Random Rumbling

It's an amazing thing to be at the City of Burnaby's Canada Day celebration and look around to see that there are way more people around you that don't have white skin than do.  I think I only heard English being spoken twice the whole afternoon as I eavesdropped on pockets of people and their conversations.

Mike is up in Northern BC for a week in a place near Kitimat.  He doesn't have access to a phone or the Internet.  There is a number to call for emergencies only.  As Mike said as he left, "only if someone is in the hospital".  Got it.

When Mike is gone it is easy to remember what it felt like when we lived in different cities for six months last year.  I don't like remembering that.  We'll never do it again.

Does anyone else have a love affair with instant vanilla pudding?

If I could read all day long I'd be very happy.

Don't judge a book by its cover.  Ever.

I really like Paul Newman's Mango Salsa with Multigrain Tostitos.

We went on a brewery tour at Granville Island Brewery last weekend with some friends from Winnipeg.     There was a sampling time afterward.  I was so hoping that I would try one of the beers and have a Eureka moment when I say, "I love this beer.  This one I can drink".  I didn't have a moment like that.  However, the Granville Island Raspberry beer that was just released for the season was the closest one I could say that about.  I'd still have to be mighty thirsty to drink a pint.

Hannah is rolling in the dough.  She took the Red Cross babysitting course this spring and has been a busy little babysitter.  Thankfully we have some good friends with great kids that she's been able to try out her skills on.  She also has a job watering our friend's garden while they're in Malaysia for a few weeks.  I don't think she's going to rake in a lot from that job.  She gets paid by the times she goes to water and this is the wettest spring for Vancouver in 50 years.    Hannah is a good saver.  She is learning to spend her money.  Usually it goes the other way.

I miss summer evenings on Robertson Crescent in Winnipeg.  I miss sitting on the curb of the usually quiet street while our girls bike and scooter with the neighbor girls and we sit and talk to Adrian and Kathleen.  I miss Richard coming over to offer his two cents and then going in to wash the girl's black feet before bed.  That's a sign of a good summer day.

I love Okanogan Orchard Peach Cider.  It's my bevi of choice here.  

We're so sad to miss the Winnipeg Folk Fest AGAIN.  Thankfully, it's going to work out to take in some of the Vancouver Folk Fest where  one of our favorite bands, The Duhks, are going to be playing.  Roseanne Cash is one of the headliners.  I've been a fan of hers since I spun country music records - yes, records, at a country music station many moons ago.  Cannot wait.

Mike's brother Mark and his lovely partner Lena are moving to Vancouver.  They arrive in a few days time.  It will be great (and strange)  to have family here.

Last weekend Mike and I were able to spend a night downtown without the girls thanks to our friends staying with the girls and Priceline.com getting us a sweet deal.  As we wandered through Gastown, we discovered that one of Mike's favorite bands from Australia (OKA) were playing a free outdoor show in Gastown that night as part of the Vancouver Jazz Fest.  It was awesome.

We bought a spring-free trampoline with a net a month or so ago to create some fun on this postage-stamp sized yard.  Best investment ever.  The girls have bounced for hours.  My dad wasn't impressed.  His words were, "don't call me for sympathy when someone breaks a bone".  So far, so good.

I actually bought rhubarb a few weeks ago.  Shudder.  I have the best rhubarb plant on the side of our house in Winnipeg.

One year goes by really really fast.  That's why we're glad we're staying for one more.

It's really hard to go for family bike-rides here.  It is so freaking hilly that the girls have a lot of trouble getting up some of them.  We still go, but it's hard work.

Our whole family loves chickpeas.

When people make seemingly stereotypical comments about how much pot is smoked in Vancouver - it's not a stereotype.

I'm so glad my girls are all going to the same summer camp that I went to and worked at when I was a kid and teenager.  This is the first summer they are all going - though Sasha only for one night and two days for "Little Buddies".  I still have friends that I met at camp.

There are lots of great things about the public school system.

We've eaten more Indian food here in a year than we have in a lifetime at home.