Toga! Toga!

We had a surprise Toga party for Paul on his birthday. He had no idea what I was up to. He went off to have some drinks with Paul and Shawn (who were in on the whole thing) I told Paul he had to be home by 8:00 for our dinner reservations and he could NOT be late.

The boys shared a pitcher of beer until about 7:15 and then he figured they would be heading home for him to be here on time to make the dinner reservations. While Paul went to the washroom at the bar, Shawn quickly ordered another pitcher of beer.

Apparently Paul was really sweating being late for our dinner reservations and he was rushing Phil and Shawn through the second pitcher of beer. I called Paul around 8:00 to tie into him for being late. I really gave him the gears about getting to go out with his friends and then being late for our date. When he told me Shawn had ordered a second pitcher, it was not his fault he was late, I said, "Great, now you are late and hammered!"

When he got home he still had no idea, everyone had parked their cars out of sight and it was quiet as he came up the stairs. Sebastian pops up at the top of the stairs in a toga and Paul came into the kitchen and was shocked to find all his friends there with togas on. It was pretty funny. Even funnier was watching slightly drunk guy put on his own toga:



It is beginning to look like a Mawashi rather than a toga isn't it?



He finally got The Giggle Queen to help him out and he was on his way. The Giggle Queen, by the way dressed almost all of us. That girl is a whizz with a safety pin.




I wish that I had started a pool earlier in the evening, you know what time will the first toga come off and who will it be. When you are only one or two safety pins from nudity and you add booze there is bound to be some exposure.



And there was:

Last Week

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind not only were our schedules crazy but I found it to be an emotional roller coaster as well.

We realized Monday that the kids passports were expired. Bad news, since they passed a new law in the US that you can not cross the boarder without one. Even worse news considering that the nearest passport office is in Vancouver and even if we managed to get there the office is so busy you may not even get help.

I ran around Monday morning having pictures taken and getting paperwork together. On Tues. Paul took all the kids stuff to the immigration office here in the Loops, they can check out your paperwork before you make to Vancouver that way you know have everything you need. Q's picture was not accepted and I had to run around and have a new taken and signed.

Paul drove to Vancouver on Wed. night after he played hockey. He got to the passport office and slept in the truck for an hour and got in the line up at 5:30 in the morning. He told me there were about 30 people in front of him already. The news is good, all the running around paid off and we have all the passport stuff in and the passports will be ready to pick up in a week, when Paul had trip to Vancouver planned anyway.

Harv, Paul's grandfather has taken a turn for the worse. He has been surviving terminal lung cancer for over 2 years. He had a blockage in his digestive tract over the holidays and they removed it surgically. The blockage was cancer, of course. The surgery seemed to be more than he could handle and he is wasting away now. We are all having a little trouble dealing with this, especially Sebass.

On the up side I successfully pulled off a surprise toga party for Paul's birthday on Saturday night. That was a bit nerve wracking. The kids knew about by Friday and I was worried they would tell Paul before Saturday night. They did a great job and kept it under wraps. I will post some pictures to make you laugh on Tuesday.

The White Stuff

We have had a boat load of snow dump on The Loops the past few days. I think this is the most snow we have had since my move to the Great White North. It is beautiful. My morning drive to work has been a little nerve wracking. It has snowed so much so quickly that the plows can't keep up with it, the roads were better today but here is the highway on my to work on Thursday.

You know what strikes me the most about this photo is the lack of traffic rather than the amount of snow. This is rush hour in The Loops on a snow day. So my driving fears are sliding off the road, there is a slim chance I would slide into someone on the highway. Most drive slowly and give you room.



Here is a pretty tree in the neighbors yard.



Cedar trees: these trees are at least 8 feet tall and I am looking down on them from the neighbors deck. They look so funky, I love them!



Check out our backyard, the snow is as high as the trampoline:

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Sebass! I really can't believe my baby, my first born is 6. The best thing about being 6? To old for 'quiet time'. He spent the afternoon following me all over the house while I cleaned and did the chores I do while the kids have some quiet time in their rooms.

About an hour into my quiet time he says this to me: "Mom, is this what you do during quiet time; it's so boooooorrrring." I explained to him that I wait until he is asleep for the night then I do all the fun stuff.

Tropical Tuesday

For some reason I can't load any pictures, but click the link below to get warmed up.

David Boreanaz

Is it hot in here, or is it just me???

Tragically Sick

The drama continues.

I have been sick with the flu on top of my cold for four days now. To add insult to injury, after eating oranges and toast for 4 days and purging my body of all it's contents (thank you Angie for the best wishes for my stomach lining) I have gained 5 pounds!

How on earth can this happen?! It's easy, on top of the crazy flu/cold thing I can have a nasty case of PMS, apparently it is possible to bloat up like the Good Year Blimp without any body fluids. The body truely is a miracle, No?

I am ever the optomist so lets look at the bright side:

1. No one feels up to eating to much, so I have not had to do much cooking.

2. The house is a mess and no one cares or feels well enough to worry about it

3. Clean sheets and blankets on every bed in an effort to kill this foul bug

4. Toilet is cleaned almost hourly

5. It's to cold to go play outside anyway

6. Knitting does not make me barf.

That's all I can think of. I would post a picture of my sock, but I can't find the camera under all the laundry and junk.

Oh yes, The Tragically Hip are in town (I would guess the most successful/popular Canadian band ever) they called the office looking for a Chiropractor. Paul told them to come on in to the office. Apparently they want us to do house call, they offered us free tickets to the show (sold out) and dinner with the Tragically Hip if Paul would go to the arena and adjust them. I hope they are serving oranges and toast for dinner. I hope to find the camera before we go.

Body Fluids

Saturday 3:00 p.m:

Quentin comes in the front door and up the stairs, he finds me at the dining room table eating my lunch, he says to me..."Mommy, my tummy..." he lies his head gently in my lap..."doesn't feel..." and then the kid throws up all over me.

We had planned to go the the hockey game Saturday night, but I stayed home with Q that evening while the rest of the family went off to the Blazer game. Paul and the kids had been gone for about an hour and 1/2 and the phone rang. It was Paul, Sebastian was complaining of a tummy ache and they were leaving the hockey game early.

I guess they just made outside the doors of the arena when Sebass lost his cookies. By midnight I was sick too. Paul and PJ seem to made of stronger stuff than the boys and I. PJ had a sore tummy but never got sick and Paul felt fine all weekend. Poor guy had to take care of the boys while I took care of myself. He did a good job, he even went grocery shopping and brought me back some flowers.

By Sunday the kids were all feeling better, but I was still catching zz's on the bathroom floor keeping close to the big white bus.

Today is Monday and we are all feeling much better now. The kids started back to school and I went to work for the morning. We are slipping back into our routine after the holidays.

Happy New Year

Paul and I rang out the old year with the Linfields and the Griswalds it was great fun, the first time we have gone out on New Years Eve since we had kids. A good time was had by all.

I hate to do the classic 'Resolution Post' but I can't seem to help myself. I don't know if I even really have any resolutions but here I go sticking my foot in it anyway.

It sounds so cliche, like asking Santa for world peace when you sit on his lap. Duh, we all want world peace. I just want to keep on growing, not sideways but inside. Keep pushing my boundaries, not being afraid to keep learning about myself and the Medicine Wheel. To keep running and learning about my body and my limitations.

Buying the spinning wheel was a big thing for me, jumping in with both feet to learn something that made me a little nervous to try, I would like to do more things that push me a bit out of my cozy zone.

I am not sure if this counts as a resolution, I think we all push ourselves a bit and even when we don't want to life forces us to grow anyway. So, it may be a bit like asking Santa for world peace, who doesn't want it?

Happy New Year!