Miscellaneous Stuff – Kaleidoscope Road

Take your best shot…

Posted on May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 by Kris

It’s still the birthday weekend, so in addition to some wine tasting, it obviously makes sense to go to a shooting range the next day. Right? Right?

I have to say I was a little apprehensive about firing a gun, any gun, even at a target. What if I made a complete idiot of myself and miss every time? What if I can’t hit a target to save my life?

I had these visions of sitting in a classroom with 20 other people, learning the safety regulations and proper handling of a weapon. Not so, but a healthy respect for something that can potentially take a human life should still be had.

Silverdale Gun Club (www.silverdalegunclub.com) is an awesome place to learn. You must wear the appropriate safety equipment that are issued to you when you arrive. The instructors have a sense of humour, but business is business. You learn how to properly handle a gun before you’re allowed to fire.

Today we had the Basic package: 20 rounds with a 22 cal, 20 rounds with a 9mm and 10 with an AR-15 rifle.

The 22 is my personal favourite of the three, though my friends preferred the other two.

The most frightening thing today, was how GOOD we all were. SCARY good. I’m so unbelievably thankful the ladies are my friends, they’d be frightful enemies.

Thanks to Silverdale and our instructor Ken for an amazing experience!

(and if you’re interested in going to a shooting range…be careful and stay safe!)

1 Wine, 2 Wine, 3 Wine, Floor…

Posted on May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 by Kris

It’s my best friend’s birthday weekend, so the girls are celebrating in style. Nothing quite like visiting our favourite Niagara vineyards for a sip, or two, or three…

First stop ended up being Forty Creek Distillery. No other whiskey drinkers, so the stop was pretty much just for me (and a pee break) before continuing on.

It seemed like we were visiting the vineyards in alphabetical order: Angel’s Gate, Aure Estates, Creekside, Featherstone, Hidden Bench, Honsberger Estates, and Organized Crime.

I think I bought the last four bottles of Gewürtztraminer from Featherstone about 3 years ago. Soooo disappointing that they haven’t made any since. All went well anyway, since I found 11 bottles of wine along the way.

Angel’s Gate has an awesome Icewine and Pinot Gris.

Aure Estates has the only Gamay in the Niagara region.

And Creekside had a Gewürztraminer from 2013. They only made 90 cases.

We tasted a few wines at almost all of them and found some new favourites. We also made some new friends along the way.

Addendum: These are NOT all mine!

More shenanigans coming up tomorrow!

Imperfection is beauty…

Posted on October 31, 2015October 31, 2015 by Kris

Everyone has that one friend. That special friend who makes everyone around them feel beautiful.

This morning upon waking, I learned that one such friend on my kaleidoscope road, Anna, was gone. My heart physically hurts and the tears just won’t seem to stop.

While she was careful to make everyone else feel good, she missed something. She didn’t see her own value.

I wish she could have seen herself through our eyes. I swear she was a reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe, vivacious, sexy and tragic. She was a modern siren.

I spent a bit of time reminiscing, looking at her Facebook pictures. I’ll never understand exactly what she was going through emotionally, so I’m sharing some of her posts this month. How did we miss her cry for help?

She didn’t know what a blessing she was to so many people. Hopefully over the coming years her children will hear all the good she brought to the world.

Anna and I met at work, about 14 years ago. We quickly discovered we had much in common. We went to karaoke every Friday night after work, to entertain “our fans”. She, and her sister, became the sisters I never had. She told us how pretty we were. Three hot girls out on the town.

This is the kind of person she was… I was in a particularly abusive relationship, and she and her family opened their home and gave me somewhere to stay. They gave me the time to heal. She helped me find my worth, to stand on my two feet again. I wish I had been able to do that for her. I wish I hadn’t let her push me away when she needed someone.

If you see signs of depression, or a silent cry for help, don’t back away. Don’t let someone you love suffer alone. Let them know, even when they don’t want to hear it, that you’re there for them.

Anna is one more angel watching over me. In her memory, donations to the Canadian Centre for Addiction and Mental Health are appreciated. Please donate here: CAMH Give

My son looks like Norman Bates, should I be worried?

Posted on October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 by Kris

I just binge watched Bates Motel. All seasons. It creeped me out. Yes, because of the storyline, but more so, because every time I looked at Freddie Highmore on my screen, I see my son.

Okay, so we’re clear, my son and I do not have some weird Norman/Norma Bates relationship. He sleeps in his own room, thank you very much.

It’s more so in the sullen facial expressions, and the way Norman moves.

It doesn’t hurt that they’re both tall and slim, and have similar fashion tastes (bow ties and all). They even have similar hair. My friends don’t see it, but my son himself does. He then gives me that Norman Bates blackout stare.

Thanksgiving, and cutting the neck skin off the turkey, did point out one huge difference. My son was revolted, so taxidermy won’t be in his future.

Guess I don’t need to be that worried after all…

I have some ‘splainin’ to do…

Posted on October 6, 2015October 7, 2015 by Kris

(a “fluff” piece after the more serious post from last Friday)

It dawned on me that people may question why @LucyInBarrie is my Twitter handle, instead of something else.

Many moons ago I worked for a graphics company. Not long after starting work there, I dyed my hair red. I mean, RED. One of the ink suppliers stopped by on his sales route one afternoon, and my boss said to him, “have you met Lucy?” It stuck.

When I started at my current job 3.5 years ago, there was already another Kris, who was hired a whopping 5 weeks before I was. I was told I’d need a nickname so we could distinguish. The other Kris is a man, so I would have thought that was distinction enough, but anyhoooo…since I had this old work nickname it was resurrected.

So Lucy it was. It still caused confusion. I was introduced as Lucy, but when people were told that “Kris” would follow up with them they thought this “Kris” was a real slacker since I did all the work. People were looking in the company email directory for Lucy, hilarious!

The one company director couldn’t understand why, or where, the name came from, but didn’t say anything. He’s originally from Germany, where apparently the I Love Lucy show didn’t air. Over a year later he said he watched a couple of episodes of I Love Lucy on YouTube and suddenly “it all makes sense now!”

He thought that it was because of Lucy in the Charlie Brown comics. Wicked little girl with black hair and a penchant for being nasty. Not me at all (at least the black hair).

I’m not a redhead anymore, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Maybe the red hair just made it more obvious. I love making people laugh, even if it’s at something stupid I’ve done.

Lucille Ball was hilarious. One of the first comediennes and an icon even today. Nothing better than making people smile. Laughter makes you feel good!

In the beginning…

Posted on September 18, 2015October 7, 2015 by Kris

Kaleidoscope: “a continually shifting pattern of shapes, colours, scenes, or the like”

Road: “a long, narrow stretch or surface, made for traveling between two or more points”

In the beginning there was just an idea.

“You should write a blog.” Friends and co-workers have been telling me this forever.

I admire the people I know who have one subject for their blog, be it cooking, travel, crafts, or their family. Maybe I have too many interests. I like all of those things!

What do I really want to write about? In a word, everything. I asked my friends what they’d like to read. Believe it or not, they want to see things in my life that interest me, my life, my travels and the people I meet along the way. A kaleidoscope.

I tend to view things in poetic fashion (sometimes), so pardon this next bit. Life is a journey. It’s a road we travel, with friends and family (or even those we can’t stand to really be around).

So, my formerly private writing life will now be a public blog, Kaleidoscope Road.

It may be chaotic at times, it may make you laugh, it may make you cry, or maybe I’ll just take you for a walk in the park. Wherever my feet or my thoughts take me, feel free to come along.

Don’t worry, *ahem*… I’ll change the names of the not-so-innocent…