Does anyone...

even read my blog anymore?

 

I have noticed that there is a lack of comments on my posts and was wondering what everyone was up to these days?

 

I know I have been busy and it totally sucks because on Wednesday I had a cyst removed from my tailbone and then had to go to the doctors daily to get it repacked *owie*. On Thursday I went back to see the doc for the dressing to be changed and I asked her about my right wrist and she said, " Only you could do something like this! I am not sure if you have just sprained it or broken it so lets be safe and splint it!"

 

I come out of the doctors office and people are looking at me funny becuase I went in for one thing and came out with a splint on my wrist LOL

 

Other than that we are trying to get our camping stuff ready for the 25th of this month becuase we are taking off for two weeks!!! Oh yea I am excited!!!!!

 

So, whats been happening with everyone else?

 

 

My son!

Here is the link to the video I made of my Son in the competition if anyone would like to watch it :)

Justin in the Strongman Competition

I am SO proud of my son!

 

Yesterday, July 1^st, 2011, my son entered into a BC Strongman Competition in Hope, BC.  He had a trainer but his trainer bailed on him so he was doing all the training on his own for the last two months. Granted he has been weightlifting for several years now but he needed some specialized training for this event.

 

Anyway, we went to watch his competition and I was totally blown away by how well he did and how strong the little bugger is!!! He pulled an 18-ton semi-tow truck (you know one of those big tow trucks that look like semi trucks) for a block in 46 seconds!! Oh yea my mouth was hanging open at that one!!!  I was screaming and jumping up and down I was so happy and proud of him!

 

They also had to lift a car, moved varying weights of Atlas Stones (they are heavy rocks ranging in weight from 190 lbs to 300lbs and you have to lift them up onto a 4ft tall stand), lift varying weights above your head, flip an 860lb tire as many times as you could in a minute and a half (he only trained with a 600lb tire) and pull the truck! I think that was all of the events but I am sure I am missing one of them out!

 

During the event, while they were moving some of the equipment out of the area, the kids got to have a tug-o-war with all the Strongmen. There must have been about 40 little kids on one side of the rope and then 8 or so of the Strongmen on the other side. The strongmen were not really trying but they made it look like the little kids won by falling down and all the kids laughed and cheered that they had beat the Strongmen! LOL it was really cool!

 

Some lady came up to my son and asked if her son could have a picture taken with him because he is a Strongman Competitor, he said yes and the kids smiled and had his picture taken and all that and then he asked if he could put my son in a head lock for a picture and my son said sure and he thought that was the greatest thing ever LOL

 

Some of these guys are built like brick shithouses but they are the biggest teddy bears going. Justin was all new to this and was placed in the heavyweight class and didn't know anything about the event, the other competitors rallied around him and helped him out when he needed it by yelling out instructions for how to do this or that and they shared their chalk and tacky with him.

 

Oh I have to tell you about this Tacky stuff. It is a combination of tar and molasses. The men rub it on their forearms and hands when they are using the Atlas Stones to give them a better grip. So you have these giants putting on this super tacky, super sticky, super stinky stuff on their arms (I now know why bodybuilders shave their arms!!!), and some of the guys were pretty hairy, then you hear, "OH SHIT! This stuff hurts!" as one of the guys is slapping his forearm with his hand and ripping out chunks of his arm hair! Oh you know I was laughing! I said they should sell it to women for waxing and the guy said the only problem with this is that you need a special remover to get the tar off! Of course this is the jokester of the bunch that had also let my son use it and then he tells me he doesn't have any of the remover! LOL I told him he better or I will kick his butt LOL He said he did and not to worry he wouldn't let him leave with out taking the tacky off!

One guy got his shirt stuck to the 300lb Atlas stone and it totally ripped his shirt and left a bit of chest hair and shirt on the stone as well!

 

So, there were 6 guys in the heavy weight classification and my son came in ……. Drum roll please ………… 4^th place!!!!!!  Oh yea you know I was doing the happy dance!

 

He didn't even think he would do as well as he did as he had no clue what to expect and he had no training for this particular event. The crowd was cheering for him and urging him along, it was awesome! Then this little girl about 3 or 4 years old was screaming, "GO JUSTIN GO! YOU CAN DO IT!" lol it was adorable!

 

Well that was my good news for Canada Day. Do you have any good news to share?

I miss getting comments from people so please leave some for me and show me the love!

 

©2011 7Ladybugs

Wow what a month!

 

My Birthday was on June 18^th and I had the best birthday ever!!! My hubby took me 4x4ing and Geocaching with my daughter (my son was working that day) in and around Chilliwack Lake. The day was perfect, in my opinion, because it was lightly raining and clearing up with each geocache that we did.

 

We drove over rockslides, mud slides, wash outs and every other type of disaster you could think of on one of the roads we went on. We only managed to get 10 geocaches on that particular road as the road was getting pretty hairy and we wanted to grab some other caches on the main road, so we turned around and down we headed to the main FSR.

 

In total, we found 35 caches in one day, which is a record for us! These caches were part of a series called the TCTC (Trans Canada Trail Caches). So far we have managed to complete only one section of the TCTC but we plan on doing them all before the summer is over so that son and hubby can go up that nasty road to get the final cache of the whole series.

 

Then on June 24^th, 2011 I had my monthly doctors appointment for my B12 shot and found out the results of my biopsy from the thing she took from my back. IT IS GOOD NEWS!!  It was not cancer!!!! It was a mole that could have turned into cancer but it was not cancer when it was removed! *whew*  Huge sigh of relief for that news!  I lost 2 more pounds and gained more muscle, not a good combination so I have had to cut back my walking so I don't gain any more muscle! I never thought I would hear a doctor say to stop walking so far LOL

 

My walking totals for June were 107.8miles or 173.4 kilometers!  I am trying to keep it under 170 kilometers a month now so I don't gain too much muscle!

 

Well, that's all for this post!

 

How are things going for you guys and gals?

©2011 7Ladybugs

Idiots that Riot!

Thursday June 16, 2011

 

I am sure, by now, you have seen or read about the riot that took place last night in Vancouver after the hockey game. I just want to point out that those idiots that were causing all the problems were NOT hockey fans! If they were hockey fans then why did they come prepared with hammers, masks etc etc? 

 

The 'trouble makers' were going to cause a problem no matter what the outcome of the game was. Then if they weren't stupid enough they make the police departments job easier by posing next to the over turned cars, or fires that they set and then they upload it to face book complete with new status as to what they had done… can you say BUSTED!

 

I am 100% in agreement with the police that the people that caused the damage should be made to pay, either by jail time/community service/money or better yet, all three!  You can look on a face book group that someone made so that people can post the pictures of people causing damage and then if you recognize someone tag them in it and the police will know who should get a visit from them. They have my backing 1000% all of the way. Even if I knew someone in one of the pictures I would turn them in, even if it were one of my kids! I don't put up with stupid behavior and to ruin a city and damage stores for shits and giggles is so NOT ON! Plus my kids would know that jail would probably be a safer place for them if I caught them doing something like that LOL

 

It is obvious that they don't have a brain in their head because they were looting the stores and wearing the clothing, jewelry and posing for pictures or posing with the TV's and the bigger items. What did the stores have to do with the hockey game? What did any of the damage have to do with the hockey game? NOTHING! It was just a bunch of losers that had nothing better to do and thought it would be a good idea to go and flip cars and set them on fire and then leave a mess of destruction behind them for someone else to deal with. I bet they would be the first person to scream bloody murder if someone so much as looked at something that they owned, never mind trashing it.

 

I bet their parents are so proud of them right now! Look mom I tipped over a car and set it on fire…. Aren't I the great son you raised!?!?

 

Sorry about that rant but it pisses me off when people do things just because they have nothing better to do or they just want to do damage no matter the cost as long as it isn't their stuff!

 

©2011 7Ladybugs

Tuesday June 7th, 2011

Well, isn't this week just flying by? I was walking around today thinking it was Monday lol I am pretty sure I was robbed of some hours in my day but no one believes me so what am I to do?

 

Anyway, how has your day been? Did you get any exercise today? I did a lot of walking today at two different venues. I was the photographer for the Senior and Teens luncheon, which I ducked out of after about 45 minutes because I got all the pictures that I needed and I was pressed for time.

 

The second venue was, and is, one of my favorite places; it was the local Chocolate Factory that I had to drop off a Thank you card for the door prize donation they gave us for my past event. Every time I was in there it smells so good! They have a chocolate fountain right by the window and lately it has been turned off when I have gone in there and I tease the owner and tell him I promise not to drool in the chocolate if he turns it back on! LOL

 

After dropping off the thank you card at the chocolate place we walked three blocks and dropped off another thank you card to the little store on the corner that sells nuts and fruits and hand carved wooden figurines. They donated a nice 'Princess of the Woods' carving to my last event and I wanted to tell them how much I appreciated it and that the winner was over joyed with it.

 

Other than that, I have been baking some 'Wartime Vegetable Turnovers'. They are cheap and so easy to make and you can add anything to them. The recipe only calls for onions, potatoes and carrots, but I add in celery and whatever meat I have to hand. Tonight I used a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of sloppy-joe mix, carrots, onions, celery and some ground beef and the kids call them Pizza Pockets. OMG they are so good and the kids love them. They are the best for filling up hungry teens on a limited budget!

 

I can't have that stuff so I use the veggies and then add a can of chicken or fresh chicken and then cook them as usual. Tomorrow I am going to be making some apple-cinnamon ones and I will have to let you know how they turn out.

 

The veggies I picked up today for dirt cheap at the local produce store because they were not the prettiest looking veggies and the apples were 99 cents because one had a brown spot on it, so I got a 5lb bag of apples for 99 cents… not bad eh!

 

In total I paid under $5 for everything to make 23 turnovers! Not bad eh!?

 

Well, that's it for now. I have to go and clean up the mess I made in the kitchen because no one else will do it for me lol

 

Have a great day tomorrow and don't forget to get your walking in!

 

©2011 7Ladybugs

NOTE

I broke down my May's Entry so it is in smaller chunks to read!

Hope this helps you read my blog better and COMMENT lol

 

©2011 7Ladybugs

June 5th ,2011

Yesterday we went to a Clean Up event at Stave Lake, about 2 hours or so from where I live. I thought I would have been getting a late start because some people (don’t look at me like that! LOL) don’t like to get out of bed so early in the morning.

I actually woke up and got dressed and was ready to leave the house before 7am, and then my IBD started to act up which made me late leaving the house because I had to wait until the meds had kicked in to leave, should have known it was too good to be true!

Anyway, even though I was only 15 minutes behind schedule I managed to make up some time from the lack of traffic on the road, which was a good thing because we also made a stop to get some gas for my truck and then a Tim Horton’s stop for my son to get a coffee and donuts!!

Because I made those two stops it now put me back 5 minutes and when I got to our friends house, where hubby spent the night instead of coming home and then going back there, the guys and the trucks were all ready to go… that is a FIRST! The guys are always fiddling with their trucks for those ‘last minute adjustments’ which means take the whole engine apart lol



The day was perfect to be out in the great outdoors because it was nice and sunny and the air was a bit crisp at that time of the morning but it was still a great day. The following are some pictures from the event.

This was the first pile of crap we picked up. It took 4 tractor buck loads to clean up the bags of drywall we found!

This is Manda being goofy at the side of the road after cleaning up the drywall!

One of the volunteers found someone’s guilty pleasures out in the woods!

We will not find out the total amount of the garbage and metal that we picked up as it still has to be tallied and recorded, but as soon as I find out I will be sure and let you know.

After everyone came back to the staging area they were handing out hot dogs, chips, juice/pop/water and a bunch of other food items, and you can be sure that we were very appreciative of the food! You don’t realize how hungry you are when you are working picking up garbage but when you smell the BBQ going when you pull into the staging area your stomach starts to grumble and you cant do anything until you have eaten.

After everyone had eaten they were giving out door prizes. I won a hat, a gift card to a Lordco, a flashlight and a tire pressure gauge, all in a package. Jason won some jumper cables which he is giving to me because apparently the last time I lent him them they broke, but he forgot to mention that to me LOL Manda won a pair of long work socks, a hat and a cd’s holder (which she wanted). Justin won a huge tin that was donated by Purina for Gizmo. It had dog toys and food in it and the can is big and decorated with different kinds of dogs. Our friend Dave won a cammo hat, a t-shirt and some really good Geocaching gloves (which he gave to me). Our other friend George, won a great big canvas bag and in it was a bunch of items from the Health Food Store like a bag of Nachos, a jar of Salsa, some vitamins (2 bottles of different ones), a box of tea, some cookies and a really nice book with some recipes in it and telling you about the different foods and how they help your body. All in all it was a great day and a great clean up!

Now normally we would say our good byes and go home and relax for the rest of the day, or what was left of it or just hang out at Dave’s place for a while…. We didn’t do either! We went back up to the mud flats and spent the rest of the day playing in the mud with the trucks!! Below are some of the pictures from after the clean up event when we were back at the mud flats! Don’t worry there will be a YouTube video coming in the next few days of all the pictures.

Some idiot thought he could get his truck between some trees…
it didn’t work out well for him LOL


This is my truck next to our friend Dave’s truck… which one is mine LOL


This is Manda after going for a ride in the
back of Dave’s truck through the mud puddles!



And this is me after spending an entire day in the sun!

There is more to the story of how I got so sun burnt but I will have to share that with you maybe tomorrow because I am running out of time to get everything done that I am supposed to!

How was your weekend? Tell me what you did this weekend!

©2011 7Ladybugs
June 5, 2011

And I am off Again...

The last few days have found me walking through 4 foot high wet grass, swamps, prickle bushes and through streams all in the name of helping a fellow geocacher get coordinates to thier cache!

 

It was actually a two day adventure though the wet grasses and in the rain, but a fun one at that. You see, they had replaced a geocache and had taken some coordinates but their GPS was acting up and said that the cache was two kilometers away from where it really was. So, without the real coordinates we only had the clues and a few hints as to the area, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

 

Eventually we did find it but only after spending two hours the night before in the dark and walking through swamp lands, and then another hour and a half yesterday doing the same thing in the rain. Just as I was about to call it quits, Manda noticed something odd by a tree and sure enough there was the geocache. We actually signed the log book and then took the correct coordinates two times and then emailed them to the owner :) Thats what geocaching friends do for each other!

 

Tomorrow, Saturday, I am getting up at 6am so I can leave the house by 7am to be at a 4x4/geocaching clean up event by 9am. I love driving in the mornings on the weekends because there is no one on the roads and I can usually cut my driving time down... I am hoping anyway because I have to drive about 100 kilometers to get to the event. I have everything ready to go and the coolers packed so it should only be a matter of getting the truck packed and then hopping in the truck...thats what SHOULD happen but we all know it never happens as we would like LOL

 

Well, I am off to bed now so I can get up early in the morning. How are you spending your weekend? Are you doing anything fun? I knwo we are going to be spending it outdoors and on the forest service roads both days 4x4ing because it is supposed to be sunny and hot here!

 

Have a great weekend! I will let you know how things go tomorrow night when I get back!

 

©2011 7Ladybugs

May's Steps Total

Wow I can not believe that I actually beat last months steps!

My totals for May were .... drum roll please .............

170286 steps. That is equal to 107.5 miles or 173 kilometers! YEA ME!

Really I do not notice that I am walking that far anymore, I feel so good about walking that I find I would rather walk to places that are even further than I would normally walk to, I can only imagine that is a good thing!

 

How is your walking coming along? Are you trying to get out and about each and every day? With summer coming I find I am walking more and more and spending less and less time inside which is why I am sending this via email to my blog in hopes that it will show up and I can update you easier this way.

 

I am so sorry if the last post was so long I do plan on breaking it down into smaller chunks so it is easier to read.... thats if you would like me to do that for you!

 

Have a great evening and I will chat more tomorrow!

 

©2011 7LadyBugs

Wednesday May 25, 2011 -

So, today was my doctor's appointment and I weighted myself and I have put on two pounds! I write it down in my book and then I notice something odd. February I gained 2lbs, March I gained 2lbs, April I gained 2lbs, and May I gained 2lbs! WTF is going on here? My clothes are looser and I feel so good about myself. I asked my doctor and she said with all the walking I am doing, and the fact that I used to be very muscular (I used to life weights), I am losing inches but gaining muscle. So, it is good in one sense but bad in another LOL I can't win for losing in this game of life!

My doctor doesn't know what to suggest because I am losing inches with walking but I am gaining muscle and not losing weight! I can either slow down on my walking so I don't gain too much muscle or keep things the same and lose inches. Oh crap I don't know what to do…. Do you have any suggestions?

Saturday May 21, 2011 -

Woohooo we went to stave Lake today and went mudding but it was cut short. Our friends five-year-old daughter had a urinary infection and was screaming in pain from the minute we got there. I know it wasn't her fault but it sure put a damper on things when all you can hear is her screaming because her mother is too friggin lazy to take her to the doctors and leaves it up to their dad when he gets them to take care of it.

Eventually she did go pee and the pain stopped but this was after everyone had packed up and was on the way home. I don't blame her it wasn't her fault at all!

The best part about the trip was that some other friends of ours came up there in the wife's daily driver, a 2010 Ford Explorer WHITE with two week old tires on it, and said he was going to go through the mud! His wife was like no friggin way!

On the way up to Stave Lake they got a flat tire so Jason fixed it with a tire plug for them and then got them back on the road. I said they should take the tires back and tell them that they sucked because you were driving along and it got a hole in it LOL

Once up at Stave Lake he did actually take her truck through the mud puddles, but not just any mud puddles, the one and only mud puddle that had broken three trucks before him lol He got stuck in there and had to be pulled out and nearly creamed the truck when he got out because he forgot to put his foot on the break LOL His wife was like, "Ok you stupid @#%$in English Man get out of my truck!" She was laughing but you could tell she was pissed at him LOL

Dave took his monster truck through there and he broke his drive shaft. Before that Jason took his truck through and his engine tried to suck the air filter into the motor and he was limping out of that mud hole. The air filter was about an inch high and squished when he showed it to me, they are normally four or five inches tall and defiantly not squished! Good job they all carry spare parts for a bunch of different trucks.

What a day, what a day! But it was all in fun and once everyone saw that Miss Madison was ok the BBQ that was supposed to happen at Stave Lake continued on at Dave's house.

I did get my walk in today when I was walking around the mud flats taking pictures of the various trucks and people getting stuck or just wondering around in general.

Thursday May 19, 2011 -

I was going back to my old stomping grounds when I was a teenager today and I was excited to show off where I lived when we moved to Canada. The only problem was that it seems if you leave an area for even a day they change it all around and you cant even find where you went to school because they have built roads and condos and apartment complexes around the areas you used to walk to go to school. My piece of advice to anyone going on vacation for any length of time is to get coordinates to you home because when you return there will probably be a shopping mall where your neighbors house used to be and a traffic calming device (aka a round-a-bout) where the end of your driveway should be, don't say I didn't warn you!

Anyway before we even got to the doctors office we nearly got killed, I am serious! We were driving down the freeway and they are doing a lot of construction and there was a metal three pronged bracket type thing on the road and we are going at a fair clip in the HOV lane at about 90kms. The truck in front of us cleared it because he was higher than our car but we hit it before we could even react to it!!!

First it hit the radiator and took that out and then it bounced back under the car and put a hole through the front cross member and shot out to the drivers side and hit the cement barrier and came back and hit the drivers door about a half inch below the open window, which would have killed Jason instantly if it had been just that bit higher. Then it went back under the car and hit the gas tank and dented it and then took out the exhaust system before settling in the other lane. It all happened so fast that we had hit it before we even realized what it was. We couldn't have dodged it as there was traffic in the other lane and to stop would have been too dangerous because we had a fast stream of cars right behind us.

Could the day get any worse? I mean a three + hour drive to see the doctor, getting the shit scared out of us on the way there, trying to find the damn doctors office because you cant see the numbers on the buildings and nearly get a ticket because you pull a U-turn by the cop shop that has moved since you were last there, spending $4.00 on parking for an hour and only seeing the doctor for ten friggin minutes… oh tell me something is going to go right!!!

Well, the doctor said that Jason has to go in for a MRI scan at the hospital in North Vancouver, which means that it is another day off work for Jason, and then surgery which is another god knows how long off work with NO PAY! This trip cost us over $150.00 because we spent $50.00 in gas and then the lost wages of Jason's. The doctor says he has about five degenerate disks in his back and after the MRI they will see which disk to fix to get the most bang for your buck!

Some doctors don't care that you live hours and hours away when they schedule things for you they just want it convenient for them. I mean we have a hospital that is maybe 40 minutes away that can do the MRI but he wants it done down there. I was so close to telling him to pay for the friggin gas and time off work for Jason then we would do it but I kept my mouth shut, for once lol

The best part about this trip was that we went Geocaching on the way home and found another six geocaches that I wouldn't have been able to get because we don't usually travel that far.

Wednesday May 18, 2011 -

I love getting packages in the mail! Today I received my eight geocaches that I am hiding for the BC parks; now the fun begins as I decide where to hide them in the parks I have chosen to cover. Four of the caches are going to be placed way up on a forest service road where there are some forestry camps that people camp at… you know I am going to love that drive! I might even take my terrified-of-the-road mom along for the fun of it LOL She trusts my driving and on the forestry roads but she always freaks out when we go close to the edge of the roads which I think is funny because the roads are totally safe, well, for the most part!

I can't wait to place those caches but I have to wait until the end of the month so I can put gas in my truck to go up there. Hubby gets paid on the 31st so it looks like I will be June 1st before I start to place my caches; good job there is no deadline right now.

Monday May 16, 2011 -

So today was one of those days that if something can go wrong it will, and it did! I got a call from Nadine's doctor asking me to come in with her later today, no problem, as I was free in the afternoon. My truck wouldn't start when it was time to leave so I had to figure out what the problem was by myself, fortunately it was just a loose battery connection and I was on my way shortly. As usual I was late and we only live like 10 minutes from the doctors office, but she is always running late anyway so technically I was on time!

Anyway, we get in to see her and she comes in and said, "We were all shocked about the results! You have a rare benign bone tumor under your knee cap!" Umm say what?

She has a Chondroblastoma, which is a rare, benign tumor. Of course Nadine only heard the word tumor and I could tell she was going to freak out so I told her it was a zit under her knee cap and she seemed to settle down. Most people forget that Nadine has the mentality of an eight year old because she is sixteen years old.

The next step is to have her seen by a specialist at Children's Hospital in Vancouver. None of this is cheap btw. To travel from here to Vancouver is going to be about $50.00 in gas plus Jason's lost wages because he doesn't get paid if he doesn't go to work and then trying to find parking, won't even touch that one!

So now it is a waiting game to see when she gets in and gets this all sorted out.

It was funny when her dad came home though because I had run out to the store to pick something up and all she told him was that she had a tumor and I would explain when I came home! LOL Well I get home and Jason is like she has a WHAT? I told him to calm down and after explaining it to him he was much happier and told Nadine not to tell people she has a tumor like that because it freaks people out! LOL

Two bad news days in the month is all I can take and we still have to go and see the specialist about Jason's back/neck/arm later this week!

I am still going for my daily walks because that is what is keeping me sane during these hellish times!

Sunday May 15, 2011 -

I was trying to catch up on many things but never got around to doing half of them today because either the kids or hubby was always interrupting me! I did manage to get some of my blocks painted for a puzzle geocache that I am making, I might even post some pictures of them when they are totally finished, just incase I have some silent readers that are geocachers close to home LOL Don't want to tip them off on the puzzle before it is published.

May 7th and May 15th 2011

Saturday May 7, 2011 –

It was my clean up event today and as I said yesterday, it rained and rained and rained and then rained some more!
I still had a good turn out of volunteers though and it made the clean up go pretty fast. I had scheduled the clean up from 11am until 3pm but we were finished by 2pm and that includes giving out the door prizes.

In total we picked up 270kgs of garbage today and that includes a barrel of grease that someone had thrown down a ravine with half of the grease still in it. That was gross because when we picked it up the grease oozed out and we had to scoop up as much as we could and then report it to the city.

Once hubby had gone around picking up the garbage and taking it to the dump, I did one last drive around of the area and found a few more bags of garbage that he didn’t pick up so I guess I will be heading to the dump on Monday before I go to city hall to drop off my dump receipts.

For the final total I am hoping we beat last years weight of 330 kgs of garbage and right now it doesn’t look like I will as the dump run hubby did was only 270kgs. In a way I suppose that is good because it means people are not throwing their garbage out of the window as much lol

I will have to let you know the final weight on Monday when I get the total.

This is the car trailer that isn't quite full yet but you get the idea about how much we picked up!

Saturday May 14, 2011 –

Today Manda and I had to go and pick up one of my BC Parks geocaches that I placed there in 2008. BC Parks work together with the BCGA (British Columbia Geocaching Association) to promote their parks. So, BC Parks have given us permission to place geocaches in there parks that coincide with major BC Parks events, e.g.: BC’s 150th Birthday, their 100th Anniversary, Year of Science etc. Well I have to take out the cache that was for BC's 150th Birthday.

While I was up in the area we decided we might as well find a few geocaches while we were there. The first one we went to find we ended up not finding because the owner had taken the cache to be repaired and not listed it on the web page, but after that we found six other caches in the immediate area and then time was running out so we had to hurry back so I could go to the grocery store on the way home.

While in the grocery store, after picking up burgers for dinner, we walked down the ‘International’ isle and Manda and I both stopped dead in our tracks and cracked up laughing at what we saw.

Oh you read it right LOL

Have you ever seen that kind of soup before? I know I haven’t ever seen this before. Just what does it taste like? And if I don’t think it tastes like cock can I call them and tell then that this soup doesn’t taste like any cock I have ever had? LOL Can you imagine the call they must get about this soup? I would love to be the customer service rep for this soup; I could have so much fun with it!

Me: Welcome to the Cock division of Soupy Central. How may I help you?
Customer: Hi, I bought some of your cock and it tastes a bit salty.
Me: Really? Did you swallow it or spit it out?
Customer: Pardon?
Me: Did you swallow the cock or spit it out? If you spit it out then it must have been really salty and I will tell Guy to produce it with less salt. But if you swallowed it then there is nothing I can do about it because you ate it.
Customer: Oh I always spit things out like that.
Me: I take it you aren’t married then huh!
Customer: How did you know?
Me: Just a guess because if you keep spitting the cock out then no guy will want you!

A commercial for Cock Soup

OMG I could have way too much fun there! I think I should find their address and send them a resume and see if I get a reply back from them LOL

Friday May 13, 2011 -

My neighbor came over today to ask if I could drive him and his nephew to the dentist that is about half hour away. Of course I said I would drive them but I was a bit hesitant to drive them incase they were wanting me to stay and bring them back, but it worked out well because I just had to drop them off and they had another way home after the appointment.

After that I picked up my mom and Manda and went for a walk around the cemetery, as it was a beautiful day. We were tempting to walk around three times but we figured twice was enough for today as it was rather warm.

Thursday May 12, 2011 -

It was finally confirmed today that the reason Manda is having jaw pain is because she has TMJ (it does not mean Too Much Jizz as I said LOL) Temporomandibular joint. It means the cartilage in her jaw has rolled up on itself and it stopping her from opening her mouth really wide. (I am sure you can imagine what I said it was from! LOL) No one really knows why it happens but the outcome is the same… surgery! Oh not just any surgery it is surgery that is considered cosmetic surgery and has to be done by a dentist with a doctors degree and it is NOT covered by medical.

It gets even better as well, there is a specialist in Vancouver that can fix it for her but first you have to have a consult with her and her waiting list is about four or so months, no big deal right…. WRONG! The consult is 10 minutes long and costs $375.00 and that is only for the consult! Then the surgery you have to pay for out of your pocket again and all the crap that goes along with that!

So, for the consult it would end up costing us $550.00 because $50.00 in gas, the $100 Jason would be losing for having a day off work and then the parking and the consult fee! I turned to Manda and apologized and said I just can't afford it Manda! It kills me to say that because I know she is in pain but we just don't have that kind of money kicking around.

I phoned her regular doctor when we got back and she told me to not worry because there was no way she was going to let us pay that kind of money for something that should be covered and that we would treat it the best we could with exercises and pain medication.

I am so coming back as a doctor when I die so I can be a rich bitch!

Wednesday May 11, 2011 -

Even though it was pouring buckets down today we still did our two laps around the cemetery. Yes we got soaked but we had fun puddle jumping and walking.

One thing I hate about the rain is that no matter what jacket I wear it always ends up looking like I have peed my pants. When the water drips off my jackets it always makes my pants wet and it is annoying as hell LOL Do you have that problem with your jackets or is it just me? Please lie to me and tell me you have the same problems LOL

Tuesday May 10, 2011 -

OMG you would have died laughing today when we were on our walk. My mom is such a hoot and when we were walking around the cemetery today we saw these mushrooms growing at the base of one of the many trees that are scattered around the area.

Mom saw them and without missing a beat she said, "Ooo I wonder if they are Magic mushrooms?"

I was like, "WTF Mom! That's all you can think of to say about the mushrooms? Not about the color or shape or where they are growing?"

She couldn't walk because she was laughing so hard and so were Manda and myself!

Of all the things my mom could say and it was that lol now you have to picture this, a little old gray haired lady walking around and then saying that! OMG it was too funny!

Monday May 9, 2011 -

Remember the garbage I picked up after hubby had gone to the dump? Well it was 70kgs of garbage that I took in today for a grand total of 340kgs of garbage we picked up. That means that we beat last years total by 10kgs. In some ways it is good and in many more ways that is bad.

Good because we win the 'Heaviest Litter Collection' award but bad because people are still using the great outdoors as there own dumping ground. Frustrating as anything for me because when I put on an event I hope we don't pick up a lot of garbage which will mean that people are being more respectful of the area, it never happens that way though L

Do you do anything to help keep the environment clean?

Sunday May 8, 2011 -

Whoop! Today for Mothers Day I get a stereo put in my truck J I know to some people it doesn't sound like much but trust me it is a HUGE deal!

Right now my stereo consists of my MP3 player and a set of MP3 player speakers, you know the small ones that lets you use your MP3 as a stereo! The sound sucks on them and the volume is so low you can't hear anything unless all the windows are rolled up and you are sitting in the front seat!

Hubby took the stereo out of my old car (Tammy) and put it into my truck (Bethany), but the only problem is when it was in Tammy we used to call it Tammy Tunes because no matter what CD or USB you hooked into it, or whatever song you were listening to, Tammy would skip to another song and then play as much as she wanted and then go back to the original song LOL That's why we called it Tammy Tunes because she chose the music.

Now that it is in Bethany (my truck) we were thinking that we might have to call it Bethany Beats if she does the same thing. Wouldn't you just know it, now that the stereo is in Bethany it works perfect without skipping or missing songs and then going back or just not playing entire cd's. Before anyone says this let me please state that NO the stereo was not on random play!

So for Mothers Day, hubby made this girl very happy by installing some tunes in the truck so she can be bop while 4x4ing! The kids got me a nice gift basket that had foot cream, hand cream, perfume, chocolate, some bath scented items and a nice card. Plus my son made me an awesome dinner using only chicken breast, plain potatoes and chicken gravy. He knows cooking for me is a challenge but he asked if I could have this or that before doing anything and I have to say it was very delicious and mmmmmmmm so good!

How was your Mothers Day?

Friday May 6, 2011 -

Today I ran around rounding up the last of the donations and getting everything organized for tomorrow's event. I am hoping that it doesn't rain but if it is anything like last years event it WILL rain.

Thursday May 5, 2011 -

So I am calling the last minute companies to check when I can pick up their door prize donations and half of them tell me that they do not want to donate anymore. Argh! It pisses me off so much when a company will say "yes we can donate some of last years key chains or lanyards" and then they decide they don't want to be bothered with the paperwork, which by the way, I have always done for them with my donations sheets I hand out.

One good thing did come out of this though, we got the local chocolate place to donate some yummy oh so gooey chocolate to the event. (Not that I have opened the box or anything but DAMN! They are good!) I actually bought a half slab of their fudge and OMG it was almost as good as sex!

Wednesday May 4, 2011 -

Today we were feeling pretty good and decided to do 2 laps in the morning just Manda and I and then in the afternoon we did 2 laps with mom as well. Talk about feeling the burn LOL Now that we know we can do four laps we are going to try and do that every other day or so just to keep things interesting.

Tuesday May 3, 2011 -

Today I had my check up with the doctor about my back and some other things. They haven't received the pathology report back on the 'thing' they removed from my back but my doctor is pretty sure it was cancer.

While I was at the doctors though I weighed myself, and damn me, I lost another pound somewhere on my walks LOL I was floating the rest of the day and I didn't tell anyone about my weight loss because I didn't want my daughter to feel bad about not losing weight this time around. Some would say by telling her it would encourage her to lose weight but it really doesn't work like that. Manda gets upset when she doesn't lose weight and then the self doubting comes into play and I don't think she needs that right now.

Have you lost any weight recently? Good job if you have and keep up the great work. If you haven't lost any weight it is ok there is always tomorrow to start again.

Monday May 2, 2011 -

I have been gifted some Filter Queen vacuum bags and filters but I have to pick them up in the town that is about 45 minutes away. I went yesterday but they were not home and they didn't leave them in the mailbox as they said they would. So, I wasted time, gas and part of the day driving to get them. I did not waste the whole trip though as there is a duck pond very close to where we were going so instead of walking around the 'bone yard' as my mom calls it, we walked around the duck pond and enjoyed the ducks laughing at us as we walked through their poop!

I seriously do not understand how ducks and geese can poop so much in one area. I once told someone that the reason Canada Geese have white on the tip of their poop is so they can see it in the dark and not step on it LOL They believed me. Go figure eh!

There used to be a Canada goose at this park with orange feet and legs. Now you know someone's Momma was not faithful for that to happen. It was the funniest thing to see and also weird as well. I will try and find the picture I took a couple of years ago of the goose and post it for you to see.

Sunday May 1, 2011

Today was the day that I added up all my steps and then figured out how far I had walked in the month of April. I was trying to beat my March totals but as you can see I was disappointed and fell short by 40 kilometers. I walked 91.5 miles or 147.2kms in thirty days.

I know I am hard on myself but I would rather beat my steps taken each month so I can compete with myself to do better. Nothing I can do about it now though is there. I am going to have to buckle down and try to beat the April steps by at least 40 kilometers.

I am walking everyday so I know it isn't that I have missed a day or anything of walking, maybe I just didn't walk as far as I thought I had … or maybe my step counter was acting up on some of the walks we did. Oh well, onward and upward!

How has your walking been? Have you been keeping up with the walking everyday?

The Videos I Promised

April 30, 2011

Just a quick update to let you know that I have put up the videos and the links are below!

Stave Lake Playing on April 16th, 2011

Stave Lake East Clean Up April 23rd, 2011

My Tattoos

Let me know what you think of them :)

The Royal Wedding

Ok I am sure you have all seen or heard about the Royal Wedding by now. I don’t know how many of you stayed up to watch it on TV or not but I did. I am going to point out a few things that amused the heck out of me about the wedding.

The hats were one of those things that had me thinking “What were you thinking when you stuck that on your head?” Did you see princess Eugenie’s hat? It looks like antlers gone wrong. She couldn’t even sit up straight in the car because her antlers were too big and were hitting the roof.

The Beckhams looked fabulous though didn’t they! Victoria designed and made the hat herself and it did look very classy.

Did anyone see when Prince Charles stepped out of the car and wiped his nose with his right hand and then proceeded to shake hands with people right after? That was so gross but it made hubby laugh. Yes hubby was the one that said I am not staying up to watch that…. Yea right he so did stay up!

I am not sure if you have seen the picture that is floating around the Internet where they are on the balcony and Kate is bent down in front of William. Let me just say I thought it was hilarious. Google WTF royal wedding and it should come up!

The queen looked kind of grumpy but then again if I had to wear some of the hats that she owns I would be grumpy as well.

Before I got on I should tell you a little secret, I am Royalty as well so I can say the things I say.

Okay, now onto the wedding itself. Wasn’t her dress just fabulous? I thought it was very nice. Pippa’s dress was nice as well and I loved the fact that she had flower girls and pageboys.

Can you imagine reading the 22-page booklet that was sent out with the invitations on what can be worn, should be worn and what is a big no-no? No low necklines. No wearing white. No sports jackets. Men must wear their uniforms if they are in the military and that is just to name a few.

If you know me at all you know I would be the one wearing a white plunging neckline with runners. LOL Oh that was one of the other things, the ladies have to have heels on their shoes.

To me that is way too many rules for my liking. I would have a simple wedding that would have few rules.

The venue would be somewhere in the woods and the only way to find it is using a GPS and a 4x4 truck.

Clothes MUST be worn unless you are a Chippendale’s dancer then no clothes are needed.

Runners are a must because I don’t want anyone falling down when their heel gets stuck in the grass or dirt.

Gifts are accepted and are a must. Nothing like towels or cookware, I want gift cards and cash, houses, cars etc. I asked my mom what you would buy Kate and William and you know what she said? She said Penicillin because they already have everything else LOL

The food would be simple. For finger foods I would have chips and dip, veggies and dip, my moms mixed veg and ham rolls, chicken strips, deep-fried zucchini and a few other things that I cant think of right now.

For the main meal I would have deep fried chicken and fries, hamburgers, smokies, baked and roasted potatoes and tons of different salads. Oh and super fresh baked buns with butter.

Nothing fancy for this chick. I have been married before and had a simple; self-catered wedding and liked the wedding hated the guy LOL

You can get everything you need for about $150.00, depending on how many people you invite, at Dollar Giant! You can get plates, cups and tablecloths and napkins all the way to table decorations there. Talk about cheap, but what you save on the wedding you can use somewhere else!

Can you imagine Kate and Williams wedding if they were on a budget? LOL none of this pomp and circumstance crap it would be a BYOPC (bring your own plate and cup) and sit on the grass LOL

I think Kate and William will be great for the Monarchy because they will bring it up to date and get rid of some of the million year old traditions that are so stuffy that you think you are looking at a silent movie.

Did you know that the palace hire lip readers for all of their big ceremonies to see what people are saying? I thought that was funny and would love to know what was seen LOL

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 30, 2011

City Gave Me An Award

Friday April 29th, 2011

The last day of the week and then it is play time with the trucks… I hope!

That also means that if it is playtime with the trucks that I have to get all my work done today for today and tomorrow…argh! I should delegate some work to all of you lol how well do you think that will go over?

You in the back there, you can do the dishes.

You looking around to see who is doing dishes, yes you, you can do the laundry and that includes the three bathrooms laundry as well as the bedrooms.

Why are you snickering? You get to sit down and proof read all of these * drops a pile as thick as two volumes of encyclopedias into your hands *, oh you stopped snickering now eh!

You there, no not you the one next to you that is trying to leave. YES YOU! You are going to vacuum the house and the stairs.

You standing in the VERY back, you can clean the bathrooms!

Anyone else that does not have a job step forward because you are going to go grocery shopping for me and then come back and make dinner for the family!

*Whew * that was tough work delegating all my chores. I think I need a nap now! Just kidding. I still have plenty more work to do today that I don’t think anyone else would want to do. I have to write a 500-word story describing what is going on in a picture that was sent to me by a magazine I am write for.

Tonight hubby called me and told me he was spending the night at his buddies because he was going to work roofing tomorrow. I guess this weekend we are not wheeling on two days but maybe on one day! Well, one day is better than nothing I guess! Plus I have to drive his daughter over there because his friend has his kids this weekend and they need a babysitter for when they are working. That means I have to drive an hour and a half to drop her off and then an hour and half to come back home.

Ok I just got back from going to see hubby and dropping off my youngest stepdaughter there to baby sit. Before I could leave, I had to take the kids down to the corner store to get a slushy because hubby mentioned that I was going to be there soon and the kids love me to death LOL So, I load up the kids and a booster seat for Miss Maddy and off we go down to the store. They live way back in the middle of nowhere so walking to the store is totally out of the question.

Madison is 5 and Mackenzie is 9 I think. They always try and pull a fast one with me by saying that they always get this or that with their slushy, I am wise to that now though and told them if they pulled any crap I would dump their slushys out and they would get nothing LOL They zoomed in the store, got their slushy and waited for me at the counter. Hubby and their dad could not believe how good they were for me because they ALWAYS get conned into buying like three treats for each of them and then they have to decide what treats to get … suckers! I just say you get one thing and that’s the facts JACK! They know I don’t put up with crap and will do as I say! Ahhh but they are adorable and even though Madison cannot say my name properly I love the way she says it LOL

It is now 10pm and I just got in from the trip. Man there is a lot of weirdo’s in the bigger cities! I am glad I live in the smaller town where we know all the nutters and I am the president of the club!

Oh damn I almost forgot to tell you; I won an award from one of the cities that I held a clean up event in last year. The Mayor of the city called me and asked me to attend the city hall public general meeting, as he wanted to give me something. Talk about nervous! I took my mom to the meeting and he awarded me with a certificate of appreciation for my efforts to improve their city and the environment! I got a certificate and they said they are going to send me a plaque with the same information on it for my wall. The City Hall was packed and I was called up to receive my award! I got a standing ovation and I wanted to crawl under a rock I was so embarrassed. I am used to being recognized because of my writing but to be honored by a city was something else again! Pretty cool eh!

Well, I am going to go because I am taking care of my neighbor’s two dogs and they need to go out for a walk before they mess on their floors.

I hope you had an awesome day and got to go for a nice walk like we did. Yes we danced around the cemetery again and this time I didn’t think anyone was watching us but there was one of the parks guys watching us and when we went back to the truck he was clapping LOL Yup, that’s how we roll around here!

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 29th, 2011

My Explanation

Thursday April 28th, 2011

Wow it is nearly the last day of the month! I can’t wait for that because then I can add up my steps and see how far I have walked. Do you write down how many steps you have taken each day? If so, do you add them up at the end of each month? I do that because I want to try and better each month’s totals.

Today Manda and I went for our two laps around the cemetery and this time we both had mp3 players and were dancing around the laps! If anyone saw us they would have thought we had escaped from the loony bin or something. I don’t really care what people think because I am getting in my exercise and enjoying the time I have outside and my music! If nothing else turn your mp3 up and dance your way around the block, people will look at you in a whole new light and you will smile and wave and keep on going because you are having fun!

As you may have noticed, if you have been keeping up with my blog posts, I have been adding entries once a week or so. I have a very good reason for that just let me think of one ok LOL Seriously though, I haven’t been having much time on the computer lately so I have been handwriting my blog entries and then typing them up when I get chance. I have been keeping them in the date order by backdating them so they are still on the right dates that I wrote them, just not the day that I actually post them LOL

This time of the year is one of my busiest for my family and me. I have several Geocaching events that I am holding which requires a lot of prep work for each different one, not to mention all the begging letters I have to send to get a few door prizes for each event.

Then if I am not holding an event, there are other events that I go to for Geocaching because I am the Ambassador for the area that I live in. Then we get to the 4x4 association events that we are attending and all the other fun things like ridge running with the trucks that we do on the weekends etc and I am hardly home.

That is just the weekends! During the week I am running from doctors appointments to hospital visits to surgery. Then I am the photographer for the Senior Peer Counselors events that are weekly and I have to make a slide show and data disk for them each week.

Somewhere in there I am also working on finishing three different storybooks and also writing for several magazines. Oh and I always take time out for walking daily!

I am not complaining at all just explaining that why my posts have been several at once, which will continue until later this year when things start to slow down again. Don’t worry though you will still get a blow-by-blow account of how my day has been and anything that I have learnt that day I will defiantly share with you!

I hope you understand and continue to read my blog post!

Plus, today was Mandas birthday! We celebrated all day long with going shopping and going out for lunch (I couldn’t afford dinner so just me and her went to Wendy’s for lunch) and then for a visit with my mom and a walk. Just because it was her birthday does not mean she can get out of going for a walk LOL

My mom had made her a birthday cake using an angel food cake and vanilla jello pudding. It looked awesome but unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of it before she brought it home and the kids dug into it lol I could take a picture of the crumbs that are left but it wont do the cake any justice!

Do you have a tip or trick that can help me post more often? Please share it if you do.

That’s it for me for now! Hope you got your walk in today!

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 28th, 2011

Stitches Out Today

Whoop! Today I get my stitches out and I am looking forward to that because I think I tore a stitch or two at the clean up on Saturday.

Back from the doctors office and I am not a happy camper LOL I got my stitches taken out but there is a small area that hasn’t healed yet so I still have to steri strip the area and keep it covered. Not only that, I showed her a huge gouge I got on Sunday when I was climbing over a log that had two nails sticking out of it, and she says oh you get to have a tetanus shot today as well as your vitamin b shot.

I tried to talk my way out of the tetanus shot but she said, and I quote, “I know how you work and play! You are getting the damn shot because you live on the edge of that thing we call life and you are always out in the bush with rusty stuff!” LOL Yup I love my doctor because she is so funny. Still had to get the tetanus shot in my right arm and my vitamin B in the left arm, man I felt like a pincushion!!!

On the brighter side, the thing she removed from my back will take about 3-4 weeks to come back so I have to wait that long to get the 100% positive that it is cancer, even though we are 90% sure it was. Oh well, you only live once eh LOL If you are being puzzled over what the heck I am talking about, you need to read my http://7ladybugs.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-day.html blog that tells all about it.

My back is a bit tender now that she took the stitches out but I suppose that is just the body reacting to her removing them, plus it isn’t really fully healed yet. I can’t wait for it to be fully healed because I have to have a shower with tape on my back so that it doesn’t get wet! If you want to know what it feels like, get a friend or partner to stick some duct tape on your back and then have them rip it off, just like waxing only with duct tape and no hair being removed LOL

After the doctors appointment I went and picked up my mom and brought her back to the doctors’ office because Manda also had an appointment about 15 minutes after mine. I figured I would pick up mom while Manda was waiting and then I wouldn’t have to go back and forth all the time and we could just go straight for our walk.

Just as we are heading for our walk, it starts to rain really hard, my mom said she didn’t think she would walk in the rain but said she would sit in the truck, which was fine by me as I was going for a walk whether or not she came along or not.

When we got up to the cemetery the sun was shinning and there was clear blue sky! My mom even didn’t wear her jacket because it was so sunny and hot that she didn’t need it at all. It was amazing at how the weather had changed from one side of the mountain to the other. I didn’t mind one bit though because I was walking and getting in my steps for the day!

How was your day today?



©2011 7Ladybugs
April 27th, 2011

Socks and Shoes

Tuesday 26th, 2011

Ok I have to tell you this right off the bat! You know I bought socks yesterday, well they were on sale and the package was 6+1 bonus pack. When I opened it today to pair them and put them in my sock basket, it literally meant 6 pairs +1 LOL I have one extra sock! I am sure it is a mistake but none the less it was funny as hell to me when I was counting the socks, then recounting and looking all over the floor and on the bed in case I misplaced one.

I am going to talk to the manager of the store today and let her know, she will get a kick out of it as well. Living in a small town you tend to know everyone and everyone knows you, so I do actually know the manager of the store and know she has a great sense of humor. I will let you know what she says about it when I get back!

I am planning on going for a walk this afternoon with Manda and my Mom. Mom had her cancer check up today and from what she just said on the phone, she is cancer free again! Five years for both my parents being cancer free! I think it is awesome!

Mom is really pumped to be out walking and is even trying to get my dad out walking the small section of the cemetery but he is very unstable on his feet and super super slow, so unless he walks by himself I don’t think he will be coming with us as we have a nice pace going and we can walk the entire thing in seven minutes now where before we would take fifteen minutes and we would be out of breath half way around.

I am thinking we should knock it up to three laps pretty soon as the two laps are getting too easy for us now.

Oh that reminds me, did you know that if you are walking daily that you are supposed to get new walking shoes every six months? I didn’t know that but now that I do I will treat myself probably at the 500-mile mark. Right now I am using the Skechers Shape-ups, which are very comfortable but only good for walking on flat surfaces. I have very weak ankles and when I wear the shape-ups I have to be careful walking because I twist my ankle very easily or I will go over on my ankle. Even though I have had surgery to correct the problem I have to still be careful because the next time they do surgery on my ankles it will be to put in plastic parts and I don’t think I want to have to explain why I can not go near fires or I will melt LOL

Do you wear special shoes to walk or are you like me, whatever is handy you put on? The only reason I have the Shape-up shoes is because my moms friend bought them for me at Christmas when she found out I was doing the 365 walking challenge and knew I couldn’t afford them.

Well, I am off to go for my walk, and it looks like it is going to be just Manda and me today as mom is stuck in traffic and is running late. That means I can listen to my mp3 player and walk!!!

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 26th, 2011

Monday April 25th, 2011

Nothing amazing happened today. It was basically a day of rest and cleaning up after the wreck of a weekend we had.

I did manage to get some of the videos completed that I was making of our 4x4 trip, the clean up and of my tattoos.

So many people have asked me about my tattoos and what they look like that I took pictures of all of them and made them into a movie. It looks pretty cool actually and you will get o see it when I have uploaded it later this week.

I did manage to get all of my 365 Challenges updated in my book. I have a binder and like for the walking one I write down how many steps I take each day on a piece of paper and then when I have time I transfer it to my binder. The same goes for my photo challenge and my writing challenge as well. My desk is covered with pieces of paper with things written on them or binders with stories that need to be finished or edited etc. I even have a binder that is full of manila envelopes for all of my odd scraps of paper. When I don’t know what to do with a piece of paper or I am cleaning up my office for a quick clean, I just put all my pieces of paper into an envelope and date the envelope so I know what day I chucked everything in there and then I have a clean desk and an organized ‘Mess Binder’ that sits on my shelf. It has big letters on it saying M.E.S.S, which means Mom’s Everyday Scraps of Something LOL Once in a while I go through those scraps and transfer the info to a book incase I need it in the future, then shred the scrap of paper.

Not that you would know this but I took a break from writing this and went for a walk with my mom and then went shopping at the local store for some socks that do not slide down under your feet when you are walking! I think that is my biggest pet peeve about socks! You are walking along at a nice pace and your sock slowly slides down and under your foot and then bunches up under your instep and it feels like you are walking on rocks or something. Then you have to stop and fix your sock and no sooner have you fixed one the other decides to do the same thing! I have them beat now, I bought new socks that are those anklet socks and they are guaranteed not to slide down!

My mom only managed one lap for her walk today because it was hailing too hard and it kept hitting her in the head and driving her nuts. I went for the two laps and had a great time playing in the hail and listening to it crunching under my feet as I walked.

Do you walk in the hail and rain? Or are you a fair weather walker? Be honest now lol

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 25th, 2011

Easter Dinner

Today was supposed to be a family day that included all of us going over to my parents house for a nice turkey dinner, but that didn’t happen as it should have.

Jason was working out on his car, there was something wrong with it and he had to fix it before Monday because he had to work, when his friend called him and needed to be rescued from Stave Lake where his truck blew up. It never fails, when we have plans something always manages to wreck them.

Anyway, because my hubby is a nice guy and knows what its like to be stuck at Stave Lake with a broken truck, he cleaned up his mess outside and then took Justin to go and get the car hauler. The car hauler is at his buddy’s house loaded with Corporal Beemer (the 4x4 BMW), which had to be taken off manually because they are working on the motor and it isn’t in car.

Hubby and Justin missed out on dinner doing this recovery because it is about an hour and a half to his friends place to pick up the trailer, then another half hour to find the trucks trailer tires (its mud tires are too big to put on the trailer, they hang over the edge too much) and then about an hour to get up to the mud flats.

My mom would not let them miss the meal totally so she made up a plate of food for both of them for me to bring home with me. We celebrate the British way and that is having your ‘turkey dinner’ at around 1pm. We have turkey, roasted potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, mashed potatoes, gravy and cheese sauce. I can’t eat most of that, but I do eat the turkey, roasties, and some boiled potatoes that they make for me.

It took the guys eight hours from leaving here to when they got back home. It was a long day for them and they really appreciated the food when they got all cleaned up.

After dinner, I drove my oldest daughter home and then went with my mom for our daily walk. Even though it was raining it was still nice to go for a walk and feel the rain on my face as we walked. It smelt so fresh and rejuvenating to walk today in the rain, it could have been the fact that I had turkey but I don’t care it was still nice to get out and walk.

It is soon coming up to the end of the month and I cannot wait to see how many miles/kilometers I have walked this month. I have been doing extra walks when I can, like parking further away from where I am going and walking the rest of the way.

How was your Easter? How do you celebrate it? What do you have for your dinner?

Hope you got your walks in today

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 24th, 2011

How I Spent My Saturday

I was excited about today because we get to go on a FSR (Forest Service Road) and clean up all the crap that others have left behind, plus I would get to take my new truck up there and see how well she does in the bush!

We had a bit of a later start to the day than I had hoped for because, even though we were ready to go on time, a neighbor that wanted to chat about something stopped us. Have you ever tried to get away from someone when they are talking and you know you have to be somewhere? I didn’t want to be rude but I could see the time was ticking by faster each time I looked and I ended up telling them that I had to leave as I was late!

With a full tank of gas I drive the 94km to the staging area of the clean up and get signed in, got our door prize tickets and pick up some gloves, garbage bags and some water and off we went. We drove about three kilometers and met up with some fellow geocachers that were also helping with the clean up. We decided to stop and help them clean up this one area that was just off the main road.

We were there about an hour and picked up thousands of shotgun shells and other debris that was in the area. We were not even making a dent in the crap that people were leaving behind. The funniest find was a mannequin that someone had been using for target practice. No fear everyone, the person that was aiming for this did a crappy job LOL They grazed both arms and hit the left thigh once! The rest of the body was bullet free but the tree that it was leaning against was another story!

It was a beautiful day but picking up garbage and shotgun shells were playing hell on my back and Manda was having a tough time with it as well, but we mustered on and helped in any way we could.

When it was lunchtime, yes they fed us as well; it was smokies with all the fixings with your choice of juice/ pop or water. I didn’t get to eat any of them as I was not too sure what was in the ‘chicken smokies’ and I wasn’t going to risk getting sick while out on the trail. I did have loads of the free water though because it was the brand that I normally drink.

After we were all fed and rested a bit we went back out there and everyone was talking about this one place that was a real mess. It was the place that Manda and I had started to clean, but ran out of bags after filling four of them up, after we went for a potty break up the road. We were happy to go back there and clean up and even go further into the area than we could before as there were two trucks and four guys shooting off guns there when Manda and I were there.

The guys that were camping/ shooting there were packing up pretty quickly when they saw six plus 4x4s pulling up and stopping next to the side of the road. They pretended not to understand English but you knew they did because when we moved into there area they felt so bad about all the shotgun shells and bullets and other garbage that they started to make piles of the shotgun shells by using a stick and trying to sweep them into a pile. It was hilarious!

Manda and I were in so much pain that we grabbed a plastic bag and sat down while we picked up the thousands and thousands of spent shotgun shells that people left behind. Someone asked me if I was taking a break and I said no I am picking up shotgun shells and saving my back from injury by sitting down doing it. They thought it was smart but to be honest I think I pulled a stitch when I was pulling the garbage bag up a bit.

We, Manda and I, were cleaning an area about ten feet square and even though we had filled two garbage bags full of shotgun shells, you couldn’t tell we had really done anything!

The worst part about it was that we found about 30 bullets that had not been fired in the fire pit! I am not sure of the mentality of some of the people that come up there but I am doubting that they have that many brain cells to put live ammo in or even near a fire!

From 10am until 4:30, with only an hour break, we cleaned up part of a forest service road, and you couldn’t even tell it was done at all except for the dump trucks that were driving in and out of the area full to capacity with trash.

In total I think there were about 100 4x4 trucks there and easily 200 plus people that were helping to clean up. This even was put on by the BC 4wheel drive association and local geocachers. Hubby had to work so he missed this event but he did show up at about 3pm to help for the last hour. While hubby wasn’t there I had the perfect opportunity to sign him up as a member of the 4x4 association that he has always wanted to be a part of. I borrowed the money from Justin because I didn’t have any cash on me and in the woods they don’t accept debit!

So, when hubby showed up I gave him his Easter present which was the membership and he was super happy about it, plus I get to write for the magazine anytime I like now that he is a member!

Before we left the event they had a door prize draw for all those that showed up. Hubby left to go home because he wanted to rest (his back is still hurting and so is his arm) so he gave me his ticket. I won a Back Roads Map book (I now own four of them) with my ticket. Manda won a 4ton hydraulic jack, and hubby won a 4x4 association hooded sweatshirt. Justin didn’t win anything but he wasn’t right bothered at that point because he was tired and the sun was bothering his eyes (he has blue blue eyes).

The Map book is on my desk (I already have a new one in my truck and so does hubby), the sweatshirt hubby wears and the hydraulic jack is in my truck because I don’t have a jack in there and it wont work on hubbys truck because it is so high.

We all got sun kissed while working even though we were in the shade part of the time, nothing major just a slight golden color to make us look healthy!
I will post the video when I have it uploaded.

©2011 7Ladybugs
April 23rd, 2011