Day 8

Well Folks, the good news is that after a rough Day 4 and 5, things with my side effects have finally settled down.  My fingers still feel like someone else's and constantly feel like they have electrical currents running through them, but that is a small price to pay for the opportunity to wake up each morning, I guess. It does make texting on the old Blackberry a huge challenge, but I have already asked Santa Tim for a new cell phone for Christmas, one with a touch screen that won't hurt my fingers and constantly break my nails. I can't wait!

I really have very little to report to be honest, just trying to kill some time while Tim is at work.  Time to find a hobby now that the "Fifty Shades" trilogy is done.  

We have been planning our long weekend coming up - since we don't have the kids, we are hoping to get out golfing a few times and if the weather holds, we are thinking about renting a canoe to float down the Grand River. Hell, we might even hit the gym!  We have made reservations at a nice restaurant on Friday night - praying that Riley has a good night on Thursday so that we have the energy to actually go out on Friday.  If not, it could be another weekend spent recuperating and hitting the sheets by 10 o'clock. 

We went shopping last night to look for ice skates for the kids, and unfortunately I had to admit to Tim that I can't skate and immediately he said that he would teach me. However, after further rumination regarding my utter lack of coordination and penchant for falling down and hurting myself these days - we have both decided that it might be best for me to stay off the ice and drink hot chocolate instead.

Day 6...

...has not been easy. I have been feeling un-well for the past couple of days, nothing serious, just not good.  Lots of nosebleeds, dizziness (which is a new one) and continued neuropathy in my hands and feet.  It has been compounded by the fact that Riley has been off for a few days too, and crawled into bed with us last night @ 1am and the night before @ 3am. Let's just say this: the kid is when he sleeps as he is when he's awake - constantly on the move.  And he seems quite fond of my pillow.  One never knows in which direction he will be when one awakes; parallel, horizontal, upside-down...it's always an adventure.

We went to the market  yesterday morning and got some great deals on berries and a peach pie. The kids rode ponies and got animal balloons made for them by Bubbles the clown. It was smoking hot outside, so afterwards we came home for a nap - then hit the mini-golf course where Avery got a HOLE-IN-ONE! She's a ringer - I think Daddy has secret hopes of her ending up on the LPGA tour.

Then we cuddled up on the couch to watch a movie and snuggle:

Today has been a quiet one, with Riley and I both a bit under the weather - lazing around and napping for most of the morning. The only good story is that this morning Bailey woke me up to go out, and instead of getting OFF the bed to open the door, I tried to reach it FROM the bed, missed the door nob and took a pretty nasty tumble.  Tim was downstairs already and came running up to see what happened - and had to administer some first-aid - Tylenol because I hit my head and a bandage for the rug-burn on my elbow. What a clutz. Let's hope that's the last spill of the day, but I guarantee nothing.

NC 17 - WARNING - This is Going to be a LONG One...

Hello "Bring It On" Followers!

Once again, so sorry for the delay in posting - I have barely had 5 minutes to relax these past 10 days and am now only here because I woke in the middle of the night with no apparent interest in sleep.

As you know, Tim and I were lucky enough to have the kids all of last week for a 7 day summer vacation. When we returned home early from Sand Hills, we were able to spend last Monday unpacking, cleaning the house and visiting Tim's mistress (read - COSTCO) in order to treat each of the kids to one of the new Halloween costumes that the store has on display already. Riles decided on the Knight in Shining Armour and Avers (quite inevitably) picked the puffiest, pinkest Princess costume she could find. It lead to hours of fun in our house and if anyone had to wonder where Avery had disappeared to right after waking up or as soon as we got home from other activities those next few days, you only had to wait 5 minutes and she would suddenly appear from her bedroom as her new alter ego, "Sleeping Beauty."

Our Little "Knight in Shining Armor"

And the Princess he protects from the Dragon...

Coolest thing EVER - the Elephant show at ALS...

On Tuesday, we got up early, packed a picnic lunch and headed out for your second trip to the African Lion Sa-Party (as Riley calls it.) I have to say, I was a little trepidatious as we had only just been there a few months ago and was worried we would be a bit bored seeing it again. WRONG.  I think I/we had more fun this time because we got to do all the things we didn't do last time....



I can't say enough good things about the Elephant Show they put on, it made me squeal with laughter, it made me marvel at the gentle nature of these creatures and it made my soul sing to watch the the kid's faces light up in excitement. I loved it - may have been one of the coolest things I have ever seen...and I recommend it to anyone who loves animals. In the picture to the right, you will notice that she is laying ON her trainer, totally NOT hurting him even though due to the placement of their eyes, they are unable to see where they place  their feet and have to rely on touch
to know she is not about to step on him.

Such gentle, smart, amazing animals

They were painting, kicking soccer balls and scoring on net, dunking basketballs, pulling and pushing large logs to show their strength and laying down for ear rubs.It is amazing to me how these incredibly large, strong animals allow their trainers to crawl all over them.  Then the coolest thing of all for our little family was the opportunity to ride "Maggie" after the show. SO cool and I was definitely on Cloud 9 that day.

How cool is that?????

That night turned out to be a really tough night for me with respect to chemo side effects. The finger and toe neuropathy continues to plague  me with very little respite from it. It's gotten to the point that most days Tim has to help me with buttons, hair ties and pill bottles. I was having constant nose bleeds, and after brushing my teeth that night some significant oral bleeding, but I wasn't sure if it was from my gums, my throat or what. It seemed like a LOT to be from just my gums and it freaked me out quite a bit. Thank Goodness for Tim and his positivity, because I became an absolute weepy mess that night.  He decided that the day was too much for me and that if I wasn't feeling well, we would change our plans the next day for the zoo and do something a little less ambitious. But luckily after a good night's sleep I was feeling much better and we decided to go ahead as planned. SO...
The very next day (and likely too soon after the A-L-Sa-Party) we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed into Toronto to go to the zoo. We were all tired and a bit cranky from the very long day the day before and it was quite obvious throughout the morning. The second we walked in the gates, we rented a stroller and bought hats for me and the kids - best decision of the day.

The front gates at the zoo

Just beyond the entrance of the zoo is a beautiful animal carousel, the kids LOVED it. (Me too)

Tim and Riles on the carousel...

And the girls..Avers loved it - she was fist-pumping most of the ride.

HUGE HIBISCUS

To be honest, the morning at the zoo was a bit of a bust. It was hot and most of the animals were in hiding and hard, if not completely impossible to see. The biggest disappointment for Tim was the wolf enclousure - didn't see a hair. Oh well...we had a bit of a TSN Turning point when we started seeing all of our favorite animals....

Riley's favorite animal

My favorite - along with the orangutans...

Avery's favorite

Tim's favorite...along with a beaver display where we could see right into his lodge...(I know there's a joke there somewhere, but I digress.)

And our best experiences of the day happened very near the end - first, when we visited a cage full of little grey and black monkeys.  Now this story needs to be prefaced by the fact that Riley is a bit of a Bam-Bam...why walk when you can run? Why go around something if you can climb over it? Why stay close to us and not run away to investigate on your own? BECAUSE as parents, it freaks you out JUST a bit when you turn your head for one second and all of a sudden your child is no-where to be seen, that's why. The kid has no fear! And to be honest, by that time we had lost track of him twice and were on high alert about his penchant for wandering. They other thing you need to recognize to get this story is that Riley has come of a certain age where he has a certain fascination with a certain special appendage, if you know what I mean.(I can't tell you how many times he has come into the TV room from the play room and the first words out of Tim's mouth are, "Riley, where are you pants???" 

Fast forward to monkey cage - and the little guys are climbing and jumping and running all over the place - monkey pandemonium. SO as soon as Tim sees them he automatically says they remind him of Riley and that we should call them Riley monkeys. And as if on cue, the monkey nearest the glass, RIGHT in front of me, Tim and Avers decides to reach down and start playing with his "special appendage."  And Avers says "Look, he's playing with his weiner, just like Riley!" Well, needless to say we were absolutely howling. And it got even better when I looked up to the cage sign and realized they are called Macaque Monkeys. And that pushed Tim over the edge, we started laughing and couldn't stop until I literally had tears streaming down my face and Avers started asking why we were laughing. Oh Riley - you are always a source of entertainment...

Then we got the opportunity to visit the Stingray/Shark exhibit and feed and pet the stingrays. Very, very cool - although Riley wanted NOTHING to do with that whole scene. Luckily on the way out the kids requested a pony ride at a time when there was NO line-up. I got to lead "Dollar" and Riley around the ring and Tim took "Cookie" and Avers around. Unfortunately, we were picking up the rear and Cookie left us a few "presents" to circumnavigate - no problem for an old farm girl from way back.

Old Dollar got a bit frisky with me at the end, but over all was a pretty sweet ride

Avers' pony "Cookie"

And that was the end of our Animal Adventure for the week, unless you count the characters in Ice Age 4 - Continental Drift, the movie we took them to on our last day of holidays. Super funny, as always.

On Friday afternoon, we took the kids to their mom's house and spent the rest of the weekend unwinding and cleaning up. Sunday morning we drove into Toronto and met up with some good friends of Tim's, Jimmy and Justine Chiang and their beautiful little boys, Owen and Ryan. It was great to finally meet them as I have heard so many stories about Jimmy over the years. Then Tim drove me to the airport and I flew back to Saskatoon.

My sister Pam and niece Kiana were here waiting for me when Chantelle dropped me off from the airport. So we spent the evening together. Telly took me to my appointment at the Canser clinic on Monday morning - it was perfect timing because she had some calls to make at the hospital and it took FOREVER to get my blood_work done. Then we saw Dr. Sami who also had a Neurology resident with him to discuss the neuropathy in my hands and feet. They were both a little shocked at how bad it has gotten and offered me some medication to battle it. Problem is that these meds come with their own side effects (specifically fatigue), so I decided to hold off and hope it gets a bit better on it's own. The good news is I have finally found some flip flops that (for the most part), stay on my feet. Chantelle turned me onto them because I was walking out of my flip flops, completely unaware, and it was getting really hard on my toes to grip them and keep them on. They are called "Hot Yoga" shoes, and instead of a piece of material just between your big toes, they have it between all the toes and they are super comfortable. 

We also had a really nice lunch with Mar, then Chantelle took me home and I slept for three and a half hours. Wow. 

Chant and Mar and I had lunch on the Hudson's patio - and we loved that this pretty little dragonfly was hanging around - until he POOPED in my glass...seriously????

My Dad-dio and Dorothy came in Monday night, took me out for supper and to pick up a few groceries. I was glad to see that they are both looking so good, and it was Dorothy's first time coming to Chemo with me on Tuesday. #17 already, yikers. The good news is that my blood-work came back better than it has since I began chemo almost 8 months a go.  It made me feel good that FINALLY my hemoglobin, platelets and WBC are all withing normal ranges. YAY me! We had a nice time (as nice as one can expect while getting nuked) and Parch showed up for a surprise visit, so that made it all the better.  He and Dad exchanged fishing stories and we chatted about his kitchen renovations - so good to see him. 

Dad-dio

My Step-mom - Dorothy

Chi-Chi

The Girls

Speaking of fishing - here's a picture of Dad's new-to-him boat - he's proud as punch...and check out the name!

Today was a very full day as well. I had breakfast with Kristie and Sophie, then Shawna was in from Winnipeg for work so she picked me up for lunch. It was amazing to catch up with her, she is so sweet.  Then Mike (whom I haven't seen since JUNE) joined us for awhile and gave us some GREAT parenting advice - "When all else fails, pull out the Baileys!":

My little giggle-pin Sophie -Girl...

Shauna and Mike

Shauna and Me

Me and Mike

Tonight I walked over and visited Roli and the boys - and Lance and Mar and the kids showed up so I got to see everyone.  We got a bit of a thunder-boomer while there, so there was a rainbow on my walk home, so I decided to take a quick picture...

And now I am just waiting for Chantelle, she is popping in for a quick good-bye visit before I fly back to Cambridge and Tim tomorrow! Take care all! Hugs...

Wedding Bells and Sea Shells

I know it's been awhile since my last post, in fact I even received some text messages from some of you inquiring if everything is alright. Thanks to all for your concern, but I have just been so busy since getting back to Cambridge that I truly haven't had a spare minute to write a post. We got the kids on Friday for a whole week together of holidays and since then have been on the run.  Friday and Saturday were spent packing for our camping trip to Sand Hills Park. Saturday evening Tim's mom Barb was sweet enough to drive all the way in to Cambridge to babysit while we went to Juston and Marta's wedding reception in Waterloo.

A few pics from the day:

The Happy Couple

Pearl and Andy

The Newly-Named "Designated Driver" and Tim

It was a lovely evening, with good friends, good food, good music and lots of laughs. Turns out that although I have always loved to dance, I don't seem to have the co-ordination or balance that I once had. Sigh. A combination of wearing heels for the first time in months and having "chemo toes" made for a very interesting evening on the dance floor. It didn't stop the DJ from sending a shout-out to Pearl and I for our participation in the first few country songs though. I guess I managed to hide the fact that I felt like Bambi on ice. Self high-five.  At some point in the evening I was "volunteered" to be the "Designated-Driver-Forever" by my ever-so-thoughtful fiance. What a damn gip.

Sunday we threw the kids, dog and all the camping supplies we could fit in the truck and headed out to Sand Hills Park. We had a fantastic time - but wow was it a lot of work. We have already decided that next year we are going to rent a cabin and by-pass all the tent nonsense. (This is primarily due to the fact that Tim barely slept the first night and we got rained-out the second.) The park is amazing - close to the beach and sand hills, with a couple of kid's areas that have a jungle gym, swings and the kids' favourite - a see-saw, and it came complete an elk enclosure! Bailey was very brave when we first saw the elk, growling and taking a run at them - until a female snorted and charged her. Ha! It was pretty funny.

Riley at our campsite

Daddy making...you guessed it...BACON!

Our three little blondies

Miss Avery and her Daddy

How's that for a game face?

Good for the abs...

The view from the top of Sand Hills Beach

And the "Daddy of the Year" Award goes to.....the guy who let BOTH his kids do a face plant in the sand at the same time!

At least I only dumped ONE kid!!!

And that was our trip. Equal parts fun, exhausting and bat-shit crazy.

I FINALLY spoke to my Dad tonight, only to find out that he ended up in the hospital this weekend. He's okay now, but I feel a little guilty for not being there and not knowing until today.  I love you Dad-dio.

That's it for tonight - we HAVE to get a decent night's sleep tonight because tomorrow we are going to, as Riley calls it, the African Lion Sa-party! Pretty sure there is ice cream in my future...wahoo!

Today's the Day!

Heading back to Ontario and Tim today. Yesterday, as much as I got accomplished, it was a bit of a waste of an extra day to stay in town just for an update with my surgeon. Don't get me wrong, it was an amazing feeling to see Paul and his receptionist Jeannie and the look of shock on their faces at how good I look. In fact, when Paul walked in to his office he said, "That's it, you look too good - go home." Ha! He asked a few questions about how much weight I've gained, how I've been doing it, how much I am exercising, if I am noticing any symptoms of bowel blockages or GI bleeding. At the end I thought, seriously? For THIS I spent an extra day away from Tim, but the bright side is I got hugs from the whole staff (whom I used to call on at work). Makes  a girl feel loved and empowered to keep fighting.

I had a few moments of chemo brain yesterday that are starting to make me second-guess my cognitive abilities behind the wheel and concentration in general. First of all, I was driving my dad's car - pulled up to the vet's office to pick up some paperwork for Bailey so we can kennel her in Ontario in a few weeks - stopped the car, threw it in park, or what I assumed was in Park in my Dad's Grand Marquis and bent down to pick up something off the floor. Next thing you know my Dad's yelling, "We're in reverse, we're moving!"  Ha! Crisis averted - but I don't think my dad has been that nervous with me behind the wheel of his car since I was 15 years old.  We went into the clinic and my vet walked out of his office just as we got there, and he asked how I was doing just as he noticed my infusion pump dangling from my hip. So I explained the situation, and that Bailey is already in Ontario and I just needed some of her paperwork - and then he grabbed me in a bear hug and wished me the best. Not sure if it was general concern for my well-being or if he is just gong to miss the $2500 I drop in his clinic on average every year for Bailey's up-keep! Ha! 

THEN, although I KNEW my appointment with the surgeon was at 12:45pm, I showed up at 11:45am.  And was completely shocked at the disconnect between my understanding of time and my cognitive ability show up at the right time. And we had JUST gotten ROCK STAR parking outside the clinic (I was able to redeem myself for the flub at the vet clinic by doing a perfect parallel park in my Dad's car ((read - boat on wheels)) - which he hasn't seen me do since I did my road test almost 25 years ago). So we walked across the street to City Hospital to grab a lunch and I stopped at the gift shop, picked up a deck of cards and a Cribb board, and schooled my dad for the rest of the lunch hour. Thank Goodness I was getting decent cards because the way my brain was functioning yesterday, he had to recount every hand I had to make sure I wasn't short-changing myself. 

Then, on my way back into the clinic to see Paul, AT THE CORRECT TIME, I ran into one of my old physician customers, and the second she saw the bandage on my arm and the infusion pump on my hip, she came over to me and said, "Oh no Barb..."  She herself is a two-time canser survivor and was very good at talking about hope being so important, that if she could do it twice and survive, minus a few body parts, so can I. It again, was nice to hear from an unrelated medical source to ignore the stats and just focus on me as an individual.  And then I got hug #5 for the day. I guess it pays to walk around looking like a canser patient once in awhile.

After that, we went home and I helped dad pack up and sent him on his way. Then Kristie, Sophie and Marlys came over for a couple hours with Iced Caps in hand, and we had a hoot. Sophie hadn't had a nap so she was pretty wired. We played hide and seek, football and she loves to run from one end of my sectional couch where Kristie is to the other end where I am and flop down on top of us for a tickle, a giggle and hug and a kiss. Too cute. I miss that kid a lot and don't get to see her nearly enough lately.  And she LOVED Marlys, flirted with her and the whole bit.

Well, it is now 6 am, should start getting ready as I am expecting Chantelley (whom I haven't seen much this trip because she had to work in Regina the past few days) - but she always tries to pick me up and drop me off at the airport if nothing else. Today we will stop at the canser clinic to get the pump removed, hopefully grab a few scripts I have waiting at the pharmacy if there is enough time, because it doesn't open until 9am and I have to be at the airport at 9:15.  Ugh, nothing like a nice relaxing morning.

One other thing, I have been reading the 50 Shades trilogy on my flights and if anyone is curious about my opinion, the second book is MUCH more interesting and has a much better story line. SO if you were like me and relatively uninterested to read the second, my advice is to give her another chance.  

That's it for now - keep your eyes peeled for the next update from Juston and Marta's wedding on the weekend!
HUGS to all, OVER and OUT.

16 Candles

Team James,
Dad-dio came into town on Monday night, with fresh Pickerel he caught up north, and fresh potatoes and raspberries from the garden. So we had a lovely fish fry and then went to buy a few groceries, after which I convinced him to go to Dairy Queen with me.  He's ALMOST as tough as Tim to convince a DQ run is in order. 
Yesterday was Chemo #16 for me and not a bad day overall. I had to have bloodwork and chemo on the same day, and so did everyone else who typically have chemo on Monday or Tuesday - so it was a damn gong show in there. It took me almost an hour to get the bloodwork done, then Dad and I went to the hospital cafeteria for breakfast, and then spent the next three and a half hours watching the Olympics on my little TV in my chemo suite. Afterwards we ran a few errands, came home for lunch and took afternoon naps.
Tim and I recently got some very good news from the canser clinic at the Cambridge Hospital.  They have agreed to infuse me every other treatment and directly bill Sask Health, so starting the first week of September I will only HAVE to fly home once a month for chemo instead of twice a month. This will be so much easier on me physically and financially, and therefore mentally.  Plus, I am getting awfully tired of that drive to Pearson airport. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally get some good news, that will make our lives easier as opposed to more complicated. 
Today I am looking forward to a few more errands with Dad, an update with my surgeon, and then Mar and Kris and Soph are planning to pop in this afternoon for java.  I haven't seen little Sophie in weeks and have been missing her like CRAZY.
Speaking of which, I am also missing my little family in Cambridge - it is driving me to distraction. The good news is that we get the kids starting in Friday for a whole week - which means camping, the Toronto zoo, and the African Lion Safari. Should be a fun week (exhausting, but fun). 
That's it for now - thanks to Jackie and Mary for your kind emails and Heather for the commiseration on the blog. You ladies rock! And Nistor for the laughter that resulted from the baby poop story and the Baby Otto stories. Made my night!

Common Sense: Not So Common

Everyone,
After (yet another) delayed Air Canada flight I am once again in the Land of Living Skies, preparing myself for another round of nukes. The fingers and toes-ies are still driving me crazy, I've lost all sense of co-ordination (I realize there are those of you out there who might argue that I never really had any to begin with) and the throat tends to get pretty sore at night - but other than that, I am doing well.

One small lesson in common sense that I would like to impart to those of you who have never had canser - the very last thing that those of us who DO have it or HAVE had it ever want to hear, especially from a stranger on an airplane, is the number of people you know who have died early as a result of IT. Seriously?  I tend to explain to whoever happens to be sitting beside me on my flights that I am wearing a surgical mask because my immune system is suppressed due to some medical treatments that I am having, and that I am neither infectious nor crazy.  As a result today, the "gentleman" (and I use the term loosely) sitting next to me asked what type of treatments, so I told him. Aaaaaaand then he proceeded to tell me about his 37 year old friend who just passed recently from canser and that his mom has throat canser and the chemo is no longer working so they are basically waiting for her to die. 

Why on God's green earth would one EVER think that is something I would want to hear? In my opinion, the single hardest thing that "we" have to deal with on a daily basis is an ever-present awareness of the uncertainty of our futures - and the last thing we need is to be reminded of it by perfect strangers.  So please, if you are ever presented with this scenario, do everyone a favour and keep your dooms-day stories to yourself.  

*Note to self: stop being so polite to fellow passengers and start coughing on them as soon as they begin to make small talk. 

On a lighter note, thanks to Tim's mom Barb for a cooler FULL of fantastic baking. Madam, you make a mean chocolate-banana muffin. 

Candle Lake Re-Visited

I just arrived home from Candle Lake. It was a fantastic couple of days - lots of laughs, lots of good food, lots of golf and lots of memories made.  Thanks to Shardelle for including us in on her "Stay and Play" holiday - we had an incredible time.



Me, Kris, Chantelle and Shardelle

Candle was "my lake" while growing up, but I hadn't been there in years. It has changed a lot since back then, but it is still one of the best vacations spots in Saskatchewan in my estimation. We couldn't have asked for better weather, with the exception of the first night at the cabin.  Turns out old Barbie-Cakes is a pretty solid sleeper. According to the girls, while I slept peacefully, they ALL got up to batten down the hatches in the middle of the night. Kristie was pretty sure there was a tornado en route to flatten us and all our neighbours and I didn't hear a thing. Too bad, I enjoy a good thunder-boomer now and then.

We stayed at the Candle Lake Golf Resort - in this little cabin:

The amenities were awesome - turns out the accomadations even came complete with our own little "pet".  The first morning we were there, Chantelle called us up to the bedroom because she spotted a little fox in the backyard. Cute, right? Sure, in the daytime. Not so much when he decided to make multiple trips to hang with the girls in cabin #6.  In the dark. With a full moon. Fast forward to Tuesday night. We were all sitting around the fire pit, playing a very competitive game of "Name that Tune" on Chantelle's iPod, while intermittently breaking out in (not so harmonious) song to the likes of Chris Isaak, Blue Rodeo and Bon Jovi (talk about Girls Gone Wild!). Very focused on the game, our attention very abruptly changed gears when something caught Telly's attention in her peripheral vision. Although you can't see it in the picture, there is a big sandbox about 12  paces to the left of the cabin, and in it she saw the eyes of some woodland creature. At first we thought it was a skunk, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be our little furry friend the fox, taking care of some business in the sandbox.  All was fine until he finished and started doing laps around the sandbox, scooting around like crazy getting ever closer to our little circle.  Convinced that he was rabid, we all ran onto the deck until he went on his way. Laughing, we thought that was the end of it when he quietly disappeared.  Wrong.  Again,right in the midst of a (terrible) rendition of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", all of a sudden Shardelle freezes like she's seen a ghost, and without a word of warning to anyone, starts sprinting to the cabin. In an effort to not upset us (and possibly prevent Kristie from going into pre-term labour), she decided not to scream and just make a run for it when the fox once again entered our campsite. Directly to Kristie's left. Seriously, he could have been in her lap before Shar thought to warn us. Of course, when we too recognized that we weren't alone, we all screamed like little girls and again, ran for the safety of the cabin. At this point, you'd think we would just give up and go in? No, no, no.  We weren't going to let some slinky little fox ruin our fun, besides, we spent $15 on two bundles of wood and we wanted to burn it. UNTIL, the third time when out of no where he bolted out from under the van and made a bee-line for the space under our deck.  At that point, he had us all held at bay in the parking lot - let me repeat this, four grown women stranded 30 feet from our cabin because everyone thought he was going to jump up the stairs,bit one of us and give us rabies (he did look a little on the mangy side).  However, if there is one positive thing I can say about having canser, it's that after the initial shock, I don't stay afraid of anything for long and started walking up to the cabin. Where I immediately got yelled at by Chantelle, asking me what I was doing and telling me to get back to the group until she could get the flashlight app on her iPhone to look under the deck.Needless to say, that was the end of our fire pit, but not the end of our night. I have to say, sitting around the kitchen table, gabbing with the girls, I laughed harder than I have in years. Those ladies are very good for my soul.


The Candle Lake Golf Resort is absolutely beautiful and they treated us very, very well. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys golf and losing the occasional ball.

Waterfall View from First Tee

 

 

 

Nothing beats a forested course...LOVE it!

Day 1

After 18 on Day 2

One would think we would have just asked the waitress to take ONE of ALL of us...

 

 

What a great way to spend three days. Thanks for the laughs Ladies, I couldn't have asked for a better trip!