Saturday, September 10, 2011

Weekend Lost (continued)

Sunday.  Steve spent most of the day walking back and forth from the motel to the garage.  Nothing was going to plan ... our van was not even looked at until after noon, and then it was one thing or another ... and finally the news that we had been dreading ... we needed a part that the garage didn't have ... a dealer part, and we'd have to wait until Tuesday.

We had less than 30 minutes to walk (really fast) to a store and put in some supplies for the next day ... Labour Day, when all the stores would be closed.  Back in the motel, we ate some dinner and watched the "Big Bang Theory" marathon.  At some point the room started to feet like a prison cell!  We called our neighbour and asked him to look after our cats.

Monday dawned ... and it was cold ... and guess what ... my jacket was still balled up under the leaky console in the van ... locked in the garage across the street.  So the dogs got some quick walks, and Steve let them run off leash behind the hotel a few times.  They are such good dogs ... but they were stressed too ... all cooped up in the room for most of the day.  We had a short dog fight ... I hate those.  Alfie is Alfa in our house ... and every now and then he likes to make a statement. 

Poor Tucker, he never sees it coming.  He never fights back ... he just tries to get away.  It lasted just seconds, Steve pulled Alfie off Tucker, who limped away leaving a trail of blood!  I ran to Tuck, found the wound and applied some presure with a facecloth.  With Steve's help we examined the bite to his upper leg ... is looked terrible ... and we cleaned the fur away ... and it bled more.  Our first aid kit was locked in the van!  I kept pressure on Tuck's leg while Steve ran to the nearest drug store ... thank goodness it was open ... but it took an hour for him to get back.  By then most of the bleeding had stopped, so we just left it be.  Tuck softly licked at it.

Steve purchased some time on the computer in the motel lobby.  He sent his boss an e-mail, letting her know that he'd not be at work on Tuesday ... then he checked the sketch support site.  When he returned to the room (I was still watching Big Bang) he told me that I had won the sketch book give-away!  He gave me his computer card and I dashed to the lobby.  I checked Allison's site, and wow ... what a rush.  So many people had selected my layouts as their favorite!  So then I e-mailed my boss and then Allsion to claim my prize!

Tuesday morning Tucker's leg looked great!   I packed up our stuff and Steve headed over to the garage.  Guess what ... the dealer didn't have the part ... no one did.  They were going to have it sent from Toronto ... which would probably cost us another day!  Steve asked them to check the wreckers, which they did, and they found a part ... which was not even delivered until after 1 o'clock in the afternoon.  The good people at the Comfort Inn had let us stay until 1, but we had to check out then ... they were fully booked for that night.

We sat at a picnic table at the Harvey's next door and ate some lunch.  Even in the sun it was cold.  Then we walked over to the garage ... and there ... sitting in the parking lot was our van!  I loaded the dogs and Steve headed in to the service area.

It was over!  We drove home ... and we didn't stop, not once.  We arrived home around 8 in the evening.  We were exhausted ... the dogs were so happy to be home, and to run ... really run in the yard.

Our long weekend sucked!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Weekend Lost

So, that was 4 days that I'll never get back ....

We decided to head up to Killarney again, this time for at least 2 days ... maybe 3 depending on the weather.  We were looking forward to playing on the dog beach, eating fishy and chippie and even walking a couple of trails ... easy ones.

But none of that happened, instead the van broke down on the highway in the middle of nowhere ... well, actually just south of the Pickerel River.  Steve pulled the van over as far as he could ... at least 2 feet off the road.  Oh, and I left my wallet at home which contained my CAA card, which made getting a tow somewhat tedious.  And while we waited for the tow, the rain came down and the wind blew ... transport trucks passed within inches of us (bastards!).  I was afraid that we would be hit and killed right there on the side of the road.  And then water began to pour in from the overhead console, WTF!  Thats never happened before!  We put the only absorbant thing under it, my jacket ... and we waited and waited.

Finally the truck showed up ... a flatbed ... and the pups had to stay in the van.  Steve and I crammed ourselves up with the driver ... and I mean crammed!  The drivers stick shift was firmly jammed against my stomach!  How embarassing!  But he was a real nice guy and we had alot in common, so we chatted pleasantly while we were towed to Sudbury ... an hour long drive.

I was never so happy to get out of any vehicle ... my legs were cramped and my knees were killing me ... it's a long way down from one of those things!  The van rolled off the truck and all 3 pups were so happy to see us ... we put them on leashes and got them out of the garage.  Luckily, the rain had stopped for a bit.  Steve spoke with the service department and then we headed to the hotel.  Rather than walking all the way to the Holiday Inn ~1.5 km ... our preferred motel while travelling, we decided to walk across the road to the Comfort Inn, and they had a pet friendly room available.

At this point I was so relieved and happy.  We were all together, and we were all safe ... that was the most important thing to me!  And the news not too bad.  The service department could work on our van on Sunday ... it should take only ~ 2 hours ... we'd still have time to play in Killarney the next day.  We ordered delivery from Swiss Chalet and went to bed early ... we were exhausted!

to be continued ...

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Gallery Week - Earth Day

My final layout went up yesterday, here's the post.



"Earth Day" by Michele Edwardsbased on Two-page Sketch #8
Picked by creative team member Christine Chain

What I love about this layout:

1) How she used the Earth as the circle in this layout. Set against the black background, it really stands out and complements the theme.

2) The brads in variegated blue. Again, it just fits the theme and shows how you can interpret the use of a "strip of paper" to fit your needs

It was a great week ... I loved seeing my layouts up on Allison's blog and I loved the very kind comments from everyone.  It's not really over yet.  Allison has asked her viewers to pick their favorites, and again my layouts have been selected ... not as frequently ... but it's still a rush!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Gallery Week - Sweet Miss Myst

It's Thursday and another layout up on Sketch Support!  My head is spinning!





"Sweet Miss Myst" by Michele Edwardsbased on the October Sketch Week sketch from Allison's blog
Picked by creative team member Megan Bickers

1. I loved how she added the black ribbon swirl to the layout. Keeps my eye moving and keeps it interesting. Also works perfectly with the cat theme.

2. I also really like how she added her journaling and the gemstones along the same lines as the ribbon. Really reinforces that theme and adds a great place for journaling without distracting from the layout design.

3. I love how she added the title over the printed word paper. Gives a graphic feel to the layout and a great way to use the themed word paper!

You know ... even though I liked this layout, it never really jumped out at anyone ... until now.  Kinda makes the hassle of sewing that ribbon down worth it! 

And, I'm off work tomorrow ... Loooooong weekend!  Happy Happy Joy Joy