baby face

My co-workers threw a baby shower for us just over a week ago. Now I love a good party but I'm not great with being the centre of attention. Thankfully, the people who planned it knew that and it was a casual event with no embarrassing party games. Luckily, Steve was able to be there too so I had someone to share the spotlight with, especially when it came to the opening the gifts portion of the program. We were completely overwhelmed by their generosity. The gifts filled up the backseat and cargo area of our Ford Escape. I'm pretty sure that we don't need to actually purchase anything else for the baby. I was blown away.

The big hit of the party was the "guess the baby" game. My co-workers were encouraged to bring in a picture of them under the age of 3 and we had to try and guess who everyone was. I not only brought in one my pics, but one of Steve too. I must say, we were both pretty darn cute.

Me, at about 3 months old.

Steve. We think he's about a year old. Check out that leg chub!

And that marks the end of NaBloPoMo 2008. I made it through my second one! I will likely take a couple of days off of blogging but I will be back soon. There is far too much going on for me to stay away.

sweet dreams are made of this...

Up until a couple of hours ago, there was a chance that I was going to be on strike tomorrow. Thankfully, a tentative settlement was reached. But I have to admit, I was kind of hoping for a couple of extra days off after the hell of the previous work week. Don't get me wrong. The last thing I wanted was to be on strike. All that means is way more work to catch up on once the strike was over.

Well as it turns out, all I need is one of these babies!


The Nappak is a portable sleeping cube, perfect for that much needed, mid-afternoon nap. I'm way more productive in the morning and by about 2pm, I'm totally ready for a little siesta. Now if I can just get my hands on one of these! Don't you think the world would be a much more civilized place if we all still took our afternoon nap?

you were on my mind...

I am generally a happy person but lately I've been very grumpy. I know that it's mostly due to my job sucking ass at the moment. And I know I will get through this spell, but I seem to spend too much time whining and feeling sorry for myself these days.

Reality check.

I was chatting with a friend from university the other day. He told me that one of our classmates was very ill with cancer. It started as breast cancer and has since spread. The prognosis is not good. She's about 35 years old, married, the mother of three children. Back in school, she was a blast to be around. Always positive, the life of the party, guaranteed to cheer you up when you're down and would always make you laugh your ass off. I can't think of anyone who didn't like her. To think of her fighting for her life, ravaged by this hideous disease makes me sad, but mostly really, really angry. It's just not fair.

And today, one of my friends was in surgery for his third kidney transplant. That's right, I said third. You'd think that someone with such a serious health issue would be bitter and negative. But Brian is one of the most positive people I know. I have never once heard him complain about his condition. He lives life to the fullest and doesn't let his illness get in the way of enjoying life. He's been on my mind all day as I anxiously await news of how today's surgery went.

So really, my life is not so bad. Sure the job is not great but I'm healthy, have a great family and awesome friends. Can't really complain, can I?

EDIT: It's now 3 days after Brian's kidney transplant and both he and his donor are doing amazingly well. Terri (the donor) will likely be discharged tomorrow. Brian is boasting the best kidney function he has had in 25 years and will, if all goes well, be discharged on Monday. As I write this, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief and tears are welling up in my eyes.

winter wonderland

ahhh...snow day...



After a spell of rather tropical weather (for Canada that is) we were hit with a snow storm today. I have a bit of an addiction to The Weather Network so after consulting the website on Thursday afternoon and reading the weather warnings, I decided to plan accordingly. When I announced to my boss and assistant that I would take some work home just in case I could not make the commute in due to the storm they both looked at me as if I had three heads. At that moment it was a spring-like afternoon in Toronto. Sunny, warm, gorgeous. All of the snow from our previous storm had long since melted away. Obviously, they hadn't heard the latest forecast. I was relieved to wake up to a fresh blanket of snow. Now they would know I wasn't just gunning for a free day off. I checked the forecast and traffic report and it didn't look good. I decided not to attempt the commute, even though the GO trains appeared to be operating on schedule. I was confident that I could get to work in good time but afraid of a 5-hour trip home. When I received the email shortly after 9:30am stating that the university would close at 11am, I was very happy to have not made the trek into Toronto. And since we were closing, I felt no need to dig into the knapsack full of work that I had brought home. So what did I do? First, I finished the birthday blanket that I had been knitting for my mother-in-law. And I think it turned out pretty well.


This is the Glowing Colours Afghan made from Lion Brand Jiffy yarn. I only recently began attempting patterns that call for sewing pieces together. My sewing skills are rather limited. But I picked up a fantastic book that has given me the confidence to attempt some knitting patterns that have scared the hell out of me in the past. Check it out! I sewed three separate pieces together and you can't even see the seams!


After that was done, Steve and I ventured outside to clear the snow from the driveway. Thankfully, one of our kind neighbours had plowed the sidewalk with his snowblower, giving us a clear path to start from. It didn't take us long to dig out, but I did think back to our December storm when Samantha and Corey were visiting from Regina. That storm had delayed their trip home by more than a day. We were happy to have our guests stay for an extra day, as we don't see them very often. And as it turns out, Samantha is a fantastic snow-shoveler. Corey and I had no problem staying inside the warm house while Steve and Samantha braved the cold to clear out the driveway.


Sam, you rock! You can come back anytime. You can even bring Corey with you!

It's now late Friday night and the snow is still falling albeit slowly. There is a fresh blanket on the ground that will need clearing in the morning but that's fine by me. Winter is one of the things I love about Canada. There is something magical about this season that I can't quite put into words. But I love it!