Mar 12, 2007

Its snowing!




#$%^%$#

I had green grass showing through in places and the driveway was melting and we have been soutside so much...so I am HATING this new snow...

The weatherman forcast +5 this morning cooling off to -1 and the POSSIBILITY of flurries tonight... so WTF is this?????

And it is NOT flurries...it is very windy out now and the snow is coming down heavy........

The Girls...

At 11:52pm last night I finally finished Lori Lansens novel 'The Girls'.

I cried. Not because the ending is sad at all but because of how well it was written...in the last page Lansen talks to 'the reader' about finishing a book.....as a writer finishing a book and also how it feels to be a reader finishing a book...and she 'gets it'....

"You hold this book, our story, in your hands now with considerably more pages on the left side than on the right. Like you, I've been there a thousand times.....we both know, writer and reader, like the proverbial sand in the hourglass, the seconds on the shot clock, the story is over".


This book is amazing. It is written like an autobiography and it is so hard to remember that it is fiction..it just seems real. As much as I loved Walls 'The Glass Castle'.....that was real and the auhor was writing from what she knew..her memories and her experiences......well written but real.

The Girls is total fiction yet is written so well that the reader believes it to be real....I'm not sure if I am expressing this in the way I want to but I feel Lansen has this incredible talent as a writer....to write fiction in quite such a believable way.....to be so real that the reader falls for it again and again....

I can't tell you how many times I had to tell Lloyd about things 'The Girls' had done or said in the book...things that happened to them (like at immigration)....and I am telling Lloyd this as if it is real....I am disgusted by things that happened to them and feel so bad for them and yet it isn't even real!

This is an amazing book. This author has REAL TALENT.

Read it!

PS I have to thank my Mom for telling me about this book because despite it being a Canadian novel, I had never heard about it before she mentioned it being discussed in Richard and Judys books club....

Thanks Mom!

Monday..........

A new week again....isn't the year going fast?

I am sat here munching a banana for breakfast......I'm not very hungry but I should eat...otherwise Lloyd will tell me off :)

Susannah is home from school today...she feels dizzy and achey and has had a bad sore throat and stuffy nose since yesterday and is generally feeling horrid.....she is flaked on the sofa......

Lloyd went into work late today.....he stayed and had coffee with me and saw the others off to school......he has his big interview today for his new contract.....basically the government have to re-interview for contract positions at the end of each contract......they can't just renew the contract no matter who it is or how good they are......so they interview several individuals again and then offer the contract to someone....

In my opinion its a total waste of time and money but its policy.....so yes they could decide to offer the contract to someone else but why would they? Lloyd has been doing the job well for 2 or 3 years now and is well respected.....he knows the job......is well known in his field.....and has several resources from his company working for the same project....

Good luck baby!

Lloyds company (Testing Automation Inc) provides resources to companies looking for QA Management and Test Solutions....right now they are testing various Provincial health systems likes the EHR and PIN and various continuing care projects......and they are also just starting to work for another company who provides software for continuing care centres in Canada......

The thing with contract work is that you never know how long it will last........Lloyds contracts vary between 6 months and a year.....and we have been very lucky that they have all been in Edmonton in recent years...but of course in the future he could end up working anywhere - he was in Holland for a while and one company headhunting him wants him to work from home but then travel for work one week a month......neither of us want him to have to work away......but you go where the contracts are.....

So yes, I am hoping that we are right and he will be renewed for another year where he is...he loves his job atm which is always a good thing....

I have an optometry appointment tonight......I'm having issues with my peripheral vision....and my migraines are so out of control right now that everything is being checked......maybe glasses are needed and that will solve things...I stopped my meds last week as they were not helping at all....so we have to find some others to try....when Lloyd had his appointment last year I went with him and had so much fun trying on all the glasses...I found a pair I LOVED so I know which ones I want if I need glasses :)

Abby wants to do a craft.....I think I'll have a look on Enchanted Learning for an idea for St Patricks Day crafts......maybe something she can take to her Paddy's Day party on Thursday......I bought a big tub of gold chocolate coins for her to take to the party....they are making 'pots' for the pot of gold and are going on a treasure hunt to find the rainbows where the treasure is hidden......they are all having green food too....I am hoping to stay and help as it sounds like fun!

I have signed up to take part in Scrappershaven's Iron Chef II contest......it starts today I think......we find out the ingredient and have to come up with a menu which includes 3 things.....I don't stand a chance of winning because OMG there is so much talent there.....when I signed up there were about 10 people entering but since then so many others have joined and they are all so good! But I am excited about having a go and seeing how creative I can be!

Everything I look at at the moment makes me think of altering it in some way....last night while Sam was in the bath I was looking at the tub of bath salts Christie gave me and I was thinking that the jar is PERFECT for altering.....its such a great shape!

Well the girls are watching a movie.....Sam is fetching diaper and wipes as he needs changing but for some reason he is bringing me one wipe at a time!!!!

I have done two loads of laundry, vacuumed the main floor, cleaned up the kitchen and washed the breakfast things (yes we have a dishwasher but I like washing dishes too) tidied my bedroom and sorted some clean laundry.....I want to wash the floors in a minute and also want to clean the bathrooms at some point today.......I don't really do chores at the weekend so Monday is catchup day!

Oh I also cleaned the mudroom this morning and vacuumed it out.....and the dog crates...I think they are starting to blow coat now the weather is warming up......

Have a great day everyone!

Mar 11, 2007

Fun pics............










A few more pics of bathtime!!!

And now I am switching off to go relax with my hubby :)

All cleaned up..................


I don't think Lloyd wants his picture taken ;)




Do you???? lol!


I love you Lloyd!

PS - the wedding ring looks good :)

Bathtime...............









Sam and Abigail sharing a bath this evening......Sam has soup under his nose so yes he most definitely needed a bath :)
These pictures are of Abby being the Diva that she is :)

snapshots........from our drive.......







Last few......

Oh and yes, as you can tell, Blogger is allowing pictures again :)

Too funny!


This sign is just around the corner from our home......I guess they get a lot of people mistaking their driveway for the Northern Bear golf course lol!

There were penguins at Jesus's birth....






Did you know that? Yes! Penguins! At the birth of Christ! And I have PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE.....

actually the photographs are pretty crappy but you can see what I mean!!!

To be honest these are pictures of a yard in our village......near Abigails preschool...I LOVE it...I love the sheer TACKINESS of it :) It's March and they STILL have penguins and Wise Men in their yard...and like a million angels!!! I mean they are bad enough in December but they obviously LOVE their little Nativity display with its penguins so they choose to keep it up longer :)

I want to steal one of their penguins and send them postcards from it from wherever we go! Like gnomes :)

I have wanted to take pictures of this display for weeks but anyone with a yard like this in March is seriously strange and I worry they might shoot me! Trust me - there ARE Albertans like that ;)

Deer beside the highway....






Safely tucked the other side of the fence......

sights of Elk Island Park.....






A few snapshots from our visit to Elk today......

My little scrapbooker.....




Abigail has been busy the last few days creating her own mini album for her Disney holiday pictures......she chose some Minnie Mouse rub-ons at the store too :)

Oh and she painted her nails herself yesterday lol using my 'Ruby Slippers' nail polish! Sigh......it's all over the kitchen counters! Good job the counters have to be ripped out!

Sunday....

Today has been nice......lazy morning....I slept in until 9am...which is really kind of 8am but the clocks went forward.....then I sat in bed and read for a while.....the morning went by fast and before I knew it, it was time to take Chris into town.....he met his girlfriend at the mall at 12pm for lunch and then they were going to do some shopping - he wanted to get Lloyds birthday gift and card and also I asked him to buy me a small spiral bound notebook.....I reminded him that I am VERY fussy when it comes to spiral bound ntebooks and he should choose carefully (lol) so he was off to find the 'perfect' one for me.......I also told him not to spend more than $2 or $3.......we will see if he remembers or if Kiera distracts him lol!

I don't even know if thats how she spells her name.....I should ask!

After we dropped Chris at the mall, we went to Tims and picked up bagels and coffee and then we drove ouot to Elk Island Park......there were plenty of deer along the highway but we didn't really see anything in the park......a porcupine nibbling at the base of a tree.......it was nice to be in the Park again...we haven't been since Christmastime.......

After that we headed towards home via the scenic route and then headed down towards New Sarepta looking at land for sale.......we stopped in at Northern Bear to see what was for sale there and then we headed home........Lloyd told me to check out how much indoor pools are to be built.....so I am doing that now while he runs into town to pick Chris up and get some crunchy bread for supper...we're having soup.....

We saw more deer, some Elk, and a cute sign which I will post a picture of when I can.......oh and Christie, I finally took pictures of the penguins and Jesus....I was a bit scared though and we did a runner before I could get any good ones......you will have to come and take some for me!!!

The children have been outside quite a bit today...mainly playing basketball now that so much of the snow has gone.....the girls wanted to go for a cycle road...maybe next weekend.....and next weeked I think I will get new running shoes so we can start running again......and Lloyd is thinking of a mountain bike for his birthday now......I wish he'd make up his mind lol!

Book of Love.....



Last night I created this mini album....it is a 'book of love' and contains pictures of people/ things I love and quotes about them......it was a really nice project and fun to do.....
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