With the economy the way it is, we—like many other folks out there—have been paying closer attention to where our money is going. And we’ve made a few changes, one of which is that the boys and I are now driving Jim to work and back. And here’s one reason why: parking rates in Calgary are the most expensive in Canada, and second only to NYC in North America (and not by much! $460US/month in Calgary; $500 US in NYC). Here’s an article Jim sent me on the very subject.

Now, I get the argument that says more expensive parking means less folks driving, which is better for the environment. But in our case, it is having the opposite effect—we are doing DOUBLE the driving than when Jim drove himself to work. And while he could take public transit to work, it would add considerably to his commuting time (at least 30 minutes per day, often more like an hour)—and we live VERY close to downtown (about 3.5 miles / 6 kms), not way out in the burbs. There has been such rapid population growth here that public transit is inadequate; many, many times Jim has had a prolonged wait at the bus stop as one bus after another simply rolls past as it is already at full capacity. And as he is self-employed, spending more time on transit either means fewer billable hours, or less time with the family—and his time is already quite limited as it is. So we drive, there and back, twice per day.  Better for our bottom line, better for our family (we have time to talk in the car)…but worse for the environment. Hopefully once the C-Train (LRT system) is expanded to our area in the next couple years and public transit capacity is increased, we can make a choice that is better all ‘round.

Just thought I’d mention it, as I doubt we are the only family in Calgary making worse environmental choices due to the ridiculous parking rates. Life choices are not as easy in the real world as they looked in “case studies” in university!

We did a family trip to Drumheller this year, instead of a party, for Daegan’s 7th birthday. It was a wonderful time—and much needed as things have been crazy busy here this spring. Such is the life of the self-employed family: feast or famine. And the boys did a LOT of activities this spring.

We headed out Saturday afternoon, as Daegan had his final drama performance that morning. By the time we got there (about 1 1/2 hour drive) we were able to check into the hotel, which was lovely (and free! we did it on points!) Jim took the boys for a quick swim while I unpacked, and then it was off to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which houses the largest collection of dino fossils in Canada, and is regarded as one of the top palaeontology museums in the world. We’re lucky to live here!

We walked around the museum, checking out some new displays, and revisiting old favourites. There were a few funny moments. Daegan was soooo excited to go and see the new sarcosuchus (prehistoric SuperCroc) skull on display, but we didn’t see it our first pass through the museum. So up he marches to the info desk. “Excuse me….where’s the sarcosuchus skull?” Two dumbfounded teens asked him to repeat his question, and then pointed to a more knowledgeable colleague—“ask that guy”. This fellow gave us a personal escort to the skull, and chatted with Daegan, commenting to me on the side, “He really knows his stuff!” LOL! The other funny moment occurred in the dinosaur hall. There are dozens of large dinos (complete skeletons) on display, and lots of smaller bones as well. Daegan ran around pointing things out to me in a very excited way: “This is______; he lived during the_____. He grew to be _______ feet long. Did you know____________? (insert interesting factoid about the species here)” Well, when Daegan gets excited you can’t help but catch his enthusiasm, and as he went through the hall he acquired a following of a good dozen or so people enjoying his impromptu tour! I just watched him revel in his element, and field questions from strangers with aplomb---some about dinos, some about himself. How old does he have to be before he can work here? :-)

The following day Daegan and Jim got in another swim in the morning (Gareth didn’t want to, so he and I hung in the room), then headed off to the hoodoos before heading back to the museum again. There was an interpreter from the museum at the hoodoos (they do this for the busy summer season) who had lots of fossils and other artefacts for the boys to check out. She gave us some tips on places to look for fossils in the area off the beaten path (nb. in Alberta, fossils are heavily protected by law and any finds must be reported to the museum)—she was VERY helpful. We then went back to the museum and spent another 5 hours there, taking in a fossil-casting class in the middle. Both boys ran themselves ragged and passed out on the drive home, something they haven’t done in years now.

Daegan opened gifts that evening once home, and the next day I made a small birthday cake for him. All in all, a wonderful birthday for our wonderfully dino-crazy son!

Here’s some pics (hover cursor over for details):

This is just crazy. The teacher’s initial actions are horrific—having the rest of a kindergarten class say what they disliked about a boy (who has Asperger’s) and then have kids “vote him out of class” a la Survivor. The fact the school board is letting her continue teaching and maintain her tenured status is beyond belief. Guess they are desperate for elementary teachers in Florida.

Read more here.

We've been taking on a number of projects in the garden this spring. Last fall we ripped out the disaster that was behind the fence in the back lane, removing ALL the soil and weeds (it was a mess...complete with ant nests!) We filled the raised bed with a good soil and compost, and planted a few raspberry canes (which thankfully survived a much colder and longer winter than usual). This spring we planted more canes, kept it watered and weeded, and the boys and I just finished adding a layer of mulch on top. Looks awesome! Can't wait to taste the fruits of our labours! :-)

Oh, and in front of the bed where there were yet more weeds, Jim has been covering it with landscape fabric and gravel. Hard, hot work but much easier to maintain and keeps the neighbours happy. (I do let some weeds grow inside the backyard as they are good for wildlife).

We've been doing some other stuff too which I will share later as the plants grow in. Here's a pic of the raspberry patch as well as some strawberries (in containers) that are ready to eat! First of the season--yum! Hard to believe we had snow on the ground just over a month ago.