I haven’t been blogging. I have no excuse. I have been a bit busy though. I have a new housemate (or two). We have been getting acquainted. Krista and her son Conor moved in in October. I’m happy that they are here. Conor is five. And I find myself identifying with having a five-year-old in my house.

As soon as they moved in, I had to start unpacking some of my boxes. There wasn’t enough room for me, my boxes, and two new housemates. One evening–just after Halloween, I unpacked my collection of children lit books into the built-in shelf in the living room. I guess I figured I have a reason to unpack them now that there is a five-year-old in the house.

I finished and went into the kitchen to get something ready when Conor appeared in the doorway–with the box over his head.

“Look at me! I’m a box!”

How fun. How to have fun with a box. There’s all kinds of new thingamajigs that cost all kinds of money. Why spend the money though? You can just use a box!

We cut out some eyes, nose, and mouth in the box. Then–he wanted space for his arms. We cut out arm holes. He was very excited to be a box. And me? I was excited that he wanted to be a box.

Later that week, Conor and his mom went to a birthday party at the local Healdsburg Bar and Grill. He wanted wanted to wear the box. Apparently, he stood up on the table, with his box over his head, armed with his light saber and shouted to the entire restaurant:

“Look at me! I’m a box!”

Last summer, when Cindy was here. I had just bought a fabulous set of kitchen knives. They came in a box. Part of the packaging was a three-dimensional, triangle-shaped box. Basically, it looked (or could look) like a pirate’s hat–made out of cardboard. I immediately put it on my head–for the simple effect of putting a triangle-shaped piece of cardboard on my head.

It fit. Perfectly. And, it was just funny that when Cindy arrived home–I greeted her with a box on my head. And she looked at me a bit sideways–but maybe she just thought I was a crazy lady from Canada. And that’s what people from Canada do–they greet their foreign friends with boxes on their heads. And we just laughed at the thought of it all.

Hmm. Well–maybe, just maybe, this was one of those situations where you had to be here. I don’t know if I can explain why it was so funny.

So, when Conner appeared in the kitchen doorway with a box on his head saying: “Look at me! I’m a box.” And I immediately identified with my five-year-old housemate who thought it was funny to put a box on his head.

Today, I can tell you a story about frustration and fun. During the summer, I was busy with my remodel and busy with work, and–well–just busy in general. I didn’t feel like I’d had a summer at all. I just wanted to have at least one day that felt like summer. I decided to plan a day on the river.

I’d originally been planning a bonfire at the coast–except I couldn’t find any beach that would let me have a fire–for fun. (I’ve now organized a camp out at Bodega Bay Dunes campground in September because they have fire pits and that’s the most I could do in between organizing my Lithuanian contractors–but I digress).

It turned out that Sunday, I’d finally organized a day out kayaking on the Russian River with a few friends. I went with a local river company in Healdsburg: Soar Inflatables (www.soar1.com). You can see in their pictures that their kayaks are two and three person rubber rafts. Not exactly what I’m used to, but I thought it would be fun just to paddle and float big rubber bumper boats down the river for a day.

There were six of us total: Quebec-Martin, Cindy, Marta, Pasquale, Humberto, and me. We divided up into the boats exactly like that. Martin and Cindy were relatively experienced paddlers. Pasquale and Marta were beginners. Humberto was a beginner and I was–stubborn.

The guide said: steering in the back and power in the front. So I took the back seat–because it doesn’t matter how much experience I have, I certainly don’t have the upper body of my friend Humberto. The other two guys in the other two boats took the back seats. We went along for a while, and I thought we were doing well. EXCEPT…Humberto (my boat partner) didn’t want to be “the guy in the front”. He wanted to be the guy and paddle the girl along the river…whatever–sigh.

We did eventually trade places (because that’s fair–don’t you think?). I took the front and he took the back. We struggled for a bit and I became frustrated at his inexperienced steering (zig zag back and forth, back and forth across the river). Also, I became frustrated at the amount of his effort he was making. He was taking three strokes for my one. I’m more than positive that he was frustrated at me too–but he was more gracious than I was about it all.

However, I remembered something Mike Hatfield (currently of cyanoptics.com) once told me about leadership: Have a plan. Communicate the plan. Let people make their own decisions on how to get there–because basically, if people have good information, they make good decisions. I eventually just let Humberto paddle. We would decide on the path down the river and I just let him figure out how. We got to where we needed to go with less frustration and more fun.

My lesson learned is just because I might know how, doesn’t mean I know best. And–effectively communicate the plan. We’ll get there eventually–with less frustration and more fun!

Today, I spent most of the day catching up on administration an emails. At 4h00, Cindy said she was going to go back to Rosso & Bianco (where she’s doing her internship) to show her friends from her school around the winery and the lab where she works.

I said I should probably go with her–just to get out of the house. Here are the best of pics from this afternoon.

I discovered the other day that my housemate Cindy (who is here for an internship) is keeping a photo blog of her time here!

If you want to see a few pics of her stay, head on over to cindycalifornie.skyrock.com.

Last Friday evening, she had her colleagues from her winery over for dinner. She made some traditional French cuisine and she even went and bought some French wine. So, we had a little soiree francais in the back garden.

When we have a moment, we’ll post some pictures and commentary, but right now, it’s focus on Jen’s Place. We’re on the final stretch and have to have everything ready for this Friday.

Whew. I’ll be glad when we’re done.

I’m suffering from not updating my blog. It’s painful. I now have a huge list of things to write about and to experiment with.

First, I have a new housemate. Her name is Cindy. She’s from France and is working an internship at the Francis Ford Coppola winery in Northern Sonoma County. I’ll post a few pictures from our hike out at the coast we did a few weeks ago. Believe it or not, that felt like my first summer day (and it was at the beginning of August!).

I have a photo essay on building a composter for my back yard. My two friends Humberto and Martin came over shortly after I moved in and helped me build a composter (an important contribution to any household). I didn’t even have any furniture yet! But it was terribly important to have a working composter.

I have been in the middle of fixing up a room in my house so we can rent it out. By fixing up that back room and removing an overhang structure in the back yard, I have approximately 1/3 more space !!! It was both an exciting and a learning experience. So, now, I’ll be better prepared for next time.

I have a few new words for my Vocabulary and New Expressions category. I have a flashback to the seventies moment. GB jr is back from his world travels (although I’m still waiting for pics and stories!). He’s sitting on my sister’s desk in Toronto being a central part of the activities in her movie production office. Redd–send some pics!

I’m looking after Bush-Field for a few days next week while Alan’s away on business. I want to use the time to rewrite and refocus my resume. I want to plan the next chapter or two of my life (always an exciting task and something to look forward to).

I’m going to meet Lori of lbnuke.com next Friday and hopefully work out a plan to upgrade my websites and create a few more.

Other than that, I’ve planned a day on the Russian River tomorrow with a few friends for a bit of summer-water fun. I’m also volunteering for the Sonoma Odyssey of Food and Wine event on Sept 15th. I’m excited about that and I’m looking forward to the whole thing.

Now, I’ve just listed my todo list–I haven’t provided any interesting stories. I want to go to the Farmer’s Market right now. I haven’t been all summer and I want to make sure I don’t miss it. I’ll log on later and because I still have a few other sundries to write about…

At least this list is out of my head and that is a relief!

Ouch…last night, I visited my good friends KatieBird and her husband Sean. They are lucky enough just to have bought their first house in Healdsburg just before Christmas. I’d brought them a house warming present from the Yukon–an ulu knife for their kitchen. On second thoughts, I wasn’t sure they would like it but it is very practical for chopping and dicing. They assured me it was a lovely addition. I’m not sure I’m convinced. Although, a saving grace is that I have always wanted an ulu knife for my kitchen. If they don’t like it, I can re-gift it to myself! KateBird and Sean are renewing their vows on the southern-most tip of New Zealand on 05 February. I was hoping to be there, but alas–I ‘m sorry, I just can’t.

Last night, we were celebrating a few things: the New Year, their wedding vows, their new house, Sean’s promotion to assistant winemaker!! Congratulations Sean. Clos du Bois couldn’t made a wiser choice. You guys deserve it.

Sean, Katie–Here’s to your new house and new position and new life. Happy 2007!

Rick Mercer is a Canadian comedian who has this show called: Talking to Americans. In this show, Rick Mercer interviews and satirizes the perceived American ignorance of their northern neighbours. However, the other day, we were sitting in a restaurant in Healdsburg. After dinner, I excused myself to use the ladies room. When I got back, my dinner partner was snickering. I asked what happened. He said that when I left, he had overheard the conversation between some people who worked in the restaurant. One had just gone to Canada with his family. He’d toured Niagara Falls and a few other places in Ontario. Then he mentioned visiting Saskatchewan, the waitress had commented: “Oh. I know Saskatchewan. That’s where they have sasquatches. ”

Ok. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

For further reference:
Surf around Rick Mercer‘s web site.
Watch some clips of Rick Mercer’s Talking to Americans show.
Learn more about sasquatches.
Learn more about Saskatchewan.