New Rain Coat

 

Eric and I shopped in a mall.  Just the two of us.  I know...super weird. We went to pick up a Nick Wild ear bud holder for Jia.

We hit a Mountain Equipment.  Eric needs a waterproof rain coat for trail days.  When he is out spotting he gets pretty drenched. I need a warmer winter raincoat.  Eric got a 40% off sale.  Mine however was the deal, $189, on for $59 with an additional 20% off.  Why does anyone shop before Christmas?  

Then we were in Walmart, I walked by a dress with fabric I liked.  I touched it and looked at the tag.  It was a Mexx on sale for $24. I pulled it over my clothes, it fit.  Eric said I needed a new dress for my bday cruise and then it went through the till for $15.  Yay me.  Did I need a dress? Absolutely not ;)

Today Eric sourced the parts for Oscar.  He should be back on the road tomorrow.  Onyx needs a tech.  Sob.  Eric limped her to our Jeep guy in Mill Bay. The tech isn't back to work until the 5th.  I'm sure not excited about leaving her there that long.  Plus the not knowing what is up.  We think at this point it's a software problem connected to the clutch recall done when we bought her.

Jia's Sweet 16

 

Happy Birthday Jia!

She likes her car.

The day started in drama.

It took a lot to get the original plan on track.  Eric and four kids eventually made it out.  To the mall. Jia did some shopping and got a second set of holes.

The actual goal.

Hot pot.

They all loved it.

New jacket and jeans.

A rain coat.

New ear holes.

The sadness when the critters you follow pass away.  I will miss you Cindy.  Sob.

This is Todd.  The wee donkey Lili and I saw when he was 3 days old.  He is currently up for adoption.  Dream with me for two seconds.  Haha.

Finn walked ALL day.  No naps.  He has finally crashed.  Phew.

Fail

 

It's was a snow wheeling day.  Eric has Oscar taken apart, waiting for new parts.  Today was an easy fsr day so I decided to do my first group event in Onyx.

Eric loaded firewood, the toilet and recovery gear.  I packed snacks to share and a picnic lunch for us.

I was a bit nervous in general but not freaked.  It was going great until we hit snow and Eric had to put Onyx in 4x4 because the lever is too hard for me.  She immediately lost power, I couldn't find a gear and she was binging and words like clutch is hot and transition needs servicing and need an oil change all started flashing through the screen.  Yikes.

On a hill with 10 or so rigs behind us, 10 ahead of us.  I stopped and we switched places.  I'm certain Eric thought it was operator error ;)  It wasn't.  He didn't do any better.  We finally limped to a spot to pull over.  Announcing on the radio that we were the problem on the hill and had clutch issues so would just turn around and head home.

It was sad to not join in the fun.  Especially since it was my first try at playing with the big kids.

Friend Jen was going to bring her truck but ended up with her Jeep, I said "oh good, I don't have a winch, you can rescue me".  I was kidding.  Not realizing how close we were to actually needing a rescue.  

I had asked Eric in the morning if people would laugh at Onyx out there without a winch.  He didn't answer me but three minutes later had a winch in the Amazon cart.  That answers that question.

We parked in a nice sunny spot and enjoyed the snow, the view, the fresh air and ate our lunch.  Another Jeep from the group I came down, he stopped and visited for a while.  He reported that more than half the group were stuck on the hill and he just wanted to avoid the shit show.  It sounds like it was a good day for us to duck out.

It did take a couple hours to limp home.  Eric isn't sure what happened or what the actual problem is.  He stayed out investigating and giving her a bath.  At this point he thinks the issue is electronics.

This might be the dirtiest she has ever been.  Home two seconds before he was already underneath looking for anything hot.

We're home, Finn was eating kibble again and when Coco barked at Eric's sounds outside Finn joined her and howled.  Coming back slowly. I tried to force some water in him and he fought me with some strength.  

Eric and I are off to Nanaimo to join friends for an evening visit.

Crunching

 

Knowing his care is just too much for this busy house.  I am managing his care on my own but if I am away he would suffer.  I made the decision to let him go.  I booked a euthanasia appointment for Monday.

I've been having a very sad and sulky day just holding him.  He woke up from a nap and made his way to the kitchen and Eric sent me a picture of him chowing down on his own.  Crunching away.

What?!

I just put in a request online to cancel the Monday appointment.

That's a big feelings swing in one day.  Overwhelming.

Nothing so beautiful as seeing him eat on his own.

Christmas

 

Mom and I had the kids stay at the table after lunch and handed them their gifts.  It made it easier all around and we got to see the reactions.  Personally I loved it.  No chaos.

First year ever Kai made it through with no tears.  It was close a couple times but he pulled it together and stayed until the end.  He bound away pretty darn quick when I told him he was done :)

We did mac and cheese for dinner and for the first Christmas I can remember Jia ate with us.

The day was calm and peaceful.  Some of us even got naps.

Christmas Eve

 

The poem was read, Charlie Brown and crew were watched, stockings hung, cookies and milk put out and home made hot chocolate was consumed. Kai is planning to wear his Santa shirt tomorrow.  It's pretty rare for him to plan things or talk about upcoming events.  Typically he hates unwrapping gifts.  Last year we let him come and go and it worked better.  We'll do the same thing tomorrow.  Some might be unwrapped on other days, and that's ok.

The Mama did dishes, organized all the things, prepped for tomorrow and filled those sox.  The Dad emptied the guest room so Lili has somewhere to sleep tomorrow night. Earlier in the day Eric and I went to Superstore, that was nuts.  We have food for a couple days though. Home to chat with a Constable about the shooting and I reported that the homeless currently have fire lit under the posts and sign by the marsh.  He was clearly annoyed and said he'd dispatch someone.  I told him it was disgusting what was happening to our town and he agreed.  He also grew up here. Oh, and the missing kid at the river was a hoax! What the actual F is wrong with people?! It's been a busy day. Christmas is simply too much work added to already busy days.

Update, I got a call telling me the surgeon wants me to have an mri sooner rather than later.  So Jan 3rd it is.  

Phew.

Is everyone ready?

Christmas Eve Eve

 

When you are scrolling Facebook and find a great picture of your Jeep on a strangers page.  

Appointments, work and chores.

Then we finished the day with a deal night movie and a late dinner deal out. The movie was Zootopia 2.  Hillarious.  We all loved it. Fei missed out, she had dinner with a friend.  Then we had Bin 4, the burgers are half price after 9.  Everyone enjoyed their fancy burger.  It is odd eating dinner so late.

We have no plans for Christmas Eve.  Fei is hoping to pick up a shift.  Lili is with friends.  Jia is working.  No one here is ra ra about the traditions from the younger years.  Also, gasp, I think the plan is to wait for presents until afternoon so sleeping in can happen.  Yes.  You read that right.  Sleeping ranks higher than presents.

Shooting updates.

The police continue to monitor the house across the street.

Yesterday while on top of the mountain enjoying blissful peace, mine and Lili's phone's were ringing with the Ring Doorbell.  

I got a quick glimpse and thought I saw RCMP.  Oy.  The three kids were home with strict instructions to not answer the door.  The ring kept happening so it was someone very insistant but we didn't have enough cell service to connect properly.  

Luk did finally answer the door.  Then he texted us.  A clear concise message.  When we came off the mountain we called the number.  That investigator is off on holidays now so we're home waiting to hear from her colleague today.

I told her we didn't have the shooting captured but you can see a flash on the scrolling camera feed.  I suggested they might have access to a way to slow it down.  She said no.  We agreed I watch too much crime drama.  Haha.  Also yes, gun fire will flash.  We know there was gunfire by the holes so I'm not sure what more can be accomplished here.

Anyways. It continues.

Also a couple little shits pulled the fire alarm in Jia's McDonald's yesterday.  Shoppers and employees all outside until the fire dept cleared the whole place.  Oy.  They are on camera.  I sure hope they're charged. 

Then another woman posted a rant towards rcmp.  Apparently, according to her mistaken identity.  Their truck was surrounded by several police with guns drawn.  I was horrified at her language and disrespect for the rcmp.  I definitely wonder what that was all about.  The community definitely stood behind the rcmp in the comments letting her know she was out of line.

This just doesn't feel like the community I was raised in.  And...that is why my free time is spent in the forest.  I too would also rather come up against bears.  Sheesh.

This is the first year since having kids that I'm behind in Xmas preparations. I just finished shopping in Thursday.  I haven't wrapped a thing.  We have ideas for the food for the day but haven't actually shopped for specifics yet.  

We're all done with Christmas events aside from Christmas day at home.  I do want to see the live nativity again but the family isn't interested.

Eric said he would wrap with me this year.  1st time ever.  However, while I was doing dishes he escaped my clutches.  Haha.  He deeked me out putting a load of laundry on and out the back door.  He's outside in the rain cleaning Oscar.  

Just finished this post, went onto Facebook and see there was a code Adam in Walmart as well.  Child found quickly.  Now there is a 5 year old child missing in the forest around Chemainus River.  Yikes.  4x4ers all ready to get out there.  Kid has been missing since last night.  Rcmp and Sars are on it. 

Snow Wheeling

 

Finn let's me know when he is hungry.  He is very messy.  Bibs help.  Too cute.  We haven't managed to get a routine happening yet.  Hr is still stubborn. He has started playing with his kibble again so that's great but we haven't heard him crunch yet.  He is still making little improvements.

Today we met in Ladysmith.  10 rigs off to try new trails and hopefully find snow.

Our leader Ben got stuck in the first second of trail.  Required winching and a lot of muddy shoveling.  He is determined to come back another day and figure this one out but it was decided if he couldn't get through the rest of the group wouldn't either.

We moved onto a very tricky trail.  We lost 3 rigs who didn't stand a chance. Two turned back.  One parked, hiked through and joined other Jeeps. One Jeep was stuck in tight trees for a long time.  She remained calm and made it through.  Four of us made it through but needed spotters.  Two needed winching. 

Lili and I were in the car on our own for quite a while waiting for everyone to make it through.  We could have skipped the trail and taken the road but where is the fun and challenge in that?  Lili is definitely questioning why this is considered fun ;)

It was actually rain/snowing pretty hard here and we were soaked pretty quickly but it was exciting to gather and talk about how challenging it was.

Holland Lake.  

It's full.  That bodes well for summer.

This trail was pretty.  The branches were all so low from heavy wet snow.

Ben didn't make it.  We've never seen him struggle before.  So that was wild.

Oscar did not struggle in the snow. We bombed all the way up and past some of the others.  Into fresh untouched snow.  With lots of chatter on the radios saying "Go Oscar!"  Hillarious.

Gasp.

Look at the wee group down below.  This view was magical.  We need to go back in the summer.

Rescue needed.

Oops.

Glamor shot.

And another.

So fun.

We had a great day.

Honestly, the drive home on the highway, in the dark and the rain was way, way scarier.