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Out on the town exploring

Isaac and I went out yesterday afternoon for a short while. As Bonnie mentioned in her post yesterday, Isaac's got his first digital camera and I wanted to go shooting with him. Kind of a proud father/son thing. It lasted not quite as long as I thought, but nonetheless it was fun. Anyways, here's a couple pictures from our brief outing.

healthy again

Well, Isaac seems to be over his flu bug at last, and I am, too. Thankfully it hasn't hit Curtis. It's good to be able to eat whatever I want to again!

Curtis bought Isaac his own digital camera yesterday, as we were frustrated with the disposable cameras we had that weren't working. As Curtis puts it, "It's an investment in something that we can do together". It's been so much fun watching Isaac's joy of discovery as he takes pictures of things around the house - sometimes many pictures of the same thing from slightly different angles - and his eagerness to show us the results. Another budding photographer in the works! From flu bug to shutter bug...(I know, I can hear most of you groaning already)

We had the Welcome Wagon representative visit this morning, and Isaac enjoyed showing her some of his toys. I'm looking forward to using some of the coupons and certificates she brought.

I worked this afternoon, and had a pleasant surprise after supper when Curtis and Isaac stopped by. As they were leaving, having brought me a bottle of Gatorade, Isaac said, "Mommy wait, I have to give you an 'I love you kiss'". What a way to melt a mother's heart!

counter update

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the results of my foray into bathroom/countertop replacement, here's where things are at right now. I ended up just scraping the old laminate off the existing countertop and just putting the new counter on top. It saved a whole lot of work and besides, now the new sink is a little higher up which is a good thing.

So all that's left is to put up a backsplash. I think we're going to use some of the tile that was left by the previous owners of our home. We'll see how it goes.

BEFORE


AFTER


My only question at this point is how best to prepare the walls for the new tiles I want to put up. You can see above that there's still some of the glue/adhesive left on the walls that didn't come off with the laminate. So I'm not sure if I can just sand the walls with rough sandpaper or if there's some other technique I should employ. Suggestions?

How the trip went

My trip down south as Bonnie mentioned the other day went well. For the calendar we're going to make this year, I photographed 4 different vehicles and various aspects of a greenhouse (a few exterior shots, 2 different boiler rooms, peppers themselves and the packroom). Quite an operation. The client is now in the process of deciding which images go where on the template we used for last year's calendar. Once he decides this he'll let me know and I can get to work on an initial mockup for his approval.

This is a shot I got just as we were leaving the farm yesterday morning on the way to the airport in Vancouver. The view was spectacular and I absolutely HAD to stop. I hope you like it.

Just the two of us

Well, Isaac and I are on our own again for a couple of days. Curtis has flown back to the Fraser Valley to take some photos for a client, and will return on Saturday. It's just a quick trip this time.

After dropping Curtis off at the airport and saying our goodbyes, Isaac and I headed into town for some errands. I was sure thankful for Isaac's size and willingness to help at one point - I had a raincheck for some floor mats that were on sale at Zellers last week, and so decided to check if they had any in. Sure enough, they did have a selection of the size that I wanted, but I couldn't reach them due to the two pallets of boxed merchandise parked right in front of them. This is where Isaac's size comes in - he was able to squeeze between the shelves and the pallets and reach the aforementioned mats. Not only did he retrieve a couple for me, he was even gracious enough to go back when I wasn't happy with the colour mix in one of the mats.

When grocery shopping at Extra Foods, Isaac likes to use the kid sized cart - but he's very particular about what he will or won't carry in it. Today he only wanted 'teeny tiny' stuff. Funny boy!

When we got home, after unloading our purchases and putting most of them in their rightful places, we decided to make some bread. I've been meaning to make some for awhile, but somehow hadn't got to it yet. Isaac enjoys helping mix and punching the dough. After that we took a break before I started to get supper ready. Meals were long drawn out affairs today - Isaac didn't seem as interested in eating as he usually is - perhaps still the after effects of Tuesday night, when everything he'd eaten that day came back to haunt him all night. His energy level seems normal, though.

I watched a sad movie tonight, about one couple's experience with Alzheimer's disease. It was called "Away From Her". I thought it was well done. A couple of nights ago Curtis and I watched "We Are Marshall", which, at times, is quite sad, too. That one was worth watching, too, and was based on a true story.

Snow update

For those who may be interested, it stopped snowing. As the day went on it got warmer and warmer, and so much of the snow is gone already. Just thought you should know...

Fun in the snow / A moose sighting

Well it kept on coming down all afternoon. In fact, it's still snowing now as I type this.

Isaac got dropped off at about 3 o'clock and he and his cousins has a little fun in the snow as Geralyn chatted for a while.



Later after they all left we had some fun making snowmen and smashing them down with the snow shovel (that was Isaac's contribution).







Then I went for a ride on my bike to get a flashing red LED light for the back of Bonnie's bike. I only got a little ways down the road when I had to come back to get Bonnie and Isaac and the camera. For there on the side of the road was a big rack-less moose. So by the time Bonnie and Isaac got back to the point where I saw the moose, it had crossed the street and was now eating off a tree in someone's back yard. The people in the house we were standing in front of came out and asked what we were doing. It turns out that the moose had been coming over and doing it's thing there for the past three days. I guess the long-time residents get used to this sort of thing.



One last thing about the snow: last year the first snow came on October 27th, and I don't think it stopped for three days. By the time it was over, about THREE FEET of the white stuff were there on the ground. And it didn't go away. It stayed. Now I don't know if that'll be the case this year. But I'll let you know in three days.

First Snow

Here's a visual tease of the months to come. It just started falling a couple hours ago.









Isaac's spending some time with his cousins today, so it will be fun to see his reaction when he comes back home later.

Happenings

Well Bonnie just got to sleep after working a night shift and Isaac and I are down here in the office trying to keep quiet. Bonnie was working a scheduled 5-9 last night but got asked to stay for the night because someone called in sick. I know it's a lot of work for her, but I'm grateful she has the energy. I'm also grateful for the extra hours because I've had some opportunities of late with my business that I've taken advantage of (which meant Bonnie couldn't work as much as she would have liked).

Last weekend I was in Prince George for a PPABC (Professional Photographers Association of BC) meeting. It was a two-day meeting from the 14th to the 15th. I enjoyed going because I got to meet some of the other photographers in the area, and also got to listen to some excellent speakers. One was a fine-art print maker from Vancouver Island, and the other was a commercial photographer from Saskatchewan. Both had excellent things to say as was reflected in the copious amount of notes I took.

Then the past few days this week I was at the Northern BC Tourism Conference here in Smithers. Thursday night, and Friday and yesterday mornings, I was the official photographer. It was an excellent opportunity to pass out some business cards and get some good exposure. I talked with quite a few people about some possible opportunities that are coming up, so I'm very encouraged by that. You can view the images here (click on the event button from the drop-down list under the PHOTOGRAPHY link).

Later this week, I'm flying down to Vancouver to do some work for a client I worked with last year. I'll be gone from Thursday to Saturday.

So there's lots of things happening for which I am very grateful. And getting back to the point of Bonnie working extra shifts, basically any extra work she can get now will help to make up for the days she wasn't able to work while I've been and will be away on business.

Another beautiful sky

This is what was awaiting us this morning as we looked out towards the mountain behind our house.

What's new?

Here I am, half asleep, contemplating how to update you on my life lately. Curtis is in Prince George for a photography seminar this weekend, having left this afternoon. Isaac is sleeping peacefully, and I've been trying to catch up on things that I haven't had time to do lately, like update my blog.

I just finished a set of four night shifts at the Lodge this morning, and could have done a double shift if I'd wanted to, but since Curtis would be leaving this afternoon and I'd have sole responsibility over Isaac, I figured I'd better come home and get some sleep.

We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Curtis' brother's place on Monday, and Isaac enjoyed playing with his cousins and their friends who had joined us for dinner. On Thursday, after having a good sleep at my in-laws place (they're away), I met Curtis and Isaac at their rendezvous spot with Michael, Josiah , and Randy to go wood hunting. After watching them leave, I came home and decided to take advantage of the warmer weather and spend some time attending to my gardens. There's lots of work left to do, but it felt good to get a start, since I haven't been out there for weeks, it seems.

The last couple of days, once I woke up in the early afternoon, were spent taking care of some indoor chores, like laundry. Speaking of laundry, I think I hear my freshly laundered sheets calling me...

Getting ready for winter

This afternoon, Isaac and I met my brother, his son and another friend, and we went 20 minutes or so out of town to try and find some wood. Our supply of fireplace fuel is rapidly dwindling as the weather continues to get colder. We were going to go yesterday, but thankfully our little trek got postponed until today. I say thankfully because it was raining and miserable yesterday, and sunny and relatively warm today. A perfect day for chainsaws and axes as it turned out.

I didn't get any pictures on-site as we felled a tree and cleaned and chopped it up with a chainsaw, and then loaded up the back of my brother's truck. It's just a little tricky to manage a camera whilst carrying thick chunks of trees. But when we got back home, I was able to get a few. Hopefully the wood we got will last for a few weeks. We'll probably have to go out several more times this winter, but that's OK. It's great exercise and it really brings back fond memories of growing up. The smell of fresh-cut wood and chainsaw fumes. Ahhhh......

Today's sunrise

Here at the end of the day, I thought it would be a nice contrast to show you how the day began. Once again the sky was alight with colour.

7:21 am


7:51 am

Isaac's excitement

Isaac and I went for a walk this morning to the computer store to buy some supplies, and on the way back we stopped to watch a bobcat operator dig a trench. Very graciously he asked if Isaac would like a ride. Not needing to be asked twice, I hoisted Isaac up onto the seat. It was fun to watch him enjoy himself so much.

Advice needed on replacing a countertop

I've had to replace the sink in our ensuite, and since I've got the old sink out I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and replace the countertop while I'm at it. It's something we've wanted to do since we moved in, but it's never been a huge priority until now.

I tried just putting a new sink in, but the hole in the existing countertop is a bit odd, and the new ceramic sink (the old sink was metal...and very rusty under the taps by the way) just doesn't fit right. So that's what really got me thinking about redoing the countertop.

The problem is that I have absolutely ZERO idea on how to go about doing it properly. I mean I certainly could take an axe and get things going, but I'd like my walls to be in somewhat decent shape after I'm done. (That's a poor joke by the way).

The images below should give an idea of what I have to work with. Any / all good ideas will be most graciously accepted.

EXISTING COUNTERTOP


INSIDE BACK


INSIDE FRONT


INSIDE LEFT


INSIDE RIGHT

Family Fun

Tonight after dinner we played a game of scrabble together as a family. We tried to get Isaac involved with sounding out the tiles/words we played. It worked for a while, and then he got distracted with my hair brush.

Thanksgiving Day Activities

Click the play button below to watch a short slideshow (~55 seconds) of Isaac making some sugar cookies.

Thanksgiving craft

On the subject of food, here's a shot I took yesterday of what Isaac made in Preschool. A Thanksgiving turkey made out of Rice Krispies, candy corn and Oreo cookies.

A boy and his breakfast

A little photo essay about Isaac's breakfast adventure this morning.

Sunrises

The past couple of mornings has seen some beautiful colours in the sky as I look out the front window.

Follow up to prayer request

Thanks to those who prayed for the request I shared a few days ago about the job situation. After praying and talking about it with Bonnie, we decided that it was in the best interest of all involved for me to NOT accept the job the newspaper offered.

With my health not being 100% (still suffering with fatigue), and Bonnie making a much better wage than I would have made at the paper, and me wanting to capitalize on the momentum that's been building with my business, it just would have been too difficult to manage me completely switching gears and working 40hrs / week at the paper.

I feel good about the decision we made in spite of the tendency to second-guess.

So thanks again for praying.

Recent pictures

I thought tonight I would post just a few pictures of the scenery we're blessed to see each day as we look out the back of our house. It was a real shock to come back from the lower mainland and see how quickly the leaves have changed color. It's quite beautiful actually...









This is a shot of Isaac the other day as we were out for a walk. He wanted to bring his shovel along and help grade the road. It's fun to watch him get so much joy out of the simplest things.



I seem to be getting more and more involved in the arts community up here. I'm now sitting on a committee to help organize the annual WinterGold exhibition and sale that takes place at the Art Gallery here in Smithers in November. Also I just got word today that my application for a solo exhibition at the Smithers Art Gallery was approved. Right now it looks like I will be exhibiting in January next year. So now the real work begins in choosing what images will be displayed.

For those who are interested in reading more about my business, you can download my current newsletter by visiting my webpage here and then clicking on the DOWNLOAD newsletter link near the bottom of the page.