New Family

New Family

When my Dad first told me that he was marrying a second time, I remember a moment of dread. I was worried that she was going to replace my Mom. Common enough thought for a child. Now I look upon that day as a great blessing from God. Every child needs a mother figure in their life and she fit the bill perfectly. I am not saying everything was always rosy, that would be a lie. It is always difficult for children who come from a broken home to adjust to having two parents in the home again. We all butted heads many times throughout my childhood, what family doesn't though?

Mandy was a nurse. She made sure that we understood that she was not in anyway trying to take the place of our mother, she wanted us to call her Mandy and not Mom. Mandy was a great mother, but we were not afraid to push buttons. I know I could often be cruel growing up as well, my mouth has always gotten me in more trouble than anything else, well that and my short temper. I remember saying that I hated her, and that she wasn't my mom so I didn't have to listen to her. I would always regret these things, the moment they left my mouth, but was always too proud to apologize (a problem I still suffer with).

Back to the wedding, I don't remember much about it as I was only four at the time. It was at Minter Gardens, a beautiful place that Mandy's parents lived close to so we would walk through there at times growing up. I also remember being quite upset and jealous that Alvin got to be a ring bearer and I had to just sit and watch, so I was not in the best of moods that day.

After the wedding we moved to a duplex on Logan Road, which is on the other side of Agassiz. While there we attended the Agassiz Christian School, where my first huge crush took place. She was a beauty whom I stole my first kiss from in Kindergarten, just to make a neighbor boy who always hung out with her jealous. For that the teachers made me sit on my hands for the whole lunch hour, but it was worth it, a body never forgets their first kiss right? Think my kindergarten teacher's name was Rask, as I recall us calling her Mrs. Rats. I know children are cruel. She had to call my Dad into school one time as I refused to do skipping rope. I thought it was only for girls, I got in trouble and ended up skipping rope. I am not sure of the exact timing, but know that it was during grade one that we transferred to Kent School in Agassiz. I recall hating this school. 

Mandy always loved both dogs and horses. She had a horse at a stable nearby, and her toy poodle. I recall two things about this first horse. One is that Alvin was riding it one time and fell off the horse, I don't remember him being hurt or any other details about it, just that he fell off. I also recall Mandy having an injured foot after this horse stepped on her and crushed her foot. Not sure what happened to this horse, but I know it was shortly after that that she got a new horse. This horse we kept at the farm of a family from our church in Harrison (a beautiful tourist town nearby that I recommend visiting).

It was at this farm that I remember being taught how to feed a horse properly by hand. It was a lot of fun. I also recall playing with cats and kittens in their barn. One kitten in particular captivated our hearts. He was handicapped and couldn't walk properly, he stumbled everywhere he walked. He would never survive on a farm, so we were able to take him home. We called him Snickers, I am not sure why, just that that was his name. I remember a few things about this cat. One was that he could not crap in the litter box without getting it all up the wall and on the floor. Two was that you had to watch your feet whenever walking by our couch from the moment he entered our home. He would squeeze himself under our couch and claw any feet that came near. It could be painful at times, but it always made us laugh. The third thing I remember was that Snickers would always switch food bowls with OJ, Mandy's toy poodle. They could never eat from their own bowls, like us humans the grass was greener on the other side. Sadly this cat could not travel with us to Saskatchewan when we moved. It went to a lady with many cats that she found good homes for.

I also remember walking down the road from the farm, where pears grew in a tree by the road, so you could eat fresh pears. As well as the blackberry bushes that grew nearby and the creepy spiders we'd find in the bushes. This wasn't unusual though, blackberries grew wild in the ditches everywhere in the Fraser Valley area.

Let's go now to the house on Logan Road. I had many friends here. There was a girl across the street that we were on again-off again friends with. I remember getting into lots of trouble around her. She watched as I cut big chunks out of my hair, showing her I could be my own barber. What a disaster that was! I will simply let Shila cut my hair now! I also remember getting in a pebble fight with her at the nearby park, for which I got a much-deserved spanking. I remember also collecting shiny pebbles with her as we both thought they were the coolest thing. The neighbor family in the other half of our duplex would often play road hockey with us in their driveway. On one such occasion their dad played with us and he accidentally tripped me, so I got up and slashed his shins as hard as a could. Surprise, surprise I got a spanking for that, I believe I had to stand in the corner as well, but I could be wrong. Then there was Alvin's good friend Matt who often came over. He lived just up the street. I didn't really get along well with him, but hung out anyways as he was always around Alvin. Recall two things about this boy. One was that I got in trouble for lying after they wouldn't follow the rules I made up and Mandy overheard me telling them that she said that they had to listen to my rules. Believe it or not, but I actually used to be a very good liar. Hard to believe now that I can't tell lies at all without smiling or laughing. The second thing I recall was a big pile of wood down the block, one side was beside the road, the other was covered in stinging nettles. We would play inside this fort, as there was a big clear space in the middle of the log pile. One time when we were playing my parents called us away from our fort as we had somewhere to go. Well I took a wrong step and fell into the nettle patch. Very unpleasant being covered in nettle stings from head to toe. Another event I recall from the duplex, is the time Alvin got his head cut up and needed stitches. We and a couple boys from school never once saw eye to eye (the younger brother was the one who always hung out with the girl I kissed in kindergarten). We were all throwing insults at each other near the park. They were on their bikes and carrying a beat up metal bucket. At one point they threw the bucket at us. It clipped Alvin on the forehead right above his eye. We all know how bad head wounds bleed. The boys took off on their bikes and I bawled and screamed more than Alvin did. He got stitches and their parents made the boys come over and apologize to us. I know I enjoyed that moment, seeing them humbled. Let's just say I gloated.

At some point while living on Logan road, I ended up with pneumonia. I found out at this point that I was allergic to Penicillin. I broke out in hives everywhere. Pneumonia killed my immune system and it has never been the same since. As a result I am always getting sick. Alvin and I also ended up with chicken pox at some point. As you all know, that isn't a lot of fun, relief came in the form of baths with baking soda.

I recall trips to Harrison Lake, where we would hike around the lake, including next to a hot pool that absolutely reeked of rotten eggs, I couldn't believe people actually came and bathed in there! My grandparents owned a cabin on the lake that we would visit and they had a boat. We would go fishing from the boat, but I don't remember much about these trips, just remember that they happened.

Sometime in here my grandparents sold their farm and moved to a beautiful acreage just outside of Cranbrook, BC. They came back for a funeral shortly after buying the property. While they were home a lightning strike nearly burned down their new home. Luckily the local firefighters didn't let the fire reach their home, but they lost a bunch of trees.

We would often hang out at my Aunt's place nearby. My younger cousin and I would hang out, while my older cousin and Alvin hung out. One of these times resulted in a boot or a pot ending up in a wasp nest, one of the four of us threw it there. Wasp stings aren't a lot of fun believe it or not, especially not when they are really mad. After they calmed down we got our revenge by drowning out their nest with a garden hose. Alvin and Jen also climbed to the very top of two tall trees after being forbidden to do so, which led to them getting in a lot of trouble. We always were a daring lot, especially Alvin and Jen. This house had a man's personal golf course next to it. He never collected his old golf balls, so we went about and took a bunch of them home.

When we moved to Saskatchewan it was a sad day, but was good for me. I had terrible allergies in BC. I remember one allergic reaction. It was on a trip to Vancouver. Acid rain struck when we were outside and my whole body broke out in rashes, apparently I was allergic.

It Begins/Project Edit

Before I begin with the first short segment, I must say that after speaking with my Dad, who's wisdom I greatly respect, I will be editing my project slightly. Only some tidbits will be posted on here, sorry to disappoint, but I don't want to hurt someone in the writing of this project.

And It Begins

Surprise, surprise, guess where this is all going to start? In order to start off from the beginning we have to start with none other than CONCEPTION...just kidding! We will start with my birth. I won't go into any gory details, nor will I torture you all with stating how tired I was of womb service, or talk about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, that would just be tacky after all! It was a very special time for this lowly planet we call Earth, the world's greatest, most brilliant mind was about to come into existence. The funny part is that you think I jest again. The clock winds down in anticipation, oblivious to the screams of a young woman and her husband. December 18, 1987. Finally the hands click the much awaited time and I come screaming into the world. For those who know me best you would probably say that I didn't stop screaming until years later, but by then I was so busy talking people's ears off that I didn't have time for screaming, and guess what? They'd be right!

Ah the sweet smell of Chilliwack, BC smog, so...disgusting. Good thing they were taking me to Agassiz, and not remaining there. Here we lived in a small house near my grandparents dairy farm. When I was six months old my parents divorced due to differences. Growing up this was traumatizing, but now I see it as one of God's blessings. 

Most of the time we would be with a babysitter, but there were times when my grandparents would watch us on their dairy farm. I will tell what little memories I have of the dairy farm later in this chapter.

I was less than a year old when I actually had my severely herniated belly button stitched back into place, it was sticking out quite a bit, wish I had a photo of it on me to show you all.

It wasn't long before we moved to a small two bedroom apartment. Not too many memories of this home I am afraid. Will mention a couple of apartment memories after I mention my two favorite babysitters who stuck by us through thick and thin in the seven years of my life that were spent in B.C. The first was Mrs. Fersten (I likely slaughtered that last name, and I apologize for that), she was also my hairdresser at that time. What a blessing this must have been for her, a real honour, who wouldn't want to watch the most brilliant mind mature and develop? I remember helping with the chickens she had in her backyard, and making playdough from scratch in her kitchen, as well as playing video games with her son. And for some reason playing with trail mix in her toy cash register sticks in my mind as well. Later one of Mom/Kim's houses would be right across the street from this house.

Her daughter Anne, just happened to be the other babysitter I remember. I remember putting her through the ringer many a time, yet she still stuck around, and we sure missed her when she went to “see the Queen” as we put it. She went away for a couple weeks to visit England. I remember in the apartment she would help us make paper airplanes and we lost one behind the fridge, so she made a race out of us moving the fridge to get the airplane out before my Dad got home, not that he would have cared about a paper airplane behind the fridge. I also remember after my Father was remarried to a wonderful woman, we moved to Logan Road and Anne still babysat us there. Alvin convinced her that we were allowed to have brown sugar on toast, and he warned me to keep my mouth shut. So with my big mouth I mentioned this the moment my Dad got home, and Alvin got in trouble. Also remember we were playing hide and seek with her, and I was going to beat Alvin back to safety and I ended up with a pencil lead in the back, of course with my big mouth again I told my parents as soon as they came home, so guess who got in trouble again? And during the Stanley Cup Playoffs when Vancouver was playing the New York Rangers, she allowed us to stay up late and watch the game. Of course she quickly rushed us off to bed after the game, as my parents were going to be home. This was a terrible night though as my 'Nucks lost due to awful reffing. When she went to England her brother watched us, and not knowing what else to do with us, he played Monopoly with us until my parents came back home.

Back to the dairy farm. Only a few memories from here as I was so young. Remember watching Wacky Races on their TV, not sure why that one sticks out in my mind. Also remember Alvin and I jumping off there patio into the back of my grandpa's truck, which we were lucky we didn't break our legs, but boys will be boys. We were smart enough to never talk about that one until years later. Also remember when my Dad left for his first official date/Bible study with Mandy (who later became our wonderful step-mom). My two cousins came over to the farm at the same time. Jen, my eldest cousin, climbed on top of the swing set and was balancing on the top, walking across. Well Alvin could not be outdone by his girl cousin! So despite my telling him not to, he decided to prove he could do it. His foot slipped and his arm caught in the swing chain on the way down, snapping it. Great thing to come home to after a first date! Oh well, like I said, boys will be boys! I do recall a winter past time of hooking up the sled to the back of my grandpa's Tracker. He would pull us along through the field of half-frozen cow patties, all of us four cousins. So much fun!

In the apartment I only have a few other memories that really stick out in my mind. One is that there was a leaky pipe beneath the sink cupboard. It would flash in the light from beneath the cupboard and I was convinced it was a mouse. Also remember Mandy babysitting us while she was dating my Dad, and she took us to the park beside the railroad tracks. She taught us that if we waved to the train drivers they would throw you a bottle of spring water from the moving train. If only they still did things like that. I have to mention at this point that I was a neat-freak and perfectionist from the beginning. This will make the next part make sense. Alvin and I shared a room in the apartment, we had a clear division in that room. My clean, organized half, and his messy, disorganized half. His stuff was constantly creeping onto my half, which I think he did on purpose just to annoy me, and this was a huge deal for me. Many an argument broke out over this, which of course he likely enjoyed!

Project Disclaimer

I know this is similar to the post I did yesterday, but this is the disclaimer I would throw in front if ever I decided to try to turn this into book form. And so to keep my perfectionist and order-based mind sane, I must post this on here as well. Hope to have the beginning chapters up here soon, will need to talk to my Dad to get some information first, can't remember things from being a baby/toddler. I am sure we can all agree that this is a good thing!

Disclaimer

Before anyone begins reading I want to say a few things. You must take note that I love my Dad, Step-Mom, and brother. I know that they love me in their own special ways. I want there to be no doubts about that in anyone's mind as they read these samplers of my life. I am in no way trying to blame them for anything, or disrespect them in any way, shape, or form. Do not lower your opinions of them, in fact raise your opinions, through the events you will see in my life, they managed to raise a God-fearing, law-abiding adult. We all make mistakes as parents, I understand this more now that I am a parent myself, so again do not disrespect my family. I apologize to anyone who may feel hurt by this project, I do not intend to hurt anyone. My only aim is to help myself and any readers heal.

In no way am I asking for anyone's pity through all of this, far from it. Respect me for finally getting the courage to begin this healing process. Anyone going through emotionally agony for similar events, or any event in their life, know you are not alone. If we unite and stand together as a society, we can help each other through these times. Feel free to cry, laugh, and more importantly, to forgive the ones who have done you wrong. I can honestly say that this is a major struggle for me, forgiveness does not come easy. I have not forgiven all who have caused hurt, but it is my goal to someday do so. This project should be a big step towards forgiveness and healing.

Do not think that this is an easy thing for me to do, it is being done out of necessity more so than anything. It is the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. I am admitting my faults, my brokenness, and my need for emotional rebuilding. I hope you can all get something good out reading this and come out of this with a better understanding of who I really am, and even a better understanding of humanity as a whole. My goal is to assist every reader in providing insight into their own lives.

Please note that many of these are the memories of a child, so they may be distorted or foggy. This is the reason why I have asked the readers who know the stories to enlighten me if they have a different view on it, I will edit the documents to include your views. Want this to be as accurate as possible. Also note that this is one person's viewpoint (I can't possibly be everyone), so please forgive any discrepancies. Some of the stories may be in different orders, or my age estimates may be slightly off, I apologize in advance for this, I can only remember so well. We may go back a little to do overlaps, this is an attempt at focusing on one area at a time, so if we overlap it is to suggest that the event timings were the same. Sorry if this annoys you, it is to make things less confusing for all readers.

Thank you in advance for your support and for reading this. 

Getting Back on the Writing Horse

After a long writing break a few weeks back I started a new project. My new book project is about a former Special Forces man, dealing with the emotional loss of his wife and daughter. When the law fails him, he decides to take matters into his own hands. On a mission to clean up society as whole, he now must use his skills to evade the law, and evade the criminal organizations he is targeting.
Now that I have explained the basis of that novel, just a couple of chapters in I have decided to put that one on hold. Not a complete stopping of that novel as I may turn to that one here and there to take breaks from another more important and more emotionally tolling project I have decided to try. This will be attempt number three at beginning this project, which I will explain in further detail below. This just shows how tough this one is for me to write.
I have decided to write my life story in an attempt to put my counselling training to good use and counsel myself through life events that I must deal with. I am not one who likes to talk about anything that might be overly personal in my life, and so I turn to what I AM able to do well: Writing. Writing this all down will be therapeutic, revealing, and I may step on some toes along the way, but I assure you all that I do mean well. This is something that I feel I must do, even at the risk of stepping on toes of people close to me. I do not mean to insult anyone, or try to make anyone feel sorry for me, pity is something I detest. My Dad and Step-Mom are very good parents, who did their best and loved me the only way that they knew how, I do not want anyone to think otherwise. We all make mistakes as parents, I am learning this more and more as a parent myself, so please show them the respect they deserve and do not take this as my having anything against them. I truly am sorry to them if any of this comes as a shock or appears as ungrateful, I again assure them/you all it is not meant to come across that way in any way, shape, or form. I don't feel comfortable talking about my life, so writing it out is the best option. If my family wants to clear things up about any of these situations let me know, and I will edit the section immediately, re-posting it with a note of the edit. Some of what I write will be the first time I have really talked about these things with anyone, but I feel I must.
I will post a disclaimer before posting anything, this may or may not turn into a book, I haven't decided that as of yet. So far it is just my way of dealing with things that need to be addressed. I am going to need support and encouragement to finish this project. I will likely shed some tears and have random bursts of laughter, I am not ashamed to admit this, and most certainly am NOT crazy! I know those close to me may disagree on that last point, but I wouldn't be crazy if I thought I was crazy would I? So maybe I am crazy...most confusing...guess I will just let you all formulate your own opinions on that matter. I hope it elicits the same reactions in everyone who decides to follow these postings. Hopefully I can touch some lives through this and make a difference in someone else. At this point I am not sure if these will be short or long bits, it will depend on where my brain takes my fingers. There may be days or weeks between postings, I apologize for that. I will have to force myself to continue in certain parts as some be very emotional. I am not saying this is going to be a sad story all the way along, far from that. I have had ups and downs, we all have, so enjoy the ups. I will be trying to include humorous tidbits to lighten the mood. I also apologize if I come across as sarcastic in parts, that is just me. I utilize sarcasm to lighten the mood. In life I often will use it to diffuse situations, or take the focus away from myself, as I do not enjoy being the center of attention. I know I was often a class clown, but like many class clowns there was a reason for this. Not sure how long this process/project will take as some parts will be like pulling nails.
I will be posting chapters/parts as they are completed, please note these will begin as rough drafts to be edited later on. I do appreciate comments in support, or even editing suggestions (I know I have friends who are teachers out there), if you don't feel like posting them in comments feel free to Facebook me, or even shoot me an email if you know my email. I will also state here and now copyright laws prevent the copying/distribution of anything posted online without the express permission of the original author (they are considered copyrighted now the moment they are posted). I ask you to respect this and show me some respect in your comments, this is me pouring out my heart and soul to the world, respect that. I don't mind parts being used, but definitely want to know ahead of time, and will want to know how it is being used. Feel free to recommend people to read it, the more people I can help through this process the better. If you want to speak to me about any of this, let me know how to contact you and I will gladly do so.

I really do hope that this can be used as a ministry, as this really is a long winded testimony. Please do not let this prevent you from reading on, I am not preachy, actually wish I was, but sadly that isn't me and I want this to be the true/real me popping its head out for the first time.

Thank you for reading, for the time being, this is Tony Peters signing off.

PS Usually titles come early on and come easy for me, but in this case I draw a blank. I am open to title suggestions!

Mueller and Hooland Rookie Jersey Patch Autos

 Holland Rookie Patch Jersey Auto /25. Love the patch on this one!

Mueller Rookie Patch Jersey Auto /50

These are two really sick cards, and sweet acquisitions for my Collection. A steal of a deal (only 85 cents each), don't find a deal like that every day!

Night At The Races

 Tonight was a fun evening with a bit of an exception. I enjoyed watching the tight races, but couldn't help but notice something. There seems to be no consistency or rhyme/reason to the line ups. Rules that are in place for the racing association don't seem to matter. This seems to have been going on for a couple of years. The problems seemed to have begun a couple of years ago when one driver bullied his way into a tie for the Street Point Leader. This driver pushed the Racing Association leaders into changing rules so that the points would change in his favour. Even going so far as to post his own newspaper ad announcing the Title as his. He had the Head Lap Counter blamed unfairly. With the frustration of all this it is clear that the fans are feeling the same way that the drivers must be, as the stands were fairly empty and have been this year. If the SCRA can't get their act together I fear that there may not be a Speedy Creek Racing Association in the near future.

Above we have off-roading.

Above we have Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

 A slick track led to many many spins tonight.

 To the Left is a cool shot of the truck coming out of the dust, and yes there was a lot of dust tonight.

 To the Left we have one of many spins.

 To the right we have two men racing hard.

To the left we have what I like to call a taxi conference.

A Walk Through My Neighborhood

 The above rabbit was actually last year, but fits in quite nicely.

The lighting on the above rose made the colours pop.

 Below is the original shot, and above is an interesting effect I discovered.

 Below is the original, which is cool. Above is one I am not quite sure if I like, but dulling the colours, makes the rose itself stand out.

 The above shot is now my PC background, not sure what the plant is though, just know it pops up every year in my garden.

 Lilacs

 Below is a great clematis that grows up the front siding on my house. Above is a cool plastic effect.

 Love how the shade plays of my rose in the above photo. The below wild rose suddenly popped up in my garden this year, no idea where it came from (guess that's why they call it a WILD rose, it grows where it desires).

May have more flower shots yet this year, if it doesn't snow yet, because it sure is cooling off at night!