"If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us at least live so as to deserve it."
~Immanuel Hermann Fichte

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Snow in September?!

It's been a wonderful Saturday. I had a fun evening out with the girls. (Thanks Nina for inviting me!) It was a little crazy with the rain & snow, but an absolutely great day.

I figure that since it's late I'll post my Sunday meme before heading to bed. I'm likely to sleep a bunch tomorrow - Sundays are wonderful for naps. :)

Some of these questions are repeats, but not recent ones & they're the kind that you'd answer differently depending on the day anyway so I didn't mess with it.


7 signs that autumn has arrived.
There’s snow up in the mountains. (Some even tried to fall in the valley today. Craziness!)
I’ve pulled out my favorite sweater & even wore it the other day.
I haven’t worn shorts or capris in over a week.
Getting out of my warm bed in the morning makes me shiver. Getting out of the shower is even worse. Brrrr...
I wore my black wool coat when I went up to the conference center tonight. Brrrr…
There are a few bare trees around, and even the leaves in the valley have begun changing colors.
Parent/teacher conferences are next week. lol That makes me think of Kyle. We really do have pt conferences. ;)
6 songs on your current playlist.
Oh this one will be random. I have a huge Youtube playlist going atm that I listen to while blogging, playing WoW etc.
I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie (Thanks B - its been stuck in my head all week. A good "mom, you'd like this song" share.)
Home by Daughtry He's still the man. Mmmm...
Have You Ever by Brandy In a paticularly sad sort of mood the other day this song actually made me cry. I needed to & am glad it's still on the playlist.
Bring Me To Life by Evanescence Go Amy Lee! The woman has a voice.
Days Go By by Dirty Vegas Yep, both versions. Just because. Another one that's Brandon's fault. And Jody's. Actually, I think Jody reminded me of this one first, then B played it the next day. Yeah. With 2 recommendations it's gonna stick. ;)
When I'm With You by Simple Plan I love this song, and these guys are just awesome live. Yes - I have both of these performances on my playlist as well. I have never claimed to be decisive. ;) I hear they have a new album coming out this year. Yay!!!!
5 things said to you this past week.
“Thanks mom.”
“You have great legs.” (A personal favorite. Go me! lol)
“Well aren’t you looking beautiful!” (Awww thanks. It was something I needed to hear.)
“I’ve missed you.”
“I love you.”
Actually, based on those 5 things it’s got to be safe to say I’ve had a good week. :o)
4 movies you want to watch again.
Music & Lyrics
Pursuit of Happiness
Knight’s Tale
I’d say the Fifth Element but we’re watching it right now.
13 going on 30
3 things you’re known to crave.
Um let’s see…
I recently discovered chipotle ranch Pringles. Oh my. Thank goodness I’ve trained my kiddos to like yummies with heat so that I can just eat a few and beg them to make ‘em disappear.
Chocolate shakes/malts. Especially during Kara runs. lol
Quiznos. Mmmmmm…
2 pictures of you.
That aren't already on here? I can't promise they'll be good ones.
...And it's as I expected. I dug through the files and found these. Uh, they might not get to stay. lol
There’s the one that has been dubbed my mugshot Thank you sis! :p and one slightly distorted shot that Kirsten took in August on my very, very, very bad hair day. (Yeah... I don't recommend having someone take a picture of you from forehead level on this sort of hair day.)

1 happy thought.
I’m hanging out right now with my 4 beautiful kiddos watching one of my favorite movies. It doesn’t get better than that. :)

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Some quick thoughts for Wenesday.

My photobucket account is still wonky. They're working to figure out the issue. I'm still mourning my album & all of the fun photos stored there. I hope it gets fixed soon.

I miss WoW. I've noticed that I'm much less likely to play when I'm alone with Elijah during the day. I guess I figure it'd be kinda boring to watch mom sit at her comp all day, so we play outside or watch movies together instead. Today we made a cool train track with the geotrax. I was much more likely to play when my other kiddos were home and they all kept eachother occupied & watched out for eachother. Even when the others get home there's overseeing chores, helping with homework, feeding hungry kiddos & just so much more stuff to do in so much less time that I've lost a lot of play time.

It was cold this weekend. Brrrrr cold. Snow-covered mountaintops cold. Today it's 71 and sunny, but the breeze is still cool enough that sweaters are welcomed in the shade. I need to start stocking up on hot chocolate & apple crisp makings. Mmmm...

I'm feeling the bling itch again. I keep eyeing my beading/jewellery stuff & have been thinking about a necklace/bracelet set design I wanna try. What girl couldn't use a little sparkly something every now and then? I know I crave pretties! Good thing I'm willing to make my own, or we'd be in trouble. ;)

My cup of diet pepsi is almost empty and Elijah just climbed up onto my lap. Two good reasons to get out of this chair. Have a great day!

Monday, September 24, 2007

technical difficulty

All of my photos that are stored on photobucket including my banner & sidebar picture for my blog are missing. :(
I've been trying for 45 minutes to get into my account to see what's up & keep getting a "timed-out" message. I've tried everything. :( All of my photos from the first year or so of blogging are stored there. I'm so sad and my blog is looking sparse. If there are any technical geniuses out there with ideas I'd appreciate it. Maybe it's just something on my end. Either way I just wanna be able to see my old photos and blog banner etc. :(

Update - it isn't my browser. I emptied the cache, triple checked that cookies are enabled - did everything that was recommended and then some. Then I reset my modem. Still nothing. I've been trying off and on all day to get this fixed. Their tech people could see the images just fine. What's weird to me is that I don't even have the "Image hosted by photobucket" icon where the pictures should be, indicating they were deleted or the server is down. And I still can't get into my user account at all. Just more timed-out messages. Why would I not be able to get into my albums on their site? Seriously, if you're a techie sort I could really use some help.The moderator on their forums who tried to help me troubleshoot was really nice, but it's still broken. I can't fathom why I wouldn't be able to login to their server. I just tried again. It timed out. I do know that it probably isn't my modem, browser, computer or firewall. I spent all day quadruple-cheking those things. I know it worked fine last night, then was wonky this morning. Nobody here touched anything in that time frame. (I actually slept - go me :p)

Maybe I'll end up switching to the new blogger stuff after all. :p I'd miss having some of the photos from early posts though. Changing the banner & such is no biggie, but those photos will be missed and it'd be a pain to go back and try to put 'em back up. :p :p :p I miss my photobucket. :(
What a day. :( I think I'm going to have me a bubble bath. That'd be a good way to spend my "me" time tonight.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

musical memories

Thank you Sophia for the meme for today. My biggest problem is going to be coming up with a whole 10 songs and not making every single one about a person. I’m thinking that I may have more of a tendency to attach songs to people than to places, but we shall see. Sounds like fun either way. :)

List ten songs from the past. Where do they take you every single time you hear them?


Van Halen's Jump takes me back to Northmount Jr. High and the Youth Center dances every Friday night, where everyone thought it was cool to jump off the stage every single time David Lee Roth said jump. I loved those dances and could probably think of 100+ songs that take me there. The crazy jumping kids is classic though. There were dedications, crushes, heartbreaks, love stories & air band contests. lol The last dance was always Stairway to Heaven seeing as it's an 8 minute long slow-ish song. I'm sure that it has long been replaced at school dances by a newer very-long-slow-song. ;)

I'll be there for you by Bon Jovi is a song that takes me back to when I was in my early 20’s - a single mom going to college and renting a single bedroom for B & I from a lady at church. (I’m sad I can’t remember her name.) Those were the days of ramen and leaving the house at 6am to ride the bus to get B to daycare & myself to class. It was dark when we left in the morning, and dark by the time we made it home. We lived there for a short while after having temporarily stayed with Paul & while looking for an apartment closer to our schools. I used to rollerblade while Brandon played in the front yard & the Crossroads cd was often what I listened to. I'll be there for you was a favorite. Those were good times. We had very little, but we were happy. :)

Those same college days had me living at the gym during every spare moment. I was fit, happy & just doing really well - I had confidence for the first time in my life. The song that has me back at the seated leg press, watching James L. walk into the weight room (I hadn’t seen him in years) is Cranberries’ Linger. Makes me smile just thinking about it. It was good to reconnect with him, especially when I was doing so well and feeling so great. There are few people from my school days whose opinions have any sort of meaning for me, but seeing him at such a high point in my life did matter.

Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers has me driving down Crystal Beach in Keith’s red mustang with a very tiny Brandon in the carseat. It was my first time doing my usual summer stuff as a young mom. I was happy & in love with my sweet babe. As crazy as it is to think of someone who had barely turned 19 so happy and ready to embrace motherhood, I was. You’d have to first understand how lonely I was before having him. Having Brandon filled such a huge void for me. Crystal Beach & this song are kind of a first family memory for me and Brandon.

Boys II Men End of the Road has me back at the park at Yonge & Finch talking to Keith. We discussed the latest girl he’d been cheating on me with. Rachel M. Ugh. Ick. Eeeeew. It was finally really the end for us. It took forever for me to admit that I deserved better. He was B’s dad after all. But yeah, when it came to Rachel I was so very done with him and all of that. I had taken one look at her – who she was and what she had to offer & knew for a fact that she had nothing on me. She just wasn’t me and that was apparently what he wanted so I was finally out for good. (In his defense he never did promise me any sort of future - I had just loved him & hoped like crazy until I realized that being his comfortable #2 while he searched for #1 wasn't going to make me happy.)

Grandmaster Flash’s White Lines has me hanging out at the arcade at the Sheppard Centre. Oh my, picture a pre-teen little blonde wearing too much make-up, having no confidence but trying very hard to act as if she’s all that. I wasn’t (what 13 year old really is?) but it’s funny to think about. Man I’m glad we all get to grow up and that somehow I managed to turn out ok. (Thanks mom!) Oh, and if you're actually wondering - this song is in no way an indication of how I was at that age. ;) I just vividily remember it playing while I was at the arcade that day and I still think of my pre-teen years when I hear it. I could easily have chosen Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth or Tennessee by Arrested Development as these songs also take me to my youth and growing up in the Willowtree, but the moment, song and place that I mentioned to begin with are a very specific & clear memory. I was wearing white shorts, a tank top and had just stepped outside of the arcade for a Du Maurier Light when GMF and the Furious Five came on. ...Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang ...lol

John Micheal Montgomery’s entire self-titled album makes me think about hanging out with Vivian. We’d lay out and tan by the pool at her condo & listen to him. I think that I can love you like that was her favorite song on the album at the time because of Matthew. Mine was I swear.

The Cure’s Just Like Heaven takes me back to high school - 11th grade and totally crushing on Adam P. I still remember how he smiled at me on the stairs after Tracy told him that I liked him. I still have the first love note he ever wrote me - it was his reaction to the news & she pulled me out of chemistry class to give it to me. I still know his phone number off by heart. I still smile when I read what he wrote in my yearbook at the end of that year. I still remember how mad so many other girls were when he & I started our little something. lol I’d apologize, but he was yummy. He played soccer. I enjoyed watching ;) He was a Cure fan. I easily became one. :) Hey Robin, wasn’t he the first one to show up to my surprise 16th birthday party? Somewhere you have a picture of that night. I remember how disappointed I was when Glenn P. & Denise were helping you make me think we were taking my 24 to the drive in. :)

As I Lay Me Down by Sophie B. Hawkins was Vern’s & my song when I was in Toronto and he was here. We racked up the long distance phone calls during what I guess would be our “courtship” phase. It seemed like the perfect song at the time for our long distance relationship. We set a wedding date during one of those phone calls & literally spent thousands of dollars in long distance bills between that May and August, before he & Wil came back to Toronto. The rest is history. ;)

Only one more? Aww... now I have a bazillion old songs in my head. lol How about a funny one? Whitney Houston’s I will Always Love You used to make Brandon cry as a toddler. It was played on the radio constantly, and every time she hit THAT note (if you know the song you know the one) he would start bawling. I still call it Brandon’s song, and tease him every time I hear it. Poor baby. She hits that note a lot. lol ;)

Well that took forever to do but was fun! Before I actually post this I wanna see if I can find some pictures to go with it. I have no scanner atm, so we’ll see what I can come up with.

Um yeah, I'm back awhile later and took a couple of pictures of old pictures. Not a fancy process & they look as icky as you'd expect quality-wise. :p I didn't find everything was looking for(I have a bazillion college-days pics. Where are they? Hmmm? I'm bummed that I didn't find any.)but there you have it. A complete Sunday meme with pictures and all. :)

Oh, and with links and pics this post is crazy with the html. I hope it all looks okay because I really don't feel like fixing it at this point. ;)

Friday, September 21, 2007

A quick one for Friday.

Two days this week without the internet had my kiddos whining about being bored, me brushing up on my freecell skills & all of us glad that the fall tv lineup has begun. lol It's amazing how much of our family's entertainment centers not only around our computers, but around the internet. The kids play games and watch tv shows online. I listen to internet radio stations, check in with friends in various places, blog & play WoW. We easily survived 2 days, but we sure felt the difference. :p (I'd weigh in on how it affected Vern, but he's been working such crazy hours that the time he would have played was minimal this week.)

I must say that I'm grateful that it's Friday. It's been a long week. lol It's almost time to walk LV to school. I'm still loving that excuse to get outside every day. Most of the trees here in the valley are still green, but the mountains are bursting with fall color. I'll have to get some pictures soon.
Meanwhile, I hope you all have a great Friday. I plan on it. :)

Monday, September 17, 2007

almost

At least he looks happy-ish, right? lolOf course, he's smiling at me right now. He's still playing with those 3 cars & is watching Spongebob on Turbonick. You should hear him sing the song - it's the cutest. "Ooooooooh..."

Well 2 blog entries from me in one day - it must be time for me to get out of this chair. I think I hear my treadmill calling my name. :p

Have a great day!

Ten Things

I didn't get to blog yesterday, so I guess my usual Sunday meme will be a Monday one. :)

10 things you're loving right now:
Cheese quesadillas with chipotle salsa, green onions & sour cream. Brandon's perfected making 'em and they're so yummy.
My quiet time at night, when I get to exercise, play & read without interuption.
Elijah's kisses and the way he waves bye to me every time he leaves the room.
Walks! I love this time of year for walking.
Icy cold bottled water. Known in this house as "fridge water." It's the recommended drink for my kiddos as the tap water here is disgusting.
Aveeno baby lotion. Yep, I use it for me too. Keeps my hands so soft.
Kara runs. We have such a fun group of folks that we raid with. :)
Dance music on 1 club fm
...and um, of course dancing! :)
And last but not least, my camera. Which I'm taking with me right now while I walk LV to school. Maybe Elijah will smile for the camera today. lol We'll see.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

I've been told.

Enough people have asked me why I've been so quiet lately that I figure I'll do one big sweeping answer here for everyone. lol

I'm not meaning to be quiet - it's just been busy around here with school & sickies. We had a horrid stomach flu roll through our house, leaving most of us in bed for a week or so. Then we've had this lovely sinus/headcold that started with Kirsten and is on it's second round right now. Vern finally caught it just when Kirsten was feeling better and bam! now she's sick again. So I was sick for like 2+ weeks and am still taking care of sick kiddos while trying to keep my house under control, school work under control and myself sane.

My kids' WoW account is down, and I've been playing less so that I can pay them some attention which means my gaming friends are seeing less of me. Of course, with me sitting at my computer less I'm checking into other places less frequently. (Hello squirrelies!) That's all it is, really. I'm loving the walks to the elementary school with Elijah - it's been so beautiful. We're at that perfect time of year where Summer hasn't quite let go, but there's a definite sense of Autumn around the corner. You know - low to mid 80's, slightly cool (but not yet crisp) breezes... Perfect. A good time to enjoy fresh air a little more and my computer a little less. I do promise to put some effort into not being quite so quiet.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

ok go

...or "What April does when she's too sick to sleep or play WoW." lol

When I was grabbing the Ok Go vid for my blog earlier I watched this one of theirs again. It's another favorite. Then I found a copy of it done for a wedding present and it made it even funnier. Another imitation well done. Oh my. Something about white people dancing like white people and the slight geekiness just makes me smile. Ah, forget geeky - they have their own version of cool. At least I think so. lol These are about a year old I think. At least it seems like that long since B first showed me. And I still find 'em on you tube sometimes for kicks. :)


What a fun wedding present. :)

With the rest of my family properly medicated so that they can sleep I'm trying to figure out how to knock myself out. My head hurts so bad that I can neither sleep nor see straight. Those same meds haven't done enough for me just yet. : / Hopefully I'll be able to sleep soon.

Since it's officially Thursday now, happy Thursday!
Have a great day. :)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

A birthday, a video, a worried mom & a teenager.

I want to send a shout out to my brother Aaron before midnight hits. Today is his birthday & I'm hoping he's had a fabulous day. Happy birthday!

Ever since the first time Brandon showed me Ok Go's Here it Goes Again video it's made me smile. Kinda cool stuff. :) These kids did an awesome job copying it for their high school talent show. I was just going to share the original video, but then I found a side by side comparison of the actual video and the high school boys' performance. The person who made this just synced the original with the boys version, so the sound is from the high school auditorium. Not fab sound, but still fun. :)
Speaking of Brandon, I let him go to the State Fair with his friend Morgan today after school. He promised he'd be home between 7:00 & 8:00, when Mo had to be home. It's 9:30 now and still no B. I don't know whether to be mad or worried, and can't find his friend's phone number. I used to keep it on my desk but can't find it. I really, really, really hope that he's just in trouble for being out late and not calling. C'mon B, walk in that door.

I'm back for 2 reasons.
#1 to say that B made it home safe & with a semi-decent excuse. (Thank goodness.)
#2 is to add Ok Go's original video, because even though the comparison shows how good a job those boys did, I still love the actual video. It's said that they did it in one take, and B has seen them perform it live and says that they did awesome.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Sept. 11, 2001

I was glued to the television that entire day. It all seemed so surreal at the time. In many ways it still does.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

tradition

Well my Sunday wouldn't be complete without my blogging meme-style tradition. It's a good thing I have this tradition going because I'm still sick, so I'm a little drugged up and out of it. lol

Were you a geek in high school?
lol No. I guess I was a bit of a troublemaker. If you were to label me by who I dated or hung out with there were jocks, preps, rockers, skaters, freaks & skinheads in the lot. I'm sure there were even some so-called geeks in there. I mostly just considered myself normal (lol) and got along with most people.
Name 3 friends you hung out with in junior high. Are you still in contact with any of them?
Junior high... Um Suzanne, Christina & Nako. There was always Denise & Serena but neither of them went to my school. No, I can't say that I still talk to anyone from junior high - it was long ago. lol
Where is your nearest 7-11?
About a 10 minute walk away. I go on Slurpee runs all of the time.
Who told you they loved you last?
Brandon.
"You" in 3 words. Go!
reserved perceptive affectionate
What did you have for dinner last night?
Cheese sandwich. Wheat bread. Mmmm...
Does anything hurt on your body right now?
lol I have the stomach flu. Besides an owie tummy I'm achey all over.
Look in the mirror. Now say something positive about what you just saw.
She's not a bad person. She's trying. (Was it supposed to be a looks thing? My hair is all wavey today from wearing it up. I like it.)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

barfies and bumps

So LV stayed home from school yesterday since he was sick and all. We were all set to head out to drop him off today even though he was still saying his tummy hurt this morning. He's been able to hold food down so I'd figured he was doing better. Him barfing right as I was getting Elijah in the stroller made me realize he was seriously still not well, so he's laying in front of the tv as I type. With Elijah's tummy being iffy and me being nauseous for the last 24 hours I'm thinking we'll have a take it easy kind of day. Finding Nemo and popsicles anyone?

Kirsten's wrist has been bugging her. The cyst is big enough that I think it'd bug anyone, but she says it kinda hurts, so we're going to have to set up an appointment for her to have it removed asap. I don't think I've shared a pic of her lovely little bump yet.
Isn't it um, pretty? When she holds her wrist just right I still say it kinda looks like the end of a broken bone poking out. :p She's been such a trooper I keep forgetting it's there until she has a moment where it hurts. Someone remind me to find her a doctor and get it taken care of.

Well I'm off to find me a blanket (it's a little chilly down here today) and cuddle with my boys. Have a great day!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Now that's a long weekend.

Please forgive the rambling sort of entry that results when I do a late-night post like this. I didn't get to blog much this weekend, or even sit at my computer much for the last couple of days so I figure a recap is in order.

First of all, Brandon was sick on Friday night and Saturday with the stomach flu. LV started to feel sick this morning and was barfy tonight. Before heading to bed tonight Kirsten told me her tummy hurt... Fun! :p So Brandon stayed home from Abby's birthday party, and we cut this morning's trip to the park a little short for lil Vern and we had everyone in bed early tonight after a bbq at my in-laws.

I have a gazillion photos to share of what we did in between barfies and such. We went to one of the bestest parks in this here valley today. It is humungous, and has a town-type theme with little stores and such all set together in a myriad of levels and just cool features. I was told how awesome it was and brought my camera thinking it sounded picture-worthy. This one doesn't show just how enormous it is, since half of it is behind trees - but you can sort of get the idea. Of course, my kiddos and their aunt Lauren stole my attention, so instead I mostly have some brand new photos of my loved ones. :) I'll have to get more shots of this playground some day. It is seriously cool - just not as cool as my kiddos I guess. ;)
Sadly I still have no smiley shot of Elijah. His aunt Lauren tried to get him to smile for me, but he was totally distracted by the playground. Brandon will kill me for sharing this one, but Lauren did get him to sorta smile for a picture. lol (Sorry B, I had to - it's just priceless.)

Even though Lv's tummy was beginning it's descent into topsy-turvy he managed to let me take some shots of him. I still say his chocolate brown eyes are just yummy. Kirsten, who's always played model for me gave her aunt a few tips. lolWell, I've had fun playing with photos tonight. I didn't even check into the SG board or WoW. Photoshop is so much fun when you aren't burnt out. lol Be prepared - if I manage to keep the dust off of my camera like I have been this little blog of mine may once more explode with photos.

Anyway, in spite of sick kiddos we managed to stay busy and have some fun this holiday weekend. I hope you did too!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Happy Birthday Abby!

We sure had fun celebrating with you. :)
Thank you to Ben and Wendy for giving us a wonderful reason to spend some time with our family at the park. It was good to see everyone!