Nyla and her Daddy

I've been talking a lot about Darryl's illness and how it has caused difficulties, but now I feel like its important to share more about Nyla's Daddy.
Regardless of how ill Darryl has been, how he feels or what's going on, he is always 100% Nyla's Daddy.
The way they giggle together, or sing, read or play together, the way they look at eachother, and the patient way Darryl teaches Nyla countless things... well, let me just say that this little girl has the kind of Daddy that a lot of people REALLY need/ed or want/ed.
Her Daddy will love her, teach her, comfort her, protect her and will be there to share her joys and her pain. He is completely and utterly devoted to her, he completely and utterly loves her, and he truly does cherish his time with her.
I know that a lot of children don't experience this, and it makes me so grateful for the man that Darryl is. He was made to be a Daddy and I'm sooooooo incredibly lucky/blessed/grateful that he is MY daughter's Daddy.
I guess I just realized that even in the middle of craziness there can still be fairytale moments. And this is one of the best fairytales I have ever seen.

You sir, are truly amazing.

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!

St. Patrick's Day!!!! My favorite day!

I love St. Patrick's Day. It's the top on my list of favorite days. I'm looking forward to reviving our St. Paddy's celebrations... ah, the fun of it.

"Anyone acquainted with Ireland knows that the morning of St.Patrick’s Day consists of the night of the 17th of March flavored strongly with the morning of the 18th."
- Anonymous

I'm going to add some pictures to this post, mostly because our site survey revealed that highspeed is out of the question out here. Sigh... so I just have to get them posted, even if it takes a bazillion hours.

This one makes me laugh every time. She comes by her dorkiness honestly. I had just taken off the glasses and hat...


Our first day in the new house Darryl decided to bubble wrap Nyla for safety :)


Now, in other news... Darryl has chosen the location of our next move... It won't be Terrace. Close but no cigar... have you guessed??? Smithers. That's right, I said Smithers. I was very unsure about this move at first, but I'm starting to get used to the idea. It's a town focused on the outdoors, so how can it be bad right? AND we're finally going to build our dome house!!!!! I'm beyond excited about that.
Laurie (Darryl's sister) is moving there in June, so we're looking forward to some hang out time. Nyla is excited about seeing her Aunty 'Gogeeeee' :)
Now we're going to start working on getting Kevin (my bro), Ashley and their cutie pants Devlin to move to the area.
Speaking of Devlin, he's doing well. Still waiting for a brain scan, but they think they can hold off on the surgery for his kidneys until he's a year + old. I'm hoping he'll end up not needing it at all. He's still going to be in PG for a month... we're missing the little dude... and Ashley too.

And here's a long overdue picture of Devlin (with Darryl and Nyla...)


That's all for now. I couldn't post this last night due to dial up reasons, so now I'm going to go be nice to my aching head. Hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day!

Another Update

I just heard from Ashley (sis in law). Devlin has bacterial meningitis caused and problems with his kidneys.
Due to the meningitis there is a chance that he could have suffered brain damage. He'll have a brain scan next week. It won't be able to tell them for certain one way or another, but it might be able to give them an idea. They'll have to wait until he grows up to see if there are any effects.
His kidneys aren't functioning properly. They'll inject him with some dye sometime in the next week or so to see what exactly is going on. I can't remember exaclty what she said is wrong, but they'll find out if he needs surgery after that test. Thankfully they can do the surgery with a scope thingy, so it would be much less invasive.
They'll be in PG for at least another 3 weeks. Its already been a long hard process for them and its still just beginning!
It really sucks to not be able to do anything to help. Please keep them all in your thoughts.

PS: Yes, we're all getting juiced up with anti-meningitis meds.

Yikes!

So, they've discovered that Devlin (my nephew), has meningitis. He's very sick and will be in PG for at least another week. I'm not sure if he'll be moved again.
I'll keep you posted.

PS: I have tons of pictures to post, but its maddening trying to do that with dial-up, so they'll have to wait.

Poor little dude :(

My little newborn nephew, Devlin, was airlifted with Ashley to PG tonight. Nobody is sure what's wrong yet, but we're hoping they can get it figured out there and not have to send them on to Edmonton or Vancouver. Kevin and Ashley are understandably pretty upset,so keep them in your thoughts!

Things here are moving along. I still have a mountain of boxes to unpack (how did I accumulate all this crap???)but there are millions of better things to do, so I'm procrastinating on going through the stored boxes. If I survived without it for this long I sure don't need it now!

The bridge I was so excited about fixing is now kaputz... Stupid beavers decided to gnaw down a tree and let it fall on the remainder of the bridge... I'm not so happy with them right now.

We've decided that our little farm needs a couple of Alpacas. We've done some reading and found that they're really pretty neat animals. They're protective like dogs, smart, and I can get the fiber (that's what they call the wool) spun into actual wool. Yes, I'm a nerd who knits... and alpaca wool is apparently as soft as cashmere and warmer than sheep wool.
There's a woolen mill not too far from us that I can send it to (totally don't have the patience to do it myself...) Be expecting toques (Translation for my american friends: toque = winter hat) ;) mitts, scarves... I'm especially good with scarves :) I'm going to start some Irish cableknit patterns for sweaters... this is all if I have some time next winter. And YES, if I send you something I DO expect you to wear it... even if it looks funny and has ear flaps. GOT IT!
I've also been making things out of old barn wood, but I promise not to make anyone take any of that stuff... yet...

Now, I'm going to share a story that makes me look like a total hick, but it makes me feel a bit like MacGyver... I was trying to find a way to haul wood to the house without having to do a zillion trips because I usually have Nyla with me, and gathering wood from the woodshed is not one of her favorite passtimes...
One day while Nyla and I were exploring I found half of an old car hood. I tied some rope to it and made a wood sled that works like a hot damn. I can load a ton of wood on that thing and it just zooms along on the snow. I feel like a superstar... a nerdy one, but still a superstar.
Unfortunately it doesn't pull well over grass, so I'm now the proud owner of a wonderful, bright red wheelbarrow :)
I feel like a total hick, pretty soon I'll be asking "Do you and the missus want to come on over with those cute little tater tots of yours and deep fry us a turkey??"
Someone save me from myself...

Alive and well

Our move went surprisingly smoothly. I'm sooooooooo happy to have it behind me and now can enjoy our new home. I LOOOOVE it out here :) Nyla and I have spent hours exploring outside and trying to get things organized a bit (I'm so happy that she's an outside kid... she hates being cooped up inside). We're working on the chicken coop now so when spring finally arrives (please please!!!) we'll have a happy little house for the chickens. There isnt' really much to do to it, it just takes longer with a little one helping out.
There's also a really great barn... so I'm trying to convince Darryl that a really great barn needs to be filled with some really great critters. I'm not sure which critters yet... I'll let you know what we decide.

I was finally able to go take a good look at that little bridge. Unfortunately, during the last storm we had, a tree crashed on top of the rest of it. I've decided to cut that one up for firewood and start again. (NOt like I have much choice after it has been crushed...)

Now, for some exciting news... Kevin and Ashley's baby was born at 11:10 pm on February 28th (almost a leap year baby). His name is Devlin Adam Leach, he was exactly 7 lbs and was 19 inches long. I'll post a pic once I get the ok from them.
I have never been so proud of my big bro. He was giddy when Devlin was finally born, and he is quite the proud Daddy. He had an unfortunate experience involving diaper changing and explosive baby poo (sprayed the wall and Kevin happened to be in the way)... but he has a great sense of humor about it all. It's been pretty great to see him so happy.
I have to say that he handled being surrounded by Ashley's family very well too. (Even I had a fight with her grandma...)

Kieran and Dawn came to visit to celebrate my Dad's birthday with us. It was really nice having them here. Dawn and I went exploring places on the farm that I can't take Nyla. We found some treasures, and some super creepy crap too... I'm starting to wonder about the people who were here before us...

I think that's all the news for now. I'm stuck with dialup since we still haven't had the site survey done...hopefully it will be possible to get wireless because dialup sucks ASS! I can't believe how AWFULLLLL it is. I really don't have much time to be online anyway, so its not the end of the world, but cross your fingers for us.

I hope you're all doing well!

See ya later!

We're officially, sort of moved :) We will be completely moved tomorrow. This is my least favorite part of moving... being half here and half there. BUT it will be over soon!
We still don't know when the site survey dude is going to show up, so who knows how long we'll be without internet.
Next time you hear from me I'll be in full farm mode. Up to my knees in chicken shit... or horse shit... or bull shit :) bahhahaaaaa. I know I'm not funny. I'm just tired.
See ya later alligators!

Any bridge builders out there?

I have to fix a bridge.... I'm not sure how yet. I know I can look it up online, or get a book or whatever, but if there are any bridge builders out there who know a thing or two and would LOVE to pass on some wisdom, just let me know.
It can't be that hard... right???

The bridge in question. (Apparently beavers stole the other half).

Ahhhhhh, the snow

In the midst of moving some things out to the new house we decided to take a break for some fun. Nyla and I explored a good chunk of the farm, and also had a great attempt at tobogganing. Unfortunately the snow was too deep, but we still enjoyed playing around.

Next week we officially move. We'll be without internet for a couple of weeks while we wait for some dude to come out and do a site survey. Apparently if they can see the tower we can get wireless out there... otherwise its the dreaded dial up.

We have a new number already. We never seem to be able to catch the 'post office' open (Its actually just someone's house) so we don't have a new mailing address yet. I'll be sending out an email with the new info before we go. I love village life :)


Trying to make a snow angel...

Nyla the great explorer.



Nyla's Aunty Ashley got her this little duck in the bunny suit. It quacks a crazy little song... she loves it.

While I was packing Nyla discovered an old pillow of mine. I've had this thing for YEARS! It's a massive king sized, down pillow that she has now claimed as her own big body pillow. She lays on it, stretches out and goes 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh'. What a cutie :) Anyway, you can see a corner of it in the pic.

My two cents

We watched 'The Golden Compass' tonight. Now, I know this movie (and book the movie is based on), has received a lot of bad press due to the 'religious' undertones. I've heard people call it 'poison for children' and have gone as far as to say that it is used to brainwash children in order to keep them from believing in God.
These kinds of claims drive me up the wall.

I haven't read the books, (Philip Pullman is the author) but I do plan to. I don't care that he is an athiest, I don't care if his beliefs, or lack there of are present in his novels. We all have a choice to look for the 'good' or 'evil' in everything. I can't believe that watching this movie or reading this book would shake someones faith to the point where they feel it must be boycotted in order to save the minds of our children. PLEEEEASE!

It might comfort some people to hide in a bubble of their spirituality but what does that REALLY accomplish? We can hide from things that scare us, or challenge us, or we can deal with them. What does it teach children when we bury our heads in the sand when we think something is scary, or we don't agree with or understand it? Why not teach our children to use their brains to tell the difference between fantasy and reality? Why not give our kids the tools they need to weigh what they see, hear, experience etc so they can work through what they believe?
If its important to believe in God, I happen to think think its important to know why and what we believe. Hiding teaches us nothing.
Just because someone points at something and calls it 'bad' it doesn't make it true.

In my opinion, this is just another movie about the ever present battle between good and evil... not that different from the Chronicles of Narnia, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy. (I personally wouldn't watch any of them with young children because they all have scary bits that are just too much for little ones). I really enjoyed it. I found it very interesting and entertaining.

My opinions are never popular so I don't doubt that a lot of you will disagree with me. I'm ok with that. One great thing about growing up is that I've realized that I can believe what I believe and let you believe what you believe. We don't have to agree on everything in order to be friends.

That's my rant for today... now its time for bed :) Goodnight all.

Here's a short clip so you know what I'm talking about if you've never heard of this movie...

Joni is a super hero

I need to say a big thanks to Joni for hearing my lament of no cardamom and being kind enough to rectify that for me.
Ever since reading Christy's post about chai I've been dying for some. I can't find cardamom anywhere around here, and I can't make it without cardamom... so I was bummed.
Now super Joni made my day. THANK YOU! You truly rock the jukebox!

Moving day is approaching (22nd). I'm still incredibly excited, but did find out that highspeed is not available out there.
We're looking into some other options, but if we decide to just go back to dial up the blog will be exploded into nothingness because nothing ever works right with dial up. In that case, I guess we'll have to go back to regular phone communication (and we all know how great I am at keeping in touch...).
So once I email our new number, feel free to call for updates if you haven't heard from us in ages. I promise to try hard to be better at keeping in touch... really, I'm telling the truth... REALLY!

The amazing swelling face...

So, apparently its common to devolp allergies when you're an adult... WHO KNEW! Not me that's for sure.
Last night my bro's girlfriend (Ashley) was over. We had dinner and were happily munching on some strawberries when all of a sudden my scalp started itching. I didn't think much of it... it was weird but not alarming. Then my neck was really itchy and my lips felt funny. I went to the bathroom and freaked the hell out of myself when I looked in the mirror. My face and neck were insane... (apparently Ashley didn't notice that my face had swollen to ginormous proportions because she was sitting beside me and we were watching T.V). I was about as sexy as Will Smith in the picture below.

I called the Nurses line, and of course they told me to call 911... Well, by the time we got to the hospital my throat was closing and I was trying to rip my skin off it was soooo bloody itchy. It was kind of funny now that I look back on it. It reminded me of a Monty Python doctor sketch... maybe it was just because I was in a panic, but it seemed like a freaking nut house. Ashley was holding my hands trying to keep me from ripping my skin off and I was swearing like a sailor at everyone. Then of course they tell you that they're going to shove needles into your butt cheek... so I stood up and bared my arse for the world to see (nothing new for me I guess) and because I was still panicking I set off the heart rate alarm. If you ever want a lot of attention at a hospital, set off the heart rate alarm.

Anyway, I left drugged up. Slept like a log for HOURS and am completely fine. Its probably the stuff they spray on the strawberries (just another reason to go completely organic). I'm not going to eat strawberries again unless they come from my own garden. Too bad, I love strawberries...

The morals of this story?? First, when they tell you to call 911 listen to them. Second, that spray stuff is evil. It doesn't come off with normal washing. I'd suggest firebombing your fruit to clean it from now on if you don't buy organic. :)

Evil Bastards.........

Moving???

So, we're supposed to be moving very soon... VEEERRRY soon. I meant to get some packing done today, but instead Nyla and I decided we needed to have some fun. She loves to play with my hair - put clips in it etc. I help her get stuff into hers and she instantly starts tugging them out.
You can't see my amazing hairdo in this shot, but you can see part of hers. What a cutie.


And I guess she did help us pack a bit :)

Grrrrrrrrrrr

This is the kind of night where I want to curl up with one of my all time favorite movies and enjoy a nice quiet(ish) evening... there's only one problem... all of my 'all time favorite movies' have magically disappeared. I'm not sure how it happened. I don't watch movies often so it could have been ages since I actually had them.
H'mmm foggy memories are coming back... I know where a couple of them are, but if anybody out there has my copy of 'This is my Father', please send it back to me. I'm having a hell of a time finding a new one.

Anyway, just because I miss them, here are a few of my favorites (this list is mostly chick flicks because that's what I feel like watching right now).
Not many people share my taste in movies, and I get a LOT of flack for 'Hideous Kinky' - even though it really is a great one. Totally not hideous OR kinky...
Now that I started this I can think of at least 5 more I reeeeaaaally like.
H'mmmm..... It's too hard to pick favorites because there are favorites in every genre. Now I'm babbling... OY! Can you tell I'm procrastinating? I'm supposed to be packing.


This Is My Father

Anne of Green Gables

Any of the 'Lethal Weapon' movies



Chocolat




Hideous Kinky



Sense and Sensibility

How I'm staying sane(ish)

I know myself well enough to know that I'm not a city person... I'm not even a town person. I need trees, need nature, and I go MENTAL if I can't be surrounded by nature on a regular basis.
This summer was pretty insane due to many different issues, so we didn't get to do nearly as much hiking, camping etc as we wanted too... But I remember this one hike... I was so stressed out over things that were happening with my family. For me, being surrounded by trees is soooooo calming. I feel like I can breathe and relax... Its hard to explain unless you're the same kind of person, but I just remember stepping into a clearing and knowing that I needed to be there. Again, hard to explain, and it might sound like I'm a crazy hippie...
Now, I'm close to being at my breaking point again, and its sooo fricken freezing outside. I can't get out with Nyla because its just too cold. So I stay sane by looking at some of my favorite pictures.
I absolutely can't wait to move onto the farm. Its like a little magic kingdom... I can't wait to share pics :) We're going to be having a work bee to get the farm and gardens to where they can be used, so if anyone needs to take a 'vacation' this spring (ha ha, vacation as in... work your butt off) let me know!! I'll even cook (don't let that scare you away, I'm actually a very good cook now).

Anyway, I hope if you're needing a breather these pictures help a little bit.
I stole them all from the internet... I'm not this talented with a camera.

My dream house