My 4 Favourite Songs at the moment:
1) You Found Me - The Fray
2) Rain Delays - Crash Parallel
3) The Climb - Miley Cyrus
4) Hoedown Throwdown - Miley Cyrus (yes, I realize I'm not twelve but I can't help it, I like it!)
I doubt if I'll download it onto my iPod but I LOVED Adam Lambert's version of Mad World last week on Idol.

My 4 Favourite Shows that I can't miss:
1) Bones - always #1
2) Fringe
3) Grey's Anatomy
4) Toss up between Gary Unmarried, The Unit, 24 and Prison Break (last 6 episodes start tonight!)

4 Shows I'll be getting caught up on in the summer when the newest season comes out on DVD:
1) Weeds - Tim and I watched the first 3 seasons in a very short amount of time last summer. Once we started, we were hooked! It's so well written, funny and the characters are fantastic!
2) Gossip Girl
3) Nip/Tuck
4) Have never watched it but may try Living with Ed (Ed Begley's reality show about living green)

4 Shows I miss the most since they finished airing:
1) West Wing
2) Third Watch
3) Sex and the City
4) Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

The Best/Most Memorable 4 Series Finales (in my humble opinion):
1) Newhart - this wasn't a show I watched regularly but the finale was the funniest, most original, most memorable EVER! Did you see it?
2) Cheers - quiet but effective, sad to see it end
3) Seinfeld - for me, the most anticipated and turned out to be the most disappointing
4) Sopranos - another highly anticipated one, definitely the most unique

Last 4 Movies I saw at the theatre (and just happened to really enjoy them all, yes, even Hannah Montana):


















































4 Movies coming out I'm most looking forward to:

1) May 8

















2) June 12

















3) July 1

















4) July 24


















The 4 Movies I'm most looking forward to seeing with my kids:
1) Earth
2) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
3) Up
4) Land of the Lost

My 4 Favourite Movie Actors
1) Robert Downey Jr.
2) Mark Wahlberg
3) Will Smith
4) John Cusack
I have to add one more, I really enjoy almost anything with Hugh Grant.

Last 4 Books I've read:



Yes, I realize I'm missing 2,3 and 4 but this book has taken me so long it feels like I've read 4! It was Oprah's Book Club selection last year and I don't usually jump on the bandwagon when she suggests a book but this one sounded intriguing. She recommended not reading the book jacket because she felt it gave too much away so I didn't. I've only got about 50 pages left so I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm all done. The ending is supposed to be shocking so I've kept plugging through. Honestly up to this point I wouldn't recommend it, even though the writing is amazing, so descriptive like nothing I've ever read, it's just too much. You could skim over page after page and really not miss any of the story. I.will.finish.it!

I know there's really no excuse for not blogging for almost an entire year (my gosh where does the time go!) but as you can see I've had this whole Benjamin Button thing going on. I just had this taken recently, my birthday is next month and I'm going to be 45!

Emily has recently experienced some of what life has to offer as far as highs and lows...well, as high and low as they can get when you're only 8. To her though, the low was devastating.
This past winter she didn't play indoor soccer but she did do a developmental skills program. When it finished, tryouts for the rep soccer team started. This was the first opportunity to play on a rep team, girls turning 9 are the youngest team. She decided she wanted to try out, that she was going to work really hard and she knew that not everyone would make it. Almost 50 girls tried out for 28 spots (two teams of 14). In total, they spent about 7 hours trying out. The last practice was a Wednesday night and they said they would phone by 10 p.m. the following night to let everyone know whether or not they had made it. I was hoping they would phone after she was asleep, in case she didn't make it, I didn't want her to be upset right before bed. Of course though the phone rang at 8 o'clock and one of the assistant coaches (not even the coach which I wasn't terribly impressed about) was sorry to let me know that unfortunately, they didn't have a spot for Emily this year. She was so upset when I told her, it broke my heart. Then to make matters worse one of her friends called her right away hoping she had made the team because they had. Em had such a hard time talking to her without crying and at the end of the conversation she told her friend "good job". I was so proud of her.

Thankfully though after the low point came quite the opposite. One day at work I got a phone call "on behalf of ...... School, we're calling about your daughter". Ok, they really need to find a better way to start their conversations when it's nothing bad because I think my heart did a couple flips in the few seconds it took for her to continue and tell me that she was very pleased to let me know that Emily had won the grand prize in the Jump Rope for Heart draw.
Well, this was the grand prize.....
The reason they called to tell me was so that I could go and pick it up, instead of her having to carry it home on the bus.
The best part of this whole story, and it could only happen to me, was that I had purchased a Wii before Christmas. I got a good deal on it and an extra game was also included but I decided to save it for their birthdays since they're three days apart. So there it was, sitting in my closet, with only a few more weeks to go. When I started laughing and told the lady the story she said that was no problem, that I could return it and get a store credit for the amount they paid for it. So I brought the one out of the closet, passed it off as the one she had won, took the new one back and used the credit to buy some accessories and games for their birthdays! Perfect!

This is not the first time Emily has been lucky enough to win something. Actually, she has probably won more in her eight years than most people win in a lifetime (me included!). This year at school alone, in addition to the Wii she won the main draw at their Scholastic book fair which was $40 to buy books and she also won a Webkinz in another fundraising draw.

When Em was 2 my mother-in-law was selling tickets for a draw their church was having. She bought some and put all her grandkid's names on them. That year Emily won the grand prize....

yes, this beautiful quilt AND she also won third prize which was $100!
The next year, same draw, mother-in-law puts grandkid's names on the tickets again and (I'm not making this up!) Emily wins the grand prize again...ANOTHER quilt!!

That fall when Emily was 3, Tim's Lion's Club was selling hockey pools for the NHL season that year. It consisted of 16 boxes with 4 players in each box. You wanted to pick whoever would get the highest amount of points in the regular season. Just for a joke, I sat down with Em and got her to point at one name in each box and submitted the form in her name even. You see where this is going don't you? Well, she got 39th place out of about 2000 pools and received a cheque for $50! I think it cost $5 to enter.

So, yes, sometimes she's definitely a lucky little girl!

The weekend before the Mother's Day weekend (yes, behind as usual!) had to be THE busiest weekend we've had in ages...well, Emily and I. Ok, mostly her...I just did a lot of prepping and driving.

Friday night we had a little of this...dance recital dress rehearsal...


Followed by driving her to a friend's birthday party for a little of this...


Saturday morning began with 2 hours of this...cheerleading practice...



Followed by the dance recital...show #1...


Followed that evening by the dance recital...show #2...


Followed by...oooohh...this one was for me...

If you enjoy this type of movie then this is one you do NOT want to miss! Robert Downey Jr. was amazing, this role was perfect for him and the entire movie was entertaining right from the minute it started until the very end! I LOVED it!

Sunday morning started at 6:30 (now wishing late movie hadn't been so late!), driving 45 minutes to participate in this...the Cheer Alliance National Championships...

In the photo above Emily is in the group on the left. She's the "base" (as she calls it) on the right.

This was only Emily's second competition since she started cheerleading and my first time getting to watch her (my weekend away ended up conflicting with the first one after they changed the original date). This was so much fun to watch and what a huge competition! There were over 150 different teams from Canada and the U.S. and in Emily's division there were 11 teams competing. Her team did a great job and she had a blast so she wasn't terribly disappointed when she found out they had placed 11th. She knew they had, as she put it..."messed up their ending and hadn't done their somersaults together". She was hoping that since there was so many of them that maybe the judges hadn't noticed! Too cute!

Then we headed back home, changed from this...

back into this for one more dance show...

...and then it was early to bed for everyone that night! We were exhausted! Listen to me, like I really did anything!
I was so proud of Emily, she had so much fun going from one event to the other and she did a great job dancing and cheering.

Please excuse some of my pictures. That's part of the reason this post took so long. I kept trying to fix and tweak, obviously without much luck and finally I just gave up. I really need some Photoshop lessons and I really shouldn't have used my new camera. That really wasn't the best time to experiment!

I can not stop laughing at this...



(Shamelessly borrowed from Mrs. G.!)

Dear Self,

As "we" are definitely a Gemini, debating, conversations with ourself, even arguments are definitely a common occurrence but this is where I draw the line and feel that it's time to go over some of our previously established guidelines.

1) The only alarm that should be going off at 5:30 in the morning is some sort of alarm warning of impending doom, NOT one designed to wake us from a peaceful slumber. We are not now, never have been nor ever will be a morning person in any way, shape or form. Yes, a beautiful sunrise and birds chirping are things of wonder but couldn't they occur after 8 a.m.?

2) Said alarm should never EVER be heard on a Monday.

3) Body parts should never be expected to bend or hold in extremely uncomfortable positions for varying lengths of time before noon on any given day.

4) Partaking in a fitness class that's described as Intermediate to Advanced level AND being taught by an extremely perky, obvious morning person is just cruel.

5) Don't take it personally when said fitness instructor says "work those hams!" She's referring to the hamstrings, not that thing resembling 2 small hams you call an ass!

6) We don't like to sweat first thing in the morning...EVER...not for ANY form of exercise (if you get my meaning!).

Love,
Me.



Dear Me,

Until said time when we actually *are* 5 months pregnant again or become 5 foot 11, we will be endeavouring to become the weight of a woman whose BMI falls within the safe zone of someone who's 5 foot 9 and NOT pregnant!

Love,
Self

Conversation with Jesse this morning...

Me: Jesse, do you want to get your book and read it to me once before you go?

Jesse: (very seriously) Mama, I do *not* have enough time. I have to...(now starts pointing to each finger as he says) take out one bag of garbage, one bag of papers, two recycle bins, brush my hair, brush my teeth and you have to put cream and a band-aid on my cut...aaahhh (heavy sigh!)

He sounded exhausted just talking about it..too funny! I didn't realize we were such slave drivers!

I have never seen anyone love garbage day as much as this kid.

One of our local newspaper columnists wrote a column for Earth Day, highlighting and recommending several eco-minded documentary DVD's. He described some as dire warnings, some as helpful "how-to" lessons in sustainable living and ecological repair, and others as personal portraits on eco-warriors who range from the eccentric to the silly.

Here is his list of recommended titles:

THE 11th HOUR: With Leonardo DiCaprio as producer-narrator, this doc debuted at Cannes 2007, where some idiot journalists took the debate off-topic by grilling DiCaprio on the eco-cost of coming to Cannes (footnote: he flew commercial, not by private jet as many stars do). Co-directors Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners pack the doc heavily with info, mostly negative warnings, much of it presented with dazzling (if depressing) visuals. But there are glimmers of hope in the doc. And the excellent DVD looks even more on the bright side. It contains a series of interviews that are helpful "Eureka!" moments.



SHARKWATER: Canadian director-diver-cinematographer Rob Stewart made this doc as a wondrous display of his passion for sharks. He made the film look stunningly beautiful. Then he "lucked" into a series of dangerous situations that allowed him, with eco-activist Paul Watson, to highlight the political intrigue surrounding the wanton destruction of 90% of the world's sharks. The making-of featurette on the DVD shows what they were up against -- and it was scary.


GARBAGE WARRIOR: Filmmaker Oliver Hodge examines the absurd life and times of radical architect Michael Reynolds, who has spent 30 years in the New Mexico desert developing "Earth Ship" houses that are off the grid, made of recycled materials and sustainable. Turns out Reynolds is not crazy, even if he looks and acts weird. And it turns out we could learn a lot from him.







EDEN AT THE END OF THE WORLD: Made by National Geographic and narrated by Jeremy Irons, this conventional but gorgeous doc explores Patagonia, one of the world's most pristine yet threatened wilderness areas. While the narration is overwritten, the images are stunning, and so is the conservation message.




HUMAN FOOTPRINT: Another National Geographic special. Folksy is good but this one is too American-centric. Yet it does bring an important issue into perspective. Using real-life materials, such as thousands of pints of milk lined up down the street, the filmmakers put in visual terms exactly how much an American couple consumes in a lifetime. That means they measure the waste and source materials, demonstrating what it takes to maintain a lifestyle.


SIX DEGREES COULD CHANGE THE WORLD: As another National Geographic special, this one is narrated by Alec Baldwin. Using what appears to be sound science and not political manipulation, it breaks down, step-by-step, degree-by-degree, the changes that may happen with global-climate change. This is a major contribution to the debate.






PLANET IN PERIL: A CNN WORLDWIDE INVESTIGATION: CNN puts three of their stars -- newsman Anderson Cooper, medical expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet naturalist Jeff Corwin -- to work on this two-part special doc. Some of it, such as the raid on a Thai market where endangered species are illegally sold, is overly concerned with dramatizing procedures, not the problem. But, overall, with filming in 13 countries and in-depth interviews with experts who ground the information in practical science, the DVD has real value.


LIVING WITH ED: SEASON 1: Ed Begley, Jr. allowed cameras into his house to chronicle his eco-obsessions and record his wife Rachelle's skepticism. It is funny, fun stuff -- and there are life lessons here for true environmentalists looking to take action in everyday life.

Helloooo bloggy friends!! Yes, I'm still here! Excuses? Of course, I always have one or two.
See that little MELLOW mood thing over on my sidebar? Well I probably should have changed it to say something more along the lines of Agitated or Irritated or honestly...Bitchy!! I don't know if it's the weather or what but I seem to be experiencing something resembling the February blahs...in April! A couple weeks ago I was PMS-ing so badly that I almost...stopped blogging, took myself off Facebook AND tried to sell my Memorial Cup tickets! Thankfully I made it through the week with no major changes and all was good again.
At the moment though my blogging breaks may be a little longer. I hope you'll all bear with me and keep on visiting! I think part of the problem is I enjoy reading blogs and I spend quite a bit of time enjoying all your "goodies and tidbits" and then run out of steam for my own. (By the way, I had trouble commenting tonight on a few of your blogs, they just wouldn't take so please know I'm reading and loving but at the moment..silently!)
Very soon (hopefully tomorrow) I'll now have to do one of those giant posts about absolutely everything to get all caught up!

It will include:

• Movie night with the girls
  
• Movie outing with my kids
  
• American Idol - I still can NOT believe Michael Johns went last week...I was SHOCKED!! I was totally dreading tonight's show with Mariah Carey songs but it really wasn't that bad. 
  
• 2 memes I've been tagged to do
  
• The luck of my daughter
  

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