It's Still Not Over Until It's Over

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This time last year I quoted that famous philosopher Yogi Berra by saying “It’s not over until it’s over”. Another slightly politically incorrect sports quotation is “It’s not over until the fat lady sings”. This was probably referring to opera in its original usage. But, in this case, this fine singer can rest her vocal cords because she is not needed yet. It ain’t over, folks. Dianne completes her year here in Kamloops knowing she did a fine job. Many people, staff, parents and students were disappointed to find out she was a one year wonder. However, the contract was for one year. The idea was to give them time to find a suitable long-term vice principal. Well, they found one, so it is time to start thinking about packing our bags and moving on.

But it is never that easy. They haven’t been able to find a candidate for principal of the elementary school in Vernon. So, guess who is going to do the job?

I tell people we are not moving because Dianne can’t hold a job. I told one of the staff members I liked to move every year to get a new audience for my (very) old jokes. She replied it was more likely we move because Dianne was so embarrassed that I keep telling them!

So the adventure continues…. Mid-August will see us setting up housekeeping in Vernon.

But there have been lots of fun times here in Kamloops.

Catholic Schools Week

Every year in February, the school celebrates Catholic Schools Week. There are all kinds of activities including pancake breakfasts, tacky tourist day, pajama day and fun activities of all kinds. They have pancake breakfasts on three consecutive days. My job was to mix the batter… and do the dishes. After three days I was glad to see the end of the breakfasts. Dianne spent lots of time taking pictures and encouraging the students. I have included some pictures of the VP in action.

Jigsaw puzzles

Last year we got involved in a new pastime: jigsaw puzzles. Our dining room table (one of the folding tables we borrowed from the school) was big enough that we could build a large puzzle and still have room to eat. We only had to move the puzzle if we had company. We haunted thrift stores looking for bargains. The Salvation Army store in WL provided many hours of cheap entertainment. We started taking pictures of each puzzle to have a record of our adventures. This year we started taking pictures every night to show our daily progress. It is interesting to flip through the developing puzzle to see what gets done first and what was left until the end. Could life be more exciting?

We found we have a distinct preference in the puzzles we do. Generally, we don’t do puzzles created from photographs. We like those based on paintings. Puzzles showing Pauline Paquin’s paintings are particular favourites. So much so that Dianne bought me one for my birthday at the same time I was buying one for her birthday, not knowing about her gift for me. Both were great.

Another favourite are WASGIJ? puzzles. Don’t worry, I had to Google that too. It’s jigsaw backwards! The first one we did was a caricature of an office in the early 1900s. At least the picture on the box showed that. The actual puzzle was the same office in the early 2000s with everything updated appropriately. It can be quite interesting doing a puzzle when you don’t have the picture.

In my trolling of the thrift stores I have found 6 other WASGIJs. Our stockpile of puzzles to be made in now over 15! We are all set for long winters on Pender… if we ever get there.

New sewing machine

The sewing matching Dianne bought in 1968 for $360. (10%!o(MISSING)ff for taking the floor model) finally packed it in. The repair people said it would likely cost almost as much to fix as to buy a new one, if they can find parts for a machine that old. We had looked at machines that were listed at over $3,000 but luckily found one that will do everything Dianne wants to do (and a few things she hasn’t thought of yet) for just over $500, on sale. Pretty good deal. She immediately hemmed a couple of pairs of my pants that desperately needed attention and started to make plans for other sewing projects. As soon as she retires…. yadda yadda yadda….

School activities

The school put on a Murder Mystery Dinner and Dance last month. While it wasn’t cheap, it wasn’t a fund raiser either; just a community builder. Lots of fun.

One of Dianne’s projects was to clean out three massive closets that were full of text books, novels and other “stuff”. We hauled the "stuff" out and set up tables of materials so the teachers could easily review things to see what was worth keeping. I got to make four runs to the recycling plant with the old junk.

I was very happy to see the large yellow cone (see pictures) when we got to the school one day. Several years ago I had gone to a Tim Hortons restaurant to pick up a coffee while driving between Chemainus and Victoria. There were two cashiers open and I studied the lineups to see which one would be faster. Having made a choice, I proceeded to the till and fell over one of the small yellow signs that tell you to watch out for wet floors. I said to the clerk that they needed signs saying watch out for yellow signs. She was not amused.

Stunt of the Week

Where would we be without some dumb stunt performed by Peter. Well, this time it wasn’t my fault. Dianne and I returned to her office one Saturday to take care of some business best done in grubby clothes on a weekend. “Oh, no!” gasped Dianne. Apparently the custodians had been a little too enthusiastic about recycling the cardboard in her office. One of the thin cardboard boxes contained some important material for the music teacher.

The good news was that the recycling truck came before the stuff was thrown in the bin; the bad news was that the box she wanted was at the bottom of the almost empty bin. Believe it or not, climbing into a bin is not that hard because of the attachments on the side for the truck forks. I have considerable experience in this matter. However, getting out isn't as easy as there is nothing to stand on. I was successful in extracting myself without injury. This was not the dumb part. We didn't think to bring our camera. The dumb part was the next weekend we returned to the dumpster so I could climb back in and have Dianne take pictures of me getting out!

Small world stories

I am always on the look out for a new series of mystery books. I discovered one where the protagonist is a forensic accountant (that HAS to be a page turner!) and is of Chinese/Canadian background. The titles include names such as Wuhan and Macau, two of the cities we visited in China. So, with great anticipation, I started into the first novel in the series which includes Wan Chai (one of the districts of Hong Kong) in its title. I couldn't believe it when, on page 28, she (did I mention the protagonist was a woman?) talks about trekking around seafood plants in dusty, dirty Dalian in northeast China, on the Yellow Sea near the Korean border. Hey, I have lived there! It's not that dusty and dirty. With all the cities in China to write about, the author picks the one we lived in. Small world, indeed.

We just saw the last play of the season at the Western Canada Theatre. Why is this in the Small World section? The one man play was called "Never Shoot a Stampede Queen" and it takes place in (drum roll)... Williams Lake! One of the opening lines is "Where the hell is Williams Lake, anyway?" This wasn't the only line we could relate to. The play was hilarious and involved cameras, not guns. A great end to a great season. We hear Vernon has a great theatre too. We hope it is a good as WCT in Kamloops.

Spring break

Spring break was its usual madness although we only stopped in 6 places on our 14 nights way. Great to see the grandchildren, the children and as many friends as we could. When heading south, we just made it over the Coquihalla before it was closed again by a big storm. We came back through the Hell's gate Canyon; slower but more interesting in our view.

What's Next?

Vernon, here we come...

To be Continued…

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Photos

The Elementary VP
It was Tacky Tourist Day; this is not Dianne's normal attire even though she had lots of experience being a tourist in China.

Uniform Day
Pajama Day was another big hit with the kids. Even many of the high school students wore pajamas.

Framed
This shot was taken at the Murder Mystery Dinner. If these gals were accused I would say they were framed.

Yellow Cone
I think this cone was designed with people like me in mind. hard to miss.

Sew what?
Dianne's new pride and joy. Now if she could only find some time to use it!

The Prize
The contents of this "box" was what Dianne was so interested in retrieving.

The Escape
There was nothing to stand on in the bin. This was not easy. I am getting too old for this kind of high jinks.