Buckle your seatbelts, this is going to be a long ride.

It's October 1st and I finally caved and put the furnace on. It's freezing outside.

My brother got married on the 19th of September. It was a lovely wedding and I was so happy for him and his new wife & their gorgeous daughters. Everyone had a fantastic time and it was everything I could have hoped for him and more. There were some funny bits - for instance, I was their MC and the cordless mic stopped working halfway through our introductions of the wedding party - I moved on like a trooper anyway and just spoke up louder until they could fix the problem.

Their daughters were all smiles all day and very well-behaved, regardless of the amount of people that ended up handling them all night. The food was excellent, the DJ was fantastic, everyone was in a good mood and I got to see some family I hadn't seen in years. My brother looked so handsome and my new sister-in-law was breathtaking. I cannot stress enough how wonderful their day was.

They gave out magnets as their gifts for guests - playing card ones for the men, and a pair ladybugs for the women. There is some Portuguese folklore about the ladybug and how it will always fly from you to your true love, which M didn't know when she chose them, and I find to be a good omen for their marriage.

I do have more to say, but I have been finding that with the cold weather comes a lack of the proper words to describe things. So I am going to cheat and show you the speech I had written as their MC.

Good evening everyone, and welcome. For those of you who don’t know me, I am R’s older sister. It is my great honor to be your MC tonight.

When R and M first approached me and asked me to be their MC, I did not hesitate to accept. It has only been the past few weeks that I’ve come to realize how difficult this task may be. Note, this is where I actually start to cry, so I can't remember if I managed to get the rest of this paragraph out. Anyone who knows me knows that underneath the sarcasm and humor lies a big sentimental schmuck, and so my greatest challenge today will be making it through this speech without crying. Especially since my dearest brother has begged me not to tell any embarrassing stories about him. I can’t make any promises, but I will try.

Once I'd composed myself, I went on:

M, I cannot thank you enough for meeting R and giving him exactly what he needed (the rest of this is between sobs) and had been searching for, a woman who would love him, forgive him his faults, and try to keep him in line. Believe me, keeping R in line is a very difficult task. I’d hate to inform you now, M but there is a strict no-return policy when it comes to R. Now that you legally and officially have him, he’s yours. (by this point, I had swung back to somewhat normal voice)

Growing up with R wasn’t easy, but it was never a dull moment either. We moved so much when we were kids, we were almost like gypsies – never staying in one place too long, until we made it to this city. Because we moved so much, the only constant we had was each other, which was both wonderful and terrible all at once. There were the dramas created by our Star Trek figurines; the bloodshed over various crazy moments on both our parts involving dog bites, bb guns, ginsu knives, and other perilous things; hiding under a blanket and imagining we had visited Neverland and fighting off imaginary crocodiles and pirates; staying up all night to “discover morning”. We squabbled the way most siblings do, but we were always there for each other when it mattered most, and always will be.

I cannot wait to watch my new twin nieces create their own adventures, and knowing how imaginative their father is, I am sure that there will always be trouble and fun between those two. R having two girls is God’s best kind of mischief played on him – they will have him wrapped around their fingers in no time, and causing him to lose a lot of sleep and likely a lot of hair over their hijinks. We can only pray that they inherit some of M’s responsibility or R will have no hope of surviving their teen years.

I’d like to welcome you M, to the great club of “having to spell your name to people for the rest of your life”. Having carried the name of (my birth last name here) for over 2 decades myself, I can guarantee you interesting times and much amusement when telemarketers try to pronounce it correctly.

About the bride – it’s hard to believe that I’ve known M for 9 years. It really does seem like only yesterday that this shy, quiet girl came into our home and was introduced as R’s new girlfriend. Being a suspicious sister, I initially kept my distance, wondering if she was here for the long run, or just a girl out to break my little brother’s heart.

M, I cannot tell you how pleased I am that you were here for the long run – and wow what a long run it’s been. I ad-libbed here: "You must be exhausted!" You deserve a medal for hanging in there so long where others would have run away. It’s really only been in more recent years that I’ve grown to know her better, and I am so very happy to have her for a sister. If I could ask for anyone on earth to be my brother’s bride, it would be you M, and I am overjoyed that today you said “I do”. I get a bit teary at this part. Shush. We all know what a big sap I am. I manage to compose myself again because I am a pro, dammit.

Anyone who knows M, knows that she loves lists. Apparently it is a family trait, inherited from her mother. It is one that has served her well. Anyone who knows R, knows that he isn’t a good planner, he hates lists, he is a last-minute decision maker, and rather relaxed when it comes to schedules. This is a match made in heaven – M will straighten out his schedule, while R will quietly sabotage M’s lists.

In the spirit of list-making, I’ve put together a list myself today – A list of things that happened on this day in history.

This day in History, September 19

1900 – Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid commit their first robbery.

1928 – Adam West was born.

1928 – Mickey Mouse’s first cartoon is shown.

1960 - Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” hits number one on the charts.

1970 – Mary Tyler Moore show premieres.

1974 – Eric Clapton received a gold record for “I shot the Sherriff”

1995 – Orville Redenbacker died.

1995 – International “Talk like a Pirate” day was born.

And here is where I lose it and start crying again. But the most important thing to happen on September 19 as far as I’m concerned is, R P & M W joined hands in marriage before friends, family, and God.

The rest of this is said with tears.

Before I call M's parents to come up and say their peace about the bride and groom, I humbly ask that you all raise your glasses in a toast.

May God be with you and bless you,

may you see your children's children,

may you be poor in misfortunes and rich in blessing,

may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.

I love you both.

So on to the next adventure with them, and may happy memories lie in their wake.

The next weekend I took my daughter with me and we went with Hammer to see an All Girls Roller Derby. And hells yes, it is exactly as fun as it sounds. Daughter had a blast and I'm just waiting for the day she says she wants to be a Derby girl. I got her another button for her collection (She is collecting those little clever button pins with sayings or whatever on them) which pleased her very much. What I loved was that in the beginning all the derby girls were polite and as the night wore on they got more and more aggressive. The visiting team's coach ended up getting kicked out of the building. I'm half-tempted to take her to the next one coming up; we shall have to see.

Last night I was blessed with a surprise visit from my dear friend V, who lives in England and was here helping her mom move to a new apartment. She only had one night to stay and spend time with me and it was wonderful, and time went fast-forward as it always does with her, and the visit ended much too soon. But I am so thankful to have had it. I miss her already.

I've been knitting up a storm between everything, keeping my head on straight, and trying not to worry too much. Had a very long day with a neurologist last week, which ended in tears on my part again, but he was really actually very kind this time around. He said he was reluctant to diagnose me with anything neurological until I'd sorted out my digestive issues (which are many, and gross, and painful, and let's just say I don't have the time or patience to get into it right now). The reason for his reluctance is because there are actually quite a few digestive/organ-related issues that can affect a patient's nervous system as well, and he wanted that area explored before he further entertained the idea of neurological impediments.

I have an appointment to get a dye-injected CT of my abdomen, specifically my liver, because they found an anomoly in it when they did an ultrasound so now they want to check for carcinomas and hepatitis and other absolutely wonderful things. After this I am awaiting an appointment with a surgeon to do a scope, both ways, checking for ulcerative colitis, Chrohn's, and colo-rectal cancer. How fun!

So yeah, that's my life in a nutshell. Too tired to get into further details than that. Cheers.

A happy coincidence or intentional? Jarbas Agnelli takes note from birds on a wire and makes a lovely piece of music.

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

I'm not a big fan of Sugababes, in fact I'd never heard of them before this morning, but someone linked me this video for a song called Ugly... and it was nice to see an uplifting type of song. I'm raising a daughter who is coming full blast into that point in her life where she's finding out the hard way that girls can be bitches, yes every last one of us, and it's important to drive home to her the "so what, I'm awesome, the rest of you suck, neener neener" attitude. Nothing hurts more than being teased for being yourself. So I guess this video is for her. (not able to embed, so click the link, and yes it's safe for work). The song isn't all that spectacular but I like its message.

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

ROUS's ARE REAL.

If you don't get that, I feel sorry for you. Hurry up and go watch The Princess Bride.

Kids have been back to school since Sept 1, unlike the rest of CANADA, they had to start early. Boo-urns according to them, HIP HOP HOORAY according to me. Don't get me wrong, I love my little ones dearly; they've just been slowly driving me bonkers over the summer.

It's been a busy one, too. There is more on that but I'm tired and have a ton of stuff to do.

One of the ton of stuff I have had to do is make a new site for my in-laws' business. Click here if you are curious.

I had more to write and had every intention to do so but I've been staring at the screen for about 10 minutes no, a clear sign that this endeavor will turn out ot be fruitless. I'll try again later when my brain decides to reconnect. Cheers.

Today my Dad turned 54. I called, wished him a happy birthday, and then hung up and cried just a tiny bit because it's stuff like this that makes me miss them so much.

Today my mother turned 54. She looks more like 45. Hope I'm that lucky.

I called, wished her a happy birthday, had a good laugh with her on the phone. I miss her so much. Mom, come home soon.

Watch Coraline. It's worth it.

I've been busy. Two weddings and a crazy cat escapade. Too much to write at the moment but I'll try. My cousin JP got married on June 27. It was a lovely wedding and thankfully we made it to see her get married- we took back roads. The 400 was plugged up due to a motorcycle accident, so a lot of the family ended up missing the vows because of it. JP looked stunning and I am so happy for her. It was nice to see family as well, and my Dad came to the wedding too which was especially nice as I hadn't seen him in months (Parents are still in Mexico).

The week-end after that was a bachelorette thing for my brother-in-law's fiancee KT. We went to the spa during the day and then out for supper that evening, then the other girls went out drinking but C and I went home. C was in the wedding party as well and a very thoughtful KT planned for her to be included in the spa and dinner. C had a great time, and oh my god, she is growing by leaps and bounds. I don't know what else to say except that my heart leaps into my throat when I look at her now.

During the week I managed to sneak in a breakfast with my dear friend Sir T. He brought me up to date on his shenanigans (as usual, they were numerous and equal parts tragic and funny) and I gave him a briefing on all that was going on in my life. The event was a short one but as always, a good one. I've missed talking with him - it's nice having a male perspective on things. Plus it's good having someone to talk to that I don't have to explain myself much - he "gets it".

The week-end after that was of course, M & KT's wedding. As my hubby S, the kids and I were all in it, it made for a very long day, but let me tell you something - I have not had that much fun while still being in the wedding party, in a very very long time. C, oh my god, she grew by leaps and bounds and she looked so much older than she is. KT's aunt wanted to hook her up with this 18 year old boy, S just about had a cow when he heard it and reminded the aunt that our daughter is ELEVEN.

The ceremony was moving, the dinner was fabulous, the speeches were a riot (highlights: my kids teasing the bride and groom in their speeches about getting them some more cousins; one of the groomsmen sang "500 miles" and oh my god, hilarious! The best speech ever), and the dancing, fantastic. They had a really great DJ that worked the crowd and knew when to pick things up and calm them down again. I was exhausted but exuberant. Of all things, I wished this day would be a happy and memorable one for them, and the wish came true. SS was very happy for his brother, and also had a great time.

This week-end is my brother's Buck & Doe, I get to take care of the twins during the day while MW does her running around and R goes to a golf tournament. C will also be helping me take care of my little turkeys. That night we will go and help out as we can, and have another good time. My brother asked me to be the MC for his wedding and I couldn't be happier, but now I have the difficult task of putting together a speech that won't make me burst into tears. I love R so much and we have been through so many difficult things, and I am so happy and proud of him, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Happy tears, happy tears, but tears nontheless.

There's more in between all that but this will do for now.

Oh wait - the cat episode. Right. So mischief got free from the backyard, the neighbor's kid came knocking at our door asking to get her. S had to go out and rescue her, but she was hissing, spitting, shitting, biting, everything possible - she was very very scared and agitated. We managed to get her into her carry cage but not without S getting multiple scratch and bite wounds. We took her to the vet and him to the hospital. The vet had to sedate her to check her out - her shots were up to date, no broken bones (thank god), no visible signs of getting hurt - the vet said "whatever happened, it spooked her something awful". S went on heavy meds to prevent cat scratch fever or whatever, mischief is under quarantine for the next 10 days (side note: the health unit quarantines animals 7-10 days because by then THEY DIE IF THEY HAVE RABIES. They just don't tell you that.) the first day or so, she growled at everyone but me, would only let me near her, feed her, etc. We were worried something fierce and I think I cried for about an hour one night at the thought of having to let her go if she didn't get better. She has finally come around though and is actually downright friendly with everyone (something she never really was before - she would tolerate your presence if you weren't one of her family but that would be about it). Whooboy. What a month it's been.

To quote a friend of mine, "it's like the 70's and 80's died today". Both Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett. End of an era, and all that rot.

I loved MJ when I was a kid. Thought he was the bees' knees and all that. Then he got all weird and yeah, no thanks. Farrah Fawcett was draped on the walls of more teenage boys than you could shake a stick at, I've no doubt of this, and she was a pretty interesting lady to boot.

I have more to say on this but I'm tired, I'm fighting off a crazy tonsil infection thing that is playing havoc with my sweetmeats among other body parts. Cheers.

Today was also the last day of school, hurrah!

Kermit singing "Needle in the Hay"

(Find more at sadkermit.com)

Who watches "Fringe" and why was I not informed about how good it is? Shows that are intriguing and make me actually laugh out loud for reals are few and far between, and I really like this one. John Noble won me over from word one - seriously. Even S loves it, but then again, he loves Smallville, something I only moderately forgive him for loving. (Insert very long rant about how much Smallville sucks here.)  

Speaking of shows that are true and wonderful diamonds in the rough that I call "reality tv overdose", I'm glad that "Chuck" got renewed, boo to having to wait until next March to see anything, but what can you do huh?  

Not sure what I feel about how "How I Met Your Mother" ended this season, but I'm willing to stick it out. Wondering how long Dexter will continue to be brilliant, hoping they only let the show run until it runs out of steam rather than beat a dead horse. Remaining hopeful for next season.  

I gave up completely on Mad Men, which is a bit heartbreaking because it had soooo much potential in Season One but Season 2 left me cold.  

C has become hooked on CSI so I've been watching seasons 1-7 with her as we have them all on DVD - I feel it's important to watch with her, to help her understand more subtle plot points but also to be available for discussions the episodes inevitably bring. She's pretty astute and always has been, and has no trouble discerning between what is real and what is fiction, and she's drawn her own conclusions about a lot of things but she likes my feedback, and I like that she still seeks it. It's win-win, if you ask me.  

This became longer than I intended - I really only wanted to comment on Fringe. So yeah. It's awesome.

It's stormy outside and the kids said it was a "ripoff" that school wasn't cancelled. For a bit of rain? Give me a break.

I'm going to start taking vitamin B6 & B12 to see if that helps me some with some of my problems. Long shot but you never know.

I came thisclose to deleting my facebook the other day. I just can't be bothered with it and I ignore about 90% of the invites to events, games, useless applications, etc. At the same time, some of the people I want to keep in contact with use facebook exclusively. Bleh. I hate feeling cornered into using a social networking site that is useless to me. I was thrilled when myspace stopped being in vogue, I'm praying that happens to facebook sometime soon but I doubt it.

Twitter is the next "big thing" which I've been using for some time for "mini posts" about absolutely nothing with zero value aside from mild entertainment. What I like about it is, I'm not forced into using it to communicate with people because nobody in their right mind would use twitter as their primary communication tool. For those of you in the know, here's a fun drinking game - have a drink every time p diddy mentions the phrase "locked in" or any of it's variants. I get what he's doing, it's the whole "stay positive" vibe, and I can't fault him for that, but it is amusing.

Ok time to see if my get up and go just got up and went without me.