I am simply writing this to let you all know I am thinking about you, and I miss you. As much as I love it here, I love you guys too and I'm glad we have blogs to chat and keep updated on each other's lives.
Life in the camp kitchen is lovely. I'm really enjoying it (my fruit/veggie platters are beeeeeautiful if I do say so myself), especially working with Jeanette! She is so much fun and we always have good times when we're together, in and out of the kitchen. And she's a Dutchie like me, only more so! A great bond has formed between us :P
However, our time working alone is swiftly coming to a close. Soon the new head cooks will be here, and we're both a little nervous about the transition. The couple coming in has never cooked at Homewood before, and don't really know anyone so it will be difficult for them as well. Please remember us in your prayers in the next few weeks! (we're gonna need it heh heh)
I hope you are all doing good, too! I'm finding lately I have way more computer time than I expected, so emails are nice :)
Youth Group people & Young Adults- I am SO jealous of you all getting to go to the Blazers games! Let me know how it goes!
Rebekah- For some reason I can't comment/read comments on your blog most of the time....I don't know why it won't let me. But you and the Queen seem like great chums! Haha!
Anyway I should go. Love you all!

Jill

The Good Life

Just as we were cleaning up breakfast from our last group on Sunday, we got a call from a friend of Homewood inviting the group to spend some time in the next two days up at their condo at Mt. Washington.
Amazing!
Completely last-minute, seven of us staff piled into the Homewood van (with an obscene amount of luggage), crossed to Campbell river where we made a stop at Blockbuster (entertainment), Superstore (junkfood), and Tim Hortons (bagels and caffiene), and then drove up for some sweet relaxation time in a fabulous condo with a stunning view of the mountains.
While up there we went exploring/crazy-carpeting in the snow, sauna-ing, board-game playing, and being the only customers at a restraunt late at night (their new-york cheesecake was the best I've ever had.)
We were planning on partaking of their night-tubing, but unfortunately Fate was against us and we never seemed to be there at the right time.
I learned how to play crib, and did alright both rounds.
I also learned that the girls I now share every moment of my life with, are highly emotional and dramatic, and often overreact to everything (If you guys read this, I want you to know I love you anyway :D) !!! Coming from a family predominantly male, this has definitely been a challenge. Heh...anyway, it is a learning experience, though I doubt I shall ever understand it all fully.
The adventures don't end there, but for the sake of my poor mother's heart I shall refrain from telling the tale of our trip home :P
I will only say it involved smoke, flames, and tears.
Muahahahaaaaa!

Now the REAL work begins!

Up til this afternoon, there were no groups coming through the camp, so we pretty much had all our time off. Yesterday a bunch of us went on a fantastic trip to a little island just a 20 minute canoe ride from camp, and explored a bit. It was soooo beautiful! Jeanette (the head cook herself) took loads of pictures and maybe someday I will be able to share them with you.
So today was my first day of actual WORK. And it was fun :)
I have a feeling that I will have some interesting adventures in the kitchen, though. See, I've never been the Martha Stewart type. I always mess up. For instance, today whilst creating a luscious chocolate cake I threw in 12 Tablespoons of baking powder instead of 12 teaspoons.
Yeah...
But its all good. I just have to be more careful.
Oh! they make the mose DELICIOUS chocolate chip cookies here, and once I find the recipe I'll share it with you guys, because they are soooooo wonderful!
Anyway, don't mock me for being on the computer again. Its getting late, and its cold and dark outside, and everyone else is off doing other stuff, so I consider it a legit time to be on here.
phbbbt.

There's No Place Like Homewood

Well, well, well...
Here I am!
It took me like twenty minutes just to get to this screen because of this lovely dial-up internet. ARGH!
Not that I am complaining. Actually I am...but I didn't mean to.
Anyway, me and the fam left Kamloops bright and early Saturday morning, and we spent that night at the Epps house in Union Bay (by Courtenay) so I got to see my friend Karissa and meet her fellow "Treadettes" (see the link on the right) for the first time, which was nice. Hopefully we'll get to hang out some more during my time here.
Sunday morning we headed for Campbell River, and after a quick visit with my Grandma, we took a fifteen minute ferry to Quadra, and on to Camp Homewood. Duh, duh, duh, duuuuuh.
I'll admit I probably wasn't a joy to be around during this time.
It was harder than I thought it would be to leave home, and I got into one of my "moods". All I wanted was to get into my room, unpack, and settle in. And have no contact with human life whatsoever.
None of the girls were home when I arrived, but I was fairly certain where my room was and that I would love it to pieces and never leave its confines.
I had stayed in this room for a week last summer, and loved it because it was private and had two LOVELY big windows that overlooked the camp and it was just generally a great room. So I was pretty excited.
Unfortunately...nothing works out the way I plan.
MY ROOM was filled with SOMEONE ELSE's stuff. The room was quite obviously occupied and didn't look like it was likely to be un-occupied any time soon. That was a blow. It would seem that it wasn't MY ROOM after all.
Later on I found out, sure enough, my room was down the other hallway.
I wanted to cry when I saw it.
First of all because I found out that I was sharing it (selfish, spoiled little "only girl" child that I am), and secondly because it had two tiny windows up at the top by the ceiling that reminded me of a prison cell. And they weren't even on my side of the room. AND I didn't even have a dresser or closet.
So I had a nice little pity-party all by myself as I unpacked what I could.
I was not a happy camper.

No, Mom, I'm not coming home.

I was still a little grumpster the next morning, and my roommate hadn't shown up yet, so I was nervous about how she was going to deal with me moving in, and all that jazz.
It wasn't until 3 that afternoon that we saw each other and it was very brief. But later on we started cleaning up our room and talking and GUESS WHAT-
we got along.
Yeah.
All my worrying for absolutely nothing.
She even helped me find a dresser and carry it in, and our room is all nice and tidy now, and it looks great. And it feels homey! Yay!
So right now I'm feeling pretty positive about everything.
Thanks for all your prayers, I appreciate them.
I have until Thursday off, so i MIGHT be on here again, but after that its supposed to be really busy.
Leave a comment- keep in touch!

Cheers,

Jill

Goodbye Girlie

The prodigal puss returned yesterday. It was a brief stay.
This morning I dropped her off at the SPCA.
I really didn't want her to have to go there, but what else could I do? There isn't a huge demand for stray cats with no records of anything about them. Beebs and her don't get along, and I'm leaving tomorrow...
Of course I felt guilty bringing her in. I know the SPCA is already struggling to find homes for their cats, and the last thing they need is another scrawny little tortiseshell. And Girlie cried so pitifully during the car ride...
The lady behind the desk was nice, but sceptical.
"Are you sure this isn't your cat?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Gah.
I hope Girlie finds a nice home as soon as possible. She's such a nice, cuddly little thing.

(Picture: she liked the carrier, and purred when I put her inside.)

To Blog, or Not To Blog...

The question of my continued blogging has arisen.
Will I?
Won't I?
There are formidable hindrances. I will only have dial-up internet access, and time to access it will be very, very, limited.
However, as far as it is in my control, I will try to keep up PJ. I've grown rather attached. I will probably only be able to blog once a week; less during the summer months. Pictures will be a no-go with dial-up. It would take FOREVER. But I'll do my best to relay how everything on Quadra is running, and maybe throw in a few funny camp stories. You can never hear too many of those!
So there you have it...I will persevere! Don't abandon me. If no one comments, I'll assume no one is reading, and give it up until the Fall (when I can beat you up for not commenting!). You've been warned!

Last Weekend at Home

The last few days have been a lot of fun, which of course includes a lot of pain.
On Saturday I went up to Sun Peaks with some friends to learn how to Snowboard!
A few years ago there was a sort of "free day" where I tried snowboarding for the first time, officially. I only remember going down one run which seemed to go on FOREVER and by the time I made it down, I was too exhausted to do any more, so I was done for the day. The next morning I could hardly move! Lots of pain.
Needless to say, I was a little nervous about trying it out again, especially since I had to dish out the cash this time. For that kind of money you need to go down more than one run!
It turned out really good, and I actually made it down Three Whole Runs in a half-day...that's right folks, Three Whole Runs. One of them was even a BLUE. I know...I'm very daring. Heh heh...
It came a lot easier this time around, but it was still very, very tiring. The best part of course was the embarassing face-plants that conveniently take place under the chair-lifts or at the bottom of the hill where everyone has a good view of your wipe-out. It would be a shame to let those less graceful moments be wasted at any other time, when there is no one around.
ANYWAY...it was a very fun day, and the pain was well worth it. Yes, hobbling up and down the stairs is worth it. Not being able to lift my arms above my head is worth it. I'll try it again next season.
Sunday was a very exciting day! My friend Liz invited me to go out for lunch after church, but ended up luring me right into a suprise farewell party! No one has ever thrown me a surprise party before. Tear, tear. There was lots of food, and competitive games, and best of all, a Ju Jube war! Of course an innocent pack of ju jubes cannot simply be eaten at our party. They must become weapons of mass destruction. I learned just how dangerous a simple blob of ju jube can be when thrown at terrifying speeds. In fact I found a pretty nice bruise on my arm this morning from one shot. One candy was even embedded in the wall of the youth room. Wow.
You can find pictures of the party here.
To top it all off, I went to my last Sunday Night College & Careers meeting, and it was completely A.D.D. and marvelous! I will miss you guys tons!
Overall it was a very satisfactory last weekend at home!

Shut Up Michael Buble!

Here I am sitting silently in my room staring at empty shelves and clothes hangers listening to the lonely, mournful wailing of "Home" by Michael Buble. Its fairly depressing.
I decided to "start" packing up my things today. Somehow, in a productive frenzy, it escalated so that my belongings are divided into "staying" and "going", and both are neatly packed away. I even put away my picture frames (I might have to bring them out again so that my room doesn't feel so barren). One large suitcase is stuffed with summer clothes and bulky sweaters, another with books and DVDs that I can't part with. One tote has scrapbooking things, and another crafts and fragile room decor.
I know I should have resisted packing for a little later. I don't leave until Saturday and staring at my empty room all week is going to kill me...but its too late now. I refuse to unpack unnecessaries (barring the pictures).
I'm more attached to my bedroom than I thought. But I guess I have lived in it ever since we moved to Kamloops 14 years ago. Its undergone serious redecorating over the years, and lately its been morphing into a very Jill-ish space. I love it. And it looks so wrong all empty like this!!! Now it shall no longer have a loving, appreciative resident, but instead be relegated to the cold and impersonal service as a "Spare Room". How sad. How sad.
Bedroom, you shall be missed, and remembered fondly.

Girlie is Gone!!!

Missing!!!For the last four days, Girlie has not appeared for her morning feedings. I have not seen anything of her for the same amount of time...I think she might be gone for good. I just wish I knew what happened to her :(

Perhaps Beebs had something to do with it...that is not exactly the face of innocence....