And... we're off!

Well, almost off - we leave tomorrow morning very early, Lord willing.  We is my parents, my daughter, Rose, and I.  We're going on a holiday cruise; we fly to Calgary tomorrow where Rose meets up with us.  Then we fly to Tokyo.  We start the cruise on the 15th (we miss the 14th entirely because of the international date line) from Kobe.  The cruise ends in Vancouver on May 1.

So my parents arrived yesterday from Saskatoon.  The weather was horrible (it's been more horrible than not lately), and they ended up taking the bus from Saskatoon to get here, because it was "travel not recommended" for the highway.  It's been "travel not recommended" far too often this winter.  Bram left to write his second final exam this morning, travelling a highway that was "travel not recommended" for the umpteenth time.

Mom and I have been busy getting things done and ready to go.  Last night I took her to pick up a very nice pair of velour pants and matching sweatshirt for her to wear when we do our circuits of the ship in the mornings for our morning exercise.  Dad needs to get himself a fleece jacket because he forgot his at home and his parka is really too heavy to take with him.  This morning I did my taxes.  Mom brought the software, and I had everything ready to go and it only took me an hour.  I get money back, and I'm happy.

I've got my suitcase packed, got supper started for tonight, and the freezer is full of meals for when I'm gone for my household. My to-do list is completed (I think). (I just remembered - I need to buy a sump pump for my rental property and put it in the sump hole.  Then my to-do list will be done.)  Bram's got the whole carpool thing arranged (he's tutoring one of his classmates every night in exchange for a ride to and from school), and he only has one more week of exams until he's done anyway.  Then he'll start work, but he has two weeks off first and he's planning to fly to Yellowknife for his time off.

So, it's time to take a deep breath and relax.  Let the holidays begin!

Monday - get it done today!

I've done myself up a to do list (in my head for today) and am slowly working through the list.  I need to apply for some jobs as the close in the next week or so.  I also need to collect rent (because it's the first of the month), get some travel insurance (have to get that this week; not necessarily today), finish cleaning up after the big get together yesterday, etc.  I've done one on-line application and cover letter - two more to go.  If I update my list for to do this week; I also want to finish sewing the clothing I want to take with me on the cruise and the seat covers for the dining room chairs and get the bills paid (collect rent first).

So it's been three Sundays in a row that I've had a crowd over.  The excuse this week is that was Easter. We had 21 people (mom counted); including my parents.  My parents brought the ham, Aunt Alice made buns, Margaret made bannock (even though she didn't end up coming), I made Easter Bread earlier this week; Ruth and I had made three different salads yesterday, etc.  There was lots of food and it was all good.    I think this is the first time we had three different types of bread - and both Dad and Ruth are doing gluten-free so they couldn't eat any of it (although Dad had brought some of his own anyway).

The other major thing I did over the weekend was do the on-line check-in for the cruise I'm taking in two weeks.  It took about 1.5 hours to finish the whole thing.

Ruth and I tried a new salad this week, it had sweet potatoes and green beans in it (and cherry tomatoes).  It was good but the dressing for it was kind of bland and boring and I think we need to tweak it a little before I'm happy with it.

Bram had both Friday and today off; is sitting doing homework. He's got a take-home math exam that he's probably spent five or six hours on already and he's only half done.  (I don't miss that part of homework at all.)  He's back to school tomorrow.

A Quick Update

Well, Bram finally got his criminal record's check completed and his driver's license transferred to Saskatchewan.  It was a big deal to get it done.  He had to have the licence so that he could get the criminal record's check.  He couldn't get the license without his birth certificate.  It finally arrived express post from Yellowknife.  They sent it Thursday; it arrived Wednesday afternoon.  (Not very express, if I do say so.)  Wednesday evening Walter took Bram to the insurance office to get his license transferred.  However while they were in the process of doing it, the power went off.  Nothing gets saved if the computer goes down; and even though he waited until closing time, the power didn't come back on.

So, yesterday I picked Bram up from school in Moose Jaw shortly after 12:00 (he left his class early; his lunch break doesn't start until 12:30) - he knew he'd have to miss his afternoon classes and lab.  We got to the insurance office by 1:30, but the person there wouldn't accept all of his ID (health card, NWT driver's license, birth certificate, tax form) without an additional proof of Saskatchewan residency showing his address; and although he had a letter from SIAST showing that he was accepted as a student there; that wasn't on their list of acceptable ID.  So we had to drive to the bank so that they could print out a bank statement that gave his address, had a teller's stamp and signature on it; and then go back to the insurance office.  (What a pain!)  Once Bram had his temporary licence in hand, we went to the police station to get the criminal record's check.

I actually dropped Bram off there because I had a planning meeting about The Party.  We've lost a lot of the adult helpers lately and you simply cannot run a program for around 40 kids with five or fewer adults.  It doesn't work!  So we brainstormed how to get more helpers and what things could be done differently.

Meanwhile Bram got his criminal record's check and dropped it off and took the bus home.  Unfortunately, not having taken the bus before, he took the bus with the right number but going the wrong direction and it took him two hours to get home. All in all, it's been a bit of an ordeal.

Whew!

It's been a busy few days.  Saturday Ruth and I did our regular Saturday cooking and meal planning for the week.  We made three salads, one new one (Ham and Chickpea), plus Lentil Black Bean and Fake-um Potato Salad.  We also made a spinach meat loaf (it was supposed to be a meat roll, but we made it ground chicken instead of ground beef so it was too soft to roll and I ended up making it in a square cake pan.  What else?  Oh yeah, David was wanting some precooked hamburger patties, but we couldn't find any in the store so we put some in the oven and baked them while we were making other things.  Oh yeah, we also made a Mexican Chicken Lasagna.  (It was interesting, ok, but not great).

I had warned Ruth Saturday that we weren't having a crowd over Sunday.  I'm trying to keep it down to once a month, because it's expensive (and I'm currently unemployed), and we'd already had a crowd over earlier this month.  However, Saturday evening, Joyce phoned to ask if she and Robin (and Gideon) could come for Sunday dinner, and then if I could babysit Gideon while they went to Rider Pep Band practice.  Well, sure, of course - so then we invited a crowd over for lunch.  I think we probably had around 20 people, but I'm really not sure.  I have 17 plates and they were all used, plus some paper plates; but some plates were used as serving dishes. We had baked fish with lemon, left-over Mexican Chicken Lasagna, a vegetable frittata (Ruth and I had been wanting to try this and it turned out really very nice - easy too), plus Lisa brought tortillas and made quesadillas.  There was lots of food, and lots of visiting and we all had a good time.

Sunday evening I was feeling a little bored, so I decided to make Easter Bread (Paska).  I mixed up my yeast and then discovered I was really low on flour, so had to run out to the store to buy some; plus some more eggs because we had used them all up making the frittata.  Nicole was happy to help me bake (she really likes cooking).  I ended up making four of the traditional loaves (baked in cans so they're tall cylinders), and 20 buns.  They tasted really good, but I thought they'd be better with some lemon curd on them (traditionally they're iced, but I find that way too sweet), so then I made some lemon curd.  Very good.

Monday I went over to visit with Aunt Alice, and to deliver her some Easter Bread.  Then I went to visit the Steiners.  They're so busy, trying to get their house in shape before they leave, that I ended up inviting them for lunch, and to look after their girls in the afternoon. (Some things are just easier without preschoolers helping). I made a big batch of chicken vegetable soup and we had it with sandwiches and homemade dumplings. While Scarlett slept, Hadasssa and Ahzriel and I made mini muffins (a double batch of cranberry orange muffins and a single batch of gingerbread muffins).  I was wanting to have muffins for The Party last night.

Then I made Pizza Soup for supper (soup twice in the same day isn't generally what I plan to do, but that's the way it worked out last night) and then the usual dash out the door to The Party.  Bram stayed home.  He's had a really bad cold the past several days and also had a big assignment due Tuesday that he needed to work on.

We had around 40 kids for The Party, but were really short on helpers. (Bram was sick, Debbie is home recovering from surgery, Loopie's in New Guinea, etc.) (Did we notice?  YES WE DID!!!)  It was pretty wild and crazy last night.  When I finally got home, I went to bed early.  Bram was a little disappointed; he wanted me to proof read his assignment, but I was already asleep when he woke me up to ask me.  I proofed it this morning.

Who is he, really?

Bram needs to have a criminal record's check for his summer coop placement.  They gave him a one-day extension, but he's supposed to have it in to them by Friday at the latest.  In order to have a criminal record's check, he has to produce two pieces of government-issued ID, one of which shows a Saskatchewan address.  Here-in lies a problem.  For ID he has:

• A Saskatchewan Health Card (is government issued, shows signature, doesn't show address)
• A NWT driver's licence (won't work for anything because he's lived here longer than one year)
• a NWT birth certificate (unfortunately it's in Yellowknife and they'll have to courier it down here)
• A passport (if he could find it, it would solve all of his problems - can't find it here or in YK)
• A SIAST student card (which is government-issued ID but they won't accept it; it's not on their list of acceptable ID).

He can get a Saskatchewan ID card, but it takes two weeks (too long); and only if he has a birth certificate (coming down by courier) and two other pieces of ID (the health card will count as one - he can use a T4 for the other, I hope).  However there's still the two-week waiting period problem.

We'll try again tomorrow.  This might be a little frustrating.

Spring?

Today is theoretically the first day of spring.  So we're having a blizzard.  I keep a close eye on what's happening with the weather and the highways because Bram commutes to and from Moose Jaw every day to go to school.  It's only about 65-70 km on an excellent divided highway and should only take about 45-50 minutes, at least in good weather.  At worst it can take up to two hours (and no one should be on the highway if the conditions are that bad).

I wake up to my clock radio in the morning and don't get out of bed until I hear what the weather and the road conditions are.  Too often this winter it's been "travel not recommended" on the No. 1 highway.

The good news is that Bram car pools with several of his instructors, and they are very careful drivers.  Because he (usually) carries his cell phone with me, he can keep me posted about road conditions and where he is and how long he'll take to get home.

Here's a map of a large portion of the province showing what road conditions are right now.  Red means that the highway is closed, white means travel not recommended, yellow means winter conditions exist and black means good driving conditions.

OK, I'll add a link to some photos put up by Sask Dept of Highways - here

Treaty Drive

My friend Sheena writes a blog called Treaty Walks, where she talks about treaties and social justice.  Back in late January, she set out a challenge, to walk somewhere in our community and write about what they have learned.  See her original post here.  I've been thinking about this ever since I read that posting, and here's my response.

Sheena, this is a treaty drive (because it's close to -30 out and I'm a wimp, sorry).  Every day I drive this route to pick up my son from his car pool to Moose Jaw where he goes to school.  I drive down Lewvan to Dewdney, turn right and drive out of town until I get to the corner of Pinky Road and Dewdney Avenue.  There's a little gas station there where I sit and wait for Bram to be dropped off.  When he gets there, I turn around and drive back.  The entire trip is less than 10 km, and I do it every school day.  No big deal.

However, when we're thinking about treaty relationships and history, it changes my perspective entirely.  First of all, I drive past the RCMP training depot.  It has been here over 100 years.  When the Royal Northwest Mounted Police were first established, this was headquarters.  It was also here that Louis Riel was held for his trial and after the trial until his hanging.  I imagine that when it was first set up here, it was well out of town; it's still on the edge of town.  However there's been a long history between the RCMP and treaties.  They were there for the signing of all the treaties.  The RCMP were originally set up because of troubles between the first nations, settlers and whisky traders.  It's interesting to think that I drive past such a historical site every day.

Then I drive past what looks like an empty field.  Right now, the snow drifts are so high that I can't actually see the field, but it's essentially just a barren field.  However, at one time this was the location of an Indian Industrial School (a residential school), and there is still a grave yard there (unmarked - you can't see any of it).  The news story talking about it is here.  Again, a truly historical spot that I knew nothing about until I read the news story.

Finally, the gas station where I sit and wait for Bram to arrive, is a native-run business, on treaty land.  It's like an urban reserve, only it's not very urban; situated in the middle of a field, at an intersection, with nothing else near it.  The people who work there are very friendly.  It's also a full-service station (which is a real bonus when it's -30 out).  However, this is a also sign of a hopeful future.  People drive out from Regina all the time to purchase their gas here, or to be honest, to purchase their smokes there, as they're not paying taxes.  It's a sign of growth, of employment, of what we want to see as a result of treaties.