That face!!!

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!

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

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.

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.

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		bituary
		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

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.

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

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:)