How time flies

Today was our 5th anniversary... how the heck did that happen?? The last 5 years have flown by!

We've had a tough year, but we're looking forward to better things now that we know that Darryl will be ok.
The last 6+ months have sort of been like living with a stranger. I'm looking forward to having my wonderful husband back :)
(Again, cross your fingers that the damage that has been done is reversible!!).

It's so nice to see Darryl have some excitement about life. I know the past year has been very hard on him, but now that he doesn't have to keep wondering and worrying its like a weight has been lifted from him and he's starting to enjoy things again.

Thankyou to our friends and family who have helped us get through this year.
Thankyou for listening to my ranting and sobbing, and sharing my fear and grief. There is absolutely no way we could have made it through this year without you!

So, here's to a new year full of great things!

We spent the day at a park out of town. Here are some of the pictures.


Nyla spent most of the day chasing the ball around.





Another one of her favorite activities... getting flung into the air :)


She went crazy for the swings.


Trying to blow bubbles (me trying to keep bubble goo out of my eyes).

Smoothie face :)

The Diagnosis

We found out that Darryl has severe sleep apnea. We're not sure what kind yet, but he has a week long test (CPAP trial) that will figure all of that out.
He'll most likely be on a respirator at night, and may need surgery to help open his airway, but that's really nothing compared to what he's already been through.
We're pretty happy since they kept hinting it was cancer. I just can't believe it took this long!
So cross your fingers that the damage that has been done to his brain and body (they have been finding increasingly large amounts of tissue death in his system) can be reversed and that he'll be back to normal Darryl SOON.

These boots were made for walking... or actually for hiking...

I'm antsy for a really good hike.
I blame it all on Kieran (my little bro). He's gearing up to start working again (hunting guide), and every time he starts talking about it I get all jealous and antsy. He has the most amazing job (except for the actual hunting part). The good thing about his job is that he has access to parts of the country that most of us don't (ie: fly in, completely secluded camping places with amazing hiking etc, etc.) So, anyone interested in some real backwoods camping, let me know. I'm going to organize a get- away... but obviously it won't happen til we actually MOVE there, so now is your chance to think about it. I'm pretty excited.
Here are some pics Kieran took at work last season. They aren't of the waaaaay backwoods place, but they're still pretty cool. I'm still jealous...

My little bro.

Imagine waking up to this every morning??? Geez... lucky bum.

This is one really good thing about moving to Smithers. I can hike a lot and generally be outside a lot. (I'm tired of living in the land of red-necks).
After much consideration I've decided to invest in some good snowshoes for winter hiking. Now I need some winter hiking buddies (Jenny and Joni, I'm counting on you!!!).

So, all of you who live in the Smithers/Terrace area, do a great hike for me. Take some pictures too...

Good thing I live in the country...

Yesterday I decided to spend some time in the millions of flower beds around this house. They have all been left to grow over for god knows how long, so I was just ripping everything that looked weedish out.
I uncovered some snazzy stone work under the layers of dead stuff, so I was happily cleaning it all up when all of a sudden I felt a bit tickley on my leg. I looked down and found I was being swarmed by ants. Not just a few ants... probably every ant on the planet.
This is where I would like to say that I calmly handled the situation, unfortunately I'm not so calm when I'm being swarmed by ants... In between running far away, jumping around like a crazy person and swearing like a sailor I managed to rip my clothes off and kill all the ants that had managed to crawl into my hair (yes, by repeatedly slapping myself on the head).
When I had calmed down enough to survey the situation (apparently the stone work is in the middle of a friggen huge ant hill), I realized how crazy I looked (jumping around, yelling and slapping yourself in the head are not 'friendly' qualities) I realized just how lucky I am to live in the country where there are no witnesses.

I now have a deeeep hatred for ants, and a new vendetta --- to track down every one of those little bastards and make them pay. Now, the only question is, do I go with a commercial ant killer or do I unleash hell on them with gasoline and a match on top of their stupid hill???

I'll be sure to post pictures of the carnage...

Holy crap I'm in!

I haven't been able to get into my blog lately, so this is a happy surprise.
I'll do a quick update since I have no idea how long this shifty internet connection will actually last.

Ok, where to start...

Imelda, Brad and the kids were here for Easter. We had a freaking great time with them. I made up some nutso stories about the easter bunny, not really thinking they would be taken seriously... apparently kids do believe everything you say :) So now, in case you're wondering, the easter bunny looks like a lumberjack (hat boots and suspenders) drives a little car made of rabbit fur, and comes to have tea with me because we're good buds.
I'll post pics once I get the ok from Imelda (dont' want to post pics of her kids without permission).

Next... Joni is a super cool cat! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was missing home made chai. Joni send me a wonderful little package of all the bits I need to brew up a pot. So thanks to Joni (and Inderjit's secret recipe) I am now enjoying chai on a daily basis. She also sent some of her Garam Masala (which Nyla LOOOOVES... me too) and the bits to make more when we run out. How cool is this cat??? Pretty darned cool. Thanks a million Chickie!

We've all been sick with what I think is the plague, but is more likely a 'super' bug. (That's what the doctor told us, but we all know how shifty doctors are these days. They probably don't want to spread mass hysteria by admitting that it is in fact the plague... jerks).
I sincerely hope that none of you get this monster bug. It's like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going. Apparently some people are sick for 6 bloody weeks. I say HELL NO to 6 weeks... we're on week 2 and I've decided that its going to be over. We will be sad sacks NO MORE. (come on, you know you want to chant with me...)

Our snow is quickly melting away. There is no hope for fixing the bridge now that the river is mongo huge.
One interesting surprise left behind in the snow, is piles and piles of deer and moose crap. NICE. Nyla sees the deer crap and says 'YUMMY'. UUUUUGGGGHH. The day she pops one of those turds in her mouth is the day I start leaving my peace loving ways behind and kicking those deer's asses from here to... somewhere else where they can crap in peace (this is of course after I re-gain consciousness from passing out due to complete gross overload).
Now they'll all probably come back and leave their crap behind just to spite me... OY!

I think that's all for now. I'll add a couple pictures of the cutie pants (Nyla... in case you're thinking I mean myself ;) )
There are bird feeders all over the deck, so she spends a lot of time spying on the birds and squirrels. And the other one is just cute because it is. Her hair is no longer frazzly, I had to do some frazzle management. I'll send pics after she's feeling better.




I hope you're all doing well!