Leap Day....

I feel like I haven't blogged in months. Its the February thing. But its the last day of February and its time to rejoice!!

First ... reno updates....

Before

Blue walls, yellow floor, white furniture.... very small room, and difficult to keep clean. Especially if you are sentimental and keep every little stuffed animal, love note and burned cd you have ever been given!!!

Now, warm walls, wood floors, homemade quilt (thanks to Gail) and homemade trunk (thanks to Pudgy). I need a headboard, pillow shams, curtains, bedside lamp and a few wall hangings. Other parts of Mick's room are the Closet and the wall unit. Her room is so small, its really hard to take pic.

This past week has been fairly hectic. Michelle and Scott arrived on Monday, just in time to take over my duties around here, so I could go to Halifax with 3 others to attend "THE POWER WITHIN" conference. The four of us hit the city and enjoyed a fun evening of wine and chatting. Two of the other women I was with were mom's of kids, and Sara and I didn't have as many obligations at home, but it was sooooo nice to sit back and chat and enjoy each other. The conference was hilarious on many levels.... from being at the end of the long line (of about 500 people) to get into the seating, and at exactly 8:15am, the doors opened at our end!!! what that a sign or what.... we were the first to get into.... our seats were on the floor less than 100 feet from the stage (we actually paid extra for floor seats) but getting in so early gave us the upfront option. I will touch more on the day in later blogs, but what a great way to start the day. The rest of the week was catch-up for sure, but it was heavenly to have Michelle and Scott here to pay lots of attention to dad....

My sister left this week to spend a month in Myrtle Beach, and my brother has now landed in Wabasca Alberta working on a road project... Amazing how small a world this is. I chatted via MSN with both of them tonight, while Gail spent a night in Emphoria, VA (which is the pipe tobacco my Dad use to smoke!) and Tracy was warm and cozy in his "hut" in Northern Alberta

Michelle and Scott head back tomorrow.... if the weather is cooperative. There break is over and Stephanie's has just started. We won't see Stephanie this break but they will all be here at Easter, so that will be a great weekend for us.

Leap Day..... Stephanie told me, no need to count calories or points today..... its one of those few magical days of the year when those things just don't matter.....

Spring yet?

This is why emotions are unstable in February on the Eastern Coast of Canada. snow...snow...snow...rain...snow....rain...... ugh I don't have any pictures of the flooding that is going on right now.... these are all I have

February 11

February 13

February 14

Is it spring yet? Can I come out?

this is one of my Lady bug rocks peeking out from the garden.

I am sooooo getting out of here...... quick cover me!!!!

Another Snow Day...hee hee heeheeehhehhheeeeehhee

Sorry, can't help it. Its Staff Appreciation Week at school. What a better way to show the staff how much we appreciate all their hard work and dedication to the job... two days off this week!

Please check out my sister's blog (to the right) and see our newest little baby Aurora. My sister's youngest daughter Patience is a brand new mom to Baby Aurora. She is named after my mom. This is a picture of my mom and my sister when Gail was 3. That's me, in mom's arms... protesting somelthing. Who knows.
Anyway, that makes my sister a Grammie of 6 little ones, 5 granddaughters and 1 grandson.

Our week has been project oriented... Do you have a filing cabinet in your house. I do. I file everything. Now, I don't file it right away. I have a basket that I keep all my stuff in until the basket fills up (its 3 inches tall). When its to the top (or over the top) of the basket, I take an hour and fill it. But then, when do you empty the filing cabinet...

Monday's snow day was filing day. As I started filing, I realized I can't fit another thing in the cabinet and it was time. So three file folders at a time and off to my bedroom while a movie was on.. Can't even remember the movie, but in no time flat, the cabinet was purged and I have breathing room again.

Today's snow day is dedicating to Michelle's room. We have emptied her room of everything and piled it all in Stephanie's room. (minus 3 garbage bags of things :( which are in the garbage) Now its repairs, paint, floor, closet and then new bed and linens and voila .. a guest room that is Michelle's room first and guest room second. That means, lots of Michelles knicknacks and trinkets will decorate the room and all her things will be around, but mostly its a guest room. So far Terry has torn out the floor (painted plywood from 1995) and torn out the closet. He has painted the ceiling, patched the wall holes and now a fresh coat of paint is throughout the room. Out with the blue and in with Para's "Tansy Bloom". A bit more patching is needed, the closet doors get painted and put back on the closet (they haven't been on the closet since 1996). Paint Trim, new flooring this weekend, futon removed and stored (somewhere?).

BURMAC

Its St. Francis Xavier University..... Feb.... the month of the reknowned BURMAC hockey game. One game. Just one game. This annual game started years ago between two brother houses. That would be BURKE house... (part of Bishop's Hall) and MacIssac House is their own house. The game was started as a friendly game between two all male houses... even in size, even in gender..... The kids don't even know how long this game has been a tradition but we have seen "Game Results" since 1979 so almost 30 years.


But.. .over the years the game has turned from Friendly to Fierce and turned brother houses in to Rival Houses. The entire school year builds up to this night.... with sabotoge and snowball fights, taunting and threats. And after the game... the rest of the year is bragging and gloating.

That's the big history...... now here is the little history....

Michelle and Scott arrived in Burke House in 2005. This house use to be all male, but was switched to co-ed (by floor) just about 3 years before they arrived. The other tradition that is unique with Burke.... isthat the whole House is all Frosh.... all 110 kids were brand new to ST FX and university life. This is their first house..... and they only get to be there one year. The second year, kids become Burke Exiles which plays a role in carrying on the pride of BURMAC and other Burke traditions, even though they are part of other houses or live off campus. All Burke kids carry the pride of being a Burke, for the rest of the ST. FX stay.

By some freak ... luck.... both Michelle and Scott got to stay at Burke a second year, one as an RA and the other as House President. And even stranger luck, Michelle has stayed for a third year as Senior RA.

Now the reality..... BURMAC.... If you check the Results Link, you will see that Burke has lost 3 years in a row. All of Michelles' stay and the year before she arrived. Her first year, it was exciting and hopeful but they lost. That was bad... but ok. They had to listen to and put up with 2 months of Mac "Noise". Last year.... Michelle gave the kids (the new Burke Frosh) the history, got them so excited, wired up, team spirit nights, weird haircuts, cool shirts...hats..... game planning parties.... and the game went into overtime....only to lose again... for the third time. Michelle cried.... it was so awful. The MAC's really rubbed it in... it was a badge of shame at this point.... Not good. Michelle swore that the 2008 game... she wasn't even going to watch.... But

2008..... the game is on... and they go through the whole "team spirit" thing again. Remember... The frosh have no idea how badly the rest of the Burkes and Burke exiles wanted the win. And they also knew how bad a loss would feel. This year, Burke house is not all frosh, the first time in years. But the few second years that live there are Burke Exiles and they help pass on the pain of defeat to the Frosh.....

The Game

The Burke crowd wear Orange, the Mac crowd wear blue. The whole rink is filled and the tension is thick. Did I mention that in the past, one of the games was cancelled because the rivalry got too bad... That was the year before Michelle and Scott. Well, I am not sure if the game was cancelled but it was so bad that it was on the news.... and I couldn't quite understand what all the craziness was about!

OK, heres were I am not good at telling a story, because I know very little about hockey. I do know, I wouldn't have been able to watch. I think I would have had a heart attack.... and Michelle left the game... not because she wanted to, but because she was working..... Scott was texting as the game progressed. Michelle called me when it went into overtime.... and again when it went into the second overtime..... and then the final score...... Watch the 27 second video that was exciting enough for me.... Burke takes it, in Double OverTime....

I am not very good at linking video so the best I can do is link to the YouTube page. The winning Goal

It was two young frosh, Jordan Landry and Adam Novak who score the winning goal and VICTORY.... for the first time in four years ... is sweet!

Blog Hopping!

Stephanie got me started on KnitNut (see Stephanie's blog) and I have been hopping from her blog to several others tonight. Thursday night... another favorite night. No curling, no scrapbooking.. nothing.

Today has been the worse school day I have had in ages and nothing about the day involved me... it just was a crappy day. Everywhere around me was upset, anger, lies, fights, bullies and cranky!!! Its a new moon, its February, its too icy to play, not enough snow and too much snow. Even the staff were bullying each other. Its February. In my bloghopping tonight I came across a wonderful bit of writing that had me laughing and yet it was soooo brilliantly "right on the money". After obtaining permission from Schmutzie herself, I had to quote her wonderful explanation of the February Crazys!!!

What is the February Crazy, you ask? Well, it is a lovely period of time that occurs annually each February. Its symptoms vary but may include any or all of the following:
*Irritability. Did you say something to me? Because that would be wrong. Are you standing anywhere in my vicinity without obvious purpose? Because that would be wrong, too. Have you walked by me a hundred times rather than turning whatever you are doing into one trip? Because that would be very, very wrong. Did you ask me how I am doing? Seething, thank you.
*Strong urges to run away and join the circus. These urges may also be experienced as desires to become a hippie or ride the rails or do a stint in a nunnery. It is best to avoid these urges by crawling under a blanket and drinking an entire bottle of wine.
*Feelings of guilt. In this case, another symptom, irritability, can often be used to overcome the sense that one has fallen terribly short of others' expectations, as irritability is usually quite strong during the February Crazy.
*Sudden weeping. When irritability cannot overcome feelings of guilt, sudden emotional outbursts are common. Do not be alarmed. Enjoy wine liberally and hide in a warm bath.
*Vivid dreams that are emotionally upsetting. (note, see Schmutzie's blog for more on this subject)
*Actions contradict emotions. An individual suffering from the February Crazy may make broad statements about the futility of life and the need to hermit and then will be seen out in public yucking it up. In public, treat an individual with the February Crazy with a gentle hand lest they fall to irritability or weeping. They do not know why they are out in the world, either, and are likely to be easily confused.
In a nutshell, this describes just about everything that went on today. On any given day, I will have a little youngling come with some fabricated story as to why they must have ice for there non existent bump, just so they can have a little baggie with a hard ice cube in it, sort of as a badge of honor. I am the Ice Nazi in the office and depending on my mood, I give ice only for real injuries, so therefore I question them, I feel for a bump, I feel the opposite side of the body where the bump is suppose to be to make sure that both sides feel the same. I explain the horrible dangers of putting ice on a bump that doesn't exist. (you know, ice cream headaches occur if you do that) Putting ice on your eye (which strangely, kids really want to do) will freeze your eyeball and you won't be able to move it for the rest of the day. Today, I had no less than 5 knock im down arguments with kids (mostly girls) who wouldn't take no for an answer. Now, if a kid comes in the office limping on their left foot while holding onto 3 other grade 5 girls, and tried their hardest to get ice for a non-swollen, non-discolored, perfectly mobile , matching the other ankle... ankle, don't you think you would limp out of the office on the same foot. Nope, she got all confused and limped out on the right foot, while the other 3 held her up. Now, before you go all soft on me, these young girls come down almost every day with an sudo injury. She argued til she was blue in her face (which doesn't usually happen, and almost got me thinking she might really be injured) ... first she tried, "the duty said I should have ice", to which I explained that I was the boss of the "ice" and I make that decision thats why the duty sent her in. Second, she said the gym teacher already looked at it, and said it needed ice to which I answered the gym teacher was having lunch and should I call her down to ask her, to which she said no. Then she said she twisted her ankle on the weekend (this is Thursday, remember) and her MOM said, if she ever needed ice, she should get some. To which, yes, you know it, I asked if I should call mom at home to talk about the ankle. Suddenly mom's not at home, and isn't at work either today.... ooooohhhh, so annoying. So then I called it just like it was and sent her on her way... to which she shot me a damaging look (for which I may have needed ice for) and limped off on the wrong foot which set me to giggling all the way back to my desk. That was the "cute" annoying story. So many others today were heartbreakingly bad and just not worth telling.
Now, we, at our school feel that the moon (whether it is full or new) have profound effects on the kids and staff, and couple that with cabin fever (from too cold, or too icy, or too rainy) because it February, have made this week the longest week of the year. But, good news.... no kids tomorrow. Inservice day... yipee. Pizza for lunch to support Sara in her "Joints in Motion" fundraising and then the weekend.

that was my day... and besides the awesome news that Patience had a very healthy little girl at 6 am this morning (and my twins are doing fine too... see previous entry for my dream) it was a crudy one for sure!!
Oh, I am in a Survivor Pool which starts tonight, and I am not a fan of reality shows cause I hate the meanness of it all. They needed a 20th person to fill the pool, so I popped in my $5 and my guy is Chet. Although I don't watch it, I can't wait to hear the gang tomorrow rant and rave. If my Chet wins, I get $100. Wouldn't that be a hoot, I am the only one of the 20 in the pool that doesn't watch it.
Thanks Schmutzie for allowing me to print your words... and giving me a much needed laugh!

PS .. spell check isn't working on blogger tonight, so excuse my misspellings... (if I have any, who knows if I do or not, cause Spell check isn't working)

Baby A is here

Yesterday at 4:29am I received a msn message from Patience... saying "are ya there?". So yesterday morning I called my sister to see what was up. Poor Patience had been up all night with contractions and was walking the floors, just killing time for the next one. We were all pretty excited at our house, but at 9am, my sister called me at work to say that the contractions had stopped and Patience was now resting. Patience sent me a message later on telling me all this. So, we felt it wouldn't really be long.

Last evening, the contractions started again and were regular. Gail, Mert and middle sister Michele headed to St. John to be with Patience. They landed at the Hospital at midnight and Baby Aurora arrived at 6:30 am. She weighed 7 lbs 14oz with brown hair and brown eyes....

Funny how ya dream thought... I woke up at 6:00am this morning and had vividly dreamt that I had twin baby girls (in Halifax) and then I immediately drove to Moncton because Sandra was also having a baby. When I got there, she had twin baby boys... She named her boys Darrell and Corey. My girls were Brenda and Kathleen (Katie for short). Soooo there ya go. My sister told me that Carrie (the oldest of the girls) dreamt that Patience had the baby but named her "Tiny". I guess in our own way, we were with Patience all night long while she was delivering.



I will keep ya posted when I get pictures....



Welcome Baby A, and congrats Patience.

I bought a purse... yup... me... a purse

OK, so what. I bought a purse. First, I started actually carrying a purse about 2 years ago. Never before that, and it took me all this time to actually appreciate how valuable a purse is. After two years of experience, I don't forget it places, I keep my things in it, and I keep it zipped up. These are all skills and talents that most take for granted, but I had to learn them late in life. I have left my purse at the curling club twice, at school more than 10 times, and in the mall once. I have left my wallet out of my purse at least 20 times, so when I go to stores I have no money!. I carried my wallet under my arm for 25 years and continued to do that for another year or so, after I got my purse. Therefore, I carried my clutch wallet safely under my arm, and my purse over my shoulder....

My new purse

It all started with a conversation at work. I spoke with my VP who has the same doctor as I do. Laurie Burgess and we love her.. She is amazing. Her office is located right next door to the Jelly Cupboard and we talked about how it is a given that after your appt, you always take a walk through the Jelly Cupboard. (no website, sorry) Then Linda said, and after my "yearly" sparkle appt, I always treat myself and buy a little something there. Friday was that very appointment for me, and afterwards, off I trudged through snow banks over to the store. I spied the purses when I walked in, but didn't give them another thought, because I am sort of anti-purse in my heart, and the cost was not in the "a little something" range. The usual walk about was fun with a few new things in the very back, and there is a whole stand of WHITE dishes which I love browsing though. And with "a little something" in mind, I picked up every last little trinket I saw to see if it would do. But that purse kept showing up, and I actually picked it up and loved it. I put it down and moved on. Just then, a woman comes around the corner holding another purse and asks the lady at the cash if there are any other colors. She was holding a black one with green flowers. The cashier said no... and I thought she must have missed the two I was standing in front of. So I pointed them out to the woman. She picked up the orange one, put it down and picked up mine instead. That's when I got all fired up. She now had my purse. The first purse I ever really liked. So there she was, sauntering around the store with my purse. I continued to browse but my eye never left the woman. She returned to the green one and picked it up and held them side by side. I started to move in. I watched as she sat mine down and picked up the green one and the orange one. She sat down the orange one, and carried the green one away. I moved in and grabbed mine. I continued to walk about the store satisfied that even if I didn't buy it, she wasn't gonna either. As I walked, I put it on my shoulder, then I laid it down to see if it flopped over, then I opened it and put my new palm wallet in the side pocket to see if it fit. My celphone fit too. Then I walked upstairs with it and looked in the mirror at the top of the stairs. I am not actually sure how you shop for a purse, but I know that those three things mattered to me. But there was the issue of the "a little something" price limit. Here's the thing. Laurie has been my doctor for 16 years. That is 16 annual check ups. And I have never really bought "a little something" for myself. Soooooo

Everyone.... here is my 16 years worth of "a little something" pap purse.! Outside and In!!

Its SATURDAY... and you know what that means

It's my favorite day of the week.....

This is one of those blogs that you sit down to and say... but I have so much to blog it will take too long to write... so let me be short and sweet and many subjects...

First off... all this week (ok, and last week) I have had a nagging project. The Triplets Scrapbook... yes, I know, still.... is coming to the end. I have left the tougher ones to the end. My current nagging project is the Baptism page. I researched several Scrapbooking sites especially for ideas for Christening pages... and some are lovely and others are amazing... my problem is I have three kids to scrap... What do I do? Each one page (which leaves two facing pages, and the third and last child is on a page of their own). do I make a flip out page, but then again... someone is left on their own. Then, I have the pics of the beautiful outfits my sister made for them... and the family gathering, the cake, the ceremony.... Two weeks... driving Debbie nuts (yes even took a pic of what I was working on and emailed it so she can give me an opinion), and picked Jills brain, Chantal's, my sister's.... ugh. Anyway, I did it. I finished it and I like it... Its not my best, but the best part is... its done.

I finished it last night during a "crystal storm". Terry and Tom were out and I waited up to get the "call" to come pick them up, and when I went out to pick them up at midnight, the streets were all Crystal. The car was too, and that was a pain to scrap. But this morning it was all gone and we had downpours of rain, and tons of wind.

This is our large pink crystal mystery rock from Ontario, and it looks right at home surrounded by all the crystals that fell from the sky all night long
Today... Saturday..... It is Betty MacDonalds birthday today. Jilly Bean and Silly Sara, her two beautiful daughters organized a wonderful surprise party for her and I was part of the "hired" help. Jill and Sara decorated a very quaint Community Hall in Pink and Brown.... table clothes, napkins, candies, flowers, centerpieces and even all the crafts... yes crafts. Jill made little "stations" around the room, and all the guests were invited to visit each table and make a little memento of the party and fill their own good bag with crafts. That was one of my jobs... to man one of the tables

Donna Griff took over 300 pictures of the day, and so I hope to get a couple of amazing pics for my blog once she has time to sort through them... but here are a couple of not great pics of the centerpiece, and a couple of cute magnets that were a craft.... What a fun way to spend the day.

The meal was fantastic with homemade Corn Chowder (made by Jeff) and homemade Newfie soup (made by Mel)... three kinds of salad, fruit and sweets... Pink fuzzy Punch and a Gorgeous cake made by Debbie P. I can't wait to post pictures.... This party was a ton of work for Jill and Sara, and Betty was amazingly surprised and thrilled and I am sure that made it all worth while. I had a blast, and it was so fun to see Donna G again, since I haven't seen her in at least 7 months. Nice to see Taryn and she taught the really hard craft and was the last to get to eat lunch so, I thank her for taking the hard craft.

so... the pics are all fairly dark, I can't seem to find proper lighting for taking pictures but that will come. Soon to come are updates on the slow moving renovations around the house... Another day and some better pictures before I can talk about that!!!