Weekends were made for White Rock

The weather has been hit and miss the last week.  The rain tries to hit me, but I run away too fast and it misses.  Or, the sun tries coming out, but as the rays try to hit the ground,the rain wipes them out, and they miss.  Or, I miss the sun, and if I do one more of these, someone will hit me :o)

Anyways, yesterday it was a nicer day - started out cold though, considering we had snow Friday and Saturday - stupid weather :(  But yesterday turned out nice enough for a walk on the beach.

We met Stef's folks at one of our favorite restaurants, Mr A's Patio, in Langley.  Afterwards, they came back to our place.  They brought Louie, our dog, with them, as they knew we wanted to visit.  We went for a nice walk at East Beach, where the dogs are allowed.  It was fun, but later on, after Louie was gone, we realized how much we miss him.  I was kinda miserable most of the evening, and ended up staying in my "cave", as Stef calls it, moping and playing computer games.   Ya, I miss him, but I know that he is much happier, and is living a much better life on the farm.

Today was another great day, as far as the weather is concerned.  Still a little chilly, but not too chilly to sit at Frond's on the Beach for dinner.  After dinner we walked down the pier, and watched the pigeons peck at the rocks.  There is now a resident seal in White Rock, and it kept poking his head up, watching the kids "fishing" of the pier.  I will try to get some pictures next time.

We've decided that, since we pay for parking anyways, we may as well drive down to the beach and walk while we are there. I like that idea a lot better :o)

Have I Ever Told You How Much I Like This Place?

Stef keeps saying that to me. She walks around the house, admiring the view, the size, the layout; everything. Then she walks up to me and says that. She's funny.

But ya, I like this place.

Today we walked down to the pier. From our house. It wasn't quite as bad as last time, though; we took a different way, kind of a more gradual climb up the steep hill. It was a longer walk, but easier. Still pretty hard, but I didn't think I was going to die :o) They say it gets easier. Uh huh!

So, ya, I like this place.

Tonight some sports league is having a wild party and dance across the road at Star of the Sea Hall. The music is loud, the people are yelling; it all sounds like a lot of fun. Good chance they will be done by midnight - then the fun REALLY starts - cleanup :o) Too bad our company didn't get that contract - our cleaner would have loved an extra 4 to 6 hours! Hopefully it will all be cleaned up for church tomorrow. I might even go, just to see how clean they got it :o)

Have I ever told you...you know!

I guess I am ready?

Well, aside from a stand for my keyboard, my studio is about ready. I might have to tweak a few cables in order to get the right length and get plugged in to the right jacks, but I tried it, and it works. Now if I only knew how to play these guitars hanging on my wall. Interesting art.

Well, guess that's all for now.

Who let the Dog Out?

Louie is still Louie, and I think he still likes us :)  I was hoping for a bit more of a reaction, but he did give me a big wet sloppy kiss!

We got up later than we expected to today - around 8.  Went across the road the Star of the Sea Hall to check out the flea market. I was disappointed; no fleas! There were a lot of old things there, and they were selling a lot of things. We bought a pie. We just had a piece now with some ice cream - it is good.

Things are looking pretty good here. We are pretty much all unpacked, and have organized the closet a bit. I am almost done unpacking in the office/studio. Next I will be getting a keyboard stand, and stringing wires and cables everywhere to hook up the computer to the sound. The guitars are already up, of course.

Well, back to doing nothing.

I'm Out of Breath!

Just came back from our first walk down (and up!) the hill. My chest hurts, as does my left arm, and up my neck :) Not funny, I guess.

No really, that was ... fun. Hard. We walk down the hill, which takes us to the top of a bluff, almost over top of the "white rock" on the beach, just east of the pier. We figured that was far enough, sat down, and looked at the ocean for a few minutes. Then we started back up the hill. I had to stop a couple of times, but I think that after a few times it will be easier ... I hope.

The started all grey and dark, and it rained most of the morning; but the sun came out around 3, and some of the clouds broke away - here in White Rock. We were in Surrey for dinner (at Costco! I love their hot dogs!), and the sky went dark with the grey clouds.

The sun us on its way down now, and the cool air if coming through the open window. I love Spring.

Time to unpack more Coca Cola boxes, and put up some shelves.

My Dog, Louie

What is it about a pet that can touch your heart, and so quickly become part of your family? Louie was invited into our family in Spring of 1997, after I had a stroke in February. He was a puppy, merely 6 weeks old when we got him. He was so small, you could fit him in your cupped hands. He was very cute, and he knew it.

Louie went everywhere with us. He loved going for drives. He loved going out to the country to see his "cousin" Sammy, then later Oliver. Sammy died a few years ago on New Years Day. Oliver died last month. Louie is still alive, but I miss him dearly. He went to be with my in-laws, to live on the farm, chase squirrels, and run around, getting into whatever trouble he could find.

We can't have Louie where we live, and that sucks. Stafani's parents offered to take him - we did not ask. maybe a week after they offered, their dog Oliver died, leaving them dog-less. Louie has taken a liking to Stef's mom, and has always liked her dad. He is happy there.

Yesterday we drove past the old place, and I saw the footbridge over Campbell River. Louie loved that bridge, and we would walk across it, looking at the ducks. Today we went for a walk - the first one since moving to the new place. I missed Louie being with us.

It seems that we are into some new beginnings: a new house, new things, shedding ourselves of old things, and old possessions. I am glad that I can still see Louie every weekend. I think my problem right now is that I haven't seen him in almost 2 weeks. I am looking forward to the weekend for many reasons, but that is the main one.

All Done!!

Okay, been a while. Obviously I've been busy with moving and everything. We unpacked almost everything really quickly this time. The house is all set up, and we've even had people over a few times. The only room not dome is the one I am sitting in. My studio needs a few things put up before I can actually start unpacking a lot, and rearranging, etc.

This place is great! The view is fantastic, and on the rare occasion when the weather has been nice, we have even sat out on the balcony and sipped coffee, staring out at the bay. The clouds have parted nicely a couple of days, and we can see the islands towards Vancouver Island, beyond Point Roberts. We see Semiahmoo Bay, he resort on the peninsula, and the central to southern part of Blaine. We were sitting at Paso del Norte last night, eating nachos and deep fried ice cream, wondering if we could see our place. Of course, it was dark, so - no; but I will check it out from our balcony later with binoculars, and see if I recognize the outside of the restaurant.

The move went really well, as it should, considering the amount we ended up paying :) But on the bright side, the very bright side, our old landlord unexpectedly paid for most of our moving costs by giving us not only our damage deposit, but the equivalent of a month's rent. So we got our deposit back, plus almost the moving costs - very nice - very unexpected - definitely a blessing :)

So, now that we are completely out of the beach house, and in the ocean-view condo, we are really starting something new; something different. We have changed a lot of things in our lives. We adopted out our bird even before we knew we were moving, we no longer have Louie (more on that later), and we "sold" our salt water aquarium. Some of these things were a distraction to what we really wanted to do, and what we really wanted in our lives. now, if we could only figure out what that something is.

Later on today we are having our home group meet here. This will be the second time we have met at our place, and the first time here, of course. We like hosting it, but John and Dorothy like hosting , too, and we would never take that away from them. I like having people over, and I hope we can start doing it more often again.

I think that is the something I am talking about. I miss people.

Well, more later, I have to get ready for work.