I wish more women read my blog because this is the one time it could actually be useful and help someone. If anyone is reading this and has been putting off getting a mammogram simply because they were scared and thought it would be painful I can tell you that after having one today...it was a breeze!

In the past week I've had a physical, a needle (10 year tetanus) and this mammogram and I can tell you of the three..the mammogram was the easiest. Ok, I realize most people would probably say the needle was the easiest but I pretty much hyperventilate when I even think about having a needle and blood tests are the worst. (Damn, I still have to go have that done too I just remembered. They've left it up to me to go and have bloodwork done so that will be a couple weeks guaranteed!) For heaven's sakes I had my kids by natural childbirth simply because the thought of a needle in my spine gave me shivers and made me want to vomit! Yes, looking back, probably not the wisest choice with child #2 who shot out at a whopping 9 pounds 5 ounces. Oops, sorry, flashbacks...and as usual I digress!

Maybe my positive experience today was simply because the technician was so good, I don't know since I have nothing to compare it to. She was so nice and so concerned about making sure I wasn't uncomfortable or in pain. As she was squooshing me sideways and telling me to hold my breath she said "just think of it as if you're at the spa". I asked her what kind of spa *she* went to!

For those of you who have never had one they take 4 pictures in total and you're in and out in less than 10 minutes. Of the 4 only one was even the slightest bit uncomfortable and even that wasn't a big deal. I can't believe how worried I was about the whole thing.

So ladies, there you have it...my girls and I made it through with flying colours, they're not stretched or flattened! They're still fabulously perky and...(I've always wanted to use this line from Seinfeld)...they're real and they're spectacular!!!

P.S. Thanks so much for the good luck comments on my last post!

1) Yes, smattering really is a word. I did a dictionary check (believe it or not in a real book..I didn't even Google it!) and it means "a small scattered number or amount". That's me and my blog all right...scattered!


2) Friday night after I took the kids skating I went and met up with Holly for a late movie...really late! Whatever happened to movies starting at 7 and 9? This one was 10:30 and that's only when the previews started. Wow, I'm sounding old!
We saw Stop Loss with Ryan Phillipe. It's a haunting and I can only assume very realistic portrayal of soldiers and the horrible effects war has on them. Then they come home, still reeling from their tour of duty, thinking they have done their time and are finished, and they find out they're going to be sent back on a Stop Loss order.
Ryan Phillippe is amazing as the lead in the movie, as are all the supporting cast. I was pleasantly surprised to find out my personal favourite..Timothy Olyphant..was also in this, unfortunately it's a very small part.
I read a review today that said the ending was disappointing but I don't think there is any way this movie could have ended that wouldn't have seemed disappointing. Overall though, I really enjoyed this movie.
They show some statistics at the end before the credits roll...over 80,000 soldiers have been stop-lossed. As a mother, I can't even imagine watching your child leave for war once, let alone twice or more.

3) I logged on to Facebook yesterday and there was a notification from one of the Applications, Mesmo TV, (what else!) about a news story they had sent. I've had those before and always just deleted them without reading them first but for some reason I opened this one. I know not many of my readers are Prison Break fans so this won't interest most of you in the least but for those of you that watch it...THIS IS HUGE!!! The title said it all!! It was a huge spoiler for Season 4 and that's all I'm going to say because I always get myself in trouble for spilling the beans. If you want to know you'll have to Google it for yourselves. All I'm going to say is...I CAN'T WAIT!!! (tee hee!)

4) Well, tomorrow is Mammogram Monday for me and the girls..my very. little. girls! Our very first one. To sum up how I feel about it I'll just give you Jesse's favourite quote from Barry B. Benson in the Bee Movie...
"Scared out of my shorts?" "Check!"

In honour of EARTH HOUR, I have turned out the lights on my blog! (Ok, I confess, I totally stole that idea from Google!)

It's 8:06 and Earth Hour has begun. I'm sitting here in the dark all by myself with only the glow from my computer screen and a few candles to light things up. Tim had to go in to work to shut down power for this hour, Emily's at a neighbour's house and Jesse decided he might as well go to bed since it was too dark to play!
Actually he's always asleep by 8 p.m. and he was really tired so Earth Hour kind of lost it's appeal for him.
Apparently he and Emily misunderstood me last night though when I was explaining it to them because Tim said while I was in the shower this morning and when he went downstairs, they had all the lights out and the TV off. They thought it was 8 to 9 THIS MORNING!!

Just before 8 tonight I told Jesse we needed to get ready so we turned off the hockey game and he helped me gather up some candles to light. He put his pyjamas on and then we brushed his teeth by candlelight. I told him that a long time ago this was how people lived all the time...candles for light, no TV, no radio. He looks at me and says "I'm glad I wasn't alive in the olden days". Then of course he has to add..."were you??"

If you're not familiar with Earth Hour, here's a little blurb I took from their website...

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.
Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

You can also click here to check out the Earth Hour Blog which talks about the different events going on worldwide.

Well, it's almost 9:00 p.m. I did it!! I know, not a big deal...just doing my part, albeit a small one!

So how did you celebrate Earth Hour? Hopefully by doing something a lot more fun than sitting in the dark and blogging!

The kids had a great Easter weekend! Saturday morning Jesse had a birthday party to go to and after that we went to my parents for the rest of the day. My brother and my niece, A.J., were also there.

They loved...dipping...



and colouring (and concentrating!)....


and hunting...

and visiting Great Grandma and showing off their new Snake Webkinz...

Sunday morning at our house they found the goodies the Easter Bunny had left them and later they hunted for more little treasures.



That afternoon we went and saw Horton Hears A Who!
So in true Seussical form....

I should try and write a quick review
to honour Dr. Seuss,
but it would be a simpler task
if Horton were a moose!
Cause nothing rhymes with elephant
but I'll give it one last try
and let you know just what we thought
about the Who's and why.
It really is a well done flick
for ages young and old,
with quite the little message
in the story being told.
About a land of people,
the speck on which they roam,
and an elephant named Horton
trying to find them a new home.
And the moral of the story
remember one and all,
is that a person's a person
no matter how small!

Well, definitely not my best work but it's all I could come up with! Seriously though, it really is a good movie and I think all the reviews I read that said adults wouldn't really care for it...were wrong!

1) Last week both Holly and Alissa did a meme about movie quotes. Let's just say my movie guru status does NOT include quotes...no memory whatsoever! I tried to pretend that I just wasn't going to participate because I was so late commenting that it would look like I was cheating if I got them all right. HA...I think I only knew 2 on each of their lists! How humiliating!

There are only a few quotes that have ever stuck with me...

"There's no crying in baseball!" (A League of Their Own - Tom Hanks to one of the players)

"I'll have what she's having" (When Harry Met Sally - Lady in Diner after Meg Ryan's fake orgasm scene)
Piece of useless trivia (this stuff I remember!)...the lady in the diner was played by Rob Reiner's mom.

"I'm going to be 40"
"When?"
"Somedaaaayyyy!"
A conversation between Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally. She was upset about getting older. I remember this scene vividly because I was nowhere near 40 when I first saw this movie and I was thinking how far away that was! Well, here I am and 40 has come and gone...guess who's crying now!!

2) Did anyone see the comments that Heather Mills had the audacity to make after her divorce settlement was announced last week? If anyone was on her side and thinks she was entitled to a lot more then my opinion won't be very popular but to me she has just continually come across as a complete gold digger!
She was awarded approximately 48 million (she wanted over 200 million!) and for their daughter she'll receive $70,000 a year PLUS nanny and school fees! Then she spouted off to the media about what a disgrace the amount for their daughter was...something about her daughter travelling in B class while Paul continues to travel in A class! OMG...maybe she could spend some of her millions on *their* daughter! Unbelievable!

3) Is everyone still glued to Idol? I thought tonight's performances were quite good. I have no idea who's going to win anymore.
Personally, my top 5 picks, in no particular order are...
Carly Smithson
David Cook
David Archuleta
Michael Johns
Jason Castro (He has the most beautiful eyes ever but *please* do something with that hair!)
I am so glad Amanda finally got voted off last week. I really liked her in auditions but I think they wasted a spot by putting her in the Top 24. She only had one way of singing and it seemed to get worse with each passing week...loud and screaming!
Any guesses for tomorrow night's results? I'm going to say Chikezie will go.

4) Peter Walsh from Clean Sweep has a new book out called "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Big?" I recommended it to Bridget since she's on a journey this month to Voluntary Simplicity. I've been following her daily posts with great interest and they're very inspiring...you should check it out!
Anyway, I recommended it without fully reading it but I thought it looked interesting and figured it would be full of great advice. I happened to be at Chapters the other day (oh, yeah, on Procrastination Friday!), picked it up and started to read a few pages. Then I saw it...the part that said..."you should give up television for 30 days"! I immediately stopped reading and put the book back. :-)

5) This is a question for my fellow bloggers or actually, commenters of blogs. I quite often want to put comments back to people who have commented on my posts but I don't usually because I figure noone is going to go back and re-read comments. Except that...I do...but I am obsessed...lol! I love reading people's comments on other blogs and quite often I will go back and re-read if I notice new ones have been added. Some people have the capability to email back regarding comments which is very cool but I can't do that with Blogger. So if you wouldn't mind giving me your opinion I'd love to hear it...oh, except maybe leave out the part about agreeing with me that I'm a tad obsessed!

Well there you have it, 5 little tidbits for a very snowy Tuesday in March! How's the weather in your corner of the world?

I started this post on Friday...it's now Sunday!

Yes, I'm a procrastinator.  If I can put something off until later, I definitely will, especially if there's something else I'd rather be doing.  My blog, for example, has lately become a main source of procrastination for me.  I'm not sure why.  I just seem to be having a hard time getting started so I can very easily talk myself into putting it off and then become distracted by reading all my other favourite blogs.  

Today (as in Friday) is a perfect example of procrastination at its finest. 

My in-laws didn't want to have a big family get together for Easter this weekend since they're getting ready to go away. I suggested to Tim that he at least take the kids to visit them before they go and that would also give me a chance to get some stuff done.
He and the kids left around lunch time and I had my to-do list all ready!

• pay bills
  
• go through my 2000+ pictures from last year and get them ready for printing
  
• go through the piles of papers stacked neatly around my office and file/organize/dispose of them
  
• go to the gym
  

Instead...look what I managed to accomplish...

• vacuumed/cleaned out the van
  
• sorted through large box of "junk" in the garage
  
• cleaned out my purse
  
• tidied up the kid's rooms
  
• watched Oprah
  
• watched tape of Celebrity Apprentice during commercials of Oprah
  
• looked up songs for a friend's CD I'm putting together
  
• checked out Facebook
  
• read blogs
  
• cleaned out our bathroom vanity
  
• went to Chapters
  

Wow...look at me go!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  The stuff on the first list...still waiting but *definitely* a priority now (especially the gym and the bill paying..eek!).  

This is also a lovely example of the "P" word...


One of the walls in our bedroom...nice frames don't you think? Are pictures of loved ones really necessary? There are already so many in other areas of the house.

Ok, I'm only showing you this one if you promise not to laugh...


notice the year...I never used it...at all.

Well, this certainly did not end up being the Friday-Free-For-All that I had planned. I guess I'll have to start a whole new post...tomorrow.

You know it's time to post something when:
a) your title is the same as your last post and they're a week apart
b) your lack of blogging is being talked about in the comments of someone else's blog (you know who you are! lol!)

1) Last Thursday morning one of our neighbours called and offered us four tickets to High School Musical - The Ice Tour. They couldn't use them since they were going to see Bon Jovi that night. We were more than happy to take them off their hands! It was definitely a rushed night though. We picked up the kids from daycare right after work and away we went! The show was very good...it was all the music from both movies.


2) If that wasn't enough excitement for one week, Emily and I went and saw the Hannah Montana 3-D movie on Sunday. It finally came to our fair city but only for one week.I'm not sure why since it's still doing very well.
We both really enjoyed it...the 3-D aspect of it was very cool! I had never seen a 3-D movie before, it really was amazing. At one point one of the band members threw a guitar pick at the camera...I DUCKED! Emily thought that was hilarious! There were a couple other things that made me jump too. How embarrassing!!



3) Eliot Spitzer...what can I say that hasn't already been said...and what is wrong with this picture???
I think Jay Leno said it best...
"Do you ever notice politics is the only profession when a guy gets caught with a hooker, the wife has to stand by his side. You know, if this guy was a plumber and he got caught with a prostitute, he'd have his wife's SUV tire tracks over his head."


4) Am I the only person watching Eli Stone?? I'm just going to assume I am and tell you that it's definitely one worth watching! It started a few weeks ago and I've been hooked ever since that first episode when yes...George Michael...appeared.Eli Stone, played by Johnny Lee Miller, is one of those high profile "scummy" lawyers that always tries to win for the big companies, no matter what the cost. He then starts having hallucinations, ie. George Michael singing in his living room, and later finds out he has an inoperable brain aneurysm. I know, it doesn't sound funny, but the show really is! It's original and quirky but not so "Pushing Daisies quirky"! His hallucinations then start to mean something each week, relating to his next case and he's now becoming the lawyer that wants to do the right thing.
The characters in this show are fantastic and it's worth watching just to see the conversations between Eli and his acupuncturist and also his secretary (played by Loretta Devine...the Chief's wife on Grey's and also crazy Marla from Boston Public).
Trust me...give it a try...you won't be disappointed! (ok, but please let me know if you are..lol!)

After much searching, I was able to come up with this list of return dates for all your favourite shows.

BIG BANG THEORY - Monday, March 17
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER - Monday, March 17
TWO AND A HALF MEN - Monday, March 17

CSI: MIAMI - Monday, March 24

HELL'S KITCHEN - Tuesday, April 1

CRIMINAL MINDS - Wednesday, April 2
CSI: NY - Wednesday, April 2

CSI - Thursday, April 3

NUMBERS - Friday, April 4
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Friday, April 4

NCIS - Tuesday, April 8

ER - Thursday, April 10
THE OFFICE - Thursday, April 10
30 ROCK - Thursday, April 10
BOSTON LEGAL - Thursday, April 10

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - Sunday, April 13

BONES - Monday, April 14

BROTHERS AND SISTERS - Sunday, April 20

GOSSIP GIRL - Monday, April 21

GREY'S ANATOMY - Thursday, April 24
UGLY BETTY - Thursday, April 24

HOUSE - MOVING to Mondays as of April 21, new episodes begin April 28


FALL 2008

PRISON BREAK - Monday, Sept. 17 to be exact!
HEROES
PRIVATE PRACTICE
PUSHING DAISIES
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
LIFE
CHUCK

JANUARY 2009

24


STATUS UNKNOWN

WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB
CASHMERE MAFIA
BIG SHOTS
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

CANCELLED

BIONIC WOMAN
JOURNEYMAN
CARPOOLERS
CAVEMEN
LAS VEGAS - I heard last week that it was cancelled and they weren't even going to conclude the cliffhanger episode they last showed. Then I heard that it wasn't cancelled, they were still deciding. NOW I read tonight that it is definitely cancelled but the fans are trying to get it back. So basically, I don't really know anything for sure! lol!!


THE INSIDE SCOOP

LOST - will show 2 more episodes on March 13 and 20 then take a break, resume April 24 for five episodes with the Finale on May 22. The original 16 episodes have been condensed into 13.

24 - FOX is talking about doing a 2 hour prequel for the next season to be shown this fall.

SHARK - no return date as of yet.

**edited to add pictures**

If you've been blog hopping tonight you'll find that most Ontario residents have their own versions of this weekends "snow dump"! The amount of snow that fell in a short amount of time was unbelievable!
I LOVE winter and snow as long as a few simple rules are followed...
- it doesn't keep me from where I need to go
- I don't have to shovel
- it falls on a weekday so the appropriate snow day is recognized (I work at one of those places that has a tendency to close)

This little barrage did not follow ANY of the rules! The weekend went something like this...

My husband's weekend:
Leaves around 4 a.m. Saturday morning to go up north to our friends cottage. Jeff (from my infamous phone call post last summer), his family and another family were already up there for March Break and he needed somebody to drive his truck, trailer and hot tub up to the cottage so they could hook it up next week. (Yes, I know, rough life..lol!)
Remainder of his weekend...some deck work, some snowmobiling, some drinking, some poker playing.
In his defence we were all invited but the kids had too much going on so I told him to go ahead and the kids and I would stay home. Why "in his defence"?? Read on...

My weekend:
9:30 Saturday morning I call Cheerleading place to see if Emily's practice is cancelled. I'm told it's not so we load up and head out (storm is nasty already at this time). We get there at 10 to find a sign on the door that says the 10 a.m. practice is CANCELLED!!

Go back home and start shovelling to try and keep ahead of the snow.

11:30 we head out to Jesse's skating lesson. First though we have to go and get a birthday gift for a party Emily's supposed to go to that night.

1:30 we go back home. By this time most roads are a mess and the 401 is basically one semi-clear lane and 2 completely snow covered ones. (Note to Mr. Transport Driver that almost barrelled over us...if I could have gotten your company name I would definitely be calling it tomorrow!)
I shovel...again.

6:00 I shovel some more...two small paths down my driveway, just enough to get out. Emily's birthday party is supposed to be from 7 to 10 (yes, very late!). By this time the snow on our court is up to the bottom of the vehicle and no plows have come by so I know if I get out of the two tracks someone else made I'm done!

6:30 I put two shovels in the van and we head out. Just as I get out onto our road I see a van further down, sitting right in the middle of the road, facing me, not going anywhere. I'm hoping he's going to move before I get there because if I stop I'll never get going again. He doesn't so I wait, still doesn't move, finally I get out to see what's going on. It turns out it's an airways transit van dropping off some of my neighbours. Driver thinks he's funny, me..not so much, finally he moves. Luckily I'm not stuck and we make it out onto what is more of a main road. It's just as bad and the next road I need has a huge hill. I get almost to the top and start spinning. I have to back all the way down the hill and try to go another way. I figure if I can make it out to the main boulevard the birthday party is just off that road and I'll be fine. My other route turns out to be worse. Emily tells me not to worry about it. She says "Mama, you can't help it, it's not your fault, if we can't get there it's ok." I was so proud of her but I.FELT.HORRIBLE! I couldn't believe I was in the city and could not get my kid to one simple little birthday party! When we went home and called, the other kids had managed to get there but the parents got stuck there!
We made popcorn, watched a movie and I still felt awful! She was fine.

Today, Emily's soccer practice was cancelled so we played outside and I started shovelling again! Thankfully my neighbour saw me and brought his snow blower over and finished it for me.

So, yes, I'm a little bitter about Tim's weekend compared to mine. I know, I told him to go. Don't worry, I'm not looking for sympathy...just doing a little venting! Isn't that why I blog?? :-)

The view out my front door Sunday morning

The snowbank along the side of the driveway

The snowbank the plows have created in the circle in the middle of our court

I'm sure there's something funny in here somewhere...unless you're me!

Husband is out for the evening
Son goes to bed
Son can't stop coughing
Son gets up to use washroom
Mother decides to give him puffers for his cough
Mother getting them ready when son proceeds to vomit all over himself, bathroom floor, receptacle known as mother's hands and eventually toilet
Mother sympathizes while cleaning up with paper towels
Mother throws paper towel into toilet
Son, feeling remarkably well and amazingly perceptive asks "are you only supposed to put toilet paper in there?"
Mother, feeling reprimanded by 5 year old, says "yes, I should put that in the garbage but just this once I'm going to put it in the toilet and flush it."
Mother doesn't want to admit she's just too lazy to walk downstairs to the garbage in the garage
Mother proceeds to put one more in toilet and then flush criminal waste into oblivion
Mother horrified as "evidence" disappears but water and "remnants" do not and toilet begins to fill up
Mother holds breath, cursing under it, watching, watching...
Mother breathes again as water stops rising
Son sees "remnants" and says "eeeeewwww...gross!"
Mother reminds son that this is why we do NOT put paper towels in the toilet (oh, there's the funny "hypocritical" part!)
Mother closes lid and leaves for husband to fix when he gets home
Mother pretty sure husband won't find the humour in that part :-)

And how was your evening??