St. Patrick's Day

I know... it's a little late. I really was meaning to update my blog last Saturday, but it was a long day. Here's what I did:

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to meet my coworkers Golta and Kimya, at Starbucks for 7:00 a.m. After grabbing some coffee, we made ourselves comfortable for the drive to Huntsville, we got there around 10:30 a.m. We had a quick detour into Port Sydney and looked at the rapids, Brad's and my first apartment, and the ice fishing huts on Mary Lake. Once we got to Huntsville, we make our way to Rock Ridge to go tobogganing. If you've never been, you HAVE to go!!! Everyone has their own snow tube, and rides up the hill on a pully. Whoever thought of making rides UP the hill was a genius... that's always the worst part about tobogganing. Now that we're at the top of the hill, we pull our tubes together and get a quick spin and go soaring down the hill. The weather was perfect, not too cold, and nice and sunny. We had a blast for 2 hours and then got out of our snow gear and went to Bracebridge for lunch. We had delicious Red Pepper and Basil soup, quiche, salad and a sandwich at Marty's, as well as a complimentary shot of espresso, yum! After writing on the chalkboard wall we did some window shopping, and each of us ended up with a souvenir to take home.

I think we left Bracebridge by 4:30 p.m., we were originally planning on being back home well before now. We passed the time on the car ride back by singing to Kanye, Oasis, and a mixed CD that my Dad put together. Its a good thing Kimya was in the back seat and had all the extra room for her air-guitar, air-drums, and performing as a backup dancer!

The rest of the night I was at home with Brad, Lily and Ella. After the girls were asleep, Brad and I watched Mission Impossible 3... it was alright. Sorry Krista, I know its one of your faves.

Sleep must not have happened until after midnight, because after the movie I started to knit.

So that was last week... and nothing new since then. Golta and Kimya took lots of pictures on our road trip and I'll add them once they are passed along to me.

My Weekend, In Short

So, here's Ella waiting impatiently for Friday's pizza baking inside. I wasn't able to capture it, but she was actually licking the stove!

Also on Friday, we had a little gathering of some friends, Jaime, Nolan, Darryl and Marsha. A little bit of pizza, popcorn, strawberries, pringles and a game of Cranium and it was a party. Before the partying got under way, Nolan and Jaime read a bedtime story to Lily. You remember Nolan, the single, Flower Creations guy? Why does he always make it into my blogs? I think that he really likes the publicity.

Today, Sunday, Christy came over after Church for a special craft with Lily, St. Patrick's Day pins. It involved painting, gluing, and most importantly, glitter glue. Perfect for a 4 year old. While they were waiting for the paint to dry, they made green hand prints on the newspaper.

30

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday Nolan and Darryl! Happy birthday to you!!!!!!

I think that you will all remember me writing about my friend Nolan (still single), but I forget if I've mentioned his twin brother, Darryl. I may not have because he's already got a fabulous girlfriend. Anyways, this is the year for my group of friends to turn 30, and Nolan and Darryl are first. Brad and I won't be able to celebrate with them this weekend, so I thought we'd send our wishes over the internet.

Another reason for blogging today, and any time I mention these guys, I'm obligated to let you know that they own a flower shop, Flower Creations (see link on the side), located in the downtown underground. They have a very friendly staff who are able to meet all your flower needs. They are connected with FTD too, so you can give them out of town orders as well. They were the ones who did the flowers for Brad's and my wedding, as well as for Heather and Jeff. Well, actually, their sister, Lori, did the flowers, but I think that Flower Creations gave her all the supplies.

To explain the picture... Nolan's been the one in front of the camera lately, so I have lots to choose from. The only picture I can find of Darryl is of him wearing a dress (yes, a dress!) back when we went to camp. I didn't think Darryl would want that to get around! I'll never get rid of it though, in case one day I need leverage. With today being their birthday, I can't put up one of their pictures and not the other. So, thankfully Nolan likes to play around with the different options on our Photo Booth program, and before you is what they call a "Mirror". Just pretend one of them is Darryl.

Happy birthday guys!!!

Fresh Flowers Heeeeere!

My long time friends, the Milec's, own a flower shop, "Flower Creations", downtown in the underground. As yesterday was Valentine's Day, you can imagine how busy they were. For the past two years, Jaime and I have helped serve the masses purchase their sweethearts flowers. A lot more goes into those Valentine flowers than you would think. Roses are in demand, so the prices are high, but behind the scene of the pretty displays, and smiling staff, there is a back room packed full of flowers (many I had never seen before). Here in the dark confines, my Dad, myself and another full time staffer at Flower Creations, Ilda, worked hard at stripping (Get your head out of the gutter! It means we were taking the thorns and extra leaves off the roses), cutting, quick dipping, water picking, tissue-ing, Salal-ing (green leaves), Baby's Breath-ing, boxing and sticker-ing. Then repeat a million more times. That's all before it even hits the store! Fun times.

As I said, my Dad volunteered his time for three days to prepare for Valentine's, a little more for a distraction I think than really having any kind of interest in flowers. I think he had a blast! Especially on the last day when he, Jaime and I were at the kiosk. The last hour or two, they normally slash their prices to get rid of their stock. Dad had the job of letting everyone know. As the herds of people were passing by they would hear, "DOZEN ROSES! HALF PRICE, ONLY $30!". He did this over and over again until he lost his voice. His voice was still a little hoarse this past weekend when I went up to visit him. You wouldn't think that flowers would tucker you out at the end of the day, but as soon as Dad sat down on the subway on the way home, he was out.

Speaking of flowers, there were lots at my Mom's funeral, many sent from you. It was a beautiful service, and many people were able to come the distance to support us. Because the Oscars are coming up this Sunday, the award for best friends goes tooooo..... Krista Powell, Kim Powell and Jaime Simpson!!! Krista came from Calgary for an extended weekend to be with me. I guess I'm thankful that she's unemployed right now and was able to make the trip... although while she was here I was able to recommend Starbucks as a possible future employer. Kim wasn't able to be here because of a previous commitment, but I believe that she's the reason Krista was able to come out in the first place. Jaime, because she is so close, was able to be with me a lot, and even came to the hospital to visit with my Mom. More than anything, it was the both of us visiting and knitting, Mom was sleeping. Thanks a million girls!

I must also give honourable mention to Nolan Milec, who lent his car to Jaime for the weekend so that her and Krista were able to travel to the funeral. Now, it was also fortunate that he had to get rid of his car to make room for all the Valentine's flowers in their make shift garage/flower freezer. But I believe it was mostly out of the goodness of his heart. This is the same guy I was talking about a few posts ago... still single ladies!!!

Another honourable mention goes to my in-laws, who became a bed and breakfast not only for Brad, Lily, Ella and I, but also to Jaime and Krista. We talked a lot about knitting, and looked through the new pattern book Mom Sider had just bought. After every one had gone to bed, the girls and I had some fun trying on a fur hat we found in the closet. That was way too much fun! Jaime and Krista had their own adventures on the Friday as they toured Lindsay for the afternoon. You'll have to read about that on Jaime's blog.

Okay, I think that catches everyone up to date. Over and out.

Lately

Here's what's been going on lately. Mom has been at Baycrest Hospital now for two weeks. I think that everyone is finding the hospital really convenient to our place. It is only an 8 minute walk, verses walking to Yorkdale, taking the subway to Queen's Park and then walking to Princess Margaret Hospital. Although, I think Lily is missing going to the Magic Castle. It's a free daycare for patients and their families to use, and she loves it "more than school". It was a really nice perk at that hospital for sure.

Mom is still receiving excellent care at Baycrest. Her nurse, Allan, is great. He calls Mom his girlfriend, and tells her she's gorgeous. Her doctor is also very patient and listens to Mom and Dad's questions and concerns during his morning visits. Since she's been admitted to Baycrest, her pain medication has more than doubled, which is making her very drowzy, and sometimes confused. Just yesterday, the dietician changed her over to a puree diet to make feeding her a little easier. Even though Mom seems to be confused sometimes, it sounds like she was really aware yesterday afternoon when Pastor Scott, Mrs. Scott and her friend Diane were in to visit. Everyone joined in singing some hymns, and Mom was saying she has nothing to fear because she is leaning on Jesus.

Dad finally had his hernia operation on Tuesday at the Lindsay Hospital. Sounds like it was a good experience, as he doesn't remember going under, or even waking up after the operation. He had to ask the nurse when they were going to get started, and then was told it was already over. He's hobbling around a bit, but I think he'll be okay in no time. Even though we're so close, I think that I'll be chauffeuring him to and from Baycrest for the next week or so.

While Dad was out of commission, my Auntie Edith, Heather and I tried to beef up our visiting hours with Mom so she wouldn't be alone. My Aunt especially spent a lot of time at the hospital, or looking after Lily and Ella for me so I could visit with Mom by myself. Thanks so much!!! :)

In other news... my friend Jaime and I have been busy working our way through the first two seasons of Veronica Mars, which were lent to us from Krista and Kim in Calgary when they were visiting over the Christmas break. I promised that I would only watch the show with Jaime, and not go ahead, but curiosity got the best of me and while we were in the middle of the first season I skipped to the last episode to see who-done-it. Before you tar and feather me for breaking my promise... I confessed to Jaime in the morning, and she forgave me. What a great friend! For season two, I've been good and keep the DVD's tucked away so I'm not tempted. We only have five more episodes to go... which I think we'll finish on Monday night. If you've never watched Veronica Mars, I would highly recommend it. You really should watch it in order, but you'll catch on quickly if you just watch when it is regularly scheduled on tv. It's mysterious, funny, and smart. You'll love it for sure... and you'll be tempted to skip to the last DVD too!

Tonight, Brad and I (as long as I can get rid of my shift at work) are off to an information meeting about the French Immersion program offered for Lily next year. I think she'll pick it up pretty quickly. She seems to be really interested in other languages. Her Spanish words have been thanks to Dora The Explorer, her Uncle Drew and Auntie Heather. She knows her colours, numbers and even a couple of songs in Spanish. My friend from work, Diana, is from Colombia, and Lily will practice her Spanish out on her, "Hola Miss Diana". Diana has even given Lily some Spanish colouring pages for her. For a while Lily would only watch her Madagascar movie in Spanish... thank goodness for English subtitles! Lily has also learned how to count to 5 in Chinese, so she thinks that she's fluent. What a funny kid!

Normally I have a picture go with my blogs, but I've covered a couple different topics. Here's my favorite pic of my Dad and Lily tickling each other.

Over and out.

Online Dating... Meet Nolan

Our friend Nolan came to hang out with us today. We met him at Church and then he came back to our place for the afternoon. I've known this guy for 25 years!!! We met at Sky Force and then we grew up in the same Church. He's just great! There are not too many people who consistantly meet you with a smile, in spite of circumstances, but he always does. He is very generous, thoughtful and helpful... I have been on the receiving end of these many times. He is outgoing and fun... my girls LOVE their Uncle Nolan, and today he took some time to play just with them.

Would you believe me if I told you he was single?!!! It's CRAZY! If you, or you know someone, who may be interested, email me quick... because I'm sure as soon as he sees this blog, he'll want me to take it off.

Holiday's Over, Back to Reality

Christmas has come and gone... New Year's too. I've missed blogging for a while because of the busyness in the last few weeks. We've attended Christmas concerts (Lily's and my cousin Christy at The People's Church), gone to a wedding (my cousin Wesley, and Rachel), 3 family Christmases, Brad just got back last night from a week in St. Louis (Urbana... maybe I'll be able to convince him to blog about it), the girls had a weeks vacation at Grandma and Grandpa Boo's (Brad's parents), and I've been working full time this past week. Busy, busy, busy. While everyone was out of the house, and when I wasn't working, I managed to get to Home Depot with my sister and paint Lily & Ella's room, "Pooh Bear Yellow"... pretty mellow compared to Elliot Gilmore's room, but really brightens up the space, and a million times better than the white it's been since we moved in. I kept the redecorating a secret from Brad and the girls. Lily wants to spend more time in there now, and Ella keeps running back and forth touching the walls, saying "Ohhh!" I was going to tackle our master bedroom too, but there really wasn't time, and I wanted to make sure that Brad would be happy with the colour too. Oh yeah, I'm also half way through a new book, "Banker to the Poor". I actually gave it to Brad for Christmas, but decided to read it first while he was away. Ha ha!

Somewhere among the busyness I was able to visit with my friends Krista and Kim from Calgary. It wasn't much time, but it was a BLAST!!! We made a couple visits to Bagel World, went shopping at the Yorkdale H&M, had a pot luck at Gilmore's in Oshawa with a bunch of old MBCers (thanks for hosting Joan & Derek), did our own version of a gift exchange (check out Jaime's website to find out more & see pictures), had a late dinner at Montana's. Without them, Lily and Ella's room would have never gotten completed either. They are a lot taller than me, and the taped the ceiling/wall for me with ease. There was only one thing that we weren't able to fit into their visit, a trip to Honest Ed's. They've never been, and I thought that it would be fun to stroll the isles for a bit. Next time.

New Year's was fairly uneventful. If you were in the Toronto area, you would know it was raining, pretty hard too. I was working a close shift that night, our manager gave us permission to close early if it was slow, which got us out an hour earlier. I was scheduled to open the next morning, so asked if I could borrow the couch at my Aunt & Uncle's who live right across the street from my work. We visited for a bit, watched the ball drop on the tv and toasted the New Year with some sparkling juice... and then went right to bed.

After work on Jan. 1st, I headed up to my in-laws to pick up the girls. Lily and Ella had a great time!!! I heard all about the tea parties, birthday parties, pajama parties, dress up parties - you get the idea. I know they were busy with the playdoh making all the pretend food for each of these events too. When we got back to our place, Brad was here waiting for us. It's nice being back together again after a week apart... and a lot messier too!

Well, I think that covers everything for now. All the best to you in the year ahead, and good luck with any resolutions you may have made.

The Beauty Shop

When Heather and Nathan came for a visit today, Heather wanted to do Lily's hair. So we pretended that our family room was a Beauty Shop, and Lily was going to be the customer. She phoned to make an appointment. The receptionist, Auntie Heather, answered the phone. Lily spelled her name to make sure that we had it in the appointment book correctly. She came and had a manicure (nail polish) and had her hair styled (french braids). Then it was Auntie Heather's turn to be the customer. Lily was the receptionist and answered the phone when it rang. Heather started to spell her name so that Lily could write it down correctly, and Lily asked her how to make an "H". It was way too funny.

Heather already had her hair "styled" so she was just in for a manicure. Lily's first customer. Auntie Heather was so brave!! Lily did an alright job with the nail polish, but Heather removed it before she left the house. Practice makes perfect.

The Beauty Shop had already been cleaned up, but I thought that I would try to give Ella a haircut anyway. I think it only took a handful of quick snips, and the mullet was off. She looks great! I don't know if everything is straight, because I can only cut her hair when she isn't wiggling. Some of her curls are still there, so that will hide any of the parts that are uneven. I'll try to post a picture of Ella's first haircut later.

Jaime, just so you know, Auntie Heather let Lily know that you would make a good customer one day. What a nice Auntie! :)

YEE-HA!

Lily has been looking forward to Halloween for over a year now... yes, over a year. We skipped out on Halloween last year because Brad was stuck at work, and I would have had to take both the girls (a 3 year and a 5 month old) trick-or-treating by myself. Lily wasn't in school, so she wasn't really sure when the actual day was. I think she saw Halloween on some of the cartoons she had been watching. When we would go over to Yorkdale Mall, she would see all the princess costumes at the Disney store and let Brad and I know that she wanted to be Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. She was still talking about her costume into the middle of November. Thankfully, one day, she stopped asking.

This year Lily is in school, so it would have been a little more difficult to skip. Today was a special day at school, and I had the opportunity to help out in her classroom. All the kids came dressed up in their costumes. There were fairies, princesses, a lion, a pumpkin, and a cowgirl (Lily). They had a class parade through the older classrooms, carved a pumpkin, decorated cookies and made spooky pictures.

My friend Jaime came over and looked after Ella while Brad and I took our little cowgirl out trick-or-treating. It was still pretty early, so not many house lights were on. It was also pretty cold, so we didn't want to be out for a long time. Lily was brave and rang the door bells she could reach, all by herself. After a half an hour, and only three houses, it was time to go home. Lily is only 4, so how much candy does she really need? Once we got back to our building, they had a table of candy set up in the entrance, with the Chairman of our Board dressed up as a Marching Band Leader. Lily did a little cowgirl dance for her, and she filled up the bag with chips and lollipops.

Whether you dressed up, or just handed out candy, we hope that you all had a happy Halloween. Lily had so much fun, she is already looking forward to next year, and has decided that she will be a fairy.

Lily's First Field Trip

Today I went to Apple Orchard. I got there on a school bus. I sat with my friends Hazel and Pamela. I only cried once because I wanted to take my backpack with me and not leave it on the bus. We found apples on the ground and on the trees. We went for a tractor ride, and I sat on the hay in the wagon beside Hazel. I brought home six apples. I'm going to make an apple pie with my Auntie Heather and Mommy.

When I got off the bus, my friend Natalia were there with my Mommy and her Mommy and her baby brother Ethan. I was so excited to see her. I shared my teddy grahams with Natalia. I played in the the kitchen, showed Natalia my computer book, and some games on the internet. Thanks for coming to play with me Natalia!!

Lily