I have a date

[hotjulie]

I don't know what it is with me and wasps, but I always seem to find them. Last week I killed two nests, then this morning I saw another one. One of our basement windows wasn't closed all the way and they had a best between the two windows. I went and got the can of wasp spray, my niece Gail is here so I told her stand back. I tried to spray them but the window stopped me, so I pulled the window wide open. The nest falls off and their comming out. I start to spray them but I ran out after about 2 seconds. I knew it was low but thought for sure I had enough. I slammed the window shut and it broke and yelled to Gail "RUN". She runs in the garage and closes the door, I'm right behind her but the door was totally closed and I ran into it not opening it. I fell on my ass, getting stung waving my arms like a madman. She ran out the other door and we both ran for about 4 blocks. I got stung 11 times, Gail never got stung at all. Those fucking wasps won that round but I have plans for them tomorrow morning, not sure what my plan is but I have more spray and a new high pressure washer

[WalterB]

Holy shit, Julie, you should make a reality show. If a freaking useless baby can do it (ever seen "Honey Boo-Boo?") you certainly can make a successful comedy series.

If the nest is gone, how are you going to find them? If the nest is on the floor, they may find it. Spray it good then take it out and burn it. If there are more in the basement, set off a bug bomb and go to a movie. That should do it.

11 stings? Please be careful, you maniac.

[hotjulie]

Today my niece Gail (13) and her best friend Brittany (14) and I went out and delivered gifts for Santa's anonymous. It's in the north part of Edmonton that we had to go to to pick up the gifts. I was able to get us very lost till I remembered I had a GPS in the glovebox. So we found the place and got the paperwork out of the way and left with 12 bags of gifts. The first place we went to the girl that answered the door saw the gifts and started to cry. I can't explain how good it feels to be doing something good. The next place we went to, we went upstairs in this horrible apartment and met at the door by a young guy and his daughter. He took the gifts and set them down and stared at them. He burst into tears and hugged me, I hugged him back and he told us his girl has cancer, and he just had major surgery, then said we saved their Christmas. Gail and Brittany both hugged the little girl, and we stayed there for about 5 minutes just hugging. I kneeled in front of the girl and hugged her and said, "you be strong, and have a Merry Christmas" We got in the truck and had a group hug and got ourselves together, so we could finish. The rest all went uneventful, but feels so good to see the smiles

[WalterB]

There is no greater gift, Julie, than to give of yourself. For those to have to give to those who have not is the most that any of us can give. I know how that feels, Julie, and applaud you for doing what you can to make life good for others.

I spent a time in the late '60's "on the bum." Many nights I spent in the Salvation Army or other shelter. You had to sit through their religious service, but then you would get a bowl of weak soup and a cot for the night. I know I was thankful for that. So, for several years, I have gone down and helped serve Thanksgiving dinner at the Salvation Army. It is getting to the point I can't even do that anymore, physically, but I am going to call to see if there are any driving services I can provide for Christmas.

Try it, folks. Take a minute, look up a local charity, and volunteer a little time. You really can't believe how it will make you feel about yourself. Follow Julie's lead.

Thank you, Julie.

[hotjulie]

We were trying to raise money for a basketball tounament in Saskatoon last month, it was gonna cost a lot for a bus, 2 nights in a hotel and meals. We had a bingo in the school, all the help was volenteer and it went really good. We had over 300 people show up and we made around 90% of the money we needed. The princple then says the money would go in the general fund and we would get a portion of it. I was so pissed off, I wanted to tune him up but was held back by some parents. We didn't know what to do I had paid the entry for the tounament and it's non refundable.

The town is on a native settlement and run by the band council. One of the parents said we could ask them for help and see what they do. We were able to talk to them in council one day. The tounament was on the 24-26th and we saw them on the 14th. I said I would speak to them and was told to really watch what I say to them. I explained what we were trying to do and about the bingo. That raised the Chief's eyebrows when I told them about how it was pulled out from the kids. They told us that they would consider our request and get back to us. I felt that was a polite way of saying "get the fuck out of here!"

We were told they had an answer and would meet with us on the 17th. It's not like a normal political room, we were sitting on the floor, I was sitting on a buffalo hide cause it was warmer on my ass. The parent that went in with me is native and the Chief said to us that what we were doing is very admirable, but we were asking for a lot. He said not many people want to go out of their way for the kids in the north. He told us they found ways to cut our costs, first they would supply the band bus and 2 drivers. Secondly, there's a hotel in Saskatoon owned by a native band and we were able to stay there for a small fee and they would pay all our meals. He then told us our cost was 0 and they would also pay the tounament cost. I jumped up and ran to him and hugged him crying saying thank you. That was on the list of don'ts, but I couldn't help myself. We were leaving andf the Chief said, "Julie, Brenda, make us proud and kick some ass!" I said "that's what I do best."

We left after school on the 23rd, it's a 17 hour drive and off we went excited. We had so much food and things to drink on the bus, it was great. It was around 2am and I was reading and thought what do I hear back there. I go to the back and one of the girls is giving a guy a blowjob, I threw a blanket over them and they were very shocked I found them. Next day I had a chat with them, and asked them to be careful, if someone else catches them who knows what would happen. We got to the hotel and I went straight to the school where everything was being held and saw our 1st game was at 3. There was 4 teams from Alberta and 4 from Saskatchwan, we were pooled with teams from Edmonton, Edson, Red Deer and us, the other teams were from Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Yorkton. All those schools had more kids in them then we have people living in our town. You played every team in your pool and the top 2 played, then the winners played.

The boys opened against Edson and we kicked ass, 42-41, the girls played Edmonton and it wasn't pretty, 68-18. The girls we played are all in grade 12, while we don't have that many, so our girls are in grades between 8-12. In the locker room one of the girls said "we suck" I said to her, "if that's true, then I suck as a coach" She said, "no Julie, your the best and so are we" Both the boys and girls went 2-1 and we advanced to the Sunday morning games. We played against Edmonton for both games. The girls made it closer but still we were beat 52-36. I talked to the girls and said be proud and lets shake their hands and wish them well. The boys beat Edmonton and we went nuts, the game we played them the day before they beat us by 16 points.

The boys played Regina and things were going good, when someone in the crowd started calling the boys rasist crap. I talked to the ref and he had th PA say that was not allowed and anyone caught would be kicked out. It kept up and the coach from Regina went on the PA asking for that to stop, our boys were really upset by it. I was told that there were more teachers in the stands and they caught the guy and kicked him out, I wanted to bitch slap him. We lost the game 48-44, but I couldn't help but be so proud of every boy and girl on the teams.

Was a fantastic weekend and we all learned about what it takes to win, and I saw every kid is a winner

[dave45]

Julie,take it from this wore out old man you and your teams are all WINNERS!!!




Dave

[WalterB]

Absolutely. The winner isn't always the one with the highest score. Sometimes it's the one with the biggest heart. Winning the game is nice. But doing your best against heavy odds, and doing well and giving your all, regardless of where it takes you is the measure of a winner.

Congratulations to you and your teams, Julie. For what you do for those kids, you should get a medal.

[hotjulie]

Thanks Dave and Walt, those kids make me feel so good, and I'm even taller then some of them.

Last weekend was a long weekend here, so on Saturday Gail, Brittany and another friend of theirs Mia made a toboggan out of cardboard and duct tape. I gave them 2 big boxes, 4 rolls of duct tape and about 8 colours of paint. They took about 8 hours from start till it was painted and looking hot!

Next day we went to Gywnne ski hill and enered the race. I read the time wrong and got us there over 1 hour early, so popular I wasn't. There was only 8 entries in the youth and 5 in the family, so we entered both. The youth race they came in 3rd, they would have won, but they hit another toboggan and pushed them across the finish line.

We then went in the family race, I was the responsible adult, yeah well anyway, I pushed us hard as I could and tried to stand on the back. The way I visualized it ,everything was great, but in cowboy boots it didn't work that way at all. I started to fall forward and was on the girls. They all pushed me off and they went over my legs as I fell off. We were all laying in a pile, laughing and threw snow at each other. We never got the trophey, but went down the hill till we had nothing left to use

[WalterB]

There's a great hill in Denver where I used to take my son during his winter visits. It had to be close to 100 yards and was loads of fun. It always amazed me how many people, even "responsible adults" (Julie ) who would climb the hill while looking at the people at the bottom, instead of watching for who was coming down. Then, when someone would hit them and send them asshole over teakettle, they'd always be "why'd you run over me?" And it was always, of course "because you weren't paying attention, you idiot." Didn't bother me at all to run over someone, except that it always ruined your downhill run.

[danamend]

Thank you for your wonderful stories Julie. They are uplifting & fun to read. It seems like you're as lucky to have those kids as they & the town are to have you.

[hotjulie]

Thank you, their all so good, some are perverts, but that's normal, well in my world that's normal

[hotjulie]

The last weekend of March we had a tobagan party, we all met at our place. I made sure all the kids were dressed warm enough, and not just to look cool. It was still around -30C and being warm was the biggest thing. I have extra stuff and so does Gunther that we lend out to anyone that needs it.

When everyone was there we walked to the hill mostly just with cardboard, but who cares, it was just friends having fun. The hill goes to the edge of the river and I had brought 20 bales of straw to stop anyone that might go on the river. It's frozen, but I'm not taking the chance of anyone going in, and it's a big ass river. We had a huge fire going and were taking turns going down the hill. We then had a race for all the kids. They had to slid down to the bottom, ring a bell that I had brought and then run back up the hill. The winner was to get a case of buster bars that I had bought at Dairy Queen. Now I never told the older kids that when they were climbing back up the hill that I was going to be pushing them back down. I thought that way the younger kids would have a better chance. This boy he was so close to the top and I pushed him as hard as I could, all I heard was "what the fuck are you doing" as he rolled down the hill. It turned into a game of King of the Hill! Finally 2 kids grabed me and I was on my ass going down the hill. So I had to award them first prize. I went home and brought back the bars, but I found enough ice cream bars for everyone. So it's -30 and we're all having ice cream outside standing around a big fire and the RCMP stop. I asked them if they want ice cream and they shake their heads and say "sure Julie that sounds good. I told them as soon as they slide down the hill once. I was smiling and saying go for it guys. They radioed they were taking a quick break and they went down. They were talking to us and said they had a complaint about noise, but said don't worry about it, just have fun.

We stayed out there for close to 3 hours and went back to our place for hot chocolate and watched a movie. Everyone had so much fun and it keeps the kids out of trouble

[WalterB]

Haha, another cool afternoon in the land of ice and snow.

I swear I read somewhere years ago (I'm 71. I can say that, ) that you should eat cold things when you're cold and hot things when you're hot. The thinking is, when you're cold, if you eat an ice cream cone, that cools down your inner thermostat and starts the blood flowing and starts the heating process. Vice versa when you're hot. The hot liquid shuts off your inner thermostat and starts your body cooling down.

I've had one medico tell me it doesn't work that way or something like that. But it seems to work for me. Psychological? I don't know.

[sugerdaddy]

Julie seems to have had a great evening with the children and friends and good on them. Pleased to here the people next door didn't make a fuss. I have got to thank God that I live in Australia and the coolest it get in Sydney is 9C in winter and 42+C in summer.

Walt we eat ice cream and drink Hot Chocolate all the time in the Land Down Under, and I don't mean between the ladies legs. lol

[hotjulie]

Walt I know this Dr when I asked him what you said he laughed at me. Just cause they have 10 or so years of university they think they're so damn smart.

SugarDaddy those kids keep me so young and alert.

The boys at the school one day weren't listening to me at all and accidentally feeling my ass! So I sent them to the locker room a little early. I told them I was going to talk to them before they change so give me a few minutes to get there. I went in the girls locker room and found some balloons in my locker. I had the girls help me fill a bunch up with water and I put them in a bag. I went in the boys locker room and acted like I was mad. I said I have something for you all and reached in the bag and started to throw them. They never expected that and I was doing really good at hitting them. I never saw a few of them run to the other side and come up behind me with a pail of ice water and poured it over my head. I screamed like a little girl and then my brains kicked in and said "you guys have to clean this fucking mess up!" So they said "just us" and I said "ok I'll help." So we cleaned up the mess and I went back to my locker and was just leaving after changing and the boys and girls all had pails of water. I was soaked again and all I could say to them was "this isn't over!" I haven't gotten even but I'll think of something soon.

[WalterB]

Damn doctors -- They think they know everything, don't they???

[hotjulie]

The other day we had some stuff that had to go to the landfill, so we started to load up my truck. I saw a wasp and thought fuck off you little bugger. Next thing there's a bunch of them and Hayley drops her end and runs. I let go but got stung on my bicep and ass! Trust me I started to run, I went back about 30 minutes later and saw where they were going into. I said to myself, game on you little bastards, see you in the morning!

I'm at the gym at 5 and go out the back door and flip over this old box and there's the nest, their starting to come out and I have my spray that coats the nest and kills them. I start to spray and then see I carried my water bottle out with me. Now they wake up more pissed off then they normally are. I ran for the gym door and some silly bitch forgot to unlock it and I ran into the damn thing. I fell on my ass, but not for long as their flying around me. I got up ran around the building to the front door. Hayley says I'm insane, I have no idea why, but I had 7 more stings on me. She put some after sting on me, we carry lots with us.

Next morning I went out there with a propane torch, yes I checked that it worked. Those wasps lost that battle, as I once again kicked their asses, it only took 2 days and 9 stings!

[dave45]

OH Julie! LOL! Get em girl. Damn Julie you really have a love/hate relationship with wasp don't you.


Dave

[hotjulie]

Our house that we rent has cement fromt steps. Now they sit about 4" from the house and it bugs me, so Monday night I decided to fix it. I was using a pry bar to slide it over, but it's to heavy. So I thought why not just use the truck to "gently move it. I back up to it and put it in 4 wheel drive and tried to move it. It wasn't budging so I gave it a tiny bit more gas and it moved. Damn did it move, who knew they were attached to the foundation? Well it broke into lots of pieces and I couldn't help but laugh. I parked back in the driveway and saw all the cement blocks we have for a side walk were broke, I kinda drove over them too. My brain finally kicked in and I thought Gunther's gonna kill me, and he was somewhat mad, to say the least. So we have someone builing us a new deck and steps for the front and putting in a sidewalk. My theroy works so well, if you don't like something destroy it and get someone to build you a new one! Also out landlord told me we had to repair it fast!

[WalterB]

Yeah, that's the way I do home repair, Julie. If it won't move, I drive a monster truck over it.