5 On Friday: February 27th, 2009

1. On Monday we went to see David Byrne at the Jack Singer Concert Hall (David Byrne was the lead singer of 'Talking Heads' - of 'Psycho Killer' fame - who has had an incredibly successful solo career). My whole family came, because the tickets were their Christmas present this year.

As we sat waiting for the concert to start, Warren & I had the following conversation...

Warren: I'm not going to have to stand and dance am I?

Amanda: No, Hon. You won't have to stand, or dance, or clap your hands, or have any fun at all. So don't worry.

Warren: Good.

Cut to an hour later, when the whole place is on their feet, dancing away, and there is Warren standing beside me, feeling the groove and clapping his hands. It was a KICK ASS concert! Loved the funky interpretive dancers, the band dressed in all white, and the white tutus they all put on for the 3rd encore. I don't own any David Byrne albums, only Talking Heads, and even though I only knew 3 or 4 of the songs they played, it was awesome. Definitely need more David Byrne on the 'ole iPod.

SIDE NOTE: I think Wellington may have been doing 'The Wave' during portions of the concert :-)

(editor's note: these are not my photos, they are stolen off the internet).

2. On Saturday we went to my Dad's for a huge steak dinner. Before leaving, we made sure to bore everyone with Wellington's latest ultrasound photos. One of my favorite photos was the one of his 'little man bits', but when presenting them to the crowd I referred to that region as 'His Junk'. My Step mom was horrified. I thought 'junk' was an endearing term, but apparently not. I guess it's up there with 'Nads'. Sorry little guy.

3. We will not be posting the 'junk' photos on the blog(s), because Warren insists that we maintain some sort of dignity/privacy for sweet Wellington. Personally, I don't think dignity/privacy and the INTERNET mesh well together (read: Shawna's Movie Monday this week), but we'll do our best.

4. I want to send out a big, public THANK-YOU to ERIN for her awesome-ness this week. We got not one, but TWO door to door drop-offs of stuff we bought at her online garage sale, PLUS she gave us the sweetest little bear rattle, blankie, hand puppet wash cloth and 1st size diapers. Thanks Erin - you kick ass.

5. Another THANK-YOU to KERI for the thoughtful Boy baby book, and to SHAWNA for the second hand (or 3rd hand?) bassinet and the cutest, softest Build-A-Bear. It's so fun to start getting little baby items to put in the nursery.

6. BONUS - Here are some photos from our farewell lunch with Gord, who is moving to Kamloops to pursue the next stage of his blossoming career. Damn I'm going to miss him!

5 On Friday: February 20th, 2009

Since we found out yesterday that we are going to be blessed with a SON, my 5 on Friday this week is about that.

1. For as long as I can remember, I always imagined myself with a son. Any names I would dream up were always boys names and any cute outfits I pictured were always boys outfits. Ever since I met Warren, I would always think how great it would be to have a mini 'him', because he's such a great guy. So yesterday's news seems to be destiny fulfilling itself. 

2. As soon as the technician said 'it's a boy', I felt a sudden surge of panic, for some odd reason. For a split second, all the associated challenges with boys flooded my brain. Will he be hard to potty train? Will he struggle in school? What about ADHD? How will we stop him from playing video games 24/7? Will we have to get up at 5am to take him to hockey practice, or will we be lucky and avoid all that?

3. As I grinned at the monitor, and up at Warren, I felt the warmest, softest tear trickle from my right eye.

4. I also wondered if any of us Calgary ladies would EVER have a girl??!!

5. Driving home, Warren & I were chatting about how odd it felt to know. It was so final, so certain. No more wondering and dreaming about one or the other, drifting through the options from day to day depending on our mood. This was it. We're having a son. A boy. And we couldn't stop giggling.

Slugs and snails...

...and puppy dog tails.

That's all I've got to say about that :-)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday SHAWNA!

Why Wellington?

I guess Wellington does seem like an odd nickname for our baby in waiting. Why not peanut or bean or sweet pea? Well, just like 'Little Gas', this nickname came about out of nowhere...but the actual origin is a bit foggy.

I remember around Christmas time, President's Choice (Superstore Brand) was running a commercial staring their President 'Gaelan Weston', promoting their product 'Salmon Stuffed Mini Wellingtons'. This commercial ran a lot, and for some unknown reason, Warren & I just got a kick out of it. So maybe this is where it started, and the name got implanted in our subconscious.

Then one morning Warren woke up and told me about a dream he had. Again - the details are foggy (Damn my laziness! I should have written it down!). His dream was based around one character - a little homeless Boxer dog named Wellington. Wellington roamed the streets of London wearing a jaunty cap and worn-out ripped mitts on his paws. He also carried around one of those sticks with a sack attached - like a hobo. Along his travels he would make some friends - a cat named Cybil and a donkey named Gerard. He was very excited about this dream and started fantasizing about quitting the rat-race and turning this idea into a series of children's books - becoming a professional author of children's stories. I remember asking him "Well, children's books are supposed to teach kids something...like counting or colors or days of the week. What will this story teach kids?". He replied with "It will teach them to adopt homeless Boxers, of course!".

Anyways...I digress.

In his excitement, Warren decided he liked the name Wellington and that it was a great baby name. He thought is was nice and noble - Sir Wellington, Duke Wellington - but I disagreed. Unless of course it could be Wellington Warenko - which would be fantastic!

So, again, the details are foggy, but slowly Wellington went from the name list, to the nickname list.

5 On Friday: February 13th, 2009

1. I just finished my second Jodi Picoult book - 'Nineteen Minutes' - and really liked it - except for the ending, again. I wonder if this is a theme with this author? In this case, I probably saw the 'twist' coming for a good 20 pages or so, but I thought to myself "if this is where she's going with all this, then she'd better have a really good reason". But no such reason was given, that I could tell. I felt like it was a twist for twist sake, that didn't really fit with the character and I didn't understand the motive. Anyway...I've started my 3rd one now, 'Salem Falls', and I remember Keri saying she was so mad with the ending that she threw the book across the room...

2. I'm afraid I'm going to totally cop out on this weeks 5 On Friday (but I figure I'm entitled, since both K & E missed their 10 on Tuesday), by using up the last 3 spots with my remaining pregnancy posts. Now, we're officially up to date!

Stay tuned for exciting new weekly features like 'Wellington Watch' and...okay...just Wellington Watch, that's all I got.

3. Good Bye and Good Riddance

4. Telling

5. A Letter To Wellington (your new nickname)

2 On Tuesday

2 more...we're almost there....

A Letter To Little Gas

Exhale

A couple more on a Sunday...

2 more back-posts...

Always The First To Know

A Rant

5 On Friday: February 6th, 2009

1. Took my little brother & sister to Build-a-Bear on the weekend, and DAMN it was fun! I think part of what made the experience so great was that they are very sweet, grateful kids. Plus - my 27 year old brother came along and decided to make a bear too (they really suck you in with all the cute displays and the hundreds of choices). So he had to jump up and down and do the whole 'heart' ritual - hilarious (he even gave his bear a 'shower'). He made a Batman Beaver named Bruce Wayne.

2. This week marks the halfway point - 4 and a half months pregnant. I'm pretty sure the baby had a bit of a growth spurt this week. When I'm lying down in bed, I'm constantly feeling my little 'bump'. I keep grabbing Warren's hand and making him feel it, but he usually just gives me a courtesy 'ohhh...yaaa...neat'. This time I grabbed it and said 'feel this!' and I got a more sincere 'holy crap!' in response. There's definitely someone growing in there. Of course when I'm standing it's still hardly noticeable - but not for long I'm sure!

3. One thing on the to do list this weekend: REMOVE SECURITY BARS FROM BASEMENT WINDOWS. My heart breaks for the families of those 3 young people who died this week in a basement fire.

4. Out of NOWHERE, my workplace has banned 'blogs' at the office. I can no longer read my favorite blogs from work. This puts me in a very bad mood, but at the same makes me look forward to my mat leave even more (as if I needed another reason to look forward to it)!

5. Went to my first Flames game in at least 10 years last night (thanks again Tiff & Rob!). I quite enjoyed it and Warren & I both thought about what a fun experience it would be for a kid - ONLY if the Flames scored a lot. I kept wanting them to score - not to win - but just so that those huge flames would shoot out from the JumboTron and the buzzers would go and the stadium screens would flash red and the crowd would go nuts. So fun!

2 More...

A couple more of my pregnancy posts.

Dips and Spikes

Here We Go Again

The Sequel

The second installation:

A Letter From My Uterus

5 On Friday: January 30th, 2008

1. Here are some pics from our trip to Banff last weekend. I took some fantastic video too, and want to have a go at putting together a little video eventually, but for now photos are all I got. Because it was so frigidly cold while we were there, the longest stretch of time we spent outside was probably 1 hour , up at Lake Louise, observing the Ice Carving Competition (which is what my video will be featuring). The rest of the time was spent outside for minutes at a time, then finding things to do INDOORS. Like ordering room service and an in-room movie (Slumdog Millionaire - excellent!!!). It was a really great, picturesque getaway.

First - Our King size bed!


Then, the Ice carving competition.

2. Although we tried to be careful up in the icy mountains, there was sadly one lone casualty.

My new Mac Pressed Powder.

Why do they have to make bathroom floors out of hard, unforgiving tile?

RIP my friend. *sniff*

3. Now that Warren is a blogger, I'm no longer the only one to blurt out "That's totally going in the blog!", followed by the token response "No way! You'd better not!".

This next anecdote might fall under the 'Conversations with Warren & Amanda' category, I'm not sure. After it happened, Warren said SMUGLY "Yup, that's going in the blog". But I forbade him. Because there is no way to tell the story without me coming out the other side sounding like a total bi*ch. Since I know it is a story he will throw back in my face over and over and over again, I decided I will out myself before he has the chance.

So here it is:

Warren & Amanda are watching Slumdog Millionaire in their hotel room, which is in the last 15 minutes of the movie. On the verge of the plot climax.

Warren: Where's the remote? Can you pass it? It's too loud.

Amanda: (gingerly passing the remote) Here. But BE CAREFUL. Really. Be sure NOT to hit the CHANNEL button, ONLY the VOLUME button (sounding more annoying and condescending than ever). If you hit CHANNEL we LOSE the movie completely and will be CHARGED to order again.

Warren: (takes remote and attempts to push a button).

Amanda: CAREFUL!!!!

Warren: Geeze!! I'm being careful. GAWD. (gingerly lowers the volume).

A couple minutes pass.

Amanda: I can't hear! (grabs the remote, NOT gingerly, and begins to hit the *volume* button, NOT carefully, only to watch the screen go black and discover she was holding the remote upside down. Meaning the volume button was on the other side, and she actually hit the channel button).

WOW.

I had no words. What could I say? I was in such a blur of my own stupidity and utter embarrassment that I don't even remember what Warren said to me after that. All I remember is him muttering under his breath something like "If that had been me, I'd be a dead man..." as he stomped off to seek comfort in his beloved MAC and begin surfing the web.

Needless to say, I had to call the front desk and grovel and tell them my sad story. Turns out the warning before the movie had a been a bit alarmist, and you actually could re-select a title you've already ordered, and it would play from where you left off.

PHEW.

But our relationship didn't come away un-scathed. I have an inner no-it-all bi*ch, and my dear husband now has proof.

4. Hm mm...any other stories from Banff I can share? Oh - I know! One tradition we have every time we go to Banff, is to visit 'The Trading Post' gift shop by the river. "Why?" you ask? Well...to see the Banff Merman of course!

He's kept safe inside a large glass casing, similar to a fish tank. Post cards graced with his image are sold for 30 cents each.

5. I will end this edition of 5 on Friday with the 'Disappointment of the Week'.

Our new blinds were (FINALLY!) installed in the bedrooms, living room & dining room this week. Great, right? Mostly, yes. They look great and exceeded our expectations. But the disappointment comes in to play when I enter the baby's room. You see, Warren's mom made us some lovely curtains for this room, and we matched the paint color to them. We had a perfectly adorable green room (green is my favorite color, and also happens to be a generic baby color!). When the sun came through those curtains, it lit up the room with a soft, serene glow that I loved.

The new blinds have a big (beautiful) molding around the top, so hanging curtains directly over them isn't an option. If we try to hang the curtains higher, we no longer see the lovely molding plus, the curtains would be too short.

Honestly, I'm over it. The blinds look great. But it was really hard to say good bye to those curtains that I always imagined being a part of the nursery.

A Quickie

Okay, I'm caught. Surfing blogs while I should be doing other things...

THIS POST from Backpacking Dad caught my attention, namely because it's about the fears and doubts we experience when going from being childless, to being a parent...seemed fitting I suppose.

Thought some of my parent friends out there might appreciate his perspective as well.

Opening the Vault

I suppose then, that this is my first pregnancy post, even though I wasn't pregnant when I wrote it. It was written back in September, after the incident had run it's course.

I have been blogging privately over the last few months, and will publish those posts over the next week. But I'm not going to post them all at once, because I'm a mean, mean lady.

Here it is, from September '08.

A Letter To My Uterus

1-2-3-4

4 months and counting...

...until we can pitch our reality show to TLC...

...titled "Warren and Amanda Plus One".

Move over John & Kate and the Duggars... we're 17 weeks pregnant.

Hilarity and entertainment are surely to ensue.

Blogger on the Fritz

My blog was on the fritz the past day or two, and the only way I could find to fix it was to change my template.

So I've simplified and gone for a more black and white feel for now. Threw in some red for good measure, and stylised the header photo a bit. I'm not sure you can even tell what the photo is anymore?

5 On Friday: January 23rd, 2009

1. The other night Warren and I were watching TV, and a 'Charmin' toilet paper commercial came on. It had those Charmin Bears, and they were mowing grass and clipping trees. Our conversation went like this:

W: Since when do bears do landscaping?

A: Hon, they're cartoon bears. They can do whatever they want.

W: Well, if I could do whatever I want, I sure as heck wouldn't be doing yard work.

2. I went to see 'The Wrestler' on the weekend. Aside from missing the first 15 minutes waiting in line for popcorn (I have my priorities people), I liked it. Wasn't quite what I was expecting - it's not a 'Rocky' comeback movie, that's for sure. And there was quite a lot of nudity (that could be good or bad I suppose). And there was one scene that was quite gruesome (again, good or bad, depending on your taste). But all of it rang very true - nothing was sugar coated. And Micky Rourke definitely fit the part of washed-up old wrestler, right down to the bleach blond hair and fake tan. He was a likable loser, and I enjoy those types of characters. Makes you rethink who deserves a second chance.

3. Tomorrow is my 1 Year Blog-Aversary with Cronin Chronicles. Since January 24th 2008, I have posted 88 times (including this one), which really doesn't sound all that impressive. That's an average of one post for every 4 days (roughly). Is my math right? Because when I put it that way, it doesn't sound too bad!

4. Since the world is a BUZZ with Obama fever, I will join in with my bit of Obama praise. But it won't be for the reasons you are expecting.

There is a little (well, not literally) American man who I'm not a big fan of. His name is Micheal Moore. I'm guessing his career is going to suffer soon, because how on earth will he be able to continue producing his anti-American propaganda movies now that The Messiah is in charge?

So, thank-you President Obama, for *hopefully* ruining the career of Michael Moore, at least for a few years. God Bless you and God Bless America.

5. Birthday pics from Open Sesame! Tiff - so sorry you couldn't make it. You were missed.

I'm 29 forever now peoples!

5 On Friday: January 16th, 2008

1. Sometimes, when sending an email, I am absolutely horrified when the spell checker comes on. Seriously, three misspelled words in ONE sentence? I used to blame the fact that I grew up attending French Immersion schools, but I think after all this time that is no longer a valid excuse. I'm really terrible at double letter words - recommend, preferred etc...is it double c and double m? double r or double f or both? And the ie/ei thing kills be every time. Without spell checker I would constantly misspell weird, believe and relief.

2. Guess what I'm doing tonight (hopefully)? Taking down the Christmas Tree. Yes, I know, I probably shouldn't admit that publicly. What's the date on this post? January 16th? *sigh*. My only defense is that it's a FAKE tree, so it's not like it's wilting and shedding and becoming more and more of a fire hazard each day...and we don't turn the lights on anymore.

3. I can tell already that this season of the Biggest Loser is going to make me cry, A LOT. Speaking of TV - does anyone know what starts up again tonight? BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA!!!!!! The end is near, and I'm so excited to find out the final secrets, but so sad to know it will all be over soon. Any other BSG geeks out there? Anyone? (tumbleweed goes by...)

4. My mom is taking me to 'STOMP' on Sunday. Has anyone seen it before? What did you think?

5. It's confirmed - a Banff getaway is indeed in my future! We're off for a romantic weekend in the snow capped Rocky Mountains next weekend. I always remind myself that people travel from all over the world to visit Banff, and it's literally on our doorstep. It will be a lovely birthday treat for me! (And Warren will probably enjoy himself too).

A Letter To Wellington (your new nickname)

15 wks


Dear Wellington,

I realise you're floating around inside my uterus, completely oblivious to the world carrying on around you. Meanwhile, on the outside, Warren & I are constantly thinking, talking and dreaming about you.

This morning we entered the prenatal clinic to a waiting room full of pregnant women and new mothers with infants. We were quite disturbed to notice that every one of them looked positively miserable. Oh CRAP. What have we done? Is this our future? However, we eventually chalked it up to the fact that likely anyone in a doctor's waiting room looks miserable.

We met the nice doctor and got to hear your heartbeat for the first time. The room was filled with big grins and long sighs of relief. One more milestone that helped make you feel more real to us. Glad you seem to be enjoying yourself so far. I'm finally starting to, too.

Now, I'm guessing this whole heartbeat thing will be one of the many, many things you do for us, without even knowing it, that will fill our hearts with love for you.

I know you didn't 'do' anything, per say, but thank-you. You are a very sweet baby.

Cheers,
Your Mom

5 On Friday: January 9th, 2009

1. Over the holidays I read 2 books. TWO books. That's insane for me. I literally gobbled them up without taking a breath. The first was 'Rush Home Road' by Lori Lansen. A really great character driven story that just kept me wanting to know more. The second was 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult. I asked for a Jodi Picoult book for Christmas because I've heard so many good reviews from friends. This one also kept me wanting more with each turn of the page, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The jury is still out on the ending though. I'm not a big fan of stories that get wrapped up in 'perfect little packages' like this one did, but I have to admit I didn't see the final 'twist' coming, and I really should have.

2. Speaking of twists, Warren & I watched a movie called 'Wanted' starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and the hunky James McAvoy. Warren found it for 10 bucks in the discount bin. Jury's out on this one too - it's over stylised, too violent in some parts and basically just ridiculous. But the story line is kind of interesting and it's visually very cool, and it opened my eyes to the amazing talents of James McAvoy, who is the clear winner in the movie. It has a great ending and a couple good twists (that Warren & I each guessed were coming, of course making us both very Smug, as usual). Angie is in purely for the paycheck, and the Producers put her in purely so they could print her name on the poster, and put her front & center on the cover of the DVD. She had barely any lines, and her character could have been played by anyone. I think Denise Richards would have been a better choice. Let's face it - I like a leading lady with curves. (And I don't care what In Touch Magazine tells me - Angie does not have 'healthy curves'. I don't even think Warren enjoyed her 'walking away, nude' scene, because there is nothing sexy about a towel hanging off a tattooed skeleton).

3. I didn't make official New Year's Resolutions this year, but one thing I do want to do is finish posting about our London/Paris trip!! And our trip to Kootenay Park Lodge. Really, this shouldn't be as hard as I seem to make it.

4. Warren found a good deal at the Rimrock in Banff - $109/night. So maybe a weekend getaway is in our future?

5. On Wednesday we had a new dishwasher installed, because the old one crapped out. I have to say, the stainless steel blends nicely with the 70's kitchen, and the other 20-year-old appliances :-) Oh, and that same night, our garage door opener stopped opening. God Bless Old Houses.

6. PS - Why has no one gone over to give my husband some love at CHANNEL WARREN? Is it because he's a guy? Is it because you don't 'get' him? Is your blog roll already too long and you just can't squeeze in another? Or is it because he is so awesome you just end up feeling bad about your own blogging? Really people, he doesn't bite. Sure, he's a bit odd, and really smug, and sure he sometimes grows his hair a bit too long, and his skin is really pale, but he's not a bad person. If you're short on time and don't want to read through all his posts, I recommend these ones (all clickable links):

Bizzaro World Bucket List
Heart of The Ocean
Mr. Gorbachev...Tear down these walls...
Coffee Table Republik

And, for nostalgia's sake...

The Most Memorable Moment of 2008 (written by yours truly, and still cracks me up beyond belief)

Go forth, enjoy, and COMMENT!