BAD BABYSITTERS???
Rob and I finally managed to go to Montreal this weekend. This was a trip that should have happened weeks ago, but then Rob got sick, then I got sick, and our trip had to keep getting postponed. Anyway, we woke up on Saturday morning (it was BEAUTIFUL & SUNNY), packed up our stuff (it's funny how Bosco's bag was the same size as ours!), and hit the road. We made a pit-stop at Starbucks, Rob got coffee, and I have lately become a fan of their organic Happy Planet fruit smoothies (tree-huggers beverage...and very yummy), and drove to Montreal with the music loud and the wind in our hair. We arrived at my sister's place to a huge, Korean FEAST that my mother had prepared...sushi, dumplings, shrimp, kimchi...and belated birthday cake for Rob!!! So yummy. After all chatting for a bit, Sue and Christian left for the evening to attend a wedding, Rob left with the dog to visit his parents, which left my mother and I to babysit...something we've done numerous times in the past. This time we both fell asleep on the couch, and awoke to Audrey calling us on the phone. Audrey was commenting on what kind of babysitters fall asleep, when I looked up and saw my youngest nephew playing with SHARP ADULT scissors...trying to remove the label off of a Gingerale bottle! Ha ha ha, little bugger dragged the chair to the cupboard, climbed up and helped himself to the supplies he needed for his "experiment". I told Audrey (after first telling Edouard to be VERY CAREFUL) what he was doing. I wonder if she'll trust me to look after the girls when they come next month?!? Anyway, it was amazing to spend some quality time with my family. Romy and Victor had fun playing with Bosco and giving him way too many treats. And my super-nice mom packed a cooler full of food for us to take back to Ottawa, so I don't have to cook when I'm tired after work this week. She's the best! Hope you all had a fun weekend too...I'll post pictures as soon as I get Susan to email me some!

AM I NICE???
Or let me rephrase that...do I LOOK like a nice person?!? I'm asking because riding the bus is giving me a complex. I find that people don't readily sit next to me on the bus. Yes, eventually the bus gets really full and someone winds up sitting next to me...but I have noticed that even when there are empty seats next to me...they are not the FIRST to be taken! Ha ha ha, don't get me wrong, I LIKE having my own personal space beside me...I prefer it to having people squished smack beside me. I've just had this discussion in the past with various people, and I have heard different opinions. Rob thought I looked like a snob when he first met me. My good friend Caroline thought I didn't look friendly because I plucked my eyebrows too thin...and in retrospect, when I see past pictures of myself...my thin and overly arched eyebrows DID make me look kinda mean. Dennis (the guy in the picture who is one of my good friends in Ottawa) said I make this face that looks like I'm doubting what is being said to me...challenging/questioning it...this face I make is apparently when I raise one eyebrow. I don't even realize I'm doing that, until he points it out! But anyway, with normal width eyebrows, not raised in a challenging way...DO I LOOK NICE?

YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG!!!

I read this article in the Globe and Mail earlier this week, and was absolutely AMAZED with this story. It was about this guy originally from B.C., currently living in Montreal, who one day decided to post a blog, with the goal of trying to trade one red paperclip for something better. His ultimate goal was to keep trading UP, all the way to someone offering him a HOUSE!!! He used to play this "game" of bartering as a child. Anyway, 10 trades later...his one red paperclip has being traded UP to include offers including ONE WHOLE YEAR'S RENT IN A GORGEOUS HOUSE IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA!!! This crazy (and imaginative) idea has made this young guy a somewhat of a celebrity...appearing on several TV shows and being talked and written about in the media. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT!!! His blog is fun to read, and you can see pictures of all the trades so far. I like crazy people, and this guy sounds like he would be a blast to hang out with!
www.oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DARLING, SICKLY, HUSBAND!!!

All week long I was looking forward to this weekend. It's Rob's birthday today, and we had planned to go to Montreal. Tonight was supposed to be his birthday dinner with his side of the family...his mother even baked a birthday cake (which is a BIG deal, as my mother-in-law in a self-proclaimed NON BAKER, NON COOK)!!! And tomorrow was going to be spent with my side of the family...SUGARING OFF!!! I absolutely LOVE going to the Cabane-a-sucre! I went every single Spring from Kindergarden to Grade 6!!! But someone had a different plan for us this weekend. Rob has been in bed since yesterday morning with the flu, and I'm sick with a cold. Ick. I even slept in the spare bedroom last night to avoid getting whatever Rob has (he had a fever of 101'). So far, not a fun birthday weekend! Anyway, such is life...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my stinker, papabear, fix-it-guy, bug killer, husband and best friend!!! P.S. Happy 3rd Birthday to my puppy Bosco...who DID get to celebrate his birthday with a breakfast of CANNED dogfood...what a yummy treat!

COMPLETE ME?!?

I have been busy sleeping, eating, watching American Idol and HOUSE, and the movie "Inside Man"...too busy to blog. Okay, now I'm back and the topic of my post today is in reference to Kaili's sister Shalane's blog about whether you need a man to "complete you". I think this topic is pretty black and white. Either you agree or disagree. I disagree. Just the other night I heard someone on TV describe a relationship as "ONE PLUS ONE EQUALS TWO, NOT A HALF PLUS A HALF EQUALS A WHOLE". I think this is the perfect description for a healthy relationship!!! If you feel incomplete as an individual, and complete because of someone else...you have issues. A secure, happy person shouldn't feel less of a person because they aren't part of a couple. Soli...I salut you for going out dancing alone...!!!

TEN THINGS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME!!!

I saw this on Rebecca Eckler's blog and thought it was fun...so I copied it! Honestly I don't have many secrets...probably because I have a big mouth, and blurt out things about myself that most people don't want others to know! But I like ME...and am not ashamed of own little "secrets"...

1. I have an obsession with wedge sandals...not only do they make me look taller, but I find them incredibly sexy.
2. I kiss my dog on the lips.
3. I have two tattoos, the first I got in Montreal when I turned 18 years old and dragged my friend Shayne with me, the second I got a year later when I was living in Vancouver and dragged my friend Jessica with me. My mom HATES them both.
4. I live by Plato's quote "Attention to Health is the Greatest Hindrance to Life"! I have NO WILL POWER when it comes to something I want...like a greasy poutine, Starbucks, or calorie-ridden desserts!
5. I like men in uniform.
6. I cry very easily. I cry in almost every movie I see...including Terminator II when at the end, the Terminator is being lowered into the vat of acid, and is saying goodbye to the little boy. I also cried when I watched the kid-movie "Two Brothers" when the two tigers are reunited and realize they are long lost brothers and start rubbing their faces together!
7. I laugh at inappropriate things. This is why I miss Jan, Akiko and Glen so much...they are also like this. I still laugh at the story of the seeing-eye-dog that made his blind owner walk right face first into a pole, when the dog himself avoided it! Sorry if this offends any of you. I know, I know...Namaste Audrey.
8. I can sing along to every heavy-metal-rock-ballad of the 80's and 90's.
9. I still count with my fingers.
10. I AM 31 AND STILL HAVE A SECURITY BLANKET!!

Crazy Ottawa Weather...

i'm home sick today. didn't feel great and couldn't open my eyes this morning...decided my well-being was more important than feeling guilty about not going to work. anyway, i slept for the better part of the morning, and vegged-out watching daytime television...some home decorating shows, a little martha and ellen...snuggled under the covers on the couch with my puppy lovingly beside me. this downtime has done me good. and guess what? after having a sunny weekend that reached 20 degrees, it's SNOWING today! not just a few flakes...snowing for real...it's been a couple of hours so far...and it's sticking on the ground!!! i LOVE the snow in winter...but give me a break...snow in april is just WRONG!

Caroline and Serge's Baby Shower!!!





This weekend was a blast! It started early on Saturday morning, when I woke up and ate some breakfast (with Bosco's head on my lap) at around 6:30am. I then packed my things for Montreal and woke up Rob to drive me to the Greyhound Bus. We stopped at the Elgin Street Diner on the way to the bus station, and I had some "second-sy's"...yes another breakfast of sausage and eggs and some of Rob's blueberry pancakes! I fell asleep right away on the bus, and when I opened my eyes I was already in Montreal. Christian and Romy were there waiting for me, and when we got back to Sue's place, my mother had cooked up a storm!!! So then I ate the yummiest lunch of Korean bacon, dumplings, and shrimp! We all licked our plates clean, even Edouard the finicky eater! After relaxing at my sister's place, all the girls went shopping...my mother, Susan, Romy and I. So fun! We ended the night, as per Romy's suggestion, of getting KFC for dinner. She sold us on the idea by saying that this way, her "Halmoni" could actually eat with us at the same time, rather than spend all her time cooking in the kitchen...she's so thoughtful! I LOVED all the quality time I spend with my family this weekend...it's been a while since I was there last. And then this morning I woke up to find that the sun was shining BRIGHT BRIGHT RRIGHT!!! It was the perfect day for a baby shower! I haven't seen my friend Caroline since December when her pregnant belly was JUST showing! She was stunning today! She definitely has the pregnant GLOW! She literally looks exactly the same (no weight gain anywhere)...except in her big, cute, belly! I felt her very active baby dancing away in her belly...so fun! I once again ate like a big pig, and got to talk and laugh with my old, close friends. I nourished not only my insatiable stomach this weekend, but nourished my soul! Hope you all had a fun weekend too!