Meretta Pater | Firm Believer in the Happily Ever After

## Firm Believer in the Happily Ever After

# One Step at a Time

Posted on June 16, 2018 by meretta

Once again I’ve picked up my old copy of Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield and I’m giving it another go. This Thanksgiving I’ll be walk/running the Victoria Marathon. All three girls will be in the city to cheer me on, so that’s kind of cool — although I must admit, I’m not sure how I feel about the fanfare as I’m not a pretty runner – rather a red faced puffer with a flail gait. We’ll see, I guess. LOL. So, just pointing out that I’m starting this at about 50 pounds too heavy, but I’ve got a plan for that, too. Last weekend was a 7 mile jaunt in the pouring rain that resulted in a lovely (not) blister that my daycare kids keep telling me looks like a raisin on my heel. They are not wrong. 😉 Wish me steadfast focus, please! I’d appreciate all the support I can get!

After event… the girls were all there, and something I will always remember in my life is my youngest running along the ropes with me as I crossed the finish line. I’d had to limp walk in the last kilometre due to bleeding blood blisters, but I mustered a slow run for her enthusiasm. What a moment. Loved it, loved it! Love her, and loved that they were all there!

# Earthathon 2015

Posted on July 20, 2015 by meretta

Earthathon 2015 here I come! I just signed up and I’m about to complete my first run for my team #RunderfulRunners .

Want to know more? Want to join in?

EARTHATHON is a 25,000-mile running relay. We tweet our running in miles or km to #earthathon. Run anywhere. One team, one planet. Join Us Today. Be A Part of Something Big. Become an “Earthathoner.” Click HERE to visit the official website.

#running #fitness #collective #run #mondaymotivation #team #planet #kms #miles

# A Boxed Up Life

Posted on July 19, 2015 by meretta

Oh my goodness. How lucky am I? I’ve been so much, am so much. Life is good and it’s hard to believe that a couple of years ago I was cranking that I had too many hats to wear. WHATEVER. So over that. It’s time to celebrate all those boxes that combine to make a fabulous structure.

ITE/SNE in training.

Fernie Kids Owner/Operator so a safe and fun place for an awesome group of children.

ECE.

ECEA.

ECE in training.

Writer.

Soul Coach.

Chakradance facilitator.

Property Manager.

Essential Oil Advocate.

Real Estate Agent.

Feng Shui Practioner.

Reiki Practitioner.

Professional Stock Trader.

Florist.

Landscape Designer.

Mom.

Homeschooler.

Wife.

All of them separate and distinct and so very fractional, but essential in some form or other.

It’s all good.

#soulcoach #professionalstocktrader #fengshui #interioralignment #essentialoils #befree #focus #messy #alongfortheride #neatandtidy #nomore #areyoureadyforthis?

# My Cup of Coffee

Posted on October 11, 2014 by meretta

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, visited their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing comparing, perhaps jealously, with each other’s cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”

So, don’t let the cups deceive you! Enjoy the coffee instead.

# Fishing Derby and Other Firsts

Posted on August 27, 2007 by meretta

To successfully attend your first Fishing Derby…

1. Dress in only 3 layers and leave your mittens at home. The weather in the north has never been know to change FAST. Never. You won’t lose feeling in your hands the first ten minutes out. Honest. 3 layers is plenty of protection.

2. Next, be sure to pack no food in your boat so that you and everyone else are miserable when DH, the Fisherman King, decides to skip coming in for lunch so that he can eke out every last moment of the derby.

3. DO nearly lose the prize winning fish as DH brings it to the boat and you scoop with the net. It makes for very terse words and strained expressions which I’m sure you’ll be able to laugh about. In a few years.

4. Be certain to not fish. Your job is to keep everyone else happy and untangle fish hooks from children’s hair and clothing and speak through clenched teeth as situations require (see 3).

5. LOL. A lot. Now.

Seriously, we had lots of fun at the fishing derby and came home with many prizes, but it was a chilly day. We’ve eaten all our fish for supper last night and they were tasty. NWT pike is a treat.

And more firsts!

We saw a mother black bear and her cubs on shore while we were fishing. They were rooting around and digging up the ground.

AND

I’ve forgotten to mention that two weeks ago I saw my first NWT aurora borealis. Can you imagine? The northern lights in August? I was amazed and captivated. So beautiful.

# Recycling Request

Posted on August 14, 2007 by meretta

I just want to let it be known that I am a phenomenal, I repeat PHENOMENAL recycler. So phenomenal that I’m annoying. Just ask DH, he’ll tell you all about it.

However phenomenal I may be, my organizational skills at said recycling are rather lacking. I’d hoped I’d be better at this house, but sadly it is not the case.

For a week the blue box of cardboard and paper and cans sat by the fireplace in the livingroom before being relegated to the foyer. There they sat, in the way, for a few more days. I won’t mention the stack of paper and how it has been taking up space on my beautiful counter since we moved in.

Then we had visitors coming, so I moved everything to the garage that was recently refurnished with the help of the professionals from garage door repair katy (read: DH’s sacred space). Now that put More Info on how the garage is lacking a certain order at the moment due to an overabundance of crap DH’s beloved items and so the blue boxes are sitting in the middle of the floor, on some boxes, kind of up high where they are hard to reach (don’t ask how I got them up there, I damned near killed myself, but it was the only place, I swear).

Since I’m pressed for time and a bit on the short side (not to mention lazy), I’ve developed the habit of opening the door from house to garage and sort of pitching the milk jugs to the blue bin.I would always suggest people to avail garage door repair here at affordable price . You can also save time by reading more here about garage door service . Due to their squished state and awkward flight plan most of the time they miss and bounce off into the abyss.

At some point DH is going to wander around the other side of the boxes and find the milk jugs and lose his mind. Of course, I could go get a ladder and put them in proper, but the element of danger involved with DH’s mind loss adds a certain excitement to my recycling endeavors. Thanks to the experts from www.dumposaurus.com site for their timely help.

However, I am nothing if not thoughtful (most of the time), so my friends, colleagues and cohorts, in deference to DH’s sanity, I need your help. Send me your fabulous recycling tips and ideas for staying organized.

Please.

It would be most helpful and I shall remain forever indebted (mostly).

# A Deficiency

Posted on August 10, 2007 by meretta

Having come from Alberta which has a fabulous library system in which you can access books from across the province and sometimes even Canada, I’m feeling a bit glum tonight.

I’ve gone and gotten my library card. It was free, but I wouldn’t have minded to pay a membership fee — especially if it meant there were more books available.

The sad truth is that NWT does not have enough books. I understand completely that they don’t have near the population base as Alberta, but still I’m glum.

I have a burgeoning list of books that I want to read, but are not yet in my possession. I have searched through the NWT library system and found TWO of them. Two of approximately twenty.

Oh boy.

Did I mention that I’m really, really, REALLY glad that there’s a great book store in town and that Amazon and Chapters have free shipping after $39?

It’s going to be a lifesaver, but man, there goes my budget.

What about you? Do you buy new/used, use the library, a combination of both?

# Bullock’s Bistro

Posted on July 27, 2007 by meretta

Oh, fish and chips will never be the same again!

Last night (actually days ago now) we had the enlightening experience of eating at one of Yellowknife’s more famous eateries, Bullock’s Bistro.

Basically, it’s a two person team catering to a shackfull of enthusiastic patrons. From the cooler you help yourself to whatever brew you choose. Take your pick of fish (whitefish, arctic char or trout), decide whether it’s grilled, pan fried in butter or deep fried and voila! You can watch it being cooked in the “open” kitchen by the chef. When it’s done, it’s plopped in front of you with a generous serving of “real” fries, a salad and a scrumptious dressing. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

While you wait for your meal there’s no shortage of reading material…one only has to look at the walls plastered with sentiments and signatures of former patrons or read the multitudinous and motley display of bumper stickers and signs.

“Jesus loves you, but the rest of us think you’re a butthole” was a particular favorite with DD2. I’m not sure what to make of that, but it was fun to see her giggle.

It’s a neat little place and the food is terrific. We’ll definitely go back once our wallet recovers!

# North of the 60th Parallel

Posted on July 24, 2007 by meretta

At the visitor information centre just beyond this sign they sell “Bug Gear” to help visitors ward off the incessant black flies and mosquitoes.

Upon fingering a white suit vented with a very fine mesh (”tight and white” is the way to go to avoid bites), I was heartily regaled with impressive stories of the black fly’s tenacity in exsanguination.

I watched the storyteller with a critical eye, keen for embellishment, but could find none in her countenance. She was deadly serious when she said we each needed one of these if we were venturing out onto the tundra or heading into the backwoods. Obviously she felt it her duty to warn us ahead of time.

Perfect.

I thought everyone was exaggerating when they said the bugs were bad and they suggested a great post to read to get rid of the bugs. That they were doing that thing where residents take an odd sense of pride in bragging about how bad they’ve got it in an attempt to awe the tourists with their bravery.

Apparently not.

Apparently I’ve moved myself and my delicately skinned babies to Black Fly Utopia where the insects shall feast upon us like…well, let’s just say they won’t have the opportunity.

Let’s just let it be known that I’m a good mother and that I’ll be shelling out the big bucks for the suits and that you can well imagine the Pater Family trooping around Yellowknife and vicinity running their errands much like a wayward HazMat team.
That is if we’re not trampled by the buffalo first.

Oh yeah, that’s right.

Buffalo.

Everywhere.

In the ditch.

On the road.

In the car with you if they like.

All the way from Fort Providence north to Yellowknife – 236 km of big, brown road hazard with attitude.

And let it be known that they don’t move for the vehicles…the vehicles move for them.

I’m told they don’t come into town, but that the caribou do…which I’m looking forward to. It’ll be winter by then and the HazMat suits will have been stowed and exchanged for the snowsuits, so that we can lay on the rocks in our backyard and watch the aurora borealis.

LOL. I don’t know if my skin will ever see sun again. I’m hoping so!

I can’t tell you yet if all of our goods have arrived safe and sound, because we don’t move into our house until Friday. Fingers crossed that all is well, though and that the buffalo haven’t messed with the moving truck!

# Moving Day

Posted on July 15, 2007 by meretta

Sort.
Sift.
Clean.
Pack
Move.

These are the days of my life.

See you soon in Yellowknife!

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