sharon in the house

That face!!!

2011-01-15T12:15:00.004-08:00

So excited that my little niece is coming on Sunday to see us!!! Well, okay, my brother and his wife are coming too, and that's also exciting, but I can't wait to squish this little booger-nugget!!! I spoke with her on the phone recently and for a 3 year old, her speech is unbelievable! She speaks clearly and confidently, and at the risk of being a smidge biased, she compares to a 5 year old with how articulate she is.
Regardless of how ingenious she is (and she gets it from me I'm sure) she's as cute as a button (also from me lol) and I love her to pieces! They'll be here for a week and staying with my parents, so I'm sure I'll be making a few trips back and forth to their place next week. It's an hour and a half drive and worth every second of it!

Happy Ho ho Bloggers!

2010-12-23T20:07:00.005-08:00

Hey bloggers:) I have been neglecting my blog so badly lately that it almost feels like the end of an era. One where old bloggers slip away and new bloggers are born. Well I'm not goin out without a fight! If I don't post every day like I used to, I can surely post to wish my fellow bloggers and friends a wonderful Holiday season. Whether it's Christmas you celebrate or something else, my wish is that you are all safe and happy during the Holidays, into the New Year and beyond.

I couldn't help but think about my Uncle Curtis today as I was baking his sweet potato pies. That guy knew his food, so if he said it was good, then I believed him. I started making them a few years ago when he posted his recipe and they are an absolute hit! In memory of my sweet uncle I'll post the recipe as he would have:

4 sweet potatoes
2 eggs
2/3 c evaporated milk
1 stick of butter
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1c sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 frozen uncooked pie shell.

skin and boil sweet potatoes. Melt butter, beat eggs and milk into sweet potatoes and butter mixture. add sugar and remaining ingredients and pour into pie shell. It's supposed to make 1 pie, but I always find 4 sweet potatoes makes so much filling I end up doubling the other ingredients. Today I got 4 pies out of it and it smells like heaven in this house! I wish he was here to make them himself, but I hope the recipe lives on for those who want to try it:)

This will be my first Christmas since Kelly and I broke up...it was unexpected and for a couple that were very loving throughout our 4 years together, it got very ugly in the end. At this point, I don't even recognize him anymore and the chaos he left me with is both devastating to me and shocking. That being said, life is a roller coaster and you never know what's around the bend. I've reunited with my ex fiance Drew since Kelly left, and am now happily dating him and am looking forward to a happy Christmas. I've never been the kind of person that can't be single...in fact I quite like being single, but this just sort of happened naturally, so I'm glad to see where it takes us. Now for the bad news...It turns out Drew has cancer in his arm that he had neglected to get checked out for a couple of years and now it's to the point of being scary. He had surgery a couple of weeks ago where they tried removing the melanoma and took a massive skin graft off of his thigh. At a recent appointment he learned that the surgery wasn't as successful as we had hoped and they didn't remove all of the cancer. So now we wait and see what the doctors will recommend to be the best next step.

Phew, so there's the update. I'll try not to let so much time pass between posts from now on. Now that Kelly doesn't live here, I'll have more time to hang out at the computer and visit my blogger buds.
If you're interested in adopting a new blogger, a childhood friend of mine has recently joined the ranks. Her name is Nicole and I've added her to my list of favorites. Check her out at http://storyofpresent.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Uncle C

2010-10-09T16:03:00.004-07:00

Today is my Uncle Curtis' Birthday, and though he is sadly gone, I wanted to honor him in my heart. Nothing elaborate...just a few moments to think about him and what a great guy he was. Happy Birthday Uncle C! I hope you and Aunt Ellen are together again:) You are both alive in my heart. xxoo

I'm devistated.

2010-07-30T11:31:00.007-07:00

I just found out that my Uncle Curtis passed away. I can't tell you how devastated I am that he's gone. And that I haven't talked to him much at all lately. I'm in shock right now as I just heard the terrible news, but I thought his blog friends would like to know that he's in my Aunt Ellen's arms again. He had the biggest heart and had so many wonderful friends. I'm just so sad. He was my favorite Uncle, and though there was no blood relation between us, he couldn't have been more an uncle to me if there was.

Dear Uncle Curtis,
You have touched so many lives and hearts. I wish I had spoken to you more and been home when you called me a few weeks ago. I guess I thought you'd be around forever. I just want to tell you that you have been my favorite uncle and I wish you had come and visited like we'd talked about so many times. I would always tell you we wanted you to come any time and you would say, "be careful what you say, I might turn up." And I would say, "please do! You're welcome any time at all! We'd be thrilled." And now, sweet Uncle C, you're gone and the only thing that brings me comfort is that you are at last in the arms of your "Sweetie Pie." You will be so missed. My heart feels empty today knowing that you are never going to be able to come for that visit. I'm so sad to lose you. xxoo Rest peacefully with Aunt Ellen. I love you to pieces.

CURTIS LEE CRUSH (published on July 31, 2010)

CURTIS LEE CRUSH It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our brother-in-law and uncle, Curtis Lee Crush on Monday, July 26, 2010. Curtis was born in Washington, DC on October 9, 1950 to Walter Crush and Cora Davis, who have both predeceased him. Curtis was an only child and was raised by his maternal grandmother whom he loved deeply. As a young man, he served his country in Vietnam. He made his home in West Virginia and met the love of his life, Ellen de Koning, in early 2000. They conducted a long-distance romance which resulted in his move to Canada. He and Ellen, who he referred to as his Sweet Pea, were married in 2004. Their happiness was shattered by Ellen's developing renal cancer and, after a courageous battle, her death on August 23, 2007. Throughout that difficult time, Curtis was a rock of support, and for that our family will be eternally grateful. He never stopped loving his Sweet Pea and now they will be together again. Curtis is survived and will be remembered by Ellen's family - brothers-in-law Frank de Koning (Delima) of Vancouver, Fred de Koning (Diane) and Lawrence de Koning (Lida) of Winnipeg, sister-in-law Anne Zimmerman of Vancouver and numerous nephews and nieces. Curtis will be fondly remembered by his many Canadian friends, including Marina Olson. As an active blogger Curtis will be missed by his many friends and followers in the blog community, as well as his employer and colleagues at Penner Door. Close family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service on Monday, August 9, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel of Voyage Funeral Home, 220 Hespeler at Henderson Highway. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to CancerCare Manitoba.

Moving and stuff

2010-02-07T23:27:00.001-08:00

Well it took us about 5 days and two trips to the salvation army to move into our new place, but we're here at last. We had so much stuff to get rid of (and still do) and so much stuff to find a place for in our new home. I've started my new job at a salon, and quite frankly, I like it. It's only half the money because it's 50 percent commission though, so I'm working like mad getting the house fixed up so I can have clients here. I won't have an entire room like I did in the other place, but I can set up a nice little station in a corner somewhere. I have to buy a portable shampoo sink that hooks up to the kitchen sink so I can wash hair, but other than that it's just making the house presentable. It is a fixer-upper, but it's being fixed up in record time. My new landlord is amazing. He said he wanted to paint the inside of the house and when we moved in it was painted. Then he said he wanted to paint the outside, which was badly in need, and guess what!!! The painters started on it yesterday! I'm so used to landlords and building managers that are all talk no action but this guy seems really eager to make the place nice. So now I'm just trying to make this house a home and I think it will be really nice when we're done. The linoleum in the bathroom is atrocious, so that needs to be replaced, and we're putting laminate in the kitchen...would you believe we're laying laminate again? There's some stucco that needs repair outside, but he's coming tomorrow to start that, and a few plumbing issues I still have to discuss with him. It's just humming along! One thing I didn't think of asking originally is whether we are sharing a hot water tank with our neighbors...it's a fourplex and it seems that whenever anyone takes a shower, we are surprised periodically by scalding water for a few seconds. Nice. I know there is a valve though, that can be installed that prevents flushing toilets and such from affecting the temperature of the shower. We'll be addressing that, but things are looking up. I'm happy, though busy, and I can't wait to have some down time to enjoy the fruits of all our hard work:)
Kelly is working security for the Olympics all through February and it's going to almost kill him I think. Most are over night shifts, some are up to 13 hours, and he's booked almost 7 days a week! It's too much, but at the same time, it comes at a good time. I'm slow at work right now and am only making a portion of what I charge now, so this will give me time to set up here and get back up and running. Anyway, not the most exciting post, but I'm too busy right now to be exciting. LOL. Hope all my blogging buds are well! A special well wishing to my Uncle Curtis who is not feeling too great at the moment. Feel better soon Uncle C!!!

Click here to see me and my sister as hip hop elves.

2009-12-14T22:40:00.011-08:00

Well, I know I hardly ever write in my blog anymore, but the last couple of years have been so crazy, I don't seem to have the time or the focus. So much has happened from moving into this house, to laying laminate, sanding, and painting, all while being chauffeur to a teenager and working. A couple of weeks ago our landlord gave us the news that his daughter would now like to live in the house and we must be out at the end of January. I must admit I was disappointed that he had recently let us do so much work laying laminate, only to be told a few months later that we wouldn't be around to enjoy it. Also, I would think after our family has lived here for over 18 years he could wait to give us the boot til after the Holidays. Especially since I am not only losing my home, but my business...and the timing couldn't be worse. If anyone has an empty suite for February, they would most likely rent it out for a month for the Olympics and rake it in before committing to a tenant. However, I am trying to look at it in a positive way. It is what it is, and so I choose to go into it with a positive outlook and a willing spirit. Sometimes being shoved out of your comfort zone can be a blessing in disguise.

In other news, Alicia turned 19 years old at the end of October. My baby is an adult...Yikes. She went out to a club with some friends on her Birthday and came home very late, but she wasn't stumbling around or slurring her words. She had some drinks but didn't want to end up like some of the drunk girls she's seen at parties...out of control, embarrassing themselves, and incapable of getting themselves home safely. That's my girl. Phew...I don't know where she gets it...when I was her age I didn't have half the common sense she does. Oh well, I'm just gonna role with it.

Now here we are less than two weeks before Christmas, and I'm really looking forward to having our last Christmas in this house my family has called home for so many years. My brother is bringing my beautiful niece to spend the Holidays with us and I couldn't be more excited to see them.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2009-10-05T20:07:00.007-07:00

Penny's blog just inspired me to post a cute story (that I cried when I heard) about my sweet, perfect, precious baby niece, Sophia. She just turned two at the end of September. Sophia was in daycare and I'm not sure if it was her Birthday or someone else' s, but they were all given a piece of cake. So all the kids are chowing down enjoying their treat, and Sophia eats about three quarters of her cake and stops. She grabs a napkin and tries to wrap up the rest and stuff it in her pocket, so the teacher says, "Sophia, don't you want to finish your cake?" Sophie looks up at her with her big brown eyes and says in her little baby voice, "I saving it to Daddy" My heart wanted to burst out of my chest when my mom told me, that my brother told her, that the teacher told my brother...gasp gasp...gasp...(that's how it works in my family) Anyway, the teacher told her that they saved her Daddy a piece so she could go ahead and eat the rest if she wanted. And she did eat it, which says to me that even though she was still enjoying it, she wanted to sacrifice it so her Dad could have some. That's pretty awesome considering her age and stage of development. Kids her age are typically so egocentric, they are in the "MINE!" stage. So the teachers sent them home with two pieces so they could eat it together when they got home:)

I must have said it wrong...

2009-09-07T18:19:00.005-07:00

Okay, it's been a while since I've had a funny story to tell, but I had to laugh yesterday, so I must share. I've been trying to find a copy of the movie Mrs Doubtfire for Anastasia to watch. She's never seen it, and some movies just have to we watched. Also, she had never seen The Wizard of Oz, and that's just wrong, so I was looking for that one too. Throughout the last two months I've been asking around for them, but for some reason, they were impossible to find! Well, I had finished doing updos for a bridal party on Saturday, and I knew Kelly was working all night, so I really wanted to find these flicks for the kiddo and have a girly movie night with her and Alicia. I went to one rental place, and they didn't have them, but the kind girl did phone around for me and actually found both in another nearby store! So off I went to get these gems. I got to the store and spoke with the young man at the counter about how happy I was to find the movies finally. Just as he was about to ring them through, I said casually, "Actually, before you ring them through, I think I'll look for an adult movie to watch after the kids go to bed." The boy on the other side of the counter was clearly trying to compose himself and politely replied, (blood flushing into his face,) "I'm sorry mam, we don't have an adult section anymore." I quickly realised what he was talking about and answered, "When I said "adult movie" I only meant "grown up movie," not triple X!" and his coworker burst out laughing at the poor lad. He became even redder as I explained jokingly that, though I am comfortable with myself, I wouldn't casually walk into Rogers Video to pick up two kids movies and a porno! LOL After finding a decent chick flick, I thanked him for giving me the best laugh of the day and left him standing there to recover from his embarrassment. I giggled all the way home. Tee hee...Poor kid...

My Bud's Birthday party

2009-07-20T11:50:00.010-07:00

It's been a while again since I've posted, So I thought I'd drop a line about my weekend. My girlfriend Kiki had her "28th" Birthday party on Saturday, so we all went into Maple Ridge to see the townhouse she and her family moved into, and to celebrate with her. The picture above was taken on her balcony. Below, is the Birthday girl, our beautiful friend Andrea, and of course, my gorgeous Sis, Sheryl.

We all had a great time eating, drinking, and laughing our heads off as we always do. Here's Kiki and her sweetie, Paul, who plied us all with jello shooters throughout the evening.

Then, at around four in the morning, we just couldn't keep our eyes open any longer...it's a good thing we planned to stay over night...

HAPPY MOMMY'S DAY!!!

2009-05-10T10:51:00.002-07:00

Hey all you Mommy's out there! Hope you have a really happy day with your families. I wish I could say I was going to go and spread love to the moms, but I am trapped here in my house recovering from a nasty flu with Kelly. Can't be spreading germs on Mother's day. That's no way to say thanks for taking care of all the diapers, snotty noses, skinned knees, broken hearts...you get the idea. So I'm going to go soak in a bath with a really good book now. If anyone's interested, it's an author called Diana Gabaldon. The first book in the series is called Outlander and is absolutely captivating. I could not put it down! So now I'm on the second book, which is called Dragonfly in Amber. Almost half way through now. It's so good, my bath water turning cold as ice will be the only way to get me to close my book and climb out of there. Anyway, off I go. Take care all!

two months

2009-03-22T23:08:00.002-07:00

It's been over two months since my last post. Kelly's working at home now, so life as I knew it has changed dramatically. I do get some computer time, but not nearly what I used to, so I haven't been blogging at all. I'm still not writing it off or anything, in fact, there have been many things I've thought about posting about. It just never seems to materialize.
We had Anastasia for Spring break so we just brought her home this afternoon. She's getting so big now...11 years old. It was funny, cuz she had to build a bridge as a project for school, and it took all of my efforts to encourage Kelly to let her help him make it! It turned out spectacular...better, I'm sure, than any other 11 year old girl's in the class. LOL. Take care friends. I'll be reading blogs even if I'm not posting as much, plus I'll see you on facebook:)

harsh but true

2009-01-14T17:24:00.002-08:00

One of my clients was telling me about a friend of hers who has cancer. The cool thing about this lady, is that she's designed silver bracelets that sell for about a hundred and fifty bucks and that fifty dollars of each sale goes toward cancer related charities. What caught my attention, though, is that these bracelets are not the average pretty pink that is generally associated with cancer. In fact, she feels that as pretty as the pink bracelets and pins are, cancer is not pretty and girly. So her bracelets allow people who have or have had cancer to express how they really feel about it. It may seem a little crass, but from what I understand, they go over huge. They truly reflect how most of us feel about this deadly disease. Check out this website if you want to see for yourself. http://www.soulflower.com/fcancer/

Happy Ho Ho!

2008-12-23T16:40:00.002-08:00

Well, I haven't been posting much lately because I'm so stinkin' busy these days, but I couldn't let Christmas come and go without wishing you all a happy Holiday! So to all my blogging friends out there, I wish you all the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year from the bottom of my heart. My life has been enriched having had the privilege if getting to know you all. To my Uncle Curtis, I hope you are feeling better and have had some well deserved R and R. I wish you lived here in my neck of the woods so that you could come and share Christmas with us! Take care, my friends:)

My alarm didn't go off!

2008-12-03T14:15:00.003-08:00

I opened my eyes yesterday morning, let out a satisfying yawn, stretched my arms, leaned over to see the time and..."The alarm didn't go off!" I yelled as I flung the covers off and flew out of bed. It was five after nine in the morning and I had to be on the squash court by nine fifteen! I frantically grabbed at yoga pants and runners... socks and tank tops... ripping through drawers and brushing my hair... brushing my teeth and grabbing my racquet...
I ran out the door with a bottle of water tossed into my bag and hopped into the car. The court is only down the street, but I was already late and my squash partner was waiting. I wasn't even awake fully when I pulled into the rain-soaked parking lot of the community center. I flung open the door and took off running across the puddled parking lot. As I approached the automatic doors, they slid open for me and I ran by the front desk. I turned right at the fitness center and as I did, my wet runners slid out from under me! I almost flattened a beautiful woman, dressed very nicely, and her toddler. Before I hit the ground, I caught my footing, but my runners were still slick, so the foot that had found the floor also slid out from under me. Luckily my other foot found the floor as I was falling and I caught myself for another moment before, it too, slid away from me. I'm telling you, it was slippery!!! I could see the whites of the little toddler's eyes. Even at his young age, he knew I was going down. It felt like I was slipping and sliding, trying to catch my footing for about ten minutes. Finally, I had to accept the fact that I was going to fall. I must have looked so funny fumbling around trying to get my balance, so I stopped trying to save myself and landed on my but. The beautiful woman was standing over me asking if I was okay. She had a very concerned look on her face. The woman at the front desk was wearing a horrified expression, thinking I must have broken every bone in my body. The trainer, who was in the fitness center ran out to see if I was okay. The only thing injured was my pride. I felt like such a tool! I'm 36 years old, and I apparently don't know yet not to run in the halls. Especially with runners that just came out of the rain!
Well, I got to squash a few minutes late, a little shaken up, covered in sweat from the adrenaline pumping through my body as I was trying to prevent myself from falling, completely humiliated...but all in one piece.

Happy Birthday Sophia!!!

2008-10-06T10:41:00.015-07:00

These are the big chocolate eyes and gorgeous smile I've been looking at for the last couple of weeks. My brother and sister in law brought my beautiful niece to spend her first Birthday with us. The funny thing is, this is always how the babies look when they are rested and refreshed...

then, after a long visit with gushing relatives, just when you want them to give you their biggest smile...

They look more like this...LOL Hm. Not impressed. Not at all.

It was great having them here and to see little Sophia almost walking on her own. She is right there where she holds one of your fingers for security, but doesn't really rely on it that much for balance and strength. She'll be walking on her own within days, I know it.

Alicia decorated this cake with Sophia's favorite character. Dora the Explorer. For those of you that aren't familiar with her, this is quite an impressive likeness.
Then it was party time, and the de Konings know how to par-tay!

But wait...the Smith's know how to party too!

LOL! I love my goofy family.
Here's Mom trying to cut her way into a package of blocks. Not the easiest task.
Loads of prezzies...
And lots of beautiful smiles:)

I can't wait until January when I get to visit with them again. By then, I may have some luck in getting the little one to say, "Aun-tie Sha-ron." Believe me, I have been drilling it in hard. LOL But it's not easy, cuz I have so much competition!!!

He's a lover...Not a fighter

2008-09-15T16:37:00.003-07:00

Well, by now, if you read my blog, you know I have a little furry poodle named Frisky. This little guy has been part of our family since he was only ten weeks old. Alicia got him for her sixth Birthday. Now Frisky is twelve and Alicia is turning eighteen! Hard to believe...

Anyway, a couple of months ago, we drove into Maple Ridge to visit Kelly's parents and his Aunt and Uncle. In Kelly's family, they always take the dogs with them when they visit, so we decided to take Frisky along. When we got to Kelly's Uncle's house, where we were all meeting for a visit, the dogs (Frisky and Angel) frolicked in the yard sniffing each other's bums and peeing on things. Tails were wagging and all was well. When we went into the house, everything went to hell in a hand-basket!

We went into the side door, which happens to go right into the kitchen. The dogs both pranced into the kitchen and around the island where i couldn't see them, when suddenly, there was a screaming sound coming from behind the island. This wasn't just a little yip, it was serious animal in distress sounds. So I ran around the island to see Kelly's Uncle's dog (a four year old boarder collie) biting Frisky in the throat, and pinning him to the floor. Feeling particularly territorial, I guess, she happily bit and stomped on Frisky until she was pulled off of him by Kelly's Dad. It's a good thing he was there first, cuz otherwise, I couldn't be held responsible for tackling Angel (don't let the name fool ya.)

Poor little Frisky was beat up pretty good. He shook like a chihuahua for hours. His ear was bloody where she bit him, and he was badly bruised. You couldn't touch him on the neck where she was biting him or he would let out a scream, and even petting him anywhere else hurt him. Usually this dog drives me nuts following me around and demanding affection, but for the next week, he didn't want to be touched. It was heartbreaking. I would just pet him lightly on the top of his head and he would slink away and go lay somewhere else. Thank goodness he recovered within the week and is back to his normal self again. He's no spring chicken, so you never know how these things could go. Also, we didn't know the extent of the injury to his neck.

Anyway, I couldn't bloody wait to get out of there that night. I can barely remember anything we talked about because I was so worried and preoccupied with my puppy. I'm not one of those people who equates pets with children, but I have raised this dog for twelve years and feel very affectionate and protective of him. I love the little guy. Angel, however...well, not so much.

Kelly's parents were so great with him that night, spoiling him and such. His Mom tended his ear while he sat on my lap and his Dad fed him ice cream from a plastic spoon. Awe. His Uncle was sweet too. That made me feel good that they cared because, the weird think is, not one of Angel's owners said, "Angel, NO!" If my dog attacked another dog like that I would smack him and say "NO" That's how they learn. His aunt was like, "Oh, Angel doesn't know what she did wrong." Where I'm of the opinion that she doesn't know because she's never been scolded. I later found out that she has been involved in similar attacks on other dogs...Kelly's sister's dog included. Anyway, he's fine now and I just know not to bring him back there. You should have seen the way Frisky was looking at me that night...like I betrayed him!

My sweet baby niece Sophie

2008-09-01T15:10:00.006-07:00

This little girl is such a joy! This is my adorable niece Sophia. I haven't seen her since last Christmas, but she will be coming in September to celebrate her first Birthday with us. I can't wait!!!

I'm not feeling so hot today, but I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I'd just do a short one about my little niece. I look at pictures of her with my brother and sister in law and I can see how happy they all are. I've never seen such peace and happiness in my brother's eyes than since Sophia came along. It's wonderful. And seeing pics of my Sister in law, too...there's something in her face that says, "I am content and at peace."

And of course the smile on that baby's face says it all about how loved and happy she is...what a blessing:)

Our little Anastasia

2008-08-11T12:01:00.005-07:00

So we picked up Kelly's daughter on Friday and when we got to our usual meeting place, Anastasia had to go pee really bad. So I walked into blendz with her, her mom, and her mom's boyfriend. While Ani and her mom were in the ladies, I chatted with the boyfriend about work and stuff, and we had a few laughs. This is the first time in a year and a half that I've seen him comfortable enough to crack up laughing. It was a side of him I haven't seen. Usually he appears very shy and introverted. He's very petite (I could snap him like a twig) and is always pleasant, but rarely seems a hundred percent at ease. Now I don't know Anastasia's mom very well, but Kelly does. I know he's the ex and that might color his opinion of her, but he's always maintained she can be humorless and controlling. I've seen both those things in her just from our brief encounters every second weekend. Remember when I first posted about her and she was so moody and bitchy? Very hot and cold. Anyway, after Anastasia went to the bathroom, we were standing in line so her mom could get a coffee. As we stood there talking about a play that Ani was going to be in next week, her mom says to her "what time does your play start?" Anastasia, being a ten year old, kind of had her head in the clouds and said, "What play?" Her mom responded by asking her to look at her. When she did, to my surprise, her mom took the palm of her hand, fingers up, and thrust it into her forehead! Now, I don't love everything about this woman, but I've always thought she was a very present parent for Ani. Very diligent about bedtime, rules, cleanliness, rules...if you get my drift. I also notice that, though she shows her affection, she often is insensitive to her feelings and that there is a certain element of fear in Anastasia when it comes to displeasing her mom. I don't want to give you the impression that she is an abuser or anything, but I was very taken back by her smack to the head for such a non-reason. The sound it made indicated that it was excessively hard, and it made her head snap back. Afterwards, Anastasia's little hand went up and rubbed her head where she was smacked, and her body language was that of humiliation and at the same time, trying to somewhat laugh it off. I really hate it when parents do things like this to kids. Not only was it mean in my eyes, but degrading. I was shocked, and I don't get shocked that easily. I didn't say anything to Kelly when we got back to the car where he was waiting for us because I didn't want to say anything bad about the ex in front of Ani. But later that night I felt compelled to tell him. I struggled with it for about 30 seconds wondering weather I should worry him, but my rule of thumb is: If you have to struggle with it, that's reason enough to say something. I would want to know. We had a busy weekend, so I didn't have time to have a heart to heart with Anastasia, but I would like to sit down and talk to her about how that made her feel, without making her feel as though she was throwing her mom under the bus.

PARTY!!!

2008-08-05T09:37:00.009-07:00

Well, Kelly and I decided to throw a party with a really eclectic group. Some of the invited guests were old friends from Kelly's past, some old friends from my childhood. Some came into our lives more recently, and I even invited a couple of clients, Wendy and Val. I know what you're thinking...they have nice hair. tee hee

One of my friends from childhood is visiting from Australia with her fiance!
That's Donna, my dear childhood friend with the happy couple from down under!
It was great to see them all together. I didn't intend on having a balcony party, but we all ended up out there. We had the balcony reinforced a few years ago, but I have to admit, the notion of us all ending up in the carport did cross my mind.

My beautiful Sister Sheryl and our gorgeous friend Andrea sharing some laughs.

This is Shannon and Jan, who I met in high school.
This is my neighbor, Moyra and Jan's hubby Kev breaking it down on the shag carpet. We were going to wait to have the carpets replaced before we threw a party, but we decided to just have one now while it's still Summer. We just invited them all to come and "shag" with us...

Then it got a little weird...LOL This is Kelly's good friend Evan. The funny thing is, when I take night time shots with my camera, you can't really see through the view thingy. It's too dark, so you just have to guess and then the image comes out nicely lit after the pic is taken. So I was just trying to get a nice shot of two old friends together when...

Too stinkin' funny! Poor Kelly, though, because just a couple of short hours later, Evan was trying to get a nice pic of Kelly and I when...

Hmmm...disturbing...

Some of you might remember me talking about my friend Kiki who lives in Greece. The gentleman getting fresh with Kelly in the above future blackmail photo is Kiki's boyfriend who lives here. After fifteen years or so, Kiki is finally coming home to Canada! I can't wait to be able to invite her to my next party! She came to visit a few months ago and didn't want to leave:) Here's a shot of her with Sheryl and Andrea from her visit.

But I digress...

When Evan was trying to get a picture of Kelly and I, he couldn't see through the view thingy so the first couple of shots turned out like this...

Then, as I was describing to the rest of the gang how he was getting only the top of my head, he snapped this...
This has now been dubbed "the de Koning salute" by my bud Andrea. I think it's flattering. lol We never did manage to get a nice photo of us that night.
Here's a nice one of our friends Heather and Andy, though!

And a nice one of Moyra and Ken from across the street. Coincidentally, Ken used to play on my ball team years ago before he moved into the neighborhood. Then three years ago, he became my neighbor without even knowing it. Small world, huh?

Anyway, I hope you are all having a great Summer! I wish I could have invited you to come "shag" with us too!

Did I scream like a girl?

2008-07-09T16:59:00.003-07:00

From the front of the house, this just seems like an innocent little bush. It may not be the most neatly trimmed or shaped, but you wouldn't think that within this bush lurked grave danger...

Kelly took the day off on Monday and we decided to do some yard work. Our bushes desperately needed to be tended to. So while Kelly did the weed eating, I took out our electric hedge trimmer and began to trim the front and top of this bush. When Kelly glanced over and saw me laboring to reach the top, he immediately came over and offered to finish where I couldn't reach. He's such a gentleman. A few moments went by and I heard him say, "Ouch...I just got stung by a wasp." But being the big strong man he is, it didn't really phase him.

In hindsight, I suppose we should have seen that as a warning, but we didn't. A couple of seconds later, I heard, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" and saw Kelly fly down the path and around the house, ripping off his shirt!
"Are you okay?" I yelled as I ran around the corner after him.

As you may have guessed, the other side of that bush looked like this:

Well I must have agitated the little guys something fierce while I was hacking away at the other side of this bush, cuz they were pretty upset. Thank God he only got stung three or four times...It could have been so much worse had the electric trimmer sawed right through the middle of their happy home.

It wasn't long before my neighbor came over to see if Kelly was badly hurt. She and her husband had heard him yell and thought he'd lopped off a limb or something. After she had gone back home, I was saying to Kel how sweet it was of her to be concerned but Kelly's biggest worry and only question was, "Did I scream like a girl?" LOL I said, "No Sweet heart, you screamed like a man."

We gave them a good spray with some wasp killer last night and will probably do another dose before we remove it. Those little buggers mean business!

finally!!!

2008-06-29T09:10:00.005-07:00

It was lovely...but it's finally over. After dresses and make up and tickets and shoes, ceremonies, diplomas, report cards, boat cruises, winter formals, rides here, rides there, finals and deadlines, grad pranks, up-dos and hand bags...Alicia is finished her graduation. She had her final grad event on Friday night when she went to the four seasons hotel for her dinner dance and then at midnight was bussed back to the school where they partied until five in the morning. She looked so beautiful.

this is a picture of her up-do that I did for her. What a princess...
Her make-up was done beautifully at estee lauder, but the lady took an hour and a half to do it. I swear it took ten minutes to put on the foundation alone. Though she told me it would take an hour, we ended up running very late. I had been doing other up-dos during the day, and Alicia's was planned for two oclock. Her make-up appt was for three and she was to be at the school to catch the bus with her fellow graduates between five and five twenty. Well after waiting forever for her makeup, we whipped home, got her changed, and ran her to the school. Sadly, because of various wardrobe malfunctions and some disorganization on my darling daughter's part, we made it to the school about five minutes after the last bus departed. Sigh. We were going to the hotel anyway because the parents were invited for the first hour to take pictures and to have the first dance with their child. Kelly was really looking forward to dancing with her and I was stoked to get pictures of it. Anyhoo, that was a bust since the traffic was so heavy, we got there right after the first dance when all the other parents were leaving. I could have cried, but there was nothing that could be done to change it so I made them stand like they were dancing and took a picture. LOL

below is a picture of the two of us with Alicia's friend. They all looked so beautiful and grown up.

Now she just has to figure out what she wants to do with her life and jump in with both feet. I can't believe that when I was her age I was just getting ready to bring her into this world...

Summer

2008-06-02T10:54:00.007-07:00

Well, we've seen the sunshine here and there, so I guess it's almost Summer. LOL Last weekend I went to one of my dearest friends' Birthday party. It started out a beach theme, but people started changing their clothes when it started to get chilly. Here's me and the Birthday girl!

As usual, we got home and to bed as the sun was coming up the next morning. I think the clock read 4:30 when Kelly and I laid our heads down on our pillows. The next day was a write-off, but we usually relax on Sundays anyway. My sis and I have a Sunday ritual of watching coronation Street together and now that Kelly is in the picture, he comes and watches too. He was hooked after one episode. LOL

We're getting ready for Alicia's grad now. It will be at the end of the month, but they have a winter formal, which has already passed, and a boat cruise, which was a couple of weeks ago. These pics are of Alicia with
her new black hair and her friend Tenby with HER new black hair. I guess black is the new blond.
I had sewn a shawl for Alicia that was the same color as the cream on her dress. I carefully sewed fine tassels on each edge of the shawl and was still sewing the morning of the event.

There they are driving away when I suddenly realized that she had forgotten her boat cruise ticket on the cork board on the fridge! So, like any crazy person would, I chased them down the street. They must have been wrapped up in excitement, because they didn't see me waving my arms around like a lunatic. So I ran inside and called her to come back and get the ticket...and by the way, she forgot the wrap that I so lovingly made her, too!

Here they are coming back for the ticket AND the wrap...there was no way she was getting away without that wrap!!!There's Frisky in the corner with his ears up.

Hmmm

2008-04-23T17:22:00.002-07:00

It's so hard to think of something interesting to post about when life is uneventful. Do-de-do...hmmm...Nope I got nothin'. Sigh...

On the other hand, no news is often good news. My car is running, so I don't have that to bitch about anymore...I could bitch about sitting on the phone with Fido for an hour on two separate occasions this month, but I'll spare you all the details on that one...all in all, everything is running smoothly, but the thing is, I'm kind of bored. Not that I want bad things to start happening, but I need to shake things up a bit. The problem is, with the aforementioned car problems we had in the past, we don't have a lot of coin to play with. I'd just go to the casino like my Uncle Curtis does, but I don't have a big ole horse shoe up my bum, so that's not gonna work. I'm running out of colors to dye my hair, so I can't keep changing it just for the sake of changing it. I keep saying I'm going to start working out aside from the two days a week I already play squash, but I'm pretty undisciplined about that kind of thing these days...

Oh well...I guess I'll just go down stairs and finish up the client I'm doing. I'm sure I'll think of something to get out of this funk. Until then, I'll just have to count my blessings, of which I have many.

My beautiful girl

2008-04-10T14:23:00.002-07:00

Well, I guess she's not a girl anymore, but a young woman. My girlfriend, Kiki, pointed out that the night she and I had our grad pictures taken, Alicia was there with us. I had just found out I was expecting. In some ways it seems like yesterday, and yet, in other ways it seems like a hundred years ago.

What a beautiful life I brought into the world, and how she has blessed my life, I could never put into words. I sit here welling up with tears while I type this. Sigh...what a sap.

2008-04-07T09:25:00.002-07:00

My car has had an engine transplant!!! Ok, so I'm putting my new mechanic's kids through collage, but at least my ride works. LOL. The heat works, the radio works,...Am I dreaming? Kelly's car has also gotten a new engine, but Kelly did that one himself. I was pretty darned impressed that my computer technician hubby actually did an engine swap all by himself.

It's funny how you can be soooo stressed out about some ongoing problem for so long, and then all of a sudden, the problem is resolved, and you have no stress. Besides, of course, the credit card that has been exhausted, and the looming monthly payments on it, at least I have my independence back. That's huge!

Today is my day off, and I'm still sitting here in my pjs drinking tea. I'll do my morning crossword, work on a little craft I've been working on, watch "All my Children," and then later, "Dr. Phil." Then I'll go do some shopping and maybe make a nummy dinner. It's a relaxing day. Kelly and I went to a friend's for cocktails on the weekend, and, I'm just not 20 years old anymore. I need some recovery time now. LOL

2008-03-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Bloggers! Long time no blog! LOL I can't believe my last post was over a month ago! Where does the time go? I'm pondering what I should blog about...There are a few options, but the one that affected me the deepest may not be suitable. Oh well, I'll throw it out there...

About three years ago, I got a part time job at the beauty supply store that I shop at. After working only five shifts, I knew I would be miserable if I continued. The manager was probably the most unhappy person I have ever encountered, and she took it out on everyone around her. The employees, the customers, even her little 6 year old son. She was rude, impatient, and disrespectful. One day, I was working the till, and I had a computer question for her. She was in the back room, and I couldn't leave a lineup of people standing there with the till unattended, so I did what I saw everyone else do countless times. I sort of yelled to the back for her to come and help me. I had been employed by them about two weeks, but I had only worked five shifts and the computer program they were using was way more complicated than it had to be. So anyway, the manager...who we'll call Michelle...cuz that's her name, came to the front and began to reprimand me for interrupting her phone call. Well, I guess I embarrassed her by asking her in front of the customers what I should do in the future in this same situation. Well she spat out that I should just figure it out, or wait till she was finished on the phone. Well, I had said, "so I should leave the customers waiting while you finish your call?"

Well that was a big mistake. Later that day, she called me into the back room and ripped me a new one until I was welling up with tears. That's when I knew that I couldn't be happy working there. She was just so mean.

The beauty is, I already had my job as a hairdresser, so I didn't need this one. So I called her on the phone the next day and when she answered I said, "I won't be coming back to work for you because I think you need psychiatric help." I know, I'm cheeky, but she was a mean person.

After this happened, I started shopping at another branch of the same store. Unfortunately, her store closed down the following year, and she was transferred to the one I had started shopping at. Not as the manager, though. Just a lowly worker like I was. So for the last two years, every time I go in there, she is cold, rude, and unprofessional. I mean, I know what I said was cheeky, but quite some time had passed, so get over it. You know what I mean? So last week I went in, smiled at her (trying to keep things friendly) and even said hello. I'm thinking surely to God she isn't still mad after three years! She does not smile back and certainly no hello. She rings my order through, and shoves the bag in my direction and turns away. Well I'm just sick of this. I've been shopping there for 12 years. So this is the dialog:

Me: Well thank you for that great customer service and warmth. And then I walk away toward the exit. Then I hear her say

Michelle: Oh, you're just the same F**king b**ch you've always been!

Me in complete shock: I beg your pardon?

Michelle: I don't have to listen to this (and turns away)

Me: I AM a customer here, you know!

Michelle: I don't give a s**t WHO you are!

Note: there are other customers and employees in the store, and she's yelling across the store to me! I was so floored and caught off guard, I started to shake and sweat!

Me: It's been...(this is where she interrupts me to say...)

Michelle: Take that (gives me the finger) b**ch!

By this time, I'm so upset, I can't even think straight. I just wanted to blurt out the first thing that I could come up with. I wish it was more cleaver...I wish it had some wit...I wish it was more intelligent...I wish it was something that I could be proud of, but my emotions took me over and what flew out of my mouth was...

Me: TAKE THAT! (fingered her) YOU F**CKING WHORE!!!

and I stormed out of the store! I was so angry at her for saying the things she did, for interrupting me when I wanted to use intelligent argument, for inspiring such a crass response on my part, but I was possessed by my urge to hurt her.

On the drive home, my emotions were so mixed. A big part of me was so upset, I was still shaking and felt like bursting into tears! A small part of me wanted to laugh at how unbelievable what I had just experienced was. I did phone the manager the next day and told her after 12 years of shopping there, I would never set foot in that place again as long as she was there. She was shocked at what had happened (she was not there at the time) and told me Michelle was leaving that coming Wednesday. It's no wonder she felt so comfy blowing her top on me like that.

Anyway, that is what happened, and although I know I played a part in the situation, I don't care WHAT a customer says...there's no excuse for that kind of conduct. As far as I'm concerned it would be grounds for immediate dismissal. Never mind waiting til her last day. To be honest, I'm just glad I never have to see her face again. Frankly, I'm not a violent person, but that day, I wanted to punch her teeth down her throat.

Oh, and to top it off my car overheated on the way home...sigh.

The whiteboard

2008-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

My family is definitely on the "artistic" side. One example of this is the rather fair sized white board we have hanging in our kitchen for important information. Well what could be more important than expressing one's creativity?

This is our white board. As you can see, we started with the best intentions of having Ali's work schedule at the top...then it all went downhill.

The duck was just a doodle by Alicia. I just like the expression on his face.

Then, for some reason, she drew this paranoid booberry...looks a little stressed.

Then she really got creative and made the "loo berry," followed by my personal favorite...the "moo berry."

Of course, the n Kelly had to throw his two cents in with the "shoo berry" and so Alicia went with the "Atchoo berry!" Then she went "screw berry," which could have been way
worse. .. such as Her "poo berry, " and Kelly's "Jew berry!" How un P.C!

Well, you knew I was going to add my own little something, so I went with the "spew berry." How many things rhyme with "blue" anyway?!? This last one, Alicia was grasping at straws with the "glue berry."
They can't all be masterpieces, I guess. LOL.

Sigh....There's no room left...we're gonna have to wipe it down and start again with something new and equally inane. Take care blogging buds!

2008-02-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

So my car met it's new mechanic the other day. We had it towed to this guy who came highly recommended by a client of mine. It was the weirdest thing...we took it in, we waited until the next day, we gave him some money, and we drove away in my running, heated car. It was so smooth. sigh.

Well, there was one day that I had to travel by bus to the beauty supply store. I had no choice. Kelly was going to take me, but his car crapped out on the side of the road the night before. Can you believe our luck? Anyway, don't even get me started on that.

I was chatting with a client about my bus experience (two buses there, and two buses back, but whose counting?) and she told me a funny bus story about her friend.

This girl gets on the bus one day, and takes an empty seat to rest her bones. She glances around the bus half noticing that there are some people standing, even though there were a few empty seats. "mmmmmm, I smell parmigiana cheese," she thinks to herself as she ponders dinner possibilities. "I think I'll have pasta tonight."
Coming out of her thoughts, the girl looks down at her feet to discover she's had them sitting in barf for the entire bus ride.

LOL! Isn't that hilarious? I was laughing out loud while typing it. Poor thing will never be able to have parmigiana again without associating it with some strangers barf.

I got squashed playing squash!

2008-01-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

OUCH! I should have gotten a picture before it started to heal when it was all swollen and purple. It was my own fault for standing too close to my opponent as she tried to return one of my shots in squash. I'm glad I got a shiner, though...I figure if I'm gonna get whacked in the head with a squash raquette, I bloody well want some evidence that I was injured. How else will everyone know to give me sympathy!?! LOL

Anyhoo, ya know how I was all pissed about my car having no heat since I had it in the shop? Well I took Alicia out for a driving lesson yesterday. Half way through, I was going to get her to venture into another neighborhood, and asked her if she had her drivers license with her. OOPS! She forgot about that, so we went home to get it before we could continue. We parked the car, ran in for her license, and by the time we got back outside, it wouldn't start! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! I think my head spun around three times!

So I was in a foul mood yesterday...foul.

On a lighter note, I had to share this story a client told me recently. I thought it was funny.
So one night, my client, "C" was in bed, waiting for her teen aged daughter to return home from wherever she was. It was getting late, and she was drifting in and out of sleep. When she awoke in the middle of the night and her daughter still wasn't home, she called her on her cel phone. She heard a groggy voice answer and she started freaking out on the girl. "Where are you!" she demanded. The girl's voice replied sleepily, "I'm in bed. Who is this?"
"It's your mother! Who do you think? And don't give me that! I know you are not in your room, I was just up there! Now tell me right now where you are!"
"I'm in bed!" she said, getting defensive, but still with a sleepy, bewildered tone. The girl was clearly confused. So my client demanded she get her ass home and hung up.

To be honest, I don't remember the part of the story that revealed where the daughter was....I was too busy laughing at the fact that "C" had dialed the wrong number, and thought she was talking to her daughter, when she was, in fact, yelling at some unsuspecting girl who she woke up in the middle of the night! I have the most vivid imagination, I can picture the girl being woken up out of a deep sleep, by some psycho mama on a mission! "C" was so embarrassed when she realized what she'd done! LOL

I love the part of my job that allows me to hear stories like this. There's never a dull moment when you are chatting with so many different people throughout the day.

2008-01-21T11:13:00.001-08:00

Hey folks. It is a bright and sunny day here in beautiful BC, though it's pretty darn chilly. I've been in a fairly foul mood lately, which is probably why I can't decide on a color or style for my hair. I just hacked off about 7 inches and highlighted it. Change always cheers me up.

My car has been in the shop for two weeks now, and my mechanic doesn't listen to a word I say. I'm seriously irritated and feeling trapped at home. Kelly just called me saying he talked to the mechanic and told him we are going to pick up the car tonight regardless of whether or not it's done. I brought the thing in before Christmas because it was leaking coolant. A week and a half later he finally finished fixing it, and when I got it back, it had no heat! So I waited until after New years and brought it back, explaining to him that there was no heat since he had it. Well, a week and a half later he's saying he doesn't know what's wrong with it, so maybe I should buy one of those plug into the lighter kind of heaters. Well, talking to his son later, I found out that he thought I had NEVER had heat and was unaware that I did have heat before he got his hands on it. HELLO! I told him that 5 times! So then he wanted to take another look at it, which took a few more days. Ugh! So now we're just gonna go get it and take it somewhere else. What a pain in the ass.

Meantime, I've thrown out my neck, been on antibiotics for a painful bladder infection, AND had a very sore throat with swollen glands! I need a vacation. Anyway, enough of my whining. I just needed to purge myself of these negative feelings. Now, I must go and enjoy the rest of my day off. It's almost 12, so I'm gonna watch my soap opera (All My Children) I've watched it since I was a fetus (or listened to it.) It's not really that good, just comfortable and familiar. Maybe I'll fix a snack, too...

Merry Christmas Bloggers!

2007-12-28T14:26:00.001-08:00

Hello Bloggers! I was just reading my comments and I feel so bad for neglecting my blog! Now that all the chaos has passed, i will have more time to post and to read your posts. I won't lie...I haven't even looked at blogs for a month now. (oh yeah...and I'm brunette now;))

As I'm sure you all were, we've been busy preparing for the big day. Making the gingerbread house...

decorating the Christmas tree...

And preparing for company! My brother and his wife came on the 22nd with my gorgeous little niece, Sophia. Isn't she the cutest thing you ever did see? She has been the object of my affections since she came into the world 3 months ago. Adorable!!!

So Christmas morning my family came over and ate my sister Sheryl's yummy breakfast that she makes every year. Then we did prezzies followed by an afternoon of appetizers and goodies. Then in the afternoon, Kelly's family came over and we had dinner for 18 people. Kelly made some extra large table tops to affix atop our table in conjunction with my sis Sheryl's dining room table. The result was a 16 foot long 4 foot wide table!
Above is my brother Dennis, Kelly's parents and his uncle.

LOL Here's Kelly after opening a sweater I got him. So cute.

Here's Alicia with a couple of her prezzies and Sheryl in the background enjoying a champagne and OJ. mmmmmmmm.

Above is Kelly's Aunt and Uncle recovering from a hefty meal and below is my mom and dad sharing a squeeze.

Here's Sheryl and Kelly's Grandma Leona.

Then My brother Mike, his wife Glenda, and of course our little angel Sophia!

Last but not least, Kelly's cuz Ryan, Alicia, Kelly's nephew Christian, and his other cuz Adrea goofing off for the camera. Work it!

Unfortunately it was Anastasia's year to be with her mom, but she's coming tonight to spend the weekend and New years with us. she'll open countless gifts and then on new years eve we'll have a little birthday party for her. She turns 10 on Jan 2nd. More family over...more food to be eaten...more chaos...more fun!

I hope your Christmas was as joyful as mine, and to all of you a huge New years hug! Take care all!

Moulin Rouge

2007-11-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

So I went to this party last weekend that had a Moulin Rouge theme. I know Penny was commenting that I should get off of face book and get blogging, but now that she can see my face book profile, she's gonna know everything I'm writing about before I write it! LOL Anyway, everyone was all fish nets and corsets and it was really cute.

Rrrooowwwr! lol Saucy!

That was the weekend before Halloween. So on Halloween, we just stayed home and handed out candy to the dozen or two disinterested kids who came to the door. It's a fading tradition.

Alicia went and hung out with friends dressed as a doll.
Very cute!

Other than that, I've been insanely busy organizing the new place and painting my butt off. My Uncle John (Mom's brother) was in town, so he and my mom spent the night last night, making it easier to get to the airport on time this morning. So Kelly and I wanted to get the main areas of the place painted before the family came over. Phew! What a job!

I am finding it harder and harder to find the time to post these days, and to read my favorite blogs. I'm not giving it up, though! I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I can't post as often as I want to and just do it when I can. On that note, I'm going to read a few of my faves right now. Take care, all!

2007-10-16T11:26:00.001-07:00

OK, so I was just looking back at some of the posts that I've missed while I was moving or sick, and I came across my Uncle Curtis' post about the "Nice Matters Award." What a nice idea that had been passed onto him from another blogger. I also noticed that Herman had a similar post in which I was mentioned. So I guess the five people who they chose to give this prestigious award to are now meant to pick five people that they would like to pass it on to. So here it goes in no particular order:

First I would like to give the award right back to Curtis. Honestly, he is a big teddy bear. He stood by my Aunt through illness and stayed by her side until she passed away. He loved her enough to follow her wishes, and now is left to pick up the pieces of his life without her. He always has encouraging words for people who need to hear them and has so much compassion for them. Also, he has a kick ass sense of humor.

Second, I will bestow this honorable award to Herman, who is a very sweet man. He has taken the time to send me extensive instructions when I have had trouble with my blog. He is encouraging and compassionate and I think has a huge heart. Herman is always eager to befriend fellow bloggers and help them in any way he can, and has been a true friend to me, and my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Curtis.

The third award I would like to pass on, is to my late Aunt Ellen. You all know how I feel about her from my previous posts. She was a wonderful woman whom I loved very much. I know she's looking down on Curtis and all of the wonderful people who cared for her, and if she's got any pull at all up there, she's putting in a good word.

The fourth award goes to Penny, who is just a sweet heart. She is always happy for people when they do well or have good fortune and is caring when they don't. She has a great sense of humor, and has a way of making a person feel missed when they aren't around as much, without putting pressure on. Even when times are tough for her, she still has room in her heart for others.

Last, but far from least, is Susan. Susan has a great family who enjoy each other's company. She has been there to help her sister back up after she spiraled down a dangerous path in her life. She is a continuous source of support to her niece, Kayla, who has been battling cancer for some time now. Susan really seems to love the beauty in life, anywhere from taking the perfect shot of a mountain side, to enjoying a boisterous meal with a house full of relatives.

I could go on and on about these five and many more wonderful people I've had the privilege to cross paths with. But rules are rules and I always follow the rules...snicker snicker. Now these five , with the exception of those who have already done it, can pass it along to five more super nice people.

Baby Sophia

2007-10-15T11:04:00.001-07:00

This is my little niece, Sophia. I know, I know...she's adorable! She's saying, " I can't wait to see my Auntie Sharon on Wednesday."

Here's my brother, proud as punch of this little peanut, and my SIL lookin hot-hot-hot after having a baby!

Just wanted to include a few pics of this gorgeous little girl and her happy parents. Can't wait to see them!

busybusybusy

2007-10-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hey blogging peeps.
Man, it's hard to keep up with everything sometimes. I haven't forgotten you guys, though.
After the move, I got knocked on my butt by a flu bug. So here I am, in total nesting mode, and I can't do a thing without completely exhausting myself or sending myself into a coughing frenzy. Thank God for Otravin (nasal spray) cuz if I had to mouth breathe my way through the week I would be ready to go on a shooting spree right now. My problem is that I have to nest after moving or I don't feel like it's home. So I'm the type that wants to surprise Kelly and Alicia by hauling the sectional outside, up the back stairs and into a cozy spot in the living room before they get home. I'm sure that helped the impending flu. Anyway, I'm feeling much better now, despite the 15 minutes of hacking I do first thing in the morning. And it's a good thing, too, because this Wednesday, I'm going to Whitehorse (The Yukon Territory) to visit my brother, his wife, and their brand new baby, Sophia.
I'm a thirty five year old youngest of four children with a seventeen year old daughter, and I'm the only one from our family who has produced offspring. I've waited a long time to be an Auntie and I am over the moon to have a little baby in the family. It means we get Santa back, and the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy and all of the other wonderful things that come with a little one. When we found out the gender of the baby a couple of months ago, the nurse said she would give about a 90% chance of it being a girl. So I ran out and O.D.ed on pink dresses and frilly overalls, and little denim dresses with leggings...it goes on. Obviously in the back of my mind I considered the 10% chance that it was a boy, but I thought I'd roll the dice on that. I kept saying, though, "This is either gonna be one well dressed little girl, or one screwed up little boy!"
Anyway, I'll be going away on the 17th for 5 days. I'm really looking forward to it, but at the same time, I'm gonna miss Kelly and Alicia somethin' fierce! We've already got a calling card so we can chat every day. LOL. Alicia was saying the other day how she and her boyfriend were out of that "honeymoon phase" now that they've been together almost two years. Here Kelly and are are, still all googley eyed and dreading being apart for a few days. LOL
Anyway, there's no shortage of things to do around here, so I better get to it.

THE MOVE

2007-10-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't written for a while, but we've been moving all week. The problem was, I had painted my entire place that I was moving out of, and had to repaint before I left. Wow. I've never in my life been so pooped. cleaning, painting, hauling furniture...thank God we are officially out of there as of yesterday. we went to do the walk through yesterday and the manager was all, 'the oven is not clean enough.' well I scrubbed and scrubbed and I could not get another thing off! so he gives me this oven cleaner and Kelly and I go back to work scrubbing the damned oven. Well, in my enthusiasm for getting it done and getting the hell out of there once and for all, I let a couple of drops of this oven cleaner splash up onto my arm. two minutes later when I went to wipe it off, my skin comes off with it! Can't believe how strong this stuff is, but I guess it stands to reason since it took the grease out of the oven fairly easily, when I couldn't chisel the stuff out without it. bit of a duuuh on my part, but the oven...you could eat out of! So now that I'm back on line and completely moved, I can resume real life activities such as posting on my blog and reading the delightful posts of my blogging buddies. got some catching up to do!

Our camping trip

2007-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Kay, so you know how we went camping for labor day weekend, right? Well our biggest mistake was trying to drive to Harrison Hot Springs, which is normally about two hours away, on the Friday, when everyone else in the free world is going camping. We left here at about 2:30 to make our way into Langley, where my sister works. I had to stop at her work on the way out to grab a part for her bbq that I was borrowing. So it took us about an hour and 25 minutes to get there, when it would normally take about 45 minutes that time of day. Brutal. After that we made our way into Chillowack to do our grocery shopping and then pick up Anastasia. That took forever as well. The traffic was a nightmare and we were starting to worry about getting there after dark. Well after our shopping, stopping at walmart for an extra tarp, and picking up the rug-rat, we arrived at the campsite at around 8:30 at night! We had to shine our headlights on our site so we could put up the kids tent, fill the air bed, make their beds, put up our little dome tent, fill it with our junk, and then make a bed for Kelly and me in the back of the van. Phew! What an ordeal! Needless to say, it was happy hour after that.

Apparently, the night before we arrived, my buddies that we were meeting up there got reprimanded a couple of times for their loud partying. So the park security was hovering around a little. This one guy who worked security, Jim, actually stopped by after his shift for a beer. He warned us of the bears and how to react if one wanders into the campsite. He advised us about different breads of bear and their dispositions. he talked about food storage and how to protect our coolers and seemed really knowledgeable. Then he went on to say that there were big foots living in the park...hmmm.... so I say, "wow, Jim, you know a lot about this stuff...how long have you worked here?" And he says...wait for it..."A month and a half" LOL I almost fell out of my chair! It was so funny that this guy only just started working there. we were all expecting him to say 30 years or something. what a hoot. I just had to get a picture with Jim...

LOL anyhoo, we went to the beach the next day and played in the sand. Alicia drew in her sketch book and made a sand sculpture truck.

Kelly blew up a floaty for Anastasia to play with (you have to click on this picture to see the look on his face. too cute.) and, I gotta tell you, that little girl can take the cold water. It was pretty darn chilly but you wouldn't know it by how she jumped in.

OUCH! I stubbed my food and now it's all swollen!

Arrrrrggghhh I'm a monster with a claw foot!!!

Okay, so we got a little silly playing in the sand. LOL

And of course we played guitar in the evening and sang by the camp fire. Alicia is getting so good on that guitar and sings so nicely, it brings me to tears every time.

That's my girl.

So the following day we cleaned up our site, played a little badminton, dropped Anastasia off at home and made our way back to our little townhouse in Richmond. It only took a couple of hours to get home cuz we left on the Sunday rather than the Monday when all the other suckers were stuck in traffic. It was fun...but now I'm in moving mode.

I hope you all had a great long weekend! I gotta go do some packing now!

Hey Y'all!

2007-09-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hey blogging buds! sorry I've been so stinkin' busy these days I haven't had time to post. Moving is still in the works, car problems, taking up my time...I will get my poop together though, and resume blogging. right now I'm in the middle of a set of highlights, so I cant write much. I'll be back soon.

Good Bye my Beautiful Aunt

2007-08-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the time came this morning, for my beautiful Aunt Ellen to leave this world. My dad's baby sister has gone to heaven. There is such a sadness in my heart today. My only consolation is that she is finally free of the fear and the pain and the sickness. My grief is partly selfish that I got to know her so late in the game and didn't have the benefit of her presence in my life until I was all grown up. And then for such a short time. My grief is greatly for my dad, who loves her so much and will cry for his baby sis. It's greatly for Curtis, who loved her better than anyone ever could and will cry for his sweetie pie. It's for Ellen who lost her life so young and will not grow old with the love of her life. It's for the whole world, who whether they know it or not, has lost a precious treasure. One that gave love and compassion for everyone, and saw beauty in every day things. One that had magic in her words and got pleasure out of giving to others. She will always be in my heart, for evermore, and every good thing I ever do again will be in her name.

Summer Fun

2007-08-13T14:18:00.001-07:00

Here are my two little sweeties at the skating rink.

I decided it would be nice to take the girls and have a little fun. I was pretty impressed at their abilities. I had Alicia skating since she was 2, but it's been a while and she still does pretty darn well. Anastasia has been a few times, but was really brave about letting go of the scooter (basically a walker on ice) and going it alone.

We managed to get out of there with very few injuries, which is a good thing, because the next day we went to Play land!!! This first one is on the scrambler. We tried to ham it up a titch whenever we spun close to Kelly, who was ready and waiting for the photo ops!

Here are our girls during the mini golf portion of our day. Fore!!!

Things started getting a little competitive at the golf course. Everybody wants to be Tiger Woods!Okay, you two...simmer down! LOL

Typical Dad ends up carrying everything. LOL I have the cutest little family!

Hey, how did I get roped into this!!!????!!!???

This one cracks me right up! This was on the big wooden coaster that has been at Playland for a few decades. I love it, obviously...

This one is on the last ride of the day...the log ride...should have been called the "sog ride" cuz you get soggy on it. It is basically a roller coaster in water...great for a hot day. Is it just me or is this picture hilarious!

We had so much fun we ended up staying for 7.5 hours! We played games and won stuffies, we ate warm mini donuts and burgers, we went on every ride we wanted to (for Kelly that was one ride and then he got queezy...snicker snicker)we played mini golf, and just had a really fun time.

this is one of my favorite pictures from our day at Playland. It was taken by a stranger that was behind us in the mini golf. He was all long black hair and piercings in his face, but the boy takes a great picture! I think I'll have this one framed. To me, it's the perfect picture from the perfect day.

2007-08-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

I wrote this post when I first started my blog. My beautiful Aunt is so sick now, that she can't write in her blog anymore. She can't get out of bed without help. I know she's leaving us and sometimes I feel very logical about it, as though I've mentally prepared. But after reading Curtis' last two posts, I realize that there is no way to prepare. I sit here broken hearted, tears falling and just feel sick. I reread all about the crane project and cried my eyes out. So many people love this wonderful woman. She's an angel on Earth.

This is my beautiful Aunt Ellen, who has inspired me to start blogging. My first recollection of her was at her first wedding when I was about 7 years old. After that, I didn't see her again until last summer when she came to visit us in BC.
My Aunt Ellen has an energy about her that just makes me want to stop and smell the roses. I read her blogs daily to keep up with her thoughts and feelings, and she just makes me wish I could be near her. It's funny how you can see some relatives and wonder where the heck the genetic connection is. With her, I instantly felt a kinship. I felt like I was talking to a long lost sister rather than an aunt. This picture was taken the day she left BC. I had said my goodbyes the night before, but ran back over to my parents' house the next morning to catch her before she and her wonderful husband Curtis left. The reason, to get this picture.
As I mentioned in my last entry, my sis, my daughter and I made a calendar for my dad last year for Fathers Day. The calendar featured my dog Frisky in various costumes representing a significant event or holiday for each month. I figured, what could be more significant for that month than her visit with us?
My Aunt has been suffering with some pretty heavy medical issues in the last couple of years. Cancer is so cruel. It can take away so much, and yet she always seems to have time, energy, and concern for others. Just reading her blogs shows me that. Seeing the concern and love that pours onto her from former students, fellow bloggers, and friends is a direct indication of how many lives she has touched and continues to touch each day. She's a truly lovely person with an obvious passion (and skill) for writing stories of her childhood, and of daily events that can make you smile to yourself, or well up with tears.
We were all lucky enough to meet and get to know her husband Curtis as well. I rarely see a couple so much in love. It shows in the way they look at each other, talk to each other, and take care of each other. Truly inspiring to those of us who haven't found Mr. or Mrs. right just yet.
I was reading Curtis' blog the other day and my heart swelled so much I thought it would burst. He was talking about how happy it made him to see my Aunt happy, and I just thought it was the sweetest, most genuine sentiment. So heartfelt I sat there grinning from ear to ear while at the same time tears stung my eyes. Of course, I can't even get through an episode of Little house on the prairie without bawling, but still!
Anyway, I've only laid eyes on Curtis and Aunt Ellen a handful of times, but I love them both. Somehow, they move me, sap that I am.

6 comments:

ellen said...: Welcome to blogland, Sharon! I see a lot of sadness in my eyes in that photo; that's because I had to say goodbye that day to family that I love very much. Distance doesn't diminish that; it only seems to intensify it.

I've added you to my blogroll, so I hope you get a few visitors from time to time; my little blog community consists of wonderful, warm folk from all over the planet.

Love you tons.; 5:48 AM
Herman Verbrugge said...: What a wonderfull thoughts you have about your aunt and her husband Curtis. And how well did you describe these two nice people as a relative. I certainly will read your blog as Ellen encouraged us to do. I write sometimes a few words because my English is not so good. But I assure you I will read your blog. And I also add you to my Blogroll, maybe it will help to get some comments from Holland. OK?
All the best from:
Herman; 7:16 AM
Penny in NH said...: Hi Sharon:
I too am a cyber friend of Ellen and Curtis. I look forward to reading your blog as well.
Penny in NH; 10:54 AM
Penny Halston said...: Welcome to our part of the blogworld. I started my blog as a result of getting to know Ellen through my daughter, who was a past student of hers. You are fortunate to be related to such a wonderful person. Amen to everything you said. I don't have time to link you right now, but when I get a moment, I'd love to add you to my blogroll.; 2:26 PM
Kim said...: Welcome Sharon! Your aunt is an incredible woman and like you, both her and Curtis move a lot of us. I look forward to reading your blog.

Kim; 3:31 PM
TheFunkyCowboy said...: Ellen is a true sweetheart of a person and can see that this blog of yours will be just as enlightening and entertaining as Ellen is - must be something in the family genes; 11:19 AM

The Vancouver Zoo

2007-08-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Warning! Dangerous animal! Do not tease or touch!

Well yesterday was pretty overcast, so there was no beach for me! I took most of the week off to hang out with Anastasia while Kelly was at work. She's with us for about ten days, so we thought we'd do some fun, adventurous things. Yesterday we went to the Vancouver Zoo. It's about an hour and fifteen minutes from my house, but it's well worth it. The place is huge and is constantly being improved. A couple of years ago I was there with a friend and, as we walked by the hippo enclosure, we marveled at the bravery of two zoo workers who were getting dangerously close to a hippo that was soaking in a pool of water. The next day in the news, it was reported that one of the hippos had died. That explained the bravery. Anyway, after an investigation, it came out that the conditions that the hippos were living in bordered on abusive and were most certainly neglectful.

Well, after all the finger pointing and threats to the zoo, there has been massive improvements that are ongoing and the hippo's enclosure is now a haven for these guys.

Here's the little lioness sunning herself with the girls.

It's hard to see in this pic, but I think these were the baboons. I just liked the pic cuz it's a nice one of this rare "blue haired booger nugget."

So for today's' adventure Alicia, Anastasia, and I will be off to the arena to go ice skating. Stay tuned for the riveting photographic evidence of our day! LOL

Summer Rocks!

2007-08-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

One chilly evening at the beach, we asked a passer by to snap a picture of us. We laughed and laughed when we viewed the pic because it looks like it was taken from three miles away and it may or may not actually be us.

Since Kelly has freakishly long arms, he's able to take pics of us himself. lol.

It's such a nice beach and less than a half hour drive, so we love going as often as possible. As the sun goes down, the sky looks so pretty. It is a little vacation for us every time we go.

Tonight, Anastasia comes to stay with us for the week, and I'm taking most of the week off, so I'm hoping for great weather so I can take her and Alicia to the beach. I love Summer.

I love summer!

2007-08-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, clearly I'm going to suck this summer for blogging. Kelly and I have been hangin out on the beach every day this week after work. There's just no time! I'm so behind on keeping up with my reading, too, I can only hope everyone is slowing down right now. I've got some pictures we took on Kelly's phone that haven't made it onto the computer yet, but when they do, I'll post them. we are so incredibly lucky to live in a place where a 25 minute drive gets you to a sandy, sunny beach. Anyway, between our summer outings and preparing to move, there are just not enough hours in the day. I'm gonna write my M.P. and ask if we can't maybe tack a few extra hours onto the end of each day. LOL! If only it was that easy. Anyway, sorry I suck so bad at posting. I'm sure after the summer when it's gray and rainy I'll get my game on. Take care all!

Good News!

2007-07-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Y'know my salon is in the house my parents rent, right? Well my parents have decided to move and buy a place of their own, so they found a really nice townhouse and I'm really happy for them. Because of this new developement, I have had to look at my options. Plan "A" was to appeal to my parents' landlords and see if they would let Kelly and I take over the rent. Plan "B" was to find a job at a salon and work like a normal person, and plan "C" was to start looking for a job at a hairdressing school as a teacher. Well, my folks spoke to the landlords, who have agreed to rent the place to Kelly and I. Yaaaaay!!! This is great news to me. A bigger place, the salon right downstairs, and I get to keep the business I have been building for the past 10 years. I'm a happy camper.

Anyway, now I'm starting to pack, paint the walls back to white (yuck) and bring boxes over every time I go to my parents' place. I'm pretty busy, so I'm not gonna be on my game with the blog for the next couple of months. I'm still gonna post, but it seems hard for me to get more than a post or two a week at best. Moving is so busy, I want to get as much done in the next couple of months as I can. That way life is easier when moving day comes.
Anyway, gotta go do some hair!

Aaaahhhhh Summer

2007-07-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I had a bitchy friend named Theresa. She was really moody...like when you'd sleep over at her house, you'd wake up at a reasonable time, and she'd sleep until one in the afternoon. Then when you were about to starve to death, so you'd try and wake her, she'd rip your head off.

So one day, we decided to actually get up at a reasonable hour, get ready, hop on a bus, and go to our favorite beach in Vancouver. We had planned to meet some friends there, but wanted to get a good log to set up beside, so we headed off before anyone else did. We got to the beach and found the perfect log close to the water and fairly close to the concession stand. After laying out our towels and blankets, we lay down to catch some rays. Aaaaaaahhhhh, I've always been a sucker for the sun. At the idiotic age we were, we had no regard for the damage it could cause, so we slathered ourselves up really well with lots of baby oil, and both of us drifted off into a deep sleep.

When I opened my eyes, the sun had moved over quite a bit. How long had I been sleeping, I wondered. I looked down at myself to see that I had been sleeping long enough to get a nasty sunburn. Looking over at my friend, I noticed that she was still laying on her tummy sawing logs, but had a towel thrown over her diagonally covering about a third of her back. I gingerly lifted a corner to see the contrast between the blinding white skin under the towel and the bright lobster red skin that had been exposed to the sun for God knows how many hours. Yikes! I tried to gently wake her by saying her name...then I shook her shoulder and said her name a little louder. On the third try, she didn't open her eyes, but she did screech, "Leave me alone!" When I tried again, she screeched something starting with an "F" and ending with an "OFF!"

By this time, I had just about had enough of he temper, so I did what anyone would do. I carefully replaced the towel diagonally on her back so that it lined up exactly with the crisp line that the raging burn had created, put some sunscreen on my own burn, so as not to let it burn further, and went to the concession stand for a nice ice cream cone. Sweet dreams Theresa...

Needless to say, the girl suffered pretty severely for her bitchiness. She agonized over her burn for a week, and then peeled like an onion. LOL Not to mention the fact that she looked ridiculous with a diagonal line across her back, one side so red it was almost purple, and the other white as snow. You know, on the way home from the beach she was sitting in one of the courtesy seats and I was sitting in a seat right beside them when a little old lady got on the bus. She looked at Theresa who quickly spat out, "I'm not giving up MY seat!" So I gave her mine. She just never learned that nothing good comes of being so bitchy!

Oh FYI, my burn turned into a nice golden tan. Hmmmm. karma? Perhaps.

our busy weekend

2007-07-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here's Kelly and I just before going to his friend's wedding. Alicia took this picture of us outside our townhouse.

These ones are Alicia and Anastasia at the salmon festival here in Richmond on Canada day. It was a lot of fun, just watching them goof off together.
It was a nice warm day, in fact, Anastasia needed some fresh air on the way home.

That morning I had colored Anastasia's hair blue. She's funky.

We had such a busy weekend, on Saturday we went to the mall in the morning, a wedding in the evening, and then a party that night. Then Sunday we were at the Salmon fest, and then we had to take the round trip from here to Victoria on the ferry to bring Kelly's little one home. So Monday was a nothing day and I loved it. We slept in late, hung out around the house, had a little visit with my sis, and then came home and watched a movie. We borrowed "the lake house" from Kelly's mom and dad...it stunk. No more time to write, I'm afraid. I've been on the computer for a while now, so I'd better get something done today. LOL.

LOL

2007-07-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

My bad, my bad! LOL
Sorry guys, I just haven't had time to post lately. I feel much better now about the ball thing. It's really the farthest thing from my mind. Kelly and I have been in the process of moving him in with Alicia and me. It's so weird that I've been so commitment-phobic for so long, and then I meet Kelly and 4 months later we're shackin' up! I'm really happy, though and it feels so comfy and right.
Anyhoo, we took the girls to our local Canada Day festival on Sunday and blew about a million dollars on an ice cream each, a drink each, and putting Alicia and Anastasia on a couple of rides. The crowd makes you want to go postal, too, but ya gotta go into these things expecting it to be hot and crowded. Then you're typically left with one or two tickets, which get you on nothing, so you either have to buy more tickets or give your extras away. Hmmmm...I think I'll stand in the ticket line again so I can stand in a ride line again...NOT! LOL so I handed my remaining tickets over to the nearest stranger and we made a break for it. I have to say we did great on the parking. Just slid right in there, no probs.
So anyway, it really was a nice day and we all had fun, in spite of my ramblings. I hope you all did too! I have a couple of stories bangin' around in my head, so next time I'll post one of them. Take care!

I'm so pissed

2007-06-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so pissed off, so I'm gonna use you guys to vent my frustration. I've been playing on my baseball team for ten years now. When Drew and I started dating the first time, he would come out as a spectator, and eventually he began to play for the team. Then when we broke up, he stopped coming out to ball. Well, after a season or two, Drew started coming out to watch again, and then, again, he rejoined the team. That was when we decided to try being in a relationship again. As you all know, due to his inability to be honest in a relationship, it fell apart and ended after about 7 months. Okay, so that's the back ground information.

When I began the season this year, I was told that Drew didn't want to play because of what had happened between us, but his friends were urging him to shake it off and come out anyway. So he ended up playing for the team after all.

So I've found it very awkward this year because he's made some good friends on the team, so now the team seems very divided. Nobody is mean to me or anything, but if Kelly and I are on one side of the field, Drew and his posse are on the other. If Kelly and I wander over to hang out, Drew wanders away, followed by all his friends, leaving Kelly and I standing there together. This is getting so uncomfortable, I'm not having fun anymore. I told the team manager that I will play in the games if they are short females, but if they don't need me, I'm staying home. I don't want to leave them in the lurch, but at the same time, it really sucks to feel so excluded.

Now I'm just finding out that we're having our baseball team party, but I haven't heard a thing about it. Like, excuse me, I'm not invited to my team party? It's being held at the home of a good friend of Drew's so I guess this is Drew's team now, and not mine. So why the hell should I care if they need me or not? I just want to quit and be done with it. I almost burst into tears on the field when my "friend" who's on the team told me about the party. The fact is, I'm going to a wedding the day of the party, and I have an invitation from another friend to go for drinks at her place that night, so I couldn't have gone to the baseball party anyway. But "ouch" it stings that I'm being left out like this. Am I in Junior high again? And how did the entire team manage to keep it so hush-hush about the party? Like, don't talk about it around Sharon, she's not invited. But we'll use her to fill a spot on the team so we have enough girls.

Anyway, I'm so done with this crap. They can stuff it.

Clean livin'

2007-06-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Kiki, who lives in Greece, and I did a lot of things together as kids and as teens. I'll never forget when we decided to start exercising at the local swimming pool. They had this aerobics class that we signed up for with all the best intentions.

Now Kiki's Dad was a pretty strict guy, so he insisted on driving us too and from the pool to make sure that we were actually going where she said we were. That was no problem, since we had every intention of going to the class and becoming a couple of hard bodies.

We hopped out of the back seat of Mr. Kyrmizoglou's car...yeah, I know...Kyrmizoglou...and made our way to the aerobics room. We found a spot and watched as the instructor set up. Shortly after, the class began. We dipped, we kicked, we flexed, we pushed, we pulled. We stretched...pant...we repeated...pant, pant...we stepped...wheeze...we crunched...cough...pant...we looked at the clock to find we'd only been there for 10 minutes!

I glanced over in my friend's direction to see that she was looking at me with pain in her eyes. She goes, "do you want to go to MacDonald's?"

So needless to say, we were out the door and across the street scarfing burgers and fries within minutes! Of course we had to make it back in time for her father to see us walk out of the front door of the pool, but that was no probs! By the time his car pulled up in front of the building, we were strolling through the double doors looking like we'd just had the workout of our lives.

Aaaaah, nothing like cleeeeaaaan livin! That was the best Macworkout I've ever had!!!

Just some stuff

2007-06-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

So I had my parents and Kelly's parents over for dinner on Saturday so they could meet. It went really well, though it was pretty much the hottest day we've had this year so far. Maybe not the best day to have lasagna in the oven for an hour. We had two fans going and all the doors and windows in the house open. The lasagna was nummy, by the way. We also had salad and garlic bread with cake and ice cream for dessert. mmmmmmm.

Last night we were invited to Alicia's school for awards night. Apparently she was receiving an award for something. They don't tell you what award you're getting, only that you're getting one. So it ended up to be for her visual arts class and the award was what they call a "passion for learning" award. I was a proud mama.
The person announcing the names of the recipients was the librarian of the school. Wow, talk about booooring. No oomph what so ever! Just droning on in a monotone voice, like could they have picked anyone with less enthusiasm and energy? I don't think so. It truly was like listening to one of Charley Brown's teachers...wa wa, wa wa, wa wa...

Anyway, shouldn't make fun, I guess...just kidding! Ha ha did anyone out there buy that? Shouldn't make fun...snort...aaaaahhhhh.

Anyway, I'm just doing cuts today, so it's a no brainer day. Only two more to go, and then I'm off to buy a $35 000 000 lotto ticket. Fingers crossed! Actually, my next one is in 5 minutes or so, so I guess I should wrap it up. Didn't really have anything to post about today, so forgive me for talking about nothing. LOL. Maybe next time I'll come up with something fascinating to say. Don't count on it, though. ;)

He swept me off my feet!!!

2007-05-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Kelly is the sweetest, most romantic man I've ever known. I don't want to give you all cavities, but the man is like no other man I've ever met. He lets me be myself and loves me for who I am. He's confident enough to let me take the straightening iron to his normally curly hair (He looks like he's up to no good in this picture...yup, definitely got something up his sleeve.)

...and he's trusting enough to be comfortable with me cutting his hair short. Wow, he looks different, eh? Oh my God, he's so cute no matter how he wears his hair!!!

He's a great Dad to his daughter, who obviously loves him like mad. Here they are building a lego town. I think some poor lego dude was being eaten by a lego shark when I took this.

He has a great sense of humor, which is a must for me. I enjoy laughter in my life and wouldn't last with someone who couldn't get silly. I love the fact that he can strike a balance between the child within him and being able to carry a serious conversation. Last night Alicia and I were clicking our heals together in the living room, and Kelly grabbed the camera to capture this little nugget...LOL That's a ripper!

Okay, besides how wonderful Kelly is, look how well our kids get along. These were taken at the mall. They're just like sisters. AAAAAAWWWWWWWE!!! Aren't they the cutest?

Okay, so now that I've gushed all over the place, a couple of weeks ago, Kelly and I were standing in the living room, when he suddenly took me in his big strong arms and began to slow dance with me. Isn't that so romantic? So we were swaying back and forth and I was just getting swept away. He gazed into my eyes, and then began to go in for the dip. Oooh, how fun! So as he begins to dip me, his foot slips from underneath him sending us both crashing toward the coffee table! (Just as a side note, there was a candle holder on the table that Alicia and her friends slightly broke. It just needed a little glue to reattach one of the pieces.) So, I crash into the table first, as Kelly struggles to maintain some control over the fall, and he follows me down nailing my cheek with his shoulder! We ended up totally warping the coffee table, and as for the candle holder that was in two pieces...now it's in about six pieces in the bottom of a garbage bag. If it wasn't totaled before the "dip" it most certainly was after. LOL. I know, I told you he's romantic. The great thing is, we can laugh about these crazy things. I can't believe I've found someone so perfect for me. I've never been happier, even with a bruised cheek!

Sweet sweet revenge.

2007-05-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

My brother Dennis took great pleasure, as a child, in scaring the living crap out of his siblings. He loved to hide around corners waiting for his victims to happen by and then pounce, causing his prey to have a heart attack. Dennis and my sis Sheryl had asthma and sometimes, late at night Sheryl would creep into his room to borrow his inhaler if she had run out. One night she opened his door and quietly sneaked over to his bedside table so as not to wake him, and as she slowly reached out to pick up the inhaler, Dennis' hand flew out and grab her wrist! She just about fainted. He loved that kind of stuff.

One night, as Dennis was getting ready for bed, I saw an opportunity to get him back for all the heart attacks he gave me as a child. I sneaked into his room while he was in the bathroom and quickly climbed under the covers of his unmade bed, making sure to lay in a way that looked like I was just part of the wrinkles in his covers. from under the covers, I heard Dennis enter his room. He hummed to himself as he got undressed and put his PJ's on. It was everything I could do to contain myself as he went about his routine, completely comfortable in his assumption that he was alone. I heard him make his way over to the door, and then saw the lights go out from under the blanket. He shuffled over to his bed, and as he drew the covers back, getting ready to climb in, I sat up screaming "BOOOO!!!"

Aaaaah, sweet revenge! There's nothing like it, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. I just about peed myself laughing at his reaction. It was so sweet to see the familiar terror that was usually in my eyes, but this time was in his. It only lasted a moment, but it still lives on in my memory. He was a great sport about most things growing up, and this was no exception. I could tell he could appreciate the time and patience it took to pull that off. And I was just a little snot. My sister also appreciated the prank. To this day she brings it up, smiling at the prospect of someone getting even for all the times he jumped out from behind potted plants, or just simply walked up behind an unsuspecting victim and jolted them from behind. Snicker snicker snort...Still cracks me up to think of it...

2007-05-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Man, was it that long ago that I posted last??? Wow, time just flies! Anyway, last weekend we went to Kelly's parents' house for dinner. Kelly had to help his nephew with his computer and since he and Kelly's sis live only a few doors from his folks' place, we thought we'd get together. Also, I wanted to introduce Alicia to his family, so she came along. Kelly also suggested we bring Frisky (our little dog) which I was a little apprehensive about, but went along with after a few repetitions of, "are you sure?"

Anyhoo, we had a nice dinner with Kelly's family, but for the most part, he and his nephew were a few doors down dealing with the computer issue. It was a little awkward because I could tell his Dad was tired and I felt a little like they were babysitting us while Kelly was gone. Besides that, though, they are very nice and hospitable. It just maybe wasn't the best way to introduce them to Alicia and Frisky.

Out of nowhere, Kelly's sister's dog, (thank God not Frisky) who fallows their dad around like a shadow, starts dragging her ass down the carpet, leaving a nice brown skid mark about two or three feet long. His dad was not happy. I think his exact words were, "#$%*$*&#!!!!!!" I may be mistaken, though.

After the crap had been scrubbed out of the carpet, Kelly and his nephew, Christian, came in and started wrestling in the living room. It's a small condo, and his mom was reminding them of that, but the rough housing continued. Kelly's little girl Anastasia ran to one end of the coffee table, grabbed hold, and gave it a tug to make more room. Well the thing must have been held together with Elmer's glue because it collapsed into, like, six pieces onto the living room floor, spilling all of it's contents all over. Again, dad's head almost popped off. The poor guy just wanted some peace and quiet and his house had been pooped on and his table broken.

By the time we got into the car to get home, we were all pooped. Sigh. I'm kind of pooped just posting about it. Anyway, gotta go shampoo this set of highlights.

2007-05-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

This song is one I wrote last year. Thought I'd share it with you all. I hope it works. It took for ever to upload!

Pink Flamingos

2007-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

When my sister turned 40, I wanted to do something special for her. Something that would tell the world (or the townhouse complex) that her Birthday was something to be acknowledged. So I got to work on a couple of projects. The first was a big sign that read, you guessed it, "Lordy Lordy look who's forty!" I made sure it was huge and painted with bright colors, so that all who emerged from there townhouses would see it. My next project was my favorite of the two. I took a few sheets of green foam that I had bought at the dollar store, some pink pipe cleaners, and eighty tiny googly eyes and got to work. Out of each pipe cleaner, I fashioned a perfect little pink flamingo standing on one leg. After this long job, I put a spot of glue on the bottom and poked all forty of them into the foam sheets so that they stood up. Then I glued two little eyeballs on each little flamingo. I couldn't have been more pleased with how it turned out, so on her Birthday morning I sneaked over to her door, hung the poster with some balloons, and lay the sheets of flamingos on the hood of her car, so that they would be the first thing she saw when she opened her door. She got a real kick out of that, and brought them to work to show her coworkers. One of the things that I requested of her was that she pay it forward. The next person that she knows who turns 40, she has to pass the flamingos on to and they have to do the same. I think it would be funny to see how many people will get the flamingos. Our girlfriend Daveen will be turning 40 next, so we are going to pass the little flamingos on to her next month. Sheryl was suggesting that whomever gets the little guys, write their date of birth on the bottom of the foam mats and sign it, so if they make their way around the lower mainland, people can see the journey they have had!

Ball season!!!

2007-04-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaah, ball season begins. We had our first practice on Sunday, so I had the chance to meet some of the new team members. It's funny how the ball team evolves through the years. When I started on the team, ten years ago, I was one of the youngest players and we all had kids running around. Then as the years passed, the oldest members left, and were replaced by younger ones, and our children all grew to the age that they no longer come out to watch. So for the last few years, we really haven't had many little booger-nuggets around. Now it seems to have come full circle. I'm one of the oldest on the team now, one of our players gave birth since last year, and one is pregnant! One of our newer players from last year also has a little toddler, so now she'll have other kids to play with at ball in the coming years.

Kelly and his daughter came with us to the practice. It was a beautiful sunny day. Eventually, Drew turned up and made some stupid bitter comment to me, but I don't really give a rat's ass. I tried to extend the olive branch by approaching him and greeting him, but he responded in a rude, combative way, so I left him to it. Oh well.

Other than that, life is grand. I'm in love, I have friends and family...what more could I ask for?

You're never too old to put a hole in the wall

2007-04-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

You might think that once someone grows and matures into adulthood, they leave behind the childish impulsive behaviors that separate the children from the grownups. Well, you couldn't be more wrong...

I must have been in my early twenties, if my memory serves. That would put my sister Sheryl in her late twenties. The night in question was spent at the house that belonged to the parents of the guy I was dating at the time. They were away on vacation and this guy, Bob, had been staying with them. So there we were, hanging out with my sis, his sis, and his bro in law, having dinner and some cocktails. We spent our time laughing and joking and just being light hearted until my sister had announced that she needed to visit the ladies room. To which I casually replied that I also needed to go. There was a silence...we locked eyes...and then suddenly we both jumped up and darted in the direction of the bathroom, each trying to reach the bathroom door first. I have a teeny bit of a competitive side. We tackled each other down the hall, both fighting with all our might! When we reached the bathroom, still wrestling and struggling, we slammed into the door sending it forcefully flying open with a bang. Suddenly there was silence again as we realized that we had flung the door open with such gusto, that we forced the inside doorknob right through the bathroom wall, leaving a gaping hole. Oops. We both retreated like two guilty puppies that just pooped on the carpet. Sheepishly, we shuffled back out of the little bathroom and back into the kitchen where everyone stood with their eyes open wide and their hands over their mouths.

Thank goodness Bob's brother in law was handy with household jobs such as fixing huge-ass holes in the wall. He fixed it up nice, but not nice enough to hide that it had happened. He didn't have the paint to match, so even though he did a great job, the evidence was undeniable. So you can imagine when Bob's parents got home (of course Sheryl was nowhere to be found for this occasion) how uncomfortable it was. "um...ehem...sorry about the bathroom wall. Tee hee...You're really gonna laugh when you hear what happened..." You know, that kind of thing.

So, I guess there are parts of me (and Sheryl...don't forget about Sheryl) that will just never grow up. I could still see myself tackling the poor bastard that would dare to mention they have to pee when I'm thinking the same thing. Clearly, I haven't learned anything from this experience, except maybe to learn to run faster for next time.

A sad day

2007-04-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

PARFORD-KEYS _ Matthew Ryder Parford-Keys (McKee), May 21, 1984 - March 22, 2007, passed away in his sleep, succumbing to an 18 month battle with Leukemia. He is survived by his loving mother, Geri Parford, (Ray Jourdain) and numerous loving family members, too many to list here. Memorial date April 02, 2007. Richmond Funeral Home. 8420 Cambie Rd, Richmond, BC. In lieu of flowers, donations to blood bank or to the Cancer Agency.

I'm so sad today. This is my neighbor Geri's son. When we moved in 7 years ago, he played his music until 1:30 in the morning on a work night. I went over the next morning to ask (very nicely) that in the future, he shut it down a little earlier. What I wouldn't give to hear him wailing to his music today.

Geri has raised this boy by herself from day one, which was two months after she turned 23. He had downs syndrome, so you can imagine how rough it would have been for her. She was so great with him and he was a beautiful boy. Now, two months before he was to turn 23, he is gone. When she came to my door over a year ago and told me that he was diagnosed with Leukemia, we were all optimistic about his prognosis. Then one day while I was highlighting her hair, she told me that he wasn't going to make it. I've seen him go from a chubby playful boy, to a very sick young man, needing my help to get him from the car into their townhouse. You should have seen her standing there after the service greeting and hugging all of the crying guests. She was such a trooper, smiling and laughing with everyone. The tears fell from my eyes continuously throughout the service and then some more on the drive home. I got home from the funeral about a half hour ago and I sit and write this with a heavy heart. I'm glad his pain is over, but the rest of us are so sad to see him go and so sad for his mom. Rest in Peace Matthew. The world will miss you.

Aren't we adorable?!?

2007-03-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

You guys crack me up! Ok, so Kelly met the family on Sunday, which happened to be my Dad's birthday celebration. It went really well, but I knew it would cuz he's great and so is my family. I will, however try and refrain from exclusively posting about how gaga I am over my new boyfriend. Hmmmmmm.....Ummmmmm....just wait I'm thinking.....There was this one time when Kelly...wait... no...that's about him too. I know I had a life before he came along, but damned if I can remember any of it right now!
So Sunday morning Kelly and I were hanging out at my place, but I have a very important Sunday ritual which involves my sister's couch, her tv, and two and a half glorious hours of Coronation street. So I headed off to my sis' place, and he was gonna hang out at mine until I returned. When I got home he was standing there lookin all gorgeous, so I went over and gave him some hello smooches and snuggles. He told me that he popped out to do a few things while I was gone. He goes, "while I was out, I wanted to get you the perfect single rose, but every one I looked at was slightly flawed in some way. I couldn't find one that was perfect....so I had to get you a dozen instead." So I look over and see these.

I know, right? Could he BE any sweeter?!? Sigh........

2007-03-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

So this guy that I've been seeing is really great. We'll call him "Kelly" mostly cuz that's his name. I met his little 9 year old daughter over the weekend, and we played with beads, baked cookies, and goofed off a little. Since she lives on the island right now, Kelly had to take her across on the ferry to drop her back off with her mom. So I decided to keep him company and went with them. Well, I know it's hard to believe, but I kind of made them late for the ferry, so we missed it and had to catch the next one. Once we boarded we had the chance to play around a little, played some "go fish," (cheated my ass off) watched her do card tricks, watched her climb around the pathetic little play area on the boat.

Anyhoo, then we docked and met up with her mom (BRRRRRRRR) It was a bit of a chilly reception, though I don't know why. They've been parted for 2 years and she's in a relationship of her own. I guess it was just uncomfortable for her. Oh well.

The thing is, it was fun. Doesn't seem to matter what we do , where we go. I'm happy just to be with him. We laugh alot, we talk alot, and he has the best arms for hugging I've ever felt. Sigh...(goofy grin)

Hmmmmmm

2007-03-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

So I've seen this guy from Plenty of fish a few times now and if I didn't know better, I'd say I've got a crush on him. I've been walking around grinning like an idiot for a week now. I'm driving in my car all by myself, and people must think I'm one sandwich short of a full picnic by the way I'm smiling. I catch myself drifting off to la la land while watching tv or doing someone's hair, and when I come back to reality, there's that silly smile again. Hmmmmmmm...

In other news, I have a crush on the guy that I've been seeing...oh wait, that's the same news;)

2007-03-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

So last night I went on a coffee date with a guy I've been chatting with on plentyoffish.com. He was very funny and we got along great! We laughed and talked so long, I was late meeting my sister, who I had made plans to see. In fact, she had called me three times on my cel, checking to make sure I wasn't stuffed in the trunk of this guys car or something. (I didn't want to answer my phone cuz it's rude, but I did pick up the third time, getting the hint that someone was trying to get a hold of me) I felt so bad, I was only 15 minutes late or something, but she was ready to hop into her car and drive to Starbucks to make sure I was okay. She ended up getting a hold of me, and then the battery in my phone died. Anyway, after borrowing this guy's phone to call her back, I said goodbye to my new friend and hooked up with my sis, who lectured me on the safety precautions one should take when Internet dating. I did tell her who I was with and where we were going to be, I took my own car, and met in a public place, but I should have made sure my phone was charged, and I should have kept my eye on the time so it would have clicked that she was trying to contact me. Sigh. This dating thing is hard!
Okay, so I said this guy was really great and funny and had some very thoughtful and intelligent things to say. We'll see how it goes...

My Birthday in Shades of Green.

2007-03-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

So today's my Birthday, and I'm feeling a little green. I only have one client booked, a set of highlights, and besides that, I'm gonna lay low. I got a super cute 'e card' from my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Curtis this morning, and it put a big ole smile on this face. I got emails from friends, phone calls from family, and an 'e rose' from a guy I've been chatting with on Plentyoffish.com (pretty much a picture of a rose.)

Last Sunday, we celebrated my birthday at the same time as my sister's, whose was a week ago. We had some nibblies and a birthday fruit flan. My sis and I find cake so sweet, We never feel good after, so we went with something a little less sickening. I got a really cute purse from my sis, my brother got us each a gift certificate for $100 to spend at a really nice spa (can't wait to use it) and my parents got me an exercise dvd that I saw on tv and wanted called 'turbo jam' along with a really cute hat in the style of a newsboy cap.

I almost drowned in my own saliva this morning at the mall. Just thought I'd pop in and buy myself a little something, and as I was about to enter I inhaled and suddenly I was choking to death. Tears were squirting out of my eyes as I hacked for my life. 35 years old and I still don't know which tube is for breathing and which is for swallowing. By the time I'd managed to save myself from certain drowning, I looked really pretty with my red puffy eyes and snotty nose. I felt like a real peach.

Note to self: Saliva is for swallowing...not for inhaling. Saliva/air, confusing the two can be hazardous! ehem.

Softball Season

2007-02-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well, after a long season, Alicia's soccer is coming to an end with her last game of the year on the 4th. I always love the end of soccer season, though I love watching her games. I just find it a relief not to have such a rigid schedule for a while.

The end of soccer is always an indication that my softball season is just around the corner. Being on a ball team is so much fun. There's always excitement, adventure, and the unexpected. Like once I was playing catcher and as the hitter swung the bat, the ball bounced off it funny and flew into my eyebrow. It split it open a bit, so I had to go to emergency for a few stitches. After getting sewn up, I rounded the corner toward the field, to see my team mates cheering for me. "How many stitches," one team mate yelled as we pulled into the lot. When I told them I had seven stitches, one of my friends on the team burst out with, "I won the stitches pool!!!" So while I was under needle and thread, they were placing bets on how many stitches I would get. Touching, huh? I know I'm warm and fuzzy.

Then one time, we were all sitting around after a game, having a couple of beers. The kids were playing, my buddy's dog was frolicking around, and our laughter filled the air. I was sitting on a lawn chair, when suddenly my left thigh got really warm...and wet. I look down, and Chomper the dog, is actually lifting his leg, peeing on me! Obviously I couldn't stick around since the warmth I had originally felt was quickly turning into cold, wet, and itchy.
I found out later that after I had left my friend Dan goes, "where's Sharon? I have to take a leak."
Isn't that precious?

BAD BLOGGER!!!

2007-02-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

I know I've been a bad blogger lately. I've been going on "plenty of fish" and chatting with a couple of cuties, so when I'm on the computer, and would otherwise be posting, I'm really on a man hunt. I also put a profile up on E harmony, which is not a free one, and it's not as good. So anyone who is lookin for love should check out plentyoffish.com. It's like a smorgasbord! Actually it's like a second hand store. Everything is used, some stuff is a little stale, but if you look, you'll find the treasures...or they'll find you. It's kind of a fun, non-threatening way to get back in the game. I'll be sure to keep you "posted" if I decide to go for coffee with someone. Curtis suggested I look for a hillbilly, but I couldn't find the hillbilly section on the website. Man seeking woman...woman seeking man...man seeking man...woman seeking woman...nope, no hillbilly section. Darn.

Love Day

2007-02-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

Well tomorrow's Valentines Day and what could be more romantic than this picture I found on the net? Nothin' says lovin' like a gesture like this. I got twenty bucks that says there's a woman somewhere sweeping up a heart shaped patch of hair from her bathroom floor. Oooh, baby...

I've been a little stuck for topics to post about these days. It would help if I was bitter about being "alone" on Valentines day, so I could bitch and moan about it, but frankly, I'm not alone. My life is full of love. I will be popping out to buy my beautiful little girl some chocolaty goodies at some point today, as I do every year. She's the most consistent valentine I've ever had. For the last 16 years she's been the love of my life. She doesn't make me cards out of red construction paper and doilies anymore, but I can overlook that. You see? I'm not that picky.

Some women think that it should be every body's life goal to find a man, and that you can't be happy without one. I think it would be awesome to find a guy that I will still be excited about after a couple of years. But I'm not gonna commit myself to someone just for the sake of partnering up! That's how you end up sweeping hairy heart patches off your bathroom floor!

There are these two elderly twin sisters who hang around our mall quite a bit. They sit and have coffee at "the second cup" and wander around the mall. I think they live together and they seem inseparable. They wear identical winter coats, only one is red, and one is blue, and both have long grey hair. My Mom actually said the other day, "I don't want you and your sister to turn into the mall twins!" I had to laugh, because we've joked ourselves about sitting on the porch swing together as old ladies.

Well hopefully someday, I will find a man who I can laugh with, and snuggle on the couch with at night. Maybe I'll try an on line dating service, or some singles events. Maybe I'll run into that cute guy at the dog park as the weather gets warmer. But until I find the man that is a good fit for me, I'm just gonna be happy with the blessings that I've got. And that's a lot.

Hi Strangers!!!

2007-02-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I don't know why I've been so busy lately, but I just haven't had time to sit and post. It's nice to be missed, though. Not only have I not posted, but I haven't read any of my favorite blogs lately. I'm really gonna have to get my poop together. I feel out of the loop:)

This morning I played squash as I've done twice a week for at least a year now. It doesn't really matter who won, though (me) because it's all about the excersise and fun. There's no point obsessing over who wins (me.)

My sis is off of work this week so she, my mom, and I are all going to go bowling this afternoon. Obviously this will be a very friendly game without focus on who will win (me) and who will lose (not me!)

Then later, I've got a couple of clients to do, so by then I should be good and tired. Now I have to go hop in the shower. It's pretty sweaty work winning...I mean playing squash.

Good news and bad news

2007-01-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

Well the bad news is that Drew and I parted ways yesterday. I feel a little sad because we had made such plans for our future, but I know it was the right thing for me. There are parts of him that I will miss like crazy and parts that I won't miss at all, but we'll just leave it at that.

The good news is that for the first time in my life, I will be an auntie! My brother Mike and his wife Glenda are expecting a little booger-nugget, and I am so excited, I could cry! It's still early days in the pregnancy, but I'm just gonna go ahead and be thrilled regardless of the risks this early on. Lord knows I've dropped enough hints for them to get busy making me a niece or nephew, so this is cause for some celebration! The only problem is, 9 months isn't soon enough for me!!!!!

A dark time

2007-01-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

In one of my old posts, I relayed a dating story taken from a book that I had started writing a few years ago and never finished. I happened to be leafing through the book today, and decided to share a story about my relationship with Alicia's Dad. In the book, his name is "Spermy," "sperminator," "Spermy sperm sperm"
You get the idea.

Once, when we were arguing and I threatened to walk out, he told me I could go, but I would have to leave the baby with him. Well, all you Mommy lions out there know that them's fightin' words. As he stood between me and the little bassinet, my mind flashed on the incident I previously relayed to you, and I'm sure he saw something in my eyes that day that he never knew existed within me. The battle of wills had reached a frightening level, and I could feel myself reaching my boiling point. I told him that I would kill him before I would ever turn my daughter over to the likes of him and he dared me to do it. Now, I don't know if you can appreciate how precarious this moment was, but I turned around and grabbed the first thing that was behind me and flung it at his chest. I can see it in my mind's eye, cutting through the room in slow motion towards him. If you've ever held a knife by its blade and flung it overhand toward a target, you can imagine my perspective. I could see the realization reach his face, and for a moment in time I actually felt like giggling at his reaction. It was pure "holy shit, she's gonna kill me" fear in his eyes. As the object bounced off his chest, I could see that his mind had been so convinced that I had grabbed a Kitchen knife, that it took him a moment to realize it was merely a wooden spoon I had thrown. For me, the scary part of this is: what if the first object that was behind me had been a kitchen knife? It was simply luck that it was a spoon. I would have watched it embed itself in his chest rather than bounce off and fall to the floor. That was what our relationship had come to...

When I think back to this period in my life, it really feels like a dream, or like I'm talking about someone I used to know, rather than someone I used to be. I grew up in a peaceful home where we weren't allowed to say "I hate you" to our siblings and when our parents argued, we were blissfully unaware. I don't know how I got to that place, but I'm sure glad it was just a short stay.

Our Umbrella

2007-01-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

So, Herman must have spent hours teaching me how to include video in my posts. He is a great teacher, even from so far away! This is the song I wrote and played at my friend Donna's wedding. I know the picture is a little dark from me sitting right in front of a lamp, but I'll know better for next time. Hope you enjoy it!

I'm in Shock

2007-01-17T10:07:00.000-08:00

I just found out while checking my email, that an old friend of mine passed away last week. I haven't seen him for a while, but my mind keeps going back to us as teenagers swiping a giant bottle of baby duck from his parents basement. We all passed the bottle around until it was empty and we were pickled. I don't even know how he died. He was only 34.

The Day I Almost Blew Someone's Face Off

2007-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up, we did our share of moving. It was rare for my siblings and I to remain in the same school long enough to really make friends and feel at home. At the tender "tween" years that I was, it made me an easy target for the other kids in my schools, because I was always the new kid, and had painfully low self esteem. When we finally settled in one house for a few years, I landed at the elementary school in which I would eventually complete grade 5, 6, and 7. Grade 5 was hell. The tears that I cried daily about the cruelty that some kids would inflict on me, seemed endless. Thank God I had my Mom, who was the most tender hearted person, full of sympathy, advice, and always had a shoulder ready for crying on.
Grades 6 and 7 became easier and easier. After one girl, Angela, who happened to be one of the popular girls, warmed up to me the rest of the kids began to see me differently (some faster than others). I always admired this girl for going against popular opinion, including her twin sister who hated me, and getting to know me for who I am. We are still friends to this day. For the record, her twin sister, who hated me, also warmed up to me in time, and has since apologized for her actions. She is also the woman whose wedding I sang at a few months ago.

Anyway, I guess the torture that I had gone through during my young life affected me more than I would have liked. I got to the point where I didn't want to take any crap from anyone. I know I've described to you before how I had a tendency to be impulsive, and this day in particular wasn't one of my finer moments.

There was this boy named Melvin, who loved to torment me about anything he could think of. When he found out my middle name was "Lee" he began the daily ritual of dancing around me singing "LEELEELEELEELEELEELEELEE....." So stupid, but for me it wasn't what he was saying as much as the fact that he was trying to stir up feelings of inadequacy in me and that just made me furious. Anyway, this is just one example of the lengths this kid would go to make me stand out and look stupid.

So one day, my friend, Rose and I were on the playground, and who comes wondering over to spread cheer? Melvin. He began taunting and I just snapped! Rose and I both grabbed him, forced him onto the tire swing, and tied him there by the sleeves of his kangaroo jacket. We then put his hood on his head and proceeded to pull the drawstrings until the hood closed around his face leaving a small hole in the front. We didn't stop there. I don't know where Rose got a fire cracker, but she placed one right in the hole, and despite Melvin's pleas, one of us lit the fire cracker and we ran away laughing! I know what you are all thinking...I'm a bloody monster! Thank God the fire cracker fell out of the hole and onto the ground and nobody was hurt/blinded!

It just goes to show you how a normally harmless human being can be pushed to do things that they would normally never dream of doing! I'm not saying his behavior excuses mine, by any stretch. But the fact is, had that fire cracker stayed snug in its little hole, Melvin's face would have been hamburger and Rose and I would have been responsible. The thing is,that kind of human destruction is so far out of my character, I would have a hard time believing that I let it go that far! Well we all got lucky that day, especially Melvin. I'll bet you think he learned something that day and never tormented me again...Nope, he continued on as usual.

The funny thing is, it turns out my friend Rose's husband is very good friends with Melvin today, so she sees him all the time. But no one has ever spoken about the tire swing incident. Maybe it wasn't one of his finest moments, either.

just some stuff

2007-01-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

AAAAAAAH. The kid's back in school, so I can finally catch up on some reading of blogs and writing in my own.
Like most people I talk to lately, I'm having a hell of a time finding energy to function. Everyone seems to be fighting off a cold, getting over a flu, or in the middle of a cold/flu combo. Frankly, I'm starting to wish I would just get a bad cold, so it can just run it's course. Rather, I've been fighting something off for at least two months. My lips are so dry they're forming some kind of scaly shell. They burn most of the time, and I've tried every kind of balm from blistex to polysporin. The other night I was dreaming all night that I had a plugged nose. So in my dream I'm snorting gallons of nasal spray, but my nose is still so plugged that I'm not getting any air in or out. This, of course, makes me a mouth breather, and exacerbates the afore mentioned lip dryness. Anyway, I'm sure this is all fascinating, but I'll leave you wanting more.

My brother and sis in law just left for their home in Whitehorse. They were here for Christmas and New Years. This was the New Years party we were at. Sheryl didn't last until midnight because she was sick, but she managed to come by and celebrate for a little while. Too bad my other brother, Dennis wasn't there, but he was off doing something else.

Anyway, that's it for me. My butt's getting sore.

2007-01-02T22:54:00.000-08:00

I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, the fact that when I was a child I loved to snoop through my sisters room. Everything she had was cool, weather or not I knew what it was. She even had a mysterious drawer in her dresser that smelled really funny, but no matter how weird it smelled, I would still open the damned thing, just to investigate. Turns out that was her vitamin drawer. You know how vitamins can smell gross.
So I must have been five years old this particular time I sneaked into my sis' room and started rummaging around in her drawers. There was make up, and nail polish, and some stuff I wasn't sure about. One thing that caught my eye, was a little, tiny, cute tube of quick drying, super, crazy glue. Aw, it was so cute, I just had to twist that adorable little cap right off, and squeeze some glue from that precious little bottle. Well, in about 1/100th of a second, I was cursing that cute little tube of glue, and in an absolute panic. It seems that my index finger and thumb had instantly fused together! What was I going to do!?! I couldn't run for help, or I would get in trouble for being a little snoop! But no matter what I did, the fingers were still stuck together! After trying various creams and soaps, I did what anyone would have done in my situation...I slowly and painfully ripped the digits apart until they were separated. Was it scary? I'm not gonna lie. It was. Did my thumb have a layer of glue still on it, followed by the first three layers of the skin from my index finger? Yes...yes it did. But I did learn something that day. I can't remember what it was, though...it was a long time ago.

2006-12-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my blogging buddies! You all put a smile on my face every day. May the New Year bring you love, luck, health, and peace in your hearts.

Happy 2007!!!

2006-12-29T00:05:00.000-08:00

So, as you know, my parents took Alicia with them to Mexico before Christmas. On the second to last day, my dad had a few cocktails with some friends that were with them, and then proceeded to go outside and play some soccer with some local Mexican Kids. I think they were about 12 years old. Anyway, during the game, one of the kids stuck out his foot, and tripped my dad, sending him head first into a brick wall. He really smacked his head good...about 14 stitches good.

Like me, my dad is not a fan of going to the doctor. When I had 5 stitches in my eyebrow from a tip ball gone bad on the ball field, I opted to take those suckers out myself when they were ready. Now, Dad can't reach the top of his head, so he asked my mom to remove them. She almost passed out at the notion. However, when he asked me, I said, "sure." So today I went over there, and with some sterile household objects, I snipped and plucked until they were all out (I hope.) My poor mom in the next room, was lookin a little pail while I was doing it. My brother, who is visiting from Whitehorse with his wife, was also opposed to the idea of "home health care." It's just that it's so stinkin easy to do these things yourself!

Incidentally, the song that my sis and I wrote for Christmas had a verse that went like this:

(to the tune of Jingle bells)

Dad, he banged his crown
now he wears a frown
guess he learned that alcohol
can make a man fall down.
Hey!

2006-12-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

So I happened to notice that all my blogging friends stopped by Alicia's blog to check her out. That was really nice of you all, thank you.

I'm having a hell of a time refueling after a busy Christmas. The mental and physical preparation is very draining. Now I have to get on the horn and return a bunch of calls from clients who didn't manage to get in before Christmas. I don't wanna. Is it too early to retire, and spend the rest of my days lounging?

Everybody I talk to is fighting off a cold or getting over one. My sis was off of work today with a soar throat and chills. Drew is complaining of tummy troubles. Hopefully, by new years, everyone will be ready to boogie.

I got a Christmas card today from my girlfriend, Donna, whose wedding I sang at. She even included a couple of pictures of me singing! I didn't know anyone took any pics of that, so it was a nice surprise. Drew was so busy watching and listening to me sing, it completely slipped his mind that I'd given him instructions to video tape it. So it's nice that there is some photographic evidence that I did, in fact, sing at her wedding. LOL. I hope you all have a wild and crazy New Years Eve, and a peaceful and happy 2007!

2006-12-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Ho ho, everyone!!! I hope you all had a great Christmas and are now having a relaxing Boxing day. Man, that takes it out of you, eh?
Sigh. I got completely spoiled stinkin rotten yesterday, and we all had a fun, but exhausting day. We ate lots of yummy food and laughed a lot, as predicted.

I decided to just leave Drew's Susanne Summers rower in the box and let the chips fall where they may, and he surprised me with his attitude. After questioning me as to whether it was really the same one we saw, he didn't seem to care that much about the picture of Susanne all over the box. Go figure.

My sister, Sheryl and I wrote a Christmas song about our family members, to the tune of Jingle bells. It was funny, cuz Drew's Verse began with
"Hope drew doesn't mind
Susanne Summers' behind
He doesn't mind the leotard
except he finds they bind.
Hey!"

Anyway, too lazy to write a big post and upload pics, so I'll save it for another day.

By the way, if anyone's interested, my daughter Alicia started a blog of her own! She's only just started it, but she posted some of her art, so take a look if you like. She's at funkyblueeyes.blogspot.com

2006-12-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

AAAAAAAAh, Christmas... I've always loved it and I always will. Is it busy and costly and stressful? Yes. But I'm a sucker for family and laughter and prezzies (I love getting them, but I especially love giving them.) I love beautifully wrapping my gifts in curly ribbon and glue-gunning cinnamon sticks and decorations in the middle of a big bow. I'll have to post a picture of it when I'm done. It looks so pretty under the tree, and I can't tell you how many times I've gone to someone's house and spotted one or two of these "gift decorations" somewhere on their tree. Gives me the warm and fuzzies.

This year, Christmas will be at my house, where we will start at about 10:00 in the morning. Sheryl makes one of those wife-saver breakfasts (yum-my) so we scarf on that with some bailies coffee or mimosas. Then we open prezzies one at a time (no diving in like animals, please) so we can see what everyone got and socialize. At this time I start just loading everyone up with 7 layer bean dip, and other appies. And if anyone wants a little drinkie-poo I will certainly be a good host and join them. Don't want to be rude. The funny thing is, nobody in my family are really drinkers, but I always want to have a couple on Christmas day. So usually I'm like, "C'mon, Sheryl, pull your head out and have a drink with me!" Nothing like a little peer pressure on Christmas! Fortunately, my Mom doesn't need much coaxing. She'll usually be game for a cocktail. LOL

So, anyhoo, after assembling everything that needs assembling, and a lot of laughter and talking at an extremely high volume, we all role on over to the table to try and cram in even more delicious food. And by God, every year we succeed! The de Konings are not quitters! And this year will be no exception.

2006-12-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

I'm pooped.

Today I took a mysterious gouge out of my thumb. Then I bent down to pick up a towel and thrust my head forcefully into my cast iron shampoo sink. Then I wrapped a perm and opened the perm box to find that the activator that you mix with one of the solutions is empty. So I had to leave the lady with a stack of magazines whilst I hauled ass to the drug store to replace it. This threw me off my schedule so that the next clients, who were 10 minutes early, had to wait 20 minutes past their appointment time. While I was conditioning the lady's hair, I somehow splatter conditioner all over the salon wall, while trying to shake the last inch out of the bottle. It's a good thing my clients love me...It's a good thing that I'm so stinkin' adorable...but I digress.

I'm pooped

2006-12-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

A wise woman (my sister) once told me, "behind every successful man........is a surprised woman."

I know, I know, that's a sexist thing to say. I'm deeply ashamed.

In other news, I'm frantically getting ready to send Alicia to Mexico with my parents on Saturday morning. Today I have to go to work, and then pick Alicia up from school so we can return the runners I bought for her and buy some that fit. Incidentally, I almost inadvertently stole them last week when I was wandering out of the store chatting with my mom with them under my arm. The alarm thingy sounded and I realized I was shoplifting. OOPS!

Then I must come home and dig in the storage for our luggage. Alicia's been putting a lot of effort into cleaning her room and doing laundry, so we know what to pack. While we're at the mall later, we'll probably finish up her Christmas shopping, too.
I've just been boogieing along with my shopping. While the girl is away, I'll be able to finish up completely. Then if I go to the mall close to Christmas day, I can point and laugh at people who are bustling around. After all, it is the season of laughter and good cheer!

Drew doesn't have a computer, so I'm not giving anything away by telling you this. We were at Canadian tire a couple of months ago, when he noticed this cool rowing machine on display that was on sale from $300.00 to $150.00. We both tried it and agreed that it was really affective. In the following months, he had mentioned a couple of times that we should have bought it when we saw it. So I filed that away until I was ready to Christmas shop, when I made my way to Canadian Tire to buy the rower for him. After some too-hoo and a trip to two different stores, I located the rower and asked the dude who works there to get one for me from the shelf. As he pulls it down, I realize that it's a Suzanne Summers rower which has her picture in a leotard covering one entire side of the box. On the other side are pictures of women using it in all different ways. Now I know for a fact that if he opens the gift on Christmas morning, it's going to put him right off if he thinks it's a "girlie-rower." Not to mention my Dad and two brothers will be there to razz him about it until he refuses to ever take it out of the box! So now I have to find time to assemble the damned thing so he doesn't have to know that it has any association with Suzanne Summers.

Sigh...anyway, better get on with it...

2006-11-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the snowman I made. LOL. It's too cold to play out in the snow for too long.

Some of my clients are so negative about Christmas. No decorations, no prezzies, no excitement about spending a great day laughing and eating with family. I know Christmas means different things to different people. In my family, some are strong Christians, who recognise the religious aspect of Christmas, while others see it as a day of family and giving in a non religious capacity. either way, it's a positive experience. That being said, I can't help but feel a little sorry for those who can only whinge about the crowded malls and the relentless carols, and the "commercialization" of the Holiday. Like, yawn, change the record already! You don't have to put yourself in debt to embrace the joy of the season. I'm a single mom, raising a teenager. It's not like I'm lighting a toasty fire in the fireplace with hundred dollar bills. Some years, when I have more, I splurge, while others that are a little tight, I'm more conservative. But do people have to poo-poo everything that's fun? To me, life would be such a bore, if we never had any Holidays to shake things up a bit. Anyway, I have the next 5 days off of work, so I'm going to shop, decorate, bake, address my envelopes, and chose to embrace the warmth of the season. Happy Ho ho, everybody!

2006-11-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

This is the view from my bedroom window, people! Does this look like BC to you? Me neither. Can anybody tell me what all that white stuff is?!?

Very few people in our area of the world know how to drive in the snow. And out of these few people, only a small fraction have a vehicle capable of somewhat sticking to the road. No one prepares for such weather because we only get one snowfall a year, and sometimes it doesn't even stick to the ground.

Though I can certainly appreciate the delicate beauty of a snowfall, I am one of the many people who don't have access to a snow-worthy vehicle. So I'm pretty much trapped at home for as long as Mother Nature decides to blanket our land with snow and ice. Even trips down the street can prove to be a dangerous task. People drive like it's the middle of Summer. Not to mention, you get these geniuses, whose cars handle well in these conditions, who just assume everyone has control of their cars. So they don't mind cutting you off or stopping unexpectedly in front of you, because they don't have the foresight to predict the consequences. Like, say, the front of my car plunging into the back seat of theirs.

Anyway, It's a beautiful thing, as long as you don't have to go anywhere. Many schools are closed (not Alicia's, much to her disappointment.) Lots of people are home from work and in some areas there are no buses running. I really need to go grocery shopping. I guess it's Kraft dinner tonight...

2006-11-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

So, as predicted, my mom wasn't pleased with the pics of her that I displayed in my last post, so I'm going to have to find a really nice one of her and post it. LOL.

Speaking of my mom, when I was younger, in my early teens, we went to the mall to do some shopping. We shopped often together, always stopping for a leisurely lunch full of chit chat and belly laughs. This particular day, we were crossing the busiest street in Richmond, at a crosswalk right in front of the mall. The light had turned from red to green and the little white man was displayed, so we, along with several strangers, began to cross. About halfway across, my mom's denim wrap-around skirt, unraveled, and fell loosely around her ankles exposing her silky white slip and a very red face. In the middle of the crosswalk, my mom quickly grabbed and tugged at her skirt, which had become tangled around her ankles.
Meanwhile, I being a young teen, was completely mortified! So I abandoned my own mother in the middle of the road, walking on as though I'd never seen her in my life! Bad...bad daughter!
Thank God, mom was wearing her slip! And that she happened to bring her trench coat that day. The light had changed as she was struggling, and a big semi was waiting to get moving. So to make matters worse, the semi began to make the loud bellowing hooooooonnnnnnk hooooooooonnnnnk that we are all so familiar with. Poor mom finally got the stupid skirt untangled, and off with no help from me. I was still pretending I didn't know her! Finally she had tucked the skirt under her trench coat, closed her coat, and escaped the dreaded crosswalk.
We laughed and laughed once she put her skirt back on and we went for lunch. I can't believe that, I hung her out to dry by leaving her on her own, half naked in the middle of the road, but I'm not here to sugar coat the truth. At that age, EVERYTHING your parents do is embarassing, so when your mom drops her laundry in front of everyone and a honking semi, you can't be held responsible for your (non)actions;)

2006-11-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

I think I'm the worlds luckiest person when it comes to family. We always lived in a peaceful home growing up. My parents were more inclined to be silent than to fight in front of the kids, so we were usually blissfully unaware when they had their squabbles. My parents balanced each other out very well. I think, without my mom, Dad would have been extremely strict, where without my dad, Mom would have been extremely lax. Together, we had the soft touch as well as a healthy fear of getting into trouble.

Growing up, my brother Mike was my playmate. We would play for hours with stuffed animals, each one having a name, a voice, and specific connections and relationships with the others. Mike was both the smartest person on the planet, and the most infuriating. Sometimes I adored him, and other times I felt like I hated him, though we were never allowed to say 'I hate you' to our family members. My dad felt very strongly about that, and I'm glad he did. Some of the things I remember about Mike's personality growing up are the way he could tell you every detail of the movie he just saw, so that seeing it yourself would be a total waste of time and money. Or that, if he really wanted to get me screaming, all he had to say was, "Fat cheeks you stink" to me and I would fly into a rage! Look at how cute he was.
Gee, do you think I looked up to him at all? Mike has grown up to be a world traveler, a strong Christian, a musician, and a husband to my sister in law, Glenda. He is very passionate in his opinions, and is still just as cute now as he was with a puppet on his hand. Here he is with Alicia when she was small.

Dennis is my other brother. Ever since I can remember he has been an amazing artist. In face, I'm pretty sure my Aunt Ellen included in one of her posts, how he once used the contents of his diaper to create a 'masterpiece' on the wall when nobody was looking. He could be very hyper growing up, sometimes injuring someone with an arm that happened to be flailing around. Once, he was windmilling his arms and accidentally punched my sis, Sheryl right in the nose. I used to torment him by waiting until he was in the bathroom, picking the lock to the door with the inside of a pen, and sitting on the bathroom counter. He would sit there with a towel covering him begging me to leave so he could get up off the toilet, and I would giggle and refuse, loving the position of power I was in. Ha ha. weird, eh? Dennis was always good natured, and has turned his artistic talent into a career in animation. Here he is with my sis before I was a twinkle in my father's eye.

Now he's a hunky guy who takes an interest in healthy eating, working out, his job, and his friends. He's still good natured, funny, and like all of my family members, is genuinely a good person.

My sister Sheryl is my best friend. Though I made a pain of myself when I was small, she often entertained me with games and rides. She's seven years older than I am, so she used to do my hair, and bath me and stuff. I remember being buck naked while she was running a bath for me, running away, and delighting in the fact that she would always pretend that I cunningly escaped her. She'd chase me down the hall, grab me and carry me back to the bathroom where she would put me down and I would run away again. She would let me hang out in her room and listen to music and give me super-girl rides by laying on her back and holding my atop her hands and knees. The flight was always exciting with turbulence and the occasional crash landing that always ended in fits of giggles. We don't do that anymore. Now we have a friendship that we both cherish. It's funny how the age gap closes.

This was taken a few years ago. That's my beautiful mother between my sis and I. Sheryl has grown up to, not only be my best bud, but a strong, independent woman who I admire for her assertiveness and presence of mind. She is also hilarious and gorgeous.

My mom's gonna kill me for posting this picture because her hair is blowing in the wind and she doesn't like her forehead. I had to post it, though, because one of my favorite things in the world are my parents' smiles. It makes me want to cry to see them so happy. My mom is so sweet and gentle and has a great sense of humor. She is also one of the greatest friends anyone could ask for. My dad is strong and capable and totally lovable. If ever there was a crisis, he was who I reached for. He is super funny, too. My friends always wanted to come over when I was a teenager. They loved the atmosphere around our house.

Anyway, that's my family. They are everything to me and I love them with my whole heart.

2006-11-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

Man it's rainy here. Grey, wet, cold in the way that you feel chilled to the bone. See, people think that living in BC is all pretty forestry and Ocean views, but lemme tell ya, it rains alot. That's why it's so darn green and pretty. Now I'm not dissin' BC. It is a beautiful place to live. But it seems like we get two seasons. three months of summer, and nine of fall.

Maybe sitting at Alicia's soccer game in the pouring rain today for two hours is still a little too fresh.
The game was at a community center with a band new beauty of a soccer pitch. The problem for me was the two grande starbucks coffees I had managed to scarf down this morning. I had to leave the comfort of my fold out chair, umbrella, hot water bottle, and blanket, to walk over to the community center to pee. Upon my arrival, I noticed that the place was closed. Duuhh, rememberance day weekend. So, Off I go in the other direction, pass my comfy chair, through the parking lot, to the gas station across the street, rain pouring, wind blowing, cars splashing through giant puddles. The little chinese dude who works there tells me someone has locked the bathroom key...you guessed it...in the bathroom. So I thanked the guy kindly, and made my way across the other street to the subway where I found what I, by this time, so desperately needed.

The journey was so stinkin' long, by the time I got back to my relatively warm, hot water bottle, I kinda had to pee again. By the time the game was over, I more than kind of had to pee. So we hopped into the car, clicked on the bum warmer seats, and went to Mcdonalds for some junky food and a bathroom break. Not in that order.

Anyway...Long story short...Alicia's team won 3-1, and I'm asking Santa for a catheter for Christmas this year.

2006-11-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

Went to Walmart yesterday and picked up some stocking-stuffers for the girl. She doesn't read my blog, but on the off chance she checks in, I won't divulge any privileged info.

I did treat myself to a nice, fuzzy, warm, cozy set of flannel sheets for my bed. OH! I love them. I've always wanted flannel sheets, and they are just as heavenly as I always imagined. Why can't all my clothes be made of flannel? Why can't wearing flannel come into style? I could start the trend, and when people point and stare, I'll just say, "You can laugh now, but next year EVERYONE will be wearing it!"
Kinda makes ya think...

2006-10-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Spoooooky Dragon Puppy !
Look at the expression on his little face. Ha ha! "Why are you torturing me?" He's such a good little dog.

Halloween has never been my favorite thing. There are aspects that I love and aspects that I hate.
I have to admit, when Alicia asked one year if we could have Ernie and Bert pumpkins, I didn't think we could pull it off, but they turned out pretty good!
When Alicia was small, trick-or-treating was great. She was so cute, and I knew that the number of times I would be able to take her out would be limited. However, it is usually freezing cold and raining, so we had to come up with costume ideas that she could wear a winter coat underneath. Then while she and her little friends were keeping warm running from door to door, I was trying to maintain feeling in my limbs.

I have always loved putting together fun costumes for Alicia. We never went halfway, y'know. If I was gonna put in the time and effort, I was gonna come up with something great. Most of the costumes were even appropriate to wear to school...Except the one.

After years of dressing her up as bunny rabbits, puppy dogs, and kitty cats, Alicia went through a phase where she wanted to be dracula and other scary stuff. I think she was in grade 7 when she decided to be a suicide victim. I wish I could find the picture, but I can't. I ran a wire through some rope and made a noose. When she put her head through it the remaining end stood straight up as though it was attached to something overhead. Then I painted her face to make it look like she's been dead for a couple of weeks, and pinned a suicide note to her sweater. It was so sweet! Sadly the principal of the school called her into the office and made her take it off. She said it was inappropriate.
Why does that word keep coming up with me

Anyway, I went to a party this year dressed as a disco diva. Drew was my afro wearing disco man, and our friends did the same. It was pretty funny. These are my friends Dilek and Daveen, and the next one is Drew and I. Don't ya just love his Saturday night fever ensamble?
Here's Drew and Dilek's hubby, John, yucking it up. LOL!

Anyhoo, I guess I'll get on with my day now. Hope you all had a happy Halloween!

2006-10-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Many Shades of Alicia

This is my beautiful daughter, Alicia, who just turned 16 yesterday. I love her adventurous spirit. These pictures are of grades 8 through 11 and, as you can clearly see, she takes full advantage of having a hairdresser for a mom.

I just hooked up the new scanner that Drew and I gave her for her Birthday, which is why I am able to post these pictures. Oh yeah, I'm gonna get a lot of use out of this puppy. She also got a load of cash, some clothes, some really cool art stuff, and a stereo for her room. I still haven't planned a party for her and her friends. Usually I'm a little more on the ball and throw a great party at home, but I gotta tell ya, these kids aren't getting any smaller! The boys are freakishly big, but they are still young and sometimes get carried away. Stuff gets broken! So this year I'm going to rent a space called "The Fridge." Basically, it's a big room with ping pong, pool, foozeball, a big screen TV, video games, and other stuff to entertain them. Unfortunately, I'm not sure when it will be available. Still gotta phone and find out. Anyway, I'd better go make some dinner.

2006-10-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

My sense of humor has sometimes been viewed as over the proverbial "line." I think I have that same impulse control mechanism malfunction that Sophia from The Golden Girls had. I think I've just always appreciated a good funny, even if it is a little inappropriate. (Especially if it's a little inappropriate)

When I was in Junior high, I think grade 9, a bunch of us were hanging out outside the school smoking and being "cool." I really can't remember why the vice principal, Mr. Scar, called me aside to lecture me on my sense of humor being inappropriate, but I'm sure he had good reason. After the "good firm talking to," he walked with me back toward my friends and, with one hand on his hip, began to address the crowd. "Okay, people! The school day is over. Let's go home!" So I, being the witty, charming, teen-aged idiot that I was, linked my arm through his, strutted beside him, and said, "Okay, Scar, let's go home!"

Mr. Scar shook me off his arm, his face instantly beet red. "That's exactly what I was talking about with inappropriate humor!" he barked, exasperated.

I can't blame the guy. I mean, hello, talk about displaying zero regard for a member of the administration, especially while he's asserting himself to a group of teen-agers. Somehow, however obvious that may seem to me now and about a tenth of a second after saying it, I still blurted it out! I didn't even call him "Mr. Scar." It was just "Scar." That's just disrespectful!

Poor bastard.

2006-10-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, my parents are taking Alicia to Mexico in December. We all know that applying for a passport can be a time consuming affair. They really make you jump through hoops, what with the pictures, the guarantor, and all the documentation. I'm surprised they don't take a swab from your cheek to make sure you are, in fact, the child's mother. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with the completion of some errands. I went to the passport office last week, and after waiting only about half an hour, approached the cubicle only to find out that one of my documents was incorrect. What I thought was Alicia's father's original death certificate, which I drove all the way into Vancouver to borrow from his parents, turned out to be a copy. So I left the passport office, went home, and got on the horn to Vital Stats to order an original. Sigh. The document came in about a week, so it wasn't too bad of a wait. Every day counts, though, because for one, my Dad won't be able to stop asking me about it until he has it in his hot little hands, and for another, you just never know when some complication will extend the process. Best to get it done in a timely manner, so off I went, bright and early this morning, to get the job done. I got there before it opened, at 8:30 and there was already a line-up. Once they opened, we all filed in and took a number. I was lucky number 11. Can you believe I was walking back to my car by 9:30? It was painless! Anyway, now I just have to sit back and wait for it to arrive in the mail. Oh and I also have to write a letter authorizing my parents to travel with her, and make an appointment with a notary public to have the letter notarized. PHEW! It's good that the process protects children from being smuggled out of the country. It's just a pain in the butt.

2006-10-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is a very naughty post indeed.

A few years ago, I was at one of our annual baseball icebreaker parties. I don't know why, but they scheduled the party on the same night as a very important playoff game. I, not being a sports enthusiast, was getting really bored with what was supposed to be a dance, but turned into hockey night in Richmond. All the chairs in the bar were turned toward the various TV's, and a few of my girlfriends and I were getting pretty antsy. It was starting to feel like you couldn't even stand up, for fear of blocking someone's view of the television.

After a couple of hours of what seemed like watching paint dry, one of my friends invited me and a few other chicks out to her van to have a couple of shooters and a change of scenery. We got out to the van and piled in, leaving the side door open for ventilation. The stereo cranked to capacity, and a couple of tequila shooters warming our tummies, the van party was reduced to a frenzy of giggling women acting like teen agers.

After a while, we noticed that, once in a while, a person, a couple, or a group of people would wander by our partymobile on their way to their cars. I don't know who would have started such a thing, but whenever someone walked by, we all began to violently rock the van back and forth, moaning, "ohhh. Oh, yeah! uh,uh,uh! Don't stop! Don't stop!" The reactions to our prank were priceless. The back window being tinted prevented anyone from seeing into the van, but we could see out perfectly fine. One couple shyly exchanged glances, and quickened their pace. One couple just burst out laughing. One group of guys pointed and laughed at one of the members running right up to the back window, cupping his hands around his eyes, and peering in, hoping to get a good look at some naughty behavior. It must have been such a funny sight to see the rocking van, hear the blasting music, and the moans of ecstasy reverberating through the parking lot.

Anyway, it saved our night from certain death-by-boredom, and frankly we served our fellow ball players by giving them some free entertainment on their way out!
Everybody wins.

2006-09-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

Isn't this just the best example of the pressures on young girls to maintain a ridiculous standard of skinny? Just look at Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, the Olsen twins, Kelly Ripa, and so many more women who fall victim to what they think society expects. admittedly, I have felt the sting of not feeling able to keep up to the Barbie's of the world. I just hope that in this day and age, Girls realize that it isn't normal to be skin and bone.

The reason this is floating around in my head is that I've been working out all week and am painfully aware of every muscle in my body. I've also started to look a little more closely at the junk I've been scarfing down at 10:00 at night lately. I won't lie and say that I'm not hoping to drop a few pounds, but I think my main objective is to feel strong and healthy. I'm 34 now, and my fitness level has dropped since I've taken up "couch sitting" and "channel surfing" rather than the excersise I used to engage in.

Surely to God I can find some happy medium between the above picture, which I would never want to look like, and the one below, which I know I don't look like, but sometimes, on a bloated day, I feel like (LOL):

2006-09-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

I feel that this guy and I are kindred spirits. He really gets me. For some reason, I've had alot of trouble uploading pictures such as this to my blog. Also, why the hell is my side bar suddenly at the bottom of the page beside a large empty space? Also, this is the second time I've written this post. Yesterday I wrote it and it wouldn't save or publish. Instead, it disappeared forever! Anyway, the blog must go on...

It was in grade ten that I was cast as "Carlotta Castanet de Santiago," an evil but flamboyant castanet dancer who used her feminine whiles to lure in unsuspecting victims of thievery. It was a fitting character...

The part included singing solos, dancing, and a character I could really sink my teeth into. The only thing missing was a wide black belt that would make the costume complete. Where oh where would I find this coveted belt? I new just the place.

It didn't take long to locate my sister's belt in her room, for I had been in there in the past "borrowing" her white, tasseled cheer leading boots, her sexy bathing suite, a cute shirt she made in home-ec, a kangaroo jacket, and much more.

Sheryl looked everywhere for that belt. How could it just disappear, she wondered...

It was closing night and we'd had a great run. The week's performances were sold out with audiences that were generous with standing ovations and laughter. I was back stage awaiting the opening of the production, freaking out about the fact that my family was in the audience and I had on the belt that I stole from my poor sister. My cast mates assured me that she would never notice from such a distance that I had her belt. Besides, I wore it backwards, so the familiar buckle was hidden conveniently at my back. All I could do was go on and hope for the best. The show went great and, after changing out of my costume, I emerged into the gymnasium to see my glowing family awaiting my arrival. They praised my and hugged me, and all the while my mind was on the belt. When it was my sister's turn, she squeezed me tight and yelled excitedly, "You were fantastic!" and then followed with, "now give me back my belt." She really could have ripped me a new one, but she didn't want to spoil my big moment, so she let me off the hook.

I don't know why I didn't just ask her when I wanted to borrow something. I guess I just thought she was sooooo cool and didn't think she'd lend me anything that was cool enough to be hers. I think it's just a little sister's job to be a pain in the ass and I was very good at being a little sister.

2006-09-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Went to my friend Dan's Birthday party last night. It was a lot of fun, cuz my bud, Daveen, who is married to the Birthday boy, rented a karaoke machine and lots of CDs.

This is my sister, Sheryl, and I at the party. This was when everything was still dignified, before we were trying to wrestle the microphone out of each other's hands.

despite our plans to have a reasonably early evening, we ended up piling out of the cab and into our houses at about 4:00 in the morning. Sometimes time just flies when you're eating great food, drinking cocktails, sharing belly laughs with friends, and screaming shamelessly to all the timely karaoke classics! We had a variety ranging from anything from the "Grease" sound track, to the ever popular "Brittany Spears." I think I heard a rousing version of "Love Shack" and because it wasn't on any of the CDs, I entertained with a lively accapella (not sure how to spell it) rendition of "Baby got Back." There was also some very riveting, yet disturbed and angry interpretations of a few Alanis Morriset songs, sung by all the women at the same time. Powerful stuff!

So today was dedicated to having brunch with my sis, watching her tape of last week's "The Biggest Loser" and curling up on the couch with my crossword puzzle and remote. It takes a little time to recover from the aforementioned activities, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice.

2006-09-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

After seeing Alicia off to school yesterday morning, I threw a load of laundry in, sat down with a bowl of mini wheats and my newspaper, and began doing my crossword puzzle. I had barely gotten started when I heard the cycle shift, and then the sound of water pouring onto the floor. Obviously alarmed, I rushed around the corner to find water gushing out of the machine and splashing all over the linoleum that had just been put in last November. Smoke billowed out of the back of the appliance, and I reflexively pushed the button to turn it off. I then pulled all the soaking, heavy clothes out of the washer, hoping that when it was empty, I could drain the damned thing. When I tried turning it back on to see if it would drain, it threw off large sparks! There I stood in 2 inches of water, my arms soaked to the elbows, marveling at the fact that I didn't just electrocute myself! My thoughts flashed on how close I could have been to meeting my maker for a second there. Anyway, I turned off the power from the breaker, and began the laborious job of mopping up all the water. I had to pull the fridge out, the dryer, and because of the drum full of water, I couldn't budge the washer. What a way to start the morning. This morning I took my garden hose, put one end in the washing machine, and dragged the other end outside. I then proceeded to suck on the end of the hose until the water began to drain happily out into the yard. Phew! Now I could at least move the machine and mop up the floor underneath! I had visions of my linoleum lifting and my damage deposit disappearing!
Anyway, now I have no washer, and Alicia hasn't done all the mountains of laundry she had after she cleaned her room. My sister generously offered to let me use her washer until I have the situation handled, but I hope to have a new/used one, like, yesterday.
Enough of my belly aching, now. I must go run some errends between clients. I'm working on getting Alicia a passport for this December when my parents take her to Mexico. Ola, amigos!

2006-09-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

OOOOOH, I'm having one of those days!!!

The good news is, I found my camera!

The bad news is, it was buried under a pile of junk behind my daughter's bed! I must have left it on the computer table, and I guess it was in the way, so somehow, it ended up getting lost in this abyss of clothes, video games, controllers, walkmans, ipods, paper, garbage, pencil shavings...You get the idea.

As I climbed over the mountains of dirty clothes, my fury rose at the realization that there were clean, still folded clothes intermingled with the dirty ones. Digging through the debris, I marveled at the ancient runes that I recognized from years passed. Clothing I forgot she had, 3 pairs of my scissors that she swore she didn't have, make up, nail polish, posters!
The thing is, I've never been accused of being a neat freak, but how could I have raised a child with such low standards? How can she live in this dump?
I know I shouldn't have started cleaning, because it teaches her nothing, but I couldn't help it. After shoveling a full garbage bag of trash out of there, I sorted 3 heaping baskets of laundry, and threw a bunch of stuff on her futon. The more I cleaned, the angrier I became. We just got new carpets put into our rental townhouse last November and there was make-up without lids on the floor, along with shavings from pencil crayons, nail polish with drips down the sides, dangerously close to getting on the carpet and more.
Anyway, she'd kill me if she knew I was exposing her for the slob that she is, but I need to vent, dammit! So now she will come home, and I will send her to her room to finish the job that she will not thank me for starting. Until then, I think the first load of laundry just finished, so I'm going to soak in a nice bath.
Though I know this doesn't need to be said, Alicia is the most beautiful thing that has ever come into my life, and I love her so much I could cry just thinking about her face. I just needed to say that since I just ranted about her throughout this post.
by the way, I was going to put a picture of the city dump on the top of this post, but it keeps saying "error on the page" so I won't further frusterate myself by fighting with it.

2006-09-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

INCH WORM

Remember these? This was like the inch worm I had when I was a little girl. I would hop on my inch worm and go down the street to my friends' houses. You don't just sit on it and push with your feet. You bounce up and down and the accordion-like middle moves you forward.
Once I was hanging out with some friends, when the boy whose house we were at suggested that we all go into the shed and pull down our pants. I must have been about 4 years old. He said that anyone who wanted to participate, should follow him to the shed. Well, we all went into the shed, where he and all the other kids, except me, dropped their drawers. "Sharon," he said, "Aren't you going to pull down your pants?" "No," I said with my arms crossed stubbornly in front of my chest. "If you're not going to pull down your pants, you can't be in the shed with us," he demanded. So I said, "WELL THEN, I'M LEAVING!" and stormed out of the shed, hopped on my inchworm and began bouncing on out of there. I don't know why, but the boy was like, "Okay, you can stay in here. Just come back!" So there I was, the only one fully clothed with all these kids standing around with their goodies hanging out.
Suddenly the door swung open and his mom was standing their horrified. She demanded that we all leave that moment and dragged her son out of the shed, up the back stairs and into his room.
As I climbed back on my inchworm and we all made our way out front to the street, all we could hear was the distinct sound of palm-to-bare-butt spanking and the roaring cries of our little friend. To this day I marvel at how parents back then handled stuff like that. I wonder what ever became of the boy. If I ever see him again, I might be tempted to remind him that my inchworm was bigger than his inchworm.

2006-09-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I go to the mall today to treat myself to a few new articles of clothing. I walked out with $100.00 worth of facial cleansers and $50.00 worth of make up. For that kind of money, my skin better look like a baby's tooshie in a month! I guess I just figured, what better way to cling desperately to my quickly fading youth than to relieve shoppers drug mart of all the skin care products I can carry? I don't know if they work on commission there, but if they do, that lady has people like me to thank for her children's college education. Sadly for Alicia, it was my skin care, or her college education. I stand by my decision.

Anyhoo, Big Brother is ending tonight. I am so disappointed that Janelle was eliminated, but I guess that's how the ball bounces. I can't stand how Mike Boogie is all kissy face with Erica, and then turns around in the diary room and calls her a "whore" with a "ugly long face" I would be so ashamed if I was his mother! It's one thing to play someone for the sake of the game, it's another to snuggle up in bed smooching, and then talk trash about her on TV. What a dink! It was funny, though, to see Boogie cry when Dr. Doom was voted off. Boo hoo..Sniffle sniffle...

In other news, I've lost my camera. I was sitting on the couch with Drew a couple of weeks ago, and it had fallen off the coffee table onto the floor. So Drew goes, "Is that your camera? Maybe you should pick it up." I, being in a bit of a cheeky mood, just said, "naaa."

Well, sure enough, now the damned thing is missing! Of course Drew is feeling pretty cocky with his "you should have picked it up when I told you" attitude, which makes it even worse! I've looked everywhere, and I don't want to accuse anyone, but Alicia's friends are always here, some of them I know, some I don't know that well. So now I have a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that someone picked it up and took it home. Now, I will probably find it and feel bad for suspecting one of them, but I can't help thinking it's possible.

On a different note, why the hell is there a big space under this post? I can't delete it, so I'm just gonna publish it like this. I'm not super woman, y'know! (did I mention I'm a little premenstrual?)