More Damage...

Brad and I went for a drive tonight and found one more spectacular view of the carnage of last night. When the tree went, it took the sidewalk with it!

Monsoons?

Last night after the fair, Brad and I got home at 11 oclock and I fell asleep pretty much immediately, but I woke up at about midnight. There was a storm raging outside! The wind was blowing branches from the trees all over the parking lot. I was actually quite afraid the tree in front of our apartment was going to topple.
The sheets of horizontal rain started next, with lightning. Finally it got close enough to hear the thunder.

~

~
This morning, I looked out our balcony to see what had happened. The parking lot was covered in pieces of trees. Not just a few brances, entire chunks of trees!

~
This branch could have come through our window

~

There used to be a big yellow sign that said "Wheatland Mall"
Brad and I went for a drive this afternoon to see the carnage around town. There was actually one car with a tree crushing it.

It was the craziest storm I've ever seen.

Frontier Days!

Last night we went to my second Frontier Days fair in Swift. Brad, Nick, Kim, Vince, Shay and I wandered the fair gounds, got taunted by the scarey Carnival folk, and spent oodles of money.

Vince won the game and gave Shay a cute penguin that seemed to be shedding some sort of fluff.

~
Shay and I bought a book of 20 tickets ($18!!!) and hit a few rides. The Octopus was our first ride and it went on and on and on and on! I think I got a little whiplash by the end
~

It took a little convincing, but I got Shay to go on this one...
~

My restraining devise doesn't restrain!!!
~

We only had three tickets left, and low and behold, the slide was only TWO tickets! Hee hee!
~

Jess - "Hey Brad, can I have some wiggle chips?"
Brad - "Grrrrrrr"
~

Ladies at the Fair (me, Kim, Shay)
~

Kiddie Parade

All I have to say is children dressed up as cowboys and super heros are quite possibly the cutest thing ever! The Kiddie Parade was this afternoon and while it only lasted about 10 minutes, it was completely heart-melting! The parade kicks of the Frontier Days weekend in Swift.

Saskatchewan-isms and the Emergence of the Bunny Hug

For those of you who don't know, Saskatchewan has a number of...we'll call them quirks. For one, it seems no matter how dry or wet the weather is, it will never be what the farmers need. But I digress, that's not the kind of quirk I want to focus on here. I want to turn the light towards speech.
The first time I heard the term "bunny hug" was when a friend of mine met someone from Saskatoon. This girl referred to her hoodie as a "bunny hug". I'm not going to lie, I laughed heartily at the term. Then I met Brad who used both "bunny hug" and "hoodie" to refer to his hooded sweatshirts.
Let me start off by saying this is one term that Saskatchewanians take a somewhat fierce pride in. When brought into question they firmly state it is, in fact, a terribly common term. When confronted with the negative results of a Canada-wide poll questioning whether other provinces had even HEARD the term before, those born and raised in Saskatchewan will stubbornly say the rest of the country is wrong, "and what kind of stupid name is 'hoodie' anyway?"
In an effort to find a level of solidarity, I offered the term "kangaroo jacket" from my childhood, (Which often only brings scorned laughter).
Imagine my surprise when, while browsing the Police Report section of the Star Phoenix (Saskatoon) I found a report describing the suspect in an armed robbery; "...18 year old, wearing a blue bandanna, ball cap and black bunny hug..." I nearly fell off my chair and immediately clipped the article to carry with me as proof of the phrase to residents of other provinces.
The term "bunny hug" however, has become endearing, and I have grown accustomed to it (though I still smile to myself when I hear it). While I haven't started using it, I've given up the fight to prove it is not in fact common.
I have a new fight as of this morning when Darwin was describing blowing on his daughters tummy, and Alexis said "Oh! You mean a Zerbert!" I will NOT accept this term. It's a raspberry. End of story. Zerbert? Seriously!

Weddings and Divorse...and ponderism.

Once again, the looming and dreaded Wedding Season has crashed into my daily life. The fever has infiltrated magazines, movies, tv shows, even regular conversation. It still makes me wonder why I feel so vehement towards the 4 month span...
I think one of the saving graces this year (which, depending on my mood could also be considered a curse) is the involvement in several weddings. There was Ben and Brenda's wedding in May, which I wasn't exactly involved in, but did help out in some minor ways. Next, on July 7th is Rob and Bev's wedding, which Bev recently asked me to be in as one of her bridesmaids. Next is a bit of a dry spell in which I can only imagine my irritation will reach critical levels again.
The prevalence of marriage and weddings in all forms of entertainment makes me wonder if I'm just noticing it more at this time of year, or if the media moguls are conspiring to forcefeed us the pieces that seem generously spread with wedding content.
On the opposite side, however, the recent books I've read are riddled with stories of divorse and infidelity. Why is it our generation seems so obsessed with all things matrimonial, while the generation before is focused on cheating and the collapse of commitment?

Affliction...

It's one of those days. Well, one of those days for radio people anyway. I can't seem to get the connection between my brain and my tongue to work. It's probably one of the most infuriating afflictions in the business. How is a news anchor supposed to function without being able to speak? It's days like these however when I'm grateful for the prospect of pre-recording. At least there's the option of starting over or editting out mistakes and that sort of thing. On the flip side though, is the ability to pre-record just making me lazy? I somehow doubt it from the number of flubs I remember having while live in PG. It's one of those days where I don't dare walk and talk at the same time for fear of faceplanting on the concrete (which is very hot today thanks to a high of 30!)

Books!!

It seems I've resorted to following in Mare's footprints (aka flat out copying her on her last blog topic). Yesterday I went to Coles, as alas, there is no Chapters in Swift Current. Luckily, the affiliation means a more than adequate variety of books to browse. I hadn't intended to buy any books right now, but when I went into the store, the first thing I noticed was a wall of hardcover books with deliriously cheap sale prices on them! One particular trait I have inheritted from my mum is the ability to easily justify the purchase of books...especially those on sale! I bolstered my summer reading list by picking up The Divide by Nicholas Evans (author of the Horse Whisperer), and Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. The Divide is hardcover, and Whitethorn Woods was hardcover sized paperback...I guess Tradesize, but it seems bigger than that to me. But anyway, they were 7.99 and 5.99 respectively!
Currently I'm in the midst of jPod by Douglas Coupland. Working the Sunday morning shift is excellent for catching up on my reading! I intend to continue this afternoon too and hopefully will get close to the end of jPod...which doesn't seem impossible since it's a fairly quick read anyway.

Super Cool!

I really enjoy my job most days, but some days are even better than others! Today was one of those days. The city's Fire Department has been holding drills in the old Hospital building before they tear it down, so they extended an invitation to the media to come see one of their scenarios, and interview some of the firefighters. Upon my arrival, I noticed other media members were climbing into the bucket of the ladder on the new fire truck! Sure enough, it delivered them to the roof, and I hopped on next! SUPER COOL! Aasa from the Prairie Post was kind enough to take some pictures of me, Jenna and George in the bucket on our way down.

Mini Golf!

While at Cypress, Brad and I took part in a little minigolf. I believe the last time I played minigolf was when my grandparents lived in Parksville. I think...that was probably roughtly 15 years ago. It was a fantastic time...even though I was beaten horribly. That's right, 48-62 for Brad. My only consolation is it was on a par 39 course. It was definately a fun way to spend an hour before supper on Saturday.

Cypress Hills Camping Trip

For Brad's Birthday we packed up the car on Friday and headed out the Cypress Hills for the weekend. It was a wonderful peaceful weekend. True to what I had heard, it really is a strange area of forest in the middle of the prairie.

Welcome to Cypress!
~
Our Campsite
~

The little ice-cream parlor had 24 flavor...including CHEESECAKE!!! Clearly I enjoyed a heap of it!
~
Not the lake, but a decent sized pond
~
The lookout from...uh...Lookout Point
~

The view of Bald Butte (pronounced like 'cute' with a 'b)
~

The path up to Bald Butte
~You really can see for 100km!
~
Flowers...
~

More flowers
~

It's Me!

My Meez! Hahaha, thanks to Mare for giving me the idea with her blog! yay!

Renovations...

For anyone who isn't aware, Brad and I are looking at buying a house. The particular home we're looking at belonged to Brenda's mother. It needs a lot of renovations, but it's the sort of place that will be really great once it is.

One renovation Brad and I don't agree on is the downstairs bedroom which has not been updated since 1960. Brad thinks the wallpaper should go, but I feel otherwise. I don't know...I'm sort of drawn to it...Thoughts?

Mission "Fantastic Weekend" = Success!

I have successfully had one of the most relaxing weekends in a looooong time. Brad and I got up after a little sleep-in yesterday morning and had (what Mare and Jer refer to as) a 5 star breakfast, following which we went a did a little shopping and then headed out to Lac Pelletier. The sun was out, there were very few clouds in the sky, and I went straight to the beach where I stretched out on a towel and began to read. I purposely "forgot" to put sunscreen on my legs so as the get SOME color on them. I'm tired of being the girl on the beach who's that scary shade of white. Turns out it takes 2 hours in direct sunlight followed by another 2.5 in moderate sunlight for my legs to even BEGIN to burn. My upper body however, will burn in 2.5 hours of direct mid-day sun even with a 30spf. Good to know.
We stayed out until 11 oclock (after supper and fireworks...the most important part!) when we both felt so drained it was necessary to come back in.
It was a horrendously hot night though and I had a terrible sleep. We got up this morning though and went out to the lake again.
This time Brad, Nick, Kim and I went fishing. It was alright. I can't remember the last time I did any casting fishing. In fact, I think I've only done it once before. And this was the first time I've used live bait (except that one time ice fishing). I caught a few perch but we weren't keeping any. It was also the first time I've ever touched a fish. That's a new feeling...I don't really like doing it because I feel like I'm hurting the little bastards. Which makes me wonder why I fish at all, since I can't imagine it doesn't hurt them when they get a hook caught in their mouths and I start yanking on it. Oh the inner turmoil.
Afterwards it was back to the beach for a little more sun, but it was hotter than hell today and Brad and I both got sleepy and dehydrated feeling...despite the four bottles of water consumed in as many hours.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Ok, you know you're being a little too hard on the elderly when they find themselves turning to crime to pay government debt. According to a story I read on BN today, a 68 year old man from Winnipeg was convicted of trafficking crack cocaine to pay down government debt. Seriously. The judge has sentenced him to 2 years house arrest because the man has diabetes and has had several heart attacks. Maybe the issue of punishment should be examined a little closer, taking into account exactly WHY he started selling drugs to pay a debt. Something tells me that, while the justice system seems to be in fine working order, perhaps our social programs are failing misserably? So I have this to say to Mr Stephen Harper: WTF?!

Coolest Song EVER. Period

For a moment of entertainment, I suggest you wander over to This Page. Follow the links to find out what the #1 song was on your birthday! I totally lucked out and pulled Eye of the Tiger! HA! Love it! For a brief moment, I felt like my life hads purpose! But then I found out Darwin got the Star Wars Theme. We discussed it however and decided it would be much cooler if it has been the Emperors Themesong.
Definately go visit the site! I've already milked it for ten minutes of entertainment...though that might be pushing the limit on it a bit.
Did I mention it's the Friday of a very slow week?