Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! Weee! Now if I could get over this dang cold it would be lovely. Yesterday I had such a good day compared to the last week and I really thought I was on the road to recovery. Apparently I was quite mistaken! I woke up at 4:30am this morning, wide awake I must add, with a nose that would not stop running. It still hasn't. Eyes constantly watering too. I'm supposed to bake bread and make corn souffle today as well as Christmas dinner tomorrow. How am I supposed to do that like this? I will be spending all my time in the bathroom washing my hands!

On the plus side, Faythe has finally stopped "spilling" (as she likes to call it). While she still has stuffy nose, she is at least keeping her food down. I was talking to my friend, Tara, last night and she was telling me about how her daughter throws up when she has a cold. That made me feel a lot better! Unfortunately all that phlegm and grossness is going straight to her tummy (and hitting her gag reflex). Makes a lot more sense to me now.

We are going to my Mother-n-law's for dinner tonight and then I'm making dinner tomorrow for Alan's other Mom & Sister & Niece. I'm going to be making the turkey and whole works so hopefully I can get this cold to calm down by then!

Normally when I'm in Illinois we go to my Step-Mom and Dad's for Christmas Eve and then go to my Mom & Step-Dad's on Christmas Day. It sure is strange at times to not be there as those traditions were such an intregal part of my Christmas every year. It is nice to be here with my own little family tho.

Well I better run, have lots and lots to do today!

Merry Christmas!

Sniffle

Well...I'm sick again! I tell you, I'm so tired of being sick I could just puke! No pun intended of course ;). It's starting to get a little old. I could kick myself for not getting a flu shot this year. Same for my girl, she's been sick too. She got this one on Monday and I had it by Tuesday night. She seems better now so hopefully it won't last too long. I couldn't work today for fear of passing it along to everyone and their families just in time for holiday festivities. Other than the fact that I feel like crap, I'd feel worse if I knew everyone else got sick.

Faythe has been great today. Other than demanding pancakes that she didn't eat, she has been really well behaved. I've been able to get away with actually laying down and resting while she watches Rudolph and plays with her toys. She occasionally takes down an ornament here and there but that's about it.

I tell you tho, she sure is addicted to Rudolph. She talks about him all the time now and constantly sings the song. It cracks me up. Wonder if she'll still want to watch after next week?

Well that's about it for me for now. I need to go back and lay down. I just wanted to whine and complain a bit!

**Update**
Faythe just threw up 3 times in the last hour. 2 right in a row and then again about a half hour later. She seems warm but not too bad. Not sure what to do! She is acting fine other than a runny nose like her mom. That and I can't get her to eat anything! All she wants is a drink but she needs more than that. I don't feel any better at all other than I don't have a headache. Oooh please let us be better by the morning, I can't miss another day of work!

Drums

Faythe was exposed to drums for the first time when we went to Illinois in November. Needless to say she loved them! We actually picked up a small toddler set for her for Christmas.




Now if Youtube actually worked and would put my correct blogger information in it's system, this would come out better but of course it's not working right now. It makes no sense to me, it looks perfect in the preview section but when I post it, it's all off-center and has white parts showing! AARGH I SAY!

Ah well, ya get the gist!

(Special guest stars in the video include:
Jonah - my 14 yr old nephew who Faythe is using as a stool
Aurora - my 10 yr old neice who Aurora uses as a second hip
Collin - my 12 yr old nephew who actually owns the drums
My Mother - the motherly-grandmotherly-voice in the background
And Me - the one recording the video!)

9 days and counting...

Wow I really have to get more active updating my blog! I am on the computer every day, you would think this would be updated with more regularity...

Anyhoos! To updates!



Had a lovely trip back home to Illinois. Was great to go home and recharge. Went to church for the first time in months, really probably the first time since June of last year when my brother and family were here. Faythe had a great time in Nursey. She really loves being with other kids. Being an only child and not many cousins here, she doesn't get to spend much time with other people than adults. You would think that would make her friendlier towards adults but NOPE! She couldn't be bothered when other adults are around but when a kid shows up it's HI BOY! HI GIRL! HI BABY!! My poor girl, she needs a sibling! She got a badge from the nursery teacher with her name and it said "I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints". Needless to say my husband wasn't the happiest camper lol. He says (kidding), "What...they own her now??". He really doesn't care, he just likes to give me a hard time!

As far as attending church here is concerned, I think if my husband was interested I would go to church more but since he's not, I just can't get myself to go alone. Plus I've noticed that the people here in Vancouver seem to be a bit snobby compared to what I'm used to in the US so I've just left it. Doesn't change how I feel, I just don't go. I'm sure I'll be active again one day but who knows!

Got to see my brother's band live finally (he's the one in the cap on the bass). They were awesome! And I'm not just saying that cuz it's my brother, honest! The guitarist is unbelievable. He's only 16 and just blew my mind.

Trip itself was way too short, I needed more time to see everyone. We were there for about 10 days but it just zoomed by as it always does. My Dad & Step-Mom had early Thanksgiving for us, that was great. I really miss being there at Christmas Eve. Hopefully we'll actually make it down for Christmas next year. If I plan my cards right, I just might be on maternity leave by then!

Faythe had a blast with her cousins. She was glued to my neice, Aurora's, hip the whole time and still talks about her constantly. We went to see "Happy Feet" and Faythe asked if Aurora could go. Broke my heart! I told her she'd have to go on a plane and so Faythe asked if we were going to go to the airport. Aah, if only it was that easy.

The rest of my November was just busy working. We had a big snow storm which we don't normally get here and got over a foot of snow. We normally get maybe an inch or two throughout the season and it rarely goes below freezing. It was only daytime highs of 11 during the worst part. My single-pane windows didn't keep the heat in the house very well! This happened right after American Thanksgiving and with Faythe watching old-school Rudolph non-stop, I had to put the tree up! She "helps" me every night by rearranging the ornaments. She doesn't seem to understand that they don't need to be moved all the time. She says, "But I HAVE to!".





I've had lots of fun baking and getting ready for Christmas this year. We actually aren't buying for the adults for the first time ever and while it makes me sad because my favorite part of Christmas is getting just the right things for people, it sure has lightened the burden of getting presents. A couple weeks ago we went on the Christmas Night Light Train at Stanley Park (whatever it's called) and that was really neat. Faythe had a great time. They had a petting zoo as well so she got to see many "Tucks" and "Ming-Mings" (turtle and duck on her favorite show). The lights were really pretty but some of the lawn ornaments were a little cheesy and outdated (one entire plot of only light-up Santas! RUN!!!)



I am planning on making Faythe a sock monkey this year. Since Christmas is only 9 days away, I suppose I should get started on it! We had a massive windstorm early Friday morning and the power went out from 3:30am until 10:30pm. I was going to work on the monkey today if we still had no power but luckily we got it back! Unfortunately my mother-n-law has not been as lucky and as of tonight at 5pm, they still don't have power! I went to their place at noon and brought them a thermos of hot coffee and more candles and blankets and a spare flashlight. Also gave them some books to read. I went and grabbed them some fried chicken too as well as some groceries. I'm about to go give them a refill of coffee since they're still out of power. I wish they would come stay with us but my step-father-n-law is on oxygen and is currently using his portable oxygen tank and then refilling. Unfortunately it only lasts for 3 hours so they can't leave. I'm very worried about them, I hope they will be okay! Seems like everyone has power restored now except their neighborhood. Figures! If not I'll be making another coffee run in the morning.

Well I better run, I think I've rambled enough for now. I still need to make cookies tonight!

I leave with this pic of my girl that I took a week ago....can't believe she's almost 3!

Ode to My Salami Face

Thank you for being my silly little girl.

Thank you for making me laugh all day long.

Thank you for kissing my boo boo's and telling me how much you missed me.

Thank you for being so happy that I'm home.

Thank you for always "finding" my rings and giving them to me in case I "forgot" them.

Thank you for being patient with Momma when she wants to do something on the computer.

Thank you for always being so polite by remembering to say "Please", "Thank you" and "Bless you" even though you're only 2 and a half.

Thank you for telling me you love me.

Thank you for always telling me "Good Morning" and reminding me that "It's a beautiful day!".

Thank you for reminding me every day when I look into your face why I love your Father.

Thank you for all your knock-knock jokes (olive you too!).

Thank you for always including all of our loved ones when we tell stories (and Daddy and Nana and Aunt Suzi and Baby Mitchell and Ah-Da and Papa and Griffy!!!! and Aurora and Collin and Jonah and Cody!!! Cody's my cousin! and Auntie and Uncle...).

Thank you for finally letting me put your hair in pony tails and tolerating me having to take all the tangles out.

Thank you for putting up with all the medicines and creams we have to put on you all the time.

Thank you for talking just as fast as your Momma and Daddy so you can keep up with our conversations.

Thank you for not swearing even though you hear your parents & grandparents do it.

Thank you for wanting to include me in everything you do.

Thank you for always making sure that if you kiss or hug me, that you kiss and hug Daddy too.

Thank you for also wanting constant group hugs and kisses.

Thank you for being patient with Momma and waiting for the right time to come to me. You know how long I waited for you and sometimes gave up hope that you would ever be in my life, but you always let Ah-da know that you were still there waiting.

Thank you for most of all for being my Faythe Isabelle... my silly, funny, chatty, and beautiful Salami Face!

Pumpkin Carving & Birthdays

So we carved our first family pumpkin last night, weeeeeee! Alan carved it, I scooped out some gook and Faythe gave approving nods while she played with her Play-Doh. She had quite a good time playing with my camera as well. I have just about 30 pics of her legs as well of one of my purse. She kept saying "I did it!!" everytime she'd take a picture. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of actually aiming and taking a picture yet!

Here's a few pics from last night:



Faythe being spooky with the pumpkin.



Our pumpkin using the special "night" flash on my camera.



One Faythe thigh of many!



Faythe playing with Play-Doh and not wanting her picture taken.



Daddy opening the pumpkin.



Daddy trying to get Faythe to stick her hand in to get some seeds. There was NO way she was going to do that!

I forgot to mention that it was my birthday a week ago! It was a pretty decent birthday. Went to my Mother-n-Law's for dinner (she made a fabulous pork roast with garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach ). Then she made me chocolate crepes for dessert with Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread made here in Canada) inside and whipped cream on top. It was YUMMMMMY!
Alan took me to Red Robin for our favorite Whiskey BBQ Burger and Faythe had more macaroni and cheese:


She is just crazy about that stuff! She wants it for breakfast, lunch & dinner!


Faythe with her favorite Red Robin cup.

Alan still hasn't really gotten me anything for my bday yet, we're still trying to figure that one out. He got me some neat little things but for my main present we were going to get an Ipod but for a really good one they're just too expensive. I want to get one eventually but we're trying to get out of debt so spending $400 on something right now is just a little too pricey for us! He was going to get me the new Tori Amos boxed set "A Piano" but that was nowhere to be found. Everyone that got them in ran out and no one seems to be ordering any more.

My Mommy sent me what I really wanted.....new socks! Seriously, I did! The card was beautiful, it had a picture on it that looked just like me when I was little. She also got me some great halloween towels and oven mits and a super cute Halloween shirt for Faythe.

My brother and sister-n-law got me the best present ever...AN INFLATABLE RALPH!! It's awesome! Faythe calls him "Boy". They also got me the new Muse CD as well as a bunch of fantastic halloween stuff (post-its, stamps, bloodworms, etc). He also made my card, it's very unique and I love it. I couldn't help showing it around at work.


Outside


Inside

He also made me 2 CD's (Songs for Gay Dogs, anyone? It's AWESOME!). I can always count on my brother to introduce me to new, fantastic music!

My friend, Lorie (no...YOU'RE top drawer!), knitted Faythe and I scarves! I love them! Faythe wears hers all the time. She never wants to be without her scarf (or "sweater" as she first called it!). She also got me these CEE-YUTE pencil monkeys. They're supposed to be for the top of your pencil but I put the others (one is on a pencil) on top of my flat-screen monitor at work. Lorie is picking me up from the airport in just a few short weeks! Can't wait!!

My friend Sav sent me the best card and had a bunch of people send me birthday wishes which were included in the card. I was very surprised and touched! I would scan that but Sav knows why I won't =D. Love the pic you drew of me on the inside, ha!

I normally don't go around saying, "this person got me this and that person got me that" but I was really touched by all the thought that was put into everything I received for my birthday this year. There were other things that I received that I haven't mentioned but I didn't want to list every last thing! THANKS EVERYONE SOOOO MUCH!!

I think I'm going to start on a new sock monkey. I haven't made any in quite awhile and I've noticed that of all the toys Faythe has, she has no sock monkey! I've decided to make her one for Christmas. That should be enough time for me to get it done!

Aaaah, Christmas! Not too long now! I better go before I start giggling uncontrollably! Have a great Sunday, everyone!

Canadian Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family out there. Tomorrow is the "official" Thanksgiving day in Canada but most families are celebrating today.

It's still a little strange for me to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. Especially since the hubby's family doesn't celebrate it every year. We are going to a dinner today tho so I'm pretty happy about that. Another excuse for me to make corn souffle, YUM!

I have to say it is weird to celebrate Thanksgiving before not only Halloween but even before my birthday! My season always goes like this: My birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I guess celebrating like that for 28 years makes it hard for me to adjust to anything else, ha! I try to have American Thanksgiving but it never seems to work out. I think when Faythe (and ??) gets older, we'll do it as a family to still keep my American traditions going! My friend tells me I shouldn't refer to Illinois as "home" when I'm going there (as I still do) since Vancouver is now my home. I'm sure once I've been here for as long as I was there, it will feel like home to me! It still doesn't right now tho. I need to be with my family, it's hard being here without them.

Well the first part of my fiscal year-end is done at work, WA-HOO!! Now I can breathe a little bit! In a couple weeks the rest will be done and I can concentrate on my new position. It will be nice to have all this done and over with.

Halloween is just a little over 3 weeks away! I'm not sure where we're going to take Faythe trick-or-treating this year. Last year we took her to the Brentwood Mall and it was a MADHOUSE. She was only a year and a half old and kids were just pushing her out of the way and practically running her over. Alan had to get "fatherly" on some boys who almost knocked her on her butt. The candy they hand out isn't that great either. It's like a cinnamon drop or werthers or a cheap, puny sucker. 99.9% of it is hard candy and small ones at that. Even at 2 and a half now, I really don't want her eating the hard candy. I don't quite feel safe with her doing that yet. Our neighborhood isn't great for it, either. I tried to hand out candy one year and got 7 people to my door. 5 of them were in one group! We might take her to her Grandfather's neighborhood, it might be better. I just want her to be able to experience going!

Well I better get going. Almost time to go to the hubster's family's house for T-dinner. Have a great weekend everyone!

(oh..about the turkey...it wasn't made on January 4, 2004. It was Christmas 2005. My Mom and I made it for dinner. What DELICIOUS breasts it had!)

Hooray for October!!

Hooray! It's finally October! I've been waiting for oh..11 months now?? Ha! October is my favorite month of the year. It has nothing to do with it also being my birth month, I swear! I love fall. I love the trees and leaves. I love the weather. I love the crisp mornings. I love Halloween! Hence the new layout for my blog. I decided to change it up a bit to celebrate the month.

I haven't decided yet what I'm going to be this Halloween but my daughter has. She is going to be Sleeping Beauty!




She is soooooooooo excited this year! She is the one that picked it out, although she does once in awhile tell me she is going to be Cinderella. She keeps telling me I need to get her slippers! I suppose I do need to get something fancy for her feet! She started whimpering last night after she got dressed and so I asked her what was wrong. She said, "I'm Crying Beauty!". Then she started stomping around about 5 min later and said "I'm Mad Beauty!". Cracked the hubster and I up!

I got these horns for hubster and I to wear. I love them. Faythe decided she wanted to wear them as well and also saw some "Pirate" teeth (as she likes to call them) and then giggled non-stop when we put them on her and she looked in the mirror:



She kept saying "RAR!!" and then giggling so much her teeth kept falling out. Hmm... maybe she'll go as an evil, undead Sleeping Beauty...

Well that sucks

I've found out recently that I can't sing. I was always under the impression that I could, heck even sang some duets at church and weddings here and there. People always complemented my voice, so I thought I couldn't be too bad.

Well, apparently I'm not any better than those rejects at American Idol who go before S,P&R swearing up and down how good they are then can't hold a note if their life depended on it. Supposedly I can hit lower notes but when I try to sing high notes (and have to do falsetto in order to accomplish this) I can't keep my pitch. It's so weird. I hear myself and I hear the song and I swear I am singing in tune! I always thought it was a confidence thing for me and high notes because I get nervous and I don't sing them that strong (thankfully I suppose). This is when I'm playing the piano or singing alone. I sing with more confidence when I'm with other people or singing along with an artist that I like. I decided to drag my friend into doing an experiment with me and have her record me singing (with me listening to a song through headphones) so I could hear what I sound like singing with more confidence.

I think you can figure out how that went. Granted I can barely tolerate listening to myself as I'm too embarassed but I had to know how I am. I kinda wish I never did it now because it has made me quite sad since then. Especially since my husband agreed that I can't sing high notes and apparently have never been able to (although he never complained..??). I wish he would have told me this a little sooner! He agreed that I can sing lower notes really well but as soon as I start to sing out of my range, I go off-key. Unfortunately there are not too many songs out there with an 8-9 note range...

Music has always been a big part of my life as I've played the piano since I was 7 and was in chorus in school plus church. Everyone that knows me knows that I sing non-stop (could never do Big Brother, I would drive the internet watchers crazy from causing the feeds to get cut all the time). Needless to say I've barely sung a word since then. I just can't bring myself to do it. I know that a lot of people that can't sing still do it but I dunno, the fun has been taken out of it for me or something. I start to sing out of habit, then remember and stop. Hubby tries his best to encourage me and says that I can do it, I just need to work on my control and diaphragm, etc., but I'm not that certain. Don't get me wrong, if I'm playing the piano and singing alone, I can tell if I didn't quite hit a higher note here and there. But singing along with other people....I thought I was always on target with that. That's what really kills me because I'm sitting there listening to the music, hearing my voice in my head and thinking I'm matching the tune but in reality I'm not.

Hubby still swears I can work on it but I'm not too sure...

If I don't sound out of tune to me now, how am I going to tell when I am singing it right?

Sifl and Olly



This is one of my favorite shows of all time. Chester is the best ever!

Apocalyptica - Sandra Nasic - Path Vol. II.



Nothing like 4 hot metal guys playing electric cellos!!

Thanks for introducing this to me, Brother!

Tori Amos Behind The Music



I was so excited when I ran into this, I've never seen the original that aired. Since I seem to be on a Tori kick, I thought this was appropriate.

Tori Amos Behind The Music (Part 2)

Tori Amos Behind The Music (Part Three)



Tori has released 4 albums since this BTM came out (as well as a few compilations). She also had a daughter and wrote a book!

My first Tori



The very first time I saw Tori Amos, it was on MTV for a making of for this video. I have loved her madly ever since. While I don't always get her lyrics (sometimes I think I'm just not deep enough), she writes some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard. Plus they're way fun to sing.

One day when I have my own yard, I'm going to get myself one of those slate pianos...

The Words Are Dying

Some mornings it just doesn't seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps. -- Emo Phillips

Emo is the new Goth

I'm confused...

What the heck is "Emo"? I keep hearing this word lately and when I look at these supposed "Emo" people, they're all dressed in black with punked out hair and dark makeup. It looks like they listen to the Cure but 20 years later. What's with the name change? Goth not cool anymore?

I hear "Emo" and I think of this guy:

Emo Philips is a comedian who hosted a long-ago half hour comedy show on MTV when I was in high school (I think it was called The Half Hour Comedy Hour). One of my favorite one liners from him is the following:

...and always remember the last words of my grandfather, who said "A truck!"

Of course his delivery is way funnier, especially with his falsetto voice.

There's a comedy team that is jumping on the "Emo" bandwagon and have a pretty funny site called Hope is Emo. It's a podcast of a girl named Hope who is, well.. Emo! There's only three chapters so far and my favorite is the first one, "The Words Are Dying". I wish YouTube would let me put the video right in my current blog but they make me do separate blogs for my videos! So alas, it will be out of order. Hope does bring up one good point tho, maybe being called "Emo" is better than being called "Gothtard"...

Now I leave with more Emo wisdom:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?" He said, "Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?" He said, "Baptist!" I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?" He said, "Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?" He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off. -- Emo Phillips

It's official

Cockroaches are taking over the world...

I always knew I loved He Man...

Henk van Rensbergen

I can't go to bed tonight without posting this. For anyone that reads this blog, you must go to the below site:

Abandonded Places

It has to be one of the most fascinating websites I have come across in a very long time (thanks, Brother!). Henk's photography is incredible and the images are haunting.

Of anything that he has chronicled on his site, please go to Photo Wheel #1 (it's the circle with the 1 in it). On the bottom right of this wheel is The Lemaire Institute. There is one section in regards to the Lemaire Institute that he put pictures when the hospital was at it's prime and then you put your mouse over the picture and it turns into the hospital of today. Freaky freaky stuff! I also love how he sets the scene before you start looking at the pictures. I think it helped a little that I had Raindrop Prelude from Chopin playing in the background...

I'd post a teaser photo but I would need his permission first and I don't want to wait another moment to post this link!

Red, The Doctor, Magneto & Mickey Mouse

Well I thought I'd try something a bit different and go for a new hairdo yesterday. The stylist straightened it as well (just with an iron, not chemically straightened) when she was done. It's funny how every stylist I come across, they can't resist straightening my hair. I guess curls will do that to a person. I was just going to do the normal hilites + cover my grey but the hubby talked me into a little more color. I wish I could figure out how to do pictures on this thing. I hate that they stack them one on top of another. I'd prefer the one of me first then the one of me and Faythe further down in this blog but whaddya do! I'm going to have to ask D to show me how she does it!

Just finished watching an episode of the new Doctor Who series. I must say it's fantastic! We got season 1 on DVD and season 2 started a little bit ago in England. The writing is really good and we're enjoying it a lot. The Doctor changed from season 1 to season 2 but I guess in the 30 years of the show, it's not new for the Doctor to change form. As much as I liked Christopher Eccleston (played season 1 Doctor), I love the new Doctor now, David Tennant. He's great! So far my favorite episode is The Girl in the Fireplace with Sophia Myles as Reinette (Madame De Pompadour). I think my hubby has probably watched it 10 times since the episode originally aired lol. We were really loving the new version of Battlestar Galactica and when it finished it's season, they announced the show wouldn't be back until October. We didn't know what we were going to fill the void with but we've happily found it now! If anyone is looking for a new show and likes the sci-fi genre, please go to your local video store and rent Season 1. You won't regret it!

One last note about Sci-Fi/Fantasy...saw X-Men: Last Stand last night and it was really good. Some people thought it was a little too much but I quite enjoyed it. There was one part with Magneto that I thought was a bit over the top but the rest was great. Bring your tissues though! A lot of things happened that I didn't expect and I ended up tearing through quite a bit of the film. The boy in the movie that played Leech was driving us crazy because we recognized him and couldn't figure out where we knew him from. Then we finally realized he had played on Stargate SG1 last season. Oh one more thing, be sure you stay for the end credits, there's something you don't want to miss!

4 more days until Florida! 7 more days until Disneyworld! Woohoooo!!!!! Can't wait! I just have to get through month-end at work and then we're off. Although I must say it's always very strange for me when I go on a plane that my destination isn't Chicago. I'm crossing my fingers that we have enough $$$ to go home for Christmas this year. Not sure if we can do it but I can hope!

Well I'm off to practice the piano. Hubby wants me to try to learn the music from the fireplace episode. It's very pretty! Not to mention I have loads of laundry to do (no pun intended...or was it!) and have to start organizing to pack for our trip.

Have a lovely Sunday!

And a good time was had by all...

Had Alan's Dad over yesterday to celebrate his 60th birthday. It was lots of fun. A friend of the family from California was there (Uncle Lee!!) and so was Alan's Mom, Sister & Niece. Everyone talked lots of "memories past" and laughed a whole bunch. Alan's Mom made her signature Angel Food cake with chocolate pudding in the middle and it was soooo good! I'm on a diet? Huh?? What was that? lol Ah well, I'll start again on Monday! ;)

Faythe always loves when Jaedyn comes over. She was so excited and running around crazy all afternoon (believe me, my downstairs neighbor can attest to it!). She was so broken hearted after Jaedyn left that she cried for about 2 hours. I think part of it was that she hadn't napped so she was a little extra cranky. Poor thing finally fell asleep after her Daddy walked her around the house singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Funny how that still puts her to sleep! I figured she was just going to take a late nap since it was about 6pm but she ended up being down for the night! She woke up once about 10 and then at 4 wanting something to drink but didn't wake up completely until 7am. I was pretty suprised!

Sad news on the Everquest front. My husband has retired....again. Granted he has been doing that a lot lately but this time it was for good. He even sold all of his gear and is now nekkid. I am officially heartbroken. I'm not sure what I want to do. I don't have much wanting to play (as much as I love ya Sav & Lutz!) without my partner. I have just joined a new guild with my main and went on two raids already. It was quite fun and very interesting to see another aspect of the game. My only problem is that I don't like being locked into anything and if you are in a raid, you can't really stop to change a diaper or get food or whatever. I also have 2 characters on another server that I have enjoyed a lot and so I'm pretty torn as to what I want to do. What I want is for my husband to be back! I miss my Friday Night the-kid-is-in-bed-let's-play-all-night adventures!!! /mourn Amra

On another topic, we're going to Florida on June 1st and I can't wait!!!!!! It's going to be so great to see Tara & Florin again and to see their new little one. Plus with Imogin and Faythe being so close in age (4 months apart), they are going to have a blast together. We're also going to go to Disneyworld (thanks Keira for coming early enough, ha!). Alan and I went there for our honeymoon almost 6 years back now and had so much fun. It will be great to go there now with friends. We actually met Tara & Florin originally through the first Everquest. We were all in the same guild together. Then Tara came up to visit us and Florin happened to be from the Vancouver area. Next thing you know they're married, living in Florida and have 2 kids! They've already beat us to the punch with 2 kids as Keira was born last Wednesday morning. Hopefully our second one will be coming soon!

Well that's it for now, I believe. We have a 3-day weekend this weekend (Canada's version of Memorial Day but insert Queen Victoria and take out remembering dead people but keep the bbq's, etc) so I'm planning on quite a bit of rest and relaxation. I was hoping for some EQ time but my heart just isn't in it at the moment...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Bush sure loves his fish

Bush to German newspaper Bild after being asked about the high point of his Presidency since taking office in 2001:

You know, I've experienced many great moments and it's hard to name the best. I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake.

Source

Funny how this man never seems to suprise me anymore...

Bill Maher always knows the truth!

"All right. New Rule: When you marry Charlie Sheen, don't be surprised when he turns out to be Charlie Sheen! We are talking about a guy who paid hookers by check. Marrying Charlie Sheen and getting mad he's a freak, is like electing two shills from the oil industry and getting mad when the price of gas goes up." --Bill Maher 04/28/2006

Source: hbo.com

Family Electrocution

Note to self...

Do not have your husband turn off the TV while you are using a semi-wet Magic Erasure to wash off the crayon put there by your daughter while holding her with your left hand who happens to also be holding onto her Daddy.

It completes a circuit...and it hurts!

Happy Easter!!

Hope everyone had a great Easter yesterday. Faythe had a lot of fun since it was her first real Easter. She really enjoyed trying to find her basket and all of her eggs.

Boy did we ever pay tho for letting her eat chocolate all day!

Bed Potato

Guess what we found under the bed!! Yes, my daughter left us another growing spud. Thankfully we did some spring cleaning or who knows when we would have found this one! Too bad I don't have my own place or I'd root the sucker and plant him!

We have now thoroughly checked the rest of our house to make sure we have no more suprise plants growing. Thankfully, this seems to be the last of the bunch!

On a side note, it seems we still have black widows as the hubster found another one in one of our boxes the other day. He tried to kill it but unfortunately it got away. We're going to have to rent a suit of armor and go through all of our boxes to get rid of them. I'm nervous now as to how many might be there since another has been spotted! It also scares me because it's in the same area as my cat's litter boxes. Thankfully that's one reason why they have fur, spiders can't bite through it!

Couch Potato Story

Sooooo....

My daughter decided she wanted to play with the bag of potatoes. No problem, she likes to count, sort & stack things so why not count, sort & stack potatoes.

When she was done, I thought I had recovered all the potatoes but apparently I missed one.

I missed the one that rolled under the couch.

We noticed one day Faythe was trying to grab something under the couch and when we bent down to see what it was, low and behold it was Mr. Potato. Alan tried to grab it and had to literally rip the roots from the carpet as they started to take hold!

After being severely grossed-out for about 10 min, I finally got myself to grab it and throw it away. Not until I snapped a few pics tho, of course! Hubster thought it was funny that I had to take the pics of it on the couch, tho. He said I was staging them but what was I to do? Take a pic of the potato in the garbage?

Needless to say Faythe hasn't played with any more vegetables as of late. Except when she's eating of course. ;)

Couch Potato Pics

Christmas is over!

Well Faythe sure enjoyed her first real Christmas and having her grandma in town. She still occasionally walks through the house shouting "Aaaah-Daaaaa!!" or going up to white-haired ladies in the mall saying, "Ah-Da?". She asked my mom one day where she was and my mom said "I'm in the phone" and Faythe proceeded to hit the phone against the floor multiple times trying to get Ah-da out of the phone!

The spider in the box was, in fact, a black widow. I was suprised to find out that we have black widows in British Columbia and lots of them! She never came back but I am terrified to open any of our other boxes in storage!

We've had a few changes since Christmastime. Alan's sister gave us a new nephew (cutiepie!!) in January and his grandmother passed away in February. I hate to sound cliche but so goes the circle of life I suppose. She was 94 so she lived a long life. She actually passed away the day before her late husband's birthday. It was very windy on the day of her funeral and the tarps covering the dirt were flapping like crazy. We joked that they were fighting already!

The hubster and I are trying to have another baby. We'll see how this goes! We're not going all crazy about it but we would like it to happen sooner than later since Faythe will be 2 next week. I still can't believe she is going to be 2! She's such a big girl. She is all about Dora and Diego right now, and speaks some spanish because of it. I hated Dora before I had Faythe but I have to say I like it now. It's actually a great show for kids and she's learned a lot from it.

I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off from work to spend some time with Faythe for her birthday. I can't wait! We're going to go out for breakfast and go shopping. Last year I got her ears pierced but that only lasted about 10 days. I don't think I'll be doing that again until she is older ;).

Time to go perform my wifely/motherly duties and make dinner, etc.! Adios for now!