Need to Breathe

Post Dated:

Today was crazy. I not only was on the phone most of the day. I was running around as well.
Being the executor of his will, there is a lot to do.
As I was running around today, I was at a set of lights and thought how peaceful our camp is.
The lake
The fresh air
Not having to drive anywhere
I am going up there tonight.

Hubby came home from work and I told him we need to go to camp. He was surprised as he didn't think I would want to go this weekend. But I need to escape from the phone. But there is no escape as everyone has our camp number.
My younger brother phoned out there and we talked for about an hour. He had just got into town.
My older brother was away on a holiday. He was scheduled to come home some time tonight.

Tracy

Good Bye Dad

Post Dated:

Today is the day that I had to make the arrangements for my dad. My sister wanted to come as well.
After I made the arrangements I asked to see him. I "needed" to see him. As I was looking at him I thought to myself, good thing you coloured your mustache and shaved your head dad. He liked to be put together.

Here is his obituary
http://www2.chroniclejournal.com/obituaries/watson/james

Later that night Wayne and I went to his apartment and cleaned the rug again and aired the place out.
I took every piece of paper I could find out of there to look at, at home. He never threw any papers away, not even the envelopes. Because I am taking care of everything I wanted to to through the papers at home.

I made lists of things that needed to be taken care of and places that I needed to call.

I don't know what I was thinking today. As I was running around I thought "Oh dad would have laughed at what the girls did on our trip". He loved to hear of all the silly things we do or say.
When I got home I had to make a phone call...can you believe I dialed my dad's number.

Tracy

Rest in Peace Dad

Post dated

My dad has passed away. He wasn't doing so good the last couple weeks, but this was a shock and still is. The last week has been a blur. I am keeping this blog as an online journal. Which means I post about the good and the bad.
Here is how I found out:

On our way home from our mini girls vacation, Ashley gets a text (I forgot my cell phone) and I hear her gasp in the back seat.I asked her what was wrong and she didn't tell me. At first I thought it was personal and she didn't want to share it with her aunt. But when I turned around and looked at her the look on her face and her eyes told me it wasn't something good.
"Is something wrong with one of your friends?" I asked.
"No". she replied.
"Is something wrong with daddy?"
"No"
"Is my dad in the hospital?" Now I am panicking
"No"
I knew then "Is My...dad... dead?" I ask in tears.
She shakes her head Yes and reaches for me.
That is how I found out my dad died today.

You may wonder why it was sent this way. My hubby works in the middle of nowhere. He rarely gets cellphone sevice, and sometimes his two way radio doesn't get single either. They had to send a trucker to tell him someone called to say that my dad died. He didn't want me to come home from my trip to messages on our machine. Ashley wanted me to enjoy the last 15 mins of our trip.

I came home made some phone calls. I had to find out where my dad was., what happened and my worst fear how long was he laying alone before some one found him.
First they tell me he is at the funeral home, I call there, they tell me he is back at the hospital. So I made arrangements with the funeral home to get him there and I will be there tomorrow to make the arrangements.

As it turned out my dad died of a heart attack. The coroner figured he got up and had a massive heart attack and died right there. He also figured my dad was there for a day or two before my sister found him.

No one checked on him or phoned him while I was away. Am I angry YES. Is it going to change anything No.

Wayne and I went to his apartment that night. We had to open up the windows and put the fans on. Wayne cleaned the carpet where my dad was found and I picked out his suit for the next day.

Rest in Peace dad.
I hope your pain is gone.
I am going to miss our daily phone calls and me sharing my life with you.
I love you dad.

Tracy

How many laughs are too many???

Whenever my SIL, and friend, Sharon and I get together we really do Laugh Out Loud.
And this is what we have been doing all week. My girls walked away at times but most of the time they are just right in there with us.

Guess where we had lunch today.
Yup this is what we ate for lunch, Yummy.
Look at this girl hard at work. I am sure you get some nice arm muscles doing this most of the day.

I had Peach/ banana something or other. Sharon had Blueberry something or other. What ever the name was it was delicious.
How sad that all my pictures today are of this LOL. We went to the mall most of the day. Then to Michael's. One thing that ticks me off is that here in the States everything at Michael's is at least 40% cheaper then at home. Our dollar isn't 40% less then theirs. I just don't get it.

Funny Story:
When we were at Michael's, the girls came by while Sharon and I were looking at stuff. Sharon let out a little yelp. I looked at her, then at the girls. At first I thought that my girls had a water gun and squirted her. Nope nothing and no one was giving anything away. So I turned away from them to check out the punches. Then what did I feel, but a hand on my Boob. That's right "A Hand on My Boob"! I screamed. Sharon, and my precious girls were laughing so hard, I think Sharon peed her pants again. It turned out that Ashley got a fake arm from the Halloween dept. and copped a feel with it. I was going to buy it to scare the sh1t out of my girls tonight in their sleep. Now that would have been funny.

We enjoyed the hot tube tonight. I also found a quilt and wool store tonight. The owner was very nice. I think that they were closed but their door was open because they had a knitting and quilting class going on. She invited me in and encouraged me to go and check out what everyone was working on. Everyone was so sweet. So, We go home tomorrow :( But I get to check out some quilting store on the way home. I always find the good in every situation.

Hope you had a few laughs today.

Tracy

Too much of a good thing isn't always good

We got an early start this morning. Sharon picked us up at 8:00 am. It took us less then an hour to reach the US border. It took about 4 hours to get here.
We did make a few stops on the way. I love stopping in on the cute shops along the way. But because we left so early most of them weren't open yet. We will check them out on the way home. I love the quilt shops
When we came into town the first place we stopped at was this store.

It is a scrap booking store. I really enjoy browsing in here. It has a lot to offer. Unfortunately they don't have any Tim Holtz stuff.

We did Miller Hill mall and a few other stores so far. We are staying at the Bridgeview in Superior. We always stay here.
We went to Red Lobster. We always get one meal here, as we don't have one back at home. We love it. We also ate way to much. I brought my left overs back to the hotel. I just finished eating the rest and am stuffed so full its not funny. I don't even want to move. LOL
Sharon and I ran into Menards so she could get some dog treats to bring back for her dog (don't even ask LOL). Well there was a worker there, I assume she was on her break as she was sleeping at a high table. I went up to her and pretended to shake her awake and bang on the table. Sharon almost went pee pee in her pants. Good thing the lady didn't wake up I would have felt a bit silly LOL.

We are just going to relax the rest of the evening and watch TV. I will check in on some of my blogging friends. Maybe read a bit of my novel. And if I have time maybe crochet a bit, as I picked up a couple new colours (oops I'm in the States.....colors) of crochet thread.

Having a good Monday, hope you do to.

Tracy

It looks like trash, but it will be my treasure

Thank you for you kind and sweet comments yesterday.

Look what I found at our tiny cottage dump. Oh you might look at this and say what the heck is this piece of junk. Well, roofers will tell you that this is a twirly roof vent. I will tell you that it is something that will be transformed next weekend.
Ohhh you may wonder what I am going to do with this.... but you have to wait until next weekend to see :)
During one of my many walks this weekend I found this little treasure. What you may ask is this well I thought it was a carburetor. Hubby chuckled at me (this is nothing new teehee) it is a distributor cap from an old scout.
Again you may ask what is she going to do with this hunk of junk...as my hubby and FIL Ray asked LOL. Yet again you have to wait until next weekend when I (when I say I, I mean Hubby) paints this puppy up and makes it all pretty and useful.

I had some trouble with our chipmunks at our cottage this weekend. This little guy was being a bully. He wouldn't let any other chipmunks come and share the millions of sunflower seeds we put out for them.

I would yell and stomp my foot at him. He actually ran into my foot chasing a tiny one. Finally I had to stand in between them for them all to get their fair share. I don't like to see bullying LOL. But in the end he calmed down and let me pet him. He wouldn't share the blueberry rejects that I threw on the ground though LOL.

Our friendly bunny. He comes and greets us as we pull up to the cottage every weekend.
Hubby puts out sunflower seeds and peanuts for the birds and chipmunks, Bunny loves the empty peanut shells. He gets very close to us. I guess he knows that we are not a threat to him.

We had to leave camp a bit earlier as Heather had to work. We are going to Duluth tomorrow, girls weekend. I needed to do some laundry and pack. I sure am excited. I will bring my laptop, but I will only be on it in the evening. Mind you, because Ashley's laptop is in getting repaired, I guess mine will be shared with all my girls.

Hope your weekend was as enjoyable and relaxing as mine was.

Tracy

Its all fun and games until someone gets stung

Today was an excellent day at camp.
We got to see a friend. Dave is from Edmonton, he lived here for awhile taking care of his dad. Then he moved back there. Last time we seen him was in 2008. He is such a sweet guy. We all enjoyed the camp fire tonight.

I think I planted my Sweet Peas and Morning Glories to late in the year. They are still growing I hope I get to see them bloom before the weather changes. I made this planter many years ago. It was in Kristy's room under her window. Her room was a garden theme then. Hubby painted it my favorite colour and it now is beside the outhouse. We only use the outhouse in the winter when the water is shut off.

Ohhh do you see a ghost? Yup its me glowing in the sunlight. I am so white I could give Edward a run for his money LOL.

I enjoyed a swim. Hubby and I swam across the lake, while Kristy and Heather played on the large air mattress.

I haven't laid in the sun and enjoyed the warmth of it for sooo long. I know how bad it is for you, but it is sure relaxing.

Now please do not click on the picture to make it bigger, you will scare yourself.

I went for many walks today. I really did enjoy the day.
Hubby and I went and picked some more blueberries.
My luck ran out picking to close to the wasps nests. Yup I got stung, and boy did it Sting. I yelled to hubby "I got stung!" as I was running towards him. He yells "Are the following you?" Luckily only one flew up my Capri's and couldn't get out I guess.
If you look closely at the sting it looks like tiny lines are coming out from the spot. It reminds me of movies when they are infected.

But look at all these scrumptious berries. I think it was worth it. Don't you?

I enjoyed my Saturday, I hope you enjoyed yours as well.

Tracy