It’s been so warm I decided it would likely stay that way forever, and then it snowed.  I’ve never dug dahlia bulbs out of snow-covered ground before, so it was quite annoying.  The mud, snow, frozen stalks, and damage to the drip irrigation system due to not being able to see a thing made me mad at myself for procrastinating.

And I did the same with the fruitcake business, so it’s all kind of terrible right now.  I had no idea Country Woman magazine is sold in Canada, so imagine my surprise at new orders.  When I asked where they heard of my company, they said cheerily, “Country Woman.”  One woman added she was sure I was going to get tons of orders.

I really wonder why I spend spring and summer humming around, dreaming of anything but the fruitcakes, and then in the fall I feel sick.  Today at the bulk food store I said to the manager I really think nobody will want my product, and then I’m surprised each time.  Though now that it’s occurred eight years in a row, you’d think I’d plan for it.

Because I pretended I don’t really have a fruitcake business, I didn’t pre-order any glace fruit.  So when I arrived and jauntily requested my usual gigantic boxes of each kind of fruit, they said they were out, and the fruit was on order.  I felt momentarily perplexed, but then thought oh well, I’m off to Thailand in one week, so it’ll be here when I return.

The sad thing is when I return on December 2nd all jet-lagged, and if I have to bake like a lunatic that week, I’ll be mad.  But I’ll have the memory of the trip and the wedding to re-play as I chop pecans and chocolate and line tins with parchment paper.

Another interesting thing I haven’t bothered with is taking inventory.  Hence, when I looked at the number of boxes I have on hand I realized I have to order a few hundred immediately.  I’m also almost out of the bags for vacuum sealing, and they come from Vancouver.  It’s all kind of heart-stopping at this late date, I can assure you.

But then as I was lying in bed the other night, weeping, I thought wait a minute.  I decided I have to totally get a grip on this business, or it’s going to kill me.  When I started I decided to call the company Nuttier than a Fruitcake, because fruitcake was going to be my only product.

Then I don’t know why, I added on the idiotic chocolate bark idea.  And you know, tempering chocolate isn’t my thing.  You have to stand there, holding a thermometer in melted chocolate and it has to be to the exact degree.  I far prefer grabbing a handful of fruitcake dough and plopping it into tins.

So I said to my web designer please remove all vestiges of chocolate bark, because honest to God, I hate making that stuff.  Now I’m back to where I should have remained, which is solely in the fruitcake business. I’m now focusing on increasing web sales, as I just have a tiny amount of product in stores.

But here you have an example of one good thing that came from procrastinating.  Because I hate the bark, and therefore didn’t make any, I had to remove it entirely from my site, or I would’ve been pushed over the edge by orders. Hopefully now I can concentrate on my original goal.

I’ve never had dahlias blooming past Halloween, so the weather’s strange here as well.  Though of course compared to the East Coast, it’s wonderful, but it’s very evident the world’s getting warmer.  Just now I looked out to see a little swarm of tiny flies manically circling and circling in a small ball over the hedge.

But we know how suddenly things can change, and it’s not unusual for it to go to minus 20 here in the Okanagan in mid-November.  That’s about the time I should be boarding my plane for balmy Bangkok for Luke’s wedding.  I’m starting to get excited about meeting my prospective daughter-in-law.  I’ve never been a mother-in-law before.

I have two weeks to get ready for the trip, and that means two weeks to do all of my fruitcake prep for the season!  Once I return on December 3 I don’t think I’ll have the strength to do anything buy ship.

As it turns out, Luke didn’t have yellow fever, and told me the name of what it was, but I quickly forgot it.  In any case, I went to the Travel Clinic, and said, “load me up.”  One of the shots, either typhoid or tetanus, hurt like the dickens, and the next day it felt like my shoulder had been kicked and consequently lamed, by a mule.

This week I not only got the shots, but also travel insurance, had my teeth cleaned, and my hair cut and dyed.  Because I don’t want to do any laundry on the trip I bought some extra underwear.  I believe I’m now almost completely ready for the ordeal before me.  Today I’m on my way to Osoyoos for the rest of my travel gear.

Gerry, at 97 and mom at 87, have ceased being world travellers, so I’m going to use some of their stuff. They have a couple of giant suitcases, as well as neck pillows, adapters for power plugs and pills for terrifying, unexpected diarrhea.  Once I get home with one of the giant suitcases tomorrow, I can start to pack the gifts I have for the fam.

It’s very difficult to know what a rice farmer in a tiny village in the jungle wants or needs.  I’ve been told chocolate is very popular, so went to Costco and stocked up on several boxes.  I got Old Man Bunyung (my age apparently) one of those fancy multi-function tool sets, so he can fix the hut as needed.

You’ll recall my neighbour built a huge house across the road from me, though as I’m on a hill, I always have the advantage of being able to block unpleasant views.  Because instead of looking at trees as I used to, I’ve spent the past several months looking at workmen.  Though I haven’t needed a blind on my dining room window for 22 years, I do now, so I ordered one of those nice cellular ‘top down, bottom up’ kind.

This way I can block out the house, but still see the trees and sky above the blind so it should be acceptable.  You know when you’ve never had window coverings, something like that can be very traumatic.

Luke left for Thailand a little over a week ago, and he phoned to say he’s already contracted Yellow Fever!  It’s not even recommended as an immunization, so go figure how the kid contracted it in a country that’s not supposed to have it.  But he said once his temperature registered 41 degrees C he decided to head for the hospital where he was diagnosed with it.

He’s fine, and the wedding’s still on, so all’s well.  While in the hospital he also got every immunization he should have gotten before he left, but didn’t, and advised me to do the same.  I had smugly reviewed the information provided by the travel clinic and said no thanks.  Just now I phoned them for an appointment and will be there next week to get loaded up with injections.

But instead of feeling daunted, I feel invigorated by the challenges before me.  When I go on a trip I study my itinerary the way Romney studies the Book of Mormon.  I keep reading the departure and arrival times, trying to picture what it’ll be like on the plane, and try to imagine actually sleeping on the plane.

You know how you’re supposed to visualize things to make them happen, so I’m visualizing myself fast asleep, pressed against the window of the plane.  I’ll be landing in Hong Kong at 3:00 AM my time, and will need to stumble toward another gate to catch my flight for Bangkok.  I see myself actually finding the correct gate in my mind.

Another fascinating, though less rigorous experience occurred on Monday when I showed up as summoned for jury selection.  It was really interesting, and I met some very nice people while in the line.  We had to stand outside the courthouse for about an hour, because around 400 people had been called.

By the time we got inside, all the seats were taken, so I had to stand.  Finally at 1:00 we were allowed a break for an hour so I drove home, just so I could sit down.  I changed shoes, and returned, and was able to sit for the remainder of the wait.

Our names had gone into a draw, and one by one, people were called to be interviewed by the lawyers on each side, and then either they were dismissed, or else they stayed, and therefore became a juror.  This process took until 4:30 PM when suddenly the large wave of humanity surged toward the door with jubilation, and we were told juror #12 had been chosen, so we were all dismissed.

I received a complimentary copy of Country Woman magazine because I’m mentioned in their upcoming Dec/Jan issue.   You’ll be able to see it on-line in a month or two.  It’s a very sweet article all about fruitcake, and they have a great recipe I want to try.  I feel like experimenting with some new fruitcakes, just for the fun of it.

I received a nice order from someone who Googled fruitcake and found my site.  She wanted fruitcakes sent to her 102 year old mother in Montreal.  She mentioned she used to order from Gramma Deb’s Fruitcakes, but thought she wasn’t in business anymore.

I went on-line and found Gramma Deb’s, and there’s a sad story.  The site is live, but the note says, “I have not been well so I am not baking this year.”  I pray to God that isn’t me following the Thailand trip!

At least three of my friends have been to Italy this fall.  I was there with my mom when I was 19, and I just hated it.  The reason was I wasn’t accustomed to men stalking me wherever I went, saying “bella bella bella” in my face all the time.  Now I want to return to Italy, because I’d kill to be stalked by men again and also for anyone, anywhere to use the word “bella” in reference to me.

A person (read woman) becomes invisible over the age of 50, and it can be disconcerting.  More upsetting are comments from people I meet and to whom I say I still have a kid living at home with me.  They look at me alarmed, ask the age of the kid, and then respond with something like, “Wow, you must’ve been old when you had your first child.”

Such are the slings and arrows aimed at the primigravida.  It’s a medical term, meaning a mother giving birth for the first time at or over the age of 35.  I actually don’t fit the term, but enjoy it.  I was 32 when Luke was born, and 35 when I had Nicky, but I wear the label proudly nonetheless.

I was an apparition at the annual library book sale yesterday.  It was crammed with people, as always.  I was browsing the Travel books section, and found a book on bowel health while in Asian countries, called Shitting Pretty.  I picked it up, then found it necessary to tell the stranger next to me I needed the book for my imminent trip to Thailand.

Sadly, this man couldn’t give a fig about me, my book, or the trip, so acted like I wasn’t there, and moved away!  Honestly, some people.  But it was a great sale, as I got a New York Times dessert cookbook with over 400 recipes and lots of nice pictures.  Every book was $1 or $2, so hard to go wrong there.

Last week my friend Beverly and I devoted a full day to thrift shopping and I got some wonderful things.  I got a new suede, sheepskin lined jacket for $20 at the Sally Ann.  It’s a beautiful pale beige, and I found a great pair of shoes to go with it at The Village. Joy!

I attended a once-in-a-lifetime event in Penticton last Saturday.  It was a Celebration of Life, with the recipient in attendance!  You know how people always say they’d like to able to attend their own funerals?  Our friend Liz planned her own celebration by picking the photos and music for the slide show, inviting the guests and then welcoming us all with a speech at the beginning.  I’ll never forget it.

And another unusual, though less dramatic event occurred on Monday.  My school pay Maryjoy (one of our “group” from Osoyoos Elementary Junior Secondary School days) had a stopover in Kelowna, so I invited her to join us for dinner.  Luke was coming home from Alberta, on his way to Thailand, so Denis was coming over, and of course Nicky lives here.

When I served dinner, Maryjoy said, “Shouldn’t we grace the food?”  The four of us look at each and stared blankly, kinda like Romney does whenever someone asks him to explain his former pro-choice stance.  I stammered something like, “Please, you go ahead.”  Fortunately, she didn’t think badly of us, we held hands, we prayed, and all was well.  Afterward I had to endure a small tongue-lashing from the heathen brats, but I didn’t care.

You may recall me talking about the joy of being able to work from home.  However, I’m used to being here alone, as everyone else has always had jobs outside the home.  Not anymore, though.

Now that Nicky’s started his job as a contractor to Telus, he works from home most of the time!  Can you imagine?  The joy of working from home has been somewhat mitigated by the presence of someone who hardly ever appears to be ‘working’ at all.

Oh well, it’s the new world order, I suppose.  But as long as we’re all working, I should give a rat’s ass about how or where we do it.  And now both children earn a lot more money than their dear old mom so perhaps the worm’s turned, and finally I’ll be the person with their hands out, begging, “Please sir, may I have some more?”  Cue the orphan from Oliver!

I was in Osoyoos for Thanksgiving, and we had the pleasure of having the dinner prepared by mom’s pal, Jerralynn, the gourmet cook.  Nicky was there, as he wouldn’t have missed it for the world, and as always mom knows only the most interesting people in town.

One of only two females in the Canadian Armed Forces to make the rank of Major General, Lise Mathieu, was one of the guests.  Osoyoos boasts such interesting retirees, and if they’re truly interesting, they end up having dinner with mom and Gerry.

My pal from teacher of the deaf days in Prince George, Beverly, is coming tonight to stay for a couple of days.  Tomorrow we have the entire day set aside for our favourite activity, which is thrift store shopping.  A few days ago I spent $6 for a scarf and a pair of brand new sandals, so that’s the kind of thing I enjoy.

The other day I idly thought of buying a new stove, as mine’s a complete mess after only 15 years, but of hard use.  It has one of those ceramic tops, but it’s cracked in one area, and stained all over the top where the pots sit, so it’s just hideous.  But then, I went no.  Since I’ve committed myself to this new self-directed RSP program, I’m in a total austerity mode.

And God knows, I need to be as I’m also going to need money for Thailand.  Joe Miller, the nice man who’s helping me with my savings fund, has a son who lives in Bangkok.  He’s married to a Thai woman so I’ve been in contact with them.  They said the best thing to do is to get tons of baht in various denominations for the wedding.

Apparently everyone hands everyone else baht in envelopes, and you also give money to the monks who attend the ceremony.  Obviously the last thing I need is a new stove when I have to be lavishing dough around a tiny Thai village.

But I’m buying dates and apricots this weekend, and will prepare the fruit for some Okanagan Harvest Cakes.  Once I’ve made a few cases, I’ll make a few Totally Decadents, and then that’s it.  On my site I removed all stores, except for two in Kelowna, and the rest of the world have to order on-line.  Hopefully sales will be half decent, and then Joe Miller, my money guru, and the Thai village will be happy.

Mojo’s quietened down over the years, as she’s 12, but Ricky still enjoys barking quite a lot.  Because of his incessant barking, I don’t pay attention to it.  But the other day it went on and on, and I thought I should see what was bothering the little dog.

I looked down the driveway, and there was a huge coyote on one side of my gate, and the tiny dachshund on the other side, barking furiously.  The coyote was just standing there, parallel to the gate and looking down at my dog.  It was so big and healthy-looking at first I thought it was a German sheperd.

When I came out it ran off, and later when I looked out of my office window, I could see it run across the neighbour’s field.  Since then I’ve been completely paranoid as this occurred in the middle of the day, and so at night I now have to go out with the dogs.

Nicky said we seem to be on some type of migratory path.  Bears, raccoons, deer and now coyotes all enjoy my yard.  All I can say as a pet owner is it’s rather disturbing.

Did I mention my mom’s learning how to use Skype?  It’s nice because now she’s able to converse with and see Luke or me whenever the urge hits.  I think both mom and Luke look very nice, but when I see the little box in the corner of myself, I think I look like hell.  I wonder if that’s normal.

I’ve been consulted over the past few months by the owner of a new cracker company here in the Okanagan called Savor-Otti.  It’s savoury biscotti, hence the name.  It’s been wonderful to talk with Margaret Ann about how to start a home based food business.

And of course it makes me mad, because how many times have I said I’m going to write a how-to book on starting a home based food business while knowing nothing?  Perhaps someday I will, but so far, nada.

Instead, I do things like experiment with making chicken jerky for the dogs.  Did you hear how horribly unhealthy those commercially-made chicken jerky treats are?  Some dogs have died as a result of eating them.

Jerralynn said they’re easy to make, so I gave it a whirl.  First of all, you have to buy chicken breasts, skin and de-bone them, and cut them into narrow strips.  I did all that, and then put them into a low oven for 4 hours.  They were fine, but not chewy.

Jerralynn said I didn’t leave them in long enough, so last evening I put in a batch and left them overnight so it was a total of 12 hours.  They seem better, but still not like the very flat, chewy strips I used to buy.  Oh well, better that they’re healthy even if they don’t look like the original.

Last weekend I had tremendous fun because I cleaned out my closets, and amassed two huge bags of clothes and shoes for the Salvation Army.  I have so much stuff and so much more needs to be hauled in here, so room needs to be made.

As you know, in November I’m off to Thailand, so I plan to shop like a Kardashian on Ecstasy.  I’m leaving my suitcase 2/3 empty so I can stock it with Gucci and Prada knock-offs.

Boredom’s the worst thing for the impulsive person.  When bored, I start to look for ways to shake things up, and often tend to overdo it in my zeal to stop the ennui.  And I often don’t even know where I’m headed, other than telling myself I’m open to new ideas.

There I was, talking to a friend of mom and Gerry’s about Thailand, when it occurred to me this friend’s helped his kids make a ton of money in their RRSP’s through stocks.  So I said, Hey Joe, can you please look at my mutual funds and give me your advice?

I think that was about 36 hours ago, and I’ve already been to RBC and back, where he sent me to open a self-directed RRSP account.  This should be interesting.  I can barely fill in a simple form on-line, and now I’ll have to look at stocks and buy and sell them.  I know what you’re thinking, but I haven’t lost my mind.  Really, I haven’t; this will be forced learning, hence growth.

The poor person who helped me fill out the form probably had her misgivings.  She was asking me questions, and filling out the form, which I told her I tried to do at home and couldn’t.  That was Clue #1.  Then later on, she asked which institution holds my mortgage, and I said, “Um gee, I really don’t know!”  Clue #2.

But I have to try this new venture to help me be financially okay in the long run.  Because as you well know, in the short run I need money to buy Canadian-made goods to take to the prospective family in Thailand.  I also need an excessive amount of money for the pets.  Right now Mojo’s at the vet’s having her teeth cleaned, and the estimate provided was $900.

As well, even though Nicky started his job at the end of August, he’s just getting his first paycheque next week.  I’ve been running a tab for that kid, and just for his day to day insanities, he owes me around $4,000!  I can’t wait until he moves out and starts getting bills in the mail.

I know thinking one’s going to strike it rich in the stock market is folly.  However, it’s as much fun to try as many other crazy things.  Such as those new, funky synthetic eye lashes.  I’m going to have some applied for Thailand, so I don’t have to worry about mascara.

Anyway, a new season’s always a good time to try new things.  So besides learning how to run my own RRSP and getting false eye lashes, I’ve been listening to very interesting lectures on a Buddhist site at www.humuh.org.  Check it out, as the lectures are really enlightening.

I was invited to Petra and Larry’s for dinner on Sunday, and as the weather was so nice we sat outside for quite a while.  Petra’s German, and is related to my pal Kathy from the gym, and that’s how I know her.  They had a German cousin visiting from Berlin, so I always get invited to Petra and Larry’s when a bit of Deutsch needs to be thrown around.  It’s always good practice.

Their friend Elaine, who I’ve met several times before, was there, and she’d brought homemade cream puffs.  I’m definitely going to make them, and then I’ll be sure to post the recipe either in a newsletter or on my Facebook page.  Honest to God, they were to die for.  Hurray, another new thing to try.

I never thought I’d ever experience a panic attack, so I was quite surprised when I did.  Actually, they only happened at night, and I had to get right out of bed as my heart was beating rapidly, my hands were shaking and I had a head to toe feeling of dread.  I’m describing this all as though it’s firmly and permanently in the past, as I hope it is.  I’ve experienced four in total and don’t want anymore of them.

God only knows where these unpleasant things originate.  I do know our thoughts directly influence our feelings, so I’ve been giving myself some fairly stern talking-tos.  I ask myself why I’d have something as ignorant as a panic attack, remind myself that’s all it is, and therefore it’s nothing to get worried about, and tell myself to stop it.  So far, it’s worked.

No such luck with the compulsive eating, of course.  I find myself behaving like a sane and rational person until around 7:00 PM.  At that time, a couple of 100 calorie Revels and a couple of bags of Praeventia cookies really hit the spot.  Sadly, the old spot’s growing.

I weighed myself today and decided instead of throwing the scale right out, I’d try to remain calm.  After all, didn’t I say I was going to stop dieting for a while?  I can see that’s folly.  For someone with eating issues, I believe saying one is going to stop dieting is like a newly reformed smoker saying they’re going to light a cigarette and hold it, but not inhale.

But on a happy fashion note, both tunics and peplums are huge this season.  Both are perfect for the stout person who stores most of their fat around their midriff.  Even though you’re probably thinking one or two of the 30 tops I already have might be okay, but you’d be wrong, as there’s not a tunic or a peplum among them.

I Skyped with Jan, Luke’s fiancee in Thailand yesterday.  She’s absolutely adorable, and I love her so much already.  She said it’s the rainy season right now, and as I’ve decided against malaria meds because of the side-effects, I pray it’s over when I arrive so I don’t come home with malaria.

But really, I’ve talked to several people who took malaria pills and they described nausea and hallucinations during dreaming.  Can you see where this is going?  Here I am, with newly developed panic attacks that only occur at night, and then I’m going to hit Thailand and pop malaria meds.  It’s a recipe for disaster if you ask me.

So I said to the rather surprised Travel Clinic doctor I’d have to say no thanks to her recommendation on the malaria pills, and would return for the typhoid shot if I decide to get that.  I mean, for three days in the tiny village, I think all of this is overkill.

I’ll just smear Deet on myself, and put on long sleeved, long panted PJ’s, wear cotton gloves and socks and then cover myself in a mosquito net before bedding down on my mat in the open-sided shack.  I’m very seriously wondering if a few Depends might not be the wise way to deal with my 2-3 trips to the bathroom (ie open field) in the middle of the night.  Maybe we’re coming closer to the source of these new panic attacks after all.

As Alison was coming all the way to Kelowna from Toronto for the weekend, I made sure I laid in a large supply of Okanagan fruits and vegetables.  I stupidly thought the yellow sugar plums would make a great fool (fruit and whipped cream) but they’re quite tasteless, so it wasn’t any good.  The lesson learned was that all fools need to be made with berries or cherries.

We visited Liz in Penticton on Saturday and had lunch at the Hooded Merganser, which is such a beautifully-located restaurant, right on Okanagan Lake.  And I do mean on the lake, as it’s built on stilts over the water!  I had a very nice chicken club, and we washed it all down with a Gehringer Bros. Ehrenfelser.

Here’s my new logic regarding food consumption.  I figure as I’m off to Thailand in two months, and will very likely lose weight while there, it’s pointless to diet before I leave.  I had to pull myself together to get ready for my niece’s wedding and the 40th reunion, and now that those events are over, I’m going to cut myself some slack.

Are you a friend of mine on Facebook?  If not, you should be, as I have pictures on there from time to time.  It would allow you to track the continual expansion and contraction of my waistline.

Tomorrow at 2:30 I’m off to the so-called Travel Clinic to get hosed for a consultation and immunizations that I may or may not need.  However, as I’m going into the rural northern area of Thailand, I figure I may as well not come home with malaria and typhoid fever if I can avoid them.

Nicky started his new job at Telus, and is right back at the old office where he started at the age of 17!  Whereas the last time he worked there he had no idea how sweet his job was, this time he knows he’s fortunate and is trying hard to figure out what to do.  Most of the time he’s home in the early afternoon which makes me think I’d like his job, too.

Then in the midst of the mental and physical preparations for my trip to Thailand, I got a letter in the mail from the Sherriff, which nearly gave me a heart attack.  I always assume I’m guilty of something, but it was just a summons for jury duty.

I love the idea of being on a jury, having seen it portrayed so fascinatingly so many times in movies over the years.  However, it says it’s for a three-week jury trial slated to begin on October 15th.  I leave for Thailand on November 18th, so if the trial runs over I have to tell them I’m outta here.

I used their ‘excuse form’ on-line and explained about my travel plans, and they replied: Nope, excuse denied tell it to the judge on October 15th.  So I hope I can explain to him/her that as excited and happy as I am to finally find out what occurs when a jury hangs out, there’s no power on Earth that can stop me from going to my baby’s wedding.

I was telling Alison about it, and as a she’s a journalist, she could see the potential.  I said if I’m forced to be a juror, and if the trial runs over, then I will be getting my 15 minutes of fame.  I’m one of those unpredictable types of people who can go absolutely berserk at the drop of a hat.  I’m sure it’ll all be fine, and I won’t have to protest naked, like a Doukhobor.

As you may know, my blog hasn’t worked for at least two weeks, so I’m now hoping this is visible (and postable).  In any case, I felt bad as I wanted to let you know how the recent events in my life went.  The first one, a wedding, occurred on the August 25 weekend, and was my niece Julie’s wedding. She’s my brother Freddie’s youngest daughter.

Freddie and Wendy bought a great house on Whonnock Lake in Maple Ridge.  It’s a two-acre property, so the wedding was held on the sprawling lawn with the lovely lake in the background.  I’d driven down with mom;  Nicky and Andre, the German visitor, drove with Luke who showed up at the last minute.  So all of the Schillers were represented at the wedding.

Mom and I left the wedding party at a decent hour, and returned to our room at the Best Western in Maple Ridge.  In the morning I tried to call Luke and Nicky at their motel, but no reply.  Mom and I drove to Freddie’s for brunch on Sunday and finally around noon Nicky and Luke showed up, looking slightly worse for wear, as did Julie and her new husband, Jason.

As it turned out, Nicky, Luke and the couple were the last to leave my brother’s at around 3:00 AM.  They called a cab, and Julie described the scene, as she said they decided they were hungry so made the cab pull into a McDonald’s drive-thru.  Julie said their lab, Rider, was on her lap as they got their food.  It must’ve been quite the scene for the food server.

Luke calls them Bed Burgers, and said the last thing he recalls is the bite of McDonald’s hamburger he ate before “falling asleep.”  I guess passing out would be more apt.  The bride said she insisted on them eating their McDonald’s food in bed, too, so it must be a genetic thing.

Then this past weekend I was at my 40th high school reunion in Oliver.  It was organized by Oliver people, and so of course a lot more Oliver than Osoyoos people showed up.  I felt bad as I thought I should’ve tried harder myself to get the word out.  Next time.  By the 50th we’ll have it all under control.

And now Alison’s coming from Toronto this weekend, and we’re going to visit Liz in Penticton!  So the socializing seems to be continuing.