So how does one ease back in to blogging after being away from it for the better part of a year? Why by responding to a tagging that the wonderful Brianne gave me WAYYYYYYYYY back at the end of October. Yeah, I'm a little on the slow side. People that know me should not be surprised.
Anyway, here we go..
Ten Weird Things About Me
1. I still can not sleep with my arms/legs hanging over the edge of the bed at night for fear that something/someone will get me. Definitely irrational
2. When I address people, I like to sing their names.
3. I have an ongoing fictional story that I have developed in my head and whenever I'm doing something that requires me to wait (standing in a line somewhere, waiting for my car to get an oil change, etc) I add to it.
4. One day a couple months ago, at the age of 31, I suddenly decided to stop biting my nails. I've been biting them for as long as I can remember but since that day, I haven't slipped once.
5. I give names to everything and enjoy having conversations with inanimate objects.
6. I am the world's worst procrastinator and function best in what most people would call disorganized chaos.
7. The sight of earwhigs makes me feel physically ill.
8. I flutter my eyelashes ALOT.
9. When I was little, a wooden door fell over and hit me on the head. I still have a "soft spot" where it hit.
10. I want to have children more than anything but the thought of going through labour absolutely terrifies me.
Hmm..I guess I'm not as weird as I thought.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Heavens to Betsy..
Hi all..
Okay seriously, I have to find a way to make my life slow down. Somehow, I have ended up on this track that is definitely switched to "high speed" when I am definitely not a "high speed" type of person. Anyone who has ever met me knows that, without a doubt. But still it seems like my days are just whizzing by and I can't seem to locate the "off" switch. I woke up the other day and suddenly realized that we are almost half way through March and I still haven't managed to grasp the fact that it is 2006!! Where is this year going?!
It isn't even as if there has been anything overly exciting and wonderful happening with my life that has been helping the days to fly by. It has really just been a lot of the usual..wake up, go to work, come home from work, eat dinner/veg/do laundry/play around on the computer, sleep, wake up and do it all over again. I mean really...how boring is that?!
Okay, there has been a bit more to it than that but you get the drift. I'm really hoping that a lot of this can be attributed to the fact that January, February and March are truly my three least favourite months of the entire year. It is dark, it is cold and it is dark...obviously I don't deal with that very well and I will be the first to admit that I'm definitely a summer-gal. I guess that is what I get for being a June baby! But really, I'm hoping that now that the days are staying lighter for longer, things will start to slow down a little bit so that I can actually enjoy the summer. Enjoyment is something that has been decidedly lacking this winter for some reason.
Now that isn't to say that in spite of my winter-induced funk, there hasn't been lots of exciting things going on. For example, our friends Kate and Mark are this close to becoming first time parents and I couldn't possibly be more excited for them! This past Sunday was Kate's baby shower and it was a whole lot of fun for all involved (including her, I hope!) They got some really wonderful and completely useful gifts and seeing Kate all glowing and happily pregnant is almost enough to make me want one of my very own! Almost, I say..lol. Anyway, I know that the next little while is going to be a very exciting one for both of them as they welcome their little bundle of joy and am going to enjoy seeing it as I know they will both make amazing parents. I had wanted to get some pictures of Kate's baby shower but of course, I forgot the camera. So when I finally do hunt some down, I will see if I can finally find a way to get them up on here.
Other than that, I am very excited to report that after missing out on the first round of concerts, I have learned my lesson and actually got tickets to go see INXS on May 5th! I know..isn't that exciting!! Okay, I realize that I'm probably one of the only people to really be excited by this but I've been listening to this band (albeit not in their present incarnation) for a LONG time and I'm pretty stoked that I will finally get to see them. I'm going with our friends Matt and Sherri as Adam is going to potentially be in Italy on business that week. Yeah, I said Italy..don't get me started on why I'm not going to potentially be there with him..lol. INXS is my revenge!
Hmm..lets see..what else can I tell you? I'm going to be travelling to visit my sister/brother in law/nephew (I love saying that..lol) in a couple weeks to spend the weekend with them. And while it is only a weekend and I really wish that it was longer, I'm going to make the best of it! It has been far too long since I have seen Spencer and I can't wait to hold him again so my mom is just going to have to get over her baby-hogging tendencies while we are there!! I intend to do a little baby hogging of my very own..and really, I should try to get some pictures of Spencer up here too. Okay, that is 2nd on my to-do list!
Anyway, that is pretty much all for right now. So while the days get longer and summer gets closer, I'm going to make a concentrated effort to slow things down and to enjoy the rest of 2006 as it comes along. With any luck, the summer will be a great one and I'll have lots of good news to report here! Oh yeah, speaking of summer, I was out walking Jasper at lunch today and enjoying this amazing warm spurt of weather we suddenly seem to be having and as I breathed in deeply, I could swear that I could smell spring in the air. It immediately made me think of when my sister and I were young (we are 16 months apart and so basically did everything together) we would be outside after school at the VERY first sign that spring was coming. We would break out the skipping ropes and along with our friends would skip for hours and hours or until there wasn't enough light to see anymore and our moms were calling us to come home. It could have been -5C outside but as long as it still smelled like spring, we were out there.
Man, I really miss those days...maybe I should see if I can buy myself a skipping rope this weekend;) . Cheers!
Okay seriously, I have to find a way to make my life slow down. Somehow, I have ended up on this track that is definitely switched to "high speed" when I am definitely not a "high speed" type of person. Anyone who has ever met me knows that, without a doubt. But still it seems like my days are just whizzing by and I can't seem to locate the "off" switch. I woke up the other day and suddenly realized that we are almost half way through March and I still haven't managed to grasp the fact that it is 2006!! Where is this year going?!
It isn't even as if there has been anything overly exciting and wonderful happening with my life that has been helping the days to fly by. It has really just been a lot of the usual..wake up, go to work, come home from work, eat dinner/veg/do laundry/play around on the computer, sleep, wake up and do it all over again. I mean really...how boring is that?!
Okay, there has been a bit more to it than that but you get the drift. I'm really hoping that a lot of this can be attributed to the fact that January, February and March are truly my three least favourite months of the entire year. It is dark, it is cold and it is dark...obviously I don't deal with that very well and I will be the first to admit that I'm definitely a summer-gal. I guess that is what I get for being a June baby! But really, I'm hoping that now that the days are staying lighter for longer, things will start to slow down a little bit so that I can actually enjoy the summer. Enjoyment is something that has been decidedly lacking this winter for some reason.
Now that isn't to say that in spite of my winter-induced funk, there hasn't been lots of exciting things going on. For example, our friends Kate and Mark are this close to becoming first time parents and I couldn't possibly be more excited for them! This past Sunday was Kate's baby shower and it was a whole lot of fun for all involved (including her, I hope!) They got some really wonderful and completely useful gifts and seeing Kate all glowing and happily pregnant is almost enough to make me want one of my very own! Almost, I say..lol. Anyway, I know that the next little while is going to be a very exciting one for both of them as they welcome their little bundle of joy and am going to enjoy seeing it as I know they will both make amazing parents. I had wanted to get some pictures of Kate's baby shower but of course, I forgot the camera. So when I finally do hunt some down, I will see if I can finally find a way to get them up on here.
Other than that, I am very excited to report that after missing out on the first round of concerts, I have learned my lesson and actually got tickets to go see INXS on May 5th! I know..isn't that exciting!! Okay, I realize that I'm probably one of the only people to really be excited by this but I've been listening to this band (albeit not in their present incarnation) for a LONG time and I'm pretty stoked that I will finally get to see them. I'm going with our friends Matt and Sherri as Adam is going to potentially be in Italy on business that week. Yeah, I said Italy..don't get me started on why I'm not going to potentially be there with him..lol. INXS is my revenge!
Hmm..lets see..what else can I tell you? I'm going to be travelling to visit my sister/brother in law/nephew (I love saying that..lol) in a couple weeks to spend the weekend with them. And while it is only a weekend and I really wish that it was longer, I'm going to make the best of it! It has been far too long since I have seen Spencer and I can't wait to hold him again so my mom is just going to have to get over her baby-hogging tendencies while we are there!! I intend to do a little baby hogging of my very own..and really, I should try to get some pictures of Spencer up here too. Okay, that is 2nd on my to-do list!
Anyway, that is pretty much all for right now. So while the days get longer and summer gets closer, I'm going to make a concentrated effort to slow things down and to enjoy the rest of 2006 as it comes along. With any luck, the summer will be a great one and I'll have lots of good news to report here! Oh yeah, speaking of summer, I was out walking Jasper at lunch today and enjoying this amazing warm spurt of weather we suddenly seem to be having and as I breathed in deeply, I could swear that I could smell spring in the air. It immediately made me think of when my sister and I were young (we are 16 months apart and so basically did everything together) we would be outside after school at the VERY first sign that spring was coming. We would break out the skipping ropes and along with our friends would skip for hours and hours or until there wasn't enough light to see anymore and our moms were calling us to come home. It could have been -5C outside but as long as it still smelled like spring, we were out there.
Man, I really miss those days...maybe I should see if I can buy myself a skipping rope this weekend;) . Cheers!
Monday, February 13, 2006
Alright, alright..I'm back, already!
Hi all..yeah, I know it has been absolute aeons since I have blogged here but I thought that tonight was finally the time to get back into it. Also, there are those (and you know who you are!) who have been dropping some completely non-subtle hints that the time has in fact come and gone several times now!
Wow, has it really been 3 months or so since I last blogged? Yeah, I guess the last time I was here, I was eagerly awaiting the birth of my sister's baby. Well, I'm happy to annouce that she had a beautiful baby boy on November 27th and both mom, dad and baby are doing absolutely fine. They named him Spencer Jonathan, the Jonathan part being presumably as a memorial to my dad, John. I was actually caught a little off guard by the name since my sister had been pretty adamant that the baby wouldn't be named for anyone in particular. But Spencer is a very nice name and having spent time with the wee bundle of joy, it definitely suits him. He is just so beautiful, and although I know that I am biased, I really think he is such a sweetheart.
Adam and I got to spend a week with him, my sister, her husband, my mom and the two dogs at Christmas. And although it didn't pass without it's fair share of drama and a two day stay in the hospital for Adam (thanks to a bout of KFC-inflicted food poisoning), it was a wonderful week. There is nothing that tops the feeling of togetherness that comes from spending time with those you love at Christmas. And knowing that little Spencer would be part of that, and of many Christmases to come, made it even more special.
I have to admit that even now when I think of him, it overwhelms me a bit to think that this little boy is going to grow and be a part of our family for ever. When I looked at him for the first time in person, the thing that hit me with the most force was the fact that he has my dad's eyes. I always knew that the baby, be it a boy or a girl, would bring some part of my dad with him or her into this world. But to see my dad's eyes looking back at me after 7 years of not seeing them..well, it was a bit of an overwhelming moment for me. I just can't wait to see him as he grows and to watch his personality develop as he becomes his own little person. There is so much to look forward to with him and I don't want to miss even a moment of it.
So now that I have gone on and on about that...what else can I tell you? The first part of 2006 has just been rushing by and I can't quite seem to wrap my head around the fact that it is February already. Adam and I have both been busy with work although I am proud to say that I got a much-needed raise in that department. In contrast, Adam and I have been toying around with our vacation plans for this summer as I really want us to be able to get together with my friend Michele (you might remember her from my trip to Vegas last summer) and her husband and 2 girls. Things are still up in the air but I'm hoping that we will be able to arrange something as who knows when we are going to be able to get away on a vacation again in the near future! Plus, I think that Adam and Michele's husband would get along famously and if last year's vacation to Vegas is any indication, this vacation should be a blast!
But in the meantime, the next few days are going to ones that I know will not be easy. You might remember a post that I did last May about my aunt Barb that had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Well, as it turns out, the end came rather sooner than any of us had been prepared for and she passed away yesterday afternoon. I knew she was very sick and I knew that as the cancer spread from her brain to the rest of her body that she wasn't going to get better again. But still...it wasn't even one whole year from when she was diagnosed until the day she died. How does this happen?? How is it possible that a person can be so full of life one moment and then gone the next? Having been through this exact same eternal question and answer debate when my dad died almost 8 years ago now, I know that there really is no answer. But it still doesn't stop the pain that I feel when I think about all that this means to those that I love.
My uncle is devastated and exhausted, having put his whole being and everything he had into taking care of my aunt over the past 9 months. My mom is torn apart too..hurting from the loss of her little sister, so soon after they repaired what both of them had expected to be a permanent tear in their relationship. From where I'm sitting right now, none of it seems very fair but then again, no one ever said that "fair" was what life was about. But I know in my heart she isn't in pain any more and that there are so many people that love her that will take care of her where she is now..my uncle Ronnie, my grandma and my dad just to start. In a way, it makes me wonder who the lucky ones are, after all?
So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I'm going to think about all of the wonderful memories that I do have of my aunt. I'll think of the night two summers ago when I was visiting my mom and she convinced me to come to the celebration of my Uncle John's 60th birthday party that my aunt had planned. My other aunt and my cousin had come with us that night and as the night progressed, my cousin and I couldn't help but talk about just how alike the three siblings were as they talked, danced and laughed the night away. I remember saying to my cousin Carrie that night that there was no doubt about it, someday she and I would be exactly like the tree of them and at the time, I remember both of us rolling our eyes and laughing. But looking back now on everything that that night held, I can't help but think that we could only be so lucky.
My uncle had asked me to be a pallbearer at the funeral service on Wednesday morning and I have to admit that the request caught me by surprise. When I mentioned this to my mom, she told me that my uncle said that my aunt Barb always thought highly of me..oh, and I came to his birthday party and everything. To me, this means more to me than I can ever say.
Wow, has it really been 3 months or so since I last blogged? Yeah, I guess the last time I was here, I was eagerly awaiting the birth of my sister's baby. Well, I'm happy to annouce that she had a beautiful baby boy on November 27th and both mom, dad and baby are doing absolutely fine. They named him Spencer Jonathan, the Jonathan part being presumably as a memorial to my dad, John. I was actually caught a little off guard by the name since my sister had been pretty adamant that the baby wouldn't be named for anyone in particular. But Spencer is a very nice name and having spent time with the wee bundle of joy, it definitely suits him. He is just so beautiful, and although I know that I am biased, I really think he is such a sweetheart.
Adam and I got to spend a week with him, my sister, her husband, my mom and the two dogs at Christmas. And although it didn't pass without it's fair share of drama and a two day stay in the hospital for Adam (thanks to a bout of KFC-inflicted food poisoning), it was a wonderful week. There is nothing that tops the feeling of togetherness that comes from spending time with those you love at Christmas. And knowing that little Spencer would be part of that, and of many Christmases to come, made it even more special.
I have to admit that even now when I think of him, it overwhelms me a bit to think that this little boy is going to grow and be a part of our family for ever. When I looked at him for the first time in person, the thing that hit me with the most force was the fact that he has my dad's eyes. I always knew that the baby, be it a boy or a girl, would bring some part of my dad with him or her into this world. But to see my dad's eyes looking back at me after 7 years of not seeing them..well, it was a bit of an overwhelming moment for me. I just can't wait to see him as he grows and to watch his personality develop as he becomes his own little person. There is so much to look forward to with him and I don't want to miss even a moment of it.
So now that I have gone on and on about that...what else can I tell you? The first part of 2006 has just been rushing by and I can't quite seem to wrap my head around the fact that it is February already. Adam and I have both been busy with work although I am proud to say that I got a much-needed raise in that department. In contrast, Adam and I have been toying around with our vacation plans for this summer as I really want us to be able to get together with my friend Michele (you might remember her from my trip to Vegas last summer) and her husband and 2 girls. Things are still up in the air but I'm hoping that we will be able to arrange something as who knows when we are going to be able to get away on a vacation again in the near future! Plus, I think that Adam and Michele's husband would get along famously and if last year's vacation to Vegas is any indication, this vacation should be a blast!
But in the meantime, the next few days are going to ones that I know will not be easy. You might remember a post that I did last May about my aunt Barb that had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Well, as it turns out, the end came rather sooner than any of us had been prepared for and she passed away yesterday afternoon. I knew she was very sick and I knew that as the cancer spread from her brain to the rest of her body that she wasn't going to get better again. But still...it wasn't even one whole year from when she was diagnosed until the day she died. How does this happen?? How is it possible that a person can be so full of life one moment and then gone the next? Having been through this exact same eternal question and answer debate when my dad died almost 8 years ago now, I know that there really is no answer. But it still doesn't stop the pain that I feel when I think about all that this means to those that I love.
My uncle is devastated and exhausted, having put his whole being and everything he had into taking care of my aunt over the past 9 months. My mom is torn apart too..hurting from the loss of her little sister, so soon after they repaired what both of them had expected to be a permanent tear in their relationship. From where I'm sitting right now, none of it seems very fair but then again, no one ever said that "fair" was what life was about. But I know in my heart she isn't in pain any more and that there are so many people that love her that will take care of her where she is now..my uncle Ronnie, my grandma and my dad just to start. In a way, it makes me wonder who the lucky ones are, after all?
So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I'm going to think about all of the wonderful memories that I do have of my aunt. I'll think of the night two summers ago when I was visiting my mom and she convinced me to come to the celebration of my Uncle John's 60th birthday party that my aunt had planned. My other aunt and my cousin had come with us that night and as the night progressed, my cousin and I couldn't help but talk about just how alike the three siblings were as they talked, danced and laughed the night away. I remember saying to my cousin Carrie that night that there was no doubt about it, someday she and I would be exactly like the tree of them and at the time, I remember both of us rolling our eyes and laughing. But looking back now on everything that that night held, I can't help but think that we could only be so lucky.
My uncle had asked me to be a pallbearer at the funeral service on Wednesday morning and I have to admit that the request caught me by surprise. When I mentioned this to my mom, she told me that my uncle said that my aunt Barb always thought highly of me..oh, and I came to his birthday party and everything. To me, this means more to me than I can ever say.
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