Rudy entertains

I taped a bit of our Canada Day Celebrations with the Buchanans. I thought I had lost the tape but found it the other day. The tape is largely about my dog Rudy barking and trying to chase a cat. It's 92 seconds.

'Canada Day and My Stupid Dog'

By the way, you'll notice I changed the design because the other one was not displayed archived posts. I hope this one is more stable.

Life is Full

Everyone when asked, "how's it going?" will say, "Busy." Here's our schedule:

Martha
Gymnastics: Tuesdays 6:00pm

Shea
Volleyball: Mondays, Wednesdays 3:30-4:45
Voice lessons: Mondays, 3:15-4:00
Dance: Mondays, 6:15-8:15, Tuesdays, 6:45-8:30
Voila: Thursdays, 5:00-5:30

Sam:
Piano: Tuesdays, 9:15-10:00
Volleyball: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays 2 hours each

Paula:
Hits the gym everyday for an hour to keep her shapely figure
Runs her bobbysocks website/businsess

Dean:
Completing Masters work this year
Managing 5 websites
Currently working on 3 video projects
Golfing as much as possible given limited time.


I can hardly wait till summer holidays!

The Back to School Video

I'll link over to my educational blog for this posting.

Surprise!

Paula's mom's birthday is the same day as their wedding anniversary. I'm not even sure if this was a birthday present or anniversary present. Anyway, we got Larry and Rosa in the car Friday afternoon and headed north to Saskatoon. Rosa didn't know where we were going. We picked up Terry and Brenda and drove to the Barn Playhouse.

We had a great meal outside and then watched "All Things Bright and Beautiful" in the barn. I think we surprised mom and had a great evening. We continue to build culture. More pictures here.

The Shareskis get cultured

We spent a lovely Sunday afternoon in the park in Regina listening to the Regina Symphony. This was our birthday present to Paula's mom. About 4,000 people gathered. I even managed to get in a very short nap. Enjoy this 94 seconds of Mozart.

Meredith arrives safe and sound

Meredith has arrived in Toronto and spent her first day getting her room set up. We've talked to her a few times with Skype and she's obviously very excited and pleased to be there. Here's a link to some photos of her last week.

See you in four months

We said goodbye to Meredith this morning as she and Kurt headed for Toronto. It will be a different house without her.

Last night we had a little farewell for her highlighted by a special presentation by her "boy friends". Here's the video of her reaction.


There are also some other photos on our Flickr site from some other summer happenings.

Franny the Flamingo

Martha spent her money at the Build-a-bear store. Here's the story of Franny, her new flamingo.

Skype Me!

I've been using a program called Skype for several months and now many of my friends and relatives are catching on to it. It's slogan is "the whole world can talk for free." It utilizes VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) and allows you to use your computer to call long distance to other computers for free. The quality is excellent. All you need is a microphone or headset. It's not recommended for dialup users but it still works. I'm guessing in the next 2 years, all phones will use VOIP. It's already available for regular phones in many areas.



So download it and give me a call sometime. My skype name is dean_shareski.

Reporting from Saskatoon

We're in Saskatoon today after 3 days of fun and shopping at the West Edmonton Mall. I've got a seminar here and we're heading out for dinner with Brenda and Terry.

Had a nice day with the Blocks in Waldheim before heading off to Edmonton.


Martha was thrilled with the water park and amusement park.


The thing that scared me most was she was as excited about shopping. That worries me.

Can anyone lend me some cash?

The Double Life of Meredith

I've been wanting to get a picture of Meredith in both her getups for work and finally got it. She works at the Superstore Deli cutting meat in the mornings and plays "Fanny" in the Tunnels of Moose Jaw tours. As you can see it's quite a contrast.

She will remind anyone who will listen that she is the only one around our house who is doing any work this summer. Her perceptions are quite skewed as are most teenagers but she can continue with this illusion as she only has a few more weeks at home.

We'll be heading to Edmonton and Saskatoon next week for some holidays and a 2 day workshop I'll be attending in Saskatoon. The summer of 2005 is continuing to be a good one.

Our own Private Saskatchewan

The hot weather returned and we were able to escape by joining the Dombowskys, Barrs and Begins at a secluded beach on the east shore of Lake Diefenbaker. It's tough to find an ocean near our house but this was as close as it gets. Beautiful sand, clear water and privacy. The following video of two and a half minutes, captures the day.

Reno project completed

We managed to get another little project done. Pastor Al and I (yes, that's not a misprint, "I", did make some contributions) finished the back steps.

Al did a nice job of designing them. Paula still needs to paint them. She's been busy painting the doors and trim on the front and those steps will be next. We also got the wallpaper upstairs put in and will be working on the downstairs bathroom next week. The summer of renos continue....

Getaway at Good Spirit

We had a great time last week at Good Spirit Lake. Days were filled with golf, beach, hiking,relaxing on the deck, cards and general fun. The mosquitoes also were part of the picture as well.
You can see all the pictures here. The highlights included the much talked about family races. After months of trash talking between Paula and Meredith, they finally proved once and for all who is the fastest. The video highlights the race as well as a typical "Brenda and Dad moment". This is a 3 minute excerpt from the full 8 minute video which chronicles the entire week. You'll have to contact me for the full version.

A break from Renovations

After completing Paula's sewing room, it's time for a break. We're heading off to Good Spirit Lake for a few days. We'll be meeting the Redpaths and my dad.
Paula is quite pleased with her new room. She did most of the work and I made some small contributions (you can click on the images for a larger photo).After we get back, we'll be tackling the front and back steps. I'll post some pictures and likely a short video from our getaway.

Me and Jayda and our Painting

Me and Jayda did it. We made a record. We played for six hours and didn't fight.

The pictures we did was me playing basketball and "I love Canada" with hearts.

Meredith's TV moment

For those who may have missed it, here's the video of Meredith's Canadian Idol performance. She had a terrific time in Toronto and knows a number of the finalists.

She continues to work her craft as she plays Fanny for the Tunnels of Moose Jaw shows. She has only six more weeks till she's off to Humber College to begin her Bachelor of Music degree. I'm still hoping she'll do some blogging. Working two jobs keeps her pretty busy and the free time is left to maintain her social life.

A Perfect Day at Buffalo Pound

It heated up here in Moose Jaw and so we headed for Buffalo Pound Provincial Park. We met Sheri and her girls and enjoyed an afternoon in the sun. Sam is at camp and Meredith was working so it was just Shea, Martha and her friend Jada. We barbequed and then headed over to another part of the part to watch Saskatchewan Express. Hansen's daughter Deborah sings in the group. This was the group Meredith sang with last year. This was close to a perfect day (not counting any day that includes golf). You can look at some pictures here. As well as a short video of the day.

Martha's life

I'm Martha. I'm six years old. I'm going into grade 2. I'm a Christian. I like to play basketball, swim, sing and draw. I'm working on a quilt with my mom. I'm drawing the pictures of my dog Rudy. I just got home from camp and it was fun but I got hurt one time.

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

What a great way to begin our summer holidays. A BBQ at Buchanans, great weather and Fireworks. Okay so the fireworks doesn't compare to Disney's but it's Moose Jaw for Pete's sake.