Happy Easter!

How can you tell that I have a million things to do?  By the fact that I am blogging on the morning of Good Friday, with a house to clean, bookwork to finish, windows to wash,  suitcases to pack, food to purchase and prepare, and seven people coming for lunch on Sunday.  But I’d rather not think about that!

Hockey finished with a bang around here.  The Midgets won the league championship, although it looked more like the Stanley Cup final, what with all the champagne and cigars.  That was a Friday night.  Then it was an early departure to Lloydminster for me, where Derek was trying out for a AAA spring hockey team.  After much driving and lots of waiting around a rink, he made the team.  Unfortunately, he has a very mean mommy who isn’t going to let him play.  To be very honest, the caliber of hockey is not great, and it would mean a lot of time and money, which will be better spent at the Weyburn camp this summer.   While we were enjoying the amenities of the Border City, Clem and Stephen were in North Battleford for the AAA Midget spring camp.  Stephen arrived with just one skate, which caused a bit of a kirfuffle (I’ve never actually had to spell that word before – how did I do??) as the coach and some friends of his raced around trying to find a pair that would fit him.  They did, eventually, and Clem said Stephen had a great camp, if you don’t count the ill-fitting skates and a broken stick.  He must have done OK, since they invited him back for the fall try-outs.  We also got a last-minute phone call about a junior camp in Weyburn next weekend.  He must have impressed someone else, too.  

Clem’s nephew, Brendan, the Trident Splash guy of Speedo fame, was visiting in Kerrobert for a week.  He is such an incredible young man.  I really enjoy his visits.  He just came off a month-long run of the play, “East of Berlin”, in Edmonton, and is now headed to the Banff Center of the Arts where he won a spot at a playwright workshop or some such thing.  We are also on the look-out for his new Diet Pepsi commercials, as well as a new sitcom, “Overruled”, which will run on the Family Channel this fall.  But for all that, he is such a laid-back, down-to-earth guy, and we only learn all these fantastic things about him by accident!  

We had a surprise visit from Copper and her mom and dad last night.  We knew they were going to be around for Easter, but we didn’t think we’d see them until Sunday.  Copper was pretty dozy when they arrived, as she had been almost asleep in the car, but she perked up after a bit and she and Derek had lots of fun goofing around.  She is quite the little ham!  Should be fun on Sunday with everyone else around, too.  

I have started packing for the big trip.  I leave next Thursday, and I am really starting to get excited.  It’s hard to imagine being on a different continent half-way around the world, surrounded by such different cultures and languages.  I have done lots of preparation – research, vaccinations, etc, – so now I am just going to relax and take in the adventure and experience.   And try not to think about the mess that will greet me when I return to this place that will have been without a female presence for two weeks!!!   Deep breaths, girl, deep breaths…

Bye for now!  Thanks for stopping by!

Chandra