Karma

Main Entry: kar·ma

Pronunciation: \ˈkär-mə also ˈkər-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Sanskrit karma fate, work
Date: 1827

: the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence

My sister is a beautiful, amazing, intelligent woman, but she is also very lucky. No, not just lucky.... horseshoes-up-her-ass-cushioned-with-a-bouquet-of-four-leaf-clovers kind of lucky. I went to Nelson on the weekend to visit her and to take a friend out for a birthday dinner. We had a really nice time having dinner, shooting pool and dancing. Throughout the night, Karen misplaced her cell phone a couple of times... her work cell phone. However, she always managed to find it up until the end of the night. Nope. It was nowhere.

The next day we went to town shopping and checked everywhere for it. We retraced our steps but it was nowhere to be found. Karen was a bit worried, but she said "It will turn up. That's why I don't have to worry about my stuff... it just always works out."

I received an email from Karen today. Here's what it said, in a nutshell:

"Guess what happened with my cell phone?! I went to work and confessed that I'd lost it and my boss told me that she ordered a new cell phone for me last week and that it had arrived. She said not to worry about it at all. Then, two hours later some nice person showed up at the office and returned the one I lost!"

The only explanation I have for Karen's good karma is that she was the equivalent of Mother Teresa in her past life. (Ok, and is a total sweetheart in this one.)

Yeah.

Wanna know what happened to me this week? I was walking and blew my knee out. Not power walking, not diving in front of a train to save a small child... no. Just walking into Tana's office to say 'hi'. I didn't twist my knee. I didn't fall. I just took a step. A normal fucking step.

Explanation? I was the equivalent of George Bush in a past life. How do I know this? Because I think I'm a pretty decent gal in this one. (There are people who would disagree.)

Holy Cats. Honestly. Karma.

Brats

My Babies.

One of my favourite things to do once spring arrives to to drive down to the beach with the kids and Doc and just explore. The little ones (Jack and Bridget) find rocks and treasures while Connor and I walk along the shore, talking and throwing the stick for the dog.

Not a big blog post today... just a little note to keep Barb happy (a.k.a. 'shut her up') and to show how great a simple Sunday can be.

If anyone can help me come up with a method for making Jack smile in photos, there is a margarita in it for you. So far, the only thing that Connor and I have come up with is to whisper very inappropriate things in his ear. I'm not necessarily against that, but it would be nice to have an alternative for family functions.

Blind Bay Bitchiosity

I know, I know. You're very likely sick of hearing about Blind Bay, but this is a gooder! (I promise....)

It all began when I decided to show my gratitude to Barb's friends in Blind Bay by cooking a dinner for them. They have been so kind to me and so welcoming that I wanted to do something nice for them......


Before I go too far, I just need to say "HOLLY".

(Holly has a dream of being mentioned in my blog. As you can see from the previous sentence, she obviously has low expectations and is easy to please. That's why she's an excellent friend for me.) Holly was renamed "Hannah Montana" on this crazy Blind Bay weekend. I believe it was because of her great hair, but you'd have to ask Shawna to be sure about that one. But I digress.


The weekend started out when I arrived at Barb's on Friday night at 1:00 a.m. I travelled from Nakusp to Blind Bay via Osoyoos. No, I'm not kidding. Long story. The next morning I was beyond excited because I had a surprise for Barb. I love surprises. (Giving, not receiving). I was in cahoots with the infamous Shawna who is one of Barb's best friends ("Why you gotta go and be like that?"), arranging for her to come in for the weekend from Calgary. Barb was a bit suspicious so I had to play it very cool, something I am not very good at.


We drove into Kamloops to go grocery shopping and I told Barb that I had to pick something up at the Kamloops airport for my boss and pretended that it was a completely pain in the ass. After she drug me up and down every single fucking aisle in the dollar store AND the love shop, we finally left for the airport. Shawna had been texting me like a madwoman, wondering where we were. Finally, we arrived at the airport and as we pulled up to the front, I saw Shawna. I said to Barb "Oh, look! I don't have to go in. My package is outside waiting for me." At this point, Barb spotted Shawna. Ok... have you ever seen a small dog pawing at a car window to get out? Yeah, that was Barb. There was screaming and jumping and howling and more screaming. It was a pretty fantastic moment.


We grabbed Shawna, then ran around and did some shopping (already laughing so hard that we couldn't even speak in the grocery aisles and even entertained our fellow shoppers) then hit the road for Blind Bay. Somewhere on the road between Kamloops and Blind Bay, I managed to convince myself that my Blue Minivan was actually a Cherry Red '67 Mustang. Foreshadowing for a delusional and very funny weekend.


That night we played a civilized game called 'Sociables'. There is a picture floating around somewhere of me with a beer box on my head (with holes for my eyes, nose and mouth) and there are now reasons why I don't want to ride in Barb's boat. Needless to say, it was a very interesting game. We ended the night by crawling into the matching 'Tinkerbell' jammies that Shawna bought (thanks, Shawna!! I'm wearing them tonight as I type this), then all three of us crawled into Barb's king-sized bed. As you can imagine, there was a bit o' laughter at that point.


Saturday, we lazed around, laughed and cooked. The big dinner was that night and this was the menu:

• Bruschetta
• Crab/cream cheese stuffed mushrooms
• Caesar Salad
• Ravioli stuffed with brie in a tomato/alfredo sauce with garlic grilled chicken
• Death by Chocolate

As you can see, I tried to shamelessly bribe these women to be my friends.

Dinner, drinks, laughter. We celebrated four birthdays (Aleia, Steph, Holly and Diane) and had a fantastic time. We each wore a tiara, danced until the wee hours and a fabulous time was had by all (even Holly; her DUI bracelet didn't seem to bother her at all that night).

Claudette (Holy crap, I love Claudette) was good enough to drink tequila with me. I don't know what it is, perhaps a genetic flaw... but I LOVE tequila. I'm so happy to have found a friend who enjoys it as much as I do, although sometimes her love is scary. There are some things that are better left unexplained.

Tamara, Denise, Rona, Jen and Val were there too dancing and laughing and putting up with me trying to make them play charades. What a great bunch of women! Diane came back over the next morning and made us eggs benedict. Eggs Benedict!!! Now THAT is a fabulous girlfriend, I tell ya.

My daughter left a message for me on facebook that weekend. She asked: "Mommy, are you having fun? Are you laughing until you are snorting and crying? Then you are having fun." I love that she understands. I hope she is lucky enough to experience the sisterhood of friends that I have been so lucky to be part of in my life.

Blind Bay Bitches; here's to you. Thank you so much for welcoming me into your world and treating me like one of your own. Love you, girls!!