The renaissance year?

Talk about a month of changes! If someone were to tell me that the first month of 2008 was going to be as crazy as it has been I would been in disbelief. First and foremost, I'm a proud auntie. And I'm so thankful that our nephew is healthy and growing, and that my sister and her hubby are finally able to celebrate what they made (lol!). I can't wait to go and shake his little hand :).

On another note, things with work have been an absolute roller coaster this month. There were times I felt as though someone was purposely holding my head in the deep end to see if I would still come up for air at the end. Not happy times there, and I haven't been as stressed and angry as I was...well, ever I think. To make a long (LONG) story short, I'm no longer going to be involved with one of my big clients (that just happen to be family, go figure), and it's taken a couple of weeks to come to terms with it, and take that big box of rage and pack it up and move it to a dusty corner shelf in my head. Even though it wasn't my choice (although there were many times I wanted to jump ship and tell them where to go), I think it's one of the best things that could have happened, work-wise. I'm going to have a lot less stress, and a lot less grief -- which is a nice prospect (albeit without the cheque at the end of the day!).

I think of that saying 'when one door closes, another one opens' and I think that the person who said it was one smart cookie. Just when the dust was settling from all that, I've had one of my best clients come to me to do more work, possibly on a much more consistent basis. The great thing is that these are people who listen to me and respect what I have to say, which is a breath of fresh air...and makes me wonder why I put up with so much of the opposite in the past.

So that's where the renaissance part comes in, kind of a rebirth, a new motivation. Sure I still have some bitterness to work through, but that's where some space and time helps. But, I think it was a good kick in the bum to get some priorities sorted out and create a better balance.

On another note, (a more fun one) we have rearranged our big trip to Europe from this May to October now. There's a cruise in October that has a better itinerary than the one in May, plus there's some $avings. :) The new ports are in Spain, France, Italy, Croatia...and Tunisia (AFRICA!). lol! I never thought I would ever be able to say that I've been to Africa, but now I will be über-worldly. It's a nice thing to look forward to.

Phew, well that was all deep and enlightening of me. Self-therapy by blogging is the cheapest you know. :)

Bring on February!

Lucas, au naturel

Here he is in all of his buff and pink little glory! :)

Trevor-ism:

"Tofu: Kung-fu of the foot."

Hawaii Chair Infomercial

Practical, and great on my abs!!! LOL

Cake on the brain?

Well I came across these other lovelyyyy cakes:Ahhh Katamari...the options are endless!
Although, I don't think I would be quite so nerdy to have this at my wedding...(but kind of cute!).
And here's Trevor's solution for impromptu cake-eating opportunities. (Or as he puts it 'bicalicious!')

Best cake EVER!!!!

Ahhhh Katamari! Just in time for someone's birthday is coming up next month! ;)

Favorite parts of the weekend

Things that were done and questions that were asked this weekend: (This may be a little abstract.)

1. If you had a movie that was about you and your significant other, who would play each of you?

For me:
For Trevor:

*laughing hysterically*

2. (While sitting in a food court) What two places could you work at?

Me: Quizno's (um, hello? Just an assembly line!) and the pizza place (ooo, you get to toss salads and make pizza).

Trevor: The Japanese place (he would yell 'ayyyyyyyyaaaaahhh!' while preparing things with the metal tongs -- I said that wouldn't last longer than the first 10 minutes) and the Skyway sandwich place.

3. What two places could you NOT work at?

Me: KFC (BLEGH) and the A&W (to which Trevor replied, 'but look at the guys at the A&W...they're just chillin'!) LOL.

Trevor: KFC and Taco Time.

4. (Now here's where it starts to get waaaaaayyy off track.) If you could fart any smell, what would it be?

Me: (Initially) Hot chocolate. (After thinking about it) Fresh baked bread. (Trevor says: 'That would turn me off bread.')
Trevor: (Initially) Vanilla. (me: 'That would be sickening after a while.') (After thinking about it) Campfire smell.

5. If you had to pick a shape from the Play-doh squeeze toy to poop like, what shape would it be?
Me: The tube shape. (awesome)

Trevor: (initially) The spaghetti. (Me: 'Gross, it would curl up and touch your bum!!!') (After thinking about it) The square/rectangular shape. (Trevor: 'Efficient')

And that's just the sort of weekend it was. Feel free to post your answers in the comments!!

Friday Funnies

Wii tennis elbow

I think I have it.

That is all.

Sweet little man

Well here he is!!!I was so ecstatic to get this emailed to me! *beaming*
He's having 'kangaroo care' with Daddy, which is skin to skin contact. (I'm learning all these new terms too!) Look at all the hair he has...I'm predicting the first hair cut will come sooner than they think :).

Made it!

Well, Thursday take two! I finally made it to the step class that was going to take last week. It went about an hour long and *hurrah!* no 6-pack nazi instructor. I hate to be smug, but I really like it when there's people in the class worse than me! It was a nice change from the usual week routine and the class wasn't huge. I thought there would have been a lot more 'resolutions' keeners getting in on the class, maybe it's because it's at 9:15am and they don't turn out that early. :)

We also got Trevor's wheel back yesterday, all repaired! No more sinking our savings into a $550 wheel from Chrysler! The repaired wheel looks so good you wouldn't be able to tell where it happened (but I can, I have an eagle-eye *caw caw*). But it looks great and makes the other three wheels look like crap because they're all dirty and the repaired one is all *bling bling*. lol

Other than all that excitement, I've been trying to finish the pantry organization (slowed down a bit, I have to plan things out a bit more for optimum efficiency, lol!) and we went to Ikea on Tuesday night and bought a bunch of storage boxes (in green *lovely*, warm grey and white). I also bought two of these:They are glass and stainless steel (and wood somewhere), and can be wall mounted or have legs added to become a sideboard. So one's going next to my desk (where there's a heater, and mounted to the wall with the extra support from 2 legs) and the other is going under the 'fake-out' electrical panel (thanks to a 'Sarah's House' idea of mounting a frame with a hinge over top with a magnet closure, voila! no ugly panel!). Both are nice and compact and offer oodles of storage, which is what I need in here.

And I'm still basking in proud auntie mode. I went out and bought a little teddy bear for the little man that I had my eye on last night. *sigh!* Can't wait to meet him! But I've had word from the new mom that he gained 5 grams in weight yesterday, so it's just a matter of being patient and waiting for him to beef up and get strong.

This just in...

I dropped a watermelon on the floor in the kitchen. It rolled out of the fridge...hit the floor and was strangely satisfying. It cracked right in half.

It would have been even better if I didn't have to clean it up.

It might be really bad that I find this so funny...

Sweetest thing ever!

As a proud auntie, I just have to post these photos to gush over...
*Sigh* Little fingers! I've already noticed that they look like my sister's hands! :)
*Awwwwww!* Wee little teenie foot!

Nothing like a little ray of photo sunshine to erase a crappy day!
*heart heart heart*

Basement update:

We put shelving in the new pantry yesterday! Hurrah!!! I am loading all the goodies into it as it speak!

Photos coming soon!

There's someone new in the world!

I found out this morning that we are now, officially, an Auntie and Uncle!

Little baby Lucas Jonathan was born yesterday evening, a couple of months earlier than expected, but we think it's because he has things to do and just couldn't wait to see everyone! The new mom and dad are doing well, mom is tired and dad is 'protective'. (LOL! That's right from the words of the new mom.)

After spending 41 days in the hospital I think they both have a lot to be proud of, and now they have a lot to prepare for (nothing they can't handle!).

Lucas weighed in at 2lbs. 10oz. and has a head of dark brown hair (like dad!) and big feet (Trevor says,'you know what they say about big feet...'). New mom also told me that he cried his little head off when he was born...awwwww! He's little now, but you know that good things come in small packages!

And that's the sort of day it was yesterday...

Well, I didn't make it to class yesterday! (I think I had a good excuse though...) I had to go and rescue Trevor from a run in with this (keep in mind it was dark!):
I picked up the phone around 7:20am yesterday (insert Trevor's comment of 'after I called 16 times!' -- insert my comment of 'I couldn't hear the phone when I was in the bedroom!') and Trevor said that I needed to collect a few things from the garage because he not only had one, but TWO FLAT TIRES from hitting that pothole.

So I zipped up my on-call rescue gear (insert Trevor 'you're the worst on-call rescue, you took 45 minutes to get here' -- insert my 'I didn't hear the phone!' again) and gathered up the supplies from the garage. Good thing was that he hadn't made it to the freeway yet, so he was still close to home and (bonus) right behind a Shell station that also (bigger bonus) was beside a Starbucks! (Not that either was used, but still!)

Into the rescue auto I went, blasting down (okay, dramatic effect) the street and taking the same route that Trevor took that morning. As I was coming up to the gas station area, the car dipped on one side and BANG! I heard my tire take a beating. While sucking wind at that point, I knew that was the pothole Trevor had hit AS WELL.

I pulled into the back of the gas station and found Trevor's car parked and pulled up behind him. He got out of the car and I said, 'I think I know the pothole you hit, because I hit it too'. (Insert swearing here.) I first looked at his car and he had two completely flat-as-a-pancake tires. And I looked over at mine. One tire with a big goiter bump on the side of it. All write-offs. Luckily I didn't do as much damage as Trevor, but while we (okay, I held the umbrella, Trevor did all of the work) jacked up his car and put a spare on one of the wheels we watched to see if my tire was going to flatten as well. The on-call rescuer is good at taking pictures.
And it didn't which was really good, because this is what we had to do next:

Take the tire from Trevor's car and go to Costco (where the tires were from) to get replacements. This would have to be done one at a time. Costco didn't open until 10am, so we had to leave the car, go home, and wait until it opened. An hour and a half later we booted it down to Costco, waited outside freezing our bums off and were let in to the tire center there. All for them to say that his tires weren't in stock, but the Surrey location had two in.
The damaged rim and the flat-as-a-pancake tire. A Michelin to boot *sniff* (apparently a really nice tire). It was hit so hard the impact actually made it SPLIT.
So we had to go back to the car (because we're not making two trips to Surrey -- the original plan was to get one tire done and then drive Trevor's car back to the Costco for the other tire to be put on) and jacked up the front of the car (with the spare on the rear wheel) and took that tire off to take with us. Off to Surrey we went in my car, got to Surrey and found out that they could only put one tire on the rim because the other rim was damaged (think big dent). While we were there, we checked to see if my car could have new tires on to replace the damaged one (you can't just get one, unsafe! unsafe! lol) and we find out that my car is a 'special' case and there's no demand for that type of tire there, so it's not in stock. (1856014D's if you must know.)

And now we were on a mission to get a replacement rim, AND find my tires. We called the Chrysler dealership and they had one rim they could order in from Winnipeg, but we had to come in. Then we called another tire place and found that they had some BF Goodrich's that would fit my car. Okay, done and done. So back into the car (with the new tire - not mounted, the new mounted tire, and the bent rim). Off to the Chrysler dealership we go. Stand in line, find out that the new rim costs $540, order it anyways and head off to the other tire place for my tires. Get to the other tire place, get new tires on my car (almost $300 later), ask them about a place they recommend for rim repairs, and off we go to Surrey again. Get to the rim repair place, find out they're not sure if it can be repaired, but they'll give it a shot, dump the rim there and cancel the $540 rim at the Chrysler dealership. PHEW.

Now it's 2:30pm and we haven't even had time to eat lunch, Trevor has had a day off work and we're both cranky and can't believe how long it took to sort out a bunch of tires.

Bring it! (It's already been brought-en!)

Well, tomorrow I'm going to try out a new class at the rec centre. It's a step class, which isn't anything new for me. I've been taking these types of classes on and off since grade 12 (scrunchy socks have been burned though!). I thought about taking a pilates class but figured that I have dvds with that on it, but no room in the house for a step thingie, so the decision was made.

I really hope it's not the crazy 6-packed nazi instructor that teaches classes at the rec centre that's closer to the house. I'm purposely going farther away to avoid her. *shudder* Fingers crossed she doesn't have a monopoly on the rest of the city.

(I will say that I have had many good step instructors, particularly one in New West who, I think, was gay and had the greatest sing-songy voice when he taught a class. Right Cynthia? LOL! Sev-en!)

...and step 1-2-3-4...

Update: Vic's a playahhhh

LOL! The ladybug empire is growing by the day. Last night, Trevor came home with SIX ladies instead of five. They all moved in comfortably (meaning, they all ran for the grape buffet). I've had word today that another FIVE roomies are on their way to the new compound tonight. *Phew* Vic is going to be one busy man!

Day 3: Epcot and all things worldly.

Both of us have never been to Epcot before, but we had heard that it was a large park with an international area showcasing different countries. We woke up early (of course...the 6am running and yelling starts around then), had a small breakfast at the cafeteria area at the hotel (the faster you're in and out of there the better) and hopped on our bus to Epcot.
Why look, it's the big Epcot ball. This is what you see when you enter.

We also heard through brochures and other people that it takes about two days to see Epcot properly...they obviously have never travelled with us! We were going to do everything in Epcot in one day.

We grabbed a Fast Pass for 'Soarin' over California' and walked through the Epcot exhibits (think of it like a big science center, although most science centers that I've been too are a bit better) then walked to a refreshment pavilion to hunt down the Cokes of the world machine we had seen pictures of. You'll know when you get to the right place because your shoes will tell you. You won't be able to take a step without sticking to the floor from all the spilled drinks. Not that it was dirty, but the cleaning there must be an all-day thing. The Coke sampling is free (well, not really, you paid to get into the park). You take a little cup and just try the different drinks that are popular in other countries.There were a few that were good, I liked the 'Kinley' from Israel, it was nice and lemon-limey (stronger than Sprite). There was an energy drink from Japan that a lot of people were scared of trying--it wasn't horrible like 'Beverly' from Italy. It's supposed to be a palate-cleanser (or digestion aid) that you have with dinner. Let me describe it like this: you know when you throw up you get that nasty acid taste in your throat? Well add a little fizz and that's Beverly. NASTY.

The International Pavilion is over two miles long to walk through and has countries like China, Japan, Morocco, Italy, Germany, Norway, England, Canada and... USA? I didn't quite understand why the USA was there (wait, I do, there would have been an uproar if it wasn't included), I mean, aren't we already in the USA? Each country's 'area' had a recreation of famous landmarks and architecture along with goods and foods that each country is known for. For example, Canada had totem poles, waterfalls, a hotel, a trading outpost (from what I can remember) and this in their store:I've never even seen these before. But they had other things like Smarties (I know...odd), maple syrup, smoked salmon, beaver hoodies, beaver soap, moose t-shirts, bear baseball caps (you see where I'm going with this). There was no restaurant in the Canada area, I suppose poutine trucks haven't caught on yet...

We had lunch in the French pavilion. Oooo was it good. And the waiters were snooty to boot (made you feel quite uncivilized in your shorts and t-shirts). But the food...oh the food was good. Trevor had a french onion soup that was BEST I've ever had, and I had a really good quiche as well.Way better than park hot dogs, for sure!

After lunch we wandered to Italy, China, Japan and the rest of the pavilions.St. Mark's Square, Florida.
China, Florida.

We then hit up Mission: Space to see what all the fuss was about.It's a fairly new ride there, and you have the choice of being on the green (less intense) or red (mega intense) team for the ride. I chose green and Trevor went red. I've heard a lot of good and bad things about the ride (the bad: people sick for the day and even longer from the motion, and even a few people have died -- the good: it's supposed to be fun). It's not for anyone who is in ANY way uncomfortable in small, confined spaces. They lock you in this little pod with 3 other people and shake you around for a bit like you're part of the first mission to Mars. It was so-so for me, not something I'd have to repeat.

One I would repeat would be the Test Track. FUN!! You get put into a car and driven through a simulated test track that curves and bumps and then speeds up to end your test. It was a blast and we would have gone again had the line-up not been another 40 minute wait.
In the evening we had dinner in the China pavilion and ended the day with our fortunes from our fortune cookies (which were nasty for some reason...they tried to make the cookies two colours and managed to ruin the taste by doing it).

Next up: Day 4: The Magic Kingdom Day

A new side project...

This started at the end of December with a new addition to the family...

His name is Vic!

When we were visiting my sister at the hospital, there was a ladybug in her room that we caught in a cup and were going to release outside. Well when we got outside I knew it was far too cold to let the then nameless Vic free. So one ferry ride and a long car ride later, he's home with us in a semi-terrarium (glass cake dome!). I did some research on ladybugs and found out that they can live for around a year, but in the winter, if you catch them and keep them, they need to be in an area that has water and some sort of food. So there's a wet paper towel square and a cut up grape in the 'terrarium'. They need to have a moist environment and some low-acid food source so that they can keep their fat reserves up until the spring. Ladybugs are smart, too...we've watched Vic come for a drink and to eat some of the grape!

He was named for the hospital he came from (Victoria General), and we think he's a boy (he's small). But in the off chance it's a girl, well it can be Victoria or Victor, LOL. Got all the bases covered!

There's news this morning that Vic will be getting FIVE new roomies this evening. Trevor's got loads in his office that he's caught (yup, that's why I married him...you have to keep a guy who will take time out of his work day to catch bugs!). He says they're bigger than Vic, so that might mean there's a bunch of girls coming to town. LOL. We've already got names picked out: Chilli, Wacky, Chill, Wack and Illiwack. I'll give you one guess which city they're coming from....LOL!!!

Tupper-worn-out!

*The photo above represents my Tupperware purchase! (Okay, maybe only a fraction of that...)

This past weekend I went to my first ever Tupperware party. For me, the domestically challenged, I realized even more how much I am in need of organizing things around the house (and if it means organizing things in containers that make a *pthhht!* noise, well then so be it). My pantry is out of control. ( I think it may be genetic though, LOL.) The party came at a good time as the pantry area in the basement is ready for shelves to be put up (this week's project). I'll take some picture once that's all done (and yes, eventually there will be pictures of the rest of the basement!).

Other than that, we spent the weekend taking down all the Christmas decorations and finding a new storage solution for our tree. The cardboard box it came in was not cutting it anymore. So we hit up the Canadian Tire and got some flexible laundry baskets (BIG), and have the tree bits in it now. It's not perfect, but at least it's a bit more compact and the ratty cardboard box is gone. We also did a big cardboard run into Langley yesterday (2nd this year!) and ditched more office moving boxes. Things are starting to look a little more civil in here now.

The worst part of clearing things away is that I now see things that I can't stand, such as the entryway linoleum. Yuck, it's days are done. But that's just another project for when the giant list of projects is a little smaller. *Sigh* Let's just call the whole house a work in progress.

Day 2: The Animal Kingdom and Sparkly Lights

After a crappy sleep in our separate beds (even with a 3 hour time difference, trying to fall asleep around 11pm is impossible) we woke up with the goal of hitting two parks in one day. The first was the Animal Kingdom, which has safari tours (never did that) and a water-tubing ride (soaks you to the bone) and a freaky deaky rollercoaster that takes you up a trek to 'Everest' (then sends you back down the track BACKWARDS).This was the snackwagon just before the Everest ride. Better hit it up before you go on it, because you won't be doing it afterwards.

We're usually not into things like zoos and wildlife parks, mainly because we feel sorry for the animals. So many of these places are in it just to make a buck, and really, the animals come second. With the Disney park, they go out of their way to inform people in the park that the comfort of the animals are priority. They try to make the enclosures as close to their natural habitat as possible, and unlike other parks, provide enough shade and cover for the animals so that if they want to go and slink off for a rest and not come out they can do that. Other wildlife parks down there (Busch Gardens is one) takes away most of the brush and shade so that the animals are forced out on display, so that people don't complain that they didn't 'see' any tigers or whatnot. Disney puts it out there saying that you might not see anything, and that's just the nature of the animals. Another good thing is that Disney keeps the rides far away from the safari area (which, if I were an animal, would drive me bonkers to hear the screaming all day).

On the other hand, you're at the mercy of the wildlife. Literally. We went to have lunch under a shady tree next to a lake area and we thought, 'why this is a perfect little spot with dapples of sunlight, perfect!'. Well perfect until the mass of birds on the trees above you (which we didn't see) decide to POOP right on your lunch. We barely had the tray on the table when a BIG nasty poop splattered all over my lunch (and just MY lunch of course, Trevor's was untouched). My lunch, sans bird poop that came 4 seconds later.

I ended up having my lunch replaced (yay), but we spent the rest of the lunch warning people about their lunches being pooped on. And some people didn't listen to the crazy woman (me) warning them, and sat down anyways. And their lunch was pooped on too (well, more specifically, right in this one woman's drink). I will say one thing, Disney portion sizes are CRAZY. I barely made it through half...and the dining plan we were on gives you dessert with lunch. Phew...you would have to be an eating machine to get through it all.This is the 'Tree of Life'. Think of it as the castle in the Magic Kingdom...but more woody and leafy.

Next, we hit the Disney MGM park, which was fun. I was most looking forward to the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights show that happened in the evening. I think I spent most of the afternoon willing the sun to set early! We went on a few rides and saw a really fun stunt show with cars (from the Disney park in France). But finally, the sun started to set, and the lights came on. I think this was the only time I felt really Christmassy down there. They even pumped out fake snow from the rooftops (strange chemical I think, lol!).Everything was covered in lights...ahhhhhh.
The lights would 'dance', but I preferred them just staying on, much nicer!

We went for dinner after that at a fake drive-in movie theatre at the park. We got to sit in little cars and eat our dinner in the seats while watching old cartoons on a big screen. And then we went back to our 'value' hotel and attempted to sleep for our next day...Epcot!

Next up: Day 3: Epcot and all things worldly.

An outlook on 2008...

For some reason, this year feels like it will be different. I mean, really different. Other years have been and gone and I've never quite felt like I do this year. So what's in store? Beats me, just a gut feel! I don't have any giant resolutions and I much prefer to set goals during the year rather than on January 1st.

This year will be different for a few reasons, right off the bat:

- I'm finally working in my new office, with NEW furniture and it's almost set up! This is a big one for me, because this will be my first year working alone in the home office. It almost feels just right (organizing the space will make it feel even more just right, lol!).

- I'm thinking about looking at taking a class at the rec center. That one popped into my mind last night before I fell asleep and I'm still pretty keen on it today. Maybe a pilates class? Maybe something else? We'll see! Something to add a bit of routine to the week without it being work (nice!).

- It's my last year of being in my 20's. Scary how time flies there...better make this one count!

- And I'm going to be an auntie. Love that! (Although I don't necessarily think it makes me more grown-up yet...) :)


So just a few bits and pieces to start with, but not bad! I still have to post all our fun photos from our vacation last month (yes, Day 1 only gets a little old after a while, burned out quick on that one!). Now if I can remember to write '2008' on my cheques I'll be even more happy!