Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park

Karen on a hoodoo

Karen close up

Sweet Grass Hills (the 3 mountains)

J having fun on a hoodoo

Action shot of J jumping to another hoodoo

hoodoos

elephant

Writing-On-Stone provincial park

I spent Good Friday with J and his family in Lethbridge. On Saturday, we went with his parents to Writing-On-Stone provincial park. It is in southern Alberta, very close to the US border. It was a beautiful, warm day (we were quite warm in long sleeved t-shirts. This is a lovely place - beautiful rock formations, pretty views and it is sacred to many native tribes. There are native carvings (hence the "writing" on the stone) that are still being studied and there are also spiritual ties to the area. I enjoyed it because there were few people and we played on the hoodoos for about an hour. It had been a long time since I had climbed and jumped around on rocks (like what you do as a kid).

A nice weekend

Hello Everyone!

I had a really nice weekend. On Friday night, I took J to Spiros. It's a yummy Greek restaurant that's near my place. Had a lot of fun and the food was great as usual - it's got great atmosphere.

On Saturday morning, I led the labyrinth walk at church. There was only a handful of people but it was good. I was super mellow by the afternoon (from the meditating and relaxing) and that basically continued throughout the day.

I went to the seed exchange in the afternoon and picked up all sorts of seeds. They're all heirloom or organic seeds, all bred to grow in Alberta/the prairies. I also picked up a dwarf tomato plant and another plant - I think it's a "bamboo" plant - since what you buy in Canada usually isn't true bamboo but looks similar to it. I have a south facing large window sill so it should grow well there. I know, I don't eat tomatoes but I use them every once in a while and J doesn't have any good windows for growing plants. We're looking for a garden plot in the city to try growing some produce this year. I have a couple leads but if we can't find anything, all the seeds I got can be grown in containers. I think this'll be fun - I wasn't able to keep up with my garden and J can turn vegetables into all sorts of yummy dishes. I later met up with J and we went to the Italian market near his place. He did up a delicious Italian dinner, I choose the wonderful little desserts and we watched a movie about an Italian restaurant (yes, the evening had a theme).

On Sunday, I had church but the youth weren't able to stay for decorating eggs. I went home and napped for most of the afternoon. Woke up for Jericho - a great episode. Did a bit of studying and tidying but overall took it easy.

Wasn't too stress at work today. Wore green but spent my St. Paddy's day sober. I've been taking it easy tonight too but I have some studying to do before bed.

Have a great day!

Caterpillar Cake

To celebrate Birthday Cake Sunday at church, I made a caterpillar. It was a big hit and super easy to make. I cheated by using a mix and it took less than 15 minutes to decorate.

Make a cake in a bundt pan. Cut the bottom 1/3 off (as in straight across). The top 2/3s will be the arc. Cut the 1/3 piece in half - this will be the head and tail. I ended up trimming the head and tail a bit so it was flush with the body. Ice with a small tub of Cool Whip. I used long skewers with jube jubes on them for aentennas, jube jube eyes and marshmallow legs. The red stripes are Licorice pull-aparts. When I made the cake, I added a package of green jello so the middle looked green when you ate it (like when you squish a caterpillar).

I love the Kraft website!

Welcome to the world!

Welcome to Joseph Ross Halliday!

He was born yesterday morning in Walkerton. 6lbs 6 oz and 19 1/4" long.

Mom said he nursed right away and he and Stacey will likely be resting in the hospital until Sunday. Both are doing well.

I haven't heard yet what version/combination of his name they'll be using. But I think he's rather cute - from an unbias opinion of course :-)

Election News

Hello Everyone,

Well, despite our best efforts, Leah didn't get elected. I think overall she did quite well and should be proud of her efforts. J is a bit disappointed (since she would be very good at the Legislature and she's an environmentalist) but he knew it was a long shot anyways. So, tonight and likely Thursday night I'll be helping him take down campaign signs. I have plasma donation tomorrow so I won't be able to do physical work that night.

Only 41% of eligible voters showed up. I'm thoroughly disgusted with that number - I think it should be manditory. There's a couple countries in Europe where if you don't vote, you get penalized with your income tax. In my world, everyone would be required to show up at the polling station and get a ballot. What they do with the ballot afterwards is up to them - fill it out or void it.

Anyways, that's my rant for the day.