Christmas time is fast approaching

Christmas will be here before we know it. I have completed most of my shopping but still have a few more people to buy for. Two funny stories to share. I bought Louisa a present from Costco.ca and had it shipped to me at work. When we were going home she of course asked me what was in the box. The curiosity was really getting to her. When I got out of the car to bring in the trash can (it was our garbage day) she reached back to grab the box to have a peek. Luckily I was able to get it before she could see.

Well she really really wanted to know what I had got her and would not let up until she found out what it was. Eventually I broke down and gave it to her early. One less surprise for Christmas.

Last night I asked her to go to the mall with me to do some Christmas shopping. What an experience that was. Louisa and I have two very different ideas of how to shop. And funny enough we each do the opposite of what you may expect. She likes to go with a list and go directly to what she is looking for and off to find the next item. I want to walk down every aisle of every store to see what jumps out at me. I rarely know what I am going to buy someone until I see it.

I have the same habit when grocery shopping. Needless to say we have had more than one shopping related disagreement. Louisa was a good sport and followed my lead as we roamed around the mall. She made plenty of suggestions on things I could buy for my family. And every time that I passed on one of her suggestions she seemed to grow more and more irritated with me. I did end up buying one thing she suggested and that seemed to make her very happy.

Christmas Time is Coming

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Rock Climbing, Hockey and Perth

These past few days have been busy. Thursday Night was our Venturers meeting and we went indoor rock climbing. This is something I had never done before but the rest of them had done it many times. It was fun. I did two accents in total in two different areas of the gym. Half way up I was thinking "I can't do this" but somehow I made it to the top both times. My toes were really hurting. You have to wear very tight shoes so you can get a good grip on the holds. Louisa wants to try so we are going to go give it a shot some time.

Friday night Louisa and I went to the Ottawa Senators hockey game. They were playing Anaheim. The sens lost, they didn't really try until the third period. Even so it was nice to go to a game. Sure was different than watching on tv at home. I like to get to one game a year so I guess that will be it until next year.

Yesterday it was raining all day so we stayed at home most of the day. We did go to mass in the afternoon and there was a parish potluck afterward. Not a huge turn out, probably due to the rain.

Today we went for a day trip down to Perth, Ontario. Luckily the weather was nice. I took Louisa to Camp Opemikon where we had Rovent last weekend and we walked around the town. We had lunch at a great restaurant called GoodWood.

Tomorrow is my first day as an Assistant Buyer at Costco. Very happy to finally be starting my new position. I will be working with a great bunch of guys.

Rovent / Woodbadge I for Senior Sections

I spent the weekend camping in a tent. Something I have done many times in my life, but not in a while. This was my first scout camp in a number of years. I was at Camp Opemikon, a Scouts Canada area camp site. This weekend was their annual camp called Rovent. Rovent which is an event for Rovers and Venturers, this year they also invited Pathfinders from the Girl Guide program. There are older youth between the ages of 14-25.





Rovent is based on a medieval theme. Many participants came complete with costumes such as knights, court jesters, peasants, etc. They also had a royal family comprised of youth from the organizing Rover Crew. There was a story line weaved throughout the weekend. One of the highlights for the youth is the siege. They build catapults and launch bags of flour at each other. The air was filled with flour and they made quite a mess, but they sure had fun.





My Venturer company did not attend, I went solo. I went to take a training course called Woodbadge I for Senior Sections. It is a compulsory course for new Venturer and Rover advisers. I spent the majority of the weekend in training so I didn't get to spend too much time walking around but I did manage to get around a bit.

Since I was going solo I found another group to camp with. The 1st Nepean Rovers adopted me for the weekend. I brought my own tent and personal gear of course, but they fed me. In addition to these fine folks I met a number of other great people that I know I will see again at future camps and events.

We had a good size group of people taking the course. We were asked to come up with a Scouts Own on Sunday morning at the closing ceremony. For those who don't know what that is, it is a spiritual reflection of some sort. I shared with them my story of what brought me back to scouting. They asked me if I was willing to share that with the whole camp so as part of the Scouts Own I did just that. What I said was the following.

My name is Joe Vautour and I am a 1st year Venturer Adviser. I have a rich background in scouting but I was inactive for a few years and I am just getting back into it. Like many of you I was a Beaver, I was a cub, and I was a Scout. I have been a Beaver Leader, I have been an Akela, and I have been a Troop Scouter. I have not been active the last few years, mostly because I was moving around a lot.

One morning two months ago, it was a Monday in August. All of a sudden out of no where I started to think about Scouting. About all the great times I had, the camps I had gone to, the people I met and the friends I made. I became very happy remembering all those great memories. Right then and there I looked up the phone number for Scouts Canada and I gave them a call. I told them I wanted to get back into scouting and they helped me find a group near where I live.

They very next day I was at work and my mother phoned me. My mother does not usually call me at work so I knew something was wrong. She called to tell me that a man I knew had passed away. His name was Robert MacVicar and he was a great man and he meant a lot to me. He was a retired fireman, in fact he was a District Fire Chief when he retired. He was very involved in his church, and in the community. And he was my troop scouter. This man had a huge influence in my life. As far as male role models in my life go, he was right up there with my father.

She them told me that he had a heart attack on Sunday. That is when it hit me. He died on Sunday and Monday I had this sudden urge to get back into scouting. I have no doubt that his spirit came to visit me and was urging me to go back to the Scouting movement.

That is my personal story that I want to share with you. Now each participant is going to briefly say what scouting means to them. For me Scouting is a lifestyle.

And then each of the other people taking the training said what Scouting means to them. I received many compliments afterwards on my story. There was over 300 people there in around the flagpole and it is not easy to hold their attention for long. But while I was telling my story you could hear a needle drop. I had everyones undivided attention.

I had a great time, met a lot of new people and I look forward to the next camp. See all my photos from the weekend on picasa.

Rovent 2008

Merrickville

Last weekend I went to Merrickville with the Venturers as described in my last post. I was so taken by the little town that I decided to take Louisa there this weekend. Merrickville is only a 45 minute drive away from Barrhaven. Just take the 416 south as if you are going to Toronto and take the Kempville exit. Merrickville is along the Rideau river and part of the Rideau Canal. So if you were going by boat it will take you right to downtown Ottawa.

We arrived around 10:30 in the morning and didn't leave until after 4 in the afternoon. What a wonderful day we had. We had breakfast and The Goose And Gridiron. The food was real good and it cost almost nothing. The entire bill was around $11.00 for the two of us. There are much fancier places there if you want.

We spent the whole day walking down the main street (and a couple of side streets) looking in the all the cute shops. They have at least three glass blowing shops, Mrs. McGarrigle’s Mustard, and an assortment of artists gallery's and unique boutiques. We did buy a few things here and there but it was just fun looking at all the neat things they had. Many of the buildings are very old and the shops seemed to have endless rooms full of treasures.

In addition to shopping we walked across the bridge to explore the ruins and visit the foundry. We even watched they Parks Canada staff operate the locks to let a boat pass through. And to finish it all off we went into a candy & Ice Cream store and the air was filled with the most amazing smell. They make their own waffle comes fresh. I had an Apple Pie Ice Cream in a waffle cone. It had to have been the best tasting ice cream I have ever had, I have had a lot of ice cream in my life.

It was such a nice time to take this day trip with the changing of the leaves. We truly had a marvelous day. I recommend it to anyone in Ottawa who want to get away for a day trip without spending a fortune. They have some nice Inns and B&B's if you want to make a weekend out of it. And of course for the less pampered approach they have a campground right there along the canal.

Crazy Canuck Challenge

Today was my first outing with the 25th Nepean Venturer Company. We went to Merrickville for the Crazy Canuck Challenge. It was a great day weather wise for this event. We had 4 out of our 5 venturers go.

Andy and I drop them off at the start and the received their instructions. They had to use a compass and put their orienteering skills to use. We met them at the first check point where they had to mount their mountain bikes. One of our guys forgot to bring his bike helmet but luckily we found someone with an extra to lend. Lucky for him otherwise he wouldn't be able to participate in that portion of the course.

Shortly afterward they had a stop at a rock quarry where they did some repelling. Just as they were entering the quarry one of the guys ended up flying through the air over his handlebars and had a little spill. He had a small cut and hurt his fingers on his left hand. He wasn't seriously hurt but he choose to let the others continue on without him and he joined Andy and I in the chase car.

We then waited for them at the next check point. When they arrived we fed them some lunch and they set off in the canoe. We then picked them up at the finish line. We actually we were waiting at what we thought was the finish line. Luckily we figured out it wasn't the right spot before they arrived. I don't know their official time or standing but I think they did pretty well.

At the finish line they had a fun activity of crate Stacking. They are rigged in a rope harness and try to see hoe high they can build a stack of milk crates while climbing on top. I hear the record is 14. They had a lot of fun with that. Pictures are available at my Picasa Albumn

Sometimes Politicians do Listen

We are in the middle of a federal election campaign and as always the city becomes littered with election signs everywhere you look. The incumbant in my area is conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre. He has a lot of signs at intersections, and often on all four corners. There is one near my home where Woodroffe Ave and Cresthaven Dr meet. It's exact location made it difficult to see traffic coming up the hill when turning onto Woodroffe from Cresthaven. So I called his campaign office and asked if they could move it back a few feet as it was a safety hazard. They listened and within 2 days it was moved back. Now I know that he didn't move the sign himself but I am very pleased that the listened to the request of a single voter.

Boys Night Out

Last night was Boys Night Out. Most months after our general business meeting some of the Knights will go to our local pub for a drink or two and shoot the breeze. When we leave the staff take our receipts and keep track of our spending. If we go there any other time we can request that they add the receipt to our tally. The pub calculates our spending and gives us a certain percentage back in credit. So once a year we go for a night out and enjoy our reward.

Last night we did just that. It was great. I can't remember the last time I spent 6 hours in a pub. They had live entertainment to boot. We had a decent turnout, but it would have been nice to see a few more faces. Their loss, they missed a great time.

But a very strange thing happened last night. I consumed a large quantity of beer but did not get drunk, not even a little. I have never been a big drinker, not even in university. I think the most beer I had in one night before was 8 and man was I ever sick. But last night I am sure I had more than that, and nothing.

Mind you I did eat a lot as well, and we were drinking draft. I think the smartest thing I did was drink two tall glasses of water at the end of the night. That seems to make a big difference in how you feel the next morning. I was home and in bed by 1:30 and I was able to get to bed without waking Louisa. So that is proof enough that I wasn't stumbling around when I came home.

I stayed in bed until 3 in the afternoon so it is a good thing that I didn't have any plans for today. I think I am allowed one night like that a year.

Friends, Sushi, and Fishing

Ok my weekly updates was short lived. I have been slacking the last couple of weeks. Life has been busy busy. My calendar has really been filling up between the Knights of Columbus and Venturers. But I am happy. The important thing is I make sure I make time for Louisa.

Tonight we have dinner plans with some friends. Looking forward to that. It is so nice that we have friends to do stuff with now. I know that sounds pathetic but since neither of us are from Ottawa we didn't really know anyone outside of work. But know through church and other activities we have been meeting other couples. It's nice to build up a social network again.

Speaking of work, my department was treated to a special lunch yesterday by the big bosses for an outstanding performance last period. We went to Sushi Kan for all-you-can-eat sushi. It was soooooo good. Louisa and I have been there a few times already. I ate so much I wasn't hungry at supper time.

Today I am going to go fishing for a bit. I havn't been fishing all summer. I bought a fishing license and all the gear, and have been itching to break it in. I vowed to get out at least once before it gets too late. Wish me luck.

Weekly Update

I have been doing pretty good lately posting to my blog regularly. My goal is to do a post at least once a week. So allow me to catch you up on what is new in my life.

One very exciting thing is that I am getting back involved in Scouting. I will be serving as a Venturer Adviser. Venturers is the level after Scouts At this level the youth really run their own meetings and activities. I am just there to consult and guidance. I am very excited to get back into the movement.

On top of that I have managed to convince Louisa to go camping with me sometime. She has never been and was a bit skeptical about the whole thing. I borrowed a DVD from the library called "The Beginners Guide to Camping - A How to Video for Campers Who've Never Camped Before". The video was very basic but well done. Louisa watched it with me and now she is excited to give it a try. First she wants to try sleeping in the back yard in a tent before we go somewheres for a weekend. And we have to go to a campsite with showers and washrooms. But at least she is warming up to the idea.

We have to buy a lot of equipment though before we go camping. I have a sleeping bag and thats about it. We saw a Coleman stove on sale at Canadian Tire so we picked one up. Have to start somewhere. Another thing I have is a Flashpan. I brought home a sample from work to test out. It is a grill of sorts that uses solid fuel tablets instead of propane. Much safer. Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/64f9az

Last night I took Louisa to a 1930's style carnival called Carnivàle Lune Blueu. They have a bigtop with a Circus troupe similar to Cirque de Soleil. In fact, the bigtop they are using is the original Cirque de Soleil bigtop. There is a real freak show in the 10 in 1 tent. They have a ferris wheel and merry-go-round, and all kinds of cool stuff. It is on for one more weekend so if you are in the Ottawa areas I suggest you check it out. If you can't go there are some cool videos you can watch online at http://tinyurl.com/6e6nyc and http://www.carnivalelunebleue.com/rogerstv.asp.

Lawnmowers and shelving units

This sure has been an interesting week. First of all let me say that I am feeling great. I was limping on Monday and Tuesday but by Thursday I was playing Volleyball at the company picnic. Everyone was real concerned because I had an operation on my heart only a week earlier. But I felt fine and everything was good. I also placed first in the apple bobbing competition. hey, you got to be good at something right. Reminds me when I was in grade 3 and I won a pie eating competition at the local community center.

Louisa finally broke me down and we purchased an electric lawn mower this week. Last year when we moved in I insisted on getting an old fashioned push reel mower. It is a lot of work and takes forever but I was happy with it. Last weekend I was unable to cut the grass because of my operation. I was going to pay the neighbor's kid to cut it for me. Louisa decided she wanted to prove to me that she could do it, even though I didn't want her to. She practically killed herself but she got it done. She vowed that we would get an electric lawn mower. After much convincing we finally did by one at Canadian Tire.

We also went to Zellers and bought a 6 cube console for the kitchen. Louisa built it with my guidance. I interpreted the instructions and she did most of the assembly. So Louisa learned the joy of assembling furniture. We even had to disassemble it half way through because we put a couple pieces in upside down. All part of the experience. It was a lot of fun. We hadn't taken the time to do something like that together for some time.

Louisa and I spend so much time together we sometimes forget to take time to do simple things together. We commute together, we work together, we take break together, we eat lunch together... we are together almost 24/7. When we come home from work typically I spend the evening in the basement and she stays on the main floor. Sometimes I think we spend so much time together that we tend to take each other for granted. As a newly married couple I think it is important that we don't let that happen.

Last nights furniture assembly was a nice reminder that we need to take time to enjoy each others company. So tonight we are going to Carnivàle Lune Bleue. It is a 1930's style carnival that is in town complete with sideshows, a big-top main event, and authentic 1930's midway. I can't wait.

Louisa and I have been going through a lot of hard times since our wedding. There has been so much illness with us, friends, co-workers and loves ones. We are constantly worried about someones health and well-being. Our surgeries may be behind us but there are many people close to us who are not out of the woods yet. We pray for them daily.

Changes to my website

I have been making some changes lately to my website (http://www.joevautour.com). I have removed some elements that were just cluttering things up and moved some things around. I have not done a major overhaul, just little changes here and there. I would love to know what people think. All feedback is welcome.

Sometimes I am asked why I spend so much time on the site, after all it's not like I have a ton of loyal visitors. I do get a decent volume of traffic, mostly from search engines. Two of my more popular pages are my Nunavut page and my cartoons page. I have had a number of people who have been thinking about moving to Nunavut email me with questions. It is very rewarding when that happens.

Mount Olympus

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Safe and Sound

I am happy to report that my surgery yesterday was a success! The doctors were able to isolate and eliminate the extra pathway in my hearts' electrical system. For those unfamiliar with my condition allow me to explain.

The first time I knew there was something wrong I was in high school. My heart started to beat funny. Of course by the time I was able to go to the hospital it was back to normal and they had no idea what had happened. This would reoccur every so often. It wasn't until I was living in Nunavut that I finally had it diagnosed. The instances of my 'attacks' became more and more frequent and severe. I went to see a cardiologist in Winnipeg. It found out I had paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (Try to say that ten times fast) or PSVT for short.

The doctors in Winnipeg performed an ablation but were unsuccessful in correcting my problem. An Ablation is a process where they burn your heart in an attempt to create scar tissue to prevent the electrical signals of the heart to from going the wrong way. Although they did not succeed in curing me, I did experience an improvement. My 'episodes' were less frequent and less severe.

But over time they came back and it became a problem again. A team of doctors here in Ottawa agreed to give it another attempt. This time they feel confident that they fixed it. They tell me I should not have any more problems. You don't know how happy this makes me and my family. I have been living with this for 12 years and finally I am cured. I feel like a new man.

Sad News and Crazy Times

I received some very sad news today. A man that had a major influence on my life has passed away two days after his 66th birthday. Bob MacVicar was one of my scout leaders, but he was more than that, he was a friend. Bob was a very good man and he will be missed by many.

In addition to being involved in scouting over 30 years, he was very active in his church and the community. Bob started as a volunteer firefighter with the Lancaster Fire Department in 1964 and joined the Saint John Fire Department in 1966. He was a district chief when he retired.

Bob was the best story teller I knew. I never grew tired of hearing him retell the same story over and over again. I learned a lot from that man. He taught me many skills and life lessons that make me the man that I am today. I would have to say that aside from my family he influenced my life the most growing up in Saint John.

I wish I could be there in person to pay my respects. But alas I am over 1000 km's away in Ottawa. Not only that but the funeral will be held on Thursday and I am scheduled to be under the knife. Yes thats right, my operation has been rescheduled finally.

Also today Louisa and I said Goodbye to our Japanese exchnage student. She and her classmates are on their way back to Japan. She was only here for 2 weeks but it was nice having her around. Bee Bee will miss her for sure. I think we will definatly look into hosting a student again but for a longer term stay.

So my life is in a bit of a spin right now. Lots going on at one time. Fortunatly for me I have Louisa to comfort me. She is my rock.

Bee Bee and Me

Bee Bee is our Dog, correction, she is Louisa's Dog. There is no doubt that Louisa is her master. It's only fair because Louisa rescued Bee from an animal shelter before we met. So naturally Bee is more inclined to Louisa.

My relationship with Bee has evolved over time. At first I was a stranger who couldn't be trusted. Eventually she began to tolerate me to a degree. Then after a long time she actually began to like me. I think she now considers me her playmate. I am the one who always plays fetch with her. In the morning she likes to play this game called "Bite Joe Joe's Hand". Louisa says Bee Bee thinks of me as her Butler. After all I feed her, walk her, and of course pick up her you know what. Louisa does these things too but to Bee Bee Louisa is Mom Mom.

I am not a dog person by nature. That is probably because I had cats almost all my life. Even though I was not crazy about Bee Bee at first she has grown on me and now I don't know what I would do without her.

The Birds have left the nest

No that is not a metaphor. The baby birds in the nest across the street beside the mailbox are gone. Since I discovered them I have a peek in at them every time I walk the dog. The nest is just above eye level. I have observed their growth and development. I am kind of sad that I won't see them anymore as I pass by.

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Skating on the Canal

I was going to write an entry about Valentines Day but Louisa beat me to it. So if you want to read about our Valentines Day head over to Louisa's Wedding Blog.

So instead I will tell you about how we spent yesterday. We went to the 9:30 am mass at Blessed Sacrament after experimenting with different masses over the past few weeks. After mass we went skating on the canal. This is now our third year in a row for doing this during Winterlude. Neither of us are very good on skates but we seem to do a bit better each year. We skated all the way from Dowes Lake to Landsdowne park. Our feet were hurting so we put our boots back on and went for a walk down Bank street through the Glebe. Eventually we ended up back at Dowes Lake and went into Malone's for a drink.

We picked up a movie on the way home. I was so tired I actually took an impromtu nap on the couch while Louisa prepared a wonderful roast for dinner. After eating a very enjoyable meal we watched the movie together (after watching Big Brother of course). All in all we had a very pleasant day.

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This is the testing of new service call Jott, where you basically call up toll free number or a local number, say the message and it will automatically send you e-mail or post the message to your blog so, this is the test to see if it works. listen

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Michael Buble

Last night Louisa and I went to a Michael Buble concert. The tickets were one of the Christmas presents I gave her. People who know me well will not be surprised that I also enjoy his music. Although there were far more females in attendance I quite enjoyed the concert. Not all good singers make good entertainers, but Michael Buble sure is. He was funny and humble about his success. The best part of the concert though I must say was to see Louisa smile and enjoy herself. I had a great time and that is what I wanted more than anything else. With the stress of the pending wedding it was good that she could have a fun night out.