April 7, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. The Hockey Playoffs.

It is genetic.  If you are born and raised in Canada you are a hockey fan.  It is bred in the bone, apparently.  Thanks to our new fancy portable satellite TV dish, we are the proud owners of a full package of  hockey playoff games.  We, if we wish, can watch every game during the playoffs.  If we wish, we can watch the games on the east coast and the west coast.  Such luxury.  

Ken ordered the package while I was off at the track meet, and being house bound, he started fiddling with the computer, only do discover that for $70. he could sign up immediately and watch the end of the season and all the playoff games.  I returned home to find him watching three hockey games, flipping from one  to the next during the commercials.  On two evenings, we have watched more hockey than during the past twenty years.

The truth is, we don't usually ever watch a full game, so it will be interesting to see how much we watch.  But Ken is the only one who can hook up the satellite dish so perhaps he will indulge himself and watch till he drops, as it's  his game and his toy.   I know we will watch the Capitals games.  They are exciting, especially when they score many goals.  Now we are modern and we can watch every game.

April 6, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. A Track Meet.

It was everything an old physical education teacher could desire.  I spent six hours at a middle schools track meet, watching the kids as they ran and jumped.  An added bonus was that Abigail, my granddaughter, who was eleven, competed in three events.  She ran in the 4x100 meter relay, the individual 400 m. and the 4x400 relay.  And her sixth grade class won the meet for the sixth graders.  Seven schools competed with over 300 competitors so it was not easy to win.

It was a wonderful sight, sitting up on the stands in the comfortable seats.   The field was full of kids milling around with their team mates.  The stands were half full of parents and grandparents and friends.  The jumping events continuing while the races were run around the oval.  The public address person was giving winners and calling for further events. It made me wish I would attend a world cup track meet.  It was very exciting.  And very high tech.  A starting gun activated the timer and the beam gives a picture to the judges to determine winner at the finish line.  Every child is given their time via e mail to their school the evening of the event.  Superb facility.  Texans take their athletics seriously.

I had several observations.  All the competitors were lean.  All the competitors put out maximum effort and worked hard all the way to the end of their event.  Some kids are just faster than others.  One seventh grade girl crossed the finish line while others had not started their fourth lap in their mile race.  No kid has had much training but the differences in native ability were huge.  I loved attending the meet and I am so fortunate my granddaughter wanted to compete and asked me to attend to cheer her on.  Life is good while watching a middle school track meet.

April 5, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. The Black Bag.

They found my black bag.  Hallelujah!!  They found it exactly where I told them it was, but they could not find it when I called the motel.  I specifically asked them to look in the bedroom, right against the wall.  Eventually, a cleaning lady found it and took it to the front desk.  Yesterday morning the front desk man called to tell me it was there, ready to be picked up.  We immediately drove in to pick it.  I was a happy lady.

Now, we left the motel one week ago, on a Monday morning, and we drove to the ranch.  I looked for the bag on Friday when we arrived back at the lake, and could not find it.  Immediately, I called the motel and even though they told me they had looked, clearly, no one looked in the bedroom.  We had a suite and the bedroom was quite dark and the bag was black so perhaps they could not find it.  But yesterday I got the happy news to come and get it.  

It was stupid of me to leave it for sure.  Now I have taken my humble pill but I still get all my medications back.  All is well in my life.

April4, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. The Journey to the Farm.

Ken suggested that we stay a few days at a resort during our return to the farm.  It seemed like a good idea to me.  On their way to Nova Scotia, our friends Wendy and Clausen have stayed a few days at PEI at a resort on the north shore.  They have enjoyed the few days of relaxation after the long drive north.  We were both tired when we arrived in Mississippi so Ken felt that a few days in the middle would make life easier for us.  He booked us into a place in the Smokies in Tennessee, where we will stay a few days.  It is a time share, and we have it booked for a week, but we will only stay a few days, or maybe not.  Our schedule is flexible!!  If we like it a lot, we can stay.

Ken and I are good at making decisions.  Ken comes up with the ideas and we pick it apart, then make a decision.  Or sometimes, the reverse.  Ken always does the research though.  He is much better at the doing part  than the talking part.  For instance,  yesterday, Ken using the power washer, cleaned the rug from the kitchen from our apartment in Chevy Chase, the one made dirty when the sink over-flowed in October.  I have been talking about having it cleaned for the past several months.  Now it is clean and ready to use.

And we will stop at The Lodge at Buckberry Creek on our way to the farm at the end of May.

April 3, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. The Tournament.

There we were, all jammed in together, watching the games in the office at the lake.  It was fun and exciting.  The room is small and we filled it.  I guess you could say it was cosy.  The television set was new and we were using the new fancy portable satellite dish to receive the signal. but everything worked beautifully.  Whew!!

Both girls were cheering for Butler but I don't know why.  The rest of us, just went along with them so we were all pleased to see Butler win the first game.  It was so interesting to watch the team's response to a win.  VCU celebrated every win with a full team dance which was fun to watch.  Butler just ended the game with a win, congratulated their opponents, then went back to the locker room , awaiting the next game.   I was especially delighted to see Kentucky lose.  I hate the philosophy of the coach and hope they fire him for not winning the tournament.

Now we will watch UConn play Butler on Monday evening.  I would love to see Butler win but watching UConn yesterday makes me think that Butler will be badly beaten.  We will see.  Even though I missed bunches of games, I enjoyed the tournament this year.  Now only one game to go.

April 2, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. A Day at the Lake.

David has taken his boat in to be checked out for the season,  Unfortunately, the cover came off and rain filled the boat part way up the motor, so before he runs it, he wants it checked out.  While out, he and the big girls are renting jet skis,  so soon they will roar up to the shore in front of the house.  As David correctly stated, "With the boat, something always needs  fixing".    Ken's response was that he has spent a life of solving and fixing problems, which would be accurate and for which we are all eternally grateful.

The lake is quiet today.  A couple of fishermen only.   Ken and I have been fortunate to be here in the off season, so for us, the lake is usually quiet.  The summer is not quiet, especially the holiday weekends, where the noisy Seadoos fill the water.  I have been told that most activities cease at 6:00, so the warm evenings are quiet.  I can hear the machines now, coming in the distance.  I had better wave to the girls.  I, as a grandmother have my responsibilities!!

April 1, 2011. Canyon Lake, Texas. Humble.

Every so often in my life something happens that reminds me to be humble.  This is one of those occasions.   I can't find my black roll on bag.  It is small as bags do but on this journey it has carried all my medications.   It was on top of a box full of dishes on the back seat of the truck and somehow or other, it has disappeared, and do I feel stupid.

I know it arrived in Texas, because  today I wore my jeans which were in that bag.  Last evening I needed my next week of medicines and went directly to my black bag.  But it was not in the top house, neither was it in the truck.  I assumed I left it at the lake, but today when we arrived, no black bag could be found.

I knew we have had much on our plate this past month, but I guess I was incorrect to think that we were doing well.  Yet again, I must eat humble pie.   I can not imagine where that important black bag has gone?