So.. This year has been an exciting and tumultuous year so far.
The year started off with promise. I got to go on a trip back home to Ontario — something that hasn’t happened for 9 nine years. I visited my family and a few friends on my quick trip back.. It started off well!
Then the 2010 Winter Games were here! An exciting event that I brought the kids to see the sights downtown. We even took the kids to see a Sledge Hockey game for the Paralympics..
Sadly, this was also a turning point. The same day as the hockey game was the same day that my wife and I let our children know that we were separating. It wasn’t an easy decision, but after being together for over 12 years, it wasn’t working for us..
Shortly after I moved out. And since then, things have been a very different. I left nearly everything in the house, so I had to quickly furnish a place as inexpensively as possible. (Well.. the inexpensively part didn’t work out so well). I’ve also had to learn how to operate a household on my own. This is the first time in my life that I’ve had to be on my own. And yes.. I do suck at housekeeping! My ex and I are also still working on how to schedule the kids around our needs, and parent as a cohesive unit that live separate lives now. A challenge indeed..
I’ve met someone as well. This happened much quicker than I thought and she’s had to put up with me. I’ve been all over the map in terms of how I feel about where I am in life, dating and family. It’s been over four months since I’ve moved out and this new lady in my life has been supportive (she’s clearly a sucker for punishment!). I’ve made mistakes and I still keep trying to improve myself.
I’ve had a lot more time for myself. When I don’t have the kids and when I’m not working, I spend time with this new woman in my life (Meghan). I go geocaching, have gone camping a couple times (with another trip planned in a couple weeks), and still am full of good intentions..
So, here it is on a beautiful, sunny holiday Monday. I’m planning to take the kids to the beach today, play in the water and find seashells and some crabs.. I have no idea where life is taking me at the moment, but I’m still moving forward. Who knows where this journey will take me.
Hopefully, I’ll be blogging a lot more regularly now..
Recently, I have bought a couple beautiful British Columbia 2010 Geocoins.
I thought that I’d try something with them.. But first, here is what they look like!
Now, I really like geocoins. I’ve bought a few over the last year and have released them all into the universe to travel. I usually assign a mission to each one. I know lots of people like to have them “travel where the world” without having a set goal. Not me.. I want mine to achieve something!
So, I have these two identical coins. I placed them in the same cache at the same time. They are in a race around the world. One is to travel EASTBOUND and one is to go WESTBOUND only. Will they make it around the world? Who knows! How long will it take? I don’t know! But since I placed them only 2-3 days ago, they are already doing better than I had anticipated they would at this point.
The eastbound coin was picked up within hours of me placing it in the cache. The person that picked it up said that they were heading to the Maritimes in mid-September and would place it in a cache there. I was amazed! I figured that it would take many, many short hops to cross North America, but clearly one person is handling that for me!
The westbound one also seems to be poised for a big jump. I assumed that it would travel to Victoria relatively soon and then sit there for a while.. BUt that isn’t the case! Someone picked it up yesterday and placed it in a Travel Bug Hotel right by the Vancouver Int’l Airport.. It stands to good reason that it may move across the Pacific Ocean much sooner than I thought..
So.. The race is on! Which one will make it back to Maple Ridge first? Will either of them make it? I’ll keep you updated here..
So.. As it stands as of tonight…
Both were placed in my cache, “Building Blocks” (GC232PR) on the evening of July 25, 2010. Westbound has currently traveled about 40km and is near the airport. The eastbound one is in a player’s hands that will deliver it to the Maritimes in about 6 weeks..
FILE–Investigators, in an attempt to determine the cause of a DC-8 crash, haul one of the engines from the main crater during cleanup on July 7, 1970. The Air Canada jetliner crashed when landing killing 97 passengers and nice crew members. It’s been 40 years since Air Canada flight 621 crashed into a ravine while trying to land at Pearson Airport. Friends and families of the passengers and crew members – many from Montreal and Los Angeles – will gather Sunday July 4th, 2010, for a memorial at the crash site. The 109 people killed in that crash are being honoured by developers who dedicated a half-acre lot to the crash victims and will erect 109 headstones. THE CANADIAN PRESS/STF
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.. for good reason..
My life the last few months has gone through some radical changes.. I won’t go into the details, but those of you who know me… well.. you already know..
That being said, this past weekend, I went to Victoria to get away and do some sightseeing.. I had a great time! One of the things I got to do was go on a whale watching tour. I have never done this before and was not disappointed! Here is a clip of the whale watching!
Other than that, I went on a ghost walk, went to the museum, went into the BC Provincial Legislature buildings, and found 7 geocaches in the two days that I was there..
I came across this yesterday.. At first, I thought that it was just an old toilet sitting in the meter room (there were old refridgerators and stoves in there too). Then I looked closer..
Yes… That is a fully functional toilet right next to our service box!
It’s about the time of year when I start going through things and changing it up. Cleaning up around the house, the garage my work van.. and my website…
I changed my background pic from me in front of Alcatraz, from my trip to San Francisco last March to a skyline shot of Toronto, (with me blocking it!), from my trip home this past January.
So.. on with spring cleaning! Good luck with yours! :)
Many provinces in Canada now have a statutory holiday in February. Right now, there is a petition that you can sign that will be given to Premier Gordon Campbell to create a stat holiday in February to commemorate the Olympics. Click the link below, read about the proposed holiday and sign the petition!
On Sunday afternoon, most of North America (and part of the world) was watching the gold medal hockey game for the Olympics. After Canada’s nail-biter win, the world watched the closing ceremonies. That’s it, right?
Well, not really.. While the rest of the world goes on with life, with athletes returning home, and regular TV programming resumes, Vancouver is very much in the Olympic spirit. How does a city and country come down from the high? How do we resume life after over two weeks of a big party? There are still the Paralympics to come. All the pavilions will be open again, but I imagine that the whole event will be a little more low-key.
On the radio today, there was a report saying that this is not uncommon in cities that have hosted the Olympics. There are going to be counsellors available to VANOC employees to help them transition back to the real world of work. Ever since July of 2003 when the world heard Jacques Rogge announce that Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics, things have been building towards it. Major construction projects, such as the athletes village and the Canada Line, reports warning about road closures and the traffic mayhem to expect. The general hype around it was building until February 12th when it was finally here. Now that the Games are over, we all look around at each other and say, “Now what?”
Well, the sad reality is that after the Paralympics, it’s all done. Vancouver will return to life as it was before, but with one last question. What will happen to the economy here? We’ve avoided a lot of the job losses here so far, but without the driving force that we’ve had here, no one knows what is going to happen….
My ex and I are also still working on how to schedule the kids around our needs, and parent as a cohesive unit that live separate lives now. A challenge indeed..
