Something to Blog About - Edited!

I have plenty to blog about. I have adorable children that say the darndest things. I love my job and my family. I usually wait until everyone is asleep then I sneak over and blog. At all hours of the night. But obviously not this past week. I've been crashing fairly early lately. I doubt I'll be able to recapture all the events since last Thursday. I'll try.

Friday morning I was sitting at my desk as usual when I glanced at the clock to notice it was coffee time. Another glance toward a nice yellow post-it note with a reminder written with a Sharpie marker...Oil Change 8:30. CRAP. Chris had mentioned it to me before he left for work. I'm the one that made the appointment. I. just. plain. forgot.

I called the garage to ask if I could still bring the Jeep in. They said it was no problem. The timing was perfect for me since it was coffee break anyway. I dropped off the Jeep then walked down to Chris's work to get his truck. It was a PD day (no school) so that meant I had a full lunch hour. Cindy invited me for lunch with her and Bob and her friend Laura, since Cindy also didn't have school.

We had a great lunch, with plenty of time to spare not having to take off and run Carter to school. I'd had a caramel macchiatto in the morning with a Starbucks gift card I was given, so that along with the big lunch and large iced tea kept me going for the whole day.

It's still been fairly cool out. I've switched the boys to their spring jackets and all they want to do is play outside. I rented a few movies on the weekend. The Day the Earth Stood Still, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and The Ant Bully. I went to a retirement party for a coworker on Saturday afternoon. The timing of the party overlapped with Chris's work, so Dad came over to hang with the boys until Chris came home. The party was lovely, with a great lunch.

Chris's Dad brought over KFC for supper. We watched the sci-fi movie. Not bad, I guess. I lent it to Mom and Dad, and Dad said it was a remake, which I was unaware of. The story was apparently similar but with more up-to-date special effects of course. It was alright.

Sunday I took Cooper to church. After church we went for breakfast with Mom and Dad at A&W. Auntie Lurdes and Uncle Cliff showed up there and joined us. I picked up Chris's Dad for supper and made spaghetti with cheesy garlic bread and Caesar salad. Good stuff.

Monday I was planning on making meatloaf for supper, but I got a call from Mom to invite us over for supper. I was even home at lunchtime thinking about preparing the meatloaf ahead but instead relaxed. Good thing since I didn't have to bother! We had spaghetti at Mom and Dad's. Cooper? ATE A TON. Two days in a row. Apparently he's loving spaghetti. Carter did a pretty good job too, but Cooper was voracious. Really. I took some hilarious videos of him devouring his food. Like an animal. We'll work on those manners later; in the meantime I'm thrilled he's eating!

Today I had a meeting after work. During the whole meeting I was printing letters and envelopes. As I was stuffing the very last envelope, the meeting ended. I was trying to finish the project so a coworker could deliver it to one of our other offices. She planned on leaving in the morning before office hours, so I figured I was going to take the whole works home and finish it up and take it to her house this evening. So I was glad Chris could pick up the boys and kind of glad for the meeting. Oh...and most of all? Glad the coworker is a workaholic and was still there at the office when I was done! Fait accompli! :)

I got home and of course the boys were playing outside. I started preparing the meatloaf for supper and called Chris's Dad to see if he still wanted to join us for a late supper. He did, so I picked him up. He hung out with the boys outside and I called them in when supper was almost ready. Chris had a quick shower then we had supper. I made shoestring fries (didn't have enough potatoes to mash!) and kernel corn and gravy. The boys were begging for ice cream, which we did not have. Apparently the neighbour kid was over playing and was eating a popsicle, which made the boys covet the cold treat. We conned the kids into eating all their supper so we could have ice cream. Carter wanted a popsicle like the kid next door, and Cooper was adamant that he wanted chocolate ice cream. Instead of spending a fortune at Dairy Queen for everyone's individual tastes, I did a Safeway run for a box of popsicles and a box of chocolate ice cream. Everyone was happy.

We visited for awhile then Chris drove his Dad home. I started printing some birth announcements I made as a gift for a coworker. That took me quite some time, and I ran out of colour ink. Unfortunately it was quarter after eleven by this time and Wal-Mart was long since closed. Bummer. I decided to watch a movie after I cut out all the announcements. I borrowed Nights in Rodanthe from a coworker. It sat on my desk today and everyone kept asking if I'd seen it and telling me how good it was. So, starting around twelve-thirty I watched it. It was fairly mellow. I was loving it of course because of Richard Gere. Then the waterworks started. I was a big wad of snot and tears by the end. Watching a chick flick after midnight with PMS means I'm going to end up crying. I decided to blog after the movie, then Chris woke up from his 'other bed' on the couch where he usually zonks out! It's now nearly THREE and I need to go to sleep. I'll try to shrink and post a video of Cooper's spaghetti escapades but not until at least tomorrow.

Dad reminded me that when we were leaving their place the other night, Carter was half asleep cuddled up with my Mom. Dad made some comment about keeping Carter and Cooper replied, ''No, you can't have him. He's our kid.'' I doubt Carter would have ever done the opposite. He'd have just walked out the door without him. Kinda sweet how Cooper claimed his big brother. Here are a couple pictures of Cooper at A&W the other day; I haven't done anything with the spaghetti video yet.

Game - Your First Ever Scrap Page

Helen tagged me to play this fun blog game...show your first ever scrap page. When I first started scrapping I was already into extracting pictures...something I still like to do. These were a few of the first freebies I started out with; I probably still have these graphics! The first one I did in Adobe Photo Deluxe Home Edition; by the second I got started in PhotoShop. There may have been others close to the same time but I found these first.

I had just started scrapping in March 2006 by accident, really. I was online looking for some free backgrounds to use for making some birthday invitations when I came across a scrapbooking site. It all snowballed from there!!!

Here are the rules:
1. Show us your first scrapbook page (eekkk!!)
2. Write a couple of lines about the scrap - associated with your feelings, your thoughts and when you did it.
3. Pass the game on to 5 person and leave a comment on their blog....I'm passing it on to:
Angie, Theresa, Jill, Amy, Lori

Patient Patients!

Today both boys went to the dentist for the first time. Well, not technically the first time for Cooper since he hurt his tooth a couple months ago and we popped in for a quick check-up, but their first real visit. It's UNBELIEVABLE how AWESOME they were. I let Carter go on his own and just popped in to take a couple pictures. Cooper in the meantime had to have a poop so that was no biggie and passed the time for him so as not to stress him out about having his teeth checked.

Carter came in when Cooper got in the chair. He was adorably giving his little brother encouragement. The dental hygienist was showing Cooper her instruments and with each one came his comment that he didn't want it. I left the room to let her continue without his wanting to bail and come to me. He was absolutely fine. Pictures? Yep...

Well, they were both amazing (and very patient) patients. AND? No cavities! Which is also amazing because the boys aren't all about oral hygiene these days. I'm sure this trip to the dentist will have encouraged them to brush more and better.

So I realize it's been a number of days since I blogged. The week has been a bit of a blur. On Tuesday I went to the hairdresser after work. I got my hair done with some subtle highlights and a bit of a trim. It always feels sooooooooo soft when I get it done. The boys have been enjoying playing outside lately, though it's been cool all week until today. Kelly and I went for a walk and took Carter in the stroller. He doesn't really want to ride; he'd of course prefer to ride his bike or walk but I really want to keep up the momentum when we go walking. We did about a forty-five minute walk.

Cindy and Noah came to visit us this evening while Dominic went to a school dance. We've both been pretty crazy busy (she is more than I am, being that she has six kids and all!) I've been working on a few projects; some birth announcements, anniversary invitations and birthday invitations. The projects all seem to roll in at once, which keeps me on my toes. Well, it looks like I might just hit the pillow before midnight tonight...as soon as that video uploads I'm outta here!

I'm Walkin', Yes Indeed!

Yikes. The days are really getting away from me. Friday was a good day at work. One of those oddly quiet ones that are great for getting things done. Kelly and I took a walk at lunch. We grabbed a bite to eat and dropped off lunch for her hubby. We walked as we ate our lunch and picked up Carter. We walked him to school and went back to work. A few minutes late, but not bad considering all the walking!

Saturday I went to a baby shower for a coworker. She is due in June but her last day of work is coming up soon and since she doesn't live here we needed to find a time to get together. Carter had a birthday glow bowling birthday party to go to. So far I've been the parent that takes the kid to the birthday parties. I asked Chris to go this time. While the two of them were out, I promised Cooper I'd take him for a walk in the stroller. We took a walk and stopped in at McDonald's. Cooper had a happy meal and I tried a chicken snack wrap. Too much mayo for me and just an itty bitty chunk of chicken. Kinda gross. I mostly just ate Cooper's fries. We continued on our way and as we were walking past Pizza Hut, I heard a knock on the window. I looked over to see my parents in there. Cooper and I popped in for a quick visit. After their supper they planned to bring over some Cinnaparts. I encouraged them to stick to that plan(!) and Cooper and I left. We stopped at the video store to grab a movie. I grabbed a kids' movie and Seven Pounds.

About a minute after Cooper and I got home, Mom and Dad arrived. I got the movie ready to go but we had some catching up to do. Then Chris and Carter arrived home from the birthday party. Apparently it went well, and Carter had fun bowling.

We watched the movie. It was a little long, and somewhat vague as the story went along. I'm not sure if it was just me since I had a few distractions from the kids. But what I didn't know about the movie is that it was a mystery. A good one. With a real impact at the end. I won't say anything else.

Today was cold and a little snowy. It's really cooled off again this weekend. Today I didn't accomplish much until later in the day. Chris barbecued some hamburgers. Our barbecue is actually dead, but I hadn't realized Chris had brought out our camping barbecue. He grilled up the burgers (yum). After we ate I decided to go for a walk again. Cooper was up for it and enjoyed the ride in the stroller. It was cold walking against the wind, but I had Cooper bundled up and the exercise kept me warm.

We got home just a little before the start of the new episode of Desperate Housewives. The kids went absolutely squirrelly. Like, cuckoo enough for me to think that there was an undertone playing that told them to be as insane as possible while Mommy watched her favourite show. I managed to get through it, though in parts I was actually standing directly in front of the TV so I wouldn't miss anything!

Cooper fell asleep on me a couple hours ago. I put him to sleep on my bed while I tidied up the boys' room. I hoisted Carter up on the top bunk where he so seldom sleeps. Usually the boys fall asleep on the floor in front of their TV, and usually I don't want to wake them so I leave them there. I much prefer when they're snug in their beds. I made Cooper's bed and got him settled in. Next was tackling the huge pile of clothing in their room. I folded and sorted everything into categories...Carter's, Cooper's, clothes each will grow into, clothes each has grown out of, pajamas, socks, undies, summer stuff, and stuff to bring to the sitter's house as spares. Now I'm still wide awake and watching a very hot episode of Brothers and Sisters, thanks to all the iced tea I drank earlier. Hopefully I'll be off to bed soon!

Four Forty-Four

Wow what a great day!

This morning Kelly and Ben picked me up super early for our quick trip to Winnipeg. Ben had an orthodontist appointment at nine. We did a quick Timmy's run then hit the highway. I glanced at the clock as we were leaving town and it was 4:44.

Just outside Winnipeg at 'Deacon's Corner' there had been an awful crash about 7 hours earlier. The wreckage was huge, and apparently the highway had just recently reopened. Here is a little peek at the wreckage; it seemed to go on forever. I meant to take pictures but the camera was on video so it actually shows the whole thing. Yikes.

When we went to the gas station, we were amazed to find out nobody was seriously hurt. One transport rear-ended another, that was full of hazardous material. Fortunately none of it spilled in the crash or the resulting explosion! There was a fire and the occupants escaped before the fuel tanks exploded. Wow.

We ventured over to Polo Park for Ben's appointment with only a moment to spare. His braces were slated to take about an hour and a half so Kelly and I wandered around the mall to kill time. Not such a bad way to kill time; I haven't been to that mall in AGES. We stopped for a bite to eat at Arby's. It really felt like lunchtime to us since we had gotten up so early, though it was only about ten o'clock.

We went back for Ben and our timing was again perfect. We left the mall and headed over to Regent where we popped in to Future Shop quickly to get the laptop case I've been hemming and hawing over buying for a long time. I had a gift card so it was like a freebie. Next we went to our new favourite place, the nail shop across the street. It was like they were waiting for us and they took us both in right away. Kelly? Opted for a manicure ANDOMGAPEDICURE! I was so proud of her for trying it. She tried to occupy herself by looking at the pretty nail designs she had to choose from, while using the power from every fibre of her being to keep from kicking the nice lady in the head for touching her feet. Once she was finished, Kelly was very pleased with the result, despite the process.

I also had a pedicure, and for the first time ever, got some solar nails. (not exactly sure still of the difference between these and the gel nails or the acrylics...) The process was very cool, though a tad painful on one sensitive fingernail. The guy (yeah, guy!) that did my nails was very quick and very precise. It was really neat how the liquid and the powder instantly turn into the magic gel. In what seemed like no time at all, we had these lovely lovely fingers and toes. I didn't take a picture of Kelly's feet in case she would kick me in the face (haha) but if you see the pretty flower design on ther fingernails, it's the same as the design on her toenails. Very pretty.


Once we were all buffed and polished and dried, we picked up Ben across the street and headed to Costco. We were just making our rounds when we lost Ben. Well, we didn't lose him; but he was done. He was in a lot of pain and very tired. We quickly grabbed a couple more items and headed out for Dairy Queen for some much-needed ice cream oral therapy! At Costco I picked up some yoga pants, some baby outfits for gifts, underwear for Chris, and some bodywash for Chris and me.

We headed out of the city and to our amazement there was not a shred of evidence of that accident at the scene, aside from some darkened streaks on the asphalt. We went to the same gas station to gas up and I picked up some more stuff. A habs t-shirt for Chris, a cute teddy bear backpack for Cooper, and a couple of those invisible ink pen books for Carter. We headed out once again and I glanced down at the clock to find it was once again 4:44.

The road was bare and dry, and we had plenty of daylight to last us the whole trip. It was a great day (though not likely so much for Ben as it was for Kelly and me! - Sorry Ben!) Kelly dropped me off and I did my gift presenting to Chris and Cooper since Carter was unwakable on the couch. I'm sure he'll love those invisible ink books; I still remember those from when I was a kid. Fun stuff. Cooper just fell asleep with his little backpack on. He just got me to help him put his little toy dog in there. Adorable.

It's not quite ten o'clock yet, though it feels more like it's about two in the morning, after about three hours of sleep last night. Hopefully I'll get a couple more hours of sleep in tonight. But hey, tomorrow is Friday already, so it should be a great day anyway! Just one more thing...I'm surprised at being able to type with these nails on; I had my doubts!

Nocturinal

Definition...nocturnal with a side dish of urine. The nighttime bed wetting has almost dwindled away to nothing, but I still have issues with Cooper if he has too much to drink before bed. Fighting this battle is a tough one. Do I give him that little bit more milk to stop his tired whining? Or do I fight him until he's asleep? The other thing I try is before I go to bed I stand his little sleeping self in front of the toilet and request for him to pee. It's worked a couple times but usually just ticks him off. The battle is still on.

We had a faaaaaaaaantastic Easter weekend! The Easter bunny actually came on Friday night. Saturday morning Carter came whispering to me in my room that he was here. Carter's first clue had been a pile of eggs in their bedroom doorway. He was very excited but being sweetly quiet about it. It was after all, not even seven o'clock yet. We couldn't let Cooper miss out on the fun so I woke him up. He was very groggy but also excited. There were trails of eggs across the living room carpet to two buckets of Easter goodness. There was a big 'dinosaur' chocolate that growls when you open the box, and egg colouring kits and some little sponge dartguns. Carter was absolutely ingenious in collecting his trail of eggs. He bulldozed them with his arms and quickly chucked them in the bucket. There were eggs everywhere. For about the first seven minutes I took a video, until my camera card was full. After they collected all the loot I took a few pictures.

Next we all got ready to go to the sheep farm. Chris had washed the Jeep. We headed out to be there for about ten o'clock, when Cindy and one of her girls was set to work there for the school fundraiser. When we arrived it was already getting busy. There were guys directing traffic and they led us to a muddy field, through a mudhole, since we were in the Jeep. There were all sorts of 4x4 type vehicles already in there. They seemed to be reserving the regular parking areas (the ones that were also close to everything) for the regular vehicles. No biggie...we were wearing boots. The kids had a grrrrrrreat time! They were moderately interested in the animals...from sheep to donkeys to goats to llamas and alpacas. In the back fields were elk or something. The kids had the most fun jumping on the hay bails they had set up. At first Cooper was very tentative and getting me to carry him across the haybails. Then he realized he could make it across himself and was leaping all over. Carter was climbing to the top of the piles and also having a great time.

Pictures, you say? Of course!



Chris's Grandpa came over to visit and I got that great picture of him with the two boys. I printed a handful of pictures for him to take home, including that one. Chris's brother was in town and came over to visit, also bringing their Dad over. As it got closer to suppertime, he sprung for pizza and pasta from Pizza Hut. Jason and I went to pick it up and we all pigged out. We watched movies and the kids went all cuckoo playing and running around, since they were on a fixed diet of Easter candy.

Mom was going to church that night, but Dad opted to just chauffeur her, since it was going to be a longer mass, with Cindy's niece having confirmation that night. Because Mom went to mass that night she didn't plan on going on Easter Sunday. I ended up bailing and not going at all. Baaaaaaaaaad. I spent a large portion of the day cooking bacon, onions, and a hundred perogies to bring to Mom and Dad's for Easter dinner. I was really multitasking...and was trying to iron my hair in between boiling and frying batches of perogies. By the time I was done all that there was just enough time to go pick up some sour cream that had completely escaped my mind when I had done my shopping. We headed out and picked up Chris's Dad and went to Mom and Dad's. I should have taken pictures there too, but didn't. There was a huge bunch of us all and the kids had a blast playing with all their cousins outside. Yes, outside! The weather has been a little more seasonally-appropriate these past few days.

Supper was massive as usual. There was a bit of visiting after supper, with Cindy showing everyone her gorgeous wedding pictures on her laptop. Uncle Barry brought his laptop too, and of course so did I. I gave him a hand with his. We rounded up the kids and headed home with plenty of leftovers. We ate leftovers for two days. Work has been insanely busy, and it's a weird workweek for me. Last week I worked four days then was off for four. This week I worked two and I'm off for one then I work one and I'm off for two. This is making for a very quick month of April!

Well, I've glossed over plenty of detail...partly to spare my three regular visitors and partly out of sheer exhaustion. I have an extremely early morning ahead of me and I really need to do my hair. Ugh.

Four Days

That's right. I'm off for four days. There are plans of Easter egg hunts, a visit to the sheep farm, celebrating the occasion properly at church on Sunday and gorging on a humongous Easter dinner with the whole fam-damily.

The past couple days I've still had a sore jaw. My teeth are feeling more comfortable but dang they really beat up my mouth. Work has been very busy and has flown by this week, even more so than usual.

I rented a few movies tonight: Tale of Despereaux, Yes Man, and Bedtime Stories. When we got home I put on the Despereaux movie for the boys but they didn't pay it a whole lot of attention. Chris worked outside for awhile after he got home from an after hours service call. I put on the movie Yes Man (Jim Carrey). Cooper cuddled up to me and fell asleep. Carter was already zonked. Chris? Started snoring shortly after the opening credits. I liked the movie, but I was getting annoyed until he started saying Yes. Then it got good, and stayed good. We watched Bedtime Stories at the theatre awhile back, but will be watching it again before I have to return it to the video store.

Now I'm still up watching late night TV. I caught the end of Leno, then Jimmy Fallon was a re-run. Booooooooo. So I tuned into Craig Ferguson (love him) and Robin Williams is on. The two of them are nuts, but hilarious. Well, that's all I've got for tonight. Hopefully some scrapping news by the weekend. :)

A Kick in the Teeth

Yesterday when I was out running work errands I received a call at work to remind me of my dentist appointment today. I knew it was coming up this month and I’ve been dreading it since it’s the first time I’ve had to have any dental work in probably at least ten years. Ugh.

They’ve been wanting to replace a filling that’s already been replaced once. I was apprehensive the past couple times they’ve mentioned it when I’d been in for cleanings and x-rays, but on the last visit they actually showed me the spot of concern on the x-ray and I was okay with letting them mess with it.

I went to work first thing, then left for the appointment. They took me in right away and started out with the two freezing needles. I was reminded there was also a little cavity on a bottom tooth and I opted to get both done today so I wouldn’t have to do this again!

The assistant then came after me with a ‘rubber dam’. I’ve never had one of these before so I didn’t know what the heck it was. She had one hell of a time trying to clamp the thing on my back tooth and she was squishing my gums into the clamp too, of course on a part that wasn’t included in the frozen area. That wasn’t nearly as bad as her trying to floss the rubber thingie in between my teeth to isolate the tooth he needed to work on. She seemed to be putting all her weight into it and the floss wouldn’t budge through. My teeth are very close together and I have a hard enough time getting the easy glide floss in between, letalone this rubber thingie.

She finally got it in place just in time for him to come back and start drilling. He worked on the replacement filling first, and I was fine since the freezing took well. He seemed to drill forever and there were many interruptions that called him out of the room. Once that filling was done the two of them started trying to get the rubber dam on my bottom tooth. Nope. That back tooth on the bottom is even lower than the top one so they just couldn’t do it. Somewhere around this time they discovered I lost a filling between my last appointment in January and today. Right beside the one they needed to fix the cavity in. So it turned out I got a ‘’bonus’’ filling. Yay me! Turns out he’s really good at doing fillings so aside from the pain and discomfort, my teeth seem to fit together perfectly.

My gums have been sensitive all the rest of the day and the inside of my mouth was a bit scratched up. My jaw was aching from being jacked open for so long. By the time I got out of there it was nearly lunchtime, so I went to treat myself to ice cream. I stopped in to see Chris then at DQ to grab a hot fudge sundae (complete with chunks of Reese peanut butter cups). I went home and had my ‘brunch’ then took Carter to school. When I got back to the office I made an amusing attempt to put on some lipstick. Because I couldn’t feel the whole left side of my face, I almost continued across it with the lipstick.

The afternoon went by okay. My face started to regain feeling awhile after I got back to the office. Talking on the phone was only awkward for about a half an hour. After work I picked up the kids and did the mail run. Cindy had gone home with all the kids except one; one of her girls hadn’t returned yet from an out-of-town basketball trip so I picked her up when the bus came in. Instead of having Cindy make a special trip in for her, I drove her home. Carter had a snooze during the trip but Cooper enjoyed the ride.

When we got home Chris and his Dad were already here with supper. They picked up KFC. Cooper did a great job devouring his chicken. Carter was still a bit snoozy and ate his later. After supper we watched Slumdog Millionaire so Chris and his Dad could both watch it. They liked it too and I picked up on a couple minor details I missed last night. Chris took his Dad home after the movie and the boys took turns playing on the computer for awhile before I sent them to bed. I’m pretty certain they’re not sleeping yet.

I think I’m off to bed early tonight. Perhaps a few sudoku puzzles before I crash. I’m looking forward to Easter for a few reasons, but partly because of two short workweeks in a row, separated by a four-day weekend. :)

And the Oscar Goes To...

Slumdog Millionaire!!! OMGWHATANAMAZINGMOVIE. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Just as suspenseful as any thriller and I cried with relief at the end. Wow. Lots of Wow. I can't remember how many awards this movie got but it deserved every one.

This morning was a pretty good one. Chris helped wrangle the boys into their clothes, which always helps. I fed them breakfast after he left for work and we got out of the house with time to spare for getting to work. I got a call on my way to the office to request some ice melter for the entranceway to the office. First I tried Wal-Mart. Evidently they believe winter ended a couple weeks ago as they haven't replenished their stock, nor will they. Next stop was Canadian Tire. I saved myself the trouble of looking and asked at customer service. Same deal. Sheesh. There's still plenty of ice to be melted out there, folks and who's to say we won't end up with more??!!

I tried one more store and they had it right in their entranceway. I grabbed a pail and paid and went along my way to work. They were just starting to wonder if I was going to show up since the manager who called me got busy and forgot to tell anyone I was on an errand! The morning flew by as all Monday mornings do. At lunch I stopped to grab a couple eggrolls for Chris and me to snack on. I stopped in to see him for a minute then was off to take Carter to school.

After work I picked up the kids and we came home. I stayed outside with them so they could play on their bikes in the driveway for awhile. (Yeah, it turned out to be a pretty nice day or I'd have made Chris stay out with them!) Carter kept getting hung up on the icy and snowy patches still left on the driveway and he would just sit there spinning his wheels and his legs would be pedaling away. It appeared amusing, though he was frustrated. He's getting better on the bike though, and we need to raise the seat a bit since he's grown so much since last summer!

We came in and I was planning on nuking leftover spaghetti when Cindy called. She was coming to town to drop off the movie, Slumdog Millionaire for us to watch since the rental was good for one more night. That, and she had some fantastic leftovers to share with us. Still-hot spaghetti sauce from her supper tonight, and some chicken and fantastic potatoes and veggies from yesterday. I put the whole chicken dish in the oven while we visited for a bit and we thoroughly enjoyed it. (Thanks again, Cindy AND BOB!!!)

I must rewind a little to mention that Chris is quickly becoming addicted to playing Guitar Hero. I was sitting there laughing at his struggling to hit about seventeen notes at once when I walked over and started pushing the coloured buttons while he strummed the notes. Hilarious! There is no way I could ever actually play this game properly, but since it was a familiar song I had a slight clue and managed to eke out the right coloured buttons for the most part. At that moment Cindy came into a living room full of laughter.

We watched our Monday evening lineup of Dancing With the Stars and Castle, with an episode of Corner Gas thrown in the middle for a few laughs. Chris zonked out about halfway through Castle, so he was nowhere near awake enough to watch Slumdog with me. I thoroughly enjoyed it on my own. The movie finished just before midnight and now I'm half blogging and half tuned into Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. I'm planning on doing some scrapbook pages by at least the weekend since we got our new creative team assignments. Can't wait.

A Donkey Kick

Thank you Angie for the kick in the donkey to get me blogging again. It did cross my mind a few times this past week to get blogging again. The weather got even suckier last week than the week before.

I was hoping for some great spring weather to welcome Mom and Dad back from their warm sojourn in California, but to no avail. It was a cold windy day on Tuesday when Kelly and I took off to Winnipeg to pick them up at the airport. By the time we got there it was lunchtimeish. We took a peek in Future Shop then realized we were in the neighbourhood of a nail salon that my friend Diane always goes to. I made a call to confirm I had the right place, and we ventured across Regent to get to it.

The stars must have all been aligned that day, because the nail salon shared a parking lot with Burger King. We went for a Whopper then headed over to the nail salon. They had a super special on a manicure and pedicure, which was what I went for. Kelly opted for just the manicure, fearing that she might kick the girl in the head if she touched her feet. A small part of me wanted to see if that would have happened, and I'm guessing it really would have.

They have those fancy schmancy massage chairs for the pedicures and a very efficient team to get the job done. The lady even beautifully freehand-painted a pretty little flower with leaves on each of my big toenails, complete with a little rhinestone. I felt like I had new feet and didn't want to put my boots back on. Except by this time, the weather had started to take a turn for the worse and the snowfall in the snowfall warning was rearing its ugly head.

Oh by the way, we went up in the Jeep, and had borrowed a club from a coworker. It gave us a slight sense of security, though we were always cautiously optimistic that the vehicle would still be there when we got outside. We're pretty jaded, thinking that everyone we saw lingering in the parking lot for more than a second was a car thief.

We made a stop at Costco for a brief run-through and headed for the airport. I don't think I've ever driven in to the airport before, and there is plenty of construction currently happening. That, mixed with the crappy weather made us want to park in front of the terminal, which is a big no-no. I asked for directions to the nearest parking lot and followed the directions to a parking lot I couldn't get into. I was starting to panic about the time and made another loop around and took a different turn, parking on the upper level of the Sheraton parking lot, just a few short feet to the door and and indoor walkway to the terminal.

We checked the arrivals and everything was going to be late; Mom and Dad's flight? By a whole seven minutes. When we sat down, I asked Kelly what time it was and it was exactly 4:55; their original arrival time. We waited around for a bit, watching all the tanned tourists arriving in their straw hats and sandals, with forlorn looks on their faces until they were greeted by their people. Mom and Dad emerged and after a flurry of hugs and welcomes we headed out into the cold. I brought winter coats for them but drove the Jeep right to the door so they wouldn't be too shocked.

We gassed up and grabbed more Burger King food, (including a TRIPLE WHOPPER for Chris to enjoy later). We headed out in the light snow. The highway was decent while it was doubled, and got progressively worse as we headed back to our little neck of the woods. It had been snowing here most of the day, though we completely missed it on our drive up. So it got a little crappier as we went along. We made it back safe and sound and after stopping for a newspaper and to drop off Kelly we went to Mom and Dad's, where the driveway was nearly whited out completely compared to that morning.

I went to back in the driveway like I always do, and have done a squillion times, but with the drifted snow I couldn't see that I was going askew. Dad of course alerted me to my misalignment and when I went to try again I made it worse. Crap. Stuck. I've finally come to realize that part-time four-wheel drive kinda SUCKS. So in trying to ease Mom and Dad back into the cold again after their warm month away, I totally screwed it up. Dad of course did most of the digging as I helped with his cement shovel since it was about all the heavy iced snow I could dig and lift. Alas we were in the clear and I made my way home. The snow was so heavy by this time I already couldn't see my tracks from the way there.

The rest of the week was pretty much a blur; it's hard to believe the pajama party was only a week ago. Since I was away on the last day of the month, I did month-end on the two days following it, with all the other things I needed to work on and catch up on.

We had a pretty quiet weekend, but I actually planned ahead to take the boys to church today for Palm Sunday. Yeah, both of them. It's been (1) awhile since I went to church and (2) since I took a kid with me and (3) since I took both of them. They wore matching striped shirts and vests and looked adorable of course. I even put some gel in their hair. So handsome! We picked up Kelly and made it to the church on time for the blessing of the palms in the vestibule and procession into the church. The kids survived the slightly longer than usual mass (including the reading of the Passion) and I dropped Cooper off at home before we went for breakfast with the gang of Aunts and Uncles and Cindy's in-laws. Usually I give Carter some of my breakfast and Mom and Dad share their French toast with him. Today he opted for a cinnamon bun and when it arrived, he asked where his eggs were! So we all chipped in to round out his breakfast and he did a great job of eating it. The cinnamon bun was nearly untouched so we brought it home.

After breakfast Kelly and I dropped Carter off at home and went grocery shopping. First we did Wal-Mart where I filled a cart with groceries and a few items to help out the Easter Bunny next weekend. Hard to believe that the groceries and the Easter items were nearly equal. Yikes. Next we hit the grocery store for the fresh items that our Wal-Mart doesn't carry and then we headed home. I put all the groceries away and Chris started playing Guitar Hero for the first time. We were given Guitar Hero II for the PS2 and before I knew it Chris was out on tour. The kids of course wanted to try it but I don't think of it as a kids' game. That and I seriously lack the coordination, motor skills and rhythm required to play it so I steered clear of it.

I played games with the boys and before we knew it, it was suppertime. I browned some ground beef to start making spaghetti sauce. I put in the diced tomatoes and reached for the tomato sauce THAT WASN'T THERE. I remembered that when we were at Wal-Mart, the tomato sauce wasn't conveniently next to the diced tomatoes and never did find it, forgetting all about it. So, I literally put the sauce on the back burner and ran back to Wal-Mart. I scoured the aisles looking for the sauce and when I was about to give up, I found one can on a top shelf way above where they keep the pre-made spaghetti sauce. I stood on the bottom shelf and craned myself to reach the three remaining cans and high-tailed it out of there.

I came home and resumed my cooking while Chris continued to play obscure guitar riffs. Fortunately the spaghetti sauce turned out just fine and we had supper. I was somewhat surprised I didn't burn the garlic bread after everything else turned out alright.

After we cleaned up the supper dishes and realized that Desperate Housewives is still showing reruns for a couple more weeks, I asked Chris if he wanted to watch Mamma Mia, Kelly's copy that I still need to return from last week's party. He made it about two thirds of the way through (before he fell asleep). I really enjoyed it again and sat here smiling on my own right to the end, with Cooper snuggled up with me and Carter zonked on the floor on my duvet by my feet. Finally I headed over here for this windy blog update and just replayed the movie for some background sound. I might just watch it again! Looking forward to two shortened workweeks with Easter on its way next weekend...