Are you shittin' me?

It's been a couple of days so I have many things to update you on.

I attended the first of four Healthy Weight Program sessions on Thursday night, offered through Sobeys grocery store - FREE OF CHARGE! I mean seriously, what is free of charge these days? And let me address the "white elephant" in the room, and don't mistake me for that elephant, but clearly, I am in serious need of a refresher on what healthy weight and, more importantly, healthy eating standards are in 2010. Don't we all need a refresher from time to time. Standards change, right?

The group is a small one - eight people. And, a mixture of women and men in all age ranges. We are all there for different reasons, some related to health. Well really, we're all there for our health but others are also interested in losing weight. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we all have different goals. So, now the fun starts. Eating according to the Canadian Food Guide and combining some exercise into my day. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on my progress. Two days of healthy eating down, the rest of my life to go - that is until a chocolate bar gets in my way.

On the home front, yesterday while I was running around town doing some errands, the Silver Fox was hard at it, building.....



Great, no? At one of the nurseries in town, he was chatting with the manager about the chances of peppers producing here because it is still a fairly mild climate. She told him the only chance he would have is if he grew them in a greenhouse or a cold (HOT) frame. So, he set to it. He is bound and determined to grow those little suckers.

Today, I continued on with my painting. I did the second coat on the strip along the deck surface and then took a lunch break. I made a sandwich and headed outside to the stoop with little Ernie at my side. After a few moments, I heard a squirrel coming up under the deck, between the stairs and the wall. I knew that it wouldn't see us because we have a collection of plants sitting beside the stairs waiting to be planted. We sat very still and sure enough, the squirrel pops its head around the plant and realizes we are sitting there so it makes a hasty retreat. Seconds later, another squirrel does the same thing except this one doesn't see us and walks right out in front of us before high-tailing it out to its tree.

After lunch, I headed out to paint the deck at the back of the house. The SF assembled a scaffolding of sorts for me to paint the outside of the deck. FAR BETTER than standing on a ladder and allowed me to make quick work of the couple of sections I completed. Mid-way through the SF stopped by. Since it was such a great day, he brought his lunch home to eat outside (I just about splattered paint on him...oops) keeping me company. So sweet. When he was ready to go back to work, I walked him up to the front of the house. As I stood at the top of the stoop, babbling as he walked to his car, he suddenly turned and postured oddly. At the same time, something lying on the road behind him caught my eye. Noooo!! I asked him what it was. Is it a squirrel? And he wouldn't answer. I'm heartbroken. He walked over to it and nudged it over to the side of the road with a promise he would pick it up after he got home from work. "Is it my little Momma?", I asked him. And he wouldn't answer. Just that he would put it away later. I knew it. I knew my little Momma was gone. Only moments later a group of teenage girls must have spotted her when they were driving by and I could hear them squealing as they continued driving. Then they had the nerve to turn around, come back, stop and get out to look at her. I couldn't leave her there until the SF got home so I scooped her up and dug a little grave for her under a tree. I'm sure there are some babies somewhere that probably won't make it much longer without her because it looked as though she was feeding. Why? My poor sweet friend. I seriously need to stop attaching to the wildlife around here. Geesh, the other day I came home heartbroken because I saw a baby fox that had been killed on the highway. It was no bigger than Ernie. Poor sweet baby. Rest in Peace you two. There are no darn cars where you are now but watch out for that Rookie. Nothing he loves better than to chase a squirrel.

When the SF arrived home from work, he headed out to light the barbeque on the deck. He had moved the first planter onto the painted deck surface. Here's how things are shaping up there. Just need to fill the planters...


and now I have one more job to do.....cleaning up someone else's job!


Not twelve hours have passed and the birds already crapped on the freshly painted deck. No where else. Just the nice white stain! Are you shittin' me?