New York Trip

I finally booked our hotel! The Pod Hotel Think of it as a little train cubicle....but how fun! Look at the rooftop lounge. Lorena and I are going to drink a bottle of wine each night and bask in the New York skyline. I can't wait!

Home

Really missing home this week.

Spring Break

So before Spring Break I had no plans.. Monday and Tuesday were great for running errands and doing some backyard tidying (er poo removal yuk)

Then Lorena announced she was in town and she stayed over from Wed-Friday afternoon.

Friday afternoon I sped over to a show home furniture/accessories sale in a former showhome. I bought two lamps and some greenery. Everything was gone pretty quick.

Our friend Fiona from Calgary was coming Friday night till today - she was coming up for an animal rehabilitation course (oil spill rescue)

So it's been busy!

Yesterday I got my hair cut and coloured, finally, after 1.5 of not getting it coloured professionally. Why did I wait so long? It looks awesome now. I even felt like people were looking at me when I went to Costco afterwards lol. It must be my stunning new colour. Either that or they thought - geez she got a new straight iron didn't she :)


Today we're putzing around...I baked muffins, do some of my quilt, and probably head out to buy a straight iron. Those things rock (at least at the salon!)

roller coaster of emotions lately over a possible job in Nova Scotia, super duper opportunity...but we've buried the thought now, and continue to set our eyes on BC... unless of course, a job in the hot coastal waters of the USA pop up.

We had snow yesterday. Lots of it. And more predicted for tonight. I'm so not impressed.

And to think I shoveled dog poo, and it could have been covered for a few more weeks.

Quilting stores

I've been to a few now and have learned that they all have their own sense of style and flavour, personality.

The one here in my community, is very country and traditional. I don't get the ooh and ahh feeling very much when I go there. I tend to go and look, and not get inspired. Lots of soft muted colours, and country flair.

Another one about 15 minutes away, is a mixed bag, really. A little more up my alley, but still a lot of folk and traditional styles...but they have branched out and have some more modern pieces in there.

Now one that I got super duper excited about was one called EarthlyGoods which is about 25 minute away. It was super. I got so inspired, it felt like i wanted to do every quilt there. Lots of bright colours, lots of fresh colours, odd mixes of colours like teal blue with lime green and pink which looks so amazing together and modern/contemporary looks. Art quilts, Japanese fabrics, a ton of batiks and of course my favourite retro looking lines Amy Butler ,Heather Bailey , Moda Fabrics

They even have a graduate program there for classes, is that not cool? Yeah, it's not a university, but you get "credit" for your courses and work up to getting a quilting degree. You must complete the basics like cutting, piecing, applique, triangles (blech), and then you work your way up into specialties like art quilting, fabric dying, embellishing, landscape desigin etc.

I was thinking about how the different stores really made me feel and how each inspired, or uninspired. The last one, really fit my personality and I'll be going back often.

How hokey is this post?

OMG.

I did the unthinkable.

I dove into my garbage just now. To rescue the cookies I threw out.

Really.


I made a recipe from the new Cookies book by Martha Stewart. LOVE the book. It's fantastic. But for some reason my Brown Butter Toffee Blondies didn't turn out. Everything was done to a 't'. I'm thinking it just wasn't baked long enough.

Anyways..they turned out way underdone. and the thought of having gooey underdone squares containing at least 2 cups of brown sugar and 1.5 cups of butter which haven't chemically reacted properly just made me ill. So I bagged up the entire 9x13 pan of it, minus a few bites from Trent and I, and chucked it in a big plastic bag and threw it in the garbage.

This evening. I had a craving. For one. last. bite.

I can't believe I fucking did that. I'm laughing histarically at myself right now.

Oh it was so righteously worth it.

They're back in the garbage again. without a bag, mixed in among the coffee grounds and banana peel so I won't dare touch it again.

OMG I cannot believe I admitted to this!

Phew!

Oh my gosh. It's done. Finally! Totally done. All I have to do is package it up and send it off to my friend. :)

So what took so long with this freaking project? Nothing, just shameless me wasting time. Got into a winter funk and was unmotivated. Then when I got motivated, I decided to try a "new" way to stitch the binding on by machine, and it looked like hell. So then I had to rip it all apart. Then...well, handstitching it really wasn't thrilling to me. But this weekend, I finally got the courage to tackle it, and believe it or not, I loved handstitching it. It was soothing, calming, and well, the outcome was way better than before.

I've been reading alot of quilting blogs about people who have UFO's and quilt forever but have all of these UnFinishedprOjects on the go. I just can't do that. I need to finish one completely before going on to the next. Now...I'm off to organize all my fabric and decide what ones to place for my bargello quilt pattern.

Toodles.

Oh yes...lots of new photos posted on my mac page....It just takes too long to upload them here..click on the top menu bar for the 3 different pages..Family photos

Ever have those days where you just feel like you're spewing orders all the time?

the following conversation (er...scoldings) just occured while on our trip to and from the library. Am I the only one?

Ethan, stay close, there's cars.
Cameron hold my hand. ow ow ow. hurting. owow well stop yanking your hand out of my hand. we're crossing the parking lot you need to hold my hand.
Ethan, walking feet. Slow down. Ethan, out of the mud, now you need to stomp your feet because it's stuck in your boots. Wipe your feet on the way in.
Cameron stay here. Cameron!! me doi it me do it okay you can put the books in the slot. me do it. ME DO IT
ethan cameron walking feet...walking!! (Ethan grabbing Cams jacket to slow him down) Shrieking.

Jibber jabber about the library..get books. sign them out.

Can you go wait at the red bench please. Cameron, this way. Cameron, away from the doors. No you can't have Dora yet, we need to give them to the lady. (shrieking)

Ethan, away from the doors, there's people trying to get through and they don't want to squash you.

hold my hand. Hold my hand. Off the slope. out of the mud guys! Cameron, walk forward (walking backwards) Ethan, slow down, we need to wait for Cameron. Cameron, hold my hand. want doraWANT DORA
you can have dora when we get home.
shrieking.
Hold my hand there's cars coming out. Ethan! Right beside me NOW! Pay attention, that car just about backed into you. It didn't see you!

Watch the door, it's a tight parking spot. Careful Careful!

(getting into the car now)
hurts. hurts.
lean back so it's not so tight then, Cameron.
want dora WANT DORA!
I put the bag in the front seat. You can have dora when we get home.

Close the door.

ahhhh. Silence. They're locked in, I can breathe a little. I take a deep breath before I open my door to get in. Take a moment to look at the clearing skies and try to calm myself and remember that this is just a little moment in the grand scheme of things. For some reason, I'm very agitated at this moment, but the deep breath helps. I'm on my way home again.

open the door. Step in.

mama picking nose! mama picking nose!
Mommmeeeeeeeeeeeah! Camerons' picking his nose and putting it in his mouth. Mommeeeeah, he just did it again.

The last hour was one of those Calgon take me away moments.[/i]

Ha!

All the times my husband laughs at me because I watch the Shopping Channel from time to time. (usually once a day to see the Today's Showstopper at 10pm for about 5 minutes) I've purchased a few things from there and really like some the things I've purchased. I like their 30 day money refund/satisfaction guarantee, and the shipping is not outrageous either.

Anyways...I filled out a survey online for them... and I won $100 gift card from them! It arrived today!!!! Yay me!!!

Can't do it

I'm back on the forum I thought I'd take a break from. I'm not going to take it so seriously now, and just read and post the fun stuff.

Weekend

What a great weekend...Trent and I spent most of the weekend dreaming and pondering our future, spent time with the boys.... When I mean dreaming and pondering our futures, we pick a possibility (today was open up a Cobb's Bakery in South Carolina) and then discuss all the pitfalls, and hopefuls as well with the idea. Weird I know. But that's how we got to where we are, so it can't be that weird. 11 years ago (omg almost 12 now!) we would lay in our bedroom of our basement suite rental and hash out how to get out of his mail room job and where we would be 10 years from then.


Trent made a divine roast on the bbq yesterday, with roasted potatoes/onion/carrots and a very fancy salad as well. Glass of wine and ice cream for dessert made for a great night. I love when he cooks, he's so good at it.

Bought Ethan&Cam a new toy yesterday, a playmobil dinosaur set. I'll probably pick up one more kit to go with it, they are just loving it so much. They set it up in and amongst the trains (or rather the trains amongst the dinosaur stuff). The next kit has a little safari type car with a trailer cage and a few more skeletons/dinosaur things for the dinosaur experts. I'm always amazed at the playability of some toys vs others.

We had an easy weekend, little to do, and Trent had little work on his mind, which is always good. I pointed out that he was less stressed this week. He pointed out that his boss has been away for the week. *lightbulb*

Winter Makes for Weird People here on the Prairies

Jane - the following is not at all about you. :)

Why can't I meet some normal, down to earth people that don't have tons of baggage, or bring their lifes problems to the table all the time? Am I the only one around here who is somewhat happy with my life, my kids, my marriage (aside from living in this crazy city)?
I'm totally in a rut of boredom and non-engagement lately (winter has taken its toll on me), but part of it stems from the fact that I'm so frustrated with not having NORMAL people to engage with. Most people I have met here are just so freakin weird!!!

I'm taking a break from one of the forums I frequent...people there are starting to appear nutso. Or maybe they always have been, and I'm just really noticing it now.

I'm better off dis-engaging. I'm just so sick of not knowing normal people!!!

Is it the petroleum refineries that are polluting the air around here, theerby destroying people's sense of reality????

I'm venting, but this is freaking weird!

Maybe I'm the crazy one. Probably.

Start Spreading the News!!!

I'm leaving May 14-20

I'm going to New York City!!!! A girl's week with my friend Lorena!

I need hotel b&b advice!

blah

Having a blah week since getting back from BC. Trying to get back into sewing, and can't seem to get my mojo back. Hopefully soon though! I've done a few scrapbooking pages in lieu to keep up with my crafting. Nothing special, but something nonetheless.

So blah though...I have no energy to do much. I'm fighting a cold though which I've been using ColdFX as people have recommended. Well, it seems to put it off for a few days, and then the cold symptoms start to reappear again...then I coldfx it again, and a few days later it comes back. So, I'm ditching the meds. I'm sick of fighting off a headache daily and the pressure in my head and the weakened body feeling. I'm going to let this cold take its natural course.

My guess is my blahs are due to returning back to reality here. Perhaps it's the cold as well and my body just isn't up to it's normal self.

it's not pms so I can't blame it. I'm going to try and force myself to get productive again today and hopefully I'll conquer this funk! There's just way to much of life that is passing by right now!

Winter

Well, it snowed about 10cm again last night, and it warmed up to about -10ish. The wind was blowing a bit, so I'd say it was colder than that, but it was nice enough to bundle up and go outside for awhile. The kids absolultely love it, and it's kind of like a massive dirt pit for them, as they dig, plow and play for a long time. Mandy loves it out there too, and can't get enough of play time when we all are outside. Even Shatzi came out for awhile, but gave me a bit of attitude when I covered him with snow. He then proceeded to go inside again. Party Pooper.

I rarely get good pics of Mandy, but finally snapped one that I love.

By the way...look at how Ethan's nose has healed! You can barely notice any redness anymore!
Cameron has a scratch/puffy eye from falling into a sit-up bench at my sisters, FIVE MINUTES BEFORE WE LEFT FOR HOME!! unreal.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

Two years ago, yesterday we moved to Sherwood Park from Coquitlam, BC.... I've experienced 3 winters now (hopefully my last?) and 2 incredible summers. Can't beat them here!

We are so grateful for the experience this has brought us. As much as we want to move back, we have absolutely no regrets. I think the Alberta landscape is incredible. If I could mix the two lifestyles together (Alberta space and terrain with BC forests and waters + BC friends/family) life would be perfect. No one can ever tell me that it's flat here...I love the rolling hills and am in love with the canola fields with the black thundercloud backdrop....And the big sky ...

As Dreary As Rain Can Be

As dreary, dark, damp and cold as it can be, it sure was beautiful too....one morning, the sun decided to peek out and shine through the treetops at my sister's townhouse. This is her living room and kitchen view. The pictures truly don't have that same quality as the smell, showcasing the mist and the sounds of the droplets and the stream next door rushing by...but it was something spectacular. I wish I could have captured the droplets on the branches better and the mist forming..









And this photo, I just HAD to take....Real Canadian Superstore's Garden Center is getting ready to open..look at the flowers! My heart skipped a beat when I saw these all ready to go! I so miss having a spring season...I miss the heather blooming, the crocus peaking out and the hydrangea about to bloom the beautiful blue balls of flowers. *sigh* I have to wait until at least mid May here to begin any garden. :(
When we went for a walk in the woods, even though it was soppy and mucky...it was so much fun! I loved the bark mulch squishing and the smell of the woods...the moss on the trees.. I missed feeling wet and soppy after being rained on. It was glorious!

*disclaimer. Yes I know it was just a visit and once I was living in that rain I'd be complaining about it all the time. But when you don't have it for 2 years, you really do appreciate Mother Nature's best and worst features.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy New Year to my friends! It's Chinese New Year, and the celebrations are underway!

I contributed to the festivities by buying some of my favourite asian things at my favourite supermarket T&T. I know we have one in Edmonton, but the one here in Coquitlam just seems better for some reason. I frequented it more I guess, because I lived so close! I bought some of the little pearl shaped cookies for the kids, the ones that are made with cornstarch and literally melt in your mouth. Also bought coconut cocktail buns (OMG DON"T EVER TELL ME THE NUTRITIONAL LABEL ON THEM!!) a bbq pork bun, some sushi, steam buns, Pearl Tea (strawberry flavour) wasabi peas.... can you say indigestion later? :)

I'm going back tonight to pick up these adorable chinese tea mugs with the tea strainer in them. they looked like handmade pottery, and were 2.99 each. I was in a bit of a hurry with the kids and Trent waiting in the car, so I couldn't really decide.

It's been a fun visit so far. A little stressful the first day or two while we "settled in", but now it's great. Passed by our old house, which the new owners have totally let it slide. I'm guessing they're renting. Been looking at neighbourhoods we want to buy in (yay!) even though it's not for awhile yet, but still nice to get a feel for it. Mandy is having a blast with my dad's yellow lab, Tina. Good god she's a huge barrel chested lab though! Mandy is a shrimp beside her! And of course my dad is in dog heaven. He walks those two so proudly each day.

My dad looks fantastic and is keeping busy with his new friends. I'm so relieved to see that :)

I've been having so much fun visiting with my friends, and getting a healthy dose of connections. It feels so good.

Tonight not sure what we're going to do. Tomorrow is visiting with my dad again, as well as sneaking in a brunch with Trent's grandma, even though Trent will be skiing....I'm sure she really wants to see her great grandchildren.
Saturday I'm going down to theMossom Creek Hatchery where I used to volunteer a few times a week for a few years way back in the late 80's early 90's. Some of my co=horts have recently been volunteering there again with their own children, so I thought it would be great to take my kids and show them around. I'm sure Ethan and Cameron will be amazed at the 100,00 coho and chum eggs and alevin right now!

I'll post later...just have a million thoughts swirling in my head right now.

I took the most amazing picture this morning of the sun's rays shining through the dripping wet evergreens...the mist, the rays, the dewy droplets. It looked like one of those religious pictures. I'll post them when I return to Alberta. I needed Jane's macro camera, gosh those would have been amazing pics then

THERESA!!!

Theresa, I'm in Port Moody...and of course, I don't have your phone number..I know the prefix, but that's it! And of course, I can't access or find your email, and this is the only place I thought you may read!! Email me at my telus email, and I'll call you back. I'm here though, and hope we're still on for Wednesday!

Everyone else... I'm in BC for the week, visiting friends and family. The smell of the trees here is incredible!! I so miss it! I never got to post about it because it was last minute, and on Friday before we left, we were delayed and interrupted by Ethan smashing his face into the corner of the coffee table... which resulted in the all day excursions to the medicentre and then children's hospital. Ethan received lots and lots of stitches from the plastic surgeon in and up (a long way up) his nostril. He's much better now, but is a bit swollen and turning a few colours that are now surfacing. Plus he's a little numb and looks like he's had botox to his upper lip region. I hope that's just swelling and not nerve damage!

Anyways...post again soon, most likely when I get back on Sunday!

My other gripe

I have another gripe about this unbelievable cold too. The cold air is seeping through the windows and gaps etc. You can feel the drafts, see the ice on the INSIDE of the windows. So, I want to close my blinds and curtains to keep the drafts out. But then I get almost a claustophobic feeling it's so dark inside!!! Thus, I have everthing wide open so it's nice and bright and I can see outside. But then it's cold. :( Wah. The furnace has not stopped.

OMG Winter is here

So fricken cold, the coldest I've experienced in the 2 years I've lived here. Yep, my two year anniversary comes next week!

It's currently -34 with a wind chill of -42. It's damn cold. And the wind has polished all the streets so it's a skating rink out there. Not fun!

School busses aren't running, therefore the schools are practically empty, but they are open of course. Schools are always open in horrible weather it seems. I opted to not take Ethan to school yesterday or today. Yesterday it was blowing snow sideways, with a windchill of -46. What really is he going to miss when most of the students are away anyways? Tomorrow we'll try to trek in, we'll see how it goes. We have insane cabin fever right now. Sunday was blizzard and temps dropped to frigid so we stayed in, as the snow drifts were insane. Yesterday was the same mess, and today, it's sunny and gorgeous outside. I want to go out so badly, the snow looks beautiful to play in. But alas, the warnings are that in less than 5 minutes, skin exposure will receive frostbite. It is so deceiving though, it looks like it's a warm and balmy day!

Poor dog too is a major wimp in this cold weather...she did her quick business even quicker, and her legs actually were buckling last night as she attempted to get back inside. Poor thing, I think she froze her legs!

So, we're stuck inside, we've painted, playdoughed, baked, read, played games, coloured, did "schoolwork", and I think I'm going to surrender the kids to the tv for awhile. Why I feel so guilty about that, I don't know.

Later.