No luck today

Wandered around and looked for a few caches.  Found none of them.  A homeless person had set up camp right where one was hidden.

Gave up and did some needed shopping instead.

Rain again

Another rainy day so stayed in and watched the Hockey All Star Game & women's soccer.  Both my teams lost.  Still fun to watch.

Christmas in January

Picked up Pru this afternoon and we joined the family at Chris's for a January Christmas.  Most of them had been in Houston for Patience's wedding.  I made cranberry sauce - had to use frozen and the few fresh left didn't look good.

We had an early night.  I was home by 7:30 and quite tired.

Lynden caching

Logged 49 caches today with Pam & Lori around Lynden.  Most were driveups and part of a group put out last Halloween.  Had a good lunch at Dutch Mothers - excellent Dutch rye bread.

No trouble with the border either way due to our NEXUS cards.  Did see a lot of border patrol vehicles on various side roads as we explored.  Guess we didn't look suspicious.

I am feeling much better today.  Still not right, but the headache finally left after the 5 am painkiller.

Headache day

Woke up with a headache and it keeps coming back. Just took another Tylenol and hope to sleep it off.  Still not feeling normal.

Picked up a couple of packages in Point Roberts and filled up with gas.  

Met Pam and she had lunch waiting - tomato soup & grilled cheese.  The ultimate comfort food.  We drove to North Delta and went for a couple of caches.  I climbed down a stairway I'd been down before.  Remembered not being able to go the last section as the stairway stopped and it was a steep trail.  Pam clambered down and found the caches.  

Picked up groceries and a prescription at Safeway on the way home.  Forgot to activate new Extended Health number so have to mail the claim in.

New radio

Finally had the new radio I bought on Dec. 27th installed at Best Buy.  It has no CD player but has a compartment for my iTouch.

Gave up trying to buy fresh cranberries.  Will try again tomorrow.  Bought a last Christmas present for Saturday at Chapters.

Still not feeling well and just had some chicken soup for dinner.

Dark and stormy day

A good day to stay inside.  It never seemed to get light and the rain was really hard at times.

Was enjoying the Canucks game but got sick and had to turn it off.  I think dinner didn't agree with me.  A few antacids and some Tylenol helped.  I curled up in my chair and dozed for a couple of hours.  Couldn't lie down in bed.  Feeling almost normal now.

Mary McDermott

So sad to hear that Mary McDermott has died.  Her stroke several years ago was a cruel blow that robbed the BC education system of a tireless advocate.  She was a dear friend and a very special person.

Windy day

The wind was strong all day.  I stayed in and read a whole book while watching 2 football games.

BCTLA Executive

Picked up Moira at 8:30 this morning.  We stopped for Starbucks on our way to the BCTF building and the BCTLA Executive meeting.  Day went well and we completed the 3-page agenda with an hour left over to do some work in little committees.  Lunch was brought in and it was really good - salads, chicken, salmon, fruit..  Much easier than going out to a restaurant.

Some of us went to the Cactus Club for a drink and dinner.

I am so tired right now that I am heading for bed.

Wet

No snow in sight around here tonight.  It has been pouring all day.  Luckily there wasn't that much to melt.  Other areas are in danger of flooding.

Stayed in where it was warm and dry.

Deep freeze

Decided to go out in the cold to deliver copies of my photos to VESTA.  Vilma had asked if I had any from 2002.  Decided it was easiest just to load all my union photos onto a memory stick.  Had a good visit as Vilma downloaded the files.

Driving was fine.  Just had to be careful walking in my lane.  It was -5!!

Too cold to find caches so Pam and I worked out our plans by telephone for next week's visit to Lynden.  Lori found caches in both New Jersey & New York today.

Big storm coming tonight that is supposed to turn into freezing rain later in the morning.  Cancelled my appointments at Mary Pack so I can just stay in.  It is snowing now.

Sadie is doing amazingly well and hasn't even taken a pain killer today.  She told me that her legs don't hurt at all. 

Still too cold

Skipped my support group this morning as it was snowing.  Decided to do the laundry.  When I came back upstairs from putting it in, the snow had stopped and it was sunny.  Still probably a good day to stay in.

Sadie Blue

Took Starbucks to Andrea & Matt in the Children's Hospital recovery room at about 11:30.  Sadie had the bolts and plates taken out of her hips this morning.  She was awake and not very groggy when I arrived.  She liked the box of books I brought and read a bit.  Then changed to playing the DS Nintendo.  

The staff were quite impressive.  The doctor was pleased and the nurse listened to her complaints about pain and gave her some morphine.  A physio came and explained crutches.  She was doing so well that she got to go home by 2. 

Picked up groceries at Granville Is.  The roads were clear but it is going down to -20 with the wind chill tonight.

Icy

Cold and icy out there today so just stayed safely inside.  Cancelled group at the Cancer Agency as it was supposed to snow more tonight.  It didn't, but the roads are still pretty slippery.

Caught up on stuff on my PVR. 

Brrr

Cold day and the roads are icy so I stayed safely inside.

Watched football and hockey all day.

Safety first

It snowed a bit last night but none was left by the time I woke up.  Since the sun was shining, I drove to Point Roberts to get a package.  The lineup went out the door and out to the roadway.  Far too cold to be standing in a line, so I filled up my gas tank and went back across the border.

Drove around to Surrey and encountered the snow.  Looped around to New West & Burnaby but all the caches I wanted were buried and the sidewalks uncleared.  Ended up at Byrne Rd & Marine Way and loaded up with groceries instead.  There was no snow there but it was slippery.

Met Moira at the White Spot for dinner and there was a skiff of snow again when we left.

Bothel

Met Pam and Lori in Surrey at 8 this morning and we headed down to Bothel (175 km) for a cache that Lori had already found.  Pam and I needed it for a spot on our chart for Difficulty/Terrain.  I logged 19 caches for the day, including a colour challenge that I finally finished (10 colours in cache names).

It was a great day.  The weather was fine for us.  It was cold in the morning and we were all chipping away at the skirting of a light pole when a police car drove by.  Luckily he didn't notice the three guilty looking women armed with a screw driver, clippers and a grabber banging away at the pole. 

Pam treated us to burgers at Red Robin and they were delicious.  Part of that was we were hungry.  We ended up doing some shopping at Bellis Fair and I was home at 7:30.

It is snowing now.  No more caching for a few days?

Small world

Needed 7 caches and decided not to drive far.  Started downtown and worked my way over to Stanley Park.  Eerily, Pam and Lori found several of the same caches today as they had appointments downtown.

Had lunch at Hamburger Mary's and was home by 3.

Another sunny day

Needed 4 caches to reach my 100 for the 11th.  Found one on Sea Island and three in Queensborough.  Didn't find a couple.  

Came home and fell asleep.  At least it was in front of a taped show so I could rewind.

2.7 km

Went out with Lori and Pam this morning to do the first part of a new series along trails on the north side of Sea Island.  The idea was to walk part way and then go back to my car.  They would continue to the end, where they had left a car.  In the end, I did it all and then another part that was a few kilometres away.  Definitely the farthest I've walked in some time.  It helped to have someone to talk to and it was a nice flat trail.  Ended up with 13 caches.

Drove to Steveston and had a late lunch at Dave's as a reward.  Also found a new cache a short distance away.

4,900 caches

Wandered around Vancouver, Burnaby & New West looking for caches.  Found 6.  Only one eluded me because my hands wouldn't twist enough into a hole under a child's playground horse.

Stopped at the Waffle House for lunch and then had my haircut at Mei Hsu's new shop on Fraser St.  Made it home in time to see the Canucks lose an easy one.

Sleepy Sunday

Didn't do much today.  Just read and watched TV.  Played some Scrabble and Bejewelled.  Didn't need any caches as I have over 100 on this day of the month.  

Scrabble day

Someone seemed to be playing Scrabble with me all day.  Tonight it was Chris and she has finally given up so I can go to bed.

Canucks had a great game this morning in Boston.  Went out geocaching once it finished but the rain started.  Found one and failed on 3.  Gave up and picked up groceries at Safeway on the way home.  Some days you just don't have it!

Small world

Failed to find a cache near the cemetary at 41st & Fraser today.  Got to ground zero but no bells rang.  Found a couple in Queensborough just before the rain started.

Kept changing my mind what to do next and finally stopped at Tim Horton's for some takeout lunch.  Anni & Lori were sitting in the window right in front of where I parked.  The odds of running into 2 people from Ladner and Burnaby in New Westminster?

Did some shopping at Walmart and Staples on the way home.

Surrey day

Slept in this morning.  Met Lori & Pam at Pam's house.  We were going to do puzzles for a bit but it wasn't raining and we set out to Surrey.  Found a total of 11 caches, including several puzzles we solved.  Finally finished at dark.  Need one more on this date (5th) to get to 100.  Next month!

Easy drive home through the tunnel.  Don't know where the traffic was.

Dentist

Six month checkup and cleaning today.  Suzy adjusted my plate.  Worried I might need a new one but it seems fine now.

Bought some groceries at Granville Island and found a cache near the Maritime Museum.  Checked my VPL app on the way home and saw that my reserved book was in.  I only ordered it yesterday.  We need it to solve a puzzle.  I read the whole book this afternoon and got the coordinates but they didn't work in the Checker.  The owner was quick to answer my query and said that I had the right numbers.

Recovery day

Caught up on my sleep and didn't get dressed today.  Caught up on newspapers and played a bunch of Scrabble games with several friends.

Juniour Hockey game was a treat.  Too bad they couldn't play another 5 minutes - they might have caught the Russians.

Shopping day

Jesse couldn't find the house key and phoned at 2:30 about it.  Must teach him how to think more creatively.  Had trouble getting back to sleep.  Finally got up about 9:30.

We spent quite a bit of time the Seattle Premium Outlet Mall.  I bought sweaters, underwear, a coat and towells.  Everything was on sale.  It wasn't as busy as yesterday had been.  One clerk thanked us for spending money to help their economy.

Ate a late lunch, early dinner at the Shrimp Shack in Bellingham and then spent more money in Trader Joe's.  Stopped at duty free for a bottle.  Took about 15 minutes to get through the border line.

Jesse met us to help carry all the luggage in.  He promised to cook me a gourmet meal to make up for waking me up.

Did well for weather.  It started raining as we left Trader Joe's.  First rain all weekend.

Happy 2012

Had a long sleep and just made breakfast.  It stayed dry and almost sunny all day so I decided not to shop.  Did go by big mall and it was full.

Found 10 caches and went back to the hotel a few times for a rest.

Met Pru, Lucas, Jesse and Patrick at SeaTac at 21:45.  Glad Pru and I just had to drive to Lynnwood.