Is Oscar Eric's?

A wee package arrived with this spacer.  Eric says it's his first gift to Oscar.  It's a doohicky thingy that will increase air flow or something like that and help with fuel consumption.  We haven't done the math, and NO ONE gets a Jeep for economical reasons so we're unlikely to bother but I'm definitely noticing the need to fill up more often than I'm used too.  

So, the fun new roof didn't leak last night.  Eric has agreed to let me try using it in winter.  Last night he installed the new screen/stereo and Fei played with settings.  They like it.  I haven't seen it yet.  They named the device Oscar. Today Eric is running wires for the back up camera.  Under carpet so not totally simple.  

When I got up today I noticed Oscar was missing.  It's happening more and more.  Eric much prefers driving the Jeep to the van now ;)  Yesterday he stopped at an auto wreckers and found an old friend there who has a whole spring, suspension lift kit for our Jeep, they're working out prices.  Eric was definitely excited.  Mind...I don't think these things are necessary.  I think the current situation is fine with a small tweak.  Haha.  Clearly the project is getting away from me ;)  One has to question if Oscar is actually now Eric's.  He is having fun and it's nice to see him doing things just for fun.  

I said the new roof line was a bit more feminine and he scowled at that.  

Ok.  So again.  I'm procrastinating.  I do have work so will be at my desk today.  After I catch my game up, have a shower and get Jia up.  

Jia brag, she woke up on her own yesterday and came down stairs and took her pill.  Without prompting.  Sigh.  Glimmers of hope.

Luk has made some questionably bad choices in his health care at school lately.  He really, really needs to speak up for himself.  I'm resisting talking to the school and instead working on talking to him, a lot, about what his responsibility for himself is.  Clearly the school has stopped looking out for him.  Which is the goal of course.  There won't be support at all next year so he has to figure these things out.  In a nut shell.  Teacher told the class to take their lunch kit on the field trip to the BC Museum.  So he left his pack with supplies at school and left on a bus for the whole day!  With no supplies!!  This scares me.  This was just fraught with disaster. Could he seriously not extrapolate that of course he could bring his supplies?!  

The three kids here are requiring MORE from us than I remember having to do for the 1st two.  I know we can't compare but were the first two this complicated and we just forget?  

Lili is moving home mid Dec.  She's going into her new room downstairs.  I get her current room as a quest room.  This is exciting on two levels.  One, the bed out of our living room and a place for the xmas tree.  Two, I get to move seasonal boxes back downstairs to the closet instead of having to bug Eric to dig them out and put them back into glory holes for me.  This all of course requires a lot of effort that I don't have the energy for. Eric is clearly too busy playing outside to be fussed about these minor house details that do not interest him in the very least.  Lili would be happy to help me shlep things around but she's deep in the end of her term.

Lili is on schedule to graduate in June.  Her next term is light.  Only two upper level classes left for her degree and the rest are elective credits.  That's why she is moving home.  She only has to drive to Nanaimo twice a week and her class doesn't start until 4.  Exciting times for her.  Oh, and she hears tomorrow if she's accepted into the Japan trip.  She also hears if she is on a competing team of four she applied for.  These two things will dictate which electives she needs because both count as credits.  

It fits!

So much for waiting until spring ;)

The new stereo came today too.  I wasn't sure which one he would pick first.  Roof it was.  I love it.  I like the look of it better than the hard top.  I don't know how long Eric will keep it on but I think the plan is to see how it does in the rain.  

1st time having the back roof off. So fun.

Procrastinating

I've been awake since 7.  I'm still in bed.  On my phone.  Investigating buying an rv with a palapa in a gated rv park in Mazatlan.  We could retire now and be warm forever.  Eric says being cold all the time is making me a bit nuts.  

I am cold pretty much all of the time now.  I do sit in the hot tub twice a day.  I stay in until my face starts to sweat and then I usually feel warmish for a good little while after.  Those few minutes of warm are heavenly.  Imagine just living in warmth all of the time?!  The kids do not support this idea, they do not want to see pictures.  They don't care that there are pineapples and avocados growing in the yard.

Soft Top!

Soft top purchased.  I can't wait to see it on.  Eric says he's not bothering until spring.  ;)  I can't imagine he'll let a new toy sit that long.

The couple we bought it from were interesting and we had a great visit.  She is U.S. Army and he is Cdn Navy.  They met on a joint humanitarian mission.  Dated four years and just married last year.  She is a Jeep girl.  She has an 87 2 door for trails and a JKU like me for her everyday driving.  She bought it with the soft but just went to a hard.  I'm hoping to use both seasonally.  But, seriously, I can get a life story right away.  Haha.  

Jia and I did her school file review.  She is shockingly doing ok.  Next projects and focus areas are mapped out.  We did discuss future and it's clear to him she needs to head to digital art.  He's offering a couple extra classes that lead into other programs she can try digitally.  

Then we did the bakery for lunch.  The thrift store next and it was full of people.  We found a few more things for Oscar's xmas display.  A bigger suitcase for Jia.  Jeans for Jia.  Matching xmas shirts for Eric and I.  And a Chinese restaurant for a Christmas village.  We don't have a village.  But it was too cute to leave behind. 

We picked up Luk from school and headed to Bear Mountain to see the soft top and finally went to Costco.  We needed puppy pee pads.  Shockingly we bought only food.  No extra fun or pretty things.  I think we need an award for that!  

Kai wasn't in school today.  Poop story coming. He had a poop accident/blowout at school on Monday. So we kept him home in case it was illness related.  We don't think it was.  He didn't go while we were away and then for another five days.  We think he was terribly backed up.  Eric was able to get to him very quickly at school and clean him up, change his clothing and clean the bathroom.  Oy.  Then he had a rough afternoon here once things were moving again.  Eric is a true hero.  Kai is perfectly fine today. 

We're all ok.

Look pretty Eric.

It's been noted to me by three people that I haven't blogged in a bit.  We're all good.  No need to worry.  Just stupid busy. And tired.

The 5th wheel sold.  We went to Victoria last week to meet the buyer and do the transfer.  We scored lunch out at May Gold.  The trailer is staying with us for a couple more months.  The buyer's son isn't ready for it.  

Since we've been home I've been on a serious mission to get Jia on track.  She is being coerced into a bed time, wake up time, meds on time, meals with us, vitamins, iron and D at night, reading/audio books with me daily and an attempt to get her room back under control.  Our teenager isn't totally cooperative.  It's been an intense week.  Progress is happening.  She is making efforts.  It's still too much work on our part.  Kids show you when they're ready for next steps but she isn't inclined what so ever to do these things on her own without prompting, cajoling and outright bribes.  Adhd is a bitch.  A brilliant mind that just doesn't want to stop for such mundane life things.  The deal is that if she can turn things around we'll paint her room for her Birthday.  Double edge problem with this bribe, it's giving her a hyper focus as she dwells on what color to pick.  

I sort of slept non stop for two days after our covid and flu shots.  I felt fine but was super sleepy.  

Saturday night Eric and I did a pub night out with friends.  That was fun.  No pictures were taken.

The new springs in the van lifted it 3 inches in the back.  Haha.  Crazy.  He had to put spacers in the front to level it out. We were in a parkade and I asked Eric which direction the car was and he said it's easy to find now, it's taller than all the others.  It really is!  I found it in seconds.  

I did get a couple black Friday gifts on Amazon.  One is for me ;) Eric put it in the cart.  A screen for Oscar.  I ordered it today. I will lose the cd player but get a back up camera and all the other modern things.  So that's fun.  It should be here Thursday.  

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of a xmas gift idea for Kai.  He has all the things.  He doesn't want or need anything.  I finally landed on getting a membership plan for the Forest Museum.  He loves the train.  I asked him if he wanted to ride the train lots in the summer and he was really excited about that. 

The girls are all sorted.  

This leaves Luk.  Who also doesn't need or want anything.  When asked he suggested an adventure day.  I have a few ideas but I think I need more info and clarification.  Does he want the whole family, just him and parents or just him and Jia with us?  Does he want a planned day or a total surprise?  I'm also considering gifting him a 'YES day'.  This idea makes Eric nervous.  Haha.  There would have to be parameters to a yes day, like an expense cap and nothing dangerous.  Whatever it is, it's clearly going to be unorthodox.  At least for Kai I can wrap up the museum membership punch card.  

Today Lili and I met at an xmas market.  She found a booth with Taylor Swift merch and bought a few things.  I found nothing but was happy to spend time with my girl being out and about.  It was really busy there, parking was full.  There was an attendant stopping each car and directing them to possible spots.  On a hill.  I had a young girl in a mini really, really close behind me.  I'm not that confident in my clutch skills.  Haha.  Tense driving moments.  I rolled back a bit on purpose when I could to show her it was possible but she was clueless and got even closer.  Then the attendant called the Jeep the green machine, I said "this is Oscar".  He immediately looked directly at his name, looked the car over and said "Niicceee".  These moments are incredibly funny to me.  I mean it's 15 years old and it's by no means perfect.  I view it as a completely frivolous, fun toy but Oscar keeps getting taken very seriously.  

The really big accomplishment of the week was sorting and culling all of the kids clothing.  Everything in the cupboards, drawers and closets currently fits.  Bags and bags and bags left this house.  Eric did a TON of laundry.  Jia did a lot of letting go.  We still have to sort her desk and shelves but her closet, dresser, toys bins and nightstand are done.  Under her bed was done and we found the floor.  Progress.

On Tuesday we have to meet Jia's teacher for a file review.  I'm asking Eric to do this one. Grimace.  She hadn't done any actual work at home yet this year. Sigh. I feel like as parents we're failing big time at this homeschool part.

Finn's check up.

Once a year I'm forced to take Finn in for a yearly check up in order to keep getting his medication filled.  It just is what it is.  He is in perfect health.  He promptly peed and pooped as soon as I put him down.  Atta boy.  Then he wanted up and we had the best snuggle because he was cold and scared.  He was great with the vet and tolerated it all without biting or growling.  We did talk about his lack of fur.  Odd for a Japanese Chin. She figures he got all Chihuahua genes.  Less than 25% of him is supposed to be Chihuahua.  Anyways...

Then I step into the waiting room and see the most gorgeous Japanese Chin dog!

This turns out to be Finn's sibling!!  His name is Fung and he is 6.  Same Dad for sure.  Possibly same Mom but she couldn't remember the Mom's name.  I just have only seen the one Mom a few years ago.  I thought this was pretty funny.  The vet we just saw came out and we laughed that Fung is what Finn is supposed to look like.  Finn just turned 3 last week.  

Yesterday was shots, Jia was still getting hers. Kai was amazing.  No drama, no screaming.

The kids requested McDonald's as a treat after.  I needed Walmart so we agreed.  Plus no cooking.  

Eric ordered new springs for the van.  They finally came in. He can't wait for a warmer day so he's out there in this freezing weather monkey wrenching. He was showing me the difference between old and new.  He went to order springs for Oscar yesterday but hesitated until talking to me.  Yes, we need new ones.  Ours aren't tied down properly, likely let loose for rock climbing and they're old.  Unfortunately we have to order front and back because that's how Jeep springs come. And the really unfortunate part, the spring guy thinks ours have sagged a full 4 inches.  Which means Oscar will get taller by 4 inches!!  This might make it nearly impossible for some of us to get in.  He'll look good and level while towing though.  Plastic step stool to get to the running boards?  

Eric Ducked Fei

He found a nurse duck for her :)

Home

It was fun coming home last night. The dogs were all so excited. Finn was quite out of sorts and then growled at me and bit me a few times. ? He's been fabulous all day. Back to his old cuddly baby self. The girls hung out and chatted with us for a couple hours. Walter is home. Isabel had the kids hood winked insisting on going out front. Eric takes her out front to hang with him. The kids are scared she'll leave the yard so were taking turns walking her on a leash so they didn't have to keep opening and closing the gate. Unfortunately she pooped out front, kids didn't pick it up and Eric stepped in it today. Ew. 

Eric was up early this morning and emptying the trailer and flushing the systems. Then gave the trailer and Ocsar a bath. They were covered in a zillion bugs. Ew. He's already done the laundry. The hot tub was cleaned and set up again. We're waiting for it to get to temperature again.  

I spent time catching up with people. Arranging a 5th wheel viewing. A bit of time at my desk. A nice long shower. I spent some time listening to an audio book with Jia. So I can chase her to do a book report. I love homeschooling. Not. However, we're listening to Dumplin while we do art and it's a cute read/listen with some giggles. I did dishes. Let Kai eat Spiderman cereal for lunch that we brought back from the U.S. Put away all the shopping. Opened mail. We showed the trailer this afternoon and we have our 4rth accepted offer. Let's hope this guy follows through. The fellow coming to see the car today didn't show and now says he was in hospital.  

Cousin Linda's son Terry passed away today. Linda if you're on here we're thinking of you.  

Lili had her first dinner party today. I'm still waiting to hear how it turned out. She is pretty new to cooking so that part made her nervous.  

 There is lots of covid in our hospital. We're not worried since we've all had it and are unlikely to get it any worse than before. Five of us are getting covid and flu shots tomorrow. Lili got hers already. Prepping for the cruise. Although these won't protect us from Norovirus and that's the one I'm the most afraid of. I can't imagine a repeat of that with the boys. Or, I can imagine it and I'd like to opt out. Haha.

We were busy on the road trip but it's way busier here. Back to work tomorrow.  

Sumas Border Crossing.

Only a few cars!  Yes!! 

Kittens all over. 3 different litters.  I only managed to convince one to let me pet her ;)  

Another great spot to camp.  Another amazing view.  Overall we liked the Boondocking membership.

We missed Luk's gotcha while we were away.  Lili cooked him what he wanted and we did celebrate together before we left.

The other big news was that Fei passed her

Registration Exam Practical Nurse (REx-PN).  We're so happy for her.  A relief to have the big scary test done for sure!

Lili scored a ticket through a friend to see Taylor Swift in Vancouver.  A meer $550 for one ticket.  Just insane.  

We hit the Tswassen Mills mall today.  There are a group of kids here singing Sound of Music songs.  So fun.

We went to People's.  I don't have a wedding ring that fits now that the hot pools ate my silver one.  I was looking for simple.  Eric found this one on clearance.  I love it. It's not simple. We asked the price.  $1000.  She checked the computer and it was on sale 60% off so we got it.  Still more than I was looking to spend but it is gorgeous and the hot pools and tubs can't hurt the yellow and white gold. 

And this is how it sparkles at lunch.  

We did more xmas shopping.  We have a while before it's time to line up for the ferry so we're lounging in the trailer.  Eric is watching a movie.  I'm on my phone.

You know, he didn't complain even once about missing his phone.  I would have been going nuts.  Frankly the trip we did wouldn't have been possible. I was on maps a LOT, communicating with five hosts and scouting ahead for gas, stores, sani dumps, times, Jiffylube,  auto parts, things to do, water , reservations and restaurants.  So busy even when we're relaxing.

Moaz Homestead

Wow.  Their property really does overlook Vancouver Island.  We made it here just in time for sunset.

We're settling in for dinner and a movie again.

Our hosts seem perfectly normal :)  We had a pleasant visit.  No gun holsters visable at any rate.  

Our routine every day has been dinner, movie, snack and then early to bed.  Like crazy early.  Haha.  Eric has moved onto my schedule and has eaten my way all week.  He moved down to his last notch on his belt so it's working for him.  Or he's starving ;)  

We stopped at a Walmart and bought a bunch of 'can't find it in Canada' things.  Plus teacher gifts and a few surprises for kids.  We grabbed a quick lunch and gassed up and then motored straight here.

The funny part was coming out of Walmart to find three Wranglers parked by us with people gathered to talk to us.  Wild.  One fellow wanted to know all about the really cool rig so he went off to chat with Eric about the Falcon.  The other woman wanted to talk about towing with Jeeps and Jeeps in general and what rv her and her wife have.  They're retired from the Services.  Homeless and travel full time. Staying in Chehalis for a while to get medical care.  I have a gift.  I get people's life stories in a few minutes.  I gave her two tiny glitter ducks.  She loved them.  

Our last night.  

Today's drive.

Parked with the big guys.

The day was mostly uneventful.  Gorgeous blue skies all day.  We did have an 18 wheeler swerve left and almost swipe some cars ahead of us which necessitated heavy braking.  Arg.  Oscar used his voice. I think when we get home he'll need a more manly horn his feeble little meep meep isn't great.  

I did choose a longer route home specifically so we could visit Heaven on Earth.  A favorite restaurant.  Lunch was fabulous, worth the drive.  Everything is from scratch.

They make and can tons of different things they sell in a store.  This bun was served with their Marion berry jam.

We bought the small cinnamon bun to share for snack tonight.  

You can't even make this stuff up.

Fourth host.  Couple with 6 kids, 19 grandkids.  Retired.  Love camping.  Have opened their 40 acres up to boondockers. Sounds awesome.

We arrive to this gate and a brick wall that surrounds the compound.  But the car and host don't match the expense of this gate/fence/wall.  Like....who can afford that kind of fence!

It's a members only clean food compound.  Cool.  We get in.  He and Eric pick a spot for us.  We got parked.  And then we visited.

Holey-hanna.  I can't even.  They are all the conspiracies.  The 40 acres is self contained.  Fish tanks, barns, fields and 10,000 square of grow houses.  Their own power, their own water.  Using thermal and solar power.  They heat in winter and cool in summer.  They have even printed their own money using actual gold. The private member group has a Doctor, 2 nurses, a teacher, a diesel mechanic, a logger etc.  They're looking for a brewer and a coffee roaster.

This all started for them during covid.

It's super facinating.

Friendly guy. Very well spoken. He knows it all sounds crazy.  

There is some religious stuff thrown in.  They aren't fans of any government entity removing personal freedoms or promoting reteric that pushes agendas.  I could go on.  I would have to say our lifestyles and thoughts don't really align.  Oh, oh, oh, and they believe Ivermectin really is 'the cure'. They take it daily.  

We have definitely landed somewhere interesting.  Haha.  Sort of funny.

Honestly though, if all hell breaks lose one day it would be good to have a place like this. Eric has survivalist in him for sure so he was keen to hear about 'how' they are doing all the things.

Oh, and fourth host that drives a Jeep.  What are the odds?!  I gave him mini ducks. He and his wife have matching Jeeps. 

We camped in the forest near the wood cutting section. It was close to the gate and level.  We have a telescopic ladder now so we weren't really trapped.  Kidding.  Sort of.

We're off nice and early today.  We have a stop planned for Walmart again to coincide with lunch.  Picking up a flat of my fave canned chili to bring home.  Then onto Everson Washington for our last night.  Staying on a farm tonight.  They have a friendly pet peacock.  Sounds fun right?  We'll see.

Good Morning.

Eric opened the door and said "Shell come see".  I saw all the vultures in a tree and ran back in to get my phone.

But what he really wanted me to see was the coyote with a carcass.  Zoom in.

We scared him away.

Then we saw a flock of turkeys run into the trees with a deer right behind them.

It was all very lion king, circle of life stuff going on.  Oh, and an owl hooting through the whole thing.

One low tire.  No worries Eric had a compressor that plugs into battery.  Of course.

They had a bbq to use.  A dog pen.  Stacks of firewood and water.  Might be power for that pump but I'm not sure.

Solar lights in the trees and a hammock.  Best campsite ever.  

Our hosts are retired school teachers.  Their dog Blitz is a trained service dog.  He guards her, she has lingering panic from having a shooter in her classroom six years ago.  They all lived but one of her students lives with a bullet near his heart and a shattered ankle.  Crazy.  So when she turns her back to open areas Blitz stands guard right behind her looking where she can't see.  Blitz was actually trained for her husband who is a first responder but he works better for her.  

We're on the I-5.  Heading towards Grants Pass, Azalea, Mount Shasta area.  Landing in Salem tonight.

Among the Oaks

Carol showed us a couple more of her projects this morning.  This is an old front, amulance back and total modification of all working parts and it's an RV.

Wild.

My new friend sort of let her beliefs out a bit today and she's a bit looney.  She takes Ivermectin daily because diabetes, cancer and autism are all man made and curable with Ivermectin.  Yikes.  I tried to say, well, perhaps things more like a missing part of a pancreas could cause diabetes.  Then I attempted saying that autism isn't anything to be 'cured' it's not an illness.  We need all the different brains.  We're not so kindred afterall.  While I was off with her being schooled about the conspiracy theories Eric was working on an exhaust leak on Oscar.  It was an easy enough fix but he didn't have the tool needed but Steve did of course plus a new bolt.  So it was bonus that we didn't have to wait until we were home. 

This is a silver plated band.  The hot pools stripped the silver off!!  It's now almost all copper.  What the heck was in those pools?!  Eric wants to know why it couldn't have eaten skin tags instead.  Haha.  

I budgeted time to play in Reno.  Possibly at the Eldorado so we could eat at La Strada.  We didn't feel like the extra stimulation after the relaxing hot pools.  Then today we opted to just carry on and skip Reno altogether.  It made for a relaxing drive today with lots of time.  We went through Truckee, Tahoe, Donner and over the Sierra's.  With very steep down grades.  Then we hit a patch that required a pilot car so that took a long while.  We got to chat with the man arming the traffic gate thingy.  He was nice.  Also has five kids.  His wife is adopted.  Her brothers are Mexican.  He loved Oscar.  He would love to drive to BC but that sounds as far away as Mars to him.  He was floored that he could do it in a couple days.  We were waiting a long time. 

Lunch spot.

This is tonights spot.  An old walnut orchard that they let die during the droughts. 

Among the Oaks.

They had a whole camp site set up.  We're the 36th Boondocker to stay here.  

She put flowers out for us! And they had a fire pit set with wood ready to light.  

They are hosts but don't actually boon dock anywhere.  They have restored vintage trailers and they travel to shows with them.  They're winterized so we didn't get to see them.

We stopped in Chico this afternoon so I could play in a Dollartree.  It's stocking stuffer shopping time.  I always look at the figurines even though our kids are all long past playing with them.  Look what I found!  Today I am 4 and sooo happy.  Haha.  They had two, so I bought both but I have no idea why.