A Float Down The Thames & Hampton Court Palace

(Actual date of events: Tuesday, April 15th, 2008)

Our first morning in London started will a complimentary 'Full English Breakfast' at our hotel. For those who don't know, a Full English Breakfast consists of:

1) Egg
2) Toast
3) Cooked tomato
4) Ham
5) Brown beans
6) Blood Pudding (this breakfast didn't come with that, which was fine by me).

This was a great way to fuel up for the day ahead.

First things first, we headed to Paddington station to pick up our train tickets to Bath. Warren likes to have all these things sorted out ahead of time. Next on the list was to try and get tickets to a stage play called 'Speed the Plow' starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum, that was happening at the Old Vic Theater. Our handy travel book told us that the Old Vic opened at 10am every morning. So we aimed to arrive there before it opened.

When we found it, there was a short line of people waiting outside already, but not too bad. When the door opened and the line moved inside to the box office, we were told that the ENTIRE SEASON was sold out, and that they only had a few 'Standing Room Only Tickets' left. As we debated in line on whether or not we would even want to stand through an entire play, the 2 couples ahead of us got the last available spots. So this attempt was a complete BUST. It was a bit disappointing because I used to have an uber-crush on Jeff Goldblum, but at least we can say we tried.

So what now then? How about an impromptu Boat Trip up to Hampton Court Palace (you know, the one from the 'Tudors'...)!

The boat we ended up on was called the Dunkirk and had an amazing history. It was a civilian type boat that was actually used during World War II to evacuate soldiers who were being attacked at Dunkirk back to England.

It was the PERFECT day for a boat ride like this. The sun was bright, the sky was blue and the breeze was warm. We really lucked out.
Because it was a 3 hour float down the Thames to our destination, the boat was equipped with a snack bar & BAR. One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was have a Pint on the Thames. Check.

Throughout the 3 hours, the Captain recited all the historical tid-bits as we floated by them. It was extremely interesting and the 3 hours went by quickly. The Dove Pub supposedly has the SMALLEST BAR in the world, with only 2 stools.

After a beautiful trip, we docked at Hampton Court Palace.

We didn't head straight to the Palace, but instead strolled around the little town, looking in some antique shops and had some lunch at a Pub.

The entrance to the palace was huge. We have 2 paintings of Hampton Court in our Pub, so it was so neat to see it in real life.

Inside, many of the old rooms were staged to demonstrated what they would have been used for.

Outside, the gardens were immaculate (of course they were, this is England for goodness sake). Yes, that's me under the tree!

The Royal Tennis Courts were actually being used. I have no idea if they were royalty.

The first of MANY photos of Warren taking photos.
My critically acclaimed 'Flowering Bulbs' photo.

After the Palace tour, on our way to catch the train back to London, Warren bought a soft ice cream cone with a chocolate candy stick, that he used to eat as a kid. Awwwww.
We ended our day back in London and ate a Vegetarian Indian restaurant that our Travel Book had recommended. The food was great, but the service was absolutely atrocious. It's funny now, to think that the service was SO bad, we actually took the time to make sure we noted that in our travel journal :-)

Mother's Day 2008

Sunday seemed like the perfect time to tell our families. It was Mother's Day, and we had Brunch planned with Warren's parents, my Mom and my Brother. And then a BBQ at Donna & Gary's in the evening.

Our new, improved 'written' idea was to buy some sort of baby item, like little booties, and put them in a box with a note. So off we headed Saturday morning to The Bay to look for said baby item. The moment when I picked up a pack of little green booties, and a little onsie to get Warren's opinion was priceless.

Amanda: (holding up booties & onsie) Which of these do you think would work best?

Warren: (Silence. Eyes getting slightly wider. Silence.) Wow. Reality is REALLY sinking in right now...

He eventually pointed to the booties. I agreed with his selection.

Cut to Mother's Day Brunch at Melrose on 17th. We're all done our first 'round' of the buffet.

Amanda: So, do we want to open gifts before heading back up?

We hand out the 'decoy' Mother's Day gifts to be opened first...gift certificates, DVDs, and Bath stuff. Then we pull out 2 boxes and place them in front of each mom.

Amanda: Okay, so, they are both pretty similar and they kind of go together, so you need to open them at the exact same time.

Our moms then pulled off the ribbons and lifted the lid. They both took a moment for it to sink in, then, almost in perfect unison, their eyes and mouths drop wide open. And the misty eyes. And the high-pitched squeals.

I felt a sudden, uncontrollable wave of emotion, and I began to weep. Warren wasn't far behind. With all of crying tears of happiness, we stood up and hugged. It was just AWESOME. And lots of fun. Adam gave me a hug too and the feeling was just so great. Everyone was really happy & excited and I was so pleased the plan went so well. They were the first people we told, and it was much more emotional than I had expected.




After Brunch, I headed to Chinook to go Bridesmaid Dress shopping with my dear friend who's getting married in July, and my other dear friend who is a fellow Bridesmaid. Warren & I knew we weren't ready to spread the news that far yet, so I had to keep the secret. Which I actually had no trouble with at all. I always thought that when I got pregnant I would want to scream it from the rooftops, but that wasn't the case at all. I did, however, pray to God that whatever dress we ended on would have some sort of empire waist, because who knows what kind of bump I may have in 2 months. Is it a bad idea to start doing sit-ups when you're pregnant?

After dress shopping, it was off to Donna & Gary's. We had kept the bootie-in-a-box so that we could follow a similar plan. The entire family had a fabulous reaction. Warren's brother (Gary) had a big grin on his face, but was in total shock. Our nieces & nephew were thrilled at the idea of having a cousin younger than them. Our niece Bridget said 'This is the best gift ever. I hope it has really fat cheeks!'.

After the BBQ, we headed up to my Dad's house under the guise that 'we had another cool gift to give them from Paris, because Amanda is an idiot and forgot to bring it on Friday'. I thought it would be totally suspicious that we were driving all the way up to their house on a Sunday night for this reason, but my Dad & Pamela where totally clueless.

My Dad, Pamela, James & Kayley all sat together on the couch, and we gave them the box. Luckily, my Dad decided to be the one to take the lid off.

Dad: What? No. Really? No way! Really? REALLY?

Then the misty eyes, the hugs, the kisses.

Dad: I guess I'm gonna have to come over and help you put together that crib (years ago him & Pamela gave us their crib to 'store' for when we had kids).

Again, SO FUN.

Today was a whirlwind of awesomeness. We are so blessed.

Telling Dad, Take #1

Coincidentally, on the same Friday that we took the home pregnancy test that turned up POSITIVE, my Dad had invited Warren & I over for an impromptu dinner. 'We have to tell him!' I kept insisting, but Warren was hesitant. We were both still in total shock, feeling kind of awkward. Like, are we supposed to act differently now? It was hard to know what to say or do, because this really mammoth thing had just happened, but yet, nothing had really changed in that moment. Yes, big changes were coming, but in that moment the only thing that had really changed was that I was holding a little white stick with 2 pink stripes in my palm. We were still getting used to the idea ourselves, so how could we possibly be ready to tell anyone?

But I was thinking 'It's a sign! He asked us over on the same night we tested. We need to tell him!' Since he was my Dad, it was ultimately up to me. So Warren was willing to go along with my plan.

This was the Plan:

Give Dad & Pamela the souvenirs we brought back from the trip, then say 'Oh, and we brought back one more thing, but you're going to have to wait 9 months to see it'. Easy!

What Actually Happened:

Give Dad & Pamela souvenir.

Amanda: Says nothing.

Conversation shifts to the movie Juno, babies, etc.

Amanda: Says nothing.

Conversation shifts to Mother's Day plans etc.

Amanda: Sweaty palms. Says nothing.

Conversation has long, empty pause.

Amanda: Takes 'fake' sip of wine. Says nothing.

Needless to say, my 'Operation Tell Dad 2 Hours After We Found Out' was a BUST. I totally choked. Walking out the car at 11:30pm, we both look at each other and say sarcastically 'Well that went well'. It was all a bit anti-climatic. But we justified it, because really, we were still letting it sink ourselves. We decided then & there that we needed some sort of WRITTEN way to tell people, because I clearly crack under pressure.

The Test

Warren has obviously been in the loop that Aunt Flo is late. I loved the 4-5 phone calls a day where he would ask 'Any Aunt Flo yet? No? Really? Well, how are you feeling?' It was nice to know he was obsessing nearly as much as me (my obsession took the form of 8-10 bathroom breaks a day, checking for any sign). With the 'don't get our hopes up' rule in place, I kept telling myself I probably just miscalculated, and the Silly Witch was going to surprise me at any moment. After 3 days of waiting though, we decided Friday would be the day we test, if there was still no Aunt Flo. That would be Day 4 of being late.

Well, Friday at 5pm, still nothing. So Warren picked me up and we stopped at Safeway to pick-up a test. Warren was more comfortable with me going in alone, which was fine. I just giggled at him. He is so cute when it comes to these things.

The Safeway we went to was on 4th Street & Elbow Drive. A very dangerous Safeway for me to perform 'Operation Pregnancy Test' because of the extremely HIGH likelihood of running into people we know, especially family members. So I didn't have the luxury of lurking around, analysing the benefits of each test. I had a mental back-up plan though. If an in-law where to suddenly pop out from around the corner, I would grab a Monastat-5 and pretend I had a Yeast Infection. Yes. Perfect Plan.

Eventually I picked up the First Response 2-Pack. I knew no matter what the result was, I would probably want to test again in a few days. It was $20 for 2 tests. When I went to Pharmacy counter, this was the conversation:

Me: Do you have anything cheaper?

Young Pharmacist: Well, there's the Safeway Brand.

Me: Hmmm. Would it be same sensitivity?

Young Pharmacist: Ummm...well they're both accurate.

Me: Ya, but are they both SENSITIVE. You know, to detect low levels...

Young Pharmacist: Looks at Amanda blankly.

(I read on the Internet that the sensitive ones could detect pregnancy even if your pee had really low levels of the pregnancy hormone, but this girl had NO IDEA what I was talking about. Then a MALE Pharmacist comes over, who was equally confused by my question.)

Me: Oh, I'm sure this one will be great, thank-you.

Young Pharmacist: So, do you want to be pregnant?

Me: Yes!

Young Pharmacist: Well, this is a very good test. Good luck!

We didn't take the test immediately because I didn't have to pee yet. So I went downstairs to watch TV and drink water, while Warren continued working upstairs. About 45 minutes later I come upstairs.

Me: I have to pee.

Warren: Okay, go for it.

Me: When I say when, you start the timer on the computer. It says we should check the result at 3 mintues....(pee...pee...pee) Okay, now!

Warren: Kay, the timer is going!

I'm in the washroom, staring at the test, to make sure it's working. White, white, white...About 15 seconds in, the pink line on the right appears to show that it's working. But, it's accompanied by a very clear SECOND pink line on the LEFT. I continue staring. I come out of the washroom to see Warren staring at the timer.

Me: Kay, look at this.

Warren: We're only at the 35 seconds!

Me: It doesn't matter, look!

I hold up the test. I see his eyes looking at the result, then the diagram on the left that says II Pregnant, I Not Pregnant. The result window has a clear II.

It clicks.

Me: Do you know what this means?

Warren: We're...pregnant?

Me: Yes!

Hugs, kiss, Hugs.

These are first things he said:

1. My boys can swim!

2. Now I need to start reading up on how to be Dad, because I don't know how to do that. Yes, that's what I need to do.

3. Oh - we're at 3 minutes.

Letter To Paris Baby, #2

If my calculations are correct (and it's possible they are not), then Aunt Flo is approximately a day and a half late. In the past, she's been fairly reliable. On the pill, I could predict her arrival to date & time, give or take a couple hours. Then, off the pill, it was shaky for a month or so, but then back to nearly the same reliability. It will be a CRUEL coincidence if the first month she decides to be late also happens to be the first month I'm paying close attention in the hopes that you, Paris Baby, are growing in my belly.

I'll give her 2 more days to show her ugly face before taking a home test.

If she does show up, she's gonna have some 'splaining to do.

Shawna, I Appologize

I am disappointed in myself. I really wanted to make sure I kept everyone's attention by posting fabulous new photos everyday - because really, I can't expect you all to care about my holidays for too much longer. And I still have 9 more days to blog about!

But, my first attempt resulted in waiting a long time for photos to upload, only to get an 'ERROR' message 3 times. I didn't have the energy to continue.

Then, yesterday, I geared myself up to try again, and this time the photos were uploading, but it was very SLOW. Then, at a certain point, I realised I wanted to steal some of Warren's photos, but he hadn't uploaded them to our computer yet...

Not to mention that I then have to WRITE stuff.

This is a LOT of work. I am trying my best, honest!

A Letter To Paris Baby

Dear Paris Baby,

First of all, I guess I should clarify one thing. You were not neccesarily conceived in Paris. You may have been conceived in London or, maybe even Bath. It's difficult to know for sure. So, maybe a more appropriate name for you is European Union Baby. Or EU Baby for short. But, I like the sound of Paris Baby, so I'll stick with that for now.

There's maybe one other thing I should clarify before I move on. There is a good possibility that you don't even exist. Which would mean the title of this post should be A Letter To Non-Existent Baby. Which would also mean, I have officially gone insane. So for the duration of this post, I will pretend you do, in fact, exist.

Warren & I (Warren is your Dad, but he's still Warren to me, so I will still refer to him as Warren, but I just want to make sure you understand who this 'Warren' guy is) have been talking about starting our family for a while now, but we decided our trip to Europe would be the official kick-off. I know you're way too young to understand the complexities of a woman's reproductive system - trust me - I barely understand them myself - but all you need to know is that the timing of this trip fell right on the 'perfect' time of my 'cycle'. Hopefully that's not TMI, but you're the Fruit Of My Loins for goodness sakes, so if I can't talk to you about these things, who can I talk to?

Needless to say, Warren & I were quite excited and delighted with our luck, because I seriously can't remember the last vacation we took where Aunt Flo didn't come along (you don't really have an Aunt named Flo - I'll explain another time).

Back to the complexities yada yada that you're to young to grasp yada yada...we are now back from this trip to Europe, but there are still a few days before we will know for sure if you exist. About 3 or 4 days ago, I was getting the bloated, back pain, crampiness that comes a week or so before Aunt Flo arrives. This was a bit disappointing. Having never been pregnant before, I have no idea if it's normal to experience PMS symptoms before a missed period. So, I told Warren (and myself) not to get his hopes up. But, today my 'symptoms' have felt a tiny bit different than I remember. They feel lighter, weaker, mixed in with the oddest 'fluttering' feeling - kind of like a tickle. I know the most likely explanation is wishful thinking, but a part of me is holding out hope.

I am not a superstitious person, so I have no problem writing to you about these things. You should know, some women won't so much as look at a cute onesie on sale if they are trying for a baby. But, here I am. I'm either writing to an unfertilized egg about to be washed out of my system just like every other month, or, I'm talking to a microscopic mass of cells that will someday be YOU.

I Heart British Airways, Part 1

(Actual date of events - Monday, April 14th, 2008).

DAY 1

Sweet British Airways, how I love thee. Let me count the ways...

1. You were on time to whisk us away to London.
2. Your online check-in worked perfectly, and the seats you let us pick ourselves were great.
   
3. You greeted us with a complimentary mini-bottle of red wine to help us relax, even though we weren't in First Class.


4. You didn't repeat everything you said in French.


5. Your seats had lovely side head rests.


6. You gave us a mini toothbrush, toothpaste, a pair of 'airplane socks' and an eye mask to help us sleep.


7. You served us a yummy chicken & veg dinner, with another complimentary mini-bottle of the red stuff.


8. Your smooth ride lulled us to sleep for a solid 5 hours. (The wine & eye mask definitely contributed to the slumber also...).


9. Our luggage arrived at our destination.


10. You were just all-around delightful to be around.

Mmmmmm...London. How I missed you, you super-awesome lady. When we spilled out of Paddington Station onto your cobblestone streets, and wacky opposite-day traffic, I felt at home. Something about you is just so comfortable and familiar, yet exciting and limitless at the same time.

We arrived at the quaint little Hyde Park Radnor Hotel to settle in to our temporary home. But NO NAPPING. We made that mistake last time. We weren't going to mess up our inner clock again on this visit. So off we headed for a refreshing walk in Hyde Park to rejuvenate from a long travel day. But, Lady London, you weren't too into that idea. So you started to spit on us. Don't worry, we didn't take it personal and were happy to change our plans to suit your mood, because that's how much we love you.

Plan B was to head to Covent Garden to see if we could find a good place to eat an early dinner. On our way we came across a restaurant called Porters, so we snapped a photo because it made us think of our sweet Porter at home. They were all booked up, so we couldn't eat there.

Then we came across the Angus Steakhouse, and also snapped a photo. But, didn't eat there, because who flies from Alberta to London to eat steak? We never did find a restaurant with River's namesake though...

With Covent Garden turning up no real contenders, we hopped on the Tube and headed to Leicester Square and ate at a cheap place that our travel book recommended, that was a block or so away from all the tourist eateries. Warren had classic Fish & Chips, and I had Pork Chops. Warren washed down his meal with a tiny-little pint.

After dinner we unwillingly decided to circle around Leicester Square to see what movies were playing at the 4 or so cinemas, and then proceed to debate over which one we might want to see, to get out of the rain that Lady London continued to spit on us. A consensus was never reached. Who doesn't want to see Juno, honestly? But, with the exchange rate on a British Pound being so high, it wasn't worth paying to see a movie that only one of us was interested in.

So, off to the Tube again, in search for another adventure. We decided to search for the Tate Museum, since our travel book said it was open late - until 10pm. The Captain (Warren) miscalculated something on the map, and we got off at the wrong tube station, turning a 5 minute walk to the museum into a 45 minute walk. But, no matter, because the Thames is a lovely river and you can't complain about a 45 minute walk along a lovely river.

The Promanade had a bookstore, where we found the 'Profanisaurus' that Rob had asked us to buy and bring back for him. Good. One thing checked off my to-do list. Then, as the sun began to set, the trees along the promanade lit up with little twinkling lights. Awwwww. I'm on holiday. (Photo of this to come...Warren hasn't uploaded all his photos yet).

This is a photo that I snapped when the sun was setting behind the bridge that we had crossed. Lady London, you indeed have some beautiful city scapes. (And, thank-you for not spitting on us ALL night).

Unfortunately this adventure did not have a perfect ending. Once we eventually found the Tate Museum, it was closed. And it wasn't even 8pm. We were cussing our travel book's advice as we flipped frantically through it's pages to find this misprint of information, only to discover that we had misread.

Open late until 10pm, on Fridays.

But, without that misread sentence, we would have missed out on twinkling tree lights, sun sets over bridges, shrinking to-do lists, and an overall lovely walk with sweet Lady London.

Paddington & Paris.

I'm back from the FABULOUS trip that I have now dubbed 'Paddington & Paris 2008'. It was a great time, but today I'm beat. Jet lag is an ugly beast.

My plan for blogging about the trip will be to make a post for each day of the trip. I made notes on what we did each day, because we did so much stuff that by the time super rolled around, we could barely remember what we had done that morning.

My goal will be to do at least one 'day' a night. And then, when I'm all done, I'll try this whole 'turn-my-blog-into-a-book' thing and make a little blog-album of the trip. Kind of like an experiment I guess.

Also - Warren & I made a little Facebook Group where we posted 12 of the 'best' photos, or the most 'artsy' photos, and we want our friends to vote on the best one! You should have gotten an invite to the group - if you didn't you may have some setting that blocks group invites or something.

Anyway - glad to be home. Not glad that real life starts again tomorrow though.

We're Off

Tomorrow Warren & I will be leaving for a two week holiday, so blogging will likely stop completely during that time. Unless of course we find a really romantic Internet Cafe on the cobblestone streets of Paris :-) I also read that Paris just got their first Starbucks. Could it be true? Only ONE? I'd love the challenge of ordering the already-difficult-to-order drinks in FRENCH.

And, here's hoping I don't gain 15 lbs on this trip. Seriously...chips & curry, pints of beer (we're going to London too), LOTS of cheese, baguettes, wine...Oy. I watch the show 'The Biggest Loser' and on that show they try to teach the contestants that when they go on holidays they don't need to make it 'all about the food'. COME ON. They tell the contestants to go to local markets to buy fresh, healthy food. But, what if the streets on the way to market are lined with cheese & meat shops and bakeries? Anyways, I'll definitely be packing a pair of fat-pants. If I come back with an exaggerated double chin, please tell me I look great and say 'you must have done a ton of walking over there, because you look so slender!'.

I will attempt to take good notes so that I can make a killer post about our trip when we get back.

Keri - I'll be absent at your shower, but Shawna is bringing my gift for Jakzen.

Take care all you lovely ladies!

New Kid On The Block

I would like you all to welcome a new blogger to Blogland.

My dear friend Shawna.

Her blog was spawned from the super-cool home business she began just over a year ago. It's kind of like if Keri had a blog that was inspired by her & Nick's photography business. Or if Erin had a blog that was inspired by her love of Real Estate and Mortgages and Tax Season. Only WAY more interesting. Joking! I kid because I love.

Shawna's business has gotten her thinking about memories, how to best capture and preserve them, how will her children look back on their lives. That type of thing. And I'm so thrilled she's willing to share her thoughts on a Blog.

I think she's a little leery of the whole blog thing, but I'm glad she's taking the plunge, because I know there are a lot of amazing feelings and thoughts floating around her heart & mind. But, like I think a lot of us felt at first, there is always that pressure we put on ourselves to make sure every post is brilliant.

Thank goodness that wears off - and it does - which is evident by looking at the crap I post about.

Please, welcome Shawna over at Small Wonder.

And, snoop around to see if the services she offers are something you'd be interested in! Seriously, I've seen her work and it brings tears to my eyes. You'd better catch her now, because some day when we have kids, she'll be too busy working on my Video Scrapbooks that she won't have time for yours.

10 Things I Love About My Office Job

A co-worker did something the other day that made me chuckle, and that has prompted me to think of a list of things I love about having an office job.

Here is goes...

I love having an office job because:

1) ...sometimes I get to leave the office for sound recordings, audition sessions, location scouts, and Starbucks runs. Having an office job makes all these things more special.

2) ...we get 'healthy snack day' on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the company gives us free fruit, yogurt and granola bars in the morning for free.

3) ...we get 'baked goods day' on Wednesdays, when the company gives us muffins, banana bread, scones and a variety of 'low fat options' in the morning for free.

4) ...of team lunches.

5) ...I can check out your blogs obsessively throughout the day.

6) ...I have a drawer where I can keep all my high heeled shoes.

7) ...it's hilarious when I realise I just emailed a question to someone who sits right next to me.

8) ...some of my co-workers are actually my friends.

9) ...somehow when you work in an office, it's actually cool if you watch Big Brother, because it gives you something to chat about first thing in the morning.

10) ...and finally, the funny thing that prompted this list. My co-worker/friend...we'll call her K (because her name is Kirsty)...peeped her head around the wall that separates us. She's on the phone, and she starts writing something on a tiny piece of paper.

This is her note:

Ha! Luckily, I had a Hershey Kiss in one of my drawers.

Happy Late April Fool's Day

I tried posting this yesterday, but I was getting the same ICAP error as Erin. Turns out my photo was just too large...

Anyways, I was out with some peeps on Sunday night at Higher Ground sipping a delicious Decaf Americano, and they pull out an ad that they found in Fast Forward.

It was for Lululemon. Here is the ad:
The Mansy. Hilarious.

I find the 'crotch hammock' area very disturbing. Is anyone else with me on that?

Attention To Details

Mmmm, yogurt. Warren & I better develop a huge of love of yogurt over the next 2 weeks - let me explain why.

On Saturday morning we had some groceries delivered from Co-op (any busy/lazy folks out there who didn't know a service like this existed should click on over to pic 'n del right away...)

I should have paid more attention to the SIZE of yogurt containers I was ordering. I thought I ordered 4 of the single-serving yogurts, but then this showed up:

I took the photo beside a large tin of coffee to illustrate how much yogurt this is.

Seriously, when I eat yogurt I eat MAYBE 1/2 a cup. I think when these 4 containers are consumed, I won't want any French Vanilla yogurt again for a LONG time.

So even though I recommend this service, be warned. It's not IDIOT proof. Unfortunately. For me.

Maybe on the way to work tomorrow I could give a jug of yogurt to a homeless person. With a spoon of course. But that person would likely get sick of it after 3 servings just like I will...

Anyone know any recipes that call for vanilla yogurt?

Interesting Philosophy

I was snooping around this neat website called blurb.

It's a site I first linked to from [i]love life, where you can basically make your own book (and even turn your Blog into a book) and they will print it and send it to you, in hard or soft cover. Super cool.

I was surfing through the Biography section of books that were created on this site, and came across one that peaked my interest.

It is called: I, Slacker

It is written by a guy who worked for 18 years at Yahoo!, and decided to take 3 months off to do NOTHING.

Here is the cover of the book:


These words struck a cord with me. You probably understand why after reading my previous post.

The Blurb site lets you preview the first 15 pages of the book without buying it.

And in those first 15 pages he had some interesting things to say.

To avoid plagiarism lawsuits, I'm not going to post any of his writing here. But it's worth taking a look.

It's definitely an interesting philosophy on life.

Life

I'm not exactly sure what I'm setting out to write about in this post, but stay with me...

Over the last week or so I've been thinking about the incredible highs and lows that happen in life. And how these highs & lows can happen on an hourly, daily, weekly or yearly basis. And maybe even for some people, a decade basis. Maybe Britney Spears is one of those people...someone who actually has 'a good decade' or a 'bad decade'.

Warren is in a big LOW right now. It's so hard to watch, because there isn't a whole lot I can do to help him. And I see it in his face. I hate knowing that his job - or his life - is wearing on him.

Life is too long and grueling to put with CRAP. I love him so much and hope he's feeling better soon.

A friend of mine is also being CRUSHED by stresses that are coming from her work, family and home life. It's coming at her from all directions, all at once.

Another friend of mine is going through the two biggest HELLS any single mother could ever imagine.

On the flip side I see new babies, new jobs, new marriages, approaching milestone anniversaries...people who are content and in a HIGH. How can we hang on to that?

We can read up on all the stress management techniques out there, but when the sky is falling on us, how do we avoid getting squashed? We RUN... only to find ourselves exhausted, and unable to cope.

Anyway...

Life is just so hard sometimes. Sometimes, the only things keeping us going are the dreams we have about the HIGHS.

But That's OKAY.

I am THRILLED to announce that my Dad & Pamela scored us some Leonard Cohen tickets, for June 2nd, 2008.

The kicker? We're going to see him in Kitchener, Ontario. Not quite what I had imagined in my dreams. Especially after seeing the amazing places he's playing...Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany...*sigh*. But that's OKAY.

Kitchener, I love you. Because you're hosting Leonard Cohen.

So, $100 each for 2 tickets, plus approximately $400 round trip airfare for both Warren & I. That's $1000.00 to see Leonard Cohen. I'm not phased by this one bit. I always told myself that if he ever played one more concert, anywhere in the world, I would try to go. So this isn't too bad. I mean, he could have been playing one concert in Australia. THAT would have been a pricey concert.

Yesterday I went shopping with my friend Kirsty, and when I told her all this, she kind of looked at me like I was nuts. And she asked me why I would spend that much for a concert.

I told her that is was just something on my Life List, and those things are pretty much priceless. When I'm 80 years old, looking back at my life, would I even for a second, no matter how destitute I was, regret spending $1000 to see Leonard Cohen? NEVER. I probably wouldn't even remember the money amount.

So, tell me one thing on your Life List that you would spend almost ANYTHING to do?

Hola!

This year, one of the (many) Shaw Commercials our team worked on is a finalist in the 'BEST TELEVISION COMMERCIAL' category at the AMPIAs.

Good times.

And, because I was the Producer, my name gets put on the list. This feels a bit ridiculous, because so much hard work from so many other people is required to make a commercial good. Oh well, I'll take the glory where I can get ;-P

(See bottom left of image for my name).


The awkward part is, that if our commercial wins, I would be the one who has to take the stage and give a thank-you speech. Yuck!

However, if that happens, I'll have to give my speech via satellite from a LONDON, because that's where Warren & I will be!

Yet Another Blog Facelift

My Pyzam template was bugging me.

The 'blog' part of it had a transparency to it, that I did notice when I chose it. I thought it was neat. What I didn't realise was that the transparency applied to photos as well.

All your blogs have gorgeous, bright, crisp photos, and mine always seemed dull and washed out in comparison. Due to the transparency and the green background showing through.

I didn't have the energy to try another Pyzam template. Not tonight anyway.

So, I went back to Cutest Blog On The Block, and what do you know? They had NEW backgrounds available!

This one was very ME.

First of all, because it's green. Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but I LOVE GREEN.

Secondly, it had daisy-type flowers in the pattern. All my life I have been drawn to anything shaped like a daisy. Rings, pendants, embroidery...anything.

So this one fit.

Let's see how long it lasts :-)

PS - as opposed to the 3 hours the Pyzam template took me to work out, changing to this took a mere 5 minutes.

My New Ticker

Everyone else has a Blog ticker, and I was feeling left out.

So I searched high & low for one that applied to us.

Found one. YAY!

PS - Tiff, they have 'count down to the wedding' tickers if you're interested!

Isn't Technology Grand?

Okay, so I'm annoyed.

I stopped by '[i]love life' today and clicked through one of the links in Kal's March 13th post 'Rocks and Reels'.

She had a link to (what I thought was) a super-cool site called 'fontifier' that turns your handwriting into a computer font. Cool Right?

Not so much.

Case in point:
The sad part? I will probably continue to scan my writing in the attempt to make it beautiful, and continue to waste $9 a pop until I like it. Because that's how I am.

*sigh*

Livin' in the Ghetto

Today, I'm trying to get a start on some Spring Cleaning. Which I always find very painful. However I do love the feeling of throwing out all the CRAP that I haven't used/thought of/remembered I had over the last year.

First, I had to clear out any ignored-for-too-long laundry from the bedrooms. I made piles in the living room, and apparently River thought I was making her a bed. She's silly that way. I snapped a photo because I thought she looked ridiculous - like she was a homeless dog trying to make a home out of whatever she could find.

Once the laundry was sorted, I moved on to tackle the 'scary' spare bedroom closet. It was full of empty cardboard boxes from when we moved, as well as other boxes that were full of more CRAP that we didn't know what to do with when we moved. My goal today is to make this a functioning, USABLE closet.

I was being good - breaking down the boxes so they could be recycled - and keeping any old plastic bags to be recycled also. Then PORTER decides THAT looks like a good bed too. So I snapped a photo.

Seriously, please don't call Animal Services on me. My dogs only LOOK like they live in the Ghetto.

And as a side note; I'm I the only one who's house actually seems to get MESSIER when I'm trying to clean?

More Pub Photos

Time for some more Pub photos. But first, some back story.

Our Pub was still under construction when our Sweet Angus passed away. In the days following, Warren & I were coming up with ways to honour his memory.

The first way came about after we opened a new bottle of Scotch and poured a sip and made a toast to Angus. We decided then that every year on the anniversary of his passing, we would make a toast to him with that same bottle of Scotch. I wrote this note inside the lid of the box:

And fittingly, the bottle was a gift from our friend Gord, who is also a fellow Boxer lover.

The second way we decided to honour his memory, was to officially name our Pub after him. Before we had tossed around names like 'The Toad & Turtle', 'The Dog & Biscuit' or the uber-original 'Cronin Pub'.

But this weekend, we made the name official:

The 'SIR' is important, because Angus was a very noble friend. He was my Prince.

Beside the Pub name, we are also working on a little memorial for him. Right now, on a small shelf, we have the beautiful box with his ashes, our Family Portrait, a tiny plate with a Boxer portrait painted on it, and a little 'Boxer Angel' figurine. We will eventually hang a framed photo of Angus, with his old name tag.

Here's a couple other fun things we've added to the Pub.

First, our English Telephone Booth 'DVD Rack'. The door swings open and there are 2 shelves inside.

And this next item is a true GEM.

It's an antique baby teething ring. Made of bone or ivory or something, with a tiny silver clown ornament hanging from it.

And the best part? It was Warren's.

Sorry Warren. I just called an item from your childhood an antique. The truth hurts I guess :-D

Just goes to show you...

I was at the mall on Saturday, shopping for Keri's baby shower, which was happening the next day, Sunday. That's just like me too, waiting until the last minute.

Keri's last day of work was the day before, Friday. She planned it perfectly. Booked a month off work BEFORE her baby was due and her mat leave officially started. Time to relax, prepare, sleep. Enjoy the last few weeks she'd have completely to HERSELF for a real. long. time.

And her friends planned it perfectly too. Have her shower at the beginning of her time off, so she'd have lots of time to shop for any stuff she didn't get as a gift.

So, back to Saturday. I'm at Chapters and my cell rings. It's Warren.

"Hey hon, did you talk to Shawna yet?".

"Uhhh...no. Did she call?"

"Yes. The shower is cancelled."

"What? The shower is cancelled? Why?"

Silence.

"Keri went to the hospital this morning."

"What?! She went to the hospital? Why?"

Silence. Silence. Silence. Mild Panic...

"She had a baby."

OH. MY. GOD!

So, at 2:30am on the first day of her 'Month Off' , Keri went into labor. And gave birth to Jakzen Richard Ozzie Blakeney at 4:39am.

Warren & I woke up on Sunday morning and thought 'Wow, Nick & Keri's life just underwent a HUGE CHANGE yesterday. Cool'.

I can't wait to hear all the details and meet him.

And today it dawned on me. Jakzen came VERY CLOSE to being a leap-year baby. I said to Warren "Every 4 years he's going to have to wait an extra day for his birthday". Warren replied "Don't we all?". Smart Ass.

Anyways, it just goes to show you, that you can plan your life until you're blue in the face, and without warning, your plan can fall apart and turn out 1000 times better than you had ever hoped. Because I'd bet all the money in the world that a month from now, Keri won't be able to imagine that month going by without him in her life.