Crazy Busy Week

Every now and then, I have a week that is ridiculously busy. This happens to be one of those weeks. Each day this week, my calendar has been packed full, and my feet haven't quit moving. I was looking forward to having a slow day tomorrow, but then got asked to help out at school. I know these days of helping out won't last forever, so I kind of take them when I can. Also, after a grueling 4 1/2 days back to school, Mason gets off at noon tomorrow. Phew.

Lots has happened over the past few days. We had our computer fixed, and it's working slick, though there are a few things missing. I have to download all my fonts again, which is a bummer, but at least they were backed up this time! [Last time I lost all those] A few things have been moved around and don't look 'usual' to me. I'm sure I'll get it all figured out again over time. I'm grateful for extra memory, a new and improved back up internal hard drive, and my re-vamped external hard drive. I'm also grateful for computer guys, who though their cost is high, know exactly how to speak computer. I am qualified to re-boot a computer with the power switch, and that's about it.

In the package we received from Ama last week, was this comic [she sends comics to the kids, who absolutely love to get them]


Sunday morning, after our ginormous dump of snow, I saw this little guy out our kitchen window. Too funny huh?

Year after year they come back way too soon. Why don't they learn?

Sunday evening, I tried a new recipe. It was called Sausage Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes. I got the recipe here. And they were as good as they looked.

Both my brother and Barry ooh-ed and ahh-ed over them. So they were indeed a hit. But let me tell you one thing, they were tedious. I mean after all, Martha I am not. Would I make them again? Initially I said no, but once everyone raved so much about them, it changed my perspective slightly. Next time I would either bake the potatoes the day before [you can even do this in the crock pot, it's super easy] Then work with the cold potatoes and reheat them. Or I'd make a mashed potato casserole, just make mashed potatoes the regular way, then doctor them up, put into a casserole dish and pop them in the oven. One change I'd make to the recipe,I would add the Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese to the mashing process. It would make them that much creamier. I didn't do this on Sunday, because Chris was watching me. I think he'd have headed for the hills if he saw me add cream cheese into his beloved 'mashies'. He'd probably say, "Some things are meant to be the way they are, end of story"

Then for dessert, we had these, but wait it gets better:

A little surprise of peanut butter goodness hidden inside. Everyone else is hiding things inside baked goods. I decided to get in on it too! Yummy Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.

Again, these were very well received. I have a confession... I seem to have lost all will-power when it comes to sweets again... I can tell you exactly when it happened. Go back and read this post. It's so easy to get back into old habits again.

The doorbell rang on Monday morning. It was kind of a simultaneous doorbell ring and banging on the door. And I said to myself, that can only mean one thing...

Canada Post had a special delivery for moi... A very special delivery indeed... My new camera bag came home. It's as lovely in real life, as it is on the website. I'll post a picture once I get it all filled up! Happy Birthday to me...

And with all that snow, comes the mega melt. I took my camera with me to pick Mason up from the bus a couple of days ago, and water was running down the street like crazy. Some days the sun shines and water streams and you can feel the warmth of the sun. Then today, it's cold and the air feels like snow yet again. We're waiting so patiently for spring.

Us and Them...

This comic [sent to us ironically from sunny Arizona] depicts our life in a nutshell...


And while we're watching the snow melt, and run in rivers and streams down the streets, I sit and dream of living somewhere I can have this in my backyard...

contemporary patio design by atlanta interior designer Brian Watford ID

I'd even make do with this...

traditional porch design by atlanta architect Castro Design Studio

Two very different styles, and I'd like to be lounging at either. Maybe sometime in the future, with the aid of global warming, we can enjoy a nice summer and not merely a nice 'few weeks'.

Snow Day

We did indeed have a snow storm, the forecast was for once accurate. We've got at least 8 inches of snow, and it's still falling steadily.

Our computer fix-it guy canceled, because he wasn't able to get here. [I'm kind of relieved] The kids spent the morning out in the snow. Mace and Barry had to brave the elements and go all the way across town to a birthday party. Gross... The girl and I just hung out at home. We haven't done much of anything.

Here are my favourite photos for March:


1. Mason and Barry practicing slap shots on the driveway. 2. Madelyn, Gigi and myself. 3. Madelyn playing with the extra skin on Gigi's arms, makes me laugh every time I look at this picture. 4. Madelyn on the couch reading Hop on Pop. 5. At the zoo, new baby Giraffe! 6. Mad at gymnastics. 7. Silly Bandz sent home from Arizona. 8. Licking the batter. 9. Racing Cub Cars. 10. Shoveling the snow. 11. Hockey stance. 12. Crocheted Cup Cozy.

Here are a few pictures to describe our last 5 days weather-wise:

March 29th - the snow is perfect for snowmen! Madelyn and I made this one.

March 30th - the water is running, and it's warm. The snowman's eyes, nose, mouth and buttons have fallen off.
March 31st - There's not much left of our snow friend now!

April 1st - This is what our backyard looked like yesterday. This was all that was left of our creation.
April 2nd - This is what our backyard looks like today. [And it has not stopped snowing yet!]


What they typically say about our weather, is if you don't like it, wait 5 minutes. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. Let the meltdown begin!

The Night Before the Hardrive Wipe Out...

I'm less than 12 hours away from having my computer 'wiped out'. Eeks... I'm not gonna act like I'm not scared of losing EVERYTHING... I am. I've got all my pictures saved, I think. The problem is now, with doing digital scrapbooking, I have SO MANY FILES that need to be saved, in the event of "what if..." We have an external hard drive, that we bought some time last year. Apparently, we're going to save everything from the hard drive of the computer onto the external hard drive, wipe out the hard drive [removing anything nasty] then bring the files back... Yeah... Good luck. I am hopeful but nervous... I hate how dependent I am on technology. I also hate that I really have no clue what to do, except re-boot the system and keep my fingers crossed...

Spring break... that's what we've done this week. I went for lunch at a friends house today [thanks friend] and she asked the kids "What have you done this week?" And Mason replied "Oh nothing much..." And I'm thinking "Huh? Nothing?" I tried to balance hanging out at home, with out doing stuff. So, here's a recap of our week, the way I see it.

Monday - we did the library, picked out some books and dvd's, the kids seemed to enjoy it, but perhaps I'm wrong. I also build a catapult from a blog idea I got here... It was not met with the enthusiasm I thought it would be. [Well that's not entirely true... Barry was very excited, the kids, not so much] I also tried something new in Madelyn's hair, her idea [which makes it that much more awesome. Looked cute for the first few moments... Seriously, does this girl walk around on her head or what?]

Tuesday - We built a snowman in the back yard, I even helped for Pete's sake. I guess Mason only remembers that his friend Josh came to play, because suddenly he was too cool to build a snowman with Madelyn and I... I didn't expect that to happen so soon... We met Uncle Chris at Gigi's house after dinner, and had a visit with her. [Tuesday was also our only full day with sun]

Wednesday - We had a jammie day at home [Madelyn has been driving me crazy about having a jammie day, so I just finally went with it] We ended up meeting Barry at Denny's for dinner. I got a free birthday dinner certificate in the mail you know, we couldn't NOT use it!! Madelyn made up a Lego game... Anyone that knows me, knows I don't particularly like games, or game playing. So to play a game that's been made up by a 5 year old, is indeed a feat... [But, I did it... I'm Bat Girl...]


Thursday I ended up taking the kids to a twoonie matinee, we saw Megamind. To be honest, I was a bit worried about how Madelyn would do, but aside from sitting on my knee the entire time, she did great, only a mild whimpering on a couple of occasions. Then we had Cheese Biscuits for dinner, because Barry wasn't home, and I'd promised the kids I would make them biscuits some time over the spring break.


Friday - I loaded the kids and their borrowed DS into the car, and we went to a friends house for coffee. Then we went to Steph's place for lunch. The kids played on the trampoline in shifts, then we headed home where Bary picked them up and took them to their cousins hockey game. I had a blissful 3 hours of home alone time... It was darn right dreamy.

It is now Friday night. Barry's snuggling the kids into bed, and I'm to be saving anything important on the computer... Eeks. There is also a winter storm warning advisory in effect for Calgary. Isn't that fantastic? We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Keep your fingers crossed that this computer issue gets dealt with and nothing goes wrong!

Birthday Weekend

Well for another week any way, I have access to the internet... We had someone come over Sunday afternoon, he is coming back next week, to do a 'wipe-out'... I don't know about you, but that particular sentence sends a shiver up my spine... I'm under the impression that everything will be taken off, then re-loaded back on... Let's face it, nothing ever goes as it should, so I'm expecting the worst. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised... We'll cross that bridge next week.

So, it turned out to be a good idea that I made my own cake after all. Of course, at 7:30 pm on Friday night Barry acted all hurt-feeling like, when he said something about stopping to pick up a cake [we went to Boston Pizza with the kids] and I told him, there was no need to, I'd made one. He accused me of not having any faith in him, which is ridiculous, of course I have faith in him. [He'd be CRAZY not to acknowledge my birthday] The thing was, I suddenly realized maybe I should make a cake, and then I decided that the cake I wanted was a Lazy Daisy Cake [out of Best of Bridge, of course] So I made the cake I wanted. Enough said. It has the most amazing icing [a sweet, broiled, coconut icing] which is what I wanted, and after having a conversation in Winner's a few weeks ago, with a lady in line, about using SHORTENING in the icing, rather than butter, the idea of a store bought cake kind of grosses me out a bit... You know that shortening is basically the same thing as lard right? Eeks... Pastry is one thing, but icing... Just didn't sit well with me.

So here I am, with my birthday cake. A lovely 8x8 size, quite manageable for a family of 4.

Mmmmm, check it out. Doesn't that look delish? [It was lovely]

Speaking of lovely, check out these foxy gals. We went out on the town for a Girl's Night Out. We've been getting together to do Girl's Night In, which has been fantastic as well, but going out to a restaurant was a nice treat. Barry snapped this picture of us on our way out the door. We all looked so dang fancy. The weather was DREADFUL. It snowed, and snowed and snowed. Thank you Nicole, for being our designated driver, and for not letting blind/crossed eyes deter you! [We revert back to teenagers on a fairly regular basis] I'm not kidding about the snow... I'll bet it snowed 5 inches in 3 hours... Gross...

And then Sunday afternoon, we had this:

All day. It snowed on and off... It's been 9 days since we saw the sun. I'm starting to feel more than a bit depressed.

On another note, for my birthday I got this:

This nifty little thing is a wireless remote, so I can take pictures with my camera and NOT have to be looking through the viewfinder to focus and press the button!!

My first test picture using my new device:

Totally excited about using this remote for so many reasons. I'll be able to get in a lot more pictures, and they'll actually be in focus!! It works like a gem!

And I ordered this... Can't wait to get it! LOVE the color... Happy Birthday to me!

The First Anniversary of my 40th Year

Isn't that a much better way to say "today is my 41st Birthday?" I think so. We've had an unfortunate event at our house. The computer is unwell. There are error messages about worms and viruses that were concerning enough to Barry that he actually called the Geek Squad [aka computer fixers] They'll be here Sunday.

I have had no contact with the virtual world... It's scary. It makes you realize how much you depend on your internet connection. How much you take it for granted when things are up and running.

I've had to hijack Barry's work computer [shhhh, don't tell!] I don't have much time. I have no pictures to post, and really nothing new to report. When I blow out my candles [at least I hope there'll be candles to blow out, or cake to eat at the very least... I wonder if I was supposed to make my own cake...] My wish will be to have our computer fixed, and have it not be too costly, not to lose anything relevant, files and/or pictures, and most importantly I'm going to wish for... Spring to come. Please spring... If you can hear me. This birthday girl is tired of shoveling and scraping car windows... And being cold... Yeah. I'm tired of being cold and seeing gray skies.

Oh, while I'm at it, [on Barry's computer that is] I'm going to treat myself to one of these... Happy Birthday to me! I'm leaning toward the moss or teal color...

I just re-read my post and gasped. How could I possibly be 41? When did THAT happen? How shocking. But nonetheless, how true. I better go make a cake... The kids would be so upset with no birthday cake. I'm doing it for the kids...

First Day of Spring

This is the view of our downtown skyline... Can you see the buildings? Nah... me either, but you should be able to. This is the corner of 32nd Ave and Deerfoot.

I took this picture on the way to Madelyn's last gymnastic class. Yet another dreary day. It's snowing, it's cold, it's wet. At least the snow isn't accumulating too much. We're certainly lucky to have dodged the 25 cm snowfall warning over the weekend. I think I can speak for just about everyone when I say, I'm done with the snow. Go. Now. Bugger off. See you again next winter. [Only if you insist however...]

Little Miss had her last gymnastic class today. She showed off of course, and hammed it up. She loved gymnastics. Hoping to re-register for the spring session.


Received a package in the mail late last week, it came from sunny Arizona. There were postcards, stickers and most importantly, SillyBandz. And not just any kind of SillyBandz, Star Wars SillyBandz. Someone was excited... He couldn't wait to get into them. Then he put them on. Every last one of them.

I'm disappointed because we didn't get our bottles returned this past weekend. I knew it would be busy on the weekend, I just didn't know it would be THAT busy... Lesson learned. I suppose that's why Barry looked at me cross-eyed when I told him that's what our plans were.

This week is hectic. Barely a free moment from now until Friday. It's funny how some weeks are dull and others are so busy. We were thrilled to hear over the weekend that 9 days after the disaster in Japan a Grandmother and her Grandson were pulled out of the debris. Read about it here, it's such a miracle.

Also, Ali posted another thankful thought template here: I think I'm going to make a little mini-album with the pictures and the templates she offers.

It's so important to spend a little time thinking about what it is we are thankful for.