Ben's Birthday

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in more ways than one. Oh, as usual I went off to the Sonshine Lunch Club (our local soup kitchen) and worked from 08.30-13.30. As usual I met the same wonderful group of people who volunteer there and we had a good time serving the clients and spending time with each other and them.
The day was gorgeous with sunshine and a light breeze.
However, the day came to a marvellous end when we celebrated Ben's birthday with him, his 38th. He and Josée, along with Tim, Charlotte and Oliver and another friend of the family came for dinner at our home. It was Ben's choice that we eat a Japanese meal for his birthday. Though Cynthia is a brilliant cook, and I quite like to dabble in the culinary arts, we brought the food in. It was delicious. We shared a bottle of wine and the conversation was good.
What rounded the evening and the whole day off perfectly was we were all able to watch a solid win by our Vancouver Canucks as they beat the Anaheim Ducks by 4-1! Way to go Ben and way to go Canucks!

Oliver's Strider

We had Oliver to stay with us over the weekend . He brought his "strider" with him. It's the neatest little bike without pedals. It's sturdily built, heavy to lift but easy to propel. He simply sits astride it, has his feet on the ground and walks it along. As he gains his balance, so he moves himself faster and faster until he can lift his feet and freewheel. When he slows, he simply adds more leg power as one would if using a scooter, except he uses legs alternately. We took Oliver and Charlotte (now aged 2yrs 5ths and 5yrs 4mths respectively) to the local air park walkway where they could free-wheel to their hearts' content. Of course Charlotte has pedals on her regular two-wheeler and scoots along nicely. The good thing about the Strider is that it has been purchased cooperatively between Oliver's parents and another set of their friends who have a son younger than Oliver. Oliver will use the bike 'til he outgrows it and then it will go to Gavin, who will be the perfect age to ride it. Smart cookies eh? Stay well folks and all the best from us.

Post Olympics post

Well folks, the 2010 Olympics are now almost a week into history. The stuffing inside my chair in the TV room is gradually returning to its pre-Olympic size as it de-compresses. Must admit, I spent a lot of time in that chair over the previous two weeks the games were on, and loved every moment of it. Come on now, don't be too hard on me. How often does an event of that importance happen right in your own backyard?
It will be a long time before I forgot (if I ever do) seeing the tragedy of 21 year old Nodar Kumaritashvili dying on the luge track, Alex Bilodeau win that first gold medal, the first ever won on Canadian soil, and of course, the icing on the cake when the Canadian men and women won gold in ice-hockey.
There were a few negative comments about the games, mostly from the Brit tabloids, but then, we just have to look at the source and ignore it. Congrats to their Amy Williams who won the lone British medal, a gold in skeleton.
People from around the world really enjoyed themselves here in the two weeks. Most of the comments from them were very positive. Locals came out in force to celebrate the games and everything that came with them. Parties erupted all over the land and Canadians came together in ways not seen here for a long time.
As for me, I'm so glad to be living here in this gorgeous place. For those of you who still haven't been to visit us, take a peek at this...you gotta come! Hope to see you soon.