Sunday, July 26, 2009

White Lightning

It was another gorgeous day in Paradise with a bright sunny sky and temp in the high 20's. Patty and I took a trip to Langford but for different reasons. Patty went to Adam and Mary's to take care of the cats while they are away and to do some tidying up and I on the other hand went to the new stadium to watch and take photos of some football. They held a round robin between Surry Rams, Victoria Rebels and the V.I.Raiders. I was able to watch part of two games both with Surrey in them first against the Raiders then against the Rebels. The Raiders and Rebels both look like they are in good shape for the start of the season next weekend.

After we got home we rested for about an hour then it was of to cousin Scott and Angie's for a BBQ birthday get together for Scott. The temp had dropped a few degrees but it was still nice out and there was a nice breeze that blew in some unexpected but much needed rain clouds. The rain never amounted to much but for the first time I got to see lightning on the island. We stayed at Scott and Angie's for a couple hours eating good food and talking to lots of nice people. Angie had made enough to feed an army and man was it good. We ended up bringing some home for the boys who greatly appreciated it. We dropped Aunt Gladys off and offered to take her out to the Rock Cod Cafe for supper tonight. At 90 she is still doing pretty well and still gets around pretty good.

After we got home Patty the boys and I went outside and sat on the porch watching the lightning. It was raining but not very much or not very hard just enough to tease the grass. I ended up sitting out by myself for a bit after the others had gone in and just layed back to relax and let the rain fall on my face. Patty got up around 2:30 am and looked outside and the ground was already dry. Today is another hot and sunny day so I'm relaxing in the cool basement drinking lemonade for a bit longer then its off to pick up Aunt Gladys and go to Cow Bay for supper!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

HOT HOT HOT

Well the weather has been crazy hot here for quite a while. Lots of big forest fires on the mainland but so far so good on the island. Tomorrow in Kamloops its supposed to hit 38C but here it will be in the high 20's. This weather is exactly how it was my first year on the island. We are in need of some rain.

Had a nice chat with Jean on Sunday. I had called and left a msg because she is so hard to get a hold of. Very busy person. Her and Joan are going to Cuba in a couple weeks with some friends. She also informed me that Brandy was put down recently as she was having a hard time walking and climbing stairs. For a beagle Brandy was a good dog and I really liked her. Dad had picked her out of the litter. Jean asked me how everyone was doing and I was filling her in. She asked about each and every one of us. When I told her the latest she cried a bit and said dad wouldn't have liked that but I told her it was coming for a while and that I'm ok with it. She was looking forward to meeting Patty this summer but I told her we will have to make it for next year.

I hope the rest of us stay close and can put things aside if there are things. I heard Rob went to see Annette last week and they had a nice chat over coffee. Annette is coming out here on August 22 and hopefully Terry will make it out in the fall after her newest grandson is born. I told Jean her and Joan are welcome to come out whenever they want. They still have season tickets for the Ti-Cats and we discussed the second win in a row for the cats. Its early but they are giving us hope for a half decent season. The V I Raiders start soon and have an exhibition game in Langford Saturday. We can go visit Gwen then I can shoot over to the stadium for a couple hours to check it out.



Thursday, July 16, 2009

This is the last of them for now. Hopefully I'll get some more done this weekend and put them on a cd.







Request by Terry

Here are a few more old photos. I still have tons of negatives to scan and I can only do it while working at wal-mart and if its not busy.









Happy Birthday Uncle Jim

Here are just a few photos from Uncle Jim's birthday party last Saturday! Nothing like a good bbq with family!!
















Sunday, July 12, 2009

The past is haunting

Did you ever receive an email from someone you thought was dead. And when you read the email you realize that they are the same miserable excuse of a human being when they were alive? Maybe if I shared more stories on here about them they will go away and hang out with Michael Jackson. When somethings done its done and it should be left at that. They will probably both be in hell anyways!

On to the living....

Nice sunny day out there so I'm hanging out at the football field. There will be a scrimmage this afternoon so I'll go back and tack some photos. Then the family might go to a movie. A nice romantic comedy will hit the spot! Can't be out to late as I've been sleeping well the past few days and almost need to set my alarm so I don't sleep in.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Friday I got a callback from a woman at the CVRD (Cowichan Valley Regional District) who had inquired about a photo of mine she had seen. It's a shot of the Kinsol Train Trestle near Duncan BC. They are trying to raise money to fix it up and they want to use my photo in the promotion of it. She said in 4 years she had never seen an angle like mine. We are going to work out a deal where I will get a big tax write off in exchange for the use of it. With the taxes I pay that will help out greatly plus my name will be attached to it to promote me. I think its a great deal!

Today was a very busy day for me.... First off I went to see the VI Raiders football camp as it is in town for the 3rd year in a row. Lots of players and coaches were joking about how Hamilton beat BC last night. I was at work but checked out the score on the computer in the office. Then rushed home to catch the highlights on the sports channel. I was pretty shocked and thanks to ex BC player Ottis Floyd for getting the interception at the perfect time to stop BC's drive!!

When I got home from football I had to go to my buddy Donavan's 3rd birthday party. He had showed up while I was at football to make sure I was still coming. I bought him a monster truck as that's what hes into these days. Hes also a big Canucks fan. Before I left for his house I received a phone call from Ontario. Annette has booked a flight and will be coming out to visit Patty and myself for a week and she arives on August 22. Looking forward to her visit and showing her around the island. I wish Terry was feeling better and could make it but hopefully she'll be good enough to travel in the fall.

Next it was off to uncle Jim's birthday bbq with all the Patty's relatives out here. The thermometer read 29 degrees and it was out of the sun. Lots and lots of ppl and food as usual. We all had a good time before most of the guys and a few women popped into the house to watch UFC 100 and George St Pierre Win his fight. Patty and I were cheering for Bisbing in his loss to Henderson but that was a great knockout punch. I'm not a fan of Brock Lesner so was disappointed when he beat Frank Mir but all in all it was a good night of fighting. All in all I'd say it was a good day! More sun in the forecast for tomorrow but not sure whats up on the schedule might just do some painting and clean my room LOL

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Life Goes On

Well hopefully this will be the last post I do on bad family crap and we can all get on to enjoying life with out turmoil. This all started after my father passed away and Karl wanted the medals. Well he got them and I hope some day he will be able to enjoy them especially after everything that has happened since. For years I looked up to my big brother and and although we had our differences we had a very close bond. I like to think I did as much for him over the years as he did for me. He has 3 beautiful daughters that I loved almost as if they were my own. They have this family connection and if your in the circle all is good but if your ousted by 1 your shunned by all.

Over the years I've seen a dark side to Karl and the way he thinks. If he wants something don't get in his way or if you tick him off watch out. I have seen many many things that a good person would never do. If a friend did just one of the many things he has done I would not be their friend any more. I have grown to look down on him way more than I have ever looked up to him.

There have been emails from him reply s from me, emails from him non reply from me, then emails from the girls reply s from me. There have been things done and said on both sides that shouldn't have been by people who love each other.

Recently I got a letter from the Karl that I've grown to dislike. It said many things about me that are his opinion and because he thinks of himself before anyone else and thinks like a person that is always scheming to get his way, what can he get out of it and he can't help it so he thinks everyone thinks like that. He has his opinions.

I wrote back and I'm not really proud of everything I said and they are my opinion but I was once in the inner circle as close as you can get to him. Everything I said I believe.

My father in my eyes was a great person. He liked to help others and not to get something out of it for himself. He had many good friends that would do the same for him.

In the last year of my fathers life I got more out of it than medals on my wall could ever do. We became as close as we had ever been. We had a lot of time together just the two of us and we got to talk and laugh. We watched football games together and one time he asked Jean to get us some Wendy's burgers because it was Wendy's friday night football and their commercials are at every break. Now dad wasn't eating at the time but Jean jumped in the car and went and got us burgers. Jean knew he wouldn't eat it but he really felt like he wanted one. He took one small bite then ended up handing it to me. His last outing in the car other than to the Drs we drove around and looked at all the places he had lived including the house where he was born and Brittannia Ave. Then we ended up at hutches and had fish and chips looking at lake Ontario. As dad got worse I did more and more for him and I know he appreciated it. When I would help him out with something he would call me over and take my face in his hands and tap me lightly on the cheek and say thanks. When he fell I made up a story on my blog that we were racing to break it gently to everyone that read it and by the time they got to they end they might be laughing knowing that he was ok. Dad got a big kick out of it when I told him. As dad got worse I was there sleeping in the bed beside him listening to him breath, helping him in and out of his wheel chair and helping him with anything he needed in his hospital bed. Even if other family members were there he would ask for me and sometimes he couldn't remember my name but he had come to trust me because I was there for him. His last night I had a strange feeling and when the nurse called going to be late I told her that I would stay with him but she showed up so I went downstairs. In the morning when I saw him I knew it wasn't good so I called Terry to come over sooner. When dad took his last breath I was there along with Mandy Terry and Robert. I made the calls that had to be made and I was with his Dr when he pronounced dad gone. I stood and watch them load dad onto a bed and take him out to the hearse and Rob and I watched them drive off.

So at the funeral home when I had my panic attack it wasn't because some asshole cousin named Joe didn't shake my hand. Karl didn't like it when I told him I felt better when Alf Upson was with me although nothing made me feel better than the drugs.

I have been told I'm like my dad and it makes me feel good. I believe I'm a good person and I have good friends and family. I'm not selfish and think of myself before others. But as I told Karl I guess I'm more like my dad than I even realized because like my dad I have disowned a brother.

That doesn't make me sad but the thought of losing my nieces does. I have said some mean things about their dad in an email that they will all see. They are all adults and can make the decision for themselves. I don't know if they have ever seen the bad traits in their dad or because like me when they are family you ignore it or maybe they have only seen a good side of Karl. I have been nothing but good to those girls. If they look back over the years they will know what I'm saying is true that I have been good to them. Or they can look at the recent happenings which all started over the medals and I have said or done stuff to them that I probably shouldn't have but that's what happens in stupid situations. Now they will have to make a choice and I'm not saying me or him and not saying right now but even if its a year or more down the road I'll be here for them because I will always love them.

Tara I wish you nothing but the best in your marriage to John and hope you both live a long and happy married life in your beautiful home in Muskoka !

Tuesday, July 07, 2009