Laura and Tim's excellent Thanksgiving Adventure #1

It all started Friday afternoon after a midterm and some frantic packing. Tim and I set out along the QEW, headed for the border. We were on our way to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for Mike Stover's wedding (Mike is a friend of Tim's from high school). We ran into a little traffic around Oakville, but it was nothing compared to the traffic that awaited us at the border. Little did we know, there was a two and a half hour wait to cross into the US....and yes, we did have to wait in line......inching along, stop go......stop (turn the car off).....go......it was awful

Needless to say, we eventually crossed the border, and at that point, it was about 7:15pm. Very soon after we got across the border, we saw a restaurant called "Bob Evans" - apparently they're all over the place in the US. We had never seen one and proceeded to joke about it for the next 10 minutes of our journey. Now Tim and I were both hungry, so we started wondering where we were going to eat and when that would be. One of the main differences between American and Canadian highways is that there isn't a service station or restaurant at every exit. So we decided that the next place we saw would be where we'd eat for dinner. And just to make things fun, we placed bets on what would be the next restaurant we came across. Tim put his faith in Mc'Ds or Wendy's, and I thought I'd give Bob Evans a try. :p

Nearly an hour passed before we came across a restaurant, and what did it happen to be!??!?
BOB EVANS!!!! Unfortunately, the food didn't turn out to be that great (I don't recommend the chicken pot pie, it tasted more like fish pot pie) but they did have FANTASTIC pumpkin bread. So good that when I checked the nutrtition statement I nearly died.....500 calories for two little slices of it. :( So good but so bad....


We didn't end up getting to our hotel (Ya Econolodge!!) until 12:30 am, and didn't get to bed until after 1. As you can probably imagine, I was a little grumpy (long car ride + late night = grumpy laura) but when we woke up in the morning, my mood was definitely improved! There was a MALL just across the road!! And there were a whole bunch of stores I'd never seen, so I dragged Tim to the mall for over an hour, and in the process bought a really cute dress from JC Penney's, some pumpkin flavored fudge, and a few Christmas ideas. :P

We were off to the wedding for 2 pm, and boy did the bride and groom look great! :)

Tim was helping take pictures, so I didn't get to see as much of him as I would have liked, but I know he had fun! The funny part is that Tim was so busy taking pictures, that we didn't get any pictures of he and I together. These are the only pictures from the day of Tim or I:














It was a nice wedding, and I met some nice people at our table. There was one guy at our table that had known Mike from undergrad, and it turned out that he lives in the same building as us! Crazy eh? It takes going to Pennsylvania to meet your neighbors...... Anyway, the wedding ended around 6 pm, so Tim and I went to WalMart and bought a few things - including peanut butter hershey's kisses (my new obsession) and then spent the evening hanging out with Heather and Roger Heidt (Roger was the official photographer) and sorting pictures from the wedding. It was a fun evening and we got to bed much later than anticipated. But we still managed to get up by 6 am (ish) :P and after a quick bite to eat at the continental breakfast, which was quite good I might add, Tim and I started our trip home.

I really enjoyed the trip home because it had been dark on the way there, and I had not realised how beautiful the scenery was. In fact, there was one spot where there was this beautiful firey red maple standing in the middle of a field (well actually it turned out to be a cemetary). It was so beautiful, I dropped Tim off and he took pictures while I took the car up the road and got gas.



The remainder of the ride home consisted of beautiful mountain scenery and Tim hanging out the window taking pictures for me. We were in a rush to get home because my family was coming over to our place for a Thanksgiving dinner. I'll pick up there next post. :P

For your interest :)

It's been a busy, busy week and a half, and I keep thinking about my blog and how I haven't posted in a while. And that I haven't told you all about my Thanksgiving adventures yet.

They will come. I still have too much reading to do, so this is going to be a short post.

Two things - first, I've added a link to Edward Spera's website. He's a great Canadian wildlife artist that Tim and I discovered when we were in Niagara-on-the-Lake in the summer. He's been called the next Robert Bateman. He does great work and I love the colours he uses....so full of life. Anyway, check out the site, he has some beautiful work. :)

The second thing, a classmate of mine sent a link to me today about a dad that is super dedicated to his son. A really neat story, really touching. Check it out at: http://cjcphoto.com/can/

Hope your week is full of great blessings. :)

An ode to Timmy Richards

Today my little brother turns 21, and I can't tell you where the time has gone.

I still remember the days of Barbies and "sister time" when Timmy would get mad at us because we never spent any time with him.....that it was never "brother time". The joys of growing up with three big sisters :P

I can remember when we used to play exploring and "let's pretend" games in the bush, and would end up wet and muddy and tired from all the fun we'd had.

I remember catching toads and making little homes for them in buckets, and making mudpies and other fun little sculptures. I remember climbing the big V and going for long walks....

I remember the time we tried to dig a swimming pool in the turn around; now I know that didn't work out too well, I just can't remember which one of us ended up sitting in a garbage pail of water to cool off.......

I remember jumping through the sprinkler and bringing Sam along with us, and I remember water shoes for our mucky bottomed beach.

I remember fitting six of us and Sam in the canoe at blueberry island....and I distinctly remember the night we camped over at Blueberry and Timmy missed the hole. :P


So Timmy, where has the time gone.......?
- it has melted away like snow forts we used to make
- it has slipped along the keys of the piano and the notes of the trumpet
- it has been wrapped up in plaster with a broken wrist
- it has swam fast like the fishies
- it has loped through the bush like a buck
- time has trickled like tears at graduation
- faded like fears of first year
- soared like love
- flown like a plane to North Africa and Guadelupe

.....and it continues to pass day after day.



On this your birthday, I want you to know how proud I am of the man you have become. You are wise well beyond your years and I admire your courage and determination. Never stop trying. :) You can do whatever you put your heart to.

Tim and I will always be here to support you

Much love

Typo.....

It appears that in my first post, when I listed off the important men in my life, somehow I managed to delete the name of my wonderful brother-in-law Richard. There was definitely no underlying message intended from it....sorry about that. :)

Love you Richard!!!

Oh....btw, he has a pretty fun blog. Check it out at: http://walkinfridge.blogspot.com/

Little bit of pie, lots of whipped cream...

So my parents and Alissa and Timmy were over on Sunday to have Thanksgiving dinner. It was really fun, and mom brought all of the food - all I had to supply was the oven and a table and chairs. We actually had some trouble with the chairs situation since Tim and I only actually have two kitchen chairs....so we improvised. :) Someone was sitting on my computer chair, someone else had Tim's, and then two people got foldable lawn chairs that had been on our porch since we arrived.....they're kinda sketchy looking, but we cleaned them off, so it worked out ok. :P

Anyways, I will get into more details about Thanksgiving weekend adventures in my next post. Today I wanted to talk about pie. Mom brought some great raspberry amaretto pie that she had made and then a yummy pumpkin pie that she bought from the St Jacob's Farmer's market. Now I never used to be a fan of pumpkin pie, in fact I don't think I started liking it until I had friends over for Thanksgiving dinner in first or second year. I made pumpkin pie for the occasion because it seemed like the thing to do, and for some reason loved it. Since then it's been up on my list of favorite desserts. But I digress....

Today was kind've one of those crazy random days, where you feel like the whole world just doesn't know what to do with you - whether it's going to embrace you in its arms and make everything great or stomp on you like a giant. The day started off ok, I got up, did my reading before PBT (class that is), and PBT went really well. I haven't been feeling quite right in my PBT so far this term, for some reason it just hasn't felt like a fit. But today seemed to go well and I felt more comfortable, so that was good. But then the randomness started....basically, I had some real challenges with my placement for PT this term. I have been placed at another out-patient orthopedic clinic, which is fine, but I was really hoping for a placement in cardiorespiratory PT. So I went for a run with Sherri, and it was great and really lifted my spirits. YAY endorphins! When I came home, I found out that I had actually gotten a reply back about one of the placements I had hoped to get, but since I hadn't checked my email, it had been given to someone else in class at lunch hour. But then I got an email from the girl who got the placement and she told me that she was interested in the placement I currently had. Anyway, by this point I was a little confused as to what to do, because it seemed like I was being taunted with the placement - now you have it, now you don't.....so I ate some pie.


I cut myself a small piece of pumpkin pie, warmed it up in the microwave (yes we finally caved and got one!) and got out the whipped cream. Have you ever noticed though that it's a lot easier to get lots of whipped cream out of the can, but if you only want a small amount, it just seems to elude you? This was the case for me as well, this tiny piece of pie with an awful lot of whipped cream.

As I was sitting at the table, eating my pie, I started thinking....life is alot like pie.

You get this yummy concoction of ingredients - much like life, each ingredient (person, situation) adds a dimension to the flavor of life, and without any of those ingredients, the pie wouldn't work. And then there's the whipped cream, the little extras in life - like finding a really cute dress at JC Penney's that you didn't even realise you needed until you saw it, or getting a placement that you really wanted.

A little bit of whipped cream is great - we all need some sweet extras now and then. But if you're always putting tons of whipped cream on top of your pie, eventually you're going to start missing out on the great flavor of the original, base ingredients. So I guess every now and then it's ok to have some pie without whipped cream.....? :)

Needless to say, I decided to stick with the placement I have (although the decision was not based solely on what the pie told me). :P

My first post :P

So I've finally ventured into the world of blogging, and as I embark on this journey, I can't help but think - wow, this is my first posting. It seems kind've intimidating...Is this posting going to set the mood for my entire blog? If it's not exciting, will anyone come back to read other postings? What if I say something stupid? Or no one bothers to read it in the first place?

In reality, this is my first post, and probably by the time people even start reading my blog on a regular basis (keeping my fingers crossed) this post will be somewhere deep in the recesses of archived material.

So in honour of my first posting, I thought I'd explain why I named the blog "Edwin's mama". I chose that name b/c Ed is a special guy in my life, second only to my wonderful husband Tim (you'll hear much much more about Tim in the near future, be assured!)

Anyway, Edwin is a spunky 5 1/2 year old with lots of brown hair and green eyes.

He is full of energy and can't help running around and trying to get us to play with him - especially when we are busy with schoolwork or cooking.

He loves to snuggle with us while we watch TV, and he's always trying to force his way up into my lap when I'm doing homework on the computer.

He loves to eat and he has an odd liking for playing in cardboard boxes.

It took Tim a while to get used to him, but now that he does, I know Tim luvs him. :)

So in honour of this blog's namesake, the first picture will be Ed!



.....and well, actually, I guess he ranks below my dad and brother Tim, and Gary and Jeff and Mark....but you get the picture. :P

Tune in for more fun stuff. Happy Thanksgiving!