At that point I adjusted some blankets, and fell asleep again, waking up sometime around 12:30pm. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really sleep anymore, so I decided to just get up at that point. Given that I didn’t really have any clothes that were clean at that point, and that my brain was still totally friend, I decided just to head back to Chilliwack and recuperate for the day, which kind of sucks because I had wanted to hang out with some of my friends at a shower today. But given how I was feeling pretty crappy, and the lack of clothing situation (in fact, most of my clothes had ketchup drippings on my shirts — so classy), I just decided to head for home. So sorry guys — but next time I’m in Van I’ll swing by with a little present.

As soon as I walked in the door back home, I went to check out my patio plants. Not only were they all wilted, but pretty much every single one was on it’s side — apparently they had quite a storm here. All my clocks were flashing as well, so apparently the power was out sometime during the night. I watered all my plants, righted them again, and then crawled into bed for an hour nap.

That hour nap turned into about a three hour nap, and I just woke up. Given that I don’t have any food here, I just made an order for some pizza, and I’m patiently waiting for it to arrive. I’m going to do a few hours of work tonight, and then hit the sack early. I believe I’m supposed to be on the radio again at 8am, so I’ll do that when I wake up. Then I’m going to head up to the lake and grab my camping spot for the next three days. I’ll be mostly camping in the evenings, and doing some work during the days, so I’m not sure how accessible i’ll be the next few days.

But while the donations and money are obviously appreciated, this event is about more than money. It’s about a group of people banding together to make a difference. And for that, every blog or person that was a part of blogathon helped make a difference.

So with that, I bid you all adieu. I’m packing up, grabbing a cab, and hopefully spending the better part of the afternoon sleeping. Thanks again everyone.

I’m sitting on the couch here at Workspace, watching the start of another sunrise. By the time this day is over for me, I will have seen two sunrises, a gorgeous sunset, and even a lightning storm. Not a bad day at the office if I do say so myself.

With everyone’s help, we raised approximately $1250 for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, and for that everyone has my admiration and my thanks.

I have one more entry to go, after which I can pack up and head to the couch at Rebecca’s house to try and get some sleep. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

The following is a guest post by Tia Everitt from Chilliwack — thanks for the contribution

Chilliwack.

It was the one place my husband and I swore up and down that we would NEVER, EVER live.

It was a place we raced through on the highway, en route to the Okanagan, or to get back to Vancouver. We plugged our noses as we gagged on the cloying, ever-present stench of cow manure. We snickered at the tacky billboards all the way in and out of the Fraser Valley. We made jokes about inbreeding. We chuckled at the omnipresent “Corn Barns” that dotted the landscape in the summer. From time to time we stopped to get cheap gas or make a pit stop. But live there? Ha! Not us. No way.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

We had spent the last four years in Richmond after working in Toronto. First, we leased a swanky (but microscopic) condo on the water. Then we had a baby. The place was small, but we could make due, right? Wrong! I got pregnant again (oops), only a week after returning to work from a year long maternity leave. Now we were over the barrel. We moved onto a turn of the century heritage home, which was spacious, but was far from energy efficient. That sucker bled us dry. But, hubby used YVR nearly weekly for travel, and we couldn’t fathom leaving Richmond. So we paid out the nose, and dreamed about buying a place of our own. Unfortunately, real estate in Richmond is unaffordable for nearly everyone but God. We admitted that we were never going to be able to buy on Lulu Island. We started looking to buy a home.

Everywhere but Chilliwack.

We cruised Mission. We stomped Abbotsford. We went to open houses in Maple Ridge and Port Coquitlam. We talked about moving to the Island. Nothing seemed to be coming together. Months turned to years. We’d stalk MLS for homes we could afford, and over and over, we’d make sure we had deselected Chilliwack. Chilliwack was for chumps. We were going to find that magical place. Somewhere.

After several false starts in Mission, we lowered our standards, and made an offer on a massive, hideous 60’s box house in Yarrow. Sure, Yarrow was technically in Chilliwack, but it had character, right? We ran around, crowing about the ugly box with a great yard that we were closing on. That was, until the building inspector informed us that it was a rat trap, and not worth our time. Shattered, we revoked our offer, and lost $400 on the inspection. Time ticked on. We ran in circles.

One morning in January, an MLS update from a realtor slid into our inbox. It depicted the most benign, beige, boring house in existence. It was brand new, and in our price range, but it was so bland and completely devoid of personality. It was also in a sterile planned neighborhood. Where every other house was beige. In god-forsaken Chilliwack. I was opposed, and immediately shot it down. Who the hell wanted to live in a ticky-tacky box on the hillside of Chilliwack? Sure it had 4 bedrooms and 4 baths – but the damn thing was about as exciting as a bowl of Cream of Wheat.” I’d rather be shot at dawn than view that listing” I informed my husband.

Words? Meet my mouth. I will be eating you.

Ahem.

We have been living in Chilliwack for 6 months now. In THE beige house. With beige walls. Surrounded by beige carpets. In a sea of identical houses with beige siding and cookie cutter heather/lavender gardens out front. I have been slowly acclimatizing to the nights devoid of airplanes soaring over my bedroom. To the lack of fire trucks, ambulances and police cars racing past my house all day long. To the quiet of a street with little traffic, where children actually play outdoors, and, even more amazingly, people say hello. Chilliwack, it turns out, is breathtakingly gorgeous. The mountains soar around lush fields, icy rivers and pristine lakes. You get used to the cow smell. People are friendly. Nice even. The corn is fantastic. From time to time, I have a twang of longing for the hustle and bustle of Richmond or Toronto, but it soon fades.

Hello, Chilliwack? Please forgive me! I was wrong. I think I just might be falling in love with you…

There was a pretty wild sunset in Vancouver tonight, and I managed to grab a photo of it. So I’ll end this blog entry with a photo of the sun setting over Vancouver harbor tonight:

I have a bit of work I need to do when I get home tomorrow back home in Chilliwack, so I’d like to be home around supper time if possible. But, given how my sleep schedule is completely messed at this point, I really don’t know what tomorrow will look like. I’m still short on vacation time this summer, so I booked a few days up at Cultus Lake this week. I’ll still do some work during the days, but am planning on picking up a few books and just chilling out inside my tent, or in a chair under the stars.

I’m also still $10 short from my goal, so if you’re thinking about donating, now would be a great time! Thanks everyone!

I’ve been a huge fan of Matt’s work for years, ever since my friend Kirsten came by my dorm room in university and slipped Last Of The Ghetto Astronauts into my CD player. In fact, I’m fairly certain that Matthew Good is the only artist in my entire CD collection where I’ve gone to great lengths to own every single album, including some of the special editions discs.

I’ve gotten to know Matt over the last few years, and not only is he a great musician, but he’s also a great guy, and a good friend. A month prior to the release of the album, on September 6th, Matt will be streaming the album in its entirety on his personal website, matthewgood.org. So make sure you bookmark those two dates in your calendar.

Surprisingly, most people are still here from this morning. Everyone is obviously a bit tired, but most people are soldiering on. I’m hoping to go to a housewarming tomorrow for a while, which means I need to find a place to hole up and get a few hours of sleep after this. Despite being tired, I’m fairly certain I’ll be fine after four or five hours of sleep, so that’s what I’m shooting for.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I have a campsite booked for most of this upcoming week. It’s up at Cultus, which means I’ll probably come home in the morning, shower, and do a few hours of work. But I’m hoping to unplug in the evenings, and either sit in my tent and read or possible mingle with some of the other locals. Like most summers, this one is slipping away rather quickly. So I really hope I can spent some time enjoying the outdoors before it’s all over.

Only six more hours to go, and then all of us can hit the hay. Definitely looking forward to it.

But no matter. The finish line is looming in the distance, and I’ve already (thanks to everyone here) reached the original goal of $1,000 I set before I started. So a big thanks is in order! I’m actually going on the radio Monday morning to report how well we all did for the BC Children’s Hospital, so it will be great to say we did over $1,000 (and even better if we can ramp it up a bit more!)

But either way, it’s a success for this effort, and a success for the children at the BC Children’s Hospital. So thanks to everyone who was involved.

Anyways, I’m only $30 away from goal #2, so I’m hoping I hit that in the near future! Thanks everyone.

The Olympic committee basically turned down most of the social media in Vancouver for accreditation. Instead of simply whining about it, the social media committee, led in large part by Dave O, has decided to form their own media house for the Olympics — the True North Media House. During the event, it’ll represent a grassroots movement of people who want to cover some aspects of the Olympics, and have an avenue to tell their stories.

Photo by John Biehler

To give you an example of how powerful social media is nowadays. Today John Biehler swung by Workspace for blogathon. While talking to him, we ended up talking about the whale that had been impaled by the cruise ship earlier in Vancouver. Since John had his camera on him, he decided to walk down to the cruise ship and take a few photos. Once they went online, several news organizations saw them. The Globe and Mail just updated their post to include John’s photos, which is obviously cool, but nothing unexpected given how influential the social media community is out here.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what happens with the True North Media House. With guys like Dave O helping steer the ship, I’m pretty sure they’ll find clear skies and smooth waters.

My mom called a while ago and said that it was pretty stormy out in Chilliwack. Given that I didn’t water my plants before I left, I’m actually kind of thankful to hear that. Hopefully when I get back tomorrow they’re all still alive and still producing fruit.