...the Wise, the Witty, and the Waste of your time...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Mouse Update

Shortly after my first post the mouse reappeared...roughly 5 times. I even took pictures...and video footage.

It has no sense of propriety, obviously.


We have purchased a few um, "rodent eradicating devices" and are set to teach it some lessons in boundaries.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I Do Not Like Them In a House!!!

There's a mouse in MY HOUSE!! There's a MOUSE in my house!!!
I just saw it here....

and here...

and here!!

The disease infested little hairball had the nerve to EXPLORE MY KITCHEN while I sat here on the couch doing my homework!! Oh its days are numbered let me tell you!!! I have no "Stuart Little sympathies" to inhibit the havoc I will wreak on its rapidly shortening life!

I have no real fear of mice, just a firm loathing. It may have something to do with growing up on a farm where we had mice, frogs, snakes, salamanders, mink, dogs, cats, flying squirrels, birds, wood ducks, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, bears, ferrets, and deer inside at various times. Ok so the bear didn't come inside, only onto the porch. Turns out my brave husband on the other hand, is perhaps a little more...nervous about the prospect of running into the rodent.

The question is: WHY do I have a mouse! I'm very clean, my floor has no crumbs, I do not leave garbage strewn about, I do not deserve a mouse!!!

Yes it IS all about deserving!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

(Some of) My Sisters

Aren't they pretty! This picture is missing Diana and Constance and myself but I don't have any of all of us...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Guess what guess what guess WHAT!? As of 3 weeks ago, I am the proud and happy owner...actually renter...of none other than *drum roll* a washer and dryer!!
That's right, for the first time in our married life, we have a real washer and dryer in our house!! No more laundromats, no more going to the gas station for coins, and no more dealing with other people's sunflower seeds and band-aids floating amongst my underthings!! It feels like I already had my Christmas in October!
Within an hour of installation I'd begun washing everything we own and since then, nothing has escaped my new passion. Even the couch pillows were stripped of their dusty covers and found themselves washed to a brand new shade of....whatever color they are. Tan? Bone? Off white?
Anyway. Not only do we have this luxury in our very laps, but they are completely new, front loading, stackable, and High efficiency! Our laundry hasn't been this clean or smelled this nice in three years. Apparently the 25 minute agitation at the laundromat doesn't actually do a sufficient job.

Justin and I are quite happy with our new place. We dream of owning our own place some day but are very content to be where we're currently at. Over the next few months we hope to acquire a few helpful items like a pantry and a bookshelf and a vacuum which will improve the situation even more. I will post some pictures...but first I have to clean.

Monday, October 13, 2008

We are Telus, Who Don't Do Anything...

...We just sta-ay home and lie around. And if you a-sk us to do anything. We'll just te-ell you.....We don't do ANYTHING!

That's a song by the way.

For those of you who have tried to reach us via telephone and heard a mechanical voice claiming our number has been disconnected...I am sorry. I am sorry we have such a lame phone service.

Here's what's going on:
Before we moved in August I set it up to have our phone forwarded to an automatic voicemail for the month of September saying, "so sorry, we cannot come to the phone right now because we're on Vancouver Island, please call back in October."
Basically:
September 1-disconnect at old address, forward to voicemail.
October 1-discontinue voicemail, connect at new location.
Sounds ridiculously simple for a phone company; especially since they gave me those options, advised me on what would be easiest, and repeated all the details back perfectly on the phone.

It's been more like this:
September 1-Drink coffee
September 5-completely disconnect phone, charge enormous contract violation fees.
September 5-12- sit on arses. Drink coffee. Ignore angry customer's pleas.
September 13-realize mistake, hook up voice mail. Charge misc. fees.
September 22-confirm new location and connection days. Customer is mildly impressed.
September 28- disconnect voice mail and internet contract. Charge more fees.
October 1-miss connection day. Drink coffee. Frustrated customer can't call because she has no phone.
October 2-7-make promises. Break promises. Ignore increasingly irate customer's pleas.
October 8-fail to show up at customer's house as scheduled. Blame Canada Post. (for real)
October 9- reschedule connection for October 16. Do not advise customer. Make excuses.
October 10- Get dumped by furious customer. Drink coffee.

This is where we're currently at. I've switched to Shaw and if they pull through will have internet on Tuesday and a phone and probably a new number next Friday.
Until then...carrier pigeons.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Old Married Folks

We just (...ok three weeks "just") passed our 3 year anniversary! Three years!! I know that's peanuts to many of you but it seems like a big number to us! It still feels so new and great! Isn't it supposed to be that by three years the polish wears off of your shiny new marriage? Maybe we're doing it wrong but I think I prefer it this way!

For my entire life pre-marriage, I was one of its worst critics and wanted nothing to do with it. My parents were sure I was hopeless and destined to be the "bun on the head, horn rimmed glasses, spinster librarian" of the family.

And then I met Justin, fell crazy in love, cut off the bun on my head (that part is actually true), and joined the "other side!" We found out later that before we'd ever gone on a first date, both of us felt absolutely certain that we were meant to marry each other!

We dated for almost 7 months, were engaged for less than 2, and have now been married for 3! Having three years of marriage beneath my belt, I've discovered it to be far different than I'd construed. For instance, I thought that 'marriage' meant 'dull.' No more romance, no more adventure, no more fun. Because I was so certain this was fact, I vowed that I would do whatever it took to keep it as exciting and romantic as the very first week. "Watch me!"

I'm happy to admit, I was officially wrong on both accounts. It is not dull and it cannot stay as new as the first week because while "new" is good, "deep" is so much better. The past three years have been filled with more fun and adventure then the previous 23. (dude, I'm old.) And since we've been married I've laughed...a lot. Way more than when we were dating! I actually didn't know he was so funny and fun until after I married him!

For our anniversary we decided it would be wisest to skip going out for dinner, make something scrumptious at home together, and then go out for coffee or icecream and explore some of the beach areas in Qualicum. Part 1 of our plan worked well and we surprised even ourselves at the meal we were able to whip up with only two burners and two pieces of cookware.

Yeeaah....so it looked more impressive in real life. And tasted de-lish!


Part 2 didn't even work out even a little bit because the skies opened up and drenched the island all day and all night.


So we played scrabble. I wonder what word he has in mind here!


And ate icecream! Mmmm...icecream. If I was marooned on a forgotten island and could take only one thing with me; I would take icecream. I mean, Justin.

...actually who am I kidding, I'd take icecream! :)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

We're HERE!!

The day that we thought might never come is finally here! We moved entirely out of our old place, loaded up a months worth of luggage into our horrid car, and made our way over the mountains and through the woods to the Summit School of Guitar Building and Repair. What kind of adventures await!?

Adventure #1:
Accommodations are provided by the school; we were told we'll be staying in a hotel suite for a month. How perfect does that sound? I pictured lounging in front of a large screen TV watching mindless shows, fluffy white hotel towels, little soaps and shampoos, a handy little "maid please clean" sign that would produce fresh sheets and towels, a sparkling bathroom with a large mirror, and a cute little kitchen with a compact fridge and stove that would make food prep seem like playing house. I planned on taking baths every morning, having room service and house keeping at my finger tips, reading and cooking up little herbal potions in my spare time, and getting to know the friendly people at the front desk. Nooooot quiiiite....

For starters, there is no front desk. There's a fishery smokehouse. You go inside and holler for "service" from Tita. Service is a key and a "someone will be by in the next day or two to pick up the things left behind by the last resident." The things left behind ended up being three grocery bags of used shampoos, brown sugar, opened pasta, a condom...not a word of a lie. We didn't wait for someone to come by, we took the liberty of chucking it all.

Secondly, everyone has a different definition of "clean" and the standard of clean in this room is dirtier than my house has ever had a chance to get. We're too grossed out to go barefoot in the place so we've been wearing our shoes inside. So the first 2 1/2 hours of moving in consisted of us rolling up our sleeves and scrubbing.

So excited about it!

This is our room service/maid please clean:

Yes, that hairball was there when we got here. Our complimentary hairball!

Our fluffy white towels...hey, I'm just glad they smell clean!

My big bathroom...

And sparkly mirror...

Our compact stove...very very compact! And those are the only cookware in this place!

And not so compact fridge next to the not so widescreen TV.

And our garbage can the size of my thumb.

For dinner we had pancakes and eggs...and wine...and a $15 cheesecake to celebrate Justin's school and my birthday.

It was delicious but I felt a little ill afterwards!
Oh, and just because I'm excited about it, I have to share some pictures of my lovely new purse, given to my by Sally and Grace!

Isn't it cute?! I've quickly fallen in love with it. Is it just me or do you find that as soon as you upgrade your purse, the old one becomes completely despicable!

As a side note, it's quite amusing what ends up being packed in your car when you try to move out of your home and pack for a trip at the same time. For instance, we packed my mother-in-law's jeans..why? I have no idea. A pair of shoes that were supposed to be thrown out made it along and a never opened package of tea towels from our wedding shower 3 years ago. A friend's salad tongs. Hehe, sorry Tianna.

Despite the filthy abode, our enthusiasm is untamed and as I sit and write this, Justin is about 2 hours in to his first day at school! He was up 2 hours early thinking about the perfect name for his guitar and so nervous and excited I nearly had to sit on him to keep him from going to school 35 minutes before class started!

Monday, August 25, 2008

What Lies Ahead

I realize I haven't updated much....or at all...through this summer. Oops.
I'm happy to say I've been too busy having fun - oh, and doing some work. By way of excuse, let me share with you what the following week and the month of September holds.
Ever since I met Justin back in October 2003, he has stated that his dream is to build guitars. He loves fine, artistic work (have you heard about my ring?) and he loves guitars - it's a perfect match! From the beginning he's had one luthier school in mind and for the past 3 years and 9 months, we've planned together that some day, when I'm finished school and before we have children, we'll move over to Vancouver Island so he can take the course.
Recently he's been making me a longboard and began to experiment with some very fine, detailed design work he's seen in his guitar books. I'll post pictures when he's finished. The result is twofold: he's even more excited about building guitars and he's beginning to think he may not need to take a full 12 month course. He's incredibly talented, meticulous, and patient when it comes to woodwork; he just needs some direction in crafting a musical instrument.
All this to say that one evening as we were discussing his schooling and how long the course is and how badly the grandparents want little Wiebe Jrs. running around; we realized I have exactly 1 month in between my summer and winter jobs. The next day we called the school to see if there was any openings for the month of September. It was already June; September was full. Two weeks later they called us back to say they'd had a cancellation and were we interested?!!!! Were we ever!
Since then we've decided to also move out of our little place in favor of a new suite. Complete with, get this, a washer and dryer!! Not even kidding, a real washer a dryer! And a dishwasher! And a new fridge and stove!! I`m so excited it`s hard not to wet myself!

Six days from now we are returning our keys to the landlord and heading to the island! This day has been looked forward to for so many years, I can`t believe it`s this close! In the month of September, Justin will build his first guitar!
So this is one of the reasons blogging has been de-prioritized.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The windy city...

Has anyone watched that old old Calamity Jane musical from ages ago? At one point in the movie they burst into an energetic tap dance singing routine about "goin' down to the windy city" which was Chicago if I remember right. Anyway, that song keeps going through my head when I look at these pictures.
We don't live in a particularly windy place but in the two years we've lived here we've had a few massive wind storms. Like, power out and roofs flying off houses and trees uprooting all over the place, smashing through cars and houses, and our garbage can lid disappearing, never to be seen again- kind of massive windstorms.
In the first picture it wasn't even the big storm and I was actually afraid of being blown off the mountain. I'm not holding on to the post and my headband just to be cool, I'm holding on to keep from flying off!



Check this out. Someone's tree went down and the root system neatly picked up the yard and peeled it back like and orange!


For the surfing nuts this looks somewhat like a wave and provides a beautiful photo op of being inside the barrel...sort of.



Look at that...he's totally surfing in his mind!



Apparently the owner came out as they were enjoying his mess of a yard and he was decidedly unexcited about both the yard and the hooligans on his yard! I have to admit, I can't help but be on his side just a little. This does NOT look like an easy fix.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Some great Stuff and Some not so Great Stuff.

So about a week ago I had some lovely friends come to visit. I'd been looking forward to their arrival for about 100 years and had great plans of going to the beach and barbecuing and staying up late. As it turns out, I unfortunately, was both very sick and had very bad cramps. What a blessing! And the weather was cloudy, gray, drizzly, and downright cold. But as good friends do, they curled up in blankets with my miserable self and watched movies and played Bible trivia.

We, of course, stayed up late every night and on one of them, it was after midnight and I was the last person getting ready for bed. The house was dark other than our bedroom and as I was discarding my clothes and preparing to turn off the light, I was horrified to look up and see hands holding a camera right up against my window. Of course as soon as I looked at it, the person I couldn't see in the blackness jerked it back and it disappeared.

I've always thought that if I ever saw anything outside my window at night that I would scream bloody murder but I was surprised at how unbelieving my brain was. I thought it was a prank, a mirage, a reflection...anything but some creep taking pictures through my window in the dead of night! I checked the livingroom to make sure the girls were there and Sally was sitting bolt upright looking out the window. Only when she informed me that there was a man in our yard did I actually panic, wake up Justin, and go racing outside. In hindsight I realize I should have waited for Justin before I tore out to attack a full grown man in my pajamas but at the time I wasn't so much rational as I was TICKED.

Unfortunately we didn't catch him and only Sally saw him and his only identification was that he has gray hair. Seeing as how this is the retirement capital, it could be anyone, so it leaves us with this sick suspicion of every neighbor we see.

Whats really disturbing is that our place and certainly our bedroom window are pretty tucked out of sight so it doesn't seem likely that it was a spur of the moment intrusion by someone wandering around at midnight with a camera. You kinda have to know where to look to find our bedroom. How many times has he been out there under cover in the darkness!?

As disturbing as it is we can't be paranoid so other than being religious about closing our blinds, life goes on. We called the police, we lock our doors....our house is easy to break into...

On a much much better note - the rest of the weekend...

These are my lovely friends curled up with the ailing.

I'm aware of how I look thank you very much.

For old time's sake we went to Walmart (before I got hit with a tanker) and got a highlighting kit; it's funny that they trust me with their hair when in times past it hasn't always been....er.....fully successful. Sometimes 'mahogany' isn't so much a lustrous brown with reddish undertones as it is just fire engine red with purple undertones....anyway.

5 hours later....we're ready for the bleach...it's nearly 1 in the morning!

OH yes, speaking of hair, note that there is some pink in my hair! I've been wanting to do that for years and just never did. Now that I finally did it I was attacked by some wicked cold sores and refused to take pictures so by the time this was taken, it was mostly faded out. Durn. I liked it while it lasted though, i was smashing! :)

In order for it to not be a 100% lame weekend we did go to a cliff jumping site.

He looks like a fairy who flew up to kiss the hills!

Since I'm not so much of a swimmer and not so much of a jumper offer of cliffs...I read. Off the charts coolness!

This is my polly pocket, Grace.

Do as I say or I swear, I'll squish your head!

We girls went out for drinks and were interrupted by a random guy who came up and high fived us and proceeded to chat aimlessly.

Undoubtedly because he saw this irresistible pose!

Or this one! Nice chin Grace!

Despite the weather, the cramps and general malaise, the interrupting strangers and the peeping toms...we had fun. This is what friends are for and I love them!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Lotsa pictures

I've been informed that it is not in fact, conceited to post pictures of your own mug on your blog, but it IS conceited to leave only that particular post on your blog for weeks on end. Wha.....?? I was just giving everyone ample opportunity to gaze upon the pair of us and say ooooohhh....
Ok fine, I'll post NEW pictures!:)
At the end of April Justin and I went to a Miller family reunion in WA at my sister's house. I have two sisters that live on a tiny 8x8 mile island of the coast of WA. Its an excellent place to visit and vacation but takes a special patience to live on because your entire life revolves around ferry schedules. That includes marriages, funerals, and births. Pretty much you can only die at 9:45 or 10:30 or 2:30.
But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how much fun we had. My parents and 5 siblings came up from Wyoming, one sister came from TN, two brothers and their families from MT, and Justin and I from BC. We all stayed at various "cabins" (flat screen TV, sleeps 6, on the beach type of cabins!) within a mile or two of my sister's place and spent three days eating and playing and partying! ....As one parties with their baby nieces and nephews and parents, you know, croquet and chocolate milk.
So I'll walk you through it with some photos.
This was taken on our way while killing time on the ferry. We may not be photographers but I have to say, I'm pretty sure this photo rivals Dustin and Christy's expertise. I think it really brings out my natural beauty!
This is why we're married, we're very compatible.After horsing around with self portraits, a kindly woman offered to take a picture of the two of us so we put on our "normal" faces and smiled for the camera.


This picture is mom and dad opening their wedding attire and finding out they have 1 hour until the party! We surprised my parents with a late 30th anniversary celebration. My sister Diana put tons of effort into it, ordering my mom a beautiful white dress and sewing a classy vest for my dad. She organized a photo album that we all put together online and had wedding cakes made and a party planned...all while keeping 5 children in line and homeschooling!
After indulging in some truly delicious chocolate cake we went outside for family pictures. It hasn't gotten any less "gong-showish" as we've aged. There's still never a single picture that has everyone looking at the camera and the little ones are always a blur of movement. I guess you might say it captures it the way it is. I haven't gotten any of the entire family pictures, these are just ones that we snapped with our little camera.

All the girls- L-R in the back: Debi, Kimberly, Krystal, Janette, Mom, Serena, Whitney, Diana, Myself ....Serena and Whit are the brave women who married my brothers!


L-R Cherie, Remi, Constance, Lindey
This is the youngest of my sisters and three nieces. The fourth niece got away.



And this is Kaitlynn making her getaway, she wasn't so into the pictures.


The sisters: Debi, Krystal, Mom, Kimberly, Diana, Constance, Me, Janette
This would be all of us doing the "Trevor smile." Very attractive. Yes, I'm afraid we ARE making fun of my down's syndrome brother. My family's joking around is a bit sacrilegious at times. And this would be the original "Trevor smile" and why it's so funny to us. It's not his real smile, it's the smile that comes out when he's posing for the camera. Has anyone seen that episode on Friends of Chandler posing for his engagement photo....it's a similar phenomenon with Trev.
Big brother Don is giving Trevor the rules, "don't smile for the camera."
All the guys. Great posing guys! What exactly does "look at the camera" mean to you?
Ok this one is a little better. What do you mean it's blurry! So it turns out I'm NOT good at taking pictures! Sheesh, give me a break already!
L-R Josh, Donny, Justin, Dad (and Trev) Nathan, and Matt. (Justin and Matt are the inlaws)

The Ma and Pa. Mom never got a white wedding dress so we were pretty excited to get one for her anniversary!
The whole family. I stole this picture from my sister`s blog who has better details and better pictures. You should read it.
Aunt Connie and little Myles.

Aunt Kimmy and Lindey.Aunt me and....oh wait...he's not my nephew. Me and Trev. He's mad because I'm not letting him take the picture.
Uncle Justin and Myles. Myles is the sweetest, best natured baby ever!
Over the weekend we took a hike and a picnic along the beach!
...looks like we're taking over the island...
She looks like a little island flower!
About 30 seconds after the photo was snapped he tripped and his tuna sandwich landed face down in the sand!



We collected rocks and found sea creatures...






































Anyone who was anyone climbed the log...


















Kaitlynn talked to us about log climbing safety...


















We ate mermaid popcorn straight off the beach...it's dried seaweed



















Josh ate worms...






















Janette dreamt about boooooyyyyyssss.....






All in all...we had a wonderful time! The islands, while perhaps inconvenient to live on, are stunningly picturesque!





Krystal wanted a shot with her and the nephews and nieces....good luck!
I like these pictures because they capture the constant movement at our get-togethers! It's actually getting better as most of us are old enough to wipe our own bums now but that pretty much means it's gone from Straight Insanity to Mostly Chaos. It's a step up.