Thanksgiving in Rosalind

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by dianasschwenk in Hump Day Chronicles, My Stories, Out and About

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Alberta, Calgary, Camrose Alberta, Canada, children, daughter, Diana Schwenk, driving, family, friends, fun, generosity, grateful, growing up, laughter, living in the moment, love, parents, Relationships, Rosalind, thankful, Thanksgiving, turkey

Just how great was Thanksgiving in Rosalind, Alberta?

Glad you asked!

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about driving to Rosalind by myself on Saturday because many of the roads I needed to travel on are so barren and have no cell service. But in spite of the cold, fog with iffy visibility and snow, it was a rather pleasant drive.

Seeing as this was my first visit there, Michaela met me at the Rosalind School parking lot so I could follow her on the gravel secondary highway eight-hundred-and-something to hers and Werner’s long driveway about 1 kilometer from the school.

We turned the corner on the driveway at around 4:30PM revealing the cutest little farm-house and property. It really is too bad that it got cold and snowed so early this year, I would have loved to have walked around the property a bit. But it was that wet kind of cold, you know? The kind that chills you to the bone in just minutes.

Anyway, after settling in, enjoying a nice cup of coffee and playing a few rounds of Macke Been, Werner drove us to the Brew House in Camrose for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the farm-house, played a few more games, chatted about this and that and turned in early. I slept like a baby!

The next morning, Michaela made us a wonderful breakfast before starting all the food prep and cooking for the Thanksgiving dinner. We all helped out here and there, but for the most part, Michaela had it all under control. There would be five for dinner. Me, Michaela, Werner and his mom and dad, Claudia and Manfred, who I would be meeting for the first time.

It was fun.

Lots of laughter, lots of story-sharing and playful banter.

And what a feast it was, especially since this was the very first dinner party, Michaela had ever hosted!

So just how great was Thanksgiving in Rosalind, Alberta?

it was so great that I forgot to take pictures!

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

And how did you spend Thanksgiving? And what did you non-Canadians do this past weekend?

Don’t Use Your Signal… I like The Suspense!

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by dianasschwenk in Humour, Hump Day Chronicles, My Stories

≈ 28 Comments

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adrenaline rush, Alberta, Calgary, Canada, Diana Schwenk, driving, First World Problems, heart pumping, humour, Hump Day Chronicles, laughter, life, Life's like that, morning, rant

All that obey-the-rules-of-the-road malarkey is overrated. It certainly doesn’t apply to you. I’ll get the gist of what your intentions are when you cut me off and thank me with a wave of your hand. Driving is boring otherwise. How else would I get my heart pumping like that first thing in the morning? Better yet, it’s fun when you cut me off real close so that if I don’t hit the brake while checking my rearview for a tailgater and bracing for impact, you’ll sideswipe my front end.

But don’t just cut me off. No I don’t get the full affect that way. Slow right down the minute you get in front of me. Better yet, hit the brakes, and then signal you’re turning left (the order of events is important here) and hold me in that lane seemingly forever until you’re able to turn.

I mean you’re in a hurry to turn left right? I saw you in my rearview as you rushed up at warp speed and shot into the right lane, just barely missing my rear bumper. It’s like you were playing a race-car game, the way you navigated your car – sharp right, sharp left, BOOM in front of me and then stop.

I totally get it. If you had stayed behind me and then turned left, you’d have been delayed by nanoseconds…

But you know what really gets my circulation going and gives me that wide-open-road feeling? I love when I’m a few car lengths behind you on Memorial Drive and you got a good clip going and I got a good clip going and I’m feeling sorry for those people on our right who are pretty much crawling in line to exit on that ramp to Deerfoot North. Yeah the light ahead is green and you and me we’re gonna make it through that light – I can feel it – FREEDOM!

But wait. Quelle surprise – you want on that ramp too? I guess there’s no way you were gonna get stuck in that long line, NOOOOOO, not you. You’ve got important people to see and places to go. So you do what anyone else would do in that situation; you slam on the brake, mere metres from the exit and cut into that lane over the solid line like some modern-day Mario Andretti causing two lanes of traffic – ours and theirs – to hit their brakes.

YEAH THAT’S JUST FREAKING BRILLIANT, YOU’RE QUITE THE DRIVER NIMROD, WHERE’D YOU GET YOUR LICENSE ANYWAY, FROM THE BUBBLE GUM MACHINE?

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

If there was a dashboard cam recording me on my morning commute, it would be a funny thing to watch! For you that is, probably would embarrass me to see it. 😉

What’s your biggest traffic pet peeve?

They’ve gotten me from here to there

15 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by dianasschwenk in Humour, Hump Day Chronicles, My Stories

≈ 64 Comments

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cars, Diana Schwenk, driving, humour, Hump Day Chronicles, Life's like that, living in the moment, memories, Relationships

They didn’t have feelings per se, but each one of them had distinct personalities and I developed a relationship, of sorts, with each and every one of them.

The first, in many ways, was my favourite. Not the best-looking, some might even say ugly, but I’ve heard it said that one never forgets the first.

She was a 1963 Chevy Pick Up with 3 on the tree. Previously a milk delivery truck, she had a hole in the roof where the milk sign used to be.

No problem. We stuck a wine cork in the hole to keep the rain out. Her price was good. $150 as is. We called her Pig.

In spite of her looks, she performed well. Many a winter, with sandbags in the back for extra weight, she pulled 4x4s out of ditches and snow banks.

Once, my boyfriend at the time, sat in a lawn chair and made me change one of her tires. He figured I should know how to do it. You know, in case of an emergency? As he watched me struggle to get the nuts off, he offered, between sips of his beer, “When the nuts are rusted onto the bolts like that, you can loosen the crud seizing them in place if you pee on them…you know, if you don’t have WD40 handy…”

Um, yeah thanks for that…

“Pig”

1977 Volare

When I moved to Calgary, and after Michaela was born, a dear friend gave me a car, knowing I needed to get Michaela to day care on work days.

She was a 1977 Volare, mustard yellow, could go from zero to a hundred in 20 minutes.

Needless to say, merging onto highways was a scary feat at best, with the gas petal pushed to the floor, she zoomed at about 40 km/hr down the ramp onto the Deerfoot.

At red lights, folks often looked at her, then me and burst into uncontrollable laughter. Still she had been a gift and served me well.

Cutless Sierra

Next, another gifted car, how-lucky-am-I, a 1983 Cutless Sierra.

At first she was amazing! Cruise control. Electric windows, super-duper power steering – I felt as though I was driving a Rolls Royce.

I mean let’s take stock here for a minute.

This was my third vehicle and so far, I’d paid $150!

I named her Betty and Betty had balls, that is until the electronic-computer-chippy-thingy and fan-belt-or-temperature-regulating-gadget started to go sideways.

Translation: A great loss in power and the need to drive with the heat on full blast, all windows rolled down, during the hottest summer I can remember.

Still she did her part. She got me from here to there.

Then, came my current vehicle.

A 1999 Toyota Tercel.

My first brand-spanking-new car!

I was in seventh heaven. Just imagine driving a car that I didn’t have to put into neutral, with one foot on the brake and one on the gas to keep it from stalling out at a red light!

When I picked her up from the dealership, she had 11 km on her. She was shiny and midnight blue and clean. When I started her up she was so quiet, I wasn’t sure if she was running.

Aside from regular oil changes, she didn’t see any mechanics. I grew accustomed to not having to check the oil or anything else for that matter, I just got in, turned the key and drove to wherever I was heading.

It was life in the fast lane for about 12 years in which time, I’d bought a new battery – that’s it!

She’s starting to show some wear and tear. You know normal stuff. I had the brakes replaced a few years back, got a new water pump, and a few other items like fan belts, I don’t remember exactly.

And then most recently, a few issues were found while my mechanic did an oil change. They fixed her all up with a new gasket and everything was tickety-boo.

But just the other day, she wouldn’t start. I had some friends look at her. There was power, just no spark.

I had her towed to my mechanic, who assures me that aside from needing a new time belt kit, new spark plugs and another oil change, she’s still in remarkable shape.

So here I sit, waiting to hear that she’s all fixed up, so I can go bring her back home.