Saturday, December 31, 2005

2005: A Big Blank Space in the Timeline of Life

My year in review! Was it exciting or not much to speak of? You decide!

The beginning of JANUARY found us driving home from Reno, NV after spending Christmas and New Year's with Hubby's sister and her family, and a few days in Vegas to visit our old haunts. We had gotten so sick of our CDs during the drive that we went to Best Buy in Vegas and bought a whole bunch of new ones, and Hubs chose Metallica's Black album as one of his picks. We taught the kids how to headbang and everytime we turned on Metallica, we'd say, "Who's ready to rock?" and the kids would yell from the backseat, "Meeeeee!"


Lots of snow fell while we were in Reno - damn, get me back to Canada!

Quote of the month: "I'm weddy to wock, Daddy!" - Camryn, age 2

FEBRUARY was great because I turned 30! My birthday is the day before Valentine's Day, so in keeping with the birthday parties I had as a kid, Hubs and I had a party with Valentines as the theme decor. We had a great time! (It may not have happened had it not been for Carly's inspiration and fabulous job on the invitations.)

February also saw the end of our babysitter's services, in an event that will be detailed in a later post (since everyone pretty much agrees it was the weirdest, most hilarious babysitter story ever.)


Hubs, me and Carly - "I'm 30 now too!"

Quote of the month: "So, now we're freaks." - Hubs, after discovering our babysitter's online journal

MARCH

I also got to be a doula for my sister Ginny and brother-in-law Ashton for the birth of Adorable Niece, born in the middle of my weekend at Harrison Hot Springs, after I'd been sitting in the hot tub with Hubby's school classmates, being obnoxious until 2am. Adoable Niece got to meet her auntie with the bad hot tub hair at 7:30am on March 19.


Adorable Niece, 2 hours old

Quote of the month: "You will not poop on our party!" Hubby to the security guard kicking us all out of the hot springs pool at 2am

Carly and I went to Seattle for the weekend in APRIL. We had such a good time, even though it was only two days it felt like a lifetime. It was fun checking out Seattle's many offerings - of the male variety. We took pictures of the fish market - guys. And enjoyed staying at the Vance Hotel - for the staff. And we reviewed everything in sight.


Me and Rachel the Pig at Seattle's Fish Market

Quote of the month: "Here's my review of the drink I had at Oliver's..." Me, after drinking a particularly sugary Mandarine Drop at Oliver's that very nearly make me puke.

On MAY 1 Hubs and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary by going to his football game. (We might have gone out for dinner after, but I don't remember.)

I decided I'd had enough of the freelancing from home thing and decided to try something new. I started applying for copywriting jobs and was offered a position at a large electronics retailer. I worked there for the entire summer, and loved it, and learned a lot.


Two years of hell, five years of bliss!

Quote of the month: "What's it like being married to such a STUD?" - Hubs

I spent most of JUNE getting used to my new job, and preparing for Devon's preschool graduation. I was on the planning committee, and the preschool grad is quite the event at his preschool. I thought the whole thing was dumb and overdone, and I'm not sure my little preschool graduate disagreed too much either.


Watching fireworks on Pitt Meadows Day

Quote of the month: "I don't want to go to kindergarten." - Devon

In JULY I was inspired by my friend Rocket to start going to more concerts. I've always been a music fan, but never went to shows because - well, I don't really know why. I just never made the effort. So Carly and I bought tickets to see Beck, and after she couldn't make it, I went with my sister Amy. We shook our respective booties and had a blast.


Beck rocks.

Quote of the month: "I think I might get injured here." Amy, on the wild dance moves of the chick beside her.

In AUGUST I found time to do fun stuff around my work schedule. Hubs and I started taking the kids hiking, and to this day they ask to go on hikes. I played Pitch & Putt with some of my workmates, and found I wasn't too shabby of a golfer! My little nephew turned on year old and my sister had a "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" themed party for him. I also went to Kamloops for a weekend to visit my friends Dawn and Murray, played in their pool, and generally lounged around. (I love their place!)


Piggybacking is faster than waiting for a 2-year-old hiker to freakin' hurry up

Quote of the month: "This is so beautiful, I wish I could live here!" - Devon, hiking at Alouette Park

SEPTEMBER brought the end to my contract at work, and I decided since the kids were both starting school I would go back to freelancing. As I drove home on my last day, I thought to myself, "I just blew it big time," and second-guessed my decision for months. And while I still miss it, I'm liking what I'm doing now.

Both my kids started school - Devon in kindergarten, Camryn in preschool. I didn't cry (well, I managed to hide my teariness on the first day of preschool for my youngest, and last child!)

Carly, Clay, me and Hubs went to Seattle for the weekend. The Vance died a horrible death, and as Carly said, you can't go back. You just can't.

I also went to three good shows in September - I saw Oasis with my friend Rocket, and later in the month I saw Jimmy Eat World/GreenDay and Audioslave in the same week. Starting to wonder if I'll ever see a show that's NOT at GM Place.

The biggest change in September was when Hubby was summarily dismissed from his job without any warning. Oh, and the same day as my last day or work. Nice.


"Hi, I'm Hubby, and I work for...wait, no I don't."

Quote of the month: ME: "These kids better appreciate what I'm doing for them." My mom: "They won't, but you did the right thing."

OCTOBER was pretty boring - Thanksgiving, Hubby's new job, school teachers on strike, blah, blah, blah...


Trick-or-treating, candy-eating, fake-teeth wearing kids...

Quote of the month: Devon: "I saw my teacher at my school walking around wearing a sign that said, 'Locked out.'" Me: "Did you say hi to her?" Devon: "No."

In NOVEMBER I saw two great shows. I made a teenage dream come true and saw Depeche Mode live (yup, at GM Place). Thanks again to Rocket. It was the first show I saw with Hubs, and I got down, singing and shaking it while he sat quietly in his seat beside me. Then on the 20th Shelley and I went with my sister Amy, her friend Matt and his girlfriend to see Gwen Stefani! Shells and I let loose and cut a rug while singing and screaming like little girls. Very fun.


The Gwen, pre-pregnancy

Quote of the month: "I'm not paying money to see Depeche Mode." - Carly, as I tried to find someone to go to the show with me.

I swear I've gained probably 10 pounds in DECEMBER thanks to both my kids' birthdays (cake, and cupcakes for school) and Christmas (dinners out, chocolate, candy, and of course booze.) I guess I'll be heading back to the gym like every other schmuck in January. After a fun season of parties, events, food, and time with friends and family, my "eat-whatever-I-want, no-holds-barred" philosophy for the holidays ends tonight. (And don't worry, this blog won't turn into some boring weight-loss journal! I'm just saying...)


Me and Shelley, New Year's 2000.

Quote of the month: "I like a girl with some booty." - Hubs, on the subject of my new, big ass.

THE QUOTE OF THE YEAR

"Yeah, because sometimes you can't breathe through your mouth." - Kelly, after being shown some "freshening spray" (that can also be used for men) at a sex toy party

(Could the Quote of the Year have been any better?)

After being disappointed that there was no splashy New Year's party to get gussied up for this year, (not even a birthday party for 31-year-old Carly) the Hub and I are having a group of friends over for a little celebration tonight.

Have a safe and happy New Year and see you in 2006!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Merry Christmas to me!

Okay, so Christmas is over, but here's the rundown in pictures:


The kids sprinkled "reindeer food" outside to attract Santa's reindeer and bring them to our house - A concoction of oats, sugar and sprinkles, it's designed to get Santa to your house first, and screw every other kid on the block.



I walked into Devon's room and found him searching the skies for Santa. He also came downstairs after he was supposed to be in bed and whispered in my ear, "I heard someone outside say, 'A goodnight to all, and to all a good night,' and I know it was Santa's voice!" Ah, the magic of Christmas!


Cams opening her lightsabre - so now when she fights her Jedi brother, she doesn't have to use the vacuum attachment.


The aftermath - guess who got to clean that up? Wrong! It was me!


My adorable niece crawling around in the presents at Grandma and Grandad's house!


Uncle Ashton asking Cams: "Which one of your twins do you like better than the other, Camryn?"


Mom and Dad at Christmas dinner. We always wear the paper crowns from the Christmas crackers.


I swear this is the only picture of me this entire Christmas! Don't I look impressed!

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Jingle Jingle!

Merry post-Christmas! I'm busy with friends and family these few days, so I'll be back soon. Also putting together my "Year in Review" post - you knew that was coming, didn't you?!

Edited to add: I'm trying to add some new stuff, but my computer is being really SLOW so I'll be back later to try again...

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Love Angel Music BABY!

Guess who's pregnant?!
















Gwen's having a baby!

And can I just say, I totally called it at the show last month? I kept saying to Shelley, "Does she look pregnant to you? She looks like she's about three or four months pregnant!"

Am I smart or what?

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Them newfangled things called "doors"



This was funny, but you have to admit it's happened to you, too. (Make sure you watch the video.)

Let's not talk about me, let's talk about you - what do you like about me?

I got tagged by Carly (visit her new blog here,) so here's my response:

Five things about me that most people don't know:



1. I love breakfast. I'm never up in time for it, and when I am, I'm too tired to make the effort to make good breakfast food. When I was single, Dawn and I used to wake up on the weekends at 1pm and go out to an all-day breakfast place in our pajamas. It was great. I'll eat breakfast food anytime, day or night. I love pancakes, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, english muffins, toast with butter or jam, fruit, and I especially love egg and cheese on an english muffin. Yum. I used to love bacon and sausages too, but...



2. I've decided I'm not eating pork anymore. I think pigs are disgusting, gross animals and I can't enjoy eating pork. I decided this after reading a story in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader where a woman was using an outhouse in India and was freaked out because there was a pig's snout rooting around under the outhouse - there were pigs under there eating whatever came down the chute! EW!! Then a few days later I was watching Hannibal with Hubby and saw the scene where Verger was planning to feed Hannibal to the pigs, which of course reminded me of the Pickton pig farm case, and, well, let's just say I'm not into pork anymore.



3. The best advice I ever got - ever - was from a nurse in the hospital when I had Devon. She told me to always take care of myself first, because I wouldn't be able to take care of anyone else unless I took care of me. That has proven soooo true in so many ways.



4. I have a weird thing about toilet paper in public washrooms. I can't bear the thought of using the couple of inches hanging down from the roll, so I always tear a couple of squares off and throw them away before taking some for myself. I can't stand the thought of someone else's grubby hands touching those first few inches and then using it on my intimate areas!



5. I hate beer. I hate the smell of it, the look of it, and the taste of it. I even hate talking to people who have been drinking it because their breath smells like it and it makes me gag. And people always recommend beers to me and say, "It's really good - even people who hate beer love it!" and inevitably I end up hating that beer, too. (I defy anyone to recommend a beer I will like!)

Sunday, December 18, 2005

I shred, I'm shredding, I shredded


Went snowboarding today. I love it. But I have to learn that I'm really not that good yet and I'm not quite ready to take jumps at top speed.

Went flying down the mountain, saw a jump and thought, "Aw, hell, I'll try it," and as soon as I hit the peak of it, I knew I'd made a mistake. Somehow I flipped, and my arm jerked violently behind me and I landed flat on my back on top of my arm with the wind temporarily knocked out of me. I think I even felt my brain jiggle around in my skull.

That'll learn me. I made it down a few more runs, but I was done after only three hours (minus a short break to eat a smokie and have some OJ.)

I suck.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Pretty ballerina, now she's the queen of the dancing floor, this is the moment she's waited for, just like cinderella

The ballerina is three today!



Someone I once knew speculated that the style of her children's births seemed to correlate with their personalities as they grew. I can say that Camryn's was that way. When I woke up at 2am, by the time I figured out I was having real contractions, it was time to get to the hospital - fast. (Although Daddy managed to somehow squeeze in a bath and shave before we left.) After a mad dash to the hospital and 20 minutes after checking in, she had arrived. (And Daddy, thinking this was going to be a long, drawn out process like last time, nearly missed her birth because he decided to take a break in the bathroom with a newspaper. Thank god for our doula, Vicki, and midwife, Sylvia!)

Now she is living her 3-year-old life to the fullest. She loves preschool, her friend Mason, ballet class, and playing Dora the Explorer. What more could you ask for when you're three?

Friday, December 09, 2005

Make yourself heard

So Canada is having another federal election. I love politics, and Hubs and I volunteer for our local riding during election season. So it's exciting times for us.

Hub's mom loves politics too. She's a Conservative, and agrees with us that Stephen Harper is just the wrong person to lead the party. She also thinks that the anti-gay marriage issue is costing the Conservatives their chance to actually get elected, and they should either drop the issue or change the policy (I vote for the latter, but I digress...)

She called the other day and she and Hubby had a discussion about it, and I guess it was really bothering her. So she called up someone locally (in Halifax) and had a good half-hour discussion about how she felt the Conservative party was messing up it's chances for election. Who did she call?



Peter McKay, former Tory party leader, current MP. My 4'11" mother-in-law, who raised four children as a stay-at-home mom in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, spent half an hour airing her concerns with Mr. McKay, who, she said, was very nice, and they had a great conversation.

This is the political process, folks. I love it. Get involved and be heard!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

What I need



The Hub has been away on a business trip all week and I've been way too busy/lazy to clean up around here. He's coming home tomorrow and he asked me to make sure it's reasonable because he's bringing some guys here for a meeting. The boxes from Dev's birthday toys are still laying on the floor at the top of the stairs to be taken down to the recycling bin. The kitchen is clean, but the floor needs washing because there are cake crumbs and icing under the table. There's laundry coming out of my ass. (Not literally.) My office - well, let's just say it's bad. Oh yeah, and I have to sort all the recycling and put it out with the garbage for garbage day tomorrow.

Housework is mentally taxing - and that's not even when you're doing it - it's when you're just thinking about doing it. My head hurts and I feel sad. What I wouldn't give for someone to come and do it all for me.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Christmas light discrimination









I judge people by the colour of their Christmas lights. I think the colour he or she chooses says something about them as a person. Call me a nut, but I've thought about this since I was a kid. Here's my breakdown:

Blue lights: You're sort of moody, and think Christmas is a waste of time. Hell, you can't even be bothered to put up festive lights - you picked blue, for the love of god. You probably play "Blue Christmas" a lot. And drink a lot, too.

Red lights: Hell yeah! You are festive, and like to get into the mood. You probably still believe in Santa, and you don't care who knows it! You're the type who is busy photocopying your ass at the company Christmas party.

White lights: You are a Christmas traditionalist. You are also pretty anal. You read the Nativity story on Christmas eve. You probably do a lot of Christmas baking, don't you?

Green lights: Well, aren't you special? You probably like Christmas, but you probably smoke a lot of weed, too.

Multicoloured lights: You are just here for a good time, and don't care what anyone thinks! Christmas? Yeah, okay, but you're just ready to get festive and party! Yay for you!

Icicle lights: You are a sucker for trends. Icicle lights are lame! They are so 2001! And here's a newsflash: They don't really look like icicles!

Monday, December 05, 2005

Beautiful Boy

Six years ago on December 6, I became a mom.



23 hours after my water broke, after 6 hours of unsupported agony, an epidural that gave me two hours of sleep and then two hours of pushing, I had a beautiful baby boy.

He came into the world with a little cry, then he just quietly observed everything around him for the rest of his first day. And he hasn't changed much since.



Happy birthday little son!

For the love of women

For 45 minutes on Dec. 6, 1989 an enraged gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal's École Polytechnique and killed 14 women. Marc Lepine, 25, separated the men from the women and before opening fire on the classroom of female engineering students he screamed, "I hate feminists." Almost immediately, the Montreal Massacre became a galvanizing moment in which mourning turned into outrage about all violence against women.

The Montreal Massacre

(Sigh)....

U.S. Parent Company Bids To Aquire All Of Sears Canada

Friday, December 02, 2005

Filling some blog space while I'm busy

FIVE random things you might not know about me
- I was in a pageant when I was 18
- I'm sometimes shy IRL
- Although I can be shy, I LOVE public speaking (go figure!)
- I'm thinking of getting breast augmentation surgery next year
- I hate country music

FIVE places I've visited
- Reno, NV
- Las Vegas, NV
- Charlottetown, PEI
- Halifax, NS
- Salt Lake City, UT
My travel life has been very boring!!

FIVE ways to win my heart
- scratch my back - (I'm like a cat)
- Send me out shopping
- Clean the house for me
- Make me laugh
- Give me chocolate

FIVE things I want to do before I die
- Travel anywhere and everywhere
- See my children grow up to be responsible, happy people
- Help women
- Live somewhere sunny and hot
- learn Spanish

FIVE things I'm afraid of
- a painful death (but not death itself)
- snakes
- something bad happening to anyone in my family
- cancer
- not saving enough for retirement

FIVE things I don't like
- shrimp
- overbearing people
- getting up in the morning
- housework
- poor customer service

FIVE ways to turn me off
- be rude and condescending to wait staff in a restaurant
- be harsh or rude to my kids
- ask me how many bags I want (Superstore)
- act like a know-it-all
- be a drama queen (or king for that matter)

FIVE things I do everyday
- brush my teeth
- kiss Hubs
- crave chocolate
- visit my message boards and blogs
- laugh

FIVE things that make me happy
- music
- girl friends
- Hubby and kids
- Christmas!
- being 30

FIVE things on my mind right now
- finishing my Christmas shopping
- calling someone and telling them I lost the raffle tickets I was supposed to sell
- I have to find Camryn's hairband, it matches her Christmas dress and I'm getting her portrait done this afternoon!
- I need a shower
- I wish I'd booked a haircut before the holidays