Northern Correspondent

2008-07-17T18:50:00.000-06:00

Jerry Fisk Sendero Field Knife. He likes to do these in stag and sheep horn. I think that sheep horn is especially nice.

2008-07-10T11:41:00.000-06:00

Gransfors Bruks Hunter's Axe ($150)

2008-06-20T14:40:00.000-06:00

Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza ($350-750)

2008-06-20T14:36:00.000-06:00

Spyderco Paramilitary ($120)

2008-06-20T14:35:00.000-06:00

Surefire 6P LED ($75)

2008-06-20T14:29:00.001-06:00

Bradley Alias II ($175)

2007-08-18T23:01:00.000-06:00

These were taken at the Keyano College Summer Solstice Celebration, sponsored by Suncor.

2007-08-18T22:56:00.000-06:00

At lunch on the last day of work.

2007-08-18T22:48:00.000-06:00

Sakura wandering around High Prairie, across the street from the motel where we stayed a few times.

If you look carefully, you can make out the rainbow over the school. This was taken two days after my contract expired.

2007-08-18T22:42:00.000-06:00

2007-08-18T22:34:00.000-06:00

2007-08-18T22:21:00.000-06:00

2007-08-18T22:09:00.000-06:00

2007-08-18T22:05:00.000-06:00

2007-08-18T21:56:00.000-06:00

2007-05-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

2007-05-01T10:16:00.000-06:00

2007-05-01T10:12:00.000-06:00

2007-04-11T10:54:00.000-06:00

We just got our old flash drive back from Tomomi's aunt. It's got a bunch of old pictures on it. Here are some oldies but goodies.

2007-04-11T10:41:00.000-06:00

Here are a few blasts from the past.

2007-04-11T10:40:00.000-06:00

Sakura falling asleep in her chair, but still smiling when tickled.

2007-04-11T10:36:00.000-06:00

Every two weeks, the HUB comes to the school and sets up for drop-in play for young kids. Sakura is their most reliable patron. Here are some shots of here playing around, and then dancing with some Grade 1 students that came by.

2007-04-11T10:31:00.000-06:00

We washed the car a week ago. Sakura was a little nervous when the robotic arms circled the car and started spraying.

2007-03-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Andrew Ladd died in hospital last night. I have no further details.

2007-02-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:41:00.001-07:00

2006-12-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Santa

2006-12-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Kneading

2006-12-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Master Blaster Series

2006-12-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

Right after Sakura's vaccinations and my flu shot.

2006-12-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

2006-12-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

2006-11-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Sakura 8

Sakura LOVES mikan (Mandarin oranges). This is a short video of her demonstrating her enthusiasm.

2006-11-07T07:10:00.000-07:00

Sakura devours books.

2006-11-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

We didn't let her eat any candy, even though she really wanted to. She did enjoy pkaying with it, though.

2006-11-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Sakura is now eating finger food. This is some stuff that Tomomi prepared for her: rice balls, vegetables, and chopped up mandarin orange for dessert.

2006-11-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

These were taken in St. Albert, just north of Edmonton. The road was icy and we were hit from behind. Everybody is fine. Sakura didn't even wake up.

We had just put new snow tires on the day before. I suspect that if we hadn't, we might have slid into the back of a full-size pick-up. That might have been a lot worse.

The damage estimate we got in Fort McMurray is $1318.56. They charge $72/hour for labour.

2006-11-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

She also likes to pull things out of boxes. She is especially fond of plastic bags, Kleenex, and baby wipes.

2006-11-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Sakura wakes up, sits up, and then starts crying for attention.

2006-11-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

2006-11-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sakura 7

2006-11-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

This is Sakura playing peekaboo with Kim Thygssen, student teacher and daughter of our kindergarten teacher. We stopped by their house on Halloween, and sat around talking for awhile. A ghostly image of Tomomi and Sakura. Tomomi made both costumes. She worked for a month on Sakura's costume. She woke up early and stayed up late to work around Sakura's schedule.

Sakura trick-or-treating for the very first time.
"Dorothy" and a wilted pumpkin. Notice the wig. Tomomi made that too. Sakura hated wearing it.

2006-11-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

2006-11-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

2006-11-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

2006-11-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

The sheep is named "Chopper". It's a literary reference to a pet in Dahl's Matilda, and has nothing to do with lamb chops. :)

2006-10-15T14:05:00.000-06:00

There are few leave on the trees, and the weather is cooling. We've had a few good frosts, and the sky seems to threaten snow every once in awhile. Yesterday was the coldest day we've ahd so far. In Fort McMurray, id didn't get up much past 5 degrees C.

In addition to our four-stop circuit (Salvation Army, Wal-Mart, Super Store, and Save On), we went to the YMCA to go swimming. We planned to attend the Family Swim, which was from 1300h until 1600h. We arrived at 1415h, and discovered that the Keyano College swim team was having a meet until 1700h. So, we turned around and left. We stopped by Dairy Queen. Tomomi and I shared a Mocha Mint MooLatte. Sakura had a little something to eat too.

We took our time, and then strolled across the parking lot to the Safeway, where we bought some buns for the trip home. Tomomi chose a pizza bun, and I chose a cheese bun.

I think she made the better choice.

Safeway had a bin filled with books. They were clearing them out for 75% off the lowest ticketed price. With Sakura on my hip, I dug through the pile. I found a neat little book with cardboard pages. It was called The Lost Coin. It featured a little gold-coloured plastic coin. The pages had flaps that allowed you to pass the coin from one page to the next. The story was mundane, but the pictures were good, and I liked the kinesthetic component of the gold coin. It was also dirt cheap--$1.50. So, we added another book to Sakura's growing library.

Sakura's library started off with Dr. Seuss' ABC. It now contains about five or six books of our own, and a couple that I've borrowed from the school library. Young children enjoy repetition more than variety, so I'm not too worried about the meagre size of her book shelf. Besides, she's at the age where books need to be very durable to stand up to her grasping fingers and gnashing incisors. We're basically limited to cardboard-paged books at the moment.

She doesn't seem to mind.

I picked up a copy of Casino by Nicholas Pileggi. It the book upon which the movie was based. I started it on Friday, and I'm almost done. That's nearly a miracle considering how busy I've been. I wouldn't have gotten far if I hadn't spend 73 minutes and 18 seconds waiting on hold with Bell on Friday morning. I used that time to start the book and get wrapped up in the story.

2006-10-15T14:03:00.000-06:00

2006-10-15T13:57:00.000-06:00

2006-10-15T13:51:00.000-06:00

This is from the Oil Sands Discovery Centre. It is called a bucket wheel. The small blue structure at the top is the size of a Greyhound bus.

2006-10-12T16:04:00.000-06:00

A little later in the morning.

2006-10-12T10:14:00.000-06:00

Sakura6

Just a 14 second vid of Sakura.

2006-10-12T10:13:00.000-06:00

2006-10-10T08:01:00.000-06:00

2006-10-10T07:44:00.000-06:00

2006-10-10T07:35:00.000-06:00

A few pics from our school Turkey Day event.

2006-10-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

Sakura 5

A very short clip of Sakura laughing.

2006-10-09T14:27:00.000-06:00

Sakura 4

A short video of Sakura crawling for the first time.

2006-10-09T14:19:00.000-06:00

I'd like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who stops by the blog today.

2006-10-05T07:47:00.000-06:00

2006-10-05T07:35:00.000-06:00

The Paparazzi Series

2006-10-05T07:27:00.000-06:00

Wild horses couldn't drag her away.

2006-10-01T16:07:00.000-06:00

Sakura getting ready for her first swim.

2006-10-01T16:01:00.000-06:00

Sakura's 2/3 of a year B-Day + Dad's first payday.

Sunrise over the Father R. Perin School.

Sakura just after flipping over her pink inflatable dog.

Sakura looking guilty.

2006-09-24T14:20:00.000-06:00

2006-09-24T14:19:00.000-06:00

Sakura 3

A quick little video of Sakura and Dad playing. She's a bit tired, and a bit cranky. Usually she likes the Flying Baby game a whole lot more. However, we do get a couple smiles and some fun sounds.

2006-09-24T11:11:00.000-06:00

Sakura 2

Here's a short video of Sakura headbanging, and trying to crawl.

2006-09-24T10:58:00.000-06:00

2006-09-22T19:48:00.000-06:00

Sakura

This is a short video of Sakura fooling around.

2006-09-22T06:15:00.000-06:00

2006-09-12T19:47:00.000-06:00

Sorry, folks, the computer does not want to let me rotate this one. You'll have to do it yourselves.

2006-09-12T19:35:00.000-06:00

2006-09-12T19:29:00.000-06:00

The pie-eating contest at the Blueberry Festival.

2006-09-12T19:21:00.000-06:00

She really likes carrots.

2006-09-12T19:14:00.000-06:00

Some pics from the Fort McMurray Blueberry Festival.

2006-09-11T07:35:00.000-06:00

2006-09-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

Sorry, folks. I've just spent an hour trying to download a single image. My upload rate here is around 3kbs, even slower than in Fort Hope. I'm throwing in the towel for the moment. I'm going to hold out until I can get the computer tech to do whatever it is that she must so that I can access the school network. Once I get online with them, some stuff should start rolling.

2006-08-10T13:39:00.000-06:00

Tomomi, Sakura and I have safely arrived in Chard, Alberta. Our new mailing address is:

General Delivery
Chard, Alberta
T0P 1G0, Canada

Our phone will be hooked up on 16 August 2006--my first day of work. We don't yet have Internet access at home, but we're going to work on that. Our only commercial choice is $30/month 56K dial-up. I've heard a rumor that a concerned parent in the community might donate a wireless router to the school. In that case, we should be able to get signal from home, seeing as how we're about 50m away. The school has a high-speed connection.

We have some household essentials, and are getting along reasonably well.

In my haste, I left our camera in dad's car. So, I won't be posting any pictures until it arrives. Sorry, Keiko. Tomomi and I will post lots of pictures soon.

Sakura is now about 9-10kg, and ~70cm. She can sit on her own, but her balance is not perfect, and she usually falls over in a couple minutes. She is not yet crawling, but she has achieved mobility through rolling. When she is supported at the arms, she can take a few steps. Again, balance is lacking. We're working on it, though.

Chris, if you're out there, I discovered this morning that plastic collars can't hold together an 80lbs dumbbell. No animals were harmed in this discovery.

2006-07-22T23:45:00.000-06:00

Andrew tearing it up in his booth.

2006-07-22T23:39:00.000-06:00

Andrew at work at the radio station.

2006-07-22T23:33:00.000-06:00

2006-07-22T23:28:00.000-06:00

In the basement of the radio station.

2006-07-22T23:23:00.000-06:00

2006-07-22T23:16:00.000-06:00

2006-07-22T23:12:00.000-06:00

At the radio station.

2006-07-22T23:08:00.000-06:00

Some shots of the basement in Kamloops.

2006-07-22T23:03:00.000-06:00

Some shots from the kamloops condominium's balcony.

2006-07-22T22:57:00.000-06:00

2006-07-22T22:50:00.000-06:00

Some pictures from Andrew's graduation formal.

2006-07-22T20:52:00.000-06:00

2006-07-22T19:17:00.000-06:00

Tomomi has left the building. She is en route.

2006-07-21T02:07:00.000-06:00

2006-07-20T18:57:00.000-06:00