Picture of the day!

It was a raging success!

My tooth is out, the proof is in the photo, and my recovery is speedy. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know they had taken out the tooth and it seemed within minutes I heard "ok you're done!"

20 minutes! In and out. Thanks, Dr. Amos Kahane!

Sorry if you find this gross...but at the same time it's very beautiful.

A little less wisdom...

But a lot less pain!

Today, in about 35 minutes, I'll demand my dentist to remove one of my wisdom teeth. It has served me well over the past 31 years, sometimes not so well, but it's time to move on.

If you would like to send over any presents and/or get well cards, that would most certainly lift my spirits.

Thanks!

If we don't speak again. It's been fun!

What I have learned in Fernie...

7. How to be "bear aware":
• when out for a nice deep in the forest walk, make noise so you don't startle a bear, bring bear mace and bring a big and strong friend.
• when you approach a bear, talk calmly to it, do not turn and run (you will be chased,) do not climb a tree (they love climbing trees too,) try very hard not to hug and cuddle one of those adorable little cubs, puff up and make it look like you're bigger than you are, and in the unlikely chance that they attack, fight back with all your might.
• don't leave your food lying around to attract unwanted attention, try not to put on lotions that smell like berries or snacks
• it's good to remember bears are not to be feared, especially since they sense fear, but are to be respected as a survivor and an important part of our environment. Respect the bear.


8. Working ALL day at a desk isn't cool.
Now this may seem like common sense to most, but I really do enjoy my job and working at a computer is what I've been doing for many years...but since moving to Fernie, I have been surrounded by people doing jobs that involve no computer at all. WEIRD.Such as: carpenters, tilers, rafting guides, snowmobile guides, ski patrol, ski instructors, servers, landscapers, mr plows and so on and so on.

I still think I'm pretty cool.

9. The Fernie Mogul Smoker
A tradition held annually at the beginning of each winter to appease the snow gods and Griz (Griz is the legendary mountain man responsible for Fernie's incredible powder), the Mogul Smoker kicks off the ski season, Fernie-style.

A fire is lit and fueled by sacrificed skis and snowboards. People dress up, dance and proceed to party all night long.

http://www.mogulsmoker.ca/

Here are the listed Rules on their website:

• Bring 2 pieces of ID, You're in North America Eh!
• Shuttle service only to grounds.
• No BYO Alcohol
• No Glass
• No Fighting
• Bring good vibes. With each negative complaint stated out loud, you will receive one less powder day this season (the Griz hears all.)
• Dress Warm, it can be cold
• The fire can get pretty hot, watch your clothes
  

Prettyland For Thanksgiving

Dana Oikawa and I, Brina, left for Vancouver Island on Friday to spend a couple days with Karen and Werner (a 1st introduction for Dana) in their "new" house. It was a trip later titled the Farewell Tour but not because I won't be returning ever again, but because I leave for Fernie on Sunday!! HOKEY DOODLE!


We entered their new house (after 6 hours of traveling) and during the initial tour we flipped through the pictures taken pre-renovations. It's such a 70s house from the outside but it has been transformed on the inside.


All Dana and I wanted to accomplish was hanging out with Karen and Werner and that's exactly what we did. We helped them move a couch outside for pickup, took their recycling to the traveling depot, watched Werner dig up roots, watched Werner hang pictures on the wall, watched Werner cook us omelets and watched Werner check his forum. Werner is really fun to watch.

It was much better than it sounds.







We also each ate 3 donuts, drove to the salmon run (2 weeks too early,) played games and had breakfast with Alice Young.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

You are correct in observing no thanksgiving dinner in these pictures but dinner takes place tonight at the Lion's Den. Junko is preparing a traditional thanksgiving feast for anyone that comes in (not for free) and I am planning on eating a minimal lunch to make sure I'm ravishing by the time I get there.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So wrong but so right

Mandy and Trevor • 080808

I got my first glance at Trevor's wedding pictures last night. They look fantastic!!! Since this is the first wedding of the siblings, and because I love my family so much, I'm going to post a gazillion photos. Oh you love it!

Before the ceremony

Mandy (sister-in-law) and Adia (niece)

Mandy and Trevor (older brother)

Mandy and her wedding docs

At a park in Oshawa, Ontario

Mandy and Trevor

The Wedding Party

The Schenks (l-r: Max, Mandy, Adia, Brody, Trevor)

Mandy's not scared of you.

The Schenks (l-r: me, brody, dwight, max, bill, helen, mandy, adia, trevor)

The Mcewen Family

A fight broke out at the photo shoot

My brothers

The boys

Little Princess Adia

Ceremony

Max, Brody and Adia walking down the aisle

The ceremony

The vows

Reception

My parents giving a speech of embarrassing moments in Trevor's life. EERRR.
I hear they have a list for me too.

Speech response

Of course, Dwight had to have the funniest speech.

Bridesmaids

l-r: Auntie Gerda, shooooot what's his name, Uncle Tom

Me!

I love the guys in the background.

He'll understand when he's older.

My mom took care of the chocolate fondue. It was a hit.

My bad-ass sister-in-law. She'll come after you if you bug me.

Max The Entertainer

I love this kid.

He made all the girls cry that night.

My mom didn't cry until Bon Jovi came on at the very end.
Oh and this is a very sweet picture of my mom and brother.

wowzers

A Little Friendly Story

Last night I had some energy to burn. You know those moments where sitting still isn't an option? You just need to run around in circles like you were 6 and then crash on your mother's lap. Well i didn't do that. I had a better idea.

I went for a walk.

I started going south on main street and my purpose, for some reason I couldn't just go for a walk, was to find an after dinner dessert to compliment my new fresh coffee (thanks, dana!) It was the perfect plan, and I'll tell you now, this has a happy ending.

As I walked down Main I see a few coffee shops but I wasn't looking for biscotti or a muffin so I kept walking. I will tell you that there are plenty of friendly people in Vancouver. A large amount of people were smiling at me as we crossed eachother's paths...but then I had a thought 'is my zipper down?' so I checked and it wasn't. It's confirmed: People are just friendly.

I'm passing more coffee shops (there are so many in this city) and sushi joints and boutiques. Nothing. I've decided to walk to the nesters market to see what they have to offer. Nothing. Nothing anywhere. I had noticed a few specialty dessert bars but that seemed inappropriate for this particular night. I just needed something good but not delicate.

At this point I begin my walk north on the east side of the street. Is there a possibility that people walking on the east side of a street are less friendly than those on the west side? That's bizarre! It's not that they weren't friendly, just less smiley.

My theory is: at this point I wasn't so "open" and "happy" on my "energy burn" walk cuz my trip's purpose had not been fulfilled. I was becoming less approachable.

So as I'm mentally pushing people out of my way on the street, I start to sweat and get really thirsty. My mouth was so dry. It's a matter of life and death now! I NEED a dessert and I need some water. And then I see the light. I see the light so bright. Is this death? No it's Bean Around The World. THEY HAVE DESSERTS! I picked up a four dollars and twenty five sent carrot cake chunk and proudly walked home feeling complete and calm.

It was perfect. The coffee and carrot cake are best friends in my mouth.


I slept like a log. That's my little friendly story.

Robson Park Block Arty

Yesterday afternoon my friend Derrick dragged me to this horrible block party with games, more games and then even more games. As you must know, I'm not one for games...WHAT?!! No seriously, it was lots and lots of game fun. A group of girls on E 13th street got a grant from the city to put this block party together for the community and everyone was welcome. All sorts of people and dogs were there to keep the day going from morning to night. Derrick documented the day with his fancy cam and gave me a few good ones to post.

Our day started with Square Ball. This was the first time I had played this game and I LIKED it. Except Mr Curious Kid cheated me out of the King position.

After a quick hotdog...

we were taught the game FrizKnock. I first heard stories of this game in Fernie in May, so i guess it's really catching on. You basically just try and knock your opponent's cups off their poles with the frizbee. Easier said than done, my friend.

Soon after Frizknock we were on the street drawing pretty chalk pictures

Precious moment of the day goes to this little girl who came up to me and said "chalk"... so I gave her my chalk...and then she walked away. Precious!

The kids were entertained with bubble making, tye dying and water guns. I miss the days of water fights.

And then Dana showed up and we played more games...
like bocce ball and then badminton and then more frizknock.


And there you have it. Robson Street Block Party by Brina, Derrick and Dana.

Thanks, Derrick Belcham, for the fantastic pictures. You're fantastic. And a thanks to the hosts of the block party. Thanks for making me feel like a 12 year old again!!

mobiles aren't just for kids

A new personal project I've been working on are painted mobiles. I've only done 1 so far but I'm on number 2 already. The second one will be quite different from the first, because that's how I roll, and because what I've been doing is using scraps of whatever I can find to put these together. Sometimes I go to the dollar store to see what I can use and sometimes I go to Urban Source to see what random goodies they have collected.

The first one was just an experiment but I truly loved what I came up with. It only took me 6 months to finish it. Maybe I'll finish number 2 in less time...no promises though. Art cannot be rushed.