Picture taken at the top of Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, Canada,
where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held.
This is Inukshuk (In - nook - shook), the provincial Olympic Symbol.

Hi Everybody!

This is actually just a note to say goodbye to all my xanga friends. Needless to say it's been awhile since I have posted and my daughter was up to her usual mischief. I'm not sure why she thought I wouldn't know she posted since I get the email notifications of messages! Oh well - I let her think she pulled one over on me!

Life has gotten very busy for my daughters and I.   M_is_for_Mommy started a new job and her little ones are off to school this year.  Choco_milk_mom (or however it is suppose to be written!) is also starting a new job this Sept. and at the same time putting her home on the market and building another! She has closed down her site but asked me to pass on her best wishes to you as well.  As for myself, my hubby and I have done a lot of travelling this summer and it's all been great. My job continues to keep me busier than ever on the computer, thus I really don't spend a lot of free time on it anymore.

Xanga was a wonderful season and perhaps I will pick up again someday. I enjoyed meeting each and everyone of you and sharing your many experiences. I laughed with you, prayed for you and now I wish you the best in all you attempt to do. Perhaps we will meet in xanga land again someday!

BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL!!!!! 

IT WAS YESTERDAY FOR ME!

Just a quick post as I'm nursing a nasty cold right now and I'm kind of fuzzy headed with it. I have decided to get back on track with Weight Watchers. My most immediate goal is to drop a dress size in 1 month. Not sure if that's realistic or not but if I don't, I'll have to pick up a few outfits for our cruise!!!!! Anyways, I signed on to a WW message board for the "Nifty Fifties". There's not a lot to it --- It's okay --- but they sure don't feel like family like xanga! Anyways, I'll keep you posted on my progress - sort of like accountability friends!

Have a great day!

This wonderful boardwalk started back at the spot where we climbed the rocks to the beginning of the 1 kilometre trail that wove its way up and down, over & around and through the woods to the back of the only house on Malei Island. You might be able to see the little red ATV that carried all our supplies in and out. Jackie and I watched as Pat almost drove it over the side trying to turn it around in tight quarters. Mo jumped on the still grounded side to keep it from slipping off --- see - all those chocolates and red licorice & pumpkin squares and...... paid off this weekend!

Mo & Pat went kayaking and this is a shot of the house from the waterfront. Jackie & I are on the porch having just come back from our own little walk.

Yes - we had warm sunshine - the company of each other - great food - books and this view - WOW - how blessed can you get!

! 

This is a view from the side of the house.

There were lots of stairways leading to different parts of the beach. The one on the left led to the side beach and the one on the right led to the heli-pad area (You can see that in the pic where the storm is starting to brew). Without any railings on this one, Jackie and I went down ever so carefully so as not to slip. We finally found a spot on the rocks to sit for a bit then looked like a couple of ninety year olds trying to peel ourselves off the barnacle clad "couch" and make our way back up those stairs!

While we didn't get a chance to use this hot tub, (It is a huge undertaking to fill and heat it for one weekend), it was a beauty to look at just the same!

While the daffs don't last for long, they sure have a commanding view here!

Speaking of commanding views - this was ours from the living room!

We had soooooo much fun and we felt more rested after just a few days than we have on other more lengthy holidays. There were so many funny moments like when Jackie didn't know what hit her when Pat unplugged one toilet while she used the other one! It was only a sudden burst of air folks but boy did we hear Jackie scream!!! And there was this raven that we fed the scraps to that scared me half to death when I almost ran into him and he just stared me down almost nose to nose! Just watching us trying to get in and out of dinghys or up and down rocky trails was worth the price of admission!

If that wasn't enough, the wildlife we saw was so beautiful -  baldheaded eagles, baby pup seal (check out the pic at Jackie's site puzzlequeen ) and over a hundred dolphins swimming all around our boat as they fed in the bay - awesome!

Okay - so - our adventure began with our flight to Port Hardy in a 19 seater prop plane. Like a very conscientious traveller, I packed my nail clipper in my suitcase so as not to lose it at the security check in. Hmmmmm - security check-in??? NOT! I didn't even have to  show a ticket let alone identification. They just checked us off on the computer as being there and gave us a boarding pass. This was necessary to hand the girl at the door where we exited to the tarmac - no baggage, purse, or metal checks - nothing. I went thru the door and had to pick which plane we would go to so I decided to follow the nice looking man in the pilot's uniform and just hope he was going to the same place we were! It worked and when we boarded I asked if this was a "just sit where ever you want " kind of thing (since I had already scoured my boarding pass for some indication of a seat number and couldn't find one!) Oh yes - did I mention they didn't remind us that the cockpit door must remain closed at all times? Could be because there wasn't a door! It made for an interesting flight watching the pilot fiddlewith all the controls! Well - all  in all, the flight was just fine - noisy and bumpy - but no terrorists to take advantage of it!!!!

This next pic is Jackie and Pat's Pitbull - "Kyook". I've never been too fond of pitbulls - at least not since the elevator door of our condo opened and one lunged at me but was stopped by its short leash! This guy had the habit of sitting on my feet and not letting me go anywhere! He loved the attention and really was a docile loveable old bear!

Okay the next few pics are meant to help you get a "feel" for the weather. Look for signs of WIND, WAVES and CHOP before we ever get out of the protected harbour! Jackie - bless her - didn't tell us until after we safely arrived at the island that there were gale force storm warnings that day!

Jackie and Pat

Our friends told us in advance that we would be mooring at a floating dock then taking ourselves, our luggage, and all our supplies to shore aboard a "skiff". Well - here's the "skiff"! I watched Jackie go first then I followed. We had to climb up those rocks to get to the boardwalk trail.

I can't believe we fit in that!!!!!!!

So the adventure began..... More pics & stories in the next post!  For a sneak preview, perhaps you could welcome my friend Jackie to xanga-land. We got her set up on her own site this weekend. It won't take long to figure out her site name:

www.xanga.com/puzzlequeen

Blessings!