Another day, another dollar.

Lets start with last night. Tyler put me to bed at 10pm because he was going into work at 11 and I was super tired. I laid in bed and didn't fall asleep. I heard Tyler leave and finally was able to zone out. I was actually asleep, I think and when I opened my eyes to find Tyler standing at the door. He had come home and didn't make a sound. I have no idea why I woke up, because Tyler was like a mouse. And the night happened. Neither of us could get to sleep pretty much all night. Kitty was wanting to come into our room (We had closed the door so we could get some sleep) so Tyler got up and let her in. It's all fine for him to let her in because she doesn't sleep on his shoulder. She doesn't walk all over him. She only bugs me. I had to kick her out. She has gotten into the habit of chewing on the plug ins and I don't want her to get zapped.

So then morning happened. We got up, showered and ate breakfast. Work was alright for me. Not to much happened, but it was actually kind of fun. We had some laughs so the day went a little faster.

I love getting things in the mail. Last week, we ordered an Ereader. Basically its a machine that we can download books onto Well any way, it came today and that made me super excited. Now, when I am out of a job, I can enjoy some classic books. It came with 100 books already on it.

Well, I hope to go to bed and actually sleep well tonight.

One more day until Friday.

Son

Sun came out

Well today it started out raining again but it cleared up before lunch. The pavement started to dry out and the sun started to peek through. However we aren't done with the rain as it is in the forecast for tonight and until Saturday. It's supposed to be sunny over the weekend, but not the temperatures we were seeing couple weeks ago. I'm still on-call this week and it has been pretty slow until tonight. I had to stay late, which is always weird when I don't do to much all day and have to stay, but it all goes into the same account. I have been called back once already tonight and will be going back in two hours.

I came home and Sonja had done the dishes and peeled and cut potatoes for tonight. We had a back strap roast and potatoes and gravy. It was super good. The meat was cook just enough that it didn't dry out like deer can do, and was just little bit rare in the middle. It pretty much melted in our mouths. Sonja ate too much and had a sore stomach tonight. We spent the rest of the night relaxing on the couch. Not anything on the plan for the rest of the night. I'm off to work again and then to bed.

Tyler

This week, I get to work with some different people. My usual co-workers are away on vacation for the rest of my time with the clinic and they brought in another woman and the girl I'm replacing. It's been really nice to have some new people to work with. And it's nice to have someone my own age around. The other woman is about 70 years old and its a little frustrating watching her work. This is only because she has never used a computer and she doesn't do the job she was brought in to do. She was brought in to answer the phones. That's really all she has to do but I'm pretty sure I've answered more phones today and yesterday then I have the rest of the summer. I really don't have a problem with it because it gives me something to do. It's just annoying when she is just talking about personal things and not doing her job. But, it's all right. Like I say, it gave me something to do and I wont be around to witness the aftermath of all the mistakes I might be making.

Today started way to early. Once again, the alarm rang with it's dreaded song and we just wanted to roll over and ignore it. But we submitted to its calling and ended up in the shower, ate breakfast and went off to work.

Then work happened. The girl I'm replacing was there for about 10 minutes before she had to go home again. She wasn't feeling good and spent a lot of time in the bathroom, so she went home. The older woman didn't show up until late. I was by myself, not doing much for the morning. It was nice to be alone like that.

The day went on and there wasn't much activity. I got to come home early so I started dinner and did the dishes. For din din tonight, Tyler cooked up some currie chicken, with rice. I chopped up some red, yellow and orange peppers and mixed that in with the rice. I really liked it. It tasted like I probably will make it again.

Tonight has already involved one round of Mariokart, which I won. And one tickle fight, which I also won. Tyler will tell you he won because he picked me up and threw me on the couch, but he was the one who squealed more (So I won!). We are just relaxing again. We are both tired so nothing is on the menu for tonight.

It's early to bed tonight. I'm excited.

Son

It's raining

Yesterday was a good day for me but last night wasn't so great. It started after we went to bed. Sonja fell asleep and so did I, but she must have been having a better sleep than I because she was laughing and talking in her sleep. So loud that it actually woke me up from my sleep around 12:30. I than had to go to the bathroom and had a headache. I spent the next hour trying to get back to sleep but I couldn't seem to be able to. Sonja continued to talk in her sleep a few more times. I woke up again around 4:30 when Sonja went to the bathroom. At five the cat was limping around and being dumb. We woke up and got ready for work.

Work again was pretty slow. Everyone is trying to can and finish up their fish from the weekend. There are still 13 totes of fish left that haven't found homes yet. I rotated ours so they will all freeze before they go bad. The ones in the middle were still very soft at lunch. I went back to work and I don't remember anything happening. I did a couple x-rays but that is all. I came home and Sonja was doing dishes. She got off at 4:30 or so and had supper started. I made rockfish that I caught last weekend. It turned out good. It doesn't compare to all the salmon we have now, but it was still good. I had ice cream for dessert and Sonja made a smoothie. We watched some TV as we decided it was a relaxing night for tonight. As we settled down I got a callback so money in the bank for me. I am home now and we are watching minute to win it. I made some popcorn, and Sonja is still eating her smoothie. Finally the weather is co-operating with my on-call schedule as it rained all day and is forecasted to all week.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures from our day yesterday.

Tyler

Photoblog 5 - Sockeye Day

One of the two whales we saw in the morning. One of them was just off of the spit.

Some of the fish. The tub the fish are on was also full of fish.

More fish.

Learning how to traditionally fillet a fish.

Trying to do it.

My "White Indian" traditional fillet. It turned out good for my first one.

Aftermath.

Sonja washing sockeye.

Explanation

I just thought I'd clarify the whole "Initiated Indian" title of the last blog. Many times during the day, the actual native people called Tyler the white indian, and that by making him clean the fish, he is now "Initiated".

Son

Initiated Indian

Well, today was probably the best day we've had in a long long time. It was eventful! It was exciting! There's a lot to say so I best get at it.

It started with me getting to sleep in until 11am. It's been forever since that has happened. I guess I was pretty tired. I got up and Tyler was already awake for a while so I cuddled with him on the couch, still in a half sleep haze. Then he yells one glorious word - "WHALE!". We raced out to the balcony because Tyler saw a whale off by the coast guard, which is across the channel. We were looking really hard to see him again, when suddenly, right in front of our house, no further then the spit, another whale spouted and came out of the water. It startled me so much. I almost peed my pants a little. So we went into drill mode. We raced around the house, trying to find shoes, socks, appropriate shirts (as I was still in my pjs) and our camera. We got out there, joining a co-worker who raced out there with no shoes on, just socks. We ended up watching 2 different whales in two different directions. Both whales flashed us their tales a couple times and I think we got a few good pictures. Those will be posted either on facebook or or on the blog. It was incredible how close the whale got to the shore, about 50 feet away. Both whales were headed in opposite directions away from us so we soon lost them.

That co-worker who joined us told us that we should join her and some other co-workers who were going to be cleaning some sockeye salmon down on the warf. 2 big fishing boats came in yesterday and brought in 23,000 of these fish. Every person in the village got about 60 fish for free because the owner of this boat has family who lives in Bella Bella. We went down and Tyler was immediately in Heaven.

There were about 5 of us to start. We each manned our own stations. Tyler was handed a fillet knife and was shown the traditional way to cut a salmon so you can easily smoke it. For the most part, Tyler and the guy we were helping out, Carl, just gutted the fish, and didn't fillet them. I was part of the cleaning team. The bloody gutted fish would be put into another tote. The 3 of us women would put these fish into another bucket of water and get all the nasty stuff off it. Then we put it in the last tote where it would sit and get covered with ice.

It was long day of fish cleaning. Tyler was covered in blood. The boat was covered in blood. But it was such a great day. It was super fun to hang out people who are easy going and really knowledgeable about their culture. It was also fun to see Tyler get convinced into taking most of his clothes off and jump into the freezing cold ocean. Now he really doesn't have any excuse for when we are out at Slave Lake and doesn't want to go in. He will be going in!

We just got home and Tyler's hand still smell like fish. He has washed them 3 times and he has showered. Oh, our current salmon count is 17. That was our payment for helping out today. Tyler still wants to try to catch one himself.

It's sad because Kitty was along all day long and I think she's a little mad at us. Perhaps if she could taste the fish we just brought home, she'd lighten up a little. It was beautiful day today. The sun was out and it was glorious.

We will put up pictures of our day soon.

Son