Winter has decided to pay a visit. I just checked the Weather Channel web site: On this sunny afternoon at 2:30 it is -29 degrees Celcius (that is -20F, for anyone who can't let go of the old system), with a wind chill of -45 C (-43 F - wow, they come together when it gets cold enough!).
My cleaning lady Natalie, called me a little while ago. She said she's calling a "snow day". Her old car refuses to start. She's had the block heater plugged in since 8:00 this morning (that's when she first tried to start it for her first cleaning job). She was sure that after all this time plugged in it would start. Nope.
It's going to be like this for three days, then the mercury will shoot up to a balmy -9 C. Hey, we'll take it.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The HFR Gets Its Name
(Scroll down and read the Introduction, if you haven't already.)
A few weeks after we got the wading pool, my favourite sister came for her first of what would come to be annual summer visits.
We decided to take a little three-day trip into Canmore. Rick let us take the 'Stang and we had a blast. There's nothing as sexy as seeing two middle aged women haul themselves, groaning, up and out of a low riding convertible. We would look across at each other, then dissolve into laughter, holding onto the sides of the car, bent over, shoulders shaking from laughing, right there on the main street of Canmore. People would point and look: "Oh, see those beautiful women over there!" I assume that's what they were saying, as they clutched their children's hands and rushed off down the street.
But I digress. After three lovely days in the mountains, we returned home to find a big yellow bristle board sign taped to the front of the house: "WELCOME TO THE HAPPY FACE RESORT!", it said, with a big happy face drawn underneath. Rick ushered us through the house, to the back door, all the while chatting about new flowers he had planted and how we had to see them right away.
He opened the back door, and we walked out into the backyard and saw a big, beautiful round pool, all sparkling and pristine, with floating loungers that had cup holders in them. The whole back yard had been rearranged to accommodate this new and significantly larger pool. The table had a happy face tray upon which were arranged four happy face glasses. There was a happy face banner on the wall. Happy face lights floated in the pool. There was a happy face beach ball, and of course the aforementioned happy face pail. The HFR was open for business.
A few weeks after we got the wading pool, my favourite sister came for her first of what would come to be annual summer visits.
We decided to take a little three-day trip into Canmore. Rick let us take the 'Stang and we had a blast. There's nothing as sexy as seeing two middle aged women haul themselves, groaning, up and out of a low riding convertible. We would look across at each other, then dissolve into laughter, holding onto the sides of the car, bent over, shoulders shaking from laughing, right there on the main street of Canmore. People would point and look: "Oh, see those beautiful women over there!" I assume that's what they were saying, as they clutched their children's hands and rushed off down the street.
But I digress. After three lovely days in the mountains, we returned home to find a big yellow bristle board sign taped to the front of the house: "WELCOME TO THE HAPPY FACE RESORT!", it said, with a big happy face drawn underneath. Rick ushered us through the house, to the back door, all the while chatting about new flowers he had planted and how we had to see them right away.
He opened the back door, and we walked out into the backyard and saw a big, beautiful round pool, all sparkling and pristine, with floating loungers that had cup holders in them. The whole back yard had been rearranged to accommodate this new and significantly larger pool. The table had a happy face tray upon which were arranged four happy face glasses. There was a happy face banner on the wall. Happy face lights floated in the pool. There was a happy face beach ball, and of course the aforementioned happy face pail. The HFR was open for business.
Introduction
This is a blog about me and my family. I am not going to go into long introductions of family member and friends; you know who you are.
The whole "Happy Face Resort" moniker took shape a few years ago, the same year Wendy started visiting for a couple of weeks in the summer. That first summer (I think it was 2003) was a hot one, and Ashley and I decided we needed a pool in the back yard. It didn't have to be big - just enough for us to sit back and get cooled off.
We headed off to Canadian Tire in search of a wading pool. It was a little inflatable number, rectangular, probably eight inches deep. We brought it home, set it up, filled it with water, and we were in heaven! It is amazing how a little kiddie pool like that can transform your backyard.
I called Rick at work to tell him about the fabulous pool, and he came home later that day with some water toys, one of which was a little yellow pail with a happy face on it.
The whole "Happy Face Resort" moniker took shape a few years ago, the same year Wendy started visiting for a couple of weeks in the summer. That first summer (I think it was 2003) was a hot one, and Ashley and I decided we needed a pool in the back yard. It didn't have to be big - just enough for us to sit back and get cooled off.
We headed off to Canadian Tire in search of a wading pool. It was a little inflatable number, rectangular, probably eight inches deep. We brought it home, set it up, filled it with water, and we were in heaven! It is amazing how a little kiddie pool like that can transform your backyard.
I called Rick at work to tell him about the fabulous pool, and he came home later that day with some water toys, one of which was a little yellow pail with a happy face on it.
All of a sudden, the backyard became busy. Ashley's friends came over to tan and swim. Well, not swim technically. We managed to cram a couple of air mattresses into that little pool. If you closed your eyes, you could actually imagine you were in a great big pool. There were water fights. There was loud music. There was sunscreen and towels and a wet dog. It was awesome.
It was not until a few weeks later that the HFR got its official name. I'll tell that story tomorrow.
The Beginning
This is a blog about me and my family. I am not going to go into long introductions of family member and friends; you know who you are.
The whole "Happy Face Resort" moniker took shape a few years ago, the same year Wendy started visiting for a couple of weeks in the summer. That first summer (I think it was 2003) was a hot one, and Ashley and I decided we needed a pool in the back yard. It didn't have to be big - just enough for us to sit back and get cooled off.
We headed off to Canadian Tire in search of a wading pool. It was a little inflatable number, rectangular, probably eight inches deep. We brought it home, set it up, filled it with water, and we were in heaven! It is amazing how a little kiddie pool like that can transform your backyard.
I called Rick at work to tell him about the fabulous pool, and he came home later that day with some water toys, one of which was a little yellow pail with a happy face on it.
All of a sudden, the backyard became busy. Ashley's friends came over to tan and swim. Well, not swim technically. We managed to cram a couple of air mattresses into that little pool. If you closed your eyes, you could actually imagine you were in a great big pool. There were water fights. There was loud music. There was sunscreen and towels and a wet dog. It was awesome.
It was not until a few weeks later that the HFR got its official name. I'll tell that story tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
