Julie & Keenan's
2005-2006 JOURNAL
August 20, 2006
Wow, that was a crazy month that just blew by! The ACES summer program wrapped up in the first week of August and so did the SMILE summer schedule. Thanks to Fran, ACES did not demand much of our time. The SMILE summer schedule kept us pretty busy with plenty of outings but attendance was really strong when it is usually down a lot in the summer, so that showed us it was worthwhile.
We scrambled to get all our work affairs in order by August 4 because August 7 we left with the TNG participants for their trip to New York City. You can read all about that by clicking here. It was very successfull and the teamwork with Grace and Jen was awesome, but it was definitely exhausting. We had interruptions to our sleep on every night but the last one, and even then we only got about 5 hours. But it's more the emotional exhaustion from constant dialogue with the participants and although we all did a great job of being positive at all times, there is a fatigue that comes from that effort.
There was no time to rest because the camping trip to Charleston Lake with the TOG group was on Monday, so we had stuff to buy on Saturday and then up to the site with Jen and Grace to set up the tents on Sunday. The trip itself was definitely one of the best ever, it was nice to see how much some of the participants have matured and were better able to cope with the challenges of life in a tent. We had a nice dinner with Jen and Grace the next day after putting in some work at the office to close up until September 5 and start our holidays. Hurray!
At first we were not planning to go anywhere but we decided on a shopping/hiking vacation in Freeport and North Conway. It's also our fifth wedding anniversary and of course we got engaged on a hiking trail outside North Conway, so it will be fun to go back.
We haven't managed a lot of time to spend with friends and family but we did go and see the Lac Leamy fireworks competition with mom and dad Kingstone, and it was really great. We saw the Slovakia team and they used some great music from their own country and also used the fireworks in ways we had not seen before.
Mom and dad Wellar had been off on a trip to the Manitoulin and the Sault and we saw them for dinner at their place on Friday and got caught on some of their adventures. While we were in NYC they came over to check in on the boys and did some landscaping for us in the front yard. It looks great, and hopefully it will all come up again in the spring.
We've had birds galore around the house, especially hummingbirds and woodpeckers. We've seen as many as three hummers at once and have been visited by at least 5 species of woodpeckers. Lately one of them has been pounding on our steel roof, which apparently is their crazy way of staking their territory and/or issuing a mating call. Sheesh!
Oh, and it seems like such a long time ago now but Christina gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. We were able to come for a visit just a couple of days afterwards. David and Christina were both in great spirits, we're not sure how they do it. Christina seems to manage giving birth about as easily as some people manage to do the dishes. We're looking forward to many future visits with that family of five...five! Wow.
July 17, 2006
Ah, how sweet it is. Lots of lounging on the upper deck, sipping drinks, and watching the action on the beach. We were entertained by a blue heron who appeared to catch at least a half dozen frogs in one afternoon. The muskrat has been uprooting small trees and dragging them into his den, quite an amusing sight. We've got terns and bluejays and kingfishers making a racket. And the hummingbird(s) are visiting many times a day.
Keenan was feeling exhausted after a long period of hard work including last weekend, so he stayed home on Friday, and had made pretty much a full recovery by Monday.
We were also treated to a wild thunderstorm tonight. There was so much lighting, and it was continuous. A great show. So many great things in life really are free!
July 3, 2006
Yes, it's a Monday, but it was a holiday weekend, so it feels like Sunday today. We had just about the perfect three-day weekend. The only way it could have been better was if it had been a four-day weekend as intended. We were supposed to have Friday off, but it just couldn't happen. Julie did her best to finish off a grant proposal on Thursday but it just wasn't possible. We worked together on it all day Friday and ended up at the office putting together all the supporting documentation until about 10:00 PM. But by going all out with hard work on Friday we truly earned a three-day weekend devoted to ourselves!
Saturday we spent a lot of time outside on the upper deck and it was fabulous. The cats came out there too and just lay around in the fresh air. The neighbours are here right now and it's definitely not the same as when they aren't around, but the kids seem to be spending a bit less time screaming this summer. So far so good!
Saturday night we ended up out at the movies to see The Devil Wears Prada. We both thought it was really good except for maybe the last 20 minutes with kind of a soft ending.
Sunday morning Julie was up bright and early doing some shopping and then right into some cooking. Keenan tasked himself with cleaning up inside and out. It was all in honour of Bob and Wendy who came over for the afternoon and early evening along with Bailey and Odie. The wind was blowing unbelievably hard and it was just like being down by the ocean. As Bob commented, all that was missing was the salt air.
We got treated to quite a show by the local osprey who simultaneous with fighing the raging wind plunged deep into the water and came out with quite a large fish...he then struggled to lift off in the wind and we thought he might lose his prize, but eventually he just went with the gale and made it to land.
In addition to louning there was substantial eating, including Julie's homemade baked beans and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Wendy brought some homemade salsa that was spicy and really tasty. Oh, and we also had some barbecued chicken breasts and sweet potatoes. And some veggies and dip. And...well...you get the idea.
We also took a couple of walks, one with the four of us and the dogs down to the point. There some people on horses there as well so we didn't stick around because the horses looked a bit freaked out by the situation. Maybe it's because Odie is about the size of a mouse and they were worried he'd get caught up in their toes.
Monday we went back to lounging and watched a lot of bad TV. It took until Monday for Keenan to finally feel rested, because it had been quite a week. We had some sort of meeting almost every night after work, and of course Julie was trying to get the proposal done. Keenan put in a lot of time with the Heartwood House because there were all sorts of documents that needed to be ready to go out to members by Thursday.
June 25, 2006
Phew...we made it. After getting ready for Visioning Day, the Pool Party, Staff Visioning Week, and then three days to get ready for the Banquet at the same time as supporting SMILE clients...oooh yeah, it was a busy three weeks at the office. The banquet ended up being pretty amazing. Both sets of parents were in attendance so that was fun as well. It's too exhausing to think about all of that stuff, so if you are interested, you can find movies, pictures, stories, everything you would ever need and more on the LWP website (a new window will open from the links below). Oh, there was also a very complimentary story in the Orleans Star, link to that provided also.
We hosted staff visioning at our place, and we had quite a time cleaning up beforehand, but the job got done. The other job that got (almost completely) done was to screen in our second floor deck, which is accessed from our bedroom and overlooks the bay. It's a beautiful spot and partially shaded by trees as well. But there are lots of bugs at night and it's also a bit of a pain to keep opening and closing the bedroom door so the cats won't get out and perhaps plummet to their deaths. So we hired Peter Kenny who is an old colleague of Julie's dad.
It was a challenging job because of the railings and posts which were
not designed for screening. He took two weekends instead of one to do the work, but it really paid off. When he first visited it was a calm day and when we told him how windy it can get here he listened but might not have been fully convinced. The Saturday he started work we had left the house before he arrived, and when we got back in the afternoon his hands were numb from the cold of the driving wind. He had thrown out his original plans and drawn up a new design to cope with the blustery winds that he had now encountered first hand.
One of the same Saturdays that Peter was over (must have been the 17th) Sean dropped by to watch the Stanley Cup finals and the four of us sat out on the back deck (ground level) and enjoyed a barbecue on the huge outdoor George Foreman grill that Julie got from Keenan's parents for her birthday. The thing is amazing, it fit four hamburgers and six sausages no problem!
The grill now has a home on the upstairs deck as our secondary barbecue. Another birthday present to Julie (from Keenan...and also to Keenan?) was a water cooler with a built in fridge in the bottom. So with the grill we are now pretty self-sufficient on the top floor! If this all seems rather decadent or extravagant, it seems we've pretty much decided that this is where we are spending our vacation this year. We just aren't into making a big effort of any kind, we just want to relax, and maybe go out for a bunch of nice dinners with the money we'll save by not doing whatever else it is we would have done.
We said the deck project is almost finished because the bottom hasn't been screened in yet. But it's working fine because we tried screening in the cheap way ourselves last year with some textile mesh. It actually worked for most of the year, but a big wind ripped it up in August. But the part covering the underside of the deck is still pretty good, and so far we've had just one mosquito make it's way into our sanctuary.
The action on the waterfront is super. The water has remained high, and we are being treated to daily shows from muskrats, gar pike, turtles, baby ducks, and a single blue heron. When the neighbours to the the north drop by the wildlife changes from the above to three children and a mother, but it's still pretty wild. They seem to find the waterfront at our house much more interesting than their own, so we don't miss out on too much of the action. No doubt the husband will be engaged in numerous projects involving high-pitched high-velocity power tools, but hopefully that will all be finished up before our vacation at the end of August.
June 4, 2006
What a great weekend! Friday night was the last Journeys/SMILE@NIGHT of the season which means until September at least our weekends start Friday night instead of Saturday morning.
Saturday we both spent the entire day preparing to host a dinner party with Michael, Sally, David, and Trisha. We've had dinner at their houses so many times so Jluie came up with the idea to do something really special with several courses paired with different wines. While all those preparations were going on Keenan busied himself with the house. There was quite a lot to do (what else is new) and the day faded away quickly.
The dinner was amazing, the feature attraction being a roast beef tenderloin. It was so tender, just incredible. Everyone seemed to have a great time, although pookie decided to confuse Sally by sucking up to her and then trying to bite her.
The inside of the house is looking great and things outside are shaping up a bit too. We got some nice hostas and this cool ribbon grass from mom and dad wellar which has been planted in the front. When the rain took a break earlier in the week Keenan dragged out the lawnmower and almost killed himself getting it done before dark. It was a bit like carving through a jungle. The wildflowers are just starting to come out in the back and the humminbird feeder has been very busy with a charming little male ruby-throat checking in several times a day.
The water is still pretty high from all the rain and it's really nice that way. We had an osprey visiting today, and there are still some cute shorebirds around. We've seen a gar pike fin for the first time and there are a few turtles, but not as many as last year.
There are more mosquitos than last year from all the rain, but we are fortunate in that there does not seem to be blackflies here. Peter is coming by next weekend to screen in the upstairs deck which will be fantastic when it is done. Today we were chilling out on the lower deck but except when the sun was out the bugs were annoying.
May 21, 2006
Another very busy two weeks, so we staggered into the long weekend just in time. We did spend a lot of time just lazing about but also had a lovely dinner with Wendy and Bob at Hot Peppers (great Thai food!) an evening at the Royal Oak with Sean and the fabulous table d'hote at Les Fougeres shared with Grace and Chris.
It wasn't the greatest weekend for being out of doors anyway, so we didn't miss out on any prime biking or paddling. The wind blew and blew and we enjoyed the view of whitecaps that were moving with such force that a lot of new sand got pushed up on the beach.
Last weekend was a bit of a write-off. On Thursday-Friday we attended a conference in Montreal with Dr. David Burns (renowned author of Feeling Good) with a focus on helping people with anxiety disorders. Along with Grace and Jen we stayed in an affordable suite across the street from the conference in Pointe-Claire.
On Thursday night we went out for dinner with Dr. Burns and another 10 or so people from the conference who met up with him in the lobby. The hotel gave some lousy advice about a place to eat and we all ended up walking quite a distance alongside the rush hour traffic in one of the moral brutal suburbs one might ever experience as a pedestrian. All to reach a very mediocre Greek restaurant, but the food wasn't really the point, although it would have been nice to have one good meal in Montreal. Instead we had to content ourselves with fast food throughout. The only good news was the deliciously buttery croissants provided each morning at the conference.
We all learned a lot. Julie volunteered to practice one of the techniques in front of everyone at the conference and (perhaps experiencing some anxiety of her own) decided to mess up a little bit on purpose because she was afraid people would not have a chance to learn as much if she gave all the right answers.
On the way back from the conference we learned that one of the SMILE participants had experienced a serious injury as a side effect of some medication which was a definite downer! We were worried about how other participants would react so went back to the office to give people the news at the start of SMILE@NIGHT.
There was no rest for the wicked! Saturday was a Saturday Social and we had evening duty at the Lone Star. It was a good outing especially since one of the participants did a great job of self-advocacy in working things out with her parents to take the bus at night.
We took Trish to Kelsey's for Mother's Day (her choice) and had some good laughs and conversation with David. We saw Keenan's folks on Wednesday night and had a delicious roast and did lots of catching up.
On the holiday weekend in addition to the socializing we got out together to the movies and saw United 93. Wow, what a powerful film, and so brilliantly done.
May 7, 2006
It seems like a month ago now, but the auction was just last Thursday. It was as much work as ever although there was less to do the day of the event because we worked so hard earlier in the week. We were sitting around in the office with Grace and Allison and in the morning had time to actually relax. It was a weird feeling! The auction itself was OK...Andrew and his team did a really amazing job with the food, and MBNA had a ton of volunteers not to mention a ton of loot for all the bags, so those who did show up were really happy. But we ended up head to head with a Sens playoff game, and we lost probably about 100 people because of that. We definitely had enough donations and sponsorships to have a shot at breaking last year's record, but instead ended up with the second-highest total ever which was great with all things considered. The Citizen had a little story and some pictures that were nice. But it seemed like there were auctions going on just about every night of the week and maybe it's time to start thinking about a change, if not this year then in the future.
On the home front we've really been enjoying our new bicycles. We did 30k last weekend! And we also paddled to the point and back on two different weeknights, it's a good workout when you are racing the sunset. We did a pretty good spring cleanup inside the house too. We've been enjoying the George Foreman grill that Julie got as a birthday present from mom and dad Wellar, it makes really good hamburgers in just five minutes!
Sunday we went to Jane's 9th birthday party. Julie did a great job picking up a big selection of presents while Keenan was working on a housing presentation. Mom Wellar brought one of her homemade cheesecakes and it was delicious as always.
April 23, 2006
Wow, April 23! That's a little scary, it means the auction is just three days away. It was a very hectic week to say the least. As always so much stuff comes pouring in just in the last few days and there's quite a crunch to deal with it all. It's a lot of pressure because there's stuff everywhere but we have to keep track of it carefully. It only takes one donor not being properly credited to put a downer on things, so we have to try to stay vigilant even as our eyes go blurry. But it's so uplifting to see the results of the hard work of all the participants and their family members who really get into the auction.
On the home front Julie got surprised by mom and dad Wellar after tennis on Saturday. Keenan had arranged for them to pick up a really nice water cooler for the house, and they bought her this huge George Foreman grill, as Julie had been admiring the one at their house a few weeks ago. Both gifts went over really well as early birthday presents. The cooler and grill are both going upstairs since we plan to be spending a lot more time enjoying the upstairs deck this spring and summer.
There is lots of fun stuff happening out back. The new shrubs have blossomed with some small leaves, despite being somewhat submerged by the high waters of the last couple of weeks. We've got muskrats a-plenty and spotted the first turtle early in the week, and of course there are all sorts of ducks. Other birds are moving in, and we've even seen our first blue heron.
April 17, 2006
It was a much-needed four day weekend. It could have featured just lying in bed watching TV but instead we were out and about every day! On Friday we went for our first paddle of the season. The water was unbelievably cold but the air temperature was just great. We paddled across the bay and up Constance Creek. It was funny poking through the flooded forest on the way there, and then in the creek we saw dozens of muskrats and one huge snapping turtle that swam right up next to Keenan's kayak. We got as far as Vance's bridge and turned back, it was about a 15km paddle and we were pretty tired. The bay was just beautiful tonight with a lovely sunsent. It's so nice when the water is up high like this that it almost makes us sad thinking of how low it might get in July and August.
After getting cleaned up from the kayaking trip we went out for dinner at Baton Rouge. After the usual fill of ribs we went to AMC to see Thank You For Smoking, which had us laughing it up pretty good. it was a lovely day!
Saturday was to be a big shopping day for Julie, so we went down to Westboro but pretty much struck out, although we ended up at MEC and she got a little purse and we found some cool aluminum water bottles on sale. Saturday night we visted with Dave and Trisha and got caught up on all of our news. Oliver has "filled out" quite nicely and we had a good laugh about that.
Sunday we went for a 15km bike ride, our second time out on our new bikes after a shorter trip on Monday after work. On the way back we were into the wind and it was a serious workout! Muskrats seem to be everywhere these days. We thought we saw a dead one at the edge of a ditch but it turned out he was just catching some sun and he scrambled off into the safety of the murky ditch water.
Monday we took another run at the shopping thing. The first stop was Bayshore, and although Julie didn't come home with loads of clothes, she got some nice stuff at Banana Republic. Keenan recently saw some episodes of What No To Wear and was having fun talking fashion with the sales lady. After Bayshore we managed stops at Costco and Loeb and loaded up on groceries. It was absolutely gorgeous when we got home. The water is up as high as we have ever seen it, and the sun was beating down so hard that we were able to eat dinner out back on the deck.
April 9, 2006
Sometimes we work so hard that we lose complete touch with the concept of time. That's definitely how it was these last two weeks.
The last five days of March were just a tad chaotic. There was the mini-banquet Wednesday night and then the Open House and LWP Showcase Family Fun Night both on Friday. And of course doing all the work involved in all three events! Oh, and just one more thing, we were also going through the first stages of hiring a new full-time staff member. And items started coming in for the auction. And we were going on housing tours with participants checking out the condo option. Yes, pretty busy!
The banquet was a big success, and the Open House was a lot busier than we thought it would be. Although it was more low key than last year's 10th anniversary version, it was a constant flow of people and pretty much non-stop. The family fun night was also a big hit, especially the self-advocacy videos that Keenan produced with the drama group.
The next week wasn't much better. It was a planning week with participants which is always rather demanding because it's a lot less active than a normal schedule. And we started the interviews with the ten candidates for the job, which was paired down from about 30 applications. The interviews were about 45 minutes each and it's exhausting because it's important and we can't afford taking mental breaks. By Friday the four of us were discussing the candidates and pretty torn between 3 of them to the point that we could not reach a decision.
Saturday at tennis it finally happened...we has a "spousal moment" in front of everyone! Julie was playing up at the net and Jamie was playing with her and threw up a short lob cross-court from Keenan who was on the opposite side. He ranged over, took a peak to see where Julie was, and took the air, driving a smash down near the left-side alley. Unfortunately, Julie didn't stay where she was before the jump, and ended up taking the ball right in the back of the leg! The shock (and pain!) of the experience caused a rare event - loss of temper! Keenan was shocked by the reaction and launched into a loud defense. It all lasted about ten seconds but it was the first time anything like that has happened in several years of playing tennis with and against each other. Of course it's now great for a laugh and we'll get a good photo of the bruise when it develops!
Saturday was also a big day because we finally put together our new bedframe/headboard that we got for Christmas (readers will recall the Christmas bedframe fiasco!). It looks really great! We picked up a new mattress cover at The Bay (an activity that took way too long but it's a surprisingly confusing task!).
This is a beautiful time to be on the water. So much is happening. The muskrat has reappeared and is once again living in our rocks. We've got the delightful bufflehead ducks dropping by, and some geese and mallards hanging out on the edge of the ice for some reason. Keenan was messing round down by the water and also saw some sort of fish. We're looking forward to the frogs, turtles, and gar pike. On the drive to and from home we are seeing tons of deer, and sometimes a pair of red-tailed hawks.
Sunday we went to Flannery's 16th birthday party and finally say where Tim and Jane and Flan are living. It's a pretty good spot on the edge of the Glebe. Before we got there we stopped by to see Marjorie and Barry and watched the last of the men's curling championship (a disappointing 10th end defeat). Then we all went over to the party.
It's a bit of a zoo over there (literally) with a bird, dog, and cat all running loose. But they seem very happy! We got Flan a DVD player to go with the TV that she got from Tim and the grandparents.
March 26, 2006
OK, that two weeks flew by, thanks mainly to things happening very fast on the housing front at LiveWorkPlay. We've come up with an innovative solution to the housing issue and it's been somewhat mentally exhausting trying to communicate it to the families. On the other hand it is a bit of a relief to know that we have what we believe to be the best solution available and that if people don't want it, we can direct our energies elsewhere. But we'd much rather put our energy into making it work!
We had a lovely brunch on Saturday with Bob and Wendy. Yes, back at Les Fougeres again! We haven't been out with them on a purely social occasion for way too long, so this was great. After a leisurely brunch that was more like a dinner, we enjoyed a good two hours of tennis and some lounging about afterwards. After that came some evening shopping and then a nice night at home.
Today we didn't leave the house, it was time to catch up on some sleep. We did manage to finish and submit our taxes (netfile is great).
It's hard to remember what has gone on the past two weeks! The other thing going on at work is we are in the process of looking for a full-time replacement for Allison, and we've got a huge pile of resumes and the interviews are lined up. We have to be really careful with this because things are very good with us and Grace right now and we want to keep things working as well as they are working now.
There's been some warmer weather and the little underground creek that flows off the northern border of our property and into the bay is flowing and making a little dent in the ice that still covers the bay. We're excited to begin kayaking and also to begin biking, now that we have bikes!
Things don't look very good for the Renegades in the coming season, and through a weird sequence of events, Keenan ended up getting interviewed for an A-Channel sports feature about their ownership troubles.
March 12, 2006
It was one of those truly great weekends. Saturday morning Julie got the shopping done while Keenan did some cleaning and then we were off to the first ever Rideau/West Ottawa tennis tournament. We both played well and had a great time. We played together once, and defeated our opponents (also a married couple) rather handily but it was very competitive with lots of exciting points. Everyone got together for drinks and dinner afterwards. Some stayed to play bridge but we headed off to visit mom and dad Wellar. Barry was just getting back from a trip to Chicago and had some very amusing stories to tell.
Sunday we went for brunch at Les Fougeres with Colin and Cyndi. The food was fantastic. We went all out and shared some desserts too. We were all feeling a bit full so we went to Chelsea and took a hike through the Gatineaus through the snow in our shoes. It was fun, although Keenan and Colin slipped off the trail a couple of times trying to catch snowballs and fell in the deep snow up to their thighs.
On the work front Allison is leaving in April to do her full-time MSW placement so we are starting the process of hiring a replacement. It's never an easy task but hopefully we can bring someone new to the team who will help make LWP better.
It was also a busy week looking into housing options since the new build RFP has been postponed yet again. Julie has been working on this non-stop and may have hitting on a possible solution. Time will tell.
On the home front it was a warm week and the best season of the year out here is fast approaching. We've already seen ducks, geese, and cedar waxwings, not to mention a great gray owl. He was right alongside the road on the way home on Sunday and he didn't seem bothered as we stopped to watch. He changed trees and actually moved closer to us. Then suddenly he flew about 20 feet and dropped straight down. He sat there for a few moments and then we saw a small tail, attached to a body and a head. The owl swallowed the little critter (probably a mouse) in about three big gulps. Wow, what a show!
March 5, 2006
Some big news this week, including Jamie and Fran now officially engaged. Apparently Jamie did the whole thing of his own initiative, including a humourous crash course in diamond prices!
We've now got a clear picture on what is ahead for LWP for staffing needs, and that will make for an interesting summer, hopefully in a good way.
On Thursday Keenan had a rare day off work with some sort of nasty stomach business. But by Friday night he was OK to support the 67s game activity which had very high attendance for participants and volunteers. He ended up sitting next to Robert and had a good chat with him about some of the interesting things that he is doing right now.
Grace's week in Florida wasn't as good as it could have been, as she also had a nasty stomach thing (only much worse). It was pretty good getting back to work and the four of us shared a lot of fun memories about how well we worked as a team in LA.
On the home front the wind has continued to howl, but it's been nice and quiet otherwise. We haven't done any shoveling for more than a month, the wind blows most of it away!
February 26, 2006
This week we practiced some hibernation. Julie's sinus infection came back so she stayed home most of the week. Keenan didn't go out much either, but there was plenty to do, like finally finishing off the LA website. He also went in for a meeting at the A-Channel and did some shopping as well as lots of cooking.
Saturday we had lots of fun at tennis (although Keenan did take a huge wipeout and scraped up his arm and bruised his hip) and afterwards visited with David, Christina, Ben and Meredith. The kids put on quite a show for us before dinner! After dinner we had a couple of our most unusual conversations in the history of our friendship and ti was a great time even though everyone was a bit sleepy.
Earlier in the week Julie did drag herself out for tennis with Moe and Kae on Tuesday. We watched quite a bit of the olympics all week, cheering on the speedskaters and the curlers especially. It was actually really nice not to have the distraction of men's hockey taking all the attention from all the other athletes.
February 19, 2006
Exhausted does not even begin to describe our current status! The trip to LA with the SMILE-TOG group was very successful but a lot of hard work. We dragged ourselves out of the house for tennis on Saturday and to visit mom/dad Kingstone on Sunday, but it wasn't easy.
January 29, 2006
Although Keenan was very unhappy with losing 2 of 4 games in the Saturday afternoon tennis league (thus destroying his perfect 2006 record) it was a very productive weekend. We finished putting up the portable garage that was a xmas gift to Keenan from mom and dad Kingstone, and we also put together the beautiful wardbrobe that was a xmas gift from mom and dad Wellar. The instructions for the garage were rather bizarre, and working with metal pipes and nuts and bolts in the winter is rather difficult, although it was a very mild day.
Saturday night we celebrated dad Wellar's birthday a week early. As time draws near to our departure for Hollywood we aren't going to have much time for visiting so we are trying to get on top of things now.
It was a busy week at work with pretty long hours. We are meeting with all of the participants and their parents for annual reviews. It totals up to about 15 hours of meetings in 3 weeks.
January 22, 2006
Hey, look at that, two weeks slipped by! Well, it's been a busy and productive time from all respects - work, family, friends, personal lives.
Today Julie was a whirling dervish of energy, she undertook just about every conceivable domestic task, and even got involved in Keenan's sole project for the day, which was setting up the portable garage that was a xmas gift from mom and dad Kingstone.
This effort was interrupted by the Steelers game (they won and are on their way to the Super Bowl!). Last week we watched the Steelers incredible and heart-stopping victory over the Colts with Cyndi and Colin at their place. It was a lot of fun although we are still working off the snacks. That same Sunday we went out to see Fran and Jamie at their place, it was probably the first time we managed anything social with just the four of us, and it was really nice. They fed us an incredible meal that featured some delicious and juicy shrimp in a butter sauce.
Saturday Keenan continued his undefeated streak in tennis but it's really Julie's play that is most notable as she continues to improve dramatically and is making quite an impression on the others in the Dropshot league.
After tennis we booted it out to Cumberland. It was a beautiful day with all the trees covered in thick wet snow. John was there as well as Jim and Jennifer and we had a good time getting caught up as well as enjoying a delicous main course by Trisha and fabulous dessert by Jennifer. It was Trisha's birthday and she got some interesting gifts including an orchid.
It's been extremely busy at work, between getting the SMILE schedules all done and the sessions up and running, helping participants prepare to vote in Monday's election, preparing for the trip to LA...it's just amazing to the four of us that it all gets done.
January 8, 2006
Happy New Year! This year's LWP new year's eve party expanded to about 260 people (from 130) and it was without a doubt a huge success. We were planning to leave early from the party this year, but it was such fun we decided to stay until close to the bitter end. Chris and Grace decided to stay at the hotel so we hung out with them for a while and talked up a storm. We got home about 5:00 AM!
We got together with Moe and Kae and played tennis once during the holidays, and then yesterday we both played great at the Dropshot league. Julie won all of her games...except the one she played against Keenan, who won all of his games.
Before tennis we went to see Sally and Michael to pick their brains about some LWP housing issues and also to meet their new cats, who are truly adorable.
Today we enjoyed staying at home and watching football. The Steelers came up big and took out the Bengals, we are excited to see how they can do next week against the Colts. That sure won't be easy for them.
This was the weekend we were going to get out and use our new snowshoes but Julie is still getting over some sort of a sinus infection, so it didn't happen. There was a lot of snow all week, and Keenan ran the snowblower, which started up without much trouble, even though we left the old gasoline in it all spring, summer, and fall.
The big news was we finally sold our old fridge, which was in perfect condition but doesn't fit in the kitchen here. The two guys who came to pick it up really liked our house and we had a nice chat about it as one of them was in the process of moving to Carp. It looks like a whole new house on the lower level without that big fridge in the middle.
In the week after xmas we got all sorts of things accomplished, including all the returns/exchanges. And we went out to the movies with Michale, Peter, Trish and David. We saw "Munich" which got thumbs up from all but David, who prefers a more uplifting story.
It was a bit difficult getting back into the groove at work. Julie missed two days with her sinus infection, and her missing contribution to the energy level was noticeable, but along with Grace and Allison, Keenan did manage to get quite a lot done. The fitness room is now all ready to go which will be great for everyone at SMILE. Julie did make it out for the first Friday night programs for the planning session.
On Saturday when we got home after tennis we got a big fire going and got a huge pile of snacks and beverages and got comfy with the cats. This new "densified wood" that we are burning now is great - burns hot and long, and hardly creates andy ash, and it is better for the environment. Less mess, too!
December 25, 2005
Another holiday marathon has come and gone. The day started about 8:00 am in our living room, and after a stop with mom and dad Wellar, ended about 1:00 am (on the 26th) with mom and dad Kingstone. After the long drive home and all the unloading that followed, the day didn't end until after 2:00 am. It was quite an 18 hours!
We started the day by figuring out that we'd each purchased a similar "big gift" for each other. D-oh! Oh well, the proper way to look at it is that we both put a lot of thought into it, and it's hard to believe this is the first time it ever happened.
The morning and early afternoon was spent with mom/dad Wellar and Tim, Jane, and Flannery. They are all looking very happy and health, although Tim and the girls were a bit tired after spending most of the night at the veterinary hospital because Tim's cat took a swipe at Marnie's bird. It does sound like some sort of comedy routine, but it really happened. The bird came along for Christmas morning and looked awfully cute with its little plastic collar to prevent it from picking at the stitches.
With some help from mom Wellar we got the girls some gifts they really seemed to like, although Keenan seemed to enjoy playing with Jane's iDog more than she did!
We headed off to Cumberland and arrived about 3:30. We opened the stockings and that took us into the later afternoon, and then Sally and Michael arrived. The turkey was a bit late and we started dinner around 8:00. This meant that opening the big pile of presents started some time after 9:00 and did not finish until well after midnight!
Michael and Peter had some neat artistic gifts, Michael gave Dave and Trish this really cool mobile, and Peter gave out framed photographs. Julie did a great job picking out gifts for us to give, and they were all well received.
December 18, 2005
There's nothing like going out every night of the week...nothing like it if you want to catch a cold in December, that is! Keenan struggled through the week but didn't miss out on any of our planned engagements. This included the SMILE mini-banquet on Wednesday, a Senators game (with Sean and Grace) on Thursday after tennis, and the staff dinner (with Allison and Grace) at Les Fougeres on Friday, and then dinner at the new home of Christina, David, Meredith and Ben on Saturday after tennis. Whew! But there was lots of great company and also lots of great food. Les Fougeres was to die for...the best thai chicken soup ever! Wow! And the goat cheese salad...and the veal...and the white chocolate cake...oh my!
We got a big pile of snow dumped on the area on Thursday and Friday, and the media wouldn't shup up about it. You'd think it had never snowed in Ottawa before! Julie was feeling energetic and shovelled the whole mess of it by herself while Keenan was trying to sleep off his cold.
December 11, 2005
A predictably busy week, but tons of positive things happening. At work we got a surprise with a contribution of $19,500 from the City of Ottawa. The treadmills and bike are almost ready to do for the new fitness room. The holiday family fun night was a huge success, especially with Pennie and Bob playing Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
We had a wonderful time seeing Holly and Eric (as well as a peek at Bjorn and seeing how much Wolf has grown) for dinner, drinks, and lots of great conversation at their house.
Tennis was great on Tuesday and Thursday, we are each working on different parts of our game and helping each other. We are having some very competitive games too! On Saturday most everybody in the league cancelled but we had fun with Karl and Murray and Gloria. After tennis we got in some very productive shopping and then went to the tennis party at Mike and Sylvia's. The place was jumping, and the food at the potluck was just unbelievable. There was a rum cake that was just to die for. In fact, we ate so much, we were concerned about that. Afterwards there were lots of guitar players plus a piano player for singing. Yes, singing.
Sunday we got a delivery of high density wood for the woodstove. It's basically hardwood sawdust formed into a log shape. It's not like those artificial logs you buy in the grocery store. This stuff is amazing, three of the small logs are more than enough to get a huge blaze going and it lasts a long time. We got a big fire going and relaxed in front of the fire with pookie and bubba and watched some football.
December 4, 2005
We were doing such a good job keeping the journal up to date, and then WHAM now it is December and we haven't checked in for 3 weeks!
We've been having a great time playing tennis. Kae and Moe have been joining us every Tuesday, and we usually get to play a lot more than the hour we pay for because there's an open court. They are really good players and we get quite a workout. On Thursdays we usually play just the two of us, and sometimes we work on specific areas of our game, like serving on volleying at the net. Julie is trying really hard to develop good habits for a consistent serve, and Keenan is working on his confidence for hitting topspin one-handed backhands.
The weather has been fluctuating like crazy and we get a different show in our back yard every day. At one point the bay was covered in ice, and then the ice was gone. There have been some very windy days with big waves, and the water is way up from the rain and melted snow. It is almost as high right now as it gets in the spring. There are still ducks and geese around, but not too many left. There's a beatiful red-shouldered hawk that we see often on our drive to work in the morning. He's very shy, but one day he was in a tree very close to the road and we were able to stop and get a good look. He didn't like that much and changed trees, so now we just admire him from afar.
We're trying to do all the responsible things that adults do in the ritual called "getting ready for winter." We've got winter tires on the car and on the van, and we even put some weather stripping around the door where cold air was getting in.
Saturday brought gusts of wind with incredible power. The waves were pounding the shore and ice was trying to form. Some sort of small fish, perhaps caught of guard by the rapid change in temperature, seemed to get frozen into the surface ice, because crows kept landing and picking at the frozen chunks on the water. We were trying to figure this out when suddenly a huge bald eagle came out of nowewhere. It was a glorious sight! He swirled around in the wind and then suddenly blasted down towards the icy water and plucked something off the surface. He flew away and then for whatever reason dropped his prize and did not attempt to pick it up. Whatever it was, the crows were happy to have at it.
After tennis on Saturday (Keenan went undefeated and Julie went 3/4) we drove out to Russell for a fundraiser put on by Angela and her family. Grace had been there earlier, so there were LWP representatives there for most of the event. We enjoyed some great food and conversation and then made the long drive home.
Sunday Julie spent the whole day shopping with David. Keenan was relatively happy to be stranded at home hanging out with the boys, watching football and working on the computer. Oh yes, and doing laundry. With water levels so high, we are over our phobia about the well. Four loads later, and all is still well.
November 13, 2005
It was a nice weekend, but an extra day would have been great. So what else is new!
On Saturday we travelled to Montreal for the wedding of Julie's childhood friend Jill and Martin, who is now her husband! It was a nice ceremony, some of what was said in the vows and readings reminded us a bit of our own wedding. There were lots of very interesting people at the wedding and dinner, a lot of them are activists working with immigrants, social housing, you name it. We left at 10:00 pm even though the party was just warming up, because we had not made plans to spend the night and did not want to be too tired for a safe drive. Click here for a picture of Julie and the bride.
Sunday we put the kayaks away and cleaned up outside. Click here for a picture of Keenan after a job well done. It's sort of a sad activity but it was also fun. Julie put up the lights out front, and we also let Pookie outside to wander around (he wears a harness attached to a big ball of rope and sort of drags it around). We had a big fire going in the stove and watched some NFL and CFL while cleaning up and cooking inside. Julie settled down on the couch with a sleeping bag for a blanket and both cats decided to join in, it was quite a sight.
The lingering threat of busy strike has tensions high among a lot of the participants, and it's also impacting on parents too. We've had more than the usual expression of worries from parents about upcoming events, but all we can really do is reassure them and carry on.
The New Year's Eve party is totally sold out. This is the first year in a long time that we've handled everything about the party ourselves, and there was really nothing to it. For whatever reasons, just about everyone who contacted Keenan to ask about tickets ended up buying some, and Julie has been on top of the arrangements with the Crowne Plaza, Dave Kalil, and the DJ service, so everything is looking great.
It's amazing how quickly December comes after those long hard months in September and October. We're already working with the participants to finalize plans for the SMILE mini-banquet in December, after which time the program shuts down, we do office-based work with Allison and Grace, and then we are on holidays.
We played tennis on Tuesday and Thursday as planned. John was able to fill in for Kae on Tuesday and we had a blast with him and Moe. They beat us - twice - both times after we had the lead in the set. We seem to lack the killer instinct!
November 6, 2005
A good weekend! We finally got to sleep in, although Julie was up fairly early for a workout and also preparing a huge brunch-like meal of oatmeal with blueberries and cream, sliced ham with mustard, bacon, pepper slices, cucumber slices, and of course lots of mayo.
We got all stoked up and drove out to Cumberland to watch football. We didn't go to the game (last one of the season) because David had taken a tumble off a ladder while cleaning the gutters and hurt his leg. Sigh.
It was a goofy but entertaining game to watch. We're planning to renew our tickets for next season and hopefully it will be our first year in the playoffs.
Saturday night we had a great time with Cyndi and Colin and also Phil who dropped by later. After some food, drinks, and conversation we started playing Texas hold-em poker (not for money) and it went on until something like 2:00 AM! Phil and Colin never did manage to win a round despite having the superior gambling experience. They were gracious losers however.
Sunday we did some shopping and settled down with a fire to watch some football, read, and hang out with the cats.
It wasn't an overwhelming week at work, but somewhat draining as we had to deal with various bits of negativity from some of the parents. It's always a challenge to walk that tightrope between supporting participants to work towards their goals while at the same time taking into account the concerns of parents. Without parental support it's almost impossible to have success with anything we are doing, but sometimes we just have to push them a bit. It's definitely emotionally draining at times to do that, but LiveWorkPlay is here for a purpose and we can't just scrap things everytime there is a negative reaction to a new initiative.
Things at work are overall going really great. The staff team is working well together and the participants are generally very enthusiastic and there is a really healthy peer environment. With so many new people there was lots of potential for personality clashes and such, but so far those types of issues have been relatively minor.
The other excitement was about the New Year's Eve party. Julie has handled all the bookings and that sort of thing while Keenan is doing promotions and sales, and it's working unbelievably well. Over 100 tickets were sold in just one week, and the part may be sold out by next week!
October 30, 2005
Wow, this week totally flew by. A true whirlwind!
The weekend was pretty busy too. Friday night was Halloween Family Fun Night at LWP. It was a really good night with a huge turnout, and the other exciting thing was more than half of the New Year's Eve party tickets were sold out by the time it ended.
Saturday morning we went in to Heartwood House to help out with the unclaimed items sale. There were so many volunteers that Julie only helped out for about an hour while Keenan was doing an interview with a student in a university journalism program. We did some stuff around the office and did a bit more helping out with the sale until Grace showed up for the 12:30 volunteer shift.
After that it was time for Renegades football. The game from Smiths Falls brought us a huge bag of chocalates and candy. We gobbled down one big chocolate bar between the three of us but showed discipline and stopped there. We had some really annoying Als fans sitting near us, smoking and boozing the entire game. One older fella spent almost the entire game turned around shouting at Keenan. Nothing mean or rude, just giving him advice on making bets with a bookie and other incomprehensible stuff.
We followed David back out to Cumberland after and had a nice dinner with Trish and did some chatting before the long drive home.
It's amazing when you lose all your "things to do" time on Saturday, because suddenly Sunday feels very short. Julie did a great job with it all while Keenan tried to recover from a rather exhausted state. We got out the door on time to get downtown to meet up with Marnie and the gang at the Bytowne for a movie (Deep Blue) and then dinner at The Works. A good night but we sure were tired by the end. Not that this prevented Keenan from staying up to watch the Bills lose a close one to the Pats.
We had water again all week. The only thing we aren't doing at home is using the washing machine. We're also doing good with having a fire in the woodstove instead of using the furnace. We only had the furnace on for one day - Sunday - because Keenan was afriad he'd never get out of bed otherwise.
October 23, 2005
It was a great week to just be around our friend Wendy! She won a very prestigious award that came about in part because of her efforts with LiveWorkPlay, and we got to be a part of the ceremony. Julie made a short speech as part of an international videoconference broadcast. Then on Saturday night after tennis we went out with Wendy and Bob and some of Wendy's friends for a nice dinner.
We looked forward to tennis all week, and it didn't start off too well. We got on the court early to warm up, and Keenan broke a string on his racquet. He borrowed another one but didn't have his best games with it, especially the last game. That's where the wheels fell off for Julie too. We played together in the first of four games and did pretty well, but we eneded up back together for the last game and definitely could have been better. Now we have a bunch of weeks off from our league play because we are busy the next few Saturdays with football games and weddings and such. But we're going to try to find a weekday time to play.
There's good news on the home front - we haven't run out of water for more than a week. We are still conserving like crazy, but we are taking short showers and also ran the dishwasher twice, mainly just to catch up on a stockpile of semi-clean dishes on the counter.
We were out in the Alta Vista area and took a drive by the old house. We ended up talking about how neither of us misses the house or the neighbourhood. Even with our water problems this summer, our house is a place we are excited to come home to. Every day there's something interesting to see out on the water, or along the side of the road, or right in the back yard. Right now there are hundreds of migrating birds making a home in the shallows.
We're having fun conserving energy, not because we need to, but because we want to. We heat the house with the wood stove in the evening, and in the morning we have two small ceramic heaters on a timer, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. It's working great and so far we haven't used the furnace once!
October 16, 2005
We are back playing regular tennis! We took advantage of some good weather to play together outside over the last couple of weeks, and that had us in a decent rhythm for the start of the Dropshot league on Saturday afternoons. Keenan is doing the website for the group, which this year features a "gender challenge." After the two hours of league play we stuck around for another 90 minutes. There was no one else in the entire bubble over the six clay courts! We had one potentially serious injury when Julie got hit in the eye after thinking a rally was over and was bending over to pick up some balls just as Keenan put a big smack on the ball that was in play. But fortunately after some fuzziness and watering, the eye is OK. Keenan has figured out that shouting "Duck!" might work better than shouting "Look out!"
It was an extremely windy day today and we enjoyed being around the house with a roaring fire, watching football, doing some cooking, and relaxing with Pookie and Bubba, who are happy to see the return of the wood stove. Keenan got out his poker table and poker set that was a Christmas gift from Julie and we played a little two-handed Texas hold 'em. The added challenge was Bubba trying to steal the chips while he made himself at home on the table. Julie almost wiped Keenan out of chips but he mounted a comeback and a tie was declared. The main purpose was to practice the fundamentals of the game because there are plans to play (for fun) on a regular basis with a group of friends.
Our health right now is as good as it has been for some time. In addition to playing tennis almost every day in the last couple of weeks, Julie keeps up pretty regular workouts on the treadmill. Keenan is still out of the habit from the long period of time when he had too much foot pain. He got orthotics and the pain from his heels disappeared, but was replaced by achilles pain. But now that's almost gone too.
We're eating really well too. The only challenge remains managing ourselves at other people's homes, where it's hard to escape the constant offering of carb-laden breads and potatoes or sugary desserts, which tend to make both of us feel sick afterwards. On the home front our staple remains various meats from Aubrey's. But this time of year is wonderful because of the ample supply of delicious apples, which we've been gobbling down at a rapid pace.
October 9, 2005
Hurray! September is finally over. It was an exhausting month, but we came through it with flying colours. For the past week we tried out a new routine of getting to work early. It took some negotiating of course. Keenan is not so keen at getting up at 5:00 AM, but the deal is that if he can sleep in a bit on Fridays (since we work until 11:00 PM), Saturdays and Sundays, he'll give it a go. So far so good. We've been getting a lot done in the morning and getting home in time to eat dinner at a pretty normal hour.
It's winter tennis season and we've already been out at West Ottawa four times. We played outside because the court time is free outdoors. Once it is too cold and we have to play in the dome there will be court fees. We're playing in a recreational league that Moe is organizing, and there are lots of great players, with an age range from 32 to 84!
The hot weather early in the week was rather freaky, but it gave way to cooler air at the end of the week, and it's beautiful in our neighbourhood. Our backyard beach is full of geese and ducks, there are squirrels and chipmunks everywhere, and Saturday night we had the most incredible pink sunset.
On Friday night it was cold and damp but we were treated to a Renegades victory at Frank Clair Stadium, 43-21 over Hamilton. The playoff chances are still a bit slim, but for now Ottawa is still alive!
It's amazing to look back on everything that got accomplished in September. So far the staff team with Grace and Allison is working really well, and you can see the positive impact with the participants in the programs. It's incredibly busy and all of us are having challenges with managing our time, but it's getting better every week.
On the home front we're still struggling with the low water issue in our well. We might have a solution at hand in the form of a retention tank, but first we have to straighten our our water treatment system, which is full of expensive equipment but isn't working as well as it should. We also took the Echo in for some minor body work (rust on the wheel well) and it was a good thing we did because the rust was more serious than it seemed at first glance. Julie's dad has a long history with the body shop at Mendes and they did the work for a very reasonable price, and the car is now rust free. We still love our Echo and want to keep it for a long time.
October 2, 2005
Well we are off to quite a start...a whole month has gone by and this is the first entry! We know what you are thinking - so much for that promise of trying to have a less hectic year!
Hold on now! It's a bit early yet. September is a special time. It's the resumption of programs and LiveWorkPlay, and also the month of the Annual General Meeting as well as due dates for all sorts of funding applications. But it was extremely demanding, and we are glad to be through it.
The Friday night programs just started up (on the 30th) and although it makes for a long day, it's a very lively atmosphere. Keenan is working with the Journeys A group and there are four new participants. Fran is one of the volunteers in that group which is really neat. Julie is with SMILE The Original Generation. It's a huge group with lots of volunteers, including Pennie who was elected to the board on Thursday night at the AGM, so we will see here there too.
Saturday we slept in. For Julie that meant 11:00 am. For Keenan it meant about 3:00 PM! But he was physically exhausted from a lot of manual labour at the office on Friday. We started the day at 7:00 AM and worked until after 11:30 PM, which is tiring enough, but in the afternoon Keenan was also cleaning, painting, and disposing of heavy garbage. Julie was more mentally exhausted from producing 20 customized full year agendas for SMILE participants.
The afternoon was spent on the second-floor deck in the glorious sunshine reading the paper and watching the geese in the bay. We managed to get out of the house and to the movies to see History Of Violence at the Coliseum where we had a get-in-free-plus-treats coupon. It was certainly a riveting film and we had a good debate afterwards trying to figure out what it was all supposed to mean.