The past week with more pictures

1. Greta running in the sprinkler.

2. Ray after the sprinkler.

3. Greta in day two of the sprinkler.

4. Artsy goggle shot.

5. Girls on the tire swing at the park.

6. This poor horse had a bazillion kids feeling it. Didn't seem to mind too much though.

7. The girls on the swings. Ray is dancing and saying she's cool.

This week's flex:

Sun: Church & church picnic. Roast beast for dinner.

Mon: Sailor's duty. I go to work, girls to daycare. We're having a friend join us for supper.

Tue: Work day for me & Sailor. Daycare for the girls.

Wed: PAYDAY! Sailor goes to work, I'm off for book-learnin'. Ray stays home with me, Greta goes to daycare.

Thu: Happy Canada Day! I have no idea what we're going to do, other than muck out the spare room for A.

Fri: Daycare is closed, so either me or Sailor will be home with them.

Sat: Niece A is coming this weekend.

Next week is Week From Hell 3. Should be fun.

Exciting, exciting news!

About four weeks ago I hit on an idea. Now, usually my ideas are just that - good ideas that never go anywhere. But suddenly, I got really excited about this idea. So excited that I'm going to run with it and actually do it. So, once I'm out of the Navy, instead of going off to teach adults leadership, communications and team building (which was what I have wanted to do for a while now), I'm opening up a dress shop.

But not just ANY dress shop. No! This is a formal/bridal/prom shop with a consignment and rental portion, as well as a not-for-profit similar to the Princess Project.

The name of the shop is Paper Doll Formals. I have registered the name and I have a business number and everything! I will be creating a blog, a Twitter page and a Facebook page once I get the domain name up and running. I will be keeping a journal/blog of how things are going on another BLog page.

Sailor tells me to keep my plans to myself, and for the most part I am. However, I don't think there's anyone in town reading my Blog (correct me if I'm wrong), and if it's taken this long for a woman's formal wear store to open up here, then I'm sure I'm not running into anyone else who is going to open up a shop tomorrow. So here I am, putting it out there for real and all. Eeks!

In the real world, I have finally finished my Economics assignments and I'm just waiting to receive the ones already handed in before handing in the last two. The Accounting is causing me some hassles. There was two assignments where I did okay - 75% and 78%, but this eighth one is about doubtful accounts and the text book isn't all the clear on what to post in the ledger accounts. I'll keep at it though as I have 8, 9, and 10 to hand in prior to the 10th of July. The tutor is a great help to me and calls me up to help me out if I'm under 70% on the assignment for resubmission.

Work is going well. I have a giant data base that I have to go through person by person to ensure they're still members of the Mess for when we get our Mess Coins. Slow going, but it'll be SO worth it when people get their coins. Which has been pushed back because the stamper returned the prototype back to the minter because of colour bleeding. Yay!

Sailor got his leave approved so we're all going on vaycay together at the end of the month. My niece A is watching the girls for us in July so we don't have to pay $1400 in child care. Sh

e arrives next weekend and we have a spare room to muck out before she gets here! Good thing this is a short week at work.

Here's some pictures to catch up from the last week (or two...?)

1. I received the DSLR I purchased from a friend. Began snapping photos and learning about depth of field. SO happy.

2. More flowers on the deck.

3. Excuse the demon-eyes on Ray. This was her "grad" into Grade 1.

4. This was where I got to sing with the Navy band. I sounded a lot better live than I did on video.

The end of the first school year

Well, Ray made it to Grade 1. She had two assemblies to get through, but she's done. And two days later, she flung herself on her bed and wailed, "I wanna go back to QMS!!" I assured her she would, but first, let's get through our busy summer! So here's some photos from the past week (my new DSLR came on Tuesday!).

1. The little paper graduation

caps on top of the cubbies.

2. Where I got to

do my singing gig with the Naden Band. The Cameron Bandshell in the park. Very exciting. I sucked, but the people clapped so I guess I'm better live than on Memorex.

3. An artsy

shot with the new camera.

4. The girls played in the

sprinkler after work the other day. Got some great shots.

This week's flex:

Sun: Church, trial piano lesson for Ray. Finish laundry and so some homework.

Mon: Work, daycare.

Tue: Work, daycare.

Wed: Work for Sailor, academic leave for me. Greta has her preschool presentations in the park, so Ray & I are going. Gotta get some stuff handed in for school too. It's also pick-up day for our veggies from the local farm share we bought into for the summer.

Thu: Work, daycare. Lunch with a good friend I hope.

Fri: Work, daycare. Civi Friday at work! YAY!

Sat: Laundry, hanging out. Nothing planned... what a shock!

More from Fleet Review

So here's the rest of them. Some turned out really good too!

1. The Skyhawks routine. We were too far away to see them well, but the smoke markers looked cool in the sky.

2. Then the Sea Kings flew over head. Good thing they had the SAR Chopper out too ;-P

3. We're not usually so slanty. That's the Sea Kings over some of the fleet.

4. This is a CF-18 Hornet. She wasn't supersonic but she was LOUD! She went straight up, flipped around, then flipped over and came down. I think there was a passenger in there the pilot was trying to make sick. It looked VERY cool though. Fast. So fast, this was the ONLY shot of it that came out!

5. The Snowbirds! What an amazing airshow they put on. Here's two more of my favourites: starburst and their new one for the navy, "Waves".

This week's flex:

Mon: sick day

Tues: day in lieu. Ray has her end-of-term assembly. Groceries. Sailor has First Aid til Thursday.

Wed: Academic Day. Ray has her year-end assembly.

Thur: Back into the fray. Rehearsal with the band, chiro.

Fri: Ray & Greta to preschool. I'm at work, as is Sailor, but in the afternoon I sing at the Bandshell in the park with the Naden Band! I'll try to scoop pictures.

Sat: Birthday party for one of Ray's classmates.

Sun: Father's Day.

Whew! Glad THAT'S over!!

Well... they came. We partied. They left. What a whirlwind this past week was. The ships started arriving on the Wednesday - the USS Ronald Regan the largest of them. The club did no advertising and still made $2K on the bar! Thursday night was the Meet & Greet. There were about 200 visitors and 300 Canadians. Too much fun. Then Friday night we saw the fireworks from one of the best vantage points around. Saturday the Fleet Review itself with Skyhawks jumping in, a flypast, and then the Snowbirds Airshow. Sunday was an after party but I wasn't feeling all that great so I left early. Here's a few photos from the week that was.

1. Sailor and I went to the ZZ Top concert in style - limo ride down and back with our friend's limo service (he was going too) and then seats in the Q's Suite. The ONLY way to concert!

2. The USS Ronald Regan anchored just offshore from our Club. She's large. Very. Very. Large.

3. Me and three of my

new 'friends': an Australian General, the CO of the USS Ronny, and the Chilean Admiral. Nice men all of them.

4. Looking through the "big eyes" - our binoculars on the patio - here's the Ronny and the Vancouver at her side.

5. One of the fireworks. It was a good light show. Took a while to get going, but once it did, they were really well done.

6. This is the Algonquin taking a starboard turn after inspecting some ships. She's carrying the Governor General on board.

More to follow in another post this afternoon. Right now, I'm off to watch Ray 'graduate' from Kindy to Grade 1. And yes... pictures will be forthcoming!

Hell Week 2 Comin' UP!

Well, this past week was a breather before heading into the fray called International Fleet Review Week. Here's some pictures from the past week.

1. The lifejacket Ray needed to wear for swim lessons at the school.

2. Face-painting at the Eco Fair at a local French immersion school. Took a long time to get all that off her face!

3. Pretty flowers on the table at Ray's school. It was a going-away tea for their Head.

4. A bald eagle in the tree. Spotted from the Walmat garden centre at the north end of town. He was being harassed by some hawks or ravens.

5. My shoe-storage solution. Won't be like this for long though.

This week's flex:

Sunday: ZZTop concert! I won tickets to the local radio station's box, so gave away our tickets (which were in the posh seats anyway) to our friends as a thank-you for driving Ray in to school and picking her up. We're hitching a ride with friends... who happen to own a limo service! WooT! $25 for round trip, door to door transportation. Free drinks in the box and we don't have to worry about driving home! Wide Mouth Mason is opening. This is gonna be FUN! And totally ruin any other way of seeing a concert for me.

Monday: Sailor is duty, so after work, the girls and I are having a quiet night.

Tuesday: Work and school for us all. I have an Executive meeting and then a dental cleaning.

Wednesday: Sailor works, girls go to school, and I have three assignments to get through. I'm spending 2 hours in the hair chair too, missing out on Greta's beach day (postponed due to lousy weather last week). That afternoon I'm picking up some MK for a customer and then Ray from school. Then we're going to a local farm that we're buying shares in for the summer to drop off our cheques.

Thursday: Work and school for us all. That night I'm hosting a Meet & Greet at the Club for 200 foreign sailors and 200 Canadian sailors!!! EEEKS!

Friday: Work and school for us all. I'm going to try to go with Ray to the beach for HER beach day (and bring Greta with me too) if I'm off. That night we are hosting spouses and members (and any foreign sailors that are off their ships) at the Club for a band and then fireworks at 10pm. Another late night. Sailor is overnight on the ship.

Saturday: Fleet Review Day!! The Governor General is reviewing our fleet and the visiting ships. The Skyhawks are dropping in to start, then the Snowbirds are flying over to end it. The Club is inviting all their families and friends down to watch with a bbq and magician on hand. That night, there's the Navy Rocks concert in town, and the Club is showing UFC 115 for those interested. I'm staying home!!

Sunday: After the sports tabloid earlier in the day, we're holding a small party with a band playing for three hours and I get to sing a couple songs at the end. I might need a sitter...

Goodbye May, Hello June!

May's Hell Week is over. Ray and I had the technical rehearsal on Wednesday starting at 4. So Sailor got a ride to the theatre, picked up the car, and got Greta. Then he came to get us around 6:30.

On Thursday we had the dress rehearsal. This time, we met him at the theatre (we were a little late) and he came to get us around 7.

The dances were incredible! I didn't see anything of the first act (The Ugly Duckling), but the costumes were amazing. The second act was Around The World and the last group to go on were the senior girls with two boys, doing an East Indian dance, "Jai Ho". AMAZING. Simply stunning. My favourite I've seen so far. Ray's group did Little Grass Shack and they were so cute! Did great too - not one kid with stage fright!

Our group did our Can Can and the first night, the audience clapped along with the music which was completely unexpected! The afternoon crowd was silent for the most part, and Sailor couldn't get Greta to sit in the dark theatre, so they went home, got a flashlight, t

hen returned. They were inside in time to see Ray dance and I saw them standing to the left of the stage watching us dance. The whole way home, Greta kept saying, "nice dancing, Mummy!" SO cute. Saturday night's house was full, and they loved the show! We had a huge applause and lots of laughs. I screwed up a little bit, but I hope I covered it well enough. I guess I'll find out when the dvd comes in July.

They give out awards after the Saturday night performance, and I didn't see the screen well as I was to the side, but it seems that Ray came in the top three for her exams! Ray said she wasn't up there, but the sweet woman whose daughter received the ballet award said that Ray had a cute picture on the screen!

So now I have a purple lycra dress. It would

make a good Flamenco dress with a few more ruffles sewn on.

I even managed to finish my 3rd assignment for my Economics course too! Amazing. Now I need to tackle the Comms course, then try the Accounting assignment without crying.

Here's the pictures from the week:

1. Ray and her friends rolled

down this hill continuously for about 30 minutes. They had a blast! I used to love doing this.

2. The geese have the right-of-way on the Base. They start out as fluffy little chicks then seemingly overnight grow into larger goslings. They follow one parent while the other one brings up the rear. All vehicles must stop for them as they cross. It's not much of an inconvenience, unless, of course, you're in a hurry!

3. At the technical rehearsal, we were able to watch most of the dancers. This girl is in Grade 12 and will be going to UVic in the fall. She did two shows, this one is Morocco. Absolutely stunning! She can dance up a storm, too!

4. These are our skirts, how they flow and swirl. And yes, that's really the colour purple they were! They were quite heavy and both of my underarm seams are split as it was a TIGHT fit to get into and out of. A couple times I thought I'd need the jaws of life to come extracate me!

Nevertheless, it was an experience, that's for sure!

For some reason, the Blog is cutting off parts of my photos. I'll try to work on this.

This week's flex:

Sunday: Church (if I can tear away from the computer and go shower! Thankfully it's a 10am service!). Then groceries and housework. So glamourous!

Monday: We're putting Greta into Preschool, but taking Ray onto Sailor's ship for a surprise! It's Day Sail day and we're going out for the day. She's going to lose her mind.

Tuesday: Work for me and Sailor, school for the girls. That night I'm supposed to go to one of the dancer's homes for a spaghetti supper. I have a chiro appointment, then the designer for the Mess is dropping off her design package to us! Then we just wait for CE to appoint a project manager... then we can start getting our mess redone!

Wednesday: Work for Sailor, school for the girls. I'm off for Academic Advancement. I'll read to Ray, then spend the forenoon at the beach with Greta. Then the afternoon will be spent buried in books before getting Ray from school. I think I'll drop off some books at the store too.

Thursday: Work for me and Sailor, school for the girls. I have rehearsal with the Naden Band today for our concert in June! Wheeeee!

Friday: Work for me and Sailor, school for the girls. Ray's out early today. I have a lunch date with a retired Admiral who is one of the sweetest men I've ever met. I was so honoured to have worked with him on the Homecoming Statue project.

Saturday: NO DANCE! WooT! We have a tea at Ray's school and a goodbye-lunch to the Head who is moving on. She was wonderful. A nice, fun, relaxing day.

Sunday: Sailor and I are getting limo'd to the ZZTop concert! We know the limo guy and he's going, so we're hopping in! $25 there and back. Cheaper than the gas and parking it would cost us if we went alone, not to mention the least stressful trip EVER! Wheeee! I haven't been in a limo since before my wedding!

Hope you have a wonderful week.