Harrison 2009

 

Recap of our weekend away. Good times.

Ciao all.

Hello from Harrison

Hi y'all! We are in Harrison - I totally love mobile Internet!

We stole away for a long weekend, and it was much needed. All we have done for the past three days is play on the beach and read and sleep. Nice. Last night we went to this restaurant in town - Jack's. Fantastic!! I had the most delicious chicken Neptune with a HUGE baked yam. I mean HUGE. It was larger than my plate. Awesome. Marc had ribs and the kids had fish and chips. But I must say, the kids meals were the deal of the week! $6 for the kids which included a fancy drink (Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers), their meal, and an ice cream sundae with all the fixins! Love it when you find those little gems. If you are coming out to Harrison, stop in at Jack's and have a great meal! You won't be disappointed.

Not much else. We have a crazy busy week ahead of us. Next Saturday we have TWO weddings to attend. TWO. Insane. I am taking Friday off to get ready - I have a salon appointment all lined up. There is a drastic colour change in my future. Goodbye to my dark hair - forever. The grey has taken over. Time to go blond so the grey is not so obvious anymore. This will be interesting.

Have a good week all.

Ciao

It has GOT to STOP

Okay, this butterfly net thing is getting out of hand. Bella asked today if we could make more butterflies. Sure. Why not. So add another half a dozen and we are good. But then my little mind starts to wander and I think, "hey, it would be really cool to put flowers on the net also... you know, to attract the butterflies that are already flying around the net... ya, that would be cute...". What is wrong with me!! So I ended up making a dozen or so flowers and gluing the buttons on, and then giving them some "tails" because I thought they looked sweeter this way... It has got to STOP. Let it be Carmen. Let it be...

Ciao all.

Thrillseeker...

HELLEVATOR (courtesy of www.pne.ca)
"The hair raising ride of the Hellevator is a must for thrillseekers looking to experience 4.5 G's of total fun! Riders are secured in seats, surrounding a 202 foot vertical tower, where the seat cart shoots upward at 75 km/h and then free falls back toward the ground, providing an added -1 G on the way down..."

And my kid rode this thing today... WHERE does he get his nerve from?? NOT ME. That's for sure!! I just about vomited reading the write up. No thank you.

Hellevator... Does the name NOT say it all?? Crazy kid.

Ciao all.

I finally understand...

You know that saying, "It takes a village to raise a child" - well, I agree! And before I had children, I thought that was the dumbest saying I had ever heard. Who needs a "village" to raise a child?? Can't you do that on your own?? Isn't it your responsibility to take care of your own child?? How many people to you need exactly?? WRONG. Here is how I came to my great revelation today:

1. My summer sitter is away with her family on vacation. She told me last week that she would be away. I arrange for the kids to stay with my mom. All is well.

2. The phone rings at 6:45 am and it is my dad telling me that my mom is really sick. The kids can't stay with her. Hmmm.

3. I call my sister and ask if the kids can stay with her, but she has to head to school to do pre-planning and her kids are staying with her mother in law. Okay.

4. Back up time. My neighbour is away on holidays. Hmmm... Getting a little scared here...

5. My friend who lives a few blocks away is away on holidays... Now what?

6. My aunt and uncle live too far in White Rock to bring the kids to them for the day. I would be very late for work...

7. Oh - my super school sitter L!! Give her a call. Yes! Thank goodness that L could take the kids today!!

8. And tomorrow my sweet mother in law will have them.

Gee. It really DOES take a village - and I thought my village was a good size. It seems that I am going to have to expand my village to include a few more "neighbours" to help fill in for when life throws those great curves.

We are off to Taekwondo. Ciao all.

Move Over Martha...

 

I have a new decorator in the house!! Miss Bella has decided that she is an interior decorator, and for her first "job", I think she did wonderful!

About a week ago Bella came to me and said that she would like a "butterfly net" in her room. Huh? I asked her to explain and she said, "You know, those nets that hang around the bed". Oh ya, I know those. Okay, I said to her, that would not be a problem. But how is that a butterfly net? Bella says, "Well, you put up the net and I am going to decorate butterflies and put them on the net. So then I have a butterfly net". Gotcha. So yesterday we went off to Ikea and bought the net and Marc hung it above her bed. Then I printed off butterfly templates and let her loose. She coloured and cut and asked me to "make the butterflies pretty". How could I say no?? I didn't. We added buttons and flowers, and voila! Bella's butterfly net. She loves it. She turned to me when we were done and said, "Now I have the most perfect room". Too sweet.

Better watch out world. I think I have the next decorating sensation in my house!!

Ciao all.

You are always on my mind...

 

How can a person be obsessed by shoes like I am?? Honestly?? I have shoes on the brain 24/7. In this selection are Baby Phat; Bandolino; Arturo Chiang; and Alfani. Love them all.

Ciao.

Best laid plans...

I am really trying to be calm about this... I walked through the door yesterday and was greeted by Ethan saying to me, "Mom, there is something weird downstairs...". Huh? I follow him downstairs to find this - water leaking through my foundation in my basement. Nice. Sigh. 4pm on Monday... It took me a few hours to get hold of our builder. I had to find my New Home Warranty papers. But the builder called me back and promised someone would come today to take a look. In his words, "That does not sound right". Really. You think?? So now I wait for someone to come and tell me why water is coming into my basement. As I said above, I am trying to stay calm about this all. Marc and I were just discussing our plans to begin finishing the basement on the weekend. Good thing it is not finished. Could you imagine - a leak behind the walls that would be undetectable until it was too late. Nightmare. So I am glad, in a way, that this has happened now where the walls are exposed and the leak is visible and traceable. I pray this will get solved quickly and before the rainy season really begins!!

Ciao all.

Idea gone astray...

 

A few weeks ago I posted an idea I had for a layout for Ethan. Well, here it is. But it did not work out like it should have in my mind. I don't know what to do with it now... I think I will leave it be and see if anything else comes to mind to "fix" it. It really disappoints me when my ideas don't work out. I generally have a policy that I NEVER re-do a layout. They are what they are. And as a result of this policy, I have a wonderful collection of layouts that I have done for the children over these last 10 years (yes, 10 years!!!) that really showcase the "fads" of the days, and how my style has evolved. But this layout is bugging me. We will see...

In other news... On BC day we went to the beach. Had a great day. But I burned my back. I mean REALLY burned my back. It has taken a week for me to be able to put my bra on without screaming. No joke. And now my back is peeling. Disgusting. I have not had a burn like this since I was a teen. Really dumb of me. Marc warned me two or three times that my back was "red" and I should put my shirt on. But noooo. I did not listen to him. I did not feel anything = nothing was happening. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And now it hurts all over again... Sigh.

Have a good week all. I have much planned for this week - but nothing "fun". We have two weddings to attend on the September long weekend, so I need a new outfit. Now, this would be "fun" if I wasn't feeling the pressure of the wedding. But now since I "have" to buy something, I am completely stressed about it. And this week I really have to find something to wear. I have the worst time with dresses. They don't work for me. My top is big and my bottom is small and I don't have a waist (not kidding) and I am tallish... Just all sorts of wrong. Suits are better for me as I can buy a bigger jacket and a smaller skirt. But I want a "summer suit" and they are hard to come by. And now all the fall clothes are in the stores! And it is still hot out... Ahhh. Stress. I don't even have an idea in my head of what I am looking for really, other than a suit. Do I want it patterned? Solid? Pencil skirt or flared? Cropped jacket or longer? No idea. And the kicker - the stores I usually shop at were of no help to me. And the one store that someone suggested to me is actually being remodelled right now! Of all the times!! And then with a new suit comes new shoes... You see, not so easy... Wish me luck.

Ciao all.

BC Day...

 

Nothing better than spending the holiday with your family at the beach. Very relaxing - for everyone.

Ciao all.

Experimenting...

 

I bought a new product called "Glimmer Mist" - made by Tattered Angels, in Creme de Chocolat. I love it. So I thought I would use it on the layout to represent sand. You know how sand glimmers in the sunlight... I think it worked out. The layout is much better in real life. It actually does glimmer. Pretty cool. This stuff came in a range of colours. I think I will pick up a few more colours and continue experimenting.

Ciao all.