Hockey!

Hockey is back and I am so happy to have it back! There was a pay for view game on last night against Edmonton. It was the last exhibition game of the year for the Canucks and our season starts on the 5th and I think it's against Pheonix. That makes me really happy as Gretzky is now coaching Pheonix so that will make them my team to cheer for after the Canucks. :)

We went to Josh's and watched the game on his projection tv. The game was great and the Canucks kicked ass. The Sedin twins and Anson Carter are going to make a great line. Our goaltending may be a problem again this year but I have high hopes.

I sat there at Josh's last night and looked around at the apartment and tried to imagine Al and I and the animals all living there (along with Ryan for awhile) and as much as I like the idea of all new everything I just can't see us all living there. We have pretty much decided that because of the dogs we will probably look for a small house with a yard. We talked to Sheilagh last night and told her we were probably moving and what we had been doing to the house as far as the laminate floors and the painting etc and she said that she and Brian had been talking about it since the night before and decided to pay for any repairs we had made. This will definitely come in handy with the move along with our damage deposit that has been accumulating interest all this time. We have made quite a few improvements to the house and yard including adding another bedroom and a new deck but Sheilagh has been watching the papers and saw that Don had sold and how much he was asking and she told Al that when we move she'll put the house up for sale. Don sold for $300,000 and these are old houses from the 50's on city lots. People are interested in the lots, not the houses. I'll be taking all my garden plants and digging up cuttings of stuff too big to move. Most of the trees I've bought I've kept in containers so they will be easy to move and it will give us a head start on any place we buy.

I was home Monday and Tuesday last week just feeling really crappy. On Wednesday I went to work and everyone else at work was sick too. Just sort of a fluey type of intestinal disorder with a headache. Thank heavens the headache has gone away for the most part. I was very worried it was here to stay. Hot flashes and nausea are still the norm but with the cooler weather it helps in the hot flash department except at night. I am so thrilled for Martin to have reached undectable. After three bouts of treatment he and Carol must be in 7th heaven. I pray he manages to stay that way after treatment stops. Everyone on the board seems to be doing ok with treatment right now and that is very good news. Lots of new people starting treatment. I wonder what it will take to crack this virus for everyone. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason for why some do not respond at all to treatment, some respond immediately like I did and then as soon as treatment stops the virus rears it's ugly head again. I noticed they are now referring to Geno type 4, 5 and 6 now as well. I hope they find something to stomp the ugly little bugger into the ground for everyone and make it stay there! As Paulo says "Kill the Virus"!!

We had torrential rains on Thursday and some of our pumps at work failed and the yard started to flood. Stewart (who is also sick) waded waist deep into two different ponds to retrieve pumps and at one point he almost electrocuted himself. I have blackmail pictures too :) He eventually had to strip down and change into Jude's sweatpants and fuzzy jacket to go home. I took pics :) and no I won't share. Stewart would definitley kill me if he ever managed to stumble onto this page! Last year at this time when the rains started, we were still in a trailer in the yard and the office we are in now was used for storage and the guys lunch room. It flooded knee deep a couple of times and I have pictures of the guys sitting in there in the middle of the flood having coffee at the table with the water swishing around their legs and stuff floating around them.

Then we decided we wanted to reclaim the building to use as an office and Khushwinder and Stewart and Gary worked on fixing the drainage and the berms around the office to stop future flooding. Thursday was our first big test to see if the water stayed out of the building. I had a minor fit as the water started to come up in the yard and I unplugged my computer and lifted it up onto my desk. Khush and Stew both assured Jude and I it would not come into the office so on Friday morning I plugged everything back in and so far so good. The guys got the pumps working and the water level in the yard went down immediately. Spend the last two days of work in gumboots though. We are still having to use outhouses at work and they were on the other side of the yard. With the yard being ankle deep we needed our boots. On Friday morning Khushwinder moved the outhouses right outside the barn for us. Much better arrangement for winter. We are still working on getting a bathroom working before it gets too cold. Nothing like heading outside in the middle of winter and planting your bare backside on an ice cold toilet seat!

Haven't seen Dave and Allie and Christina for a few weeks. I was thinking last night if we move to Chilliwack (another 20 - 30 minutes out into the valley) we will hardly see anyone. Ryan if he comes with us but even Josh won't make the drive out very often. For Dave and Allie it will be at least an hour drive to come out. Al works in Chilliwack and I work in Langley and we live half way between in Abbotsford. We are trying to stay between Langley and Chilliwack but realistically the pricing is better the farther out into the valley you go so with us wanting a house rather than a townhouse or condo we will probably find the best deals in Chilliwack or surrounding area. For me that will mean an extra 20 minutes to my commute each day but it will make it much easier for Al. The only problem that I can foresee is the winters. Between Chilliwack and Abbotsford is Sumas Prairie and the wind whistles through the valley across the prairie and if there is any snow it can make for whiteout conditions. If this is the case then they close the road. Now depending on where I am when the road closes can make for an interesting day at work. Jude and I have discussed alot of this anyway with me starting treatment in January we are already getting set up so I can work at home if necessary. We can even have the phone calls rerouted to me at home and nobody would really know the difference. Just get it forwarded to my cell and there we are. I have computer and 24/7 cable internet, instant messenger so Jude and I can communicate and I can do my work from home. I have no idea what the doctor will decide for treatment and I have no idea how I will react to it so it's all just a big waiting game at the moment.

Well I have stuff to do around the house and should boogy on. Oh! The tree at the top is called a Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus) They are in flower in the field right now and the colour is outstanding! The hot pink flowers open up and inside is an orange berry. I'm not sure how many pictures the blog will hold but am going to include some of what we have been doing at work the last little while.

This is Avtar, Khushwinder's dad, who works with us. We have a series of ponds at work and Khushwinder has been working to get streams and waterfalls running between them all. This is the deck/picnic table that Khush built over the lower pond. He has water pumped up and into the floor of the deck and then out the end and down into a small waterfall. Jude and I and the guys sit here on the nice days and have our lunch. It is still a work in progress but so far so good. The water runs through the floor of the deck and you can see it moving under your feet. It is very peaceful and helps cut the traffic sound in the background.

Next are Jude and Khushwinder sitting on a rock beside another section of pond and stream. The office with the green roof is behind them. Jude has been working on this piece of property for many for different people but this is the first time she has been running the show. She has a vision of how she wants the place to look and Khush can see what she is describing and he makes it come alive. We are all a good team and all of us love the farm.

I remembered I still had some pictures up of the floods from last year. http://members.shaw.ca/donnellypictures/floods.htm and just for good measure I may as well add the ice storm pictures. These were taken at home, not work. http://members.shaw.ca/donnellypictures/

Well I'm off to actually get something done around here.