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Dishes, and laundry as well as the lawn, and airing out my daughter’s taekwondo sparring gear, because lets face it, it was getting pretty ripe sealed up fresh in her bag in between uses. I have, what i believe to be anyway, finalized the funeral pamphlet we’ve created for great Grandma. We went through and edited the questions on the crossword puzzle to make it easier to understand. I enlarged the numbers to make the spots easier to find, and we added several new photos to the back to highlight grandma a bit better. She wasn’t always a senior citizen, she had a life before the fall, such as it were.

I was even able to run a few errands this morning before walking the dog, and running into an errant coyote eating a gopher down on the farm. See image attached. I had to pull over when driving, so he’d gotten out of quality photo range unfortunately.

Hard to see it from here but the coyote was about the same size as my German Shephard Lab mix. Had a bit fat rodent hanging from his mouth. My dog was oblivious of course. That was until we got out of the car, he caught a whiff, and fled back to the car without a second thought.

Now that last weekend’s traveling has gotten out of our system, and we are somewhat aligned with the usual schedule, I can get back to doing my normal activities around the house, and yard. I tackled the lawns and such shortly after my return Tuesday morning. Even went so far as to vacuum and clean the floors. I should schedule some time to wash all of the blinds, and light fixtures again, because they are just caked in dust. Yuck. Which reminds me, I probably need to swap out the furnace filters, and vacuum out the air vents at some point soon. I’d like to try to vacuum out the dryer vent too, as that usually has a good bit of fluff stuck in it.

Now that our Lilacs are spent I can cut some of the low lying branches back. No blooms to save now. Weather should be decent over the next week so I can air out the house when I work outside. Lots to do around here now that summer is on its way. Clean, clean, clean.

I can begin the school work purge soon too. Best to do that closer to recycling day as the kids get sad when they see old assignments going out to the curb. Can’t keep everything! I’m not a hoarder.

The great thing about June (we are so close after all) at my kid’s school is that for the last four weeks of term they have as many Spirit days, and activity days as they can legally cram into the month. Costumes and get-ups, theme days, outdoor play days, splash pad visits, and movie nights. It’s the best time to be in elementary school if you ask me. We’ll, all except the sweltering heat found in a three floor school from 1918 with windows that don’t open all that much, nor does the school have AC. The kids come out at the end of day soaked to the skin in sweat. Cherry red cheeks, sweat soaked clothes, and wet hair plastered to their very hot heads. I feel bad for them about that. My oldest is on the ground floor which is partially sunken into the ground, but my youngest is trapped up on the third floor where it gets so hot, and sticky, and smelly from all that lingering sweat from unwashed pre-teen bodies from the classrooms surrounding hers. Ugh. Gross.

But the first of many theme days is upon us. I did not see that many participants on our way in this morning. I do believe that the rain, and grey gloom might have curtailed some people’s desire to dress in beach wear today. A bit chilly for a sun dress, or board shorts, and Hawaiian shirts. Although this time next week temperatures will soar up into the thirties, so maybe enjoy the coolness while it lasts.

Our Lilacs took the very four days we were gone to bloom, and either away for the whole year. Nice. Didn’t even really get to smell them, nor enjoy them visually. Makes sense, my wife’s birthday is just around the corner, so no wonder ours have all died off. Cool, cool, cool, cool.

So yeah, Great Grandma Pike passed away last Thursday very early in the morning. My eldest was still gearing up for the last three stage performances, and a cast party, and then our four day bender in BC with my side of the family. So we opted not to tell them until our return. I had them booked off school for Tuesday, due to our red eye flight late Monday night, so we told them then, and they cried. Then slept for four hours and woke up ok. The funeral is this Sunday afternoon. GP lived to be almost 97.5 years old. Very nearly made 100. High score! Way to go Scoop Pike!

While I realize her passing is sad, she went into a home with worsened dementia after suffering a COVID infection at the hands of her three day workers from the farm, all of them contributed by not wearing masks, going out when told not to, and bringing germs back into the home of a house bound 94 year old woman. So we mourned her loss when the flood gates on her dementia opened post infection, and she no longer recognized us, or knew where or when she was living. We’ve had several years to come to terms with her worsening mobility, and cognitive capabilities. It was, as they say, only a matter of time. She went peacefully in her sleep, or so I’m told.

She will be buried at the family plot at the Locust Hill cemetery next to her long departed husband Jack, her son Gordon (died at age 12), and her other son Frederick Pike whom passed in February of 2024 of multiple cancers. Thinking of you all. Ciao Bella!

At best it is a crap shoot (pun intended) because the changes in cabin pressure, and the stress I feel about traveling with the kids, packing, parking, flying, getting to our gates, boarding passes, documentation, eating, restroom stop planning, and so much more all does a real number on my guts. And I’m not a fan. Also, the allure of traveling quickly evaporates once you realize you aren’t flying first class, or being chauffeured around in limousines, and have no personal chef, not Nanny to carefully watch over your young grade school aged children.

Luxury travel only applies to the mega rich, or those traveling without children, or their families. Regardless of how the stress makes my body react, we had a wonderful time getting my side of the family together for the first time in nine years. Some family members were meeting for the first time, and briefly at that. Some is better than none!

I took a much needed four hour long nap yesterday, plus an extra hour somewhere in between. I was still able to get to bed around eleven pm, and wake up (mostly) with my alarms. My youngest refused to nap after our 7:11 am landed flight yesterday, and she crashed out hard at 8:00 pm. Did not want to wake up this morning. I don’t blame her. If I didn’t desperately need to pee, I would not have gotten up either!

Now we are back home, settling back into our routines, and I have work to do. I can foresee being interrupted a whole bunch throughout the day today by my innards disagreeing with me on every single choice I make. No matter, life continues on .

I feel awful but we are home safe at last. After all the interruptions, delays, and such we were only an additional seven minutes late total. Not bad at all. Felt much, much worse during the whole process. I am exhausted. So tired I feel physically ill. All this over a three hour time difference. Yikes.

Starting the day off by packing our bags and checking out of the hotel. Going for breakfast with two of my three brothers, and some members of their immediate families. Then heading from Comox to Campbell River to visit my parents, and a third brother one last time for this trip. We will walk on the beach front again, go to the marine museum, eat lunch and maybe sit down for a while. By four we will pack up and head back to Comox, gas up the rental, return the keys, and go through the airport security and await the first of two flights to get home for seven am tomorrow morning. Time change makes everything just that much more fun! Was a short enough trip that everything has been fun.

We have tried to live in West coast time but our province of origin continues to rear its head and remind us that we are actually living with three additional hours tacked on top of what we are doing, and we end up crashing hard. The afternoons are tough. The evenings are hard. I still wake up around 3 or 4 am with a brisk need to pee and the feeling I should be getting up, but I’m no slouch, I do like a lay in, and have muscled through getting more sleep. Ha.

When we take the kids to Europe in the future that is really going to do our heads in. Can’t wait!

That was how long we spent awake yesterday, from 3:00 am out time getting up and out of bed, to 1:00 am when we finally all got snuggled into our beds, washed, teeth brushed, fed, watered, and completely exhausted. It was a slog. We even had a one hour delay on the last leg of flights because our small plane required a wheel be changed. Never seen that before. But we made it, safe & sound. Even got to my parents house with 30 minutes to spare before the pizza man arrived. All good. I had a full 8.5 hours of sleep and awoke at 5:30am BC time. Ready for breakfast, and a swim in the pool before we start the day. Let us nap today, if we can. The cross country family reunion continues unfazed.

Not great at sleeping on the plane. Feel a bit worse for wear. Two hour lay over before next short leg of the trip. Found food. Luckily Tim Hortons just opened before we took off this morning. Didn’t have to rely on plane food. Will check in later.

Trying to figure out what (if anything) I have forgotten for our four day trip out west. Good thing is we’ll still be in Canada so I can run to a store to grab any item(s) I might have missed. I am not packing swim towels because I know the hotel will have some. Plus I’d like to save room, as we are traveling light, with only carry on bags with us. I believe 8 have enough socks, undies, t-shirts, pants, and sweaters for us to be comfortable.bling pants, and capris for climbing. I’d love to bring my gear; shoes, harness, chalk bags and such, but it doesn’t fit in with our “traveling light” aesthetic. Feel me? I will just rent us some shoes and such when we go. The lack of chalk might be a hindrance, but I’m sure they’ll sell that too, at an upcharge no less.

I binge watched all of Andor season two this week. It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. I feel like I could go watch Rogue One, and then a New Hope without much hesitation. It’s amazing what a good bit of media can do to ignite a rewatch of the back catalogue. Shame that the Rise of Skywalker back pedaled so hard and wasted two films in the process. I never finished the Obi Wan show, and have no interest in Acolyte. I’m hard pressed to care about season three of The Mandalorian, and I really liked its first two seasons. Didn’t mind The Book of Boba Fett either. Hit a bit of a saturation point with all that stuff. But Andor was something different. I liked that.

Here we are on Thursday all ready! Wow how the week is flying by. Tonight we go see the sixth, and final showing of my daughter’s Newsies production. It’s a musical, with dancing, sets, costumes, a live three piece band, mic’ed up actors, and a real theater. I’m excited. Seems a bit much for kids mostly in grade five, but I’ll roll with it. I thoroughly enjoyed musical theater as a kid, teen, and young adult. I did stage plays all the way into university. It’s great fun. I wasn’t very good, but I gave it everything I got! Can’t sing a lick, but I tried! Oh how I tried. I am very happy that she is enjoying herself, and exploring things artistically on her own. I am no stage dad. I live vicariously through no one!

Soon, in like another two weeks we will have my youngest daughter’s dance recital, and a full blown taekwondo tournament with both sparring at full force, and patterns. It should be a blast! Plus we have prom, three birthdays (at least) and all of the end of term shenanigans at the school. Spirit days, outdoor play days, field trips, and more sun than you could shake a stick at. My wife’s schedule will go into meltdown mode for the next four weeks, and then comes Canada Day and a sense of calm. July is pretty quiet. Friends all disappear to cottage country, vacation days, international vacations and what not. I hope to bust out my long board, roller blades, and bicycle to get some much needed exercise. Come end of June my climbing will pause for the summer, and I’ll need to swim and be active more regularly to compensate. Don’t want to get fatter over the summer. Hard enough to limit weight gain over the winter months, I don’t need to pack on the LBS during summer time too.

I’m just rambling now. We have an essence of a plan for the weekend. Lunch is ordered for tomorrow to celebrate Mother’s Day slash Father’s Day. Climbing on Saturday, and a beach dog walk, followed by group dinner on Saturday evening. A brunch on Sunday maybe, and Monday is open because we have to be out of the hotel by 11:00 am, but our flight isn’t until 7:00 pm. Lots of things to find to do to fill Monday. Fingers and toes crossed it all goes well.

My wife’s grandmother, whom is in an assisted living facility, and recently passed her 97th birthday has become unresponsive, not asleep but out cold. She has a DNR, so is currently being watched by staff at the facility but is not being treated with anything beyond fluids (as per usual, she hasn’t been able to chew solid foods in at least two years now) via IV, and potentially any pain meds they might think will keep her peaceful. Not great timing, I mean it is never a good time to die, but my eldest daughter starts her six show run today of their stage play Newsies, and then the cast party, and our trip out west for my side of the family reunion. I don’t want to lie to our kids should she pass, but I also don’t want them inconsolable and unable to finish the stage show, or our trip. She is not dead, as of right now, so it could be a moot point, so I’ll not worry about it, as much as I am able to. But of a worrier. No need taking on more as she has had dips before, and emerged no worse for wear on the other side of things. The lady can take a fair bit, she had a pet bear as a child up in the Sault you know! Grit. Hard wearing woman.

I am now charged with packing their gear, doing laundry, and double/triple checking we have enough stuff. It really is a short trip, two of the four days will be consumed by cross country travel, so it shouldn’t be too crazy. I took them to Florida myself only a few months back, so I’ve done this before. They are also no longer tiny babies, so much easier to travel with no car seats, strollers, baby bags, diapers, and wipes at this stage. Tablets and their back packs, and away we go! Fingers crossed.

I think today is Wednesday. These short holiday weeks are always a toss up on whether or not I know where I am in the week, on any given day. Had to drop off my eldest at the theater across town earlier than usual, and then get back to take my youngest to class at the school. Still walked the dog. If I recall, I get my youngest from school at regular time, then take her to tutoring, and then grab my eldest from the theater later on. By then her first three full shows will be done. Half way to the cast party at that point.

Tomorrow her day is broken up into two parts. An early morning at the theater, and then an evening final showing which I will actually get to be in attendance of. Pumped! Looking forward to it. They have been hard at work on this production since September. I think my daughter will be very happy once it is all over though. She will get her lunches, and snack recess time back to go outside, and play with friends instead of rehearsing all the time. It’s been a long, long time to stay laser focused on this project. Especially for grade schoolers, they aren’t even high school, or junior high aged kids.

I’ll have to buy her some flowers tomorrow. Anyway, happy Wednesday. Ciao Bella!