M has come home early. Kids are happy to see him... He enjoyed his stay in Victoria, apparently the campus is full of rabbits?

The weather was lovely, a slight breeze and a few clouds, and we duly headed off to Newcastle Island. Although I decided not to bring a backpack, so it wasn't really a picnic, but we did have icecream from the concession. We found a little beach and made a sand castle which, as Ian pointed out, looked something like Buddha. And we discussed a whole bunch of things, and got sand between our toes, watched ferries and saw a snake and fleets of crabs and sat on the deck of the little ferry with the wind in our hair. I put the end of my icecream cone in my mouth and told the kids I was a wasp, and Ian said, "You'd have to put it up your bum to be a wasp..." Kirsten told us the story she heard when she came out to Newcastle with her class, about the Hawaiian Islander who was hanged at Kanaka Bay for murdering his girlfriend's entire family. She says the authorities knew he was guilty because his girlfriend's father managed to bite off the Islander's thumb while being attacked.

The kids are sad that I'm not going to Edmonton with them, they're going on the 12th for ten days, but I have two big papers due the week after and I want to wait and take time off when I'm finished school in August. Miguel is taking them to stay at his aunt's cabin at Alberta Beach, and they're looking forward to it.

Just to prove that dogs have more fun...

went to a barbecue at Joy's house tonight. I actually drove, which gave me obsessive worries all day, but it was ok. Even though I got lost and contemplated eating the sushi I was bringing and heading home, I found her house in the end. It was a bit bizarre, because everyone else had significant others in tow, and I didn't. Kirsten had very kindly agreed to babysit for me, but I promised I'd be home by eight, so I didn't bother bringing anything to barbecue since I don't eat meat anyway and drew a blank as to what I'd consider cooking. Of course, that meant that everyone kept asking me "You're not eating?" To which I replied, "No, I'm not staying." Which really didn't make sense in the end as I stayed until they were ready to have dessert. The mayor was there, and Joy's barbecue sprung a leak and sprouted alarming flames underneath. (Unrelated facts, but there you have it.)

Tonight I'm working on a paper. In a little while I will put the kids to bed, and I don't have to get up to go to work in the morning so I can please myself whether I go to bed or not. I went down to the booth this morning to check in on Joseph, who was meant to be working, and he seemed to be doing fine. Rachel wants us to go to Newcastle Island tomorrow for a picnic, so we'll see what the weather does. I'm quite enjoying my mini holiday...

went to Canada Day in the park today. We (the volunteer group I belong to) put RCMP tattoos on (I swear) most of the people downtown. Had to go down to work first and give the little talk to one of the employees... the one where you hint that others might like the shifts if she can't do the job properly... Maybe it's just too much for you? Sometimes this works. She professes to need the money. We'll see. But the having to do it always puts my stomach in knots. As if it wasn't already mad at me. my stomach, I mean.

I'm only working tomorrow, then I get four days off as M is leaving tomorrow and he's going to be out of town until Sunday night, so I'm staying home with the kids, as I think I mentioned.

drinking was fun. we had beer, and it was good. Then we walked home, about an hour, and along the way we changed a sign outside a church (not telling you which one). the message didn't make sense, it was one of those InsPiRational ones, and it said something about "That which it is, it is, and always will be your" or something, and we took an A and an S and another S and added them to the bottom, on a line of their own. Then a bit further on, some boys in a car shouted rude things at us (it was almost 3 am by that time) and Graeme mooned them. So we felt it necessary to sit behind a fence for rather a long time and hope they didn't come back and beat the shit out of us.

My stomach still hates me. As a mostly non-drinker, it wasn't sure what to make of the amount of beer...