My Beautiful Baby

I had some news for all of you on Saturday but didn't post because I didn't have any pictures to go with them. The batteries in my camera died while we were at the fair on Saturday and I didn't get them recharged until today.

It's official. I have a "Beautiful Baby". Well, we always knew that I did, but Rachel came home with her own trophy after Saturday's Beautiful Baby contest, so now it's official!

There aren't a lot of pictures from the event, and they're quite fuzzy because of the very low light in the rink, but this is the best we've got, so it's all you're going to see. *grin*

Rachel and I beside another Mom and baby boy (in yellow) in the contest.

I don't know their names, maybe Kayla can post the info in the comments section,

I know she's friends with the mother.

Lynn Clark (1st Princess 2006) presenting Rachel with her trophy.

I was going to post some more pictures of Olivia on the rides, but Blogger is giving me troubles uploading the pics... so hopefully tomorrow I'll post more.

Children's Parade today

Well, it's the last day of the Summer Festival here and this morning was the Children's Parade at the Marina. You dress your kid up and put him or her on a bike or wagon or something like that and they go up and down the Marina road once or twice while judges watch them and decide which ones are best.

I don't envy the judges, there were LOTS of adorable kids with very cute costumes and decorated bikes/wagons... but of course, my kids were one of the best ones *lol* not TOO much "Mama Pride" showing through, is there?

Olivia and Rachel won for "Most Humorous" for the age group 2-5 years (Rachel wasn't officially an entrant, Olivia was entered and was pulling her in a wagon) They were Papa's "Cow" Girls and were dressed up as little cowgirls with a wagonload of stuffed cows on a bed of hay... Rachel was also a cowgirl and was laying on some blankets on the hay as well... I kept hearing everyone in the crowd whispering as we went by. "Its a real baby!" they kept saying. "How cute!"

Here are a few pictures from this morning.

Olivia, "Papa's Little Cowgirl"

Rachel sleeping in her soft bed of hay.

A close up of Rachel sleeping.

Olivia pulling Rachel in the wagon during the "parade".

Olivia getting her trophy from Angelina. (One of the judges)

Notice me in the background pointing for Olivia to look at the camera... Take a look at my cute new haircut!

Mini-Me

I know I haven't posted in a while, and although I'd like to say life's been too hectic, I have to admit that I'm merely too darn lazy! Not much of a surprise to those that know me well. *lol* However the other day I started a project of scanning a bunch of old pictures I'm currently in possession of, and I came across one that shocked me. It's a picture of me being held by my great-grandmother. Nothing very shocking in itself. What surprised me was how much I look like Rachel!

I couldn't get over it. I'm one of those people who usually don't see likenesses between babies and parents... well instead of letting me tell you, let me show you.

Me with my Great-Grandmother, Eva. I'm not sure how old I am in this picture but I recognize this dress as being the one I wore when I won the beautiful baby contest at the Fall Fair that year... I'm assuming then that this was taken in early September. That would have made me 5 months old.

Rachel in Mid July this year. She was just shy of 3 months old.

I don't know, maybe I'm seeing things that just aren't there, but to me the likeness is almost eerie. What do you think?

Funny for today

THIS IS SOME KIND OF CHILI CONTEST!

Note: please take time to read this slowly, and I promise you will laugh so hard, you will either start to cry or pee yourself so pay attention to every word.

For those of you who have lived in Texas, you know how true this is. They actually have a Chili Cook-Off about the time the Rodeo comes to town. It takes up a major portion of the parking lot at the Astrodome.

These notes are from an inexperienced Chili taster named Frank, who wasvisiting Texas for the East Coast.

Frank: "Recently I was honored to be selected as a judge at a Chili cook-off. The judge #3 called in sick at the last moment and I happened to be standing there at the judges table asking for directions to the Budweiser truck, when the call came in. I was assured by the other two judges (Native Texans) that the chili wouldn't be all that spicy and besides, they told me I could have all the free beer during the tasting, so I accepted.

"Here are the score cards from the event (Brace your self)

Chili #1 * Mike's Maniac Mobster Monster Chili

Judge #1 * A little too heavy on the tomatoes. Amusing kick.
Judge #2 * Nice, smooth tomato flavor. Very mild.
Judge #3 * (Frank) Holy Shit! What the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the flames out. I hope that's the worst one. Those crazy Texans.

Chili #2 * Arthur's Afterburner Chili
Judge #1 * Smoky, with a hint of pork. Slight jalapeno tang.
Judge #2 * Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.
Judge #3 * Keep this out of the reach of children. Im not sure what I'm supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted togive me the Heimlich maneuver. They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face.

Chili #3 * Fred's famous Burn Down The Barn Chili
Judge #1 * Excellent firehouse chili. Great kick needs more beans.
Judge #2 * A beanless chili, a bit salty, good use of peppers.
Judge #3 * Call the EPA. I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels likeI have been snorting Drano. Everyone knows the routine by now. Get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back, now my backbone is in the front part of my chest. I'm getting shit faced from all the beer.

Chili #4 * Bubba's black magic
Judge #1 * Black bean chili with almost no spice. Disappointing.
Judge #2 * Hint of lime on the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a chili.
Judge #3 * I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Sally, the barmaid was standing behind me with fresh refills. That 300-lb bitch is starting tolook HOT*. Just like this nuclear waste I'm eating. Is chili an Aphrodisiac?

Chili #5 * Linda's Legal Lip Remover
Judge #1 * Meaty, strong chili. Cayenne peppers freshly ground, adding considerable kick.
Judge #2 * Chili using shredded beef, could use more tomato. Must admit the cayenne peppers make a strong statement.
Judge #3 * My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted and four people behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her chili had given me brain damage. Sally saved my tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from the pitcher. I wonder if I'm burning my lips off. It really pissed me off when the other judges asked me to stop screaming. Screw those rednecks!

Chili #6 * Vera's Very Vegetarian Variety
Judge #1 * Thin yet bold vegetarian variety chili. Good balance of spices and peppers.
Judge #2 * The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions and garlic. Superb.
Judge #3 * I shit myself when I farted and I'm worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that slut Sally. She must be kinkier than I thought. Can't feel my lips anymore. I need to wipe my ass with a snow cone.

Chili #7 * Susan's Screaming Sensation Chili
Judge #1 * A mediocre chili with too much reliance on canned peppers.
Judge #2 * Ho hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can of chili peppers at the last moment. I should take note that I'm worried about Judge#3. He appears to be in a bit of distress as he is cursing uncontrollably.
Judge #3 * You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin , and Iwouldn't feel a thing. I've lost sight in one eye, and the world sounds like its made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with chili, which slipped unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of lava like shit to match my shirt. At least during the autopsy, they'll know what killed me. I've decided to stop breathing, its so painful. Screw it; I'm not getting any oxygen anyway. If I need air, I'll just suck it in through the 4 inch hole in my stomach.

Chili #8 * Tommy's Toe-Nail Curling Chili
Judge #1 * The perfect ending, this is a nice blend of chili. Not too bold but spicy enough to declare its existence.
Judge #2 * The final entry is a good, balanced chili. Neither mild nor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge #3 passed out, fell over and pulled the chili pot down on top of himself. Not sure he's going to make it. Poor dude, wonder how he'd have reacted to the really hot chili?

My first SBQ response

A site I read posts a weekly SBQ (Stitcher's Blogging Question). I've never answered one before, but I thought I'd start with today's question.

Many of us have a few pairs of embroidery scissors and some even have a “collection”. How many pairs of scissors do you have? Feel free to share a photo of your favorite pair or pairs with us!

I actually don't own a pair of embriodery scissors. (A shocked gasp goes up from the stitchers reading this post *lol*) Since I use a small craft box, or floss box as I call it, to keep my floss and stitching supplies in, I decided I didn't want a pair of scissors floating around when they won't fit in the box... so I use something that will fit... A pair of nail clippers. (another gasp from the crowd) I find that you can get almost as close when cutting threads etc, and I've not graduated to doing projects like Hardanger with the cut areas etc, so I've yet to come across projects where I can't get by without my trusty nail clippers... And, as a bonus, I always know where to find a pair of nail clippers when our "household" pair mysteriously disappear for days at a time as they do sometimes. *lol*

Rain Rain Go Away...

It's been a few days since I last posted. I haven't had a lot to say lately. Life's been pretty slow around here. I have been stitching quite a bit lately in the evenings so I've actually got another 10 hours done on my "Waiting" cross stitch. That being said, here's a picture of the progress so far.

I've also taken my first foray into the world of eBay! I was looking for some cross stitch patterns and saw a few that I wanted to get. I won the bid on two of them so far. The first one I bid on was a Stoney Creek pattern leaflet called Family Blessings. The pattern they showed on the ebay page was the Family Tree. It's so gorgeous! I HAD to have it. According to the Stoney Creek site the 6 patterns included in the book are "Prosperity Quilt Block Welcome", "Bookmark Vine Border", "Grandchildren", "Our Family Tree", "Irish Marriage Blessing", and "Home" I got this book for the great deal of $3.99 US (apx $4.54 CAN)

Here's the pic of the family tree I desperately want to stitch.

The second one that I purchased is Theresa Wentzler's Egyptian Sampler. I saw some progress pictures of this by someone else and liked it, but when I saw a pic of the finished product at the ebay site, I fell in love with it! I got the pattern for only $1.99 US ($2.26 CAN)

I also bid on two other auctions, but they're not finished yet. I'll find out in a few days if I won those bids or not. They're all from the same seller so I'll be able to combine them to save on shipping... I bid on Theresa Wentzler's English Cottage Sampler and Lavender & Lace's Celtic Spring. I was going to upload pics of them too, but blogger isn't letting me upload anymore pics right now...I'll have to post pics of them another day.

Getting the week off to a funny start

Thought I'd post this cute joke I got this morning.
I've heard it before, but I just love it. Have a good Monday!


COURSE: MANAGEMENT 101


Lesson One

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Management Lesson:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.


Lesson Two

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Management Lesson:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.


Lesson Three

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Management Lesson:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut


* This ends your two minute management course.

At last it's here

Our new dryer has finally arrived. I just realized that I never posted a blog about the dryer incident yet, so most of you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Monday morning we threw a load of clothes in the washer and mid-morning Jason went to throw them in the dryer and it just made a loud buzzing noise when he tried to turn it on. He was pretty sure it was dead, but just to be sure, he called an electrician friend of his dad and asked if he'd come over and take a look at it. The friend (Ed for those of you who know him) also worked a lot on appliances in the past though he doesn't really do it any more. He wasn't home at the time, so Jason called back that evening and he came by and took a quick look. He told us it was dead. I can't remember exactly what part(s) he said were gone, but that it would be at least $150 in parts if we could find the parts for that old dryer, plus labour costs. He said, if it were him, he'd just buy a new dryer rather than fix an old one that might go again in another 6 months because OTHER parts might go...

So, off Jason goes Tuesday morning to our local Sears depot. Peggy (the owner) keeps some appliances in stock for those who can't wait a week or so for an order to come in, but unfortunately she sold the last dryer on Monday! Jason decides at that point, instead of going home and just ordering the thing from the catalogue that he'll drive the hour to Fredericton where there's an actual Sears store and buy the dryer there. Well... come to find out that after driving an hour in a truck that goes through a litre of gas faster than an alcoholic can down a beer, that Sears in Fredericton doesn't carry ANY appliances in stock. They only have their floor models. So you have to... guess what... order it from the catalogue! Funny for you, somewhat funny for me, but Jason wasn't laughing.

He called me from the cell phone and told me to order it right away, hoping that by getting the order in a bit earlier we might get in early enough to get an earlier delivery date. Peggy had mentioned earlier that if he ordered it that morning we MIGHT get it by Saturday.

Anyway, The dryer showed up today and he drove the 5 minutes to pick it up. (much better than driving an hour to buy one that isn't there!) When he got home he went to wheel it into the laundry room on the dolly he borrowed from his dad. Unfortunately he found out he'd have to take the door off.... Who in their right minds puts a 28" door on a LAUNDRY ROOM... It's not like you're just moving small pieces of furniture in there or anything.
After the door is off he figures it's easy going only to find out he actually has to take part of the door trim off in order to fit the damn thing through... So finally after prying and cursing for the past hour we've again got a working dryer! WooHoo! No more cardboard clothes coming off the clothesline.

That's my rant for the day. Hope you all have a great weekend!

PS: Steve, Tell Ellie that I'd gladly cross-stitch something for her sometime, but I doubt I could do a table cloth... I don't have THAT much ambition. *lol* You guys like native art etc? I saw the pictures of the native artwork you recently got... maybe I'll do something with a native theme or feel. I wish I would have known before Lewiscraft closed down in the mall... they had a killer dreamcatcher kit that I always loved but had no where to put in our house. I would have picked it up when everything was on sale!

Waiting update

I finally managed to get a picture of the Cross Stitch "Waiting" that I've been working on.
Here is my progress so far. Like I said in the post a few days ago when I first mentioned it, I think I've got about 20 hours done on it. It doesn't look like much, but it's a LOT of stitching... It's just that it's fairly boring looking so far being that I've only got part of the panels on the curtains done so far.

"Waiting"
Designed by Linda Gordanier Jary
Stitched over 2 on 28 Count Linnen (DMC)
(Sorry, I can't remember the colour... Mushroom maybe?)
Apx 20 hours completed

I've also been working on a new layout for my blog. Even though I like the look of this one, it's still one of the "standard" layouts that you can choose after you sign up to Blogger. I like to be a bit more unique...The one I'm working on isn't a great artistic achievement or anything like that... It's just a customized version of one of the other layouts... With my own title bar and footer as well as my own background... Not a LOT different than the one I'm working off of, but enough that I'll feel like I no longer have a cookie-cutter blog either... Hopefully I'll be revealing it within the next few days after I've played with it a bit more to make all the final adjustments.

Phenomenal Woman

I was reading one of the blogs I read from time to time called Everyone Picks Their Nose and yesterday she posted one of Maya Angelou's poems. I've read a few of her poems before and while I usually like them to some extent, none I've read have ever struck as much as this one. I love it! So I'm posting it here today. It's called Phenomenal Woman.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

Stitching and Waiting...

It's been a while since my last post and recently I've been wanting to get back into Cross stitching more. I've been reading quite a few stitching blogs and checking out the "WIP" or "Works In Progress" and it makes me want to get back to it. I had picked it up again shortly before my trip to the hospital, but I haven't done much since then. It's hard to find the time with everything going on around here. There's absolutely NO time during the day. I can't dig my stitching out at all because Olivia wants to "help" me. *lol* I had started, on the advice of another stitcher, to take it out about 15 or 20 minutes each evening. It's not a lot of progress at once, but it's definitely better than no progress.

Here's a picture of the pattern I'm working on. It's called Waiting by Linda Gordanier Jary. It was a "free" pattern from Charles Craft I got a few years ago and just recently started on. (read: last year, which is recent for me as Cross Stitch projects go) I think that I've only got about 20 hours on it so far. I say "I think" because until I started stitching again a few weeks ago, I never counted my time. I'm estimating based on the time it takes me to stitch one block. Since I've been stitching solid colours only so far (the panels in the curtain) it's pretty easy to estimate.

When I get the picture taken, I'll upload a picture of the work so far. But for now everyone will have to make due with a very blury scan of the picture I got with the pattern. I think I'll put it in my bedroom when it's finished.

Also, I'm uploading a picture of one of the next patterns I want to stitch. It's from an old magazine I have and it's called Summer Blooms. I scanned it quite a while back so I don't mark up the mag. It's going to go in my kitchen when It's finished, and when my kitchen is finally finished *lol*

I'm finally getting around to it.

I picked these pictures up from Sears almost a month ago but I'm just now getting around to getting them scanned and cleaned up (all the random dots and "noise" that a scanner adds to a picture) We had these pictures done back in May. Rachel was 4 weeks old and Olivia 2 1/2 years. I know that many people are anxiously waiting for them to be posted, so here they are!

You can see her best of all in this picture.

Remind me sometime and I'll post the picture of Olivia that we "copied" this one from.

We've got both pictures (Olivia at 6 weeks and Rachel at 4 weeks) on our living room wall.

I LOVE this one. Jason is holding her and my hand is underneath his.

THIS ONE is my ABSOLUTE favourite. I love that Olivia is leaning over giving her such a gentle kiss... it took about 5 "takes" to get this shot. Olivia wouldn't sit still long enough for the photographer to take the picture once she kissed her... She'd just kiss and run. Very cute!

I'm Back

Well, I came home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon. I'm still pretty sore from the operation. I can't do any heavy lifting for quite a while, and I find it a bit difficult getting into and out of bed. But other than that I'm not too bad. I went to the doctor today to get my staples removed and the nurse who took them out said that it seemed to be healing pretty well.

I don't have much to say besides that. Not much going on in my little world besides recouperating.

Here's a few pics of the kids that Mom and Janice took while I was in the Hospital.

A happy Rachel - June 26 (photo by Mom)

Jenna, Olivia and Josie relaxing after a hard day plaing - June 27 (photo by Janice)

Wish me luck!

Just a quick post for today since the kids are keeping me quite busy. I just thought that I'd say that I most likely won't be posting for a few days because I'm going in for surgery tomorrow morning. For those of you who don't know, I've got Ovarian Cysts that they found when I was pregnant with Rachel, but couldn't remove until after her birth. So, now it's time to take them out.

The good news is they've actually shrunk a bit since my last ultrasound in February. They're about 5cm (2in) each right now. Back then, one of them was over 7cm in diameter, so one stayed the same and one decreased by 2 cm! That's a pretty good result... At least they didn't grow!

Anyway, I'm in to the Chalmers Hospital tomorrow morning at 7:45am, which means I've got to get up around 5:30am to get ready and get out of the house by 6:30. Mom's keeping both kids tomorrow morning (Thanks Mom!) until I'm out of surgery, then Jason is driving back home and picking Rachel up to bring her up to the Hospital with me... They've said they'd give her "compassionate admittance" since I'm still nursing and have such a problem with my milk supply. Jason will be there with me during the day and she sleeps all night most of the time, so there won't be a whole lot of time that I'll be looking after her alone. Don't be worried about Olivia though, Janice is going to look after Olivia for the next day or so if I can't come home right away. (Thanks Jan!) There's no way we'd be able to have her up at the hospital all day without driving all of us crazy. lol.

Anyway, wish me luck with my operation, and I'll be writing again soon!

Happy Fairy Day!!

Today is Fairy Day!

I thought I'd post a quick link to the Fairy Day website... Visit to find lots of great links including links to a number of great Fantasy Artists connected with this site! Selina Fenech (who's "Motherhood" graphic graced yesterday's post) is one of them.

Motherhood by Selina Fenech

I found this image by the artist Selina Fenech on the web. It's absolutely gorgeous! I'd love to get this for my house (hint hint to anyone reading *lol)

What I would LOVE is the cross stitch of it, but it's stitched over 1 thread on 25 count material and is over 11" square!

(edit: Oct 9, 2006) I never posted the site the cross-stitch comes from. It's from Heaven and Earth Designs, a site that has a lot of absolutely amazing fantasy art converted to high quality cross stitch patterns! (edit ends)

For those that don't know cross stitch, that means that there are 25 threads per inch of fabric and 1 stitch for every thread of fabric... so 25 full cross stitches for every inch...

The stitch count is 279 stitches wide x 311 stitches high. That equals 86,769 stitches in total! That's FREAKING HUGE and I know it would take me 25 years to finish it, so there's not much sense right now when I've already got a few cross stitches on the go.

Anyhow, here's the picture that I love so much.

Visit Selina Fenech's Website to see other Great works of art! www.selinafenech.com

Hey Kay-sar!

Big Brother All-Stars started last night with the announcement of which past participants are up to re-enter the BB7 House! 6 out of the 12 participants who go back in are going to be voted into the house by the viewing public... (I'm assuming the other 6 will be picked by CBS to make the biggest racket with the first 6 *lol*)

Everyone please please PLEASE do me a favour and vote for my fave Kaysar.

Click Here to go to Kaysar's page at CBS.com, then click on the "Vote for Me" graphic to vote for Kaysar!

Isn't he abso-freaking-lutely gorgeous?!

Below is his Pic from last year's BB6 of which he was the most popular member. (He was voted back into the house in one viewer vote with over 80% of the vote)

Ten things I love about being a woman.

Well, I know that I"ve already posted once today with the whole "quotes" thing, but I was on another site and saw a good idea for a "Tuesday Ten" post. I doubt I'd remember it by the time next Tuesday came around so I thought I'd better post today.

Ten things I love about being a woman.

1. I can dance without looking foolish
2. I know which colours match and which don't
3. I can grow my hair long, cut it short, wear it in a ponytail or bun without anyone commenting on it looking "fruity" lol
4. "It's that time of the month" is a reasonable excuse for almost anything!
5. Chocolate fixes almost anything!
6. I get to wear pretty clothes if I feel like it
7. Walking down the aisle in my beautiful wedding dress
8. Two words: MULTIPLE ORGASMS
9. Being able to nurse my two daughters
10. Giving birth to another human being! Twice!!

What are the ten things that you love about being a woman/man?

Some of my favourite quotes

I often visit the Think Exist website to look for new and interesting quotes. Some of my favourites are listed below. I know there are lots, but take your time and read through them and let me know what you think. Also, what is your favourite quote?

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” ~A. A. Milne (Creator of Winnie the Pooh)

“A safe but sometimes chilly way of recalling the past is to force open a crammed drawer. If you are searching for anything in particular you don't find it, but something falls out at the back that is often more interesting.” ~James Matthew Barrie (Creator of Peter Pan)

“The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world” ~Max Born

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche

“If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” ~Catherine Aird

“Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.” ~ Confucius

“What if a demon were to creep after you one night, in your loneliest loneliness, and say, 'This life which you live must be lived by you once again and innumerable times more; and every pain and joy and thought and sigh must come again to you, all in the same sequence. The eternal hourglass will again and again be turned and you with it, dust of the dust!' Would you throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse that demon? Or would you answer, 'Never have I heard anything more divine'?” ~Friedrich Nietzsche

“Become who you are.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche

“Woman understands children better than man does, but man is more childlike than woman” ~Friedrich Nietzsche

“Venus, a beautiful, good-natured lady, was the goddess of love; Juno, a terrible shrew, the goddess of marriage; and they were always mortal enemies” ~Jonathan Swift

“All faiths constitute a revelation of Truth, but all are imperfect and liable to error” ~Mahatma Gandhi

“When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies” ~James Matthew Barrie

“A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it.” ~Jerry Seinfeld

Alvin, Simon, Theo-- DOH!

I was reminded after reading on my Aunt's Blog about her cat bringing her home a "little present" that our cat Shadow (or "ShadowKitty" to Olivia) brought me home one too... I never let her in the house with it, but I did get a few pictures of her stalking home across the yard.

See what she brought me:


I think I'll call him Alvin!

What's your name?

I found this on the Glued 2 Paper blog that I stumbled on the other day.
Copy the questions and put your answers in the comments section! It's fun!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (middle name/ street you live on)
~Alma Route 10 (not a very good one if you ask me)

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your dad's side, your favorite candy)
~ Berniece Rocher (for Ferrero Rocher)

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME:(first initial of first name, last two or three letters of your last name)
~ C Rah

4.. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
~ Silver Cat (sounds more like a native name to me)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
~ Alma Minto (not a very good one)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name)
~Dar Sie Sha

7. JEDI NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards)
~amla eissiac

8. PORN STAR NAME: ( pet, street you grew up on)
~Shadow Shaw

9. SUPERHERO NAME: (Your favorite color, the automobile you or your parents drive)
~ Silver Intrepid (strangely enough we drive a silver Intripid)

Mmmmm.....Turkey?

About 15 minutes ago Jason came running upstairs from the basement and grabbed Olivia to prop her up on the windowsil beside the kitchen table. I came over to see what was going on, and quickly ran to get the camera.

Apparently there had been a wild turkey looking in the basement window at him before it ran around to the back of the house. I got quite a few pictures but most of them aren't that good, just quick snaps through the window. Most of them you see a reflection of some sort in it also, but this one wasn't that bad... A little blurry, but all in all, not horrible.

All I can say is too bad he doesn't have a gun... that bird looks tasty! *lol*

What to do?

Well, I'm in a dilemma. I don't know what to do. We've recently been approached twice about selling our house. Once by a woman from the next town over who called and told Jason that she had heard that we were selling and wanted to talk to us before we listed to possibly save on the real estate fees, and then again the other day by a Real Estate agent.

The agent asked Jason if we were selling because he had a buyer from the next town over who wanted to buy a house in our area and had heard we were selling...Jason couldn't remember the name of the woman who called him originally, but we're pretty sure that they are the same ones that the agent represents.

Jason told him basically the same thing he told the woman who called. We just had the baby, and so never really thought about selling anytime soon. Too much of a hastle with a newborn... Plus we don't really have anywhere to GO. There's never anywhere to rent in our town, and there is only one house we can think of offhand that we might really be interested in, and it's more than we'd expect someone to offer for this house, so unless we got more than we expect for our house, or managed to get the owners of the other house to drop their price quite substantially we wouldn't be able to afford it and wouldn't have a home! Not a good plan with a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 month old in the picture.

I mentioned the option of buying a cheaper/older mini home and putting it by Jason's father's house and staying there for 5 years or so to save enough money to build our "dream home". But I don't know if I could go from a 2200 sq ft two story house to a small mini home with NO storage space whatsoever...

Anyhow, even though we don't know where we'd go if we DID sell the place, or even if we WANT to, we've decided to let them at least see the house and see if there's any interest on their part before we have to make those decisions...

But I just don't know what to do... this house is pretty close to being my dream house (or it will be when it's finally finished) but Jason hates it and only bought it because I fell in love with it... I don't really want to move, but it doesn't seem fair to make him stay in a house he hates just because I love it... In a perfect world we'd both love the house we were in equally...

I just don't know what to do... and this is my dilemma...

Painted Daisies

Here are a few pictures of some Painted daisies in my little garden. I love them. They've got so much colour... I always thought I didn't like Daisies, but I realize I just didn't like the "plain white" colour. BLAH. This is MUCH better!

A few pictures I took yesterday

Here are a few pictures of Rachel sleeping quietly on the couch yesterday afternoon. I laid her proped on a pillow for a few minutes so I could clean up some of Olivias toys and she quickly passed out. How cute!

Olivia was posing in the toy box. "I'm a Toy!" she kept saying to me! Probably the cutest toy in the box if I do say so myself.

Oh my... What big balls you have!

I recently signed up to a gardening newsgroup "rec.gardens" and I posted the same question on there and this is one of the replies I got.

"These are galls, sometimes called "oak apples".

They are caused when an insect lays an egg inside the fresh, young tissues of the tree. The larva that hatches causes an irritation that causes the tissues to swell. The larva then eats out some (not always all) of the excess tissues.

When the larva matures and forms an adult insect, it bores its way out of the gall. The galls you show in the image will eventually turn black and fall from the tree. They will be very light in weight with a corky internal texture.

These galls are generally quite harmless to the tree, although cleaning them up from driveways and lawns can be a bother. Other galls (but not these spherical ones) can be symptoms of disease, which can cause serious damage to a plant.

During colonial times, these galls were gathered and boiled to extract tannic acid for making ink and dyes and for tanning leather."


So, there... Apparently they're "Oak Apples" and they will hatch into some freaky bugs of some sort... *SHUDDER* That makes me feel just freaking WONDERFUL about going out in my yard. Dontcha think!? (sarcasm sarcasm)

WTF are these?!?

We've got these things growing on our Oak tree in the front yard.
They are about the size of one of those small "superballs".

Does anyone know what they are? They are actually growing on the tree, but they don't look anything like acorns, and even if they did, the tree is too young to grow acorns yet.

Any ideas anyone?? (click on the picture to see a larger version!)

A few pictures from May

Rachel is crying, so no time to post much, but here are a few pictures from the last month or so...

May 11, 2006: Olivia and Rachel posing in the living room... Aren't they pretty in pink?!

May 24th, 2006: Me and Rahcel, who is 1 month and 1 day old!

May 29th, 2006: Rachel on Jason's chest and Olivia posing by the front window.

Introducing Rachel Ava

Well, they did induce me on Friday the 21st like I suspected they might. It's a long story that will have to wait for another day. I just thought I'd post the basics about Rachel's arrival and a few pics for now.

She arrived on April 23rd, 2006 at 7:46pm weighing in at 7lbs 13.4oz with a length of 20 7/8 inches.

She looks amazingly like her big sister did at the same age. It's actually kind of creepy how much they look alike. For the first few days I couldn't stop myself from calling her Olivia constantly.

Anyway, that's all for now. Olivia is calling for me and Jason is just back to work for the first time today. So, for the first time I'm on my own for the whole day with both of them. I'm keeping pretty busy, let me tell you!

So, here's the part eveyone wants anyway... The pictures!

Rachel Ava, just hours old in the hospital nursery

after being weighed and measured etc.

Rachel at 1 day old

Big sister Olivia holding 1 day old Rachel for the first time.

She was so excited to meet her!

Blah

Well, I've got another doctor appointment today in Fredericton. Just the weekly visit that is normal at this point in my pregnancy, nothing serious... But I'm still getting ready for the possibility that I'll be admitted to be induced. Last week when I went to the Ob/Gyn they found that I am slightly toxic... as in Toxemia.(also called pre-ecclampsia) Basically my blood pressure was elevated and they found protein in my urine. There were no other symptoms, though there are lots to watch out for.

I was also toxic when I was pregnant with Olivia as well, but it never occured until I was already a week overdue, so they just went ahead and induced right then and there. I'm just not sure at what point they would look at inducing this pregnancy if it doesn't improve and if I don't go into labour on my own. I'm 38 weeks now, so there should be no risk to taking the baby at this point. She's considered full term and everything (lungs etc) should be developed properly.

I mentioned the possibility to my mom on the phone this morning and she pointed out that if they induced today I just may end up having the baby on my birthday, which is tomorrow. And although that would be nice, I still don't relish the idea of being in the hospital for my birthday. lol. Besides... it's not as if it's something to get very excited about. It's not that unique a thing in my family. On My mom's side of the family, my Grandfather and uncle (his middle son) share the same birthday. My two younger cousins (bro and sis) share a birthday -- and no they're not twins, they were born two years apart. On my Dad's side, my dad, his sister and their first cousin all share the same birthday, and the same first cousin has two sisters who share THEIR birthday as well...

Many people assume when I tell them this that they are all LARGE families with lots of kids, but they're actually fairly small families. Dad is one of 4 kids and their cousins are 4 kids, so basically 3 out of 8 kids share one birthday and 2 of 8 share the other... so 5 kids, brothers, sisters and cousins all share 2 birthdays. kind of freaky. My grandparents on mom's side only had 5 kids, so 1 of 5 share with my Grandfather, and my younger cousins who share a birthday are 2 of only 3 kids... I mean, if you actually calculate what the odds are with that happening so many times in one extended family, it's probably very unlikely.

I know a woman I used to work with who I discussed this with one time. She said that both she and her husband come from fairly large families. One of them, I can't remember which, is actually one of 13 kids. And she said that of all the children, cousins, grandchildren and extended family on BOTH sides she could only think of one pair of people who shared a birthday and they weren't anyone who was super closely related. I think it was a sister of her husband and 2nd cousin on her side or something like that.

Anyway, enough about my freaky ass family. (lol) Just wish me luck with my appointment today and keep your fingers crossed that they don't induce me today. Besides, if they induce me today I don't get my birthday supper and movie tonight. Mom's watching Olivia so we can get one last date night before I'm stuck with an infant on my boob every 2 hours for the next several months. lol

Well, I should go now. I need to try to get everything ready before I wake Jason up. He worked night shift last night, so didn't get home until 7 this morning, and I'd like to have Olivia all ready to go to mom's before I have to wake him up in an hour. I hate waking him, but we have to leave here by 12:30 at the latest if I'm to make my appointment in time.

2006 Census: Release of Personal Data after 92 Years

The following was taken from the 2006 Census Website

2006 Census: Release of Personal Data after 92 Years

In early May, all households across the country will receive a census questionnaire. Eighty percent of households will receive a short form questionnaire with eight questions, while 20% will receive a long form questionnaire with 61 questions. The long and short form questionnaire each include the following question (number 8 on the short form or number 53 on the long form) on the release of personal data after 92 years.

Consent to the release of census information in 92 years will help future generations better understand the Canada of today, and will greatly benefit historical, academic and genealogical research.

The following question is for all persons who usually live here including those less than 15 years old. If you are answering on behalf of other people, please consult each person.

53

The Statistics Act guarantees the confidentiality of your census information. Only if you mark "YES" to this question will your personal information be made public, 92 years after the 2006 Census. If you mark "NO" or leave the answer blank, your personal information will never be made publicly available.
Does this person agree to make his/her 2006 Census information available for public release in 2098 (92 years after the census)?


Yes


No

Beginning with the 2006 Census, people in Canada will be asked to consent to public access to their census records 92 years after the census. For those who give explicit permission, Statistics Canada will transfer their information to Library and Archives Canada in 2098, which in turn will make it publicly available. For those who do not give permission, their personal information will not be transferred.

Statistics Canada is givingn everyone who completes the census the option of deciding if their census records should be released in 92 years. Informed consent about the use of one’s personal information is a matter of fundamental privacy protection. Everyone who provides census information should decide for themselves if they want their personal census records to be made publicly available in the future.

On Tuesday, May 16, 2006, become part of history and “count yourself in”!

Now for my comments on the issue, which of course is why all 2 or 3 of you read this blog, so I'll keep you waiting no longer.

I do understand why they are including this question on the questionaire, but what I don't get is why if nothing is checked, it's assumed that you DO NOT want your information released. Most people, in my opinion and in my observance, really don't give a $h*t one way or the other... If someone is REALLY against having their information relased, they're going to be sure to check the "no" box, whereas if they don't care, they might not check anything...

What this means is that a lot of people who don't have a strong opinion one way or the other are going to skip that question, or just honestly forget to answer it, and that will preclude their information from being shared when the census data is released. The main people that affects are our decendants who might be trying to research their family. For anyone who has tried to do this in any way, you know that this is already a fairly large and difficult undertaking in many ways, let alone if this information was kept from you because someone "forgot" to check a box in 2006!

In case you can't tell, this one really bugs me... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check "yes" on the census form to allow your information to be relased in 92 years. Honestly, how is it ever going to affect YOU personally? It's not. You'll be long gone by that time, but it will allow future family members to know a little bit more about you and who you were!

Tuesday Musings

Well, I just realized that it's been 3 weeks since I last posted. I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to keeping up with this blogging thing. I knew that would happen eventually, but I didn't think it would take less than a month to lose it's novelty for me. That's a pretty quick one this time around.

I've got about 2 weeks to go until my due date and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new baby (girl). We've still got no idea for sure what we're naming her yet. We've got two names in mind right now, but I'm not saying them to ANYONE because I know that I'll just change my mind as soon as I tell people what I'm thinking... It's happened several times so far already, so I think I'll just wait and see what she ends up looking like before we decide on the name for sure, and before we tell anyone!

I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions last night... That's "False Labour" for those of you who don't know about this kind of thing. About 11:00 last night I started feeling my abdomen tensing with mild contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart and weren't very painful, but I felt it enough that I definitely knew it was happening. I had about 4 of them at around 10 minutes apart each and then the 5th was only 5 minutes after the last one... That one kind of freaked me out because if it was going from 10 minutes to 5 minutes that fast I might not have a whole lot of time to get ready and get to Fredericton... But I decided to wait a few more minutes before I really freaked out and woke Jason up. The next contraction was over 15 minutes later and I was pretty sure then that it was only Braxton-Hicks contractions...

False Labour/ Braxton-Hicks often doesn't follow the natural progression of labour and can get closer together for a while, then further apart, while real labour won't go from 5 minutes to 15 minutes and then back again. The times only get closer together with real labour... So I waited a bit longer and it was over 30 minutes before the next one... so with that I went to bed, but I was woken up 3 or 4 times last night with more Braxton-Hicks. So this morning I'm pretty tired.

Since I haven't posted anything in a while I decided to throw in a few pictures. Here's one of Olivia on Easter Sunday in her new Easter Dress that her Nannie Darrah bought her. Isn't she adorable!

The second picture is of the Easter eggs we coloured the other day. I bought a dye kit and we made them. Note to self: A two year old isn't the best partner when using chemical dyes!!! *lol*

Finally, here is a picture of Olivia on Easter morning throwing a fit after being told that she couldn't eat any more chocolate until after she ate breakfast!