Happy birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Hammer! Wish I could have afforded to purchase those for you, but tonight I will buy you one of these:

Also, this makes me wish I had a mac. Dammit.

Cheers

Itemized for future reference, I will get to this when I'm not falling over exhausted (today's activities especially took a lot of energy from me - I think I managed to fool people into thinking I was ok though).

- 2 packages coming in the mail
- Ibrahima
- doctor's appointment (aka guess who still can't go to work?)
- appointment with the school re: K
- Hammer's visit
- Sir T's visit
- K's upcoming trip to the kid's museum by way of train (I know! How exciting is that?)

Went out with Sir T last night (considered changing the moniker to Sir Pan, for reasons too long to get into here, but for now Sir T he remains) and fed him beer while we caught up on our daily lives as well as other stuff. It is great to have a friend like him, and I think it is seriously necessary that every woman have at least one male friend they can talk to, to get their perspective on, or to even just chit chat with. I feel that it is a mutual thing here - I give him female perspective on things as well, and a neutral one at that as our friendship circles are very different. In any case, it was my turn to drive him, let him drink, and talk talk talk. And laugh! I needed a laugh. I really, really needed the laugh.

Here is the thing. Every time we get together, we always say the same two things: "I'm so glad I can talk to you" and "we should get together more often". Which is followed up by the latter item not really happening, in spite of the former statement. Mostly because our lives are scheduling nightmares, also because it's just one of those things. Something we hope to amend. One thing I am thankful for, is that S is good about this. He trusts me, knows me well enough to know there isn't any hanky-panky going on. Also I suspect he believes Sir T is terrified of him - which could quite possibly be true, but isn't an issue here. S is a big guy - you don't want to see the Hulk get angry, all that jazz, but the truth is, Sir T is a pretty upstanding guy, has a good moral backbone. Clark Kent with a serious need to save the world, one drunken mishap at a time.

Enough on that. On to the London trip. The night before I went with C & my mother to London, at around 3 am the fire alarm started beeping intermittently. We couldn't sense any fire, etc, but to be safe S cut off the electricity for upstairs and then I stayed up the remainder of the morning until the kids got up, worrying about fire anyway. The issue was, the alarm is older than dinosaurs and finally just went kaput, not with a bang but a clatter and clang. On barely any sleep, I drove myself and C and my mom to London. We did a bit of shopping, and then went to our hotel to check in. The suite was really nice - like a little apartment almost. Fridge, stove top, microwave, dishwasher, the whole shebang. Two humongous beds, living room, etc. C was in Heaven and immediately began unpacking and settling her things in. We rested up a bit in the room, C played on my laptop for a while (whee, free wireless with the room! Fantastic!) and then we went out shopping some more. This weekend was about my C, so she got to direct us to the stores she wanted. Most of the things I bought this weekend were for my kids, and C made out like a bandit as usual. There was a pool in the hotel so C and I went swimming after supper while my mom took a little nap.

Breakfast the next morning inclusive and buffet style, fit for a king. C in her glory - all the bacon she could eat! Muffins! Waffles! Eggs & home fries! Seriously, it was wonderful, and you don't often get to say that about hotel faire.

Came home to S & K playing a new Wii game, the new fire alarm installed & a new light for the upstairs hall as well. I was just pooched - no sleep, driving all over hell's half-acre all weekend. Took a nap and felt refreshed, and glad I managed to squeeze in a little mini-break for C and me. She's getting to a tricky age, and I feel it is incredibly important to make time for just her and I. K takes up a lot of my time, and I don't want C feeling as though she is left out all the time. C was in her glory and you can tell - she really enjoyed our time away. Next year we'll probably just go back to London - while Toronto was nice, it's hectic and I hate driving there, the cost of everything is ridiculous, grumblemumble complaincomplain, walking barefoot in the snow uphill backwards, kids these days and their crazy rock music.

Health-wise, nothing new to report. The meds work wonderfully. They carried me through a migraine that lasted 14 days. I want you to think about that - 14 days of your head feeling like there is a vise gripping it, your eyes twitching and sometimes seeing stars. Feeling like if you could only just reach in and pull them out of their sockets, the pressure might go away awhile. Feeling like you wish someone would stop pushing down on the top of your head with a jackhammer. Fourteen days of it. The meds helped as far as the not needing to vomit and the eyes mostly obeying, took the edge off the pain, but not much more than that.

How is it that I'm still sane again?

I don't know.


I have that Rolling Stones song "Play with Fire" stuck in my head, because of that movie the Darjeeling Limited. I sort of liked the movie, sort of didn't. I like Wes Anderson films, that is something in his favor, but I found one or two of his casting decisions rather poor, and parts of the film could have gone better. In general it was okay though. And his song choices are always spot on, thus the earwig digging into me chanting "but don't play with me cause you're playing with fire"...

I can't believe it's almost Easter already. Hammer sent me some fun factoids about this being the earliest Easter we'll ever see in our lifetime. It's pretty neat, and amazing to think on - time is such a funny, funny thing that way. Hammer is another person I need to spend more time with. Again, life is a nightmare, bla bla bla.

Ok, I should probably go make the most of my morning off by getting the kids' Easter things together. We're going for low-key this year - get them what they need maybe, mostly some chocolate eggs or whatnot.

Went and saw Juno on Sunday with my friend Hammer. Since both our husbands had no wish to see it, but we both did, we decided to go without them. There was a bit of a fun mix-up as far as meeting up at the theatre, but we made it and all was well. Except the popcorn. That sort of tasted like it had been festering there for a year or so. But I digress.

The movie was good, though terribly unrealistic. Full of clever lines, and some things I could relate to and remember. I can see why it got so many accolades, but at the same time it isn't life-changing work here. It was just a good, clever movie that I enjoyed. You know what I found terribly amusing? Jason Bateman singing Hole's "Doll Parts". Fantastic.

I've been pretty busy and there is just so much that I am tired even thinking about writing it all down. I think it must be a tradition for me that my February is always rife with drama, doctors, and depression. I think that last bit just comes because of the former two.

Tonight is a parent council meeting, it's the dinner one where we all go meet at a place I would almost never eat, and exchange pleasantries we don't mean, and skirt around issues we have skirted around a million times before. Somehow Hammer managed to get conned into going though, so at least I'll have someone there that is beyond the "small talk" stage with me. It isn't that I'm a snob, or anything like that. It's more that... oh I can't explain it and there's no use trying. I just feel like I'm on a very different wavelength from most of the parents there. I don't know if it's an age thing (if someone tells me I'm just a baby one more freaking time I swear to God I'm going to punch them with my little baby fist. I'm 31 years old for crying out loud and I've likely seen more than most of the women there could dream of, thank you very much. Except you Hammer, you can call me a baby, I get that you don't really mean it) or if it's just that I don't care how much money a person makes, or what their husbands do for a living. I don't know.

I was driven home from work last night by my boss. She had a co-worker follow us home, and she drove me home in my neon. I literally saw stars and only stars - focus was impossible and my head felt like it was being crushed in a vise. My right arm was tingling, then it was on fire, then it went numb. Then the same thing happened to my face. I got in the door after she brought me home and I crashed on the couch. Hard. S brought me some meds and then I managed somehow to crawl up into bed.

I don't remember much after that except for S waking me up telling me he had to go to work, and I had to at least get myself on the couch so that there was parental presence among the young fry. I told C that I couldn't take her to guides and she said ok, that was fine. Then she called her friend Z to say she wouldn't be going, and Z said they could come get her. You know how there is that friend that would just drop everything to help you? That is Hammer. I can't even tell you how glad I am for her, I keep meaning to do something nice to thank her but there isn't enough time for me to even breathe lately, and I know she doesn't expect anything in return (she knows I would do the same for her in a heartbeat) but I still want to.


Ok, time to get the kids off to school. Thankfully my vision is back, although my head still hurts. Aren't tumors fun?

So below is a photo of GIR in all his glory. I had to frog the arms once (forgot to change from blue to gray on shoulder part) and the tongue twice (the pink yarn I used is thicker gauge than the worsted used to make his body) but all in all, I think I did pretty swell!

Tonight was a meeting for K's first communion. It was the typical blar blar blar. I nearly fell asleep during the video, no joke. Then I talked Hammer into taking a spin with me through the drive-through of Tim Horton's because it beat her freezing her knickers off while talking with me in the parking lot. Apparently there is drama going on in the other Gr 4 class that doesn't involve either of our daughters, which suits me fine and is a nice change from the norm. However it also makes me pretty sad - ugh. Already, it starts.

My Dad is leaving for Brazil this weekend. He'll be gone for a while so in the meantime I have to keep an eye on my mom and her healing up etc. No word on what is going on yet, but I remain positive.

I have had serious bouts of insomnia, probably brought on from the stress of dealing with family member dying and my mother having issues.

Tomorrow I go for breakfast with Sir T, an event I am looking forward to because frankly I miss chit-chatting with him. Ok. Enough posting, I need to take a hot bath and uncoil all the tension. Breathe deeply. Wax on, wax off, Daniel-san. That sort of thing.

Ciao.

Ugh. SNOW! Freaking. Snow.


Sigh.

I can't seriously be the only one that hates this weather.

In other news... my friends are going through the same hoops that S & I had to go through last year to get a Wii. Hopes up, hopes sunk. Hopes up, hopes sunk. Lather, rinse, repeat. My sister-in-law is doing what she can to help, and I assured them that we didn't end up getting one until Christmas was practically in our laps, but it got done. Still, I know how it feels to be in the uncomfortable position of simply not knowing if it will happen or not.

Speaking of sister-in-laws, I am knitting her a green version of the Jayne hat, taking a break from the sweater I was knitting because while it's beautiful, the lady who wrote the pattern was off by a few things and I had to do a lot of patch-ups where she missed stitch instructions etc. I figure it out but I need a breather. All that's left is the sleeves, and a hat is a pretty quick knit nowadays. I couldn't have said that a year ago - it took me a month to make my first hat - but now I can whip those up in a heartbeat.

Ok off to shovel the rest of my driveway and uh, go window shopping I guess?

Ciao.

So because I'm crazy and also still not feeling well, watched V for Vendetta last night. After the brief power outage, that is.

Lights went off, the kids went a bit squirrely, and insisted we all camp out in my bedroom (I got a new bedroom set, by the by, and it is ten different kinds of awesome. S & I painted the room as well and now it feels like a refuge, which is incredibly important to me in ways you cannot imagine).

It's fucking SNOWING. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. I am so not prepared for this crap already. Sent the kids to school in winter jackets, hats & mitts, but lo and behold their boots simply do NOT fit. So guess who's shopping for boots this week? Not an easy feat when your daughter fits into a ladies' size 7 boot. Thank god flats seem to be in this season, I could not imagine spending a zillion dollars on flat boots simply because the only kind available are the super expensive sporty kind (which is almost what happened last year).

I want to go knitting shopping this weekend, although my darling S would say that it is crazy talk, and why do I have to have all this damn yarn, etc. Except that this mission is actually a mission to help Hammer learn to knit fair isle style, and therefore this is a purchase for the greater good. Is it my fault that in the process I will end up with a kick-ass skirt at the end of it? The greater good.

S really loves it when I rationalize things like that. Our conversations like these usually ends up with him laughing at me because I say it so seriously, like our life is a sit-com and I'm just churning out the lines. And he's my personal laugh-track. I haven't taught him to go "Awwwww" at the really sweet moments yet, but I'm sure we'll get there.

My cousin Lola just called & my uncle is doing much better, though he's hardly back to par, there's a long way to go there. I miss her.

Ok time to go do... stuff...

I could lie and say I've been way too busy to post, but I won't. I've just been tired in general and blase about everything. Can't shake it off. This is a hard time of year for me.

Thanksgiving weekend was hectic. The Friday night I went out with a bunch of moms from the school and my pseudo-boss showed up, she's super nice so I didn't mind her hanging out. Most of the moms went home early so it was just me, Hammer, and bossalady. Stumbled after 3 as far as Hammer's home and then she drove me the rest of the way. I'm sure I would have managed to weave my way to my door but I was thankful for the ride.

Saturday was almost a complete write-off due to Friday night's events - mostly because I had forgotten to eat both lunch AND dinner during the day so the booze hit me hard.

Sunday was thanksgiving at my mom's house which was ok but a little weird because my dad wasn't there - dad was in the states visiting his uncle who is dying from lung cancer. Monday was thanksgiving at the in-laws' - hip hop hooray. Did I mention they got another chihauhau? Ugh, I HATE those kind of dogs, I can't even tell you how much.

S is very upset with his brother, over the fact that his brother asked someone else to be best man - this wouldn't upset S so much were it not for the fact that 1) family is EVERYTHING to S - you just don't choose over and above them. S chose his brother for our wedding, even though he had a friend he was much closer to at the time, because his brother is his brother! 2) the dude his brother chose is an idiot and won't do half the stuff he's meant to, so S will probably end up doing it anyway 3) S has been there time and again for his brother, helping him move to his one ex's place, helping him move out of said ex's place when she royally screwed him over, in general helping his brother get a job at his workplace, helping his brother buy the god damned engagement ring because his brother is a nob with no credit thanks to buying a stupid necklace for the ex and then not paying for it for over a year. You know, little things like that. S has never asked for anything in return - in fact has never asked his brother for help before at all, but is always there in a blink of an eye when needed. So why his brother would choose someone is just incomprehensible.

S's brother has been pissing off a lot of people lately actually - my sisterinlaw is also upset with him, mostly for not asking S to be best man (doesn't make sense to her either, nor anyone else for that matter) but also because brotherinlaw has stated he won't be inviting ANY of motherinlaw's family - and sisterinlaw has been trying to point out to him that he simply can't choose like that, family is family and if he knows what's good for him he will suck it up and invite them. Brotherinlaw hates being told what to do, and he's stubborn, and has NO common sense, and in general very much takes after his mother. So it's been grand, let me tell you. Just grand.

I myself am trying very hard to keep out of all of this because there has been enough drama in this little circle of late, but unfortunately I am too close to the bone not to get chewed on this one.

In further adventures of "My In-Laws Are Driving Me To Drink", brotherinlaw has planned paintball for this Saturday, and invited S, but S isn't too keen on going because of this whole wedding business. Saturday night apparently motherinlaw planned brotherinlaw's birthday dinner (even though his birthday is Friday) so that "everyone can come". Sunday they planned a surprise birthday dinner for S's grandmother, even though her birthday is the weekend following, and even knowing that Sunday is S's and my anniversary. Considering S works afternoons this week, we can't even try to plan something for Friday night, something else that motherinlaw also knew. She also knew that S and I had planned to go to St. Catherine's with our kids to visit my friend Mickey & his wife, to visit their babies and in general hang out, go out for anniversary dinner with them. Now of course it is all for naught and I had to cancel plans with them, again, because last time we made plans with them there was some other sort of family event that was planned last minute. "Oh oops, you had plans? So sorry." This is her passive-aggressive way of messing with my head, because she knows I can't say anything, since these are family events she is planning, and I've iterated more than once that family is very important. Nonetheless. Fuck. Off. And then she calls me up last night and has the audacity to ask me to help her write her god damed book report (aka write it for her)

Blah blah blah. Let's stop talking about that. In other news, K is going to be Harry Potter for Halloween and C wants to be a witch. Easiest. Costumes. EVER.


Time to go make some tea and eat a biscotti and watch Judge Joe Brown or somesuch rot. Cheers.

booze. urrah!

so drunking trunk.

thx to hammer for taking me home. hop ei wans't tooo much truch.ble. shows hat i should really eat befoe trinkning.

so sorry. thanks for wonderful time though!@

xo
g

So!

I got my birthday present from S a month early... and I'm not going to complain one bit becauuuuussseee:

IT'S A NOTEBOOK COMPUTER!!!!!!

HOLY EXPLETIVE!

I was just so shocked I sat down and cried. S found this slightly amusing but he was also happy about my reaction- it meant that he got the right thing, haha. I have been wanting one for so damn long, and every time it looked like I'd squirreled away enough money to do so, something would come up like the car needing repairs or the kids needing something or getting massive traffic fines (*cough*) so I always end up putting all those other things before my needs (welcome to Motherhood, right?). As a result, I'd pretty much given up on the idea of ever getting one.

And then I came home on Monday and S was looking stern and said that we needed to go upstairs to talk... right now. This had me worried and confused because I had no idea what was wrong but he looked pretty upset. So we went up into our room and he still had this really stern look and he said "you know how [S's bank] called me about my [credit card] recently?" (they had called on Friday asking him to confirm a purchase, I took the call but they wouldn't tell me anything because I wasn't the card holder. This happens a lot when he orders computer parts online so I thought nothing of it). And then he said "Well, my stuff from [online computer resource] came in..." and I said "Uh-huh. Annnd?" because it wasn't making any sense. Then he said "Well, it wasn't for me..." and then he made me sit down and handed me a big box. I had no idea what it was - I figured a new monitor, at best.

So when I opened the big box and found a smaller box inside, I was flummoxed. I opened up the littler box and out it came... and I just sat there looking at it and I looked at him and he said "I wanted to wait, but I knew there was nowhere I could hide it on you here, and you've been wanting one for so long, I couldn't wait to give it to you..."

I just sat there and looked at it and cried. He went on to say that he knew I always wanted one, so that I could take my writing with me, and he wanted to encourage me to write more. He said that he knew it was one of the things that truly made me happy, and he wanted to encourage that as well. I kept apologising for crying and hugging him and crying some more. Eventually I got myself together but I was so damn overwhelmed and happy I couldn't help myself. He was a pretty good actor - I was convinced something was seriously wrong.

Of course, now that I have it, I am suffering from Block - hello there Irony, been a while. Don't make yourself too comfortable now.

My kids have to be "assessed" by an "occupational therapist" on their "fine motor skills" because their writing is apparently "a concern and illegible at points". Right, because when you are 6 and 9 your penmanship needs to be impeccable. Give me an effing break. S hit the roof when I told him. I gave in though and signed the damn document, hopefully they can get this "assessment" over the summer.

Hammer made an interesting point - the school is losing a lot of their special needs kids this year, so they are probably grasping at straws to keep their funding. But anyone who's met my kids would hardly find them to be falling under the "special needs" category. But whatever.

Also, report cards came in and their grades decreased (not so much for K, but definitely for C - her teacher is a cow, as some so delicately put it. Remind me to insert rant here later).

Ok, time to go do work type stuff I guess.... I find it hard to pull myself away from this thing though...

SHINY TOY HURRAH

I caved, let C go to the Brownies trip, sucked up my issues, and am glad for it. In an hour or so I get to go pick her up from the bus - she'll be happy and tired and cranky and souped up all at once, I'm sure. That's how these things go. I hope she was good, I hope she had fun.

K and I went to see Meet the Robinsons yesterday, while S went to see Spiderman 3 with his brother and his brother's girlfriend. I would have liked to have seen S-3 as well, but I promised K I would take him to see the Robinsons flick, and I keep my promises. Hammer brought her sons Bruce Banner & Otter with her, and the three boys made themselves quite comfy and happy as you please in seats in front of us. (We aren't cool enough to sit with them I guess? It was all we could do to convince them NOT to sit at the very front of the theatre.)

It was a cute movie, pretty funny for both kids and adults. Some of the stuff that Hammer & I were guffawing over probably went right over the kids' heads, but that's ok.

After the movie we walked home (it kicks nine kinds of ass in a 3 ass town that we live within walking distance) and my brother-in-law & his gf came over as well. Then S took them to the butcher to pick up their meat, took them home to put it away & brought them back so we could have a barbecue.

I LOVE BBQ. I cannot say how much I love it. It's that much. We had corn on the cob & smoked pork chops and honey garlic sausages and I made up some macaroni salad & house salad as well. Dayum, son. So tasty. K had a hot dog and he was happy with that. Then my parents called - they wanted to have K over for a sleepover, so he had something special to do this weekend as well (balancing out the C going to camp thing). His rash and everything was cleared up, so I let him go. Then brother-in-law & gf stayed a while, and we talked about... oh everything.

S and I took turns telling them the stories of how we met, how we got together, all that rot. I told some stories that S actually hadn't heard before, and you could tell he was dying for them to leave so he could ask me about it.

Sure enough, they leave, we go for a mini-walk and check on my in-laws' dog for them (they were in Chatham this weekend at a family gathering of mother-in-law's) and when we get home, he finally asks me. "Is it true what you said about your friend saying/doing those things to try to help my prev relationship with ex? And the thing about that other thing (I am not going into much more detail than that folks - it's a long story and frankly nobody's business)." I said yes, to a degree, and explained the further motives etc there. He seemed nonplussed.

Here's the deal: My best friend for the longest time was a person I will call Mickey, because he looked like Mickey Dolenz from the Monkees especially with a certain haircut he had for the longest time. He was also friends with S - that's how we met actually, through Mickey. S always had this feeling that he was just Mickey's back-up plan, never a friend for friendship's sake. So it blew S away that Mickey was doing all kinds of things to try and 1) repair his failing relationship with the girl he was seeing, and/or 2) help set him up with me, if plan 1 failed.

There's about a thousand more details between all this that would make this make a whole lot more sense, but I doubt the people reading this are really all that interested in the minutae of these events. Trust me when I say - Mickey cared a hell of a lot more than S realized. I think S was of the notion that Mickey was primarily concerned with my happiness in this whole deal, especially after our actually hooking up and Mickey giving him the all "if you hurt her, I will kill you" speech. Mickey's vested interest in my happiness is another long story, but long story short - our friendship extended to a point where we were more like family than friend. He is my brother from another mother, I am his sister from another mister. All that stuff. His giving S the third degree was a given, but certainly didn't mean he wasn't happy about our getting together - he had wanted this to happen, and long before it did.

Ok, let's set up a chronology to get some of this a bit clearer, however it may confuse you more.

- Mickey & I meet up in high school, I call him Mickey Dolenz, he isn't happy and doesn't talk to me for sometime, then he gets over himself and we start walking home from school together.
- Of course, a friendship develops, but goes no further, in spite of speculation on everyone else's part.
- Mickey introduces me to S. S and I walk Mickey home one night when he was too drunk to walk himself. S picks a flower for me. (I still have this flower - true story)
- I think S is sweet, S thinks I'm a hottie (his words, not mine). S is too chicken to pursue it at this point in time.
- School dance, S finally gets up the courage to ask me out, about 10 minutes too late - I end up dating someone else.
- Bad relationship with the someone else lasts about 2-3 years, S in meantime moves on & gets involved with others at this point. Point is - always either he or I were with someone else. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't find him attractive anyway.
- Bad relationship with someone else finally ends, S is dating someone else at this point, I am random serial-dating that occurs after ending a bad relationship.
- One day Mickey & I are hanging out at S's house after a party, S and I are talking a mile a minute and Mickey thinks to self "Damn."
- Conversations w/Mickey indicate his approval and frustration over S still being with that girl who put him through some not so nice things.
- Mickey initially attempts to set me up with S's best buddy at the time, since best buddy was messing with S's girl and Mickey hoped in my getting together with best buddy that S's girl would actually focus more on S, her freaking boyfriend, instead of his buddy.
- This of course doesn't work, because frankly I'm not attracted to best buddy, for many reasons (including his being a lecherous prat for ever messing with a friend's girl - why would I want to get together with someone who has no compunctions about doing this?)
- Over the summer, S's girl goes to Germany, almost breaks up with him but not quite, and in the meantime S notices I'm around a lot more. S does not pursue anything, as he is stalwart and would never betray a person he is with, in spite of how ridiculously they happen to be treating him.
- Several events occur that give S pause.
- I end up moving in with Ferg & S's girl at the time (loooooong story, and trust me I had many, many, many, many misgivings about the move, but was convinced by Ferg).
- Oh hell, this is getting way way too long. I'll tell the rest another day but the point is - she cheats, he gives her an ultimatum, she takes it, he and I get together, she gets pissed off because she was hoping he'd remain single in case things with best buddy didn't work out (which they didn't - she lost appeal after she was "free to roam"). All this happens and the whole time S has no idea that Mickey was all for this to happen, to promote S's happiness as well as my own.

Ok, time to get some food out for later (my parents are coming over, yes we're having another barbecue, this time steak! MMmm, steak.)

Any questions? Drop me a line.

There are so many many things wrong in this story I don't even know where to start.

My chest feels like an elephant is sleeping on it. Woo.

Got my taxes done! Woo!

In a fit of niceness, I bought my mother-in-law a card that says I'm proud of her accomplishments. Because in spite of the fact that she drives me around the bend, I really am. She's doing well in school and has an A average, something she didn't think she could accomplish. Sometimes she's too hard on herself - she was upset because she only got 22/30 on the last test - um, hi? That's crazy talk.

My friend Hammer is going away on a cruise this weekend. I'm hella jealous but also very excited for her - she and her hubby definitely need "them" time.

If someone writes a paean about you, is it ok to be flattered?

C is listening to Avril Lavigne on her mp3 player right now. The kid is happier than a clam that I finally got around to downloading a bunch of her song requests - she had a list, see. But I kept forgetting (read: procrastinating) but then I remembered (read: found time at around 2 in the morning one night) and now she's a happy little kid indeed.

K is mumbling and bumbling about with his light-up sword we got him at Medieval Times a few weeks ago. It lights up all crazy-cool. Heck, I want a light-up Medieval Times sword!

Next weekend is that gathering thing my cousins and I do - I'm very excited! S is taking the kids to go clean up one of our local nature trails with his work. It's something they started last year, and it's a great program. The workplace does it to honor Earth Day and whatnot, they clean up the park all morning, go have some lunch and they even have prizes and little handouts for the most interesting garbage, the wackiest stuff, etc. Some of last year's haul included a hockey net, a toilet brush, the fan you find at the front of a schoolbus, half a boot, a tent, a roll of carpeting... there's more but I can't think of it right now.

ok, so i left this blog update thinger running for a few hours before remembering I had it up. Mea culpa. Let's post this puppy and go back to resting (stupid head cold)

Doug: "Steve, slow down."
Steve: "I can't help it man, it's hottie overload!"
Doug: "Just pace yourself."
Steve: "Ok... What's up? ...2, 3, 4. What's up? ...2, 3, 4..."
(A Night at the Roxbury)

So after much cajoling on the parts of quite a few people, I joined up facebook.

As a result, I've come across people I haven't seen in years and years. Kind of spooky, kind of awesome. Kind of addicting, mostly because as I said, I've come across people that require a lot of catching up with. But even with the people I see more regularly, it's a nice feature, with a messaging system that allows for short notes rather than lengthy emails (though I still love writing those).

Being completely bored last night, facebook amused me greatly. More specifically, messaging on facebook. You know who you are.

Sister in law is coming over tonight, we're going to drink and bake. Girl's had a rough week.

Tomorrow S the kids and I are going to my cousin Lola's. It's been a while since we've visited her and her hubby, so I'm looking forward to it. Initially we had planned for it to be just S and I, but the way the week's gone we're better off taking the kids too.

I need to look into getting a new blowdryer. My hair was a scary tousled mess yesterday. Strangely enough I got compliments on it? I didn't realize the bed-head look was a good one for me. I'd ask for S's opinion but he's a smarmster.

S & I were invited to take a trip with Hammer & her hubby - unfortunately it's a no-go, but for a brief flickering minute it was a possibility. Damnit. For once it has nothing to do with funds, so much as being able to take time off. Le sigh. Were it not for my previous issues, this wouldn't be a problem.

Ok I have a million things to do before work (as usual) so I'm off!