Tag: library

Grandma Mumsie and Fiona in Rice Lake Wisconsin

Our visit here in Rice Lake is about to come to an end. Sunday morning we leave for St. Paul for our 3-week house sitting job. Fiona has enjoyed her visit with her grandma Mumsie, as we call Joel’s mom. She’s also loved coming back to The Rice Lake Public Library. Yesterday she had fun with the American Girls Book club here. She got to make a craft – a glass vase with colored sand glued to the outside. Not we have to find a safe way to transport it without it getting broken.

Last Monday Fiona and I went over to the lake and she got to wade in it quite a bit. Grandma came out in her electric wheelchair and we all stopped for a visit in the local book store. Yes, we’re a family of avid readers!

School has also started for Fiona. She’s now in second grade and the homeschool program through the school district here is great. We have lots of fun school work to keep us busy.

I’m really looking forward to our 3 weeks in St. Paul and then spending the winter back in New Jersey. More on that later…

Quiet on the Homefront in Wisconsin

You’ve been wondering what we’ve been up to since we haven’t posted in several days. We spent last Wednesday and Thursday all day each day on the road. Wednesday was driving from Colorado through Nebraska. I’ve always wanted to go to Nebraska since my maternal grandma grew up there. I don’t know where though. We stayed the night with a wonderful family we met through Couchsurfing.org. I only wish we’d had more time to get to know them better.

Thursday we spent all day on the road to get here to Rice Lake and stay with Joel’s mom for a bit. We’re settling in a bit. The internet access we had when we were here before is no longer available. So we had to go out and find some. And we did. We just walk across the parking lot and over to the local public library. It’s great! Not only do we have internet access, Fiona has access to a wonderful children’s section with lots of activities to do and books to read. Of course it’s not quite the same has having 24/7 internet access in our lodgings.

Since we can only stay with Joel’s mom up to 2 weeks, we’re looking for other lodgings for the remainder of our stay through the end of May. We’ve got some calls to follow up on that may get us some temporary and affordable housing.

So what’s everyone else been up to? :)

Ducks in the Pond Behind the Library in Mesa

Yesterday we took Fiona to the library again. She had to return those 20 books so she could get 20 more.

Behind the library here in Mesa is a pond with ducks. Nearby is a park and even a small observatory. We’ll have to go back to see about that observatory.

Enjoy the pictures of Fiona!

Quiet, Relaxing, Rainy Day in New Westminster

Since we arrived on Monday it’s been non-stop work. The Client Communication Clinic yesterday in Vancouver went well. We met an aspiring virtual assistant that we are meeting again next week at a North Vancouver Waves Coffee Shop to chat with and see how else we can help her get her business up and running.

Today is the first day since we left California that we have all to ourselves to relax and not work. It’s very quiet this morning since the construction workers aren’t working next door on the weekend. It has decided to rain a bit. We’re not sure how that will affect our plans yet to walk to the Skytrain station later. Fiona really wants to ride the Skytrain and we’d planned to do that this afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the library and Fiona checked out 10 books – all of which she had read before bedtime! I’m going to do some cleaning around our ‘home’ today. And we’ll let you know how that whole Skytrain trip turns out. Stay tuned!

Updated August 19, 2010 with this photo of Brodie the Canine we were dog sitting (I think he was wishing we could go for a walk):

Brodie the Canine

Our First Full Day In British Columbia

Yesterday, Tuesday August 3, 2010, was our first full day in British Columbia. We slept with the windows open; it’s very quiet. As soon as I was up I took the dog for a walk and then came home to make our morning tea. Joel and I drank our tea while sitting on the front porch.

We set  Fiona up with a laptop and she worked at one desk while I worked at another close by. Joel sat in a comfy chair in the living room a few feet away working away on his laptop. It was work as usual. We stopped at lunch and ate in the dining area that leads into the back yard through French doors. In the afternoon we had two business calls via Skype that went very well.

Fiona’s enjoying taking the dog for walks and making sure he has his food and water. Last night he was comfortable enough to sleep on his pillow in Fiona’s room. She loves to read in bed and has lots of books to read. We will have to go to the local library still. There’s a huge park nearby and tonight we may explore it. Fiona thinks it’s a forest and I’ve heard they may have an animal petting area.

Tomorrow we’ll go to the local Waves Coffee House and check it out. So if you happen to be in the area of New Westminster, come on by about 11:30 am and say hi!

Updated August 19, 2010 with this picture:

Fiona