Mindless Musings

Chapter 7 Nightmares

2010-01-27T22:16:00.002-05:00

The girls at The Paper Cut are back after the holidays with the new Twilight scrap booking challenge. Here is my take on their Nightmare challenge. It was pretty lumpy with the red rhinestones on it so I had to take a picture of it instead of scanning this week.

Journalling:

James:

Sexy kind of scary. I had GOOD dreams about him. He was so good at being BAD.

Laurent:

He was creepy, nice weird. Not the most skeery of vamps but he did have haunting eyes. Yup skeery eyes.

Victoria:

Now this is a skeery bitch! She gave me nightmares. That smile, that hair...she is my Twilight bad dream villain.

Been a while

2010-01-05T13:50:00.002-05:00

Holidays got the better of me this month. Back to business...I haven't updated this on a personal level in a while.

I turned 35. Not a big thing. I wasn't dreading it much. Just another day in the grand scheme of things. I did however get some news that made my birthday heavy. My uncle Stephen finally let go of his fight with cancer. He passed away mid morning on my birthday. He faught...nobody including his doctors had expected him to make it to June yet he held on for another 7 months. My dad is quite upset and shaken again. This is his second younger brother in just over a year to pass from cancer. He also lost his best friend to this terrible disease within that time period too.

Christmas was a let down this year. My mom having moved out East could not make it this year. My sister tried but the roads were just crap and she had to turn back so we did not do our traditional Christmas Eve get together. Then on the afternoon of Eve Lacy ended up in the walk in clinic with a bad ear infection. She and Brent spent a couple of hours there waiting. The kids had a good Christmas otherwise. Mind you the post Christmas boredom drove me nuts and drove me to make a decision to change our life as a family. I created a new blog to track that progress. We are simplifying life and learning to be grateful for what we have and for eachother. All the while trying to get more organized, de-stressing, doing more as a family and just being better people. HERE is the new blog.

New Years came and went. We aren't big on that whole thing really. But it did prompt me to really sit back and look at the past while and realise we needed to change. Hell, most of the people I know probably need to get back what has been lost to the go go go mentality of society. Anyhow...onwards and upwards to better things. Life WILL change for the better because I refuse to just be idle or passive anymore about letting things rule our lives.

On a wonderfully good note, my sister Naomi and her boyfriend Adam got engaged!! YAY! They plan on a wedding after she finishes with school in a year and a half. I have only met Adam the once but he seemed like a pretty good guy and if my dad approves of him then he must be worthy! :)

Not much more new news on the stepdad front. His cancer is still growing slowly. His last MRI showed that the last gamma knife surgery didn't do much at all. They are playing the waiting game yet again...afraid to do much more to his brain in fear of more swelling which means more seizing which means more meds which means his quality of life goes down the toilet. The meds had him like a zombie and just not right before they lowered his dosage so going back to that would mean homecare more than likely and he does NOT want that.

So that is it in a nutshell really. I forget when the last personal update was so I may have missed some stuff. lol

Chapter 6 {scary stories}

2009-12-07T20:39:00.003-05:00

Another layout for The Paper Cut blog challenges. This one I am not happy with but it is done. I used my friend Nancy's sketch for this one....and I am so sorry Nancy, I butchered it! lol Anyhow the challenge was to tackle something you are afraid of doing so I dug out the texture paste. I stamped it and I covered some chipboard in it. I also used my own handwriting which I can't stand doing and almost stroke out at the thought of my messy writing ruining a layout lol. NO wonder I am not happy with it...I had anxiety overload on this one lol.

Journalling:

Why did I start reading Twilight?

Honestly, I wanted to disprove all the hype.

I wanted to hate the book...

Boy was I WRONG!

Chapter 6 {Vs}

2009-11-23T10:12:00.002-05:00

And the challenge this week was to pick a team...and well DUH I am soooooooooo Team Edward! I love to do the starburst look with patterned paper. Anyhow...here is the HAWTNESS that is Edward.

Quote is from Twilight and just seemed very fitting for this layout lol:

I was consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed with Edward himself. Chapter 3, Page 67

Chapter 5 {Blood Type}

2009-11-16T21:50:00.004-05:00

Well here is my layout for Chapter 5's challenge from Paper Cut where we had to discuss our like or dislike for blood and to get MESSY! I hope you all like it because I got "blood" all over my scrap space lol. Remind me to lay down some plastic a la Dexter next time. I had to wipe off my wall! lol I even decided to slap on some bloody hand prints. I know how crazy CP is about misting lately....so I tried misting around a cutout paper heart to get the shape under the title....and I faux stitched around it. And NO layout is complete without a pic of Robward!! *sigh*

Journalling:

Blood...am I bothered by it? No. Can I stomach the sight of it?
Hell yeah! I have had a healthy obsession with horror
movies ever since I saw my first one...Funhouse. The
more blood the better for me. Give me a good vampire
movie (ahem Twilight), my favorite serial killer Dexter, that
crazy ass Bateman from American Psycho or the
creepy Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses.
Am I a freak? Ummm yeah!!!

Chapter 4 {Invite}

2009-11-09T20:15:00.007-05:00

Well here it is (click on it to enlarge...just noticed it's hard to see on here)...I struggled with this one. First I drew a sketch...which ended up out the window because I couldn't manage to fit it all and make it look good. So, this is what I ended up with instead. This is for The Paper Cut blog challenges. I had a heck of a time scanning this thing and stitching it. Oh and I also used the Twilight font from HERE.

Journalling had to be in your own handwriting EEK!! But here is what I wrote:

I can't count how many times I had rolled my eyes at the "pushers" when they got going on about Twilight. I swore I would NOT succumb to the "hype". But...I did and the rest is history. Now I am the "pusher"...there's no telling how many I turned!

Chapter 3

2009-11-03T10:25:00.005-05:00

Here is my layout for challenge number 3 for The Paper Cut blog. This one I put blood sweat and tears into....well ok just blood lol. I hand sewed on this one and yup...pricked my finger while doing so. Kind of fitting though lol. I tried to scan this thing but because the heart is on foam mounting dots it scanned wonky. I used a bunch of mag covers with Rpatz gracing the cover and collaged them for the heart. I even have a Russian (atleast I think it was Russian) one on there. lol Click the pic to make it bigger to see detail.

Journalling reads:

I have always loved vampires.
But this time is different.
I seem to have a Robsession
along with my Twitardedness.

So yeah....

2009-10-27T21:57:00.003-04:00

I so suck at blogging! lol I AM trying to keep up with a new Twilight scrapblog challenge site so I should be atleast updating a LO weekly if I manage to stay on track.

It's been a busy few weeks. Brent was gone to Ottawa essentially for two weeks...home on the weekend then back out again. We had Thanksgiving which I cooked for a dozen people. Then we had Brent's birthday party and I made him his whoopie cushion Old Fart cake. And mom has been to and from New Brunswick twice now in the past 3 weeks so we have been busy visiting since we don't expect her back until Christmas. Sucks she will miss Lacy's 4th bday though...which is coming up in just over a couple of weeks.

Top that off with me coming down with a cold the past few days. I had a head cold and some nasty sinus congestion which thankfully seems to be going away. Lacy and Logan each have been kind of iffy as to catching it...hopefully they don't. Nobody wants to be sick for Halloween!! 4 days and counting!!!!!

Now onto my new worry...I am really starting to freak out about H1N1 now. There was a 13 year old boy here in Toronto who died from it. No underlying conditions...otherwise healthy hockey playing boy just dropped dead. Scary shit! Now I am second guessing the whole vaccine thing .... should we get it? Is there enough study on it? What about the woman who had a reaction to the vaccine in Scarborough? Yarrrg!

My uncle Stephen is still very sick and the new scan showed more spots on his left lung, his right lung is pretty much done. And now there was a spot on his liver as well....so the cancer is spreading fast now. I haven't gotten and update from Dad this week so I am not sure what's happening as of now.

So yeah...

So....I decided to scrapbook!

2009-10-26T20:34:00.006-04:00

Thank you soooooooooooooo much to Christina and Kristy for putting together their blog! I finally think I may have some inspiration to start scrapping again on a regular basis! I missed the deadline for the first challenge but I am going to post it anyhow....and also the layout for the second challenge. If you haven't seen their new blog...check it baby http://twilightpapercut.blogspot.com/

This is chapter 1's challenge

And this is my Chapter 2 layout

journalling reads:

"Just how Twitarded am I? I may not be the girl who owns every Twilight thing that comes on the market...but I am one who will readily profess my love for all things Edward...errr I mean Twilight. I have my favourite Twilight cup, my much loved and read books and my overly watched DVD. I fawn over posters and discuss the book and film with pretty much anyone who will listen. I man not be outwardly a Twihard freak...but I am undoubtedly and irrevocably in love with Edward...errr this series."

I used page 20 in the book...the first time Bella sees Edward walk into the cafeteria. hummina hummina

Halloween in September? You got it baby!!

2009-09-02T14:59:00.007-04:00

Yes I have been called crazy over this more times than not....but I already ordered the kids their costumes. Halloween has been the topic of discussion a lot around here lately. I am so glad they enjoy it as much as I do! (or it might be weird lol)

I ordered their costumes on Friday....from the States and got them today Tuesday....WOW! How is that for fast and great service? AND they collect the taxes for customs fees ahead of time so your package does not get stuck in customs limbo! I have nothing but good things to say about http://www.buycostumes.com/ and recommend them to everyone! The quality of the costumes I bought far exceeded my expectations and their prices were awesome! I got a two licensed costumes and accessories for 92 dollars including taxes and shipping from the US to CA.

Lacy the Disney Water Fairy

Logan as Harry Potter

Stand Up!

2009-07-29T09:55:00.003-04:00

I met Gerry through the vast world of the Internet...he is an amazing photographer from South Africa. He posted this on his blog in reference to the recent news of Brentwood Farms selling lion and tiger meat (and other exotic meats) for human consumption.

Have a look:

http://www.photo-africa.com/blog/2009/7/29/disgusting.html

Also, if the article I had posted before about the FL restaurant serving South African lion is accurate...the restaurant and its "meat" supplier is in violation of CITE. CITE outlaws the export of lion meat from SA. These practices are illegal and must stop!!!

There is a black market trade for many animals all over the world. Be it for meat or medicinal, it is wrong. Even if the animal is not on the official endangered list...the banned export laws are there for a reason. Most of these animals numbers are dwindling in their native countries yet we feel it OK to breed them for meat in ours? Have we become such a pampered, sick society that we think it is a luxury to eat an exotic or endangered animal? I am sure this practice is going on in many more places than just the U.S. It is a sad world we live in people....and if we do not take a stance and try to change things, who will??

Even if you just spread the word...it has the potential to help. Every small gesture can snowball into something that makes a difference.

This HAS to stop!!

2009-07-28T11:30:00.003-04:00

http://brentwoodtradinggroup.com/limelire.html

They freaking raise lion and tiger for MEAT to sell to the sick f*cks who think this is a delicacy???? They raise them in the US people.....some sick person in your country is doing this!!

A few people I know are emailing 60 Minutes with this information along with some canned hunting information possibly tying the two together. It is quite possible that these animals listed for meat are victims canned hunts as well. Canned hunting is where animals are raised and kept in an enclosed area for people to shoot and kill as trophies. Lions and elephants are often victims of this sick thing.

Not only are they being raised and killed in the U.S., a FL restaurant is SERVING lion that ARE can hunted. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/lion-meat628.html#cr

If you want to spread this link around, please do. If enough people become outraged maybe 60 Minutes will do a piece on this and possible stop at least this one company. You can email 60 Minutes at 60m@cbsnews.com

Holy Snakeboy and Lightning Girl!

2009-07-12T16:23:00.009-04:00

My kids are such goobers...yes I know they come by it honestly! lol My mom stopped in this morning with some new bubble swords, badminton rackets and a face painting kit. Of course they could NOT wait to get into it.

First we went to the farmers market. We all shared fries from the chip truck and had a good time. They actually had some buskers at the market. It was nice to hear music playing. One guy had this Chinese instrument, one had a violin (he was really good...raising money for university) and another Aussie guy had a didgery doo or whatever that freaky looking thing is called lol. Then we hit Dairy Queen on our way home for some ice cream. Logan had his first Blizzard...it was a hit.

Then home to play in the kiddy pool for a while. After that....my kids decided to become superheroes! Logan was Snakeboy and Lacy was Lightning Girl. She insisted on doing her own face paint....we managed to get a star and lightning on her though since she couldn't get it right herself lol. Anyhoooo, here are some pictures of the first adventure of Snakeboy and Lightning Girl.

Then there was my ham out in the backyard the other evening.

And on a shitty note....my mom is moving. I had reserved myself that the job in New Brunswick was no longer in play anymore but apparently it still was. She will be leaving for a year atleast...in less than a month. Not happy about this at all but what can I do really? I just hope she holds true to her word to come back for a long weekend every couple of months. I haven't told the kids yet. *sigh*

Family Update

2009-07-06T11:15:00.003-04:00

Well, I let this blog go a month without posting again. I suck bad. A few things have happened other than me being overly excited about the above picture lol:

Brent got a new job. He has made the move to Bell with a higher base salary and more perks. I think this is going to be a good thing for him. He has more opportunity to advance and to do what he likes to do. Very proud of him...he had the balls to leave his old job of 15 years (he is a creature of habit so this is a big thing lol). He was good enough that Bell sought him out....so he should be proud of himself too!

Logan graduated from 2nd grade! YAY Logan! He got out with only 2 C's, 8 B's and 4 A's! He is pretty happy to be out on summer vacation right now. We are taking the summer off of karate for him as well. He was getting bored with it...so we put his membership on hold for a couple of months until he makes up his mind if he wants to continue training or not.

Lacy got her letter from school last week welcoming her to Kindergarten. I cried...yeah I am a dork. She is so excited. She practices writing her name, her cutting with scissors and her ABC's a lot. She can almost write her own name without any prompting now. My baby is only 3 and is going to school....sniffle.

I am so excited about our trip back to P.E.I.. I can NOT wait! Seeing my family again, spending time at the beach, eating lobster/clams/mussels/oysters until it comes out of my ears....ahhhhhhhhh the times I will have lol. The kids are pretty excited about going. We will be celebrating my mom's 50th birthday while we are there. It's going to be a good partay!

Still have yet to do any of the "home improvements" I had planned on doing. OH well....such is life I guess. I wanted to either get interlock laid down out in the back yard or a deck built but now with the money we have to drop on replacing our front doors. I did, however, get a small raised garden bed made and planted. The kids and I are growing some cucumbers, green beans and hot peppers. I also have a couple tomato plants in pots and some herbs growing in pots out back. I got some chives and mint from my neighbor as well. Oh and we were able to harvest a few handfuls of strawberries off of Logan's plant this year. It is spreading like crazy. Next year we should get more.

That's about it for now...or this post will read like a novel. Cheers!

I have Twilight issues

2009-06-04T12:09:00.005-04:00

I know this is not news to many people who know me. I just can't seem to get past the obsession! lol I am thinking about pulling out my set of books yet again to reread the series...I also have been internet stalking photos etc from the New Moon set. Let me say that November can not come fast enough!! I may just have to rewatch the movie this weekend as well.

Speaking of Twilight...did you happen to catch Kristin Stewart at the MTV Movie Awards? Holy either very drunk or on something. She looked wrecked! Robert looked amazing as always though. lol And above for your drooling pleasure is a shirtless Robert from the scene in NM where he is about to expose himself to the Volturi in the village square because he thinks Bella is dead. I must say that Rob and exposing go very well together, woooot!

Don't Stop Believing and other random things

2009-05-15T12:19:00.008-04:00

Ever since we rented "Bedtime Stories" (Adam Sandler movie), my son has been obsessed with the Journey song Don't Stop Believing. I happened to find a version on youtube that just had the lyrics flashed on the screen as the song played so....this is what we did.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6FWUqthR5Q Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAYTtrbfxxM Part 2

Check out my daughter's rock star faces while she is air guitaring. lol

The long weekend is about to start here....but the weather isn't supposedto cooperate. SUCKS! I want to get some flowers in but I am scared we may end up getting some frost overnight on Sunday. grrrrrrrrr Hopefully I will be able to get the BBQ out a couple of times this weekend.

Oh and on a totally unrelated subject, my son finished a chapter book that was about 150 pages in about 24 hours! Yes my friends....in one day! He got Monsters Vs Aliens in his book order from Scholastic the other day and began to read it one evening at around 7:30....by the next night at bedtime he was done! He brought it to read at the bus stop, on the bus and at breaks at school. Very proud of his reading...he has come a long way!

Oh and what about that Greys Anatomy finale last night??!!?? WOW! So which one will die? I heard that one will be leaving the show permanently. Who do you think it will be? Izzy or George?

And the finale of Hell's Kitchen...I wanted Paula to win!! Crap! Oh well I am sure Chef Ramsay picked Danny for his own reasons. Still stinks for Paula though....she is an awesome chef!

Random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

2009-05-09T11:03:00.002-04:00

Mother's Day...what to get my mom?
What a weird freakish storm this afternoon; hail, downpoured, thunder and lightning all of a sudden and only for a half hour.
Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler is such a cute movie!
Wonder if I will ever scrapbook again?
Lacy has a Kindergarten orientation on Monday.
Logan is so weird...he is downstairs crying because he is so happy over something in his video game. lol
Gloomy days make me tired.
Bet a lot of people are pissed...that hail had to have damaged some newly planted flowers etc. Good thing I was lazy and didn't put anything in yet. Procrastination paid off...lol
Deleted my gallery at ScrapJazz. No real need to have one. If I ever scrap again I will just share on my blog. Slowly but surely getting rid of a bunch of message boards I belong to. I spend too much time on here. Maybe I would scrap instead.
My sister's birthday was yesterday...Happy Birthday Motard! Love you!

Welcome to the family Melvin!

2009-04-28T13:32:00.006-04:00

I haven't updated my blog in a while...things have just been a mess with my stepdad's brain tumour and my uncle's prognosis being so bleak. But there is a light in my life right now...and that light is a big ol' black cat named Melvin.

We adopted Melvin through the Toronto Cat Rescue on April 19th. I had been surfing the site and looking at all the cute furry faces for a week trying to decide which cats we would like to go meet. Melvin just stood out from all the rest...to the point that once we saw him that was it! He was destined to come home with us. He is almost six years old...yes my friends, I said six. I feel he was probably overlooked quite often due to his colour and age. Poor dude.....it certainly wasn't because of his personality because he is one LOVEY cat!

Melvin has spent the past week adjusting...slowly but surely. He is afraid of the rabbit though. Here I was worried about him getting along with Ripley, the dog. Nope...Melvy rubs up against the dog and purrs so no worries there. But he will NOT go on the main floor for more than a few seconds and B lines it around the rabbit's hutch. Mom is going to take the rabbit for a week to see if it makes any difference to Melvin. Time will tell!

Anyhow, he is just the sweetest cat ever. He has claimed Logan's room as his bedroom and has a spot next to my son's head all picked out. Nightly routine is that Logan reads to Melvin and gives him some snuggles and they both go to sleep. It is pretty stinkin' cute!

What else is new....Lacy is all registered for JK in the fall! Yikes! She has to go to a couple of orientations still....a bus one and an open house type thing at the school. Logan turned 8...I will post pics of the cake here too. He had such a fun time at his party.

Thats it in a nutshell for the moment...going to try to blog more now. Less message boards more blogging. I need the free therapy. lol

Just when you think things are good...

2009-03-11T11:07:00.002-04:00

You would think that by now I would just expect this shit to happen and not go on my happy way thinking things are OK. We had a good day yesterday. Brent went in for his "procedure" with Dr Mc Snippy and all went well. Had a busy day since I was playing nurse maid since he had to stay off his feet and keep his boys on ice. I had to keep the two kids occupied so they would leave him be, bath and put both kids to bed etc. No huge deal. Then as I am putting the kids to bed I get a phone call.

It is my step dad's g/f. I was busy so Brent took a message. My sister, who was on her way out to Manitoba with her kids to visit him was a no show still. So I had to track my sister down...she had been delayed and with the girls being so cranky she just wanted to drive the 2.5 hours to Brandon and get them into a hotel so they could sleep. Anyhow I talked to her for a bit then relayed the message to Val (Dad's g/f) via MSN.

This is where my day went to shit. My step dad isn't doing overly well at the moment. His memory is shot it seems. He is getting confused and forgetting things. First sign that I had of anything weird was that a few days ago Chris (my sister) had called him and he thought she was supposed to have been there a few days before. Not a huge thing...I have messed up on dates too. But after talking to Val, I learned he has been forgetting a lot lately. She left him a blister pack of his meds along with a note as to when to take it.....she came home to him stoned on his meds and had taken 3 (I think) blisters not just the one and has no recollection of doing it. She has had to hide his meds on him so he doesn't accidentally OD or something because he can't remember if he took his meds or not. He tires very fast and she said he can barely stand long enough to fix himself something to eat, walks with a cane now and needs help showering (they also got one of those shower seats).

This is not the stuff I want to hear about my dad who hasn't quite hit 60 years old yet. His last MRI in Dec showed no change in the size of his brain tumour but that is not necessarily good news. This means his last gamma knife radiation surgery didn't affect the tumour as we had hoped it would. Shrinkage is what we needed and it isn't. He is scheduled for his next MRI to check on the status of the brain tumour on the 20th of this month. Frankly, I am scared shitless. First the seizure last month....now it has been a downhill slope since it seems. If his cancer is growing and affecting him this fast....outlook will not be good. I am hoping that it is his meds causing all of this but something in my heart tells me it's not. His g/f doesn't want to say if this is the downward slide we all have been dreading since his diagnosis...but I can tell she is scared too.

So...I just don't feel like being online and socializing much at the moment. So if I go awol from the various boards I normally go to for a bit, don't worry. I am around...just don't feel like being "around" kwim?

Again...bad bad blogger

2009-03-06T14:55:00.002-05:00

Wow I haven't been posting much at all! Things have been kind of quiet lately since the amazee contest wound down. WE ended up winning 5 thousand dollars for the Dixie Water Project but are still trying to raise more to get this project off the ground.

WE lost another camera guy. Simon is back in the U.S. now spending a bit of time volunteering at a turtle research center in GA (I think) before jumping back into the job hunt. I wish him all the best and I miss him so much already! It just isn't the same without Simon in the chat room and his "Gooooood evening everyone" coming on the cam from the FCC when he was at the helm.

On the home front, things are OK. My step dad is still fighting the fight with his cancer. He ended up back in the hospital for the better part of a week after not being able to come out of a seizure naturally. The trauma his brain has had from the biopsies and radiation treatments has caused some swelling and damage. So, he is now on anti seizure meds for the rest of his life. They will work on getting the swelling down so that they can do another MRI soon to assess the size of the tumour and see if the last gamma knife surgery did any good on shrinking the tumour.

My uncle (my bio dad's bro) is sick with lung cancer now too. His diagnosis is just months after we lost my other uncle Tony (dad's youngest brother) to cancer. What a mess this cancer shit is.

We have bought our plane tickets to P.E.I. and the cottages are reserved. We still need to find lodging for the dog though. I wish we knew someone who would take him for the week. It would save us upwards of $500 to $600. I am excited though. We will be right on the beach for a week.

The kids are good. Getting ready to register one for Junior Kindergarten and the other one is getting his report card on Monday. Very proud of him....his teacher isn't requesting an interview because he is doing very well. Brent is good too...getting him ready for the big V soon! lol He is nervous about that of course but if he would like to continue to get busy then he needs to get snipped.

I am a loser and I am re-reading the Twilight series and am on Eclipse again. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the first movie!

Apparently, I need to get a life though because this is all I can really say for now. Some other things are happening that I can't comment on yet but I will post when I can.

Water for Dixie

2009-01-13T14:10:00.006-05:00

As many of you who know me know...I have been helping to do little projects here and there for a small village in Sabi Sands, South Africa called Dixie.

Now I am calling out my friends to help. No money or donations involved....just a few minutes of your time. Amazee is holding a project contest and the winner(s) of this contest get money to help with their projects. Wild Earth has had 4 this year....so all 4 projects even though three of them are past are still eligible. All money won goes directly to Dixie and the water project.

Dixie has access to water....but it is at a communal pump. Women and children make many trips a day to this pump to fill up huge drums for daily needs. Drinking, washing and cooking. WE want to help pipe the water from these wells directly to the homes or to as many homes as WE can. Helping to make Dixie more self sufficient is our goal with this and with future projects.

So if you can take a few minutes from your day and go to http://www.amazee.com/ to join for free....throw up an avatar in your profile (only those members with avatars will be counted towards the contest) and then join all 4 of Wild Earth's projects:

Water for Dixie
Kids at Dixie
Christmas at Dixie
Wild Earth TV

Thanks so much everyone who has already supported any of the Wild Earth projects I have been going on and on about lately. This village is special to me and full of people who have gotten under my skin and into my heart.

Most awesome snowday

2008-12-19T16:07:00.002-05:00

It is one of those days...where you just have to grin from ear to ear. We woke up this morning to a snowday. Logan's last day of school before their winter break and bam...snowstorm. So okay you wouldn't think that was awesome...you know, shovelling, the cold etc. But even with the kids bugging at 10am to go play in the blizzard...things were just nice. Brent is on holidays as well so everyone is home today. Normally not a GOOD thing lol.

So...after lunch of yummy left over homemade pizza, we relented and went out to play in the snow. Keep in mind it is still a blizzard out there but hey we are the cool parents right? lol So after about 45 mins everyone was frozen...so in we came for hot chocolate with marshmallows (jasmine tea and honey for me and just marshmallows straight up for Lacy lol).

Then after warming up we went downstairs to watch "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Now that may not mean much to anyone else but right now Logan and I are reading all of the Chronicles of Narnia books together at bedtime. So this was a pretty special movie for him. He amazes me sometimes....he really does. He was so into this film...he was crying and just so darn excited during some parts....and very sad or angry at others. There were tears of anger, joy and sorrow in that movie and Logan shed some for each of those emotions. Seriously, he was so emotional that I got emotional watching him. He begged me to tell him through his tears that Aslan wasn't really dead. I wiped away his tears and we cuddled under a warm blanket to find out.

Lacy and Brent didn't watch the whole thing....Lacy got bored and Brent got paged. So that left Logan and I for some good mommy and son time. It was amazing. I got teary watching him watch the movie. He is very excited to read more into the series now. AND he is going to freak out on Christmas morning when he sees that we got Prince Caspian on Bluray.

Life today...is good.

Calling all Angels!

2008-12-03T11:04:00.000-05:00

I feel a bit like Charlie with this post! *insert groan from lame pop culture reference* In all seriousness, WE need your help.

Emily and Graham have set up a wonderful project on Amazee.com to further help spread the word of the Christmas in Dixie project. What WE need you to do is go to www.amazee.com and join for FREE. Add an avatar to your profile and then join our project. http://www.amazee.com/christmas-dixie The project with the most members WITH avatars will win $5000 to go towards their project. It will take 3 minutes of your time. If you have any problems joining, please contact me at stacy@wildearth.tv and I will walk you through as best as I can.

Emily has also updated the cause on the Amazee site. So far WE have raised 3800.00 for this project. Aren't WE amazing? Please keep giving and spreading the word...it is in your nature.

I stole this

2008-11-27T17:21:00.002-05:00

I got this off of Lesle's page

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things . . . nothing made up. And you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name questions.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Stacy
Four Letter Word: Shit
Boy Name: Steven
Girl Name: Samantha
Occupation: Stripper (lol)
Color: Scarlet
Something You Wear: Socks
Beverage: Soda
Food: Spaghetti
Something Found in a Bathroom: Soap
Place: Spain
Reasons for Being Late: Sex? lol
Something You Shout: Shut up!!

I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon

2008-11-26T16:24:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally succumbed to the temptation. People have been raving about this series of books for a while and well I guess peer pressure does work! lol I have been a fan of vampire books for a long time but I was unsure about this series...mostly leary of all the hype that surrounded the book and now the movie. But I can say I was very surprised...I very much enjoyed reading it. Ok well I am not DONE the series yet...I still have the last two books to go. But I did finish the first two in 4 days.

Without spoiling anything for anyone...I will recommend this book for teenage girls and women alike. To me it is a story about love, a very difficult and complicated love between two people only it happens one of those people happens to be a vampire. It isn't a literary marvel that will astonish you with it's complexity...but it IS a very good series of books that are very engaging.

I will say that I WILL be getting the next two books and I will probably reread this series. It's a very quick read but very entertaining. I won't compare them to Anne Rice.....two VERY different styles. But I won't poo poo Stephanie Meyer's style either. Her writing appeals to both the younger audience and older. Edward, I think, appeals to all. :)

Oil Cleansing Method

2008-11-18T13:22:00.003-05:00

Ok at first it may sound like a horrible colon cleansing thing or something...I assure you it isn't! lol http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

This is for your skin. I have always had skin issues....and I have also had problems committing to a regime because frankly sometimes I don't have 20 minutes a day to spend treating my face nor do I want to because most facial cleansers irritate my skin. So when someone on a message board brought this OCM up I was like "hmmmm I am going to try this". So off I went to go get my castor oil and an extra thing of EVOO that I could keep upstairs just for my face. So I mixed up my oils at a 25% castor to 75% olive oil and followed the instructions. Boy did my face ever feel good after my first cleanse.

The rest of the next week and a half pretty much went the same way. My face finally felt CLEAN and soft and the general texture was improving. My pores were shrinking and my zits were going away. So....just being the skeptic I am...I decided to try to go off the cleanse for a week. You know, just to see if it really was the oil cleansing doing the work or if I was just having a good skin week. By day 4, I had a huge painful zit on my chin and my problem areas were starting to break out again.

Back on the cleanse I go! I am sold on this...AND it is all natural. No harmful chemicals going on your skin or into the environment. I am researching to see if adding tea tree oil is ok...since I have sensitive, acne prone skin.

Now with this being said...another friend of mine says it dried out her skin badly. She even skipped the steaming portion and just took a warm cloth to gently wipe the oils from her skin. So I guess it depends on the person.

Anyhow I figured I would share this info! :)

Oh and a bit of olive oil rubbed into dry skin works awesomely too. And also in VERY teeny amounts...you rub in between your hands and run your hands through the dry spots of your hair. My sister does this.

Happy Birthday Babygirl!

2008-11-18T12:21:00.003-05:00

Well it was yesterday offically....but still! My "baby" is three! Can you believe it? I certainly can't. It really only seemed like yesterday that she was an infant. Now...in less than a year she will start Junior Kindergarten. Almost makes you want another one....almost but not quite! lmao

She had a good party too. We just had family over and it was a good time. She got a lot of presents. She got a styling doll head thingy from us, a blue betta fish from her brother. She got a pink bird house from Bumpa, an Only Hearts Club doll and outfit for the doll and a tea set from Gramma and Bumpa. A beautiful Christmas dress from Nana. Two dress up outfits, shoes, purse, pretend jewelry and some barbie magnets from my mom. A Wiggles microphone, Wiggles guitar and a big Wiggles picture from Uncle Gord, Aunt Fen and Kurt. Even her little boyfriend Mannan from the bus stop got her a set of Princess pencils and a hair tie kit! Can you say awwwwwww! lol My dad out in PEI sent her 50 dollars! So she still has that to spend. My sister and the girls couldn't make it due to weather tho. That part sucked.

Here is the cake I did for her. I was pretty impressed with it since it was my first fairly involved cake with fondant. I had covered cakes before and done circle cutouts etc but nothing this fancy. PLUS I made the fondant this time! Everything is edible on here except for the inside of the towers...they are empty paper towel tubes. The kids thought it was neat to be able to take off a cone and fill it with icecream to go along with their cake...well ok my father in law loved that idea too! lol He is just a big kid!

Lest We Forget

2008-11-11T11:38:00.002-05:00

Take time to REMEMBER today...many have died for your freedom. Take a moment to be thankful for their sacrifices for they are the reason you have the freedoms you have today.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Holy Stale Blog Batman!

2008-11-11T10:59:00.003-05:00

I am sorry guys! I have been neglecting this thing haven't I?

Update on the "WE brings the kids to the movies" project....it went off perfectly and all the kids had an amazing time! They were totally in awe of the sights and sounds that were around them...from the first time seeing a movie to being amazed by a urinal...it was a pretty darn special time for them! I am sure it will be a moment that will stick with them forever!

There is a new project the WE Angels are working on. This time it is to bring Christmas to Dixie! Pretty cool!!! I have also been asked by Graham to be a blog contributor for the WE Angels blog. All the details for the new project are posted there as well as on Facebook. I have created a facebook group for the WE Angels and also set up a cause for the latest project.

The kids are doing awesome. My son is becoming quite the reader lately! It is just amazing to me that he is reading to ME now with very little help on some pretty big words. He MAY need glasses though. His "Look - Hear" test at school came back saying he showed below average for his distance vision. So off to the optometrist for him soon. He is now an orange belt in karate and is still training 3 times a week. I have to order him his sparring gear this week as well...who knew a 7 year old would have to get "sparring gear" but I guess it is all part of the training.

My daughter is turning THREE in a week! Where did the time go???? Seriously it seems like a year has passed since I had her but apparently it's been three! lol I plan on doing up a castle cake for her for Sunday....need to make Nana a cake too but I am not sure if I will have the time or energy this year to get overly fancy on that one too.

The bad news is that my uncle Tony finally has succumbed to cancer. Far too young to go....he was only 42. The cancer had been eating away at him for the past 3 or more years...he fought hard...but he lost the fight on the morning of Nov 3rd.

On the other cancer front...my step dad had another gamma knife surgery done on his brain tumour and so far so good. He has to have another MRI in Dec to check on the tumour and to assess if the gamma did any good or not. The Dr is still very hopefully that this will be the last time he has to have it which is good because he doesn't want to have to go through more radiation after this. The lung is still clear and they feel that is the end of that cancer. So let's hope the one in his brain is shrinking!

What else is new? Not a whole lot...lol I guess that's a GOOD thing though.

Oh WAIT! I am also working on another project...knitting hats for the kids in South Africa. Believe it or not it can get cold at night down there especially during the winter months. So I have begun knitting hats. I have received a couple from another knitter an I am hoping to collect quite a few more before I mail them out to Dean and Helen who will be bringing them to South Africa with them on their next trip. (two wonderful ladies who help set up schools etc in poor villages in SA) So if you are reading this and are a knitter and would like to donate a hat...let me know!!

The time is coming!!

2008-10-21T11:41:00.002-04:00

Just a few more days until the kids from Dixie get to go to the movies!! It has been a fantastic effort for everyone involved. WE managed to raise enough money to take an additional 11 kids to the original 25! So 36 kids will get to have the time of their lives on the 25th! They are going to hop on 3 rented buses to Nelspruit ( 3 hours from Dixie), each child will get a "kids pack" which includes a drink, popcorn and some candy, they will be watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua and afterwards Rex will be taking the kids for a hamburger before heading home to Dixie.

I can not wait to see video and pictures! Graham is still trying to broadcast some of the trip live but it is not %100 that he can get everything together without the technical gremlins interfering. So no promises on that part. They WILL however be taking a lot of pictures and video while there.

Again...I am so proud of the WE staff and the WE Watchers and friends who have all put their time in or donated to this cause. You guys and your big hearts ROCK!

W.E. Angels for the kids in Dixie

2008-09-28T18:24:00.002-04:00

I am really proud of my Wild Earth friends. Since Graham put this idea forth, there has been an outpouring of generosity for this project! I created a cause on Facebook as well for this wonderful trip W.E. would like to give to the children of Dixie. The goal was to collect around 1300 USD for the trip so they could take 25 kids. W.E. have exceeded this goal already thanks to MANY W.E. Angels who gave to the cause. So now MORE kids will be going and Graham is also thinking about approaching another school in a nearby village if the funds keep coming in! So far since the last update from Graham, W.E. has raised 1900 USD!

Thanks to anyone who gave...and if you didn't, you still have lots of time to donate. Even if it is only a couple of dollars....every bit counts! You will be giving a child the moment perhaps of a lifetime! A memory that will likely be with them for their entire lives.

Here are a few more pictures (courtesy of Pieter Pretorius) of the kids of Dixie and (well I call him their hero) Rexon. Rex is the man responsible for so many good things happening at Dixie including the creche, the daycare and the school.

Want to make a whole village of kids happy?

2008-09-24T19:18:00.004-04:00

Most of you guys know that I am a Wild Earth fanatic. One of the guides, Rexon...is an AMAZING man. He grew up in a village called Dixie...where kids did not receive much of a formal education if any at all. That is until Rexon came along...his vision and dream for all the kids to be able to attend school and even go on to a university education if possible. This was not easy for Rexon to do since the village was steeped in Shangaan tradition and they were very leery to the prospect of change.

Since Rexon's work began...they have a daycare, a school and a creche that serves as the hub of the community where they have HIV counselling, art, ethnic education and even woman's soccer. His work at Dixie is amazing....there is still a lot of work to be done though. Their school is nothing like what we in the western world see as schools. But it IS a school none the less.

Most of these kids have never been out of the village, never seen a paved road! Graham and the Wild Earth team would like to treat the kids at Dixie to something VERY special. They want to take the kids three hours away by bus to a movie!! Remember these kids have never left Dixie...this would be an amazing trip for them. They want to take them to see a movie and get popcorn and a soda. They are raising money for the trip right now....so if you feel like making a moment that a child will likely remember forever...you can help!

Go here to read a bit more about Dixie and the kids. http://www.amazee.com/kids-dixie

There will also be a Facebook cause created soon. You can also paypal a donation to dixie@wildearth.tv or contact me here for more info.

Thanks for helping make a memory of a lifetime for a child!

Photo above is a picture of Rexon and a teacher at the creche with some of the village children

Random Ramblings

2008-09-17T19:32:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let my friends in Louisiana and Texas to know that I am soooooooo glad everyone is safe and sound. I know some of you guys have some damage and I hope that you can get the repairs done asap. I know the roofers and shinglers are busier than a hooker with two beds right now. I just wanted to let you know that I am so happy you all are ok!!

My Grammy and Aunt Trish are coming for a visit on the 26th! YAY! I am so excited! I haven't seen Gram for 2 years and Trish for 3. They are going to be going to and from here and my Uncle Jimmy's place in Stoney Creek for a couple weeks. I am so excited! Have I mentioned that I am so excited yet? Because I am! lol I have a special bond with my Grammy. My mom was a pretty young mom and my grandparents really helped her out a lot. I spent every summer of my life until I was nine at their house. I hold those memories close to my heart and of any one woman, I respect my Grammy the most. She is just an amazing lady in my eyes.

Logan has started to adjust to school and his behavior at home is actually improving...with the exception of this morning's rudeness. He had his karate grading and will be getting his orange belt on Saturday. He had a bit of a meltdown during his grading though...thank goodness Sensei is a pretty understanding guy. He talked Logan out of his frustration. I think that Logan is a bit afraid of becoming an orange belt....the Kata is much harder. But he did it!!

Lacy is in the middle of potty training. She has her good days and her bad. I just wish she would get over this not wanting to poop in the pot. I am tired of diapers and tired of washing out poopy gitch. (yes, we call underwear gitch in my house. lol Just one more thing to make you all think I am weird)

Brent is good...same old same old with work and everything.

Now...onto business. Halloween is coming. This means the festive season is upon me. lol I LOVE Halloween! I just bought a fog machine and am contemplating on buying a thunder and lightning one as well. Man I am actually pretty lucky that I have a small yard or I would spend a small fortune on decorations of the ghoulish nature! Brent laughs at me...I am worse than the kids about getting excited for Halloween. I have to also think of a costume for this year. I am thinking of making....errr I mean asking Brent to be a mummy. Dye some cheesecloth strips with tea and wrap him up. Yes I make him....errrr ask him to dress up every year lol. He has a few masks he has worn, including a 40 dollar Homer Simpson one that apparently is "too sweat". lol I normally go as some vamped out vampire or witch. Logan is going to be Indiana Jones and Lacy wants to be a fairy again so far. Not sure really about my costume this year....I was thinking a Pregnant Nun for a change? lol No one in my neighborhood would get or appreciate the humour though. Bunch of turds!! lol

Anyhow...that's it in a nutshell for now. Might do a Wild Earth post later just so that you guys don't think I am sick or something. lol

ABC's Tag

2008-09-03T19:33:00.004-04:00

The rules? answer each question, and tag 4 (or more) friends.Leave a comment on friends' blogs letting them know that they've been tagged.Have fun!

A= Attached or Single: Attached
B= Best Friend: My sister
C= Cake or Pie: Pie
D= Day of Choice: Friday...it's pizza and beer night!
E= Essential Item: Red Sox Jersey
F= Flavor of Icecream: I haven't met one I didn't like...but I really like REAL strawberry
G= Gummy Bears or Worms: Worms
H= Hometown: Don't really have one...was an army bratt
I= Indulgence: Beer on the weekends lol or a nice bottle of sheraz or merlot
J= January or July: July...it's freaking cold here in January
K= Kids: No thanks I already have two! lmao Logan and Lacy
L= Last movie I saw at a theater: Iron Man (and it ROCKED)
M= Musician: I don't really have a favorite.
N= Number of Siblings: 3
O= Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P= Phobias or Fears: housefires and driving
Q= Quote: I want to live until I die...no more no less ~Eddie Izzard.
R= Reason to Smile: I survived today lol.
S= Season: Spring.
T= Tag: Patti, Lesle, JenniferH, Leslie
U= Unknown fact: hmmm I am not married.
V= vegetarian or oppressor of Animals: Borderline.
W= Worst habit: Temper
X= Xray or Ultrasound: lol Silly question
Y= Your favorite food: Lobster!
Z= Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

2008-09-02T21:03:00.002-04:00

This is how it works:

(1) The winner can put the logo on their blog.
(2) Link the person you received your award from.
(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
(4) Put links of those on yours.
(5) Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated

Well...Potti got me again! I was tagged by my wonderful spazzy friend!

So, here are the blogs that I frequent...forgive me if you all have been tagged already, I am a bit slow on the go with this.

1. Cassandra because she has the best sense of humour ever and her kid is pretty darned cute too!

2. Ashley because her strength and character never ceases to amaze me. Love you Ashley!

3. Kim because she has the cutest two kids ever and I love to browse pictures of Morgan and Callie!

4. Ramona ...what can I say about Mo? She is awesome! Any Martha fan is a friend of mine! lol

5. Elizabeth because I am in awe of her knitting skillz!

6. Libby because noone I know digital scraps like Libby! She ROCKS!

7. Denise because that girl is awesome...she is funny and makes me laugh!

1st Day of the 2nd Grade

2008-09-02T20:52:00.002-04:00

Well...it's official...he is in the second grade now! He was NOT looking forward to starting school again. Poor kid hates school already. I am definately in trouble with this one when he gets older. The morning started off well until the bus failed to show up so we walked...it isn't far but the kids in elementary school are not required to walk as the school crosses a major 4 lane road. So off we went...we found his gym teacher and got him to look on his list to find his lineup and his teacher's name. And off he went.

Here are a couple shots I got of him as we were walking out the door. Isn't he handsome?

It's back

2008-08-29T09:44:00.004-04:00

I have had to take a couple of days to process the information, stop freaking out just below the surface and gather my thoughts.

My stepdad's brain tumour is back. Again...in the same spot they had treated with the gamma knife radiation a little less than a year ago. Yes...it is still malignant. I immediately flashed back to last year when I had gotten the call from Val saying..."Your father is sick...he has a brain tumour. We don't know if it is cancer or not" Then a couple of days the dreaded call..."It's cancer." Many MRI's later we found out "Mr. Manfredi...you also have lung cancer." Thankfully both cancers were unrelated and we weren't dealing with a trail of tumours but when you hear the word cancer you panic...when you hear the words brain cancer you freak the hell out.

Well after talking to various oncologists, specialists, neurosurgeons etc Dad and Val came to the decision of trying a fairly new procedure as far as treatment goes. It is called gamma knife surgery. The gist of it is they put a helmut of sorts on his head. This helmut is full of pinsized holes through which they shoot high levels of radiation to very specific parts of the brain. He had this done followed by many rounds of full head radiation...5 hours of travelling a day for 12 treatment days in Winnipeg. He was so tired...his appetite was shot. But he made it. Many MRI's later the tumour was disappearing! YAY!

Just shortly after his radiation treatments were finished it was off to surgery to remove the lung cancer tumour. Thankfully that was caught in the early stages and they felt they got it all with no need for chemo. They wouldn't have found the lung tumour if it weren't for the million MRI's he had to have after they discovered the brain tumour. Talk about a double edged sword.

Well less than a year later here we sit again...the tumour is back. Smaller this time. The surgeon and oncologist are optimistic that this round of gamma knife surgery and radiation therapy will be THE one to kill the cancer for good. I am TRYING really hard not to think about "what if it doesn't work again?". If he can be possitive about it and say "This is IT this time" then so can I right? I keep having to tell myself this.

So....

THIS IS IT THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!

*This picture of Dad was taken after his gamma, radiation and lung surgery.

Farewell Marco!

2008-08-28T13:26:00.004-04:00

Well we are losing yet ANOTHER Wild Earth crewmember. Marco has been with WE for 3 months and from the moment he was in front of the camera, he was an instant fit! His charm, humour, vast knowledge of all things bush related and that smile will be missed sorely!

Marco is headed to the Kalahari for a while and hopefully he gets to play with some meerkats and report back to me! lol I hope that he has many adventures in film making while he is there. I certainly hope that he drops in to Djuma again in his travels or keeps in touch via facebook. WE is losing a very talented man both in front of the camera and behind.

Safe Travels Marco!!

With Marco's departure, WE have taken on two new faces. Pete and Herman. Herman has already impressed us with his camera skills and will be taking over the Weekly Bits that Marco had been doing. Pete will be in the FCC and directing. Pete is an engineer by trade and is very happy being able to play with all of the big boy toys he has at Djuma. (Might add that I LOVE his Dutch accent) So....welcome to WE Herman and Pete!!

I was Tagged

2008-08-26T08:09:00.003-04:00

Here are the rules:

*If you are tagged, you must firstly post the rules:
*Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself.They interest us all!
*Tag 5 other people at the end of your Post.
*Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

So here are mine.

1. I have a horrible phobia of driving. I do not have a license....yet I am ok while someone else is driving.

2. I am a military brat and haven't lived any one place for longer than 9 years. I get the wanderlust every few years. I fight the urge now that I have kids though.

3. I never knew my biological father until I was 25.

4. I can clean out a lobster pretty fast...people usually are amazed at how fast I can get all the meat out of one. Proud granddaughter of a retired lobster fisherman :)

5. I have an obsession with Africa. Daily, I watch the live safari drives from Djuma in Sabi Sands, South Africa. I am in love with the land, the animals and the culture.

6. I drink instant coffee at home.

7. I also have an unhealthy addiction to watching Iron Chef America late at night. lol

Ok so now I tag....
Lesle
Leslie
Lori P
Sherri
Ashley S

My newest obsession...Ryan Lochte

2008-08-14T12:47:00.007-04:00

Thank's to Lori and her Micheal Phelps obsession, I started to watch the US men's swimmers more closely during the Beijing Olympics. Well...what a blessing in disguise this was! Woohooooo! Wait...I need a moment to compose myself....

Ok there. So yeah, I am so unpatriotic when it comes to men's swimming now. Canada who? lol Ryan Lochte....can I say YUMM freaking O! Not only is he eyecandy but he is an awesome athelete.

Lori and I have a bet going on their (Micheal and Ryan) mens IM race that they are both competing in. I think it's a win win situation though...droolfest 2008!

Ahhh the cottage

2008-08-08T17:16:00.005-04:00

I know! It's not a Wild Earth post! lol Shocking as it may be.

Well we went up to the cottage this past Sunday for 4 days. It was a pretty good trip. Enjoyed the peacefulness (minus the kids screaming but you can't ask for TOO much lol). We swam, we went on some nature walks, we canoed, we relaxed and most of all we had lots of family fun time. The inlaws also joined us at the cottage...rather we joined them as they went up a day before we did and stayed a few days longer.

I must say that Logan has become quite the fish! He loves the water. AND did NOT panic when he got two very small leeches on himself. I figured he would have freaked because there was blood involved but nope...he didn't say boo. He actually thought it was kind of neat that it didn't hurt at all. Lacy on the other hand is not overly fond of coldish water. lol She went in a few times but towards the last two days she was not wanting to go swimming at all.

We had a bonfire, we toasted marshmallows, mother in law had her guitar and played for us at the fire, I actually got 5 cards scrapped (I brought up a few supplies), took lots of pictures...even Logan got in on that and was a picture taking freak whenever he saw a new different kind of fungus in the woods. We had some good fresh August corn (yes I am a corn snob and I won't touch local corn until August). Just a great time (minus the car ride with two cranky kids and a smelly dog). Oh and yes I included a pic of myself...excuse the mess of hair and no makeup and cranky look...I had been swimming with Logan and Lacy was cranky lol. Yeah yeah that's my excuse! Oh and the camera adds 50lbs.

The Dreaded Moment

2008-07-27T10:23:00.006-04:00

Well...turned out my sinking feeling was correct. Alex is in fact leaving Wild Earth. For a selfish moment, I get upset and shake my head "no no no no!!" like a spoiled child. I love how much fun Alex brings to the drives. He also is an amazing cameraman. He can manage to take the presenter's words and put that visual up for us...and that visual has feeling behind it. It's hard to explain but he can manage to capture a feeling with his images. How can he leave WE?? (as I stomp my feet in protest) But then I realise...Alex staying is robbing the world of an amazing talent. I think he is destined for greatness and his work will be shown around the world. Our loss at W.E. is the world's gain.

I am sorry to see you go Alex. You WILL be missed terribly. Not only by your friends and coworkers but but us the W.E. viewers. WE have your back Alex...no matter what you do and no matter where your travels take you!

Some of my fav "Alex Moments"

Alex and his sexy hair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIXZ0yHWAMs

The "Lizard Incident"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLD1bsqJdvs

The Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHVKcgzdydc

Animal Calls with Alex and Rexon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsOuig4Wewk

Aardvark Sighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkWH6lvGdIE

Woohooo!

2008-07-24T13:23:00.003-04:00

Ok short but sweet post today...

As of late, we have seen some pretty awesome stuff at Djuma. A new breeding herd of ellies has been seen. A HUGE herd of approx 2500 plus cape buffalo. The wildebeasts are passing through....and.....

The lions are back! The thought on these two approx 4 year old males is that they are from neighboring Manayeleti (I butchered that I know I did). These two are pretty impressive males for only being around 4 years of age.

I have called them Gene and Paul (not offical or anything to do with the guides or rangers). I just had a silly thought when I snapped a pic of one of them with their tongue out and the thought hit me. Gene Simmons. Then the other one has one heck of a poofy mane, so I dubbed him Paul (paul stanley).

Magnificent Beasts!

2008-07-21T15:22:00.004-04:00

I tell you...when Pieter says he has a feeling, you should listen. Something was definitely in the air today. Not only did we manage to coax 2 and a half hours from the battery, not only did we see rhino, not only did we see Pieter juggle ellie dung (yes he really did and yes that is a picture of it! lol)....we saw LIONS!

Two males new to the area. Now if they are just passing through or trying to challenge for any territory is another thing. I would assume they are just moving through the area but still...should be interesting if the Mapogos show themselves soon to defend their turf. It was amazing! Two brothers, one was larger and just had that air about him that made you sit back in awe. He, when he comes into his own, will be one magnificent creature...one who will be great. What is the Shangaan for that I wonder? We were only able to catch them briefly as they technically weren't within our drive area but WE were extended a very nice courtesy and were able to pop in to see them for a few seconds.

Pieter also added a blog post today that certainly speaks volumes. Boy this being in love thing agrees with him...he is even more eloquent with words now than before if that is at all possible. Whomever she is...she is a lucky gal!! lol

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality of the snaps...I was on a feed today that wasn't overly great. The other better feed wasnt working well for me at all.

A Dream is a wish your heart makes...

2008-07-15T17:56:00.003-04:00

I took this from my W.E. blog. I have really been thinking about this subject for a while and thought I would share:

Pieter...what can I say...the man has some very insightful moments and makes me really think about things on a different level sometimes.

He was talking about his dream and his passion for wildlife just a moment ago. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Infact, my sister and I had a long drive and talk last week about passions and dreams. How many people do you know who are actually following their dreams and passions? In the sense....if you are passionate about art and your dream is to paint or sculpt and be in a gallery...are you following and nurturing your dream?

I told my sister about the people at WE and how their passion for what they do shines through. Pieter in particular is very vocal about his passions and it oozes from his words and actions. I find myself jealous of that passion sometimes...more so I am in awe of it. I feel some of it when I am on a drive....your chest swells when you see something beautiful, you get butterflies in your belly with anticipation of seeing an ellie or a lion. I can only imagine what it is like to actually BE there.

How many people can honestly say they are following their dream? How many people are uber passionate about something?

Sunday at W.E.

2008-07-13T18:59:00.006-04:00

Sunday's are always fun! It is fireside chat day at Djuma. Today we had a great drive where we had quite the interaction with two teenage male elephants. One was fairly shy but the other had quite the display of emotions ranging from curiosity to trying to show Pieter and Rexon who is boss. It was fantastic to watch. Slowly but surely I am learning more about elephant communication so I don't panic and pee my pants every time it seems as though an ellie pulls a mock charge. lol I have all the faith that our resident elephant whisperer knows exactly what he is doing but it still makes me nervous! lol And Pieter stopped to play in the mud as well lol. He left his mark on a tree (shown below). Good thing he didn't mark his tree like most animals in the wild do! It IS a PG show lol.

Unfortunately, the battery didn't last very long today and we only got about an hour into the drive before it cut on us. Pieter and Rexon drove around like mad trying to charge enough juice to at least come on cam to say goodbye to us.

The fireside chat was great as always. I love watching them sitting around the fire talking about various things they saw this week or questions that were posed to them by viewers. Very fun and informative. Rexon had a good week with his yingwe (leopard in Shangaan) and was very eager to talk about them during the chat. He is just so soft spoken and well you just want to kiss those cheeks every time you see him. He is a good soul and you can tell just by looking at him. And we got to know Motheo a bit more...shy guy that he is but such a nice guy. He even took the time to email me back to let me know my question would be addressed next. Now that is service! lol

Anyhow...here are some pictures from today I thought I would share.

Another great day in Djuma

2008-07-11T14:37:00.005-04:00

Seriously, I know I must drive people I know crazy with my talk of South Africa but I can't help it.

Today was a particularly exciting day! We started off with fantastic sound coming from the Gowrie cam. Pieter had been out fiddling with it a bit when a new friend happened by. He has been named Onetenga by Pieter. Pieter loves his ellies. Then not 20 minutes later we were hot in persuit of leopard. Rexon's keen eye spotted Saseka laying near her kill. (she is finally hunting on her own without her mother) She was a pretty full and content kitty when the boys found her. We then had a giraffe come and hang around at Gowrie for a while and ran into Onetenga again. And just as I had begun to worry that we hadn't seen Wonky in a while...BAM there was wonky at the crest of a hill. With Humgo the hippo below. We spotted rhino in the distance but couldn't get very close to them as they were in some deep bush. Then at Gowrie our resident Dugga boys (cape buffalo) came in for a wallow in the mud so we had 4 of the big 5 today!

And much to my excitement Pieter held true to his word and finally stopped to take time to climb that torchwood he has been wanting to sit on for a long time. He stepped up very nicely to my challenge of "taking a moment". And then Pieter decided to be a bit silly and well...you will see the picture. I love these guys! Rexon did the same (climbed a tree) for me yesterday. And Motheo is also quite the thoughtful person as well...he was nice enough to email me and let me know my question was being answered next and he announced on the break as well that Pieter had gotten my question and will get to it as soon as they cut back. :)

Anyhow here are some screenshots I got.

And WELCOME BACK ALEX!!!!!!!!!!

Do you ever wonder...

2008-07-10T16:07:00.005-04:00

I had posted this on my W.E. blog but figured it belonged over here as well...

Today while on the drive, Pieter brought up some things that I have been thinking about and frankly have always really thought about on some level in the back of my mind. Suprisingly enough...the funny girl does have some lucid and peaceful moments lol.

It was a quiet serene drive today and while watching the sun set over Djuma, Pieter brought up the question. Do you ever sit back and think about just how many things are going on RIGHT NOW around you? Have you ever sat and thought about a tree and how it came to be and the things it has seen and endured? That there may be miniscule things happening but you would miss them if you don't take the time to really SEE them for what they are. In the bustle of today's world, we miss things in our hurry to get where we are going in record time. We don't stop to smell the roses so to speak.

I think that Pieter has a great outlook on things. I think that most of us had that outlook as children (no offence Pieter haha) and lost it. Everything, no matter how small, still had that wow factor when you were a child. Where something like watching ants mill around an anthole would keep you entertained for hours (that could be just me). That you could stare in wonder at the patterns of the viens on a leaf and a full 20 minutes would have passed. I personally had an affinity for bugs. Weird I know...a girl who loved bugs but I would spend hours in a field with my friend Travis collecting and studying whatever we could get our hands on. I also used to collect leaves, rocks, feathers, moss...you name it and my mom cursed me for bringing it home.

I think that if more people would get that back, the world would be a better place.

So my challenge to you all...stop for even just a few minutes a day. Look around and listen. What to you hear? What do you hear? What do you smell? Look at a flower in your yard closely...see it's uniqueness and its beauty. Sit by a lake or river if you can and just be there within nature. Even if you live in a city like I do...there are so many beautiful things in nature if you would just STOP for a minute and look.

With an update that Rexon and Pieter did inface do just this on today's PM drive. Rexon climbed a tree for me and had a better view of the sunset. I must say that it was great fun and I thank you Rexon and Pieter!

And also on today's drive we saw the following: rhino, giraffe, fish eagle, giant eagle owl, elephant, steinbok, scrub...I am sure I am missing some. Oh cape buffalo and impala at the Gowrie watering hole.

And big welcome to Motheo! He will be working with Wild Earth in the FCC (control room). Angie wasn't with them for long as she realised that being away from her fiance wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be. Sorry to see Angie go but happy to see Motheo join the crew!

Interesting and gross

2008-07-08T18:03:00.003-04:00

Well yesterday Pieter and Rexon happened upon the snake that they figure had left that gigantic skin that they had found a week or so ago. Unfortunately, the snake was dead. It was a HUGE rock python. I can't remember the footage but it was big...

Anyhow they figured that it must have gotten an impala or something then hyena's killed the snake to steal the impala carcass. Yes this snake was THAT big to take down an atelope like an impala. Here is a link to the video Sagresta posted on the W.E. social network:

http://wildearth.ning.com/video/video/show?id=2094372%3AVideo%3A34437

Here is the video of when they found the skin:

http://wildearth.ning.com/video/video/show?id=2094372%3AVideo%3A26510

Karuhla the resident leopard is definately in heat and has been in camp a few times to drag down clothes off their line to roll around in them. I think they are at 4 or 5 nights in a row that she has done this. I hope Pieter got more pictures if it happens again!

Today was a good drive...we saw a big white rhino bull, One Tusk the elephant, a bush baby, impala, kudu, and bokkie.

Update on life in general

2008-07-04T13:47:00.003-04:00

Well...I just posted my very long winded W.E. post so I guess I should update on the fam too. lol

Logan has passed the first grade and will be going to grade two in the fall! YAY!! Of course, the second last day of school he gets clocked up the side of the head at the bus stop with a cricket bat. Accidentally but those kids shouldn't have had the frigging thing at the stop anyhow let alone be swinging it around when there are 20+ kids running around waiting for the bus. So we went back home...iced it and gave him some Tylenol and walked to school. Here is a picture of his shiner.

We had a good Canada Day this past weekend. We went to Brent's parent's house for a BBQ and then off to the park for some rides and fun. The only thing I have to say about that is SARDINES...and rude ones at that. The place was PACKED. I am thinking I may head down to my sister's maybe next year. Less mayhem and rude idiots.

The kids loved the rides they did manage to go on though. Lacy finally this year was ok with the fireworks. YAY! Good thing we did watch them from Brent's parent's lawn though because she got bored and chilly so she watched from the front window for the last little bit.

What else....not much....going to be going down to a small cottage my mom rented in a couple of weeks for a few days. Right on the beach! YAY! Should be fun! That's about it for now.

Ch...ch...ch..ch...changes

2008-07-04T13:22:00.003-04:00

Well W.E. is going through some fantastic changes lately. Well some not so fantastic, like Jan leaving (and he had better come back as promised or he will have a board full of very pissed off viewers lol). We also have a new girl on board, Angie. She has been guiding for 4 years apparently and will be working more behind the scenes in the FCC and updating the blog and other web related W.E. stuff. Hopefully she is a good fit with the rest of the W.E. staff! I think they have also hired Gerry who should be starting soon I would think...assuming it will be after Alex and Marco get back from leave. I really liked Gerry's trial drive and I think he will fit in perfectly.

They have also started doing a weekly behind the scenes show on Saturday I think it is (I keep missing it so it must be Saturdays) that they play to show the viewers what goes on at Wild Earth that we don't see. All of the techy stuff...funny things that happen and life in general. Along with this, they also do a fireside chat every Sunday after the PM drive. Viewers email in questions regarding animals, the guides, life at Djuma etc for them to discuss. It's pretty good!!

W.E.'s social network has been buzzing with a lot of activity! A lot of new people are joining the drive discussions which are always fun! New photos and video are uploaded daily by viewers. They are also doing a weekly highlight reel and submitting them for a friendly contest to see who's gets picked as the video of the week. Lot's of talent out there as far as editing and composing these videos.

Now the big news is that Wild Earth TV has launched! In the next 24 hours or so their new site should be up and functioning (I am sure with a few bugs that will be worked out). They have switched the cam to a flash player (the old cams will still be available for a while but I believe they will be phasing the old media player ones out). So far the site looks pretty good! From there you can access the social network, the blog, the cam, resources, staff info, updates and more. Check it out!

http://www.zaplive.tv/web/we/home

OK onto the last couple of days drives. I haven't posted in a while so this will be a longer than usual verbal diarrhea post.

July 3rd was a day for elephant much to my liking! My affection for these animals is growing daily. The more I learn about them, the more they fascinate me. It helps that Pieter is readily available to ellie talk and answer my questions when I send them in. They are such emotional animals...I am reading about their communication abilities right now and let me tell you, there is so much more to this beautiful animal than most think.

July 4th was a day for Rexon and his favourite animal, the leopard. We had a great sighting of Karuhla. We managed to catch her as she stalked a scrub but wasn't successful taking down her snack (a scrub is a small hare). We heard a lot of vocalizations from her as well which could mean that the male we have seen her with lately is still in the area. Unfortunately, I don't think that this male is Muff Daddy. He may have been pushed out of the area by this new beau of Karuhla. Maybe she is in season? Who knows. It would be fantastic to see more cubs as her two are almost ready to fully leave their mom soon.

So that is it in a nutshell today....

Jan the Man

2008-06-22T11:33:00.003-04:00

Well...it's official. Jan has left W.E. for Johannesburg to continue with his studies for a few months. He did say that he would be back and I hope he stays true to his word. Jan was a great asset to Wild Earth. I will miss his silly nature and infectious laugh. I wish you luck Jan and hurry back!

Alex is on leave...making quite the trip this time. He promised to drink some good Norweigan beer for me while he is back home. Safe travels Alex!

More updates: Peiter is back from his leave, YAY! Rexon is feeling better or so it seems. Marco has been working hard as usual. The Jika is fixed. Emily and Graham have been around W.E. and on camera a lot more lately. That's been so much fun! I am hoping they are around for the fireside chat today.

And on the homefront...

Lacy had been sick for almost a week. 5 days of a lowgrade fever and no eating. We took her into see the doctor on Tuesday. Ears and throat were fine...so they did a urinalysis and nothing came back funky. So we had to wait it out. Finally on Friday she was eating and the fever disappeared!

Ask Logan how many more days left of school before summer break and you will get an excited cry of "THREE!". He is pretty stoked that school is ending soon. I keep thinking that if he hates school this much in grade one....the next 11 years of school are going to be hell! uuuhhhhgg

Strawberries are out...I want to go picking this afternoon if it doesn't rain! I LOVE fresh berries. I didn't get to pick as many as I would have liked to last year. I probably won't this year either...the kids enjoy going but aren't hardcore pickers like I am lol.

Brent is good, he was on a course all last week. The pets are ok. Miffy the bunny still seems to have eye issues no matter what we do. Ripley is a dork as always....he got into a scuffle with a great dane at the vet last time and we ended up with an extra 30 dollars on our bill because we paid for the great dane to have stitches. *sigh* Dumb dog...

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-06-12T14:40:00.003-04:00

Wow it's been a few weeks since I have done this...let's see....topic, topic what should I pick as a topic?

True Friendship

It seems that it has become a heated topic on a board I belong to...friendship and what it means to be a friend.

So as a little experiment here lets ask the following (feel free to copy and past your answers as a comment or onto your own blog and link it in my comment section):

1. Is friendship selfless or is it a two way street? Example...should you put forth your friendship wholeheartedly and not expect that person to do the same?

2. Do you think that a friend should back you up even if they don't think what you are doing is a good idea?

3. What do you expect from your close friends? (nutshell)

4. What should those friends expect from you? (nutshell)

5. If someone was in self destruct mode and you offered genuine, legit help over and over for a long time and no attempt to try to better the situation was made...would you go the tough love route or would you continue to coddle the person and bite your tongue? Self destruct could be a variety of things....depression, drugs, alcohol etc

6. If you yourself were in self destruct mode for a long time, would you want the truth or smoke?

7. Do you think that it is a total betrayal of friendship if someone doesn't coddle your feelings? Like if someone really pissed you off by telling you the truth...would you be able to get over it?

Another layout done

2008-06-03T22:56:00.005-04:00

Well...another one for my CJ. And yes I am a geek and did it on Wild Earth. I have issues...I know this. It scanned wonky since the chipboard was so bulky so it REALLY doesn't look as much like ass as it appears to in the scan. (Terry you can smack me if you hate it lol)

Tired....and a bit sick

2008-06-02T21:16:00.002-04:00

Yeah...so not feeling the greatest today. I woke up with a headache I haven't been able to shake all day. That paired with a woozy feeling is not much fun. So this update is going to be short and sweet...the bathtub is calling my name.

The weekend didn't bring too much excitement here. We just kind of hung around home. Saturday it threatened to rain off and on. Sunday was windy and a bit chilly so it was a PJ day. Friday night I got my drink on a bit too much and woke up with a headache lol. Oh well, no pitty for self induced drinking injuries. lol

On the W.E. drives, there has been a lot more excitement! After the cheetah sighting, it was hard to top a drive. BUT...just when you didn't think it could get better, we had 3 of the big 5 on camera at once! We had Wonky the ellie AND Judge the buffalo but at Gowrie at the same time and Pieter was sitting watching a lioness. (Some of the other Dagga boys were there at Gowrie as well and we got to see Seesaw as well!). And we had two lionesses from the Tsalala pride visit Djuma as well! It appears that one if not both are lactating which means hidden cubs somewhere in the vicinity! How exciting it will be when she finally feels safe to bring them out...I just hope they stay in the area long enough. AND just the past day we have had Muff Daddy back (leopard). He appears to be injured but not seriously thank goodness! Mojo the Mongoose seems to have a friend...a second rare whitetail mongoose has made its appearance at Quarantine.

Ok now that I have totally geeked out...I am off for my bath! lol

One Cheetah, Two Cheetah

2008-05-29T14:30:00.008-04:00

Yes...another Wild Earth post! lol Today Jan (in the photo above) took the wheel with Alex behind the camera while Marco was in the Final Control Center. Jan is a character to say the least and he has some fun characteristics. One of which is that he likes to look for bugs and the teeny tiny things that make most people's skin crawl lol. So off we went to try to find some animals and see if we could find some good insects while we were at.

This is what we were first greeted with on the drive:

A few other highlights (beetle of some sort and a water buck)...there were a few birds and impala as well:

Then bam....THIS happened (I am no longer a cheetah virgin!! lol):

Holy Buffalo Batman!

2008-05-28T18:14:00.005-04:00

If yesterday's experience with the buffalo wasn't spectacular enough for you...you should be impressed with what happened at Gowrie Dam today. A herd of 500+ buffalo came in for a drink. Of course after the first 50 or so drank the water was so mucked up that the others didn't really get much of a chance to drink.

It was an excellent PM drive again today with Pieter at the wheel, Marco on cam and Jan in Final Control. We saw a lot...baboon, kudu, impala, vultures, the buffalo, some zebra and Mongo the Hippo. Mojo the Mongoose was not up for an appearance today so I am sure that Alex is a bit disappointed.

Here are a few screenshots:

Pieter

The incoming herd

Zebra, Vultures & Mongo the Hippo

Marco's first drive

2008-05-27T17:25:00.006-04:00

Well, he did fabulously! I think Marco is a perfect fit for the W.E. family! Well done Marco! We managed to catch a very large herd of buffalo at the dam, lots of various impala, Mojo the whitetail mongoose, a couple of bushbabies, a genet, the Hippo at the dam, a vulture...I am sure I am missing some. Anyhow it was a great drive!

Here are a few shots from the PM drive as well as a funny video of Marco explaining the uses of three kinds of leaves.

Marco is at the helm today

2008-05-27T10:10:00.004-04:00

Well apparently Pieter is under the weather with a touch of the flu or so the rumour around the Wild Earth community says. Marco...the newest addition to the W.E. family...is taking us out on the PM drive today. Good Luck Marco!! (I will be back to post any interesting bits of info later) And I hope you feel better soon Pieter!! Rest up, I will have plenty of on cam questions for you when you get back lol.

Oh and if you follow W.E. at all, you will know about the whitetail mongoose that has been a regular on cam for the past few drives. Well Alex has had the privilege of naming the little guy...so now W.E. welcomes Mojo the Mongoose! Well done Alex.

I just went up one notch on the geek meter last night. I downloaded a program to capture video and save it. Yes I will be one of those youtube posters if I get the hang of piecing together and editing my captures.

I have been totally enjoying the W.E. online community that Graham has set up for the fans of the cam. It's so exciting to meet other WE'ers and be able to discuss the drives as they are happening, talk and learn about various animals, bug Graham with endless questions regarding W.E., discuss photography and talk about conservation and wildlife issues. Only problem is now I have two blogs to keep up...like one isn't enough to ignore right? lol

Well...it is almost drive time and as much as I can multitask, with this new video capture thing I am trying I can only have that one window happening while recording. So I am off to South Africa! See you in a couple of hours! lol

Ahhhhhhhh Africa

2008-05-25T21:22:00.005-04:00

Seriously...I must go visit there someday. I have fallen in love with the Sabi Sands area where Djuma game reserve is. It is absolutely amazing!

I am soooooooooo glad that Graham (the W.E. head honcho) has put together an online community for us faithful W.E. addicts. How fun is it to talk among the people from W.E. and from other fans from around the world. So, if you see less and less of me around the world wide web...there is where you can find me! lol

Anyhow.....just a few screenshots again.

Two nights in a row

2008-05-22T00:01:00.005-04:00

Is anyone checking for a swarm of locusts yet? Has the end of the world indeed started? I scrapped TWO nights in a row people! I am still using training wheels, so to speak. I lifted a sketch from Pencil Lines (#85). AND my scanner is up and going...stupid thing wont run using my hub. I need it plugged directly into my computer in order for it to have enough power to run apparently. The colours didn't totally scan true..the Heidi Swapp flower is a lime green not yellowish.

I was tagged

2008-05-21T09:34:00.003-04:00

OK Lori P got me....you can visit her blog here http://lafruitloop.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 4 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog .

My Four Facts

1. I don't drive and have never held a driver's license.
2. I really don't like yellow mustard. I love grain mustard, Dijon etc just not yellow mustard like French's.
3. I have an addiction to watching live African cameras on line.
4. I like Pepsi more than I like coke but I like Diet Coke better than I like Diet Pepsi. Go figure!

OK now I tag....

Oscar aka Sherri
Ashley S
Carrie H
Chrissy W

Stop the Presses!

2008-05-20T23:23:00.009-04:00

Yes...it's BIG news. I scrapbooked! lol It took me forever to do this easy layout. It sucks...the lettering looks weird since it doesn't match from page one and two...I don't like it but it's not mine so I don't care! LOL Suck it Lori....this is yours for the circle journal! (she will kick my ass for that later I am sure) Anyhow, here is a quick pic of the layout....my scanner is on the fritz...sorry!

Weed Update

2008-05-20T18:30:00.003-04:00

Well so far so good...it has taken a couple of days but the spots I sprayed are dying. I think the thistles will need another spray. I think that I will be keeping a few liters of vinegar on hand from now on so that I can mix some up when I need it.

Hey look at that....

2008-05-18T14:09:00.003-04:00

I digital scrapped! lol Just really fast 4x6's for Sarah. They are to cover donation cans they are using to collect pop tabs.

"We are collecting pop tabs for gas cards for children's hospital patients of our town who travel for health care. We have schools that have totes out and our goal is to get a truckload of tabs by her (Teegie) birthday August 2nd." ~Sarah O'Neal~

If there is anyone out there who wants to collect "Tabs for Teegie" let me know. I will put you in touch with Sarah so she can tell you where to send them.

Eco Friendly Weed Killer

2008-05-17T16:17:00.006-04:00

Well, if you know me, you know we as a household do our best to try to keep it "green". We don't believe in spraying chemicals onto our lawn just to get the "nice lawn" on the street. In fact, I am sure our neighbors hate us because we don't really mind the dandelions lol. Anyhow...we do however have a thistle problem in our yard and issues with things growing up in between patio stones and our interlock brick pathway out front. So off I went to wander the world wide web to look for a good homemade weed killer. I found this....I made a batch and will let you know how it goes. I just sprayed some of the funky greenery that has been coming up.

4 cups vinegar (pickling is best)

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp dish soap

Put in a spray bottle and spray away! But use sparingly because apparently it will kill anything green that it touches. AND bonus is that the ants seem to really dislike it or so they say.

I also put in some geraniums, petunias and some alysum into the small flowerbed out front. We shall see. I am not such a wonderful gardener as I tend to overcrowd things. So learn by trial and error. I wish I had my Grammy's green thumb. Logan was allowed to pick out a plant as well that will be his to look after. No surprise that he chose a strawberry plant. So I have to find a spot to plant that tomorrow.

Here is to the Victoria Day long weekend and HAPPY PLANTING everyone!

More Ellies!

2008-05-12T11:05:00.004-04:00

The first count on one drive was 15 or 16 I think...well there are more. At last count there were 20 spotted at once. Just amazing! There was a little teeny guy in there who was just so cute! Anyhow here are some screenshots:

Flower Pot Cake

2008-05-08T23:25:00.006-04:00

My nieces came over for a bit this morning to make some flower pot cakes! They had a good time! Here are a couple pictures of them and my kids as well. Poor Logan missed the whole thing as he was at school when the girls did theirs. He still had a blast doing his tonight though!

Holy Elephants Batman!

2008-05-08T23:13:00.006-04:00

I was busy this morning puttering around getting my nieces their flower pot cakes done and playing kitchen with them and my daughter. I turn my head (yes I STILL had my cam feed on in the backround) and saw this.....

Amazing! I think Pieter counted 15 elephants in this particular herd. Aren't they beautiful? Then they ended up finding two bulls afterwards when the infrared camera was on. Oh and some rhino!

I am hoping that Dan (a temp director who's time has passed at WE) has sucess in his future endeavors. And I really hope that Jan is ok...apparently on his way back from leave hit a buffalo I think with his car. They had to cut today's drive short so that they could tow Jan's vehicle back.

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-05-08T13:30:00.002-04:00

First of all I need to say happy birthday to my sister....so...Happy Birthday Pissy Chrissy!

So now...for my thoughts for Thursday.

Manners

I am not a manners Nazi but I do insist that my kids say please, thank you and excuse me. And that they do not chew with their mouths open etc. Kids are kids and sometimes they do forget...but it's the ADULTS who can't manage to say thank you when a thank you is warranted that bothers me.

Someone holds a door for you...say thank you. Someone does you a favour...even if it's something very small or minor....say thank you. Someone gives you something they think you need or may want....say thank you!! Is it that hard? Why is it that manners seem to be lost in this day and age. Are we THAT self absorbed that you can't take 3 seconds out of your day to be grateful to someone and verbalize it?

Oh and how about that ever elusive "excuse me"? Have we forgotten those words? If I am in your way, instead of ramming your cart into the back of my legs....say excuse me! Jeeze! And if I say excuse me...don't look at me like I have two heads and ignore my request...move your ass out of my way please. Nope...instead they stand there acting like I was rude to have asked for them to excuse me and shift over so I can pass by...somehow I am inconveniencing them.

And the adults who insist on smacking and making nasty noises while eating. OK whatever...if you do it at home and no one is there to hear you...I can deal with that. But if you are out in public please refrain from eating with your mouth wide open...I do NOT need to see or hear your food please!!

What happened to manners? Just the basic manners even....so here is my challenge to you...make it a point to say please, thank you and excuse me. Make it a point to respect other people as you would like to be respected. That is all....

Ahhh two posts in one day! Caaarazy! I know!

2008-05-06T14:08:00.003-04:00

Look out! I am on a roll. I just wanted to ramble today.

First of all...Brad had better email me with an update on Kim and the baby soon or I will be flying out to Brittish Columbia soon to wring his neck! lol I hope that everything is ok and he just forgot in all of the excitement. I shoud go over and check ScrapJazz as well to see if he just posted over there and cut out the middle man (aka me lol).

We are still trying to decide where we are going to go on vacation. We have those airfare tickets to use but its a matter of timing and money. Since we ponied up a lot of money to get the basement done...we are short of funds. We have already decided that we are going "sans enfants" and leaving the kids here....son with my mom up down at the cottage she is renting and Brent's parents will be coming here to the house to watch our daughter, dog and bunny. So...the problem remains....a destination. Now if it was international you all KNOW where I would be flying my ass to. Djuma! lol But unfortunately it has to be within the US and Canada not including Alaska, Hawaii etc. So far we have narrowed it down to either Vancouver BC or Vegas. I am leaning towards Vegas just because...hellloooooooooooo it's Vegas and I have never been there before. BUT I really would love to see BC or even head to Alberta and go hiking in the Rockies. We need to get off our bums and choose. We have to get our passport applications in as well.

What else is new? Not a whole heck of a lot....no good or bad news on my stepdad and his cancer. My uncle is pretty much the same and is slowly going downhill with his cancer. My Grampy seems to be recovering very well from his heart operation that he had earlier this year. My dad saw him a week or so ago and said he looked great.

Thats about it for now. I might ramble some more later...or even MAYBE get my Thoughts for Thursday done this week!

Happy Belated Birthday Wild Earth!

2008-05-06T13:45:00.005-04:00

I have fallen on the wayside in the blogging world again. I suck! lol So happy belated birthday to the crew of Wild Earth (the Djuma cam I watch). It has been a year since they went live and what a wonderful experience they have brought to so many people online. If you are at all interested, they have a new venture happening and you can read it on their blog that is listed on my list to the right -------->

Here are a couple "Birthday" shots I managed to get on Sunday.

I was finally able to catch almost a full evening drive today with Pieter and Rexon. Alex is on leave now. Pieter is finally back from his trip to Namibia. I hope it went well and I really hope he is able to post some of his photos on the WE blog. He is an amazing photographer. Anyhow..tonight was an awesome drive. Apparently a lone lioness had made a kill recently and tonight the cams got to watch her consume some of the male impala that was taken down. Then she made her way to have a drink and we got an ever better look at her. Just beautiful. Then Pieter's keen eye caught a mongoose and I managed to catch a couple of screen shots. THEN just out of the corner of his eye, Pieter saw one of Karula's offspring (leopard).

Anyhow...here are some screenshots from tonights drive at Djuma.

I got tagged!

2008-04-21T20:01:00.002-04:00

Ok well Potti got me....so here I go

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. A cleaner at the mall on a military base
2. Painter's assistant (house painter type thing)
3. Receptionist and a TSR at an insurance agency
4. Executive assistant to an insurance broker

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. Old School
2. 40 Year Old Virgin
3. The Notebook
4. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

Four T.V. Shows that I watch:
1. Big Brother
2. Greys Anatomy
3. Two and a Half Men
4. Dexter

Four places I have been:
1. all over Germany
2. all over France
3. few places in Switzerland
4. few places in Austria

Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. My sister
2. My friend Jenny in Aussie
3. Some spazzers
4. my father in law

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Lobster
2. Chicken Makhani
3. Pizza
4. stir fried veggies

Four Places I would like to visit:
1. Las Vegas, USA
2. Louisiana, USA
3. Djuma, Africa
4. Egypt, Africa

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. A trip to Vegas hopefully
2. a week up at a cottage my mom rented
3. Getting a cat hopefully
4. Catching a ball game or two (hopefully one with a couple online friends)

Ok, four people I tag:
1. Ramona
2. Georgina
3. Sherri aka Oscar
4. Ashley S

Yup another eventful Djuma evening drive

2008-04-09T18:49:00.006-04:00

I know whoever is reading this may very well be sick of seeing my screenshots of Djuma. I can not help myself and I must post. It is absolutely breathtaking to watch the experience that is Africa. I swear...I will visit one day.

Pieter had a fantastic drive (his last for a few weeks since he is on leave and going to Namibia). Here are a few screenshots from the drive:

A baby, a male and a female giraffe

A bunch of impala coming to Gawrie watering hole

A mongoose, a Kudu playing peek, a spotted dove and a squirrel

And a male from the Mapogos pride and a lioness. This male Pieter has named Mr T for obvious reasons

Another Djuma drive

2008-04-08T12:36:00.006-04:00

Another awesome start to the night drive. As I sat on the phone talking to my sister I almost got whiplash as soon as I heard Pieter say "Uuhh" and I knew he had spotted something. I was so excited to turn back to my computer and see this pretty little girl:

Shortly after seeing the leopard (I totally missed her name. I am trying to learn the names a lot of the regulars to Djuma have been given by the guides etc), Pieter and Jann came across a herd of six white rhino. Amazing! The female is apparently in estrous and there are some males starting to follow her around and get her attention. Wouldn't it be an amazing sight to see, two males battling for the mating rights of the female. The screenshot is dark...they were just going to get read for the night infrared part of the drive so it was fairly dark at the time.

Well, back to the drive I go...it is still not quite finished as they have just turned the infrared camera on. Hopefully Pieter can manage the spotlight tonight...sorry to hear he injured himself. Wonder what happened. Anyhow...cya...may be back with more screenshots later.

Basement

2008-04-07T21:46:00.003-04:00

I figured I should post an almost final picture of the reno. It's almost finished. A few more final things like baseboard in the bathroom and around the pillar etc.

Beautiful....

2008-04-07T13:27:00.003-04:00

Yes more obsession screenshots of Djuma. Anyone who reads this blog is probably very tired of seeing them but oh well....lol. Pieter (the Wild Earth guide) finally got to see the ever elusive elephants and there were two lionesses who had made a tasty meal from a male kudo they brought down. It has been an exciting few days on the drive.

More Djuma Photos

2008-04-02T16:37:00.003-04:00

More from the past few days at Djuma. Thank you Pieter for your keen eye!

Mapogo Pride

2008-04-02T16:20:00.004-04:00

I was lucky enough to catch this pride of male lions twice in one day (on two separate game drives at Djuma). Pieter, the guide, has named one of them Leonidas and another Mr T (and from the screenshot I took, you will see why he has that name). Just an amazing couple of days on the drives at Djuma.

I have become a Wild Earth Cam junky though. I geek out every time the camera goes mobile. I take screenshots left, right and center. I email the command center to ask questions (which they answer on the drive...it's pretty kewl). Oh and I totally become a dork when they answer my questions on the camera. Yes I get all excited when I hear Pieter say "we have a question from Stacy". I stay up until all hours of the morning hoping to catch a glimpse of the ever elusive elephants of Djuma or to see a pride of lions hunting.

I know I have issues...I will be the first to admit it. But I will continue to hop on the Land Rover twice a day with the guides and take my drive through the Djuma game reserve. Going to South Africa is on my life list and I really hope to travel there so I can experience it in the flesh.

Woohooo Pieter and Alex!

2008-03-28T20:16:00.003-04:00

Yeah baby...so guess what I saw lastnight after I posted my Thoughts for Thursday? Check these cuties out!

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-03-27T22:53:00.004-04:00

Again I am squeaking under the wire on my post. My short rant this week is:

My Addiction to Africam/Djuma/Pete's Pond Cams

Some of you may know that I have this problem. I can NOT seem to kick it and just when I think I can live without it, it comes back with a vengeance! Hi...my name is Stacy and I am live African web cam addict.

I had pretty much calmed down with my addiction for a few months. Then when extremely bored one fine evening I decided to just have ONE peek at Nkorho and Pete's. Well I open my link I had tucked away in my favourites that has 3 cams running at once. And what pray tell do I see??? My heart skipped a beat, I had palpitations....they were doing a game drive on the Djuma cam live!! Over the next few days I got their schedule down and realised that they did this game drive twice a day every day barring any technical difficulties.

Yes, I needed this like I need another hole in the head. More reason to keep the cams on all day long and to run to my computer screen anytime I hear a noise out of the ordinary. So now...I drive along with Peter and Alex everyday scouting out animal tracks and possibly catching a sighting of a lion. (which by the way I did see the other day...see my photo...she is of the Styx pride if you are wondering lol Yes I AM that geeky and I take screenshots) I WILL go to one of these places at some point in my life...it is officially on my Bucket List!

So right now...I am counting down the minutes to the morning game drive. Peter should be picking me up shortly and away we will go for an hour. Gotta go wait for my ride! lol

Basement progress

2008-03-22T23:54:00.002-04:00

Well for those who didn't know...we are in the process of having our basement finished. When we started it was basically a bare basement with roughed in plumbing for a washroom. Work started a week ago today and we have some drywall going up now! YAY! As of tonight I would say that about 75% of the drywall is up.

I am thinking it will be another week before we are done. They are laying carpet in the recroom area and tiling the laundry room and bathroom. They are also painting and doing any and all finishing work like baseboard etc.

Costing us a pretty penny...but we figure that the minute it's finished it will increase the value of the house by atleast 30 grand which doubles what we spent on the reno.

Thoughts for Thursday...a day late! lol

2008-03-21T19:03:00.002-04:00

Yeah well so sue me...I am a day late and a dollar short but here I am. And my topic for the week is

Road Rage

Imagine, if you will, a family of 4 coming out of the grocery store. This family of 4 happens to have two small children. While the family is walking with their cart to the car they witness a man rallying for a parking spot. He eyes a young man and his girlfriend getting into their SUV and readying to leave. The man...lets call him Homer for all intensive purposes...sits for probably 10 seconds waiting for the young man to vacate the spot then lays on his horn ever so rudely.

The young man is barely IN his car before Homer freaks out and starts to honk. Then starts to yell obscenities at the young man. Props goes to the young man for ignoring Homer. Then Homer speeds off like a madman (in a parking lot full of families) and pulls into another spot maybe 20 feet from the spot the young man had parked. Homer gets out of his truck and begins to freak out and yell at the young man. The young man has had enough of Homer's mouth and gets out of the car to confront Homer and his rudeness.

Meanwhile there are families trying to avoid this confrontation. Pretty hard to when Homer is yelling "Fuck" every two seconds. The family I spoke of before is hurrying to pack up their car, get the kids into their car seats so that they don't have to hear Homer spout his mouth off...and by this point the family is a bit worried that the confrontation will become physical.

So Homer starts to look like he is going to come after the young man....(the mother of the family's money is on the young man lol) and the young man looks ready to take on Homer if need be. By this time the father of the family has his cell in hand ready to call the cops. Again more props to the young man for just walking away and telling Homer he is insane.

Now...when did this become proper behavior? When did this become acceptable? Why is it that people now a days feel its within their rights to freak out and threaten people in public over a PARKING SPOT? Come on....have we become such a fast food society that we can't wait 1 minute? Can we not let a car into traffic instead of tailgating the car in front of you because you can't afford to lose a precious 2 seconds commute time? When did the term courteous driver go out the window?

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-03-13T21:49:00.003-04:00

I had totally misplaced my mind this week and Thursday crept up on me fast. I wasn't feeling overly well this week so I shall rant about........

Men...why they are such babies when they get "sick"

Well the past few weeks in this household have been turbulent in more ways than one. It started a couple weeks ago when ds came home from school with a nasty cold. It seemed to last forever...mucus flew....we should have bought stock in Kleenex because everyone in the house ended up with this cold. Dd ended up with the worst of it and had an ear infection on top of it. But dh...you would swear the man was dying. He came home early from work one day because he was "too sick" and then stayed home another day, again because he was too sick. This man had a cough and a runny nose. SAME thing I had yet I still had to wait on everyone hand and foot...I didn't get to take time off. So I am irritated at this point.

So fast forward to a week later. Dd is now having some issues vomiting and not having much of an appetite for two days. One nasty bout of the runs that lasted less than a day (THANK GOD). Then a day later I am starting to feel funky...yup I am sick. I STILL look after myself, dd and ds (who is home on March Break) while dh goes to work. He comes home... and nicely takes dd with him when he takes ds to karate. He gets the McDonald's for supper.

I am upstairs in the fetal position next to the toilet because I had just threw up something my grandmother ate 25 years ago. And he comes up to tell me ds says his stomach feels weird. So I get up off the floor...go to the washroom with ds. Usually this "weird" feeling is diarrhea and I figured it probably was because I had it bad too. Well he gets up off the john and puts his hand over his mouth and starts running DOWNSTAIRS. I am like wth are you doing? Ds yells "I think I am going to puke" and then blahhhrrrhaaaahhhh all over my freaking floor. At this point I am totally dumbfounded as to why he didn't turn around and take the 4 steps BACK into the bathroom from which he just came to throw up. Dh just stands there...so off I go to clean up McDonald's puke...yes and it's a very special kind of puke people...trust me. So I am on my hands and knees trying not to hurl myself. I go back to bed mad...because I am SICK dammit and why am I up out of bed cleaning up puke?

Fast forward to the next day....dh goes to work...I am still achy, pukey and generally miserable because I haven't eaten anything in over 24 hours at this point. He does however go in late so that I can sleep until 8am. He has this "important thing to do" at work that he cant miss. Well at 11 I get a phone call. "I am coming home, I am sick." Lovely....so he gets home. And promptly goes to lay down for 3 hours. Ummm hello? When do I get to do that? He whined all day...whined the next day and stayed home from work. The man didn't even throw up once, never had the trots and never got achy. He was "queasy". Yet he napped that three hours....went to bed at 8. Then napped off and on all the day he was home. Know what rest I had? That one hour they were gone to karate.

Why do men seem to turn to little babies when they get the slightest bit sick? Who else has a husband or s/o who is like this? I know I can't be the only one.

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-03-06T21:31:00.003-05:00

I am sooooo late getting this in...and as usual I am flying by the seat of my pants as far as a topic. hmmmmmm Let me think.

Toronto's Black Focused AKA Segregated School

Many of you guys have heard this on the news or online. Toronto has decided to create an all black school. Well OK they have said that it will be open to all ethnicities but will focus on a more black curriculum putting a focus more on black history, music and culture etc. They say it's in attempt to bring down the dropout rate among black students within the city. Stats say that 40% of black students are not completing high school.

This has caused quite an issue as one could imagine. There are supporters of this "new" school who say that black students that are taught in a way more catered to the black individual and taught things more relevant to the black student will succeed in school more so than if they were in a regular school. The flip side to this (which is where I belong in regards to this) are the people who think that this only sets us back in our fight against racism and segregation. By separating our kids like this we are teaching them that they are different from one another, that we can't get along as one. That somehow the colour of your skin dictates your education.

There is the argument that this is racism. That by creating an all black school, it is discriminatory against the Caucasian, Asian, Indian etc etc etc. I guess they get around this by saying that ANYONE is allowed to enroll and attend this school but the curriculum is one that they may not "get". And then it brings us to kids who have mixed racial back rounds. So what of the kids who have one Caucasian and one black parent or an Asian/black etc. Will they feel comfortable at one of these schools? And if a white kid decided to attend...chances are that child would not be welcomed with open arms either.

Then it has been brought up about the whole separate school board. That having an all black school is no different than having Catholic schools. Albeit that could very well be an argument IF the new Black school were to be privately funded but it is not. It is still part of the public school system in Toronto. So where will we draw the line here....shall we have all white schools, all Asian, all Indian? Give me a break people!

It's a fine line whenever you are dealing with anything involving racism and I think that the school board here in Toronto fucked up LARGELY with this decision. I am very ashamed right now to even live NEAR Toronto. Way to go Toronto...you are making a mockery of what Canada stands for. Multiculturalism has been an important trait to Canada dammit. What kind of example are we setting for our kids here? Personally I think its a BAD one.

Here is some reading if you wish:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080129/national/black_focused_school

http://www.thestar.com/article/299431

http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/02/020308_3.html

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-02-27T19:51:00.007-05:00

I know that I am a few hours early for my Thursday post. But here it is....for all of you children of the 80's!

I am an 80's Child

Gone are the days of peterpan getaway boots, big hair, rubber bangles, neon clothes and fanny packs. I think we can all agree that the 80's were a fun decade to grow up in. We had the kewl music, funky fashion where pretty much anything went, we had the decade that Madonna made a name for herself. So I figured for nostalgic purposes I would compile a list of fun 80's things that might just take you into the wayback machine like it does for me. I still have those "moments" where I blare some 80's tunes and geek out.

So anyhow...here are some things that may take you back.

One Hit Wonders of the 80's

Gary Numan - Cars 1980
The Vapors - Turning Japanese 1980
Sugar Hill Gange - Rapper's Delight 1980
Devo - Whip it 1980
Bow Wow Wow want Candy 1982
Toni Basil - Micky 1982
Soft Cell - Tainted Love 1982
Waitresses - I know what Boys Like 1982
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy 1983
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen 1983
After the Fire - Der Kommissar 1983
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax 1984
Nena - 99 Luft Balloons 1984
Autograph - Turn up the Radio 1985
Dr and the Medics - Spirit in the Sky - 1986
Baltimora - Tarzan Boy 1986
Timbuk 3 - The Future's so Bright 1986
T'Pau - Heart and Soul (yes I own this cd lol) 1987
Club Nouveau - Lean on me 1987
MARRS - Pump up the Volume 1988
Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning (I attended a MNO concert lol) 1988
Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy 1988
Sheriff - When I'm with You 1989
Belle Stars - Iko Iko 1989

80's Toys (funny how a lot regained popularity recently):

Rainbow Brite
Teddy Ruxpin
Pound Puppies
Poppels
Baby Heather (my sister had one...she ripped its head off because it creeped her out lol)
Cabbage Patch Kids
Hello Kitty
Carebears
He-Man & She-Ra
Ewoks
Fraggles
Hugga Bunch
Wuzzles (I had Bumble Lion lol)
Transformers

We wore neon so bright we could have landed planes, all the girls wanted to BE Madonna, we made our parents fight tooth and nail so we could have a Cabbage Patch doll for Xmas, we sang along with the Thompson Twins, we wore big ass earrings....we were COOL!!!

Children of the 80's Unite!!!

1 sick kid....2 sick kids.....

2008-02-26T20:49:00.002-05:00

It has NOT been a fun week in this household. Started off as ds getting a nasty ass cough and stuffy nose followed by a lowgrade fever that went away fairly quickly. BUT he was lethargic and did not eat much at all for a few days. 2 sick days from school and one missed karate class we figure ok we will take him into the clinic. Well doesn't dd start to get sick too. Only she gets worse than he does. She ended up with an ear infection on top of this nasty cold.

I have spend the last 6 days up to my ears in phlem, fevers, lethargy (is that even a word? lol), vomitting because ds gags on the phlem and bam...puke city. And now I am getting it. FUN!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Now I sent ds to school today since it the cough and runny nose have calmed down. They had a supply teacher there who told him that his mother should have kept him home. I felt like calling that woman and saying "Listen! He has been home for 5 days....this is the tail end of it and I am sorry if his cough is disrupting you but he can NOT afford to miss any more school. PLUS he isnt any sicker than 50% of his class right now." I am sure his cough will last a lot longer too. Seems that whatever is going around is sticking around in the form of a cough for atleast a week or two. NO way is he missing school for that long.

Anyhow...they are starting to feel better thankfully. DD is on meds and is showing a bit more spirit. I really hope I don't get it! Or watch...I will be sick for March Break.

Ok...on a different note. We had a contractor in to have a look and give us a quote on the basement. So it looks like this is probably going to be on the go in a few weeks. Hopefully it won't run too much over than what we have saved. It would be nice to have the basement done so that the kids have more room to play.

Thats about it for now. I have other thoughts in my head but I need to really sit down and be able to pay attention and put some thought into what I type. Just cant do it right now.

Thoughts for Thursday

2008-02-21T18:55:00.005-05:00

I have decided to join a few online friends in something they have started to blog. Every Thursday they pick a random topic to blog about. Could be anything...so here is mine for the week.

To Cuddle or Not to Cuddle...that is the question

I am all for some physical affection as are most people. People need that feeling of closeness to one another. You see some couples walking down the street having to touch the other person at all times. You see those people who almost starve for that physical closeness. I am NOT one of those people.

I am very touchy feely with my own kids. There is nothing I like better than a cuddle on the couch with my kids, hugs and kisses for no reason whatsoever other than they just felt like it at the time. Even with dh, I am not overly touchy...and he isn't either (thank God because I couldn't handle it lol).

Am I weird, I wonder? Ok, that was a totally redundant question. Am I missing that female gene that wants that physical closeness? Seriously...I don't even like to cuddle after sex. I like the sex part just not that huggy part afterwards. I feel that I have gotten all of my intimate feelings out during sex that a kiss and rolling over to sleep is enough for "afterplay". I am sure that dh is appreciative that I don't drape myself over him and require that half hour of lovey dovey shit that most guys really get over after the first few times you have sex with them. lol

I don't even really like hugging people all that much. Mind you aftersome beer I will hug anyone but we aren't talking about extenuating circumstances now, are we? lol I just can not handle people who always like to touch you when they are talking to you. It irks me to no end. Funny thing is that I am not a germaphobe. So that isn't the reason I don't like close talkers and touchy talkers. I am big on personal space though, so that must be it.

So again...I wonder...am I the only person who just isn't a cuddler? There must be more women like me out there somewhere in cyberland.

NON CUDDLERS UNITE!

I was tagged ....TWICE....lol

2008-02-04T12:39:00.000-05:00

Well Georgina and Lori both tagged me so here it goes....

You must post the rules before you give your answers.You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name.Each fact must begin with that letter.If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers.At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

L - Lobster lover
E - Easygoing
E - Eats too much lol

A - Artistic
N - Neurotic
N - Naughty

And I tag......hmmmm Nancyroo, Oscar, Ramona, Cassandra, Andrea and Laurie

Well apparently I still suck!

2008-01-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

I keep forgetting I have this blog. lol

Let's see...Christmas was great! The kids had such a good time. My sister and her girls came over for Christmas Eve. We had my mom, Brent's parents and my BIL and SIL and nephew over as well. I of course went way overboard on the food. As you can tell in the photo I went more than a little nuts. But what would Christmas be without me going way overboard? The kids were very happy with their presents. So was Brent for that matter. He finally got his surround sound system.

We didn't do much for New Years other than sit on the couch and watch the ball drop in NY. I was going to let Logan try to stay up this year but by 9:30 he was tired so off to bed he went. Maybe next year. Resolutions you ask? Same old same old....get into shape, eat better and lose weight. So far its more of a dream than reality lol.

My stepdad is doing much better and his brain tumour is shrinking and the lung cancer seems to be gone so they wont be following up with chemo thank goodness. My Grampy went in for heart surgery last week. He had a double bypass (was supposed to be a triple but they couldnt get at the third this time) and he had a valve that needed fixing. He is doing well now but gave us a scare the day after his surgery with a lot of fluid in his lungs. They moved him from Halifax to his local small hospital so they must have faith that he is well on his way to mending. This is a huge relief!

What else is happening.....hmmmm.....Lacy is talking a lot more now. She is as bad as ever and has her mom's temper (scary eh?).

Well thats about it for now...its karate day for Logan and we are leaving shortly. :)

Wow holy stale blog batman!

2007-12-19T11:03:00.000-05:00

Well yeah so I suck....yet again I have neglected the blog. This time for almost 5 months! Ouch!

Well a lot of stuff has been going on.

My stepdad was diagnosed with lung cancer and a malignant brain tumour. He underwent a gamma knife surgery on his head to try to shrink the tumor followed by full head radiation. So far it is doing its job and we shall see if another is needed later or more radiation. He had the lung tumor removed and so far they feel they got the whole thing. He may be having chemo in the new year still though.

My bio uncle is terminal with lung cancer that has spread through his body. They dont feel that it is operable now that its is this far gone but he may be seeing an oncologist here in Toronto to see this guy's opinion. Apparently he is one of the only people around that will even attempt the surgery that may prolong my uncle's life.

My Grampy is also very sick. He for years has had a leaky valve in his heart. After various medical issues (prostate cancer included), he hasnt been strong enough to have the heart surgery. Well now its not a matter of IF he is strong enough...he will die if he doesn't have the surgery soon. And the chances of him coming out of the surgery aren't very good.

So thats the bad stuff in general.

The good stuff is that my kids, Brent and I are healthy. Logan is in karate now, is doing great and he loves it! He is having a few issues in school but we are handling them as they come. He is being reassessed by the speech path at the school. I think they released him from his speech therapy too early and finally a teacher sees it that way too. So he might have to go back to going to see the path weekly. Lacy is doing great. She keeps me busy I tell you! We had our first trip to the ER recently for what we thought could have been a broken foot but it turned out it was just a bad sprain thankfully.

Getting ready for Christmas here....so hard getting into the spirit though with all the crap happening lately. Putting on a good front for the kids though and they are pretty excited! One can only hope that the new year brings better and healthier times.

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

I'ma gonna go Crazy!!!

2007-07-25T19:43:00.000-04:00

Holy crap....just one of those days where you have that nagging headache, the kids aren't listening, as soon as you lay down for a rest the phone rings non stop....yarg just YARG!

Anyhow here I am trying to do a LO....being bugged by everyone. Dd is CRANKY, ds is mad at dh for shutting off the PS2. I am TRYING to scrap up here and all I hear is yelling and crying and carrying on. I am running away I swear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to go do the eliptical for a while tonight still....need a shower....can't shower in our bathroom as the grout is fucked (insert dollar signs here). BUT I did manage to finish my layout (its inspired by the cover LO in Simple Scrapbooks July/Aug). Here it is:

And the layout you all have been waiting for....

2007-07-11T17:26:00.000-04:00

Ta Da!!! This is our lovely Wendy performing lessons on a Twinkie.....lets give her a round of applause ladies and gents! Woohooooo Wendy! Way to go Keith for having such a talented wife! I appologize for the scan but that bulky flower was a pain in my ass.

Love you Wendy!!!!!!!!!!! Muah! (just remember Betty had something to do with this too lol)

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

2007-06-29T17:26:00.000-04:00

Nancy got me! I am supposed to post 7 random facts about myself. Then I am supposed to tag 7 people.

1- I have two tattoos and plan on more.

2- I am very flexible and can still get a foot behind my head.

3- I am actually very handy.

4- I have a fear of alligators and crocodiles.

5- I am an army bratt and moved around a lot as a child.

6- I do NOT like yellow mustard ew!

7- I am a huge old school metal freak....still....lol

Now to tag.....I tag Ramona, KimCa01, Denise (NYNative), Jakey, Andrea (boodysboo), Kristi Sauer and Kristin (Dirttrackchick).

Update

2007-06-28T15:29:00.000-04:00

Well....first off BIG YAY for Logan who graduated Kindergarten on Wednesday and is going to a regular grade one class! Woohooo NO more speech therapy either! I am so proud of him right now it's crazy! They had his graduation ceremony on Tuesday and they wore little paper graduation hats etc. VERY cute! I will post pictures asap...they are on the other pc right now. He already misses his classmates and his teacher but is pretty excited about summer vacation. We are planning on putting him into karate and then a day camp for a week towards the end of the summer if we can so that he can prepare for school. The camp is done by teachers, ECE's and T.A.'s and is more school oriented than most summer camps.

Lacy is bigger and badder than ever. Saying a few more words and keeping everyone busy! Brent's mom managed to get this picture the other day and I thought I would share:

Brent and I went to go see Tool on Sunday and holy shit what a wild time. Seriously it was the best experience I have had musically. The show was amazing and just almost hypnotizing it was just...words can't even begin to explain. I had always been one of those people who liked Tool but was like "meh dont care if I ever see them live" types. I am a total convert now and I wish I had of gone last time they were in Toronto. AMAZING fucking band!!!!!!!!

A little shout out to my Shilo friends....

2007-06-14T16:50:00.000-04:00

I found a lot of my old friends on facebook lately. The song on my blog is dedicated to my fellow headbangin', beer chugging, heavy metal loving, big haired Cement Place'ers!

So it went from bad to worse....

2007-06-14T16:16:00.000-04:00

A lot has been happening as of late and it's been a rough couple of months. For those who were wondering if I disappeared from boards etc...I haven't. I just haven't really wanted to be on.

We have had two suicide attempts in the family (not immediate family dont worry), a couple of cancer scares, one terminal cancer diagnosis (very close friend of my Dad's since they were kids ), came very close to losing a friend in Afghanistan on Monday. It's just been one hell of a couple of months.

My friend just lost her grandfather this morning.....

Things finally are looking up though. We found out that by some miracle that my friend Chris was not injured in Monday's blast that killed another Canadian soldier. Unfortunately his friend and comrade was the one killed. There was some silver lining in that cloud.

My son was released from his speech program at school and will no longer have to meet weekly with the pathologist. And he will be attending a regular grade one class next year! YAY! I am still worried about teasing etc. though.

Anyhow...if you need me email me...I have been on facebook a lot so you can catch me there as well.

Yeah so I suck....

2007-06-05T19:39:00.001-04:00

Shit this blog is becoming stale fast. lol I haven't really spent the time online to update lately so here it is.

We adopted a new bunny...shes soooooooooooooo cute! Logan's hamster died...not so good. He is ok with it now though. We have had two shitty near deaths (self induced) in the family and as many cancer scares and one friend of the family with a terminal diagnosis. Its been absolutely retarded around here. Top it all off Lacy is in her terrible two's early. lol Ah what doesnt kill us.....puts us in the nutbarn!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything...just not in the mood to be online much. I keep up on facebook and thats about it. Taking a breather from the internet drama....like after the past month I need more. Think I have my hands full of drama enough as it is thank you. lol So bear with me....I may be scarce but I am around.

Ahhh nice weather....FINALLY

2007-04-19T14:53:00.000-04:00

It is beautiful out today...wish ds would go out and play but he doesn't want to. I should take them over for a walk to Walmart...IF I had any money on me that is. lol

Well ds got a reading award at school .....Pretty proud of my kindergartener this week. He has been doing really well and showing a good interest in learning how to read. Soon I wont be able to spell things out that I don't want him ot hear in front of him anymore.

Been an awesome week on Facebook though...I managed to get back in touch with 6 people from Germany so far. Been having a blast reminiscing about those great years we spent over there. Good times!

Whew what a week!

2007-04-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Ok well we are moved! Well still have a pick up truck load or so left to bring over tomorrow. Skis and the kids sand box...bbq etc. I am so tired. In one week we moved....had Logan's birthday...we have Easter on Sunday.

We hit a few snags though. First off we did have to replace the livingroom and diningroom floor. Turned out the guy who was supposed to do it had to back out. So Brent and his dad ended up doing it. They did a great job. The baseboard isnt back down yet though. Might take a while for that to be done. Which is fine since I havent finished painting either...nor am I done unpacking lol.

Ds is now the big six years old! When did this happen?? He had a pretty nice birthday. We had his pick of supper on his bday...McDonalds of course. Then he got to pick out a video game of his choice. Then today we had his family party. He got the kewlest ninja turtle dude that rides a dinosaur from Grandma and Bumpa. And my mom got him a gift cert to Best Buy to get some new games and then got him a spiderman scooter on top of that. My sister and the girls couldnt make it down due to the roads though so that part sucked. I hope she makes it in tomorrow so they can have some ninja turtle cake before it goes stale. Yes I made him a ninja turtle cake.

Oh yeah...our fridge shit the bed and died. So lovely....we had JUST bought 250 dollars worth of groceries too so we HAD to go out and get a new one asap. So 700 dollars later...for a cheapy....and we have cold food. If its not one thing its another. I can't wait until we are able to file our taxes....get that refund to pay back some of this money we have had to spend. Yarg!!

Anyhow thats life in a nutshell right now.