Happy New Year!!!! 2008!

Well, another year is coming to a close, and we are approaching our first year anniversary in Quesnel in a few weeks. I can't believe where the time has gone. It has been a very fast year for us. Molly is 18 1/2 months old, and it is hard to believe in a few short months that she will be 2!!! Life really does pass you by in a huge hurry if you don't watch out, so live it to the fullest!

The year started off with Greg's job coming to a close, and our decision to make the move to Quesnel, BC where we purchased 5 acres of land in 2004. We packed up, and headed north on the 27th of February. Greg started work with West Fraser Mills near the end of March. He is quite happy with his job, and is doing very well. His job is going to be taking him to the southern U.S. in the coming days. West Fraser owns 13 mills in the states, and the majority being in the South. He will spend time in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Texas for the next few weeks.

There was still plenty of snow on the ground when we moved here, and it was a couple of months before we could really begin any work on the land. We got a culvert and drive put onto the land so we could access the property by vehicle. We got some clearing, and burning done on the property this summer, and we had the idea of building a shed before winter, but that didn't come to be . We had an area dug for the foundation, and that is far as we got. The cold weather came much to quickly, and we had our first snow fall on November 1st. We have to keep in mind that the warm season is much too short in these parts. As for our building plans, they are still in the planning stages, as we change our plans so often. WE are hoping to break ground this year, and start to build, but with Greg' s travel schedule we are not so sure what we are going to do just yet. So we will see.

On June 11, Molly turned a year old, and soon began to walk within a few days after her birthday. She is going full force now, and won't have it any other way. She is always on the move.....ALWAYS! She keeps Greg, and I pretty busy, and plenty tired. :)
She is really doing well, and is growing like crazy. She is already 32inches + tall, and nearly 29lbs! She is not a fat kid by no means, she is all muscle, and healthy.
She is starting to really develop her vocabulary, and can say quite a few words. Though she is still selective as to when she says them. She even will come up to you , and say what's that? That is a new thing. She is also trying to say her abc's, and count to 10. She is really doing well with that, and though she can't pronounce everything clearly, you can tell what she is trying to say, and she knows the order in which the letters, and numbers come. It is really amazing to see her grow, and develop. She is really smart, and such a joy.

I have been working on several crafts the last several weeks, and I am enjoying that very much. I am crocheting, and knitting both with a loom, and I with the help of my friend Melissa have finally taught myself to knit the old fashioned way. I am just beginning with that, and I have a whole lot to learn yet. I am very interested in quilting, and hope to start doing that too... Another friend of mine says where do I find the time?? I don't really find time, other things will, and do fall behind in the process. :) My friend Melissa, and I are going to do a whole bunch of crafting , and go to some of the local craft fairs later this coming year, and I am very much looking forward to that.

I have also been working on a couple of web projects, and we are still doing web hosting, and some computer contracting through our home business Webwise Network Services.

I hope to officially launch my free ecard website in the coming weeks. This is a project that we have stopped, and started a few times, but have not completed. I decided that the photos I have taken over the years would be much better served if they were in use. I am not a professional photographer by no means, but I enjoy it, and we both have taken some nice pictures.

I hope to get Molly involved in some recreational activities this coming year as well. I definitely want to take her to swim classes, which we have not done yet. She is still not quite old enough to do a lot of activities , but we do have some friends, and we are trying to get together some play dates more frequently. She loves to be outside!

I am still trying to get used to the colder temperatures, and the snow. We have had snow on the ground pretty much since the first part of November, and continuously since November 14th. We got Molly a toddler sled, and she really loves being pulled around on it. She however, does not like the fact that she has to wear a snow suit, or big heavy coats, and hats, or shoes, and socks for that matter. I think I am going to have to put extra strength Velcro on her feet!!

Molly, and I went to Alabama in mid November, and stayed until the end of the month. We had a very nice visit with friends, and family. Unfortunately, despite being there for nearly two weeks, we still didn't manage to see, and do everything we wanted, or visit with everyone. The trip down, as most of you heard was pretty hellish, and the fact I was traveling alone with a toddler made it even harder. A trip that should have taken about 12-14 hours turned into 48 hrs of frustrations, headaches, and stress. We made it through without me killing anyone, though I think I could have a few times! We had a nice time once we got to our destination though. Molly is a well traveled toddler already with a stamp in her passport. I didn't even get a passport until I was 31!

We returned home to -25C/-13F , and lots more snow. We were in the deep freeze for better than a week, the coldest night we had was -28C/-18F. It finally warmed up to -9C/15F for the daytime highs. It has since warmed up a bit more than that, but it is back down to about that again. We still have lots of snow on the ground, and have had new snow as well. It just hasn't warmed up enough to melt it. If I were to guess we have had several feet of snow fall already since November. We still have at least 4 more months of the white stuff, and from what I have heard, it will get much colder than -25C before all is said, and done. We won't see the first signs of spring until mid to late May.

We have been asked a few times when we are going to start on baby #2, and few of our friends are working on, and or awaiting baby #2 already! In the beginning we were telling people no way, no how, but since then we have changed our tune a little bit. This is not too surprising since we went into this marriage with the idea we didn't want children. I had a lot of trouble after Molly was born, and I am not so sure if mentally I could start all over with a new baby... though I think it would be nice for Molly to have a brother or sister. I think about having another baby a lot, and then I think I must be crazy! I think though because of my age,( I just turned 37 on the 26th) and my previous problems that if we do decide to have another child, that we will try to adopt. Nothing is set in stone, and we will see what our future holds for us. Only time will tell. :)

Greg, and I had our 5th wedding anniversary on the 16th of November, however we "celebrated" apart. I was in transit to Alabama, and he was in Alberta for work. It is hard to believe that I have been in Canada 5 years now. It seems only yesterday I hopped on a plane for Vancouver with no idea what was in store for me there. :)
I finally feel at home here, and we are both very happy.

Anyhow, we are really enjoying living in Quesnel, and are looking forward to what the new year has in store for us.
We want to wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope that the year brings you much happiness, and joy!!

You might live in Canada if....

I got this cute email with well known things said about Canadians, and these ones I have experienced first hand. :)


If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Canada.


If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Canada.


If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you may live in Canada

If you can drive 90 kms/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in Canada.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you may live in Canada.

If the speed limit on the highway is 80km -- you're going 90 and everybody is passing you, you may live in Canada.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in Canada.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you may live in Canada

If you find 2 degrees C 'a little chilly', you may live in Canada!

Happy Holidays!

Well, it looks like we will likely still have snow on the ground Christmas, and likely will get new snow by then as well. We finally went out to get our tree last Sunday, and the snow there was realllly deep. :)

We took Molly around on a sled, but it proved to be a much harder job than expected...so it wasn't much fun.
I just wanted to wish you all a very happy, and safe holiday!
Bets wishes in the New Year!
Cheers!

It's warming up...

Well, the deep freeze we have been having here is finally warming up as of this past week....we are finally above 0C today. Now, the roads will be come really dangerous with all the melting snow, then freezing at night. We have more snow in the forecast as well. It sure is more pleasant to be able to go outside, and not have snotcycles! :)

Well, Christmas is only 9 days away, and we have yet to do any shopping as usual...the weather has been no help there. I can finally get Molly outside for short bits at a time...when it was -19C to - 28C no can do. It is really hard on their lungs, and it is just no fun being outside.

Anyhow, I have lots to do. Hope you have a great weekend!!!
Cheers!

The Hunger Site

All you have to do is click...what can it hurt?

I am on a roll...

The weather has been really cold, so I have been doing a lot of crafting.
I have been doodling around with this project today. I took another craft, and put a different twist on it...I tend to do that, not sure why? :) This is a great craft for older kids as well, and is really, really inexpensive.

You will need a bunch of misc buttons. I picked up a few packs of these at the dollar store for a $1 each...

You will need two different gauges of tin copper wire...the same stuff used in jewelry making. I believe I used 14 & 24 gauge. I used the thinner wire for threading the buttons, and beads, and I used the thicker wire for the hook.

You will need some clamp scissors, or needle nose pliers will do. Also, you will need some beads if you like , this is totally optional, and you can add other items to your liking. This project is all about creativity, and imagination. The sky's the limit!

Here are some pictures: Have fun!

Being Crafty-Spice Scented Fabric Ornaments.

I came up a with this idea yesterday, taking a craft my mom used to do to another level. I had an old factory manufactured quilt that was starting to come apart. It has a lot of holiday colors in it, and looks old timey. So, I decided to use the fabric, and batting to make ornaments. The twist is adding cloves, and bits of whole cinnamon inside to make them smell nice. They will make my tree smell so wonderful! I also can use the fabric to do all sorts of other things, including re quilting the pieces into a new design. I didn't have to buy anything but the spices, and I am making something old into something new. It is always best to reuse if you can.

I cut pattern shapes out of construction paper using some of my cookie cutters, and some old Christmas cookie cutters that were my grandmothers. I made the necessary adjustments to the scale as needed.

Here are some pictures of the first ones I did before, and after. Now they are not perfect in the slightest, considering it has been a while since I have used a sewing machine. I am hoping they get better as time goes along.

p.s. Since posting this, I have adorned the ornaments with buttons I got at the dollar store, that I had picked up for another project . The buttons really added a nice touch. I made the little dress after the first pictures, and made the hanger from jewelry wire. I can't wait to put these on my tree. :)

-26C this morning...

I am enjoying a nice cup of hot tea, and homemade banana bread this morning.
The deep freeze continues here. I finally bundled Molly up on Thursday, and went to Walmart just so I could air out. I don't like being cooped up in the house. I didn't have the camera handy , but Molly reminded me of little Randy on A Christmas Story in his winter bunting. She just laid motionless in her carseat, simply because she couldn't move!

I went out that evening to a party I was invited to...it was an interesting feeling when the moisture in my nose started to freeze almost immediately upon going outside. I thought, oooh yuck snotcycles!

It is suppose to warm up a little bit next week. Instead of -19C for the high, it will be -9C :) Greg is going today to PG to get a block heater installed on the Subaru. I didn't have too much difficulty starting her up this past week, but the weather will get much colder than now, and I don't want to not be without a vehicle in case of an emergency.

Well, enjoy your weekend, and certainly hope it is warmer where you are! :)

The weather outside is frightful, and a fire would be oh so delightful....

We woke up to a sultry -28C/-18F this lovely December morning. It will warm up to a balmy -18C by this afternoon. It is days like this that I wished we had a fireplace. I love the smell of a wood fire. We are plenty warm in our townhouse, but a fire would add some ambiance. :) I think later Molly , and I will have to venture out for some supplies. We need the airing out anyhow...that is if the car will start. :/
Well, I hope it is nice, and warm where you are!!

Cheers!
Jen

I am really in the Great White North!

Well, Quesnel is really living up to the title "The Great White North". It is COLD, and snowing. The temps have been dipping down into the -20's C for a week or more now.
This is my first "real winter" in Canada. We have had really cold weather in Alabama in years past,snow, and at least 3 ice storms in my lifetime. I have not experienced anything below 0 F before though. I have never seen ice crystals inside of a window before. The moisture on the inside of our storm windows is frozen solid, and it is so strange to see that. The locals say it is not usual for it to be this cold this early. Temps like this are more common in January, and February. So, I think we will be in for a long cold Winter. At least I will get plenty of practice with my crocheting, and knitting!!

Our Alabama Trip

Hi There,
Well it is December 2nd, and it is Winter here in Quesnel for absolute certain. Molly, and I returned to -25C temps/-30C with the wind chill on Friday, November 30th.
A far sight colder than the 60 something F we left back in Alabama. The locals say it is very unusual for it to be this cold in November...usually not until January or February.
I think we are in for a very long, and very cold winter. I guess I will get lots of practice on my knitting, and crocheting. :)
Molly, and I had an great visit with friends, and family while we were in Alabama. I am really sorry if we missed some of you, it was really hard to squeeze everything in, and we still had lots we didn't get to do, and for that we sincerely apologize. It is really hard to do much with a toddler with a schedule.

Anyhow, we started our journey November 14th in the afternoon. Our flight out of Prince George was to leave at 8:10pm. We were going to be taking a red-eye to Toronto, arriving in Atlanta on the 15th at 9:40a.m. Well it didn't exactly play out that way. It started to snow on us before we left to go to the airport, and the drive was pretty bad at times with white out conditions. We got to Prince George however, and there was no snow at all...so I was hopeful that things would be just fine. Well, after we got there it started to snow, and it got bad, but not bad enough until Greg left us to go back home that they canceled my flight. I was already dreading this trip, and this was just the beginning of a nightmare that took over 48 hours.

I waited in line to reschedule my flight with Air Canada, and picked to go the next morning at 7:30a.m. They were able to put Molly and I up for the night in a hotel, as I was totally stranded. Greg was to leave the next morning for Alberta for work for the next several days. I didn't sleep well, and got up around 4a.m. I got Molly up, and went downstairs at 5:55a.m to catch my ride to the airport, only to learn my flight had been canceled. Air Canada says Prince George is a difficult place to get in, and out of this time of year, but West Jet seemed to be doing just fine as they landed their planes about 20 minutes after my first flight was canceled. So, I was able to stay at the hotel until I needed to go to my flight that had been automatically re booked for 2:45pm that afternoon.

Greg was coming through PG to pick up a fellow at the airport before their 15+ hour drive to Sundre, AB, and was able to bring me some diapers for Molly. I had only packed enough to get us there on a regular trip. So we got to see him again, and say good bye.
Our flight left on time , and we were to arrive in Toronto at 1a.m. EST. The trip over was not so bad, as the crew on the Vancouver to Toronto leg of the trip took pity on me, and gave me their seats in the back so that I could stretch out with Molly. Otherwise the trip would have been horrible, as it is always a full flight from Vancouver to Toronto.

I get to Toronto at 1a.m., and we had no reservations for a room, and instead of getting a room for a couple of hours, I decided to just stay at the airport. So, Molly, and I attempted to sleep in the Toronto Airport....Molly got about 3 hours....I got 45 minutes. I was so paranoid about falling asleep, and finding her gone when I woke up. I had my hand on her the whole time. We were perfectly safe though, as the head of security that evening helped us out, and took us a too a safe area. She had to retrieve my wallet that I left by the pay phone in the secure area. I left it there after I had called the Sheraton at the airport to only find out they wanted $289 a night. SHEESH!

So, at 5:30a.m. I decided to push my trolley of luggage, car seat, and Molly in the stroller to go check my baggage. I had to retrieve that too when I entered Toronto so I could go through US customs.

Well, if you might have heard about the major computer glitch that caused the reservations network to be down for several hours during peak travel time... I was part of that statistic. (News Story) . When I went to get in line there were easily 300+_ people in front of me, and the line only grew. When people got to where I was, they looked disgusted, only to find out that it just kept going, and going, and going, until they ran out of building, and had to start snaking around, and around . The end of the line passed the beginning very quickly. :(

I was able to get through pretty quickly after the system came back up, but having to deal with customs, and baggage I still managed to miss my flight, as so did half the other passengers. They let that plane leave with 15 people on it! So, they sent us back to where we started with an $8 dollar voucher for breakfast, and a new flight to leave in 2 hours. In the meantime, my mom, and step dad were wondering if I was going to call anymore. :)

There were a group of us that kind of hung together, so it was nice to have someone in the same boat as me. Molly had no trouble at all making friends, and she was so good. She had a meltdown towards the end of our wait in Toronto. The lady that was sorting passengers, said she felt like crying too. All in all I couldn't have asked her to do any better. Also thank the heavens that Greg got her a portable DVD player! That saved me so many times on this trip.

Our flight from Toronto left about 45 minutes late, as they were trying to get all these backed up flights out. After they loaded us on the plane they told us it would be a little longer wait as they were taxiing out another plane, then they had to load our luggage. HEH! yeah, ok....RIGHT!

Molly, poor thing fell asleep before we took off, and didn't wake up until I woke her up after we landed in Atlanta an hour later than originally planned.

I gathered her, and her things,left the plane to go get our luggage, and meet my step dad, and mom at baggage claim. They weren't there, but I soon found out they were circling the airport waiting for us to arrive, instead of parking a million miles away.

Well, you think the story ends here, but it doesn't.... I am soon to learn that our luggage, and Molly's car seat are still in Toronto!!!! I am furious, but not too surprised. It was only fitting. I think everything that could go wrong went wrong except the plane crashing, which is something I am happy, and thankful for.

I had to file a lost luggage claim, and they would deliver it as soon as it came in to Atlanta. I was ok with this, but I told them that I have to go another 2 1/2 hours to our destination by car, and I HAD to have a car seat! I wasn't about to wait until this luggage showed up. So they gave us a loaner car seat. I was so glad to get out of there.
Our luggage showed up the next day, and Molly's car seat showed up on Monday.

Finally, we could rest, and relax, and enjoy ourselves. We had a wonderful time, and had lots of good food. I did lots of shopping, and enjoyed the weak US dollar while I could. :)

Our trip home was without problems, but was extremely long, and tiring,. I wasn't so lucky on the Toronto to Vancouver leg of the trip back as the flight was overbooked, and completely full. I had to hold Molly the whole 5 + hours. I was miserable, and ready to have a meltdown by the time we got to Vancouver. We were late leaving, but go into Vancouver in plenty of time .

We arrived in PG at 7:50pm. and met Greg with tears, and hugs. We were both exhausted.
I had never been so glad to see him in my life.

Anyhow, I have decided that I won't fly with Air Canada again unless I am forced to. It was the worst experience in my traveling life.
We are home now, and glad to be home. It will take us a few days to recover I think.
Here are some pictures from our trip South.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20851&page=1&id=549365894
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13876223@N00/

We hope that this finds you all well, and in good health.
Peace, and Love!--

Fall is the reason I love it here so much!

It is so beautiful here right now with all the pretty colors of fall. It is getting cooler here, and cold at night. It won't be too long before we get our first snow of the season. I have been taking pictures of the area, and I am so glad we made the move here. I might not feel the same way after we have snow for the next 4-5 months!! Maybe it won't be as bad as last winter!
Here are some pictures I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Seasons of change...

I believe our Summer is mostly over, and the Fall is peeking on the horizon. The leaves are already starting to change here. Spring comes late, and the Fall comes early in these parts. It is hard to get used to. We will probably have snow on the ground by Halloween. It is getting cooler, and you can tell that Fall is in the air. I love the Fall...it is my absolute favorite time of the year. I think I could live amongst the colors of Fall all year long. There is just something about this time of year I can't quite place my finger on, but it makes me feel at peace.

Finding inner peace...

Finding your inner peace is something that doesn't always come so easily. Finding something that truly makes you happy can be hard too, especially if you have roadblocks along the way... Life is general to be exact.

I have found the last 3 years were really hard for me...trying to be happy where we were, and making the best of life in the big city. No matter how how hard I tried it just wasn't working for me knowing we had 5 acres of land in the beautiful BC interior. 5 acres that truly belonged to us. It wasn't a place that we rented, and were limited.
I have longed for a real place of our own for a very long time, and I felt we were never going to get there.

That is finally all changing, and with our move in the spring to Quesnel our dreams are starting to come true...slowly, but surely.

I still find it hard to get motivated to do anything in this rental we are in. Because it is the same thing as before when we were in the city. We have been working on the land, and it has been so refreshing for me. I love spending time there. It is so peaceful, and quiet. We have lots of trees, of which a good lot are Aspen. I love the Aspens. When the wind blows it makes their little leaves dance, and flutter, and it is so relaxing to me.
Yesterday, I gathered rocks for the driveway, and I was so happy to sit there, and create something that will be ours for as long as we are there. I told Greg that I can't wait for us to be out there full time. I long for the day that we can sit on our porch, and listen to the Aspen dance, and flutter in the breeze.

On a different note:
We had friends come up a week ago, and camp out at the land. It was a fun time. We cooked out there, and it was great. We have more friends coming up for the long weekend, and it will be nice to have them here. We are planning a trip to Barkerville, and it will be our first trip there since we arrived.
Well, I have to get busy, I have tons to do this week!!

I am still here. :)

I have been extremely bad about posting on here. I have to admit I am spending most of my time on Facebook these days. It is very addicting!!!
Well, it is the start of August, and we are doing fine here in the our little part of Canada. The weather has been warm, but not as bad as it could be. We in fact have had cooler weather this week. It has been nice.

Greg is working hard at his job at West Fraser Mills. He likes it quite well. I am just busy being a stay at home mom. Molly is 14months old today. It is amazing how much she has changed in the last few months. She is walking, and growing like crazy. She is already so tall it seems. She outgrows her clothes lengthwise long before anything else. She is eating regular table food mostly, and loves all kinds of things. Greg even has her eating raw tomato, onion, and peppers. I still have her on a transition formula because she eats like a bird, so I feel it is necessary to give her that extra boost to get her daily supplement in.

We have been doing some projects around the land. Greg got a old used utility trailer at a moving sale, and took off the old wood. It was rotting, and the bolts were rusted. He sanded, and painted the frame, and replaced the plywood, and it looks awesome. It will come in handy to haul things back, and forth to the land. Greg has started some clearing of smaller trees, and underbrush on the front part of the property. We spent a few hours last weekend cutting trees, and trimming. It was nice to get my hands dirty. :) We had to get a sitter for Molly as it is not an ideal environment for a toddler just yet. I really enjoyed it since I haven't been able to really help much because of Molly. We plan on spending time out there tomorrow as well.

We are loving small town life, and enjoying the area. There seems to always be some kind of function going on in Quesnel. We are making friends, and making contacts. Greg is volunteering for the Lion's Club, and will join them this Fall. They don't meet in the Summer, though they still have functions, and activities they do during the Summer months. The Lions do wonderful work, and contribute so much to the community.

Molly, and I have been enjoying the Summer, taking walks, and spending time at the park. Most of the baby group functions stop for the Summer, so we will forward to the Fall when things start back up again.

We are still renting a townhouse in town for now. It is really convenient for me to be able to walk to where ever I need to go for now. That will definitely become an issue once we are on the land. It will be time to get a second car by then.

We have debated putting a trailer, or building a small dwelling until we can start the cordwood process. For now, we are going to stay in town. We are going to try our very best to build a shed on the property for storage. We are getting quite the collection of lawn equipment, and tools , and we just don't have the space here.

We are very much looking forward to some of our friends from the coast coming up at the end of the month for a visit. It will be nice to see them. It is quite the drive back down to Vancouver, so we haven't made the trip since we arrived in March. Greg will have to take a trip to get his passport soon. We will be traveling to Alabama in November to visit family, and friends, so he will definitely need it by then. He will also need it for work, because on occasion it may be necessary for him to travel to the U.S for work. West Fraser owns about 14 mills or more in the States.

I am desperate to fix up our bedroom, so that it is a nice place to relax, and spend time together. I would love to spend more time reading. We got the new Harry Potter, and Greg has already finished reading it. So, I had better get busy.

Anyhow, not much else to report around here....hopefully it won't be a month again before I post. :)
Cheers!
Here are some pictures we took working on the property:

Happy Canada Day!!

Getting used to the weather ...

Well, it has definitely been an adjustment with the weather situation in our new home. It has been hot some recently, but mostly mild. In fact it has been cold again at night the last couple of nights...Getting down to 4C. The first signs of spring didn't even come until mid May. When they say scattered storms, they mean scattered...sunshine, and blue sky in between. I was even wearing a sweatshirt last night, and it JUNE for crying out loud. :) I would never be able to pull that off in Alabama unless I am in a building that has the a/c on in the 60's F.

We are adjusting well otherwise to our new town, and making friends. The people here are so nice. We do like it very much. We miss our friends back on the coast, but we don't miss the city at all.

We are in the midst of finding temporary housing to put on our land, so that we can be on our land. We don't want to rent anymore. We don't really want to live in a trailer, and the only way I will agree to that is, if it is temporary. We want to build a cordwood house, and that will just take some time. Once we are on the land permanently, that will make it easier for us to do the things we want to do with more ease, and comfort, especially with a baby. So we are looking, and trying to find something.

In the meantime, I just feel like I am spinning my wheels, and biding my time here in town.
So, we will see....Nothing much else to report here.
Hope all is well where you are!

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I would have never thought...

I got this interesting email today warning about the toxicity of hand santizers, and the dangers they could impose on small children.
So much of the stuff that comes through our inbox is a bunch of garbage, but every once in a while you get something on the up, and up.
Very scary stuff...


And to think we are REQUIRED to buy this stuff for their school supplies! (SMB)

Please read below and follow the link:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

Ok. I don't know where to begin because the last 2 days of my life have
been such a blur. Yesterday, My youngest daughter Halle who is 4, was rushed
to the emergency room by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent. He was called to her school by the school secretary for being "very VERY sick." He told me that when he arrived that Halle was barely sitting in the chair. She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them. He immediately called me after he scooped her up and rushed her to the ER.

When we got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays,every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal, nothing was out of the ordinary. The ER doctor told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was sending her to Saint Francis for further test.

Right when we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher had come to the ER, and after questioning Halle's classmates, we found out that she had licked hand sanitizer off her hand. Hand sanitizer, of all things. But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of different scents and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things in their mouths.

When we arrived at Saint Francis, we told the ER doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, which, yes we did get weird looks from it but they did it. The results were her blood alcohol level was 85% and this was 6 hours after we first took her. There's no telling what it would have been if we would have tested it at the first ER.

Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken this out of the classrooms of all the lower grade classes but what's to stop middle and high schoolers too? After doing research off the internet, we have found out that it only takes 3 squirts of the stuff to be fatal in a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high was to compare someone her size to drinking something 120 proof.

So please PLEASE don't disregard this because I don't ever want anyone to go through what my family and I have gone through.

Today was a little better but not much. Please send this to everyone you know that has children or are having children. It doesn't matter what age. I just want people to know the dangers of this.
Thank you

My top 4!

tom welling62
Originally uploaded by louiseq.

Here is my top 4 male celebrity Hottie list!!!!

Tom Welling
Johnny Depp
Hugh Jackman
Colin Firth

Colin Firth
Originally uploaded by [LaPanteraRosa].

OUT17292538
Originally uploaded by juani.

Johnny Depp
Originally uploaded by everchanginggirl.

I absolutely LOVE the show Smallville, and I look forward to it every week. It is my one treat for the week. The season is over until the Fall, and it sucks. :( There are always re-runs. Tom Welling has the most incredible smile, and those eyes...YUM!
(I need help, I know :)

Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, and Colin Firth are incredible actors, and very easy to look at. I am a sucker for Australian, and English accents, and rebels with a cause. :)


I guess I am a sucker for brunettes! :)

GRIZZLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Came across this young adult Grizzly bear this afternoon on our way to Wells, BC....what a rare treat! He didn't seem to be afraid of cars, or people. There was even this woman that got out of her car to take pictures....what an idiot!!!!!

Our New Sofa! :)

This is our new microfibre double recliner sofa we got on Saturday. It is really comfy. The microfibre is a suede-like material. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Friday! :)

Well, it has been a while since I have written an update really. We are doing well here. Greg likes his job, and is doing really well. I am making new friends, and getting out. I joined Curves a month ago. It has helped me a lot to get that "me" time every week, plus get much needed exercise. Walking with Molly just isn't enough, and I do need time to myself to de-stress, and unwind. I go 2-3 times a week.

Greg, and I have a date on Saturday!! It is the first time we will leave Molly alone with a sitter. I met her at Curves, she is a really nice girl. We are going to go for dinner, and to see Spiderman 3.

It was high time we got a sitter, but just haven't had the resources really in finding one, since we were new in town. I am a little bit nervous leaving her for the first time, but we will only be a couple of blocks away...small towns are great for that. :) We are even going to walk since the theatre, and restaurant are so close.

It will be nice to have time together. We need that as a couple, and Molly needs to have time to be without us too. She is growing more independent each day, but she loves her mommy, and daddy.

I invited the sitter over last night to spend some time with Molly, and I just to give Molly the chance to get to know her a little better. She met Molly on Monday.
She spent two hours with us, and Molly just took to her, like she was one of the family. I went upstairs for a few minutes, and left them alone. I came back down, and watched from around the corner. Molly, and the sitter just sat there, and played. Molly didn't make a sound. It was awesome! :) So, I think she will be ok.

We are also going to get a new couch this weekend, hopefully as part of my Mother's Day gift. We haven't had one since we moved, and we desperately need one. It isn't so fun taking turns sitting in a the rocker glider that belongs in Molly's nursery to watch movies together. Sitting on the floor is incredibly uncomfortable. I just hope they have the one we saw in the flyer online. I am going to go today to check.

Molly is 11 months old today! It is so hard to believe that in one month she will be a year old!! Where has the time gone?

Anyhow, not much else to report. We hope you have a most lovely weekend, and a wonderful Mom's Day to all you Moms out there!!
Cheers!
Jen

Shane's Wish

Shane is a little boy in Ontario that has leukemia, and his one wish is to receive the most birthday cards ever. His birthday is May 30th. His story has made the headlines, and been broadcast on the news. His goal is to receive 350,000 million birthday cards!!! There are only 22 days left until his birthday. (correction on amount)
Let's see if we can help him make his goal.

You can read about his journey, and get news updates here:

Shane's Wish

I am going today to get a card for him.

First Signs of Spring! Finally!! :)

We finally have the first signs of Spring!! :)

Playing in the Sunshine!

Well, the sun is out this afternoon finally after an overcast, cold, and foggy morning. I got outside, and puttered around in the area by the back door. There is a little grassy area on either side of the stairs. It is just enough space to have a very small garden, and or flowers. The maintenance man took down the old dilapidated fence that was back there, and so it is really sunny there now. I don't know if they will replace the fence or not at this point. I hope they do to some extent, but having it opened up was nice for a change. There is a walkway that runs the length of the building, and we have wanderers come through there all the time.

It made me happy to clean up the dead stuff, and get ready for when it is warm enough to put some flowers, and veggies out. I find a nice breeze, and a little sunshine is a cure for what ails ya! I had the back door open, and a nice breeze was coming in...the kitchen window is stuck, so once that is open, then it will be nice to have the breeze as I am cooking dinner. :)

I think the difference with here, and living in Richmond is the lack of noise here. :) We are in the downtown core at the moment, but it is quiet for the most part.
We had a yard, and space to putter, and garden in Richmond, but I just didn't enjoy it because it was noisy, and loud from all the traffic.

I am really looking forward to being able to work our land once it is nice enough to do so. It is still pretty cool out.

Well, I am off to spend some time with my girl.
Hope you are having a lovely weekend!

Johnny Depp

I love it!!! A tribute to one of my all time fav actors! :)

The Illusionist w/Neverending White Lights - The Grace

I love this song, and this movie was just awesome. What a wonderful tribute to both!

Remembering Virginia Tech

We all unfortunately have another tragedy to add to our recent memories...far too many so far for a person my age. It is always hard to understand, or make sense of any tragedy or why 32 innocent people had to die yesterday on the Campus of Virginia Tech University. A list of people that included a holocaust survivor. It is very sad, and angers me that the world is not in a very nice state right now. It makes me second guess my decision that brought a life into this world. I only hope that her life will make a difference someday, and make the world a better place to live.

A bathroom with a view...the best seat in the house. :)

I find a nice cool breeze blowing lace curtains most relaxing, and refreshing.

What a beautiful day!

Well, what a beautiful day this has been. It warmed up to a nice 21C which converts to the 60's in F. This is quite a change from our -13C earlier in the week. We even have our windows open today. We took a drive this afternoon out on the back roads in the surrounding areas. It was a beautiful drive. We saw some deer, and a dead coyote. :)

Still lots of snow in places, but it is beginning to thaw. I took a few pictures, but not as many as I should have. I was on the look out for bears, as it is about time for them to be waking up. Spring comes late here, and we don't have any blooms yet. No pollen yet, but it will come soon enough. I wonder how I will react to the pollen during the Spring up in this part of the world.

It's warming up!

This Easter weekend is suppose to be fabulous. Highs in the 60's! :) This will be Molly's first Easter. We are not going to do anything special really. I am going to make her up a candy free basket of goodies, and dress her up...have to take lots of pictures for the family. :) Have a great weekend!

It is winter again in Quesnel!

We woke up to -13C this morning which converts to 8.6 F! It is bloody cold. It is April for crying out loud! It is suppose to be much warmer by Friday. I sure hope so!!! :)

Now talk about being pampered, and spoiled...

Well, I was talking to an acquaintance on the phone today. I will say her name is Sally Sue. (names, and relation being kept anonymous for certain reasons) Sally Sue told me that she was talking to Norma Jean on the phone today. Norma Jean's daughter lives in California, and lives quite the pampered life if you ask me. She has two little boys under the age of 4. She orders her groceries online, has a housekeeper come in once a week, and has a nanny that comes in to help with the boys. Norma Jean's daughter claims she still needs more help, and despite her husband's complaints that she already has enough help, he has brought more help in. It must be nice, I must say. I would love to have someone come in, and help me sometime with Molly. In fact, I am looking to have someone just come in, and entertain her so I can get the house in some kind of order. We still have unpacked boxes, and stuff everywhere. Anyhow, I just had to write about how funny I find this. *shakes head in disbelief* Some people just don't have a clue, do they?

Weird Weather!!!

I am beginning to think we moved to Calgary...
Yesterday it was 13 C nice, and a bit blustery. This morning it was 8 C. Now it is 1 C and snowing!!!!! I just don't get it. Wacky weather...even the locals say this past winter was unusually snowy. It is spring time for crying out loud!!! :)

Great News!

Greg got offered a job today, and he accepted it. He starts on Monday. We went out for dinner tonight in sort of a celebration. It was so nice, because we were the only people in the restaurant, and our waitress took it upon herself to take Molly on a tour around the dining area while we had our dinner in peace. She stayed close by so we wouldn't feel weird. Molly did really well, and it was strange eating dinner out , and not having her right there with us the whole time. It was a nice break. :)Small town life is so different than the big city. I think we will do well here :)

It's the weekend...

Just trying to plan out our Sunday. Saturday got botched because Molly had a rough night on Friday night, and bled into Saturday. She is trying to cut her upper teeth, and is suffering a bit. She is having a really hard time this go around. Luckily what started as getting up every hour or so whining, and crying ended about midnight, and she slept through until 5:30a.m. had a bottle, and up again at 8 or so. So we had a much better night. Thank goodness. Anyhow, it is suppose to rain later, but looks nice for now. I think we are going to go out exploring. So, I better go get ready, and pack up some stuff for Molly. :)
Have a great day!~

It's snowing again!

It is the first day of spring, and we are getting snow. It has been snowing all day. We haven't gotten a whole lot of accumulation though, and it will probably be gone in the next couple of days. I am ready for it to be nice, so that we can spend some time on the land.

Kiva.org- microloans for small businesses

I really love this idea.
They manage no-interest loans for small businesses in poorer countries. They have a 100% payback rate (since they took over…prior to that it was 96%), and that’s a pretty incredible thing. They are choosing the right people who need the right kind of help.

Their spiel:

I want to let you all know about a cool non-profit that is doing great things: Kiva.org

Kiva.org allows individuals to make $25 loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). By doing so, individuals like you provide affordable working capital for the poor (money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc.), empowering them to earn their way out of poverty.

It’s a new, direct and sustainable way to fight global poverty, and the way I see it, I get a higher return on $25 helping someone build a future than the interest my checking account pays.

Anyways, if you have a minute, please check out the site: http://kiva.org. If you need more “reputable” validation than my recommendation :), know that they have received great press in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to NPR to BusinessWeek.

Thanks for reading!

Greg, and I picked one borrower to help right now. Olga Djondo of Togo is seeking a little more help to get her beauty salon business to a sustainable state. She's apprenticing two sisters. Looking over this, I'm willing to give it a $25 shot, and the repayment terms for her are 12-15 months (where I can reinvest in another business or take back my money).

I think it is a worthwhile cause, hopefully you will too. :)

Cheers!
Jen

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Raises a pint in honour of me late Grandma Gert!!! Here's to ya Gertie! :)

Woke up to snow this morning...

The old snow was about gone in town, and now we have a whole new batch! We got at least 5-6 inches. The locals say that this is the worst winter in a long time...usually don't get this much snow. I don't know what the grand total thus far for the area is, but I am sure it will help out it being so dry this Summer.

It's just after midnight, and the town is asleep

It is so weird getting used to a small town again. Being from a small town the towns were pretty close together where I am from originally. The largest town near here is over an hour in either direction. It is currently after midnight, and we have a good view from our townhouse. This town is definitely asleep...I don't see a soul. Now, I am not saying someone isn't driving around, and we are near the highway, but all in all it is QUIET! It is kind of creepy.

I went out to the store last night, and no kidding, I was the only customer in the store aside from the 2 clerks on duty! A couple people came in after, but it was soooo weird. It was only 9:30pm. The Safeway does close at 10pm, but even in Richmond, stores have people in them up until closing.

Anyhow, I am off to bed. Daylight savings time has me all screwed up!!
Cheers!
Jen

It was Quesnel or Bust, and We're finally here!!! :)

Well, I just got my home machine hooked up this afternoon. I have been checking my email from our laptop for the last week. I haven't been able to upload any pictures, or do anything really.

We made the move from Richmond, BC to Quesnel, BC finally after having bought land in Quesnel in the Summer of 2004.

Our plans are to build a house on the acreage we bought in the next year!!! Here's to hoping!!! :)

I am going to cheat a little, and post my husband's blog entry about our little adventure to the Cariboo. He just makes it sound so much better than I could ever make it sound. :)

It was an interesting adventure to say the least! I am just glad we are here, and ready to get on with our lives.

Taken from www.gadgeteer.net

So much here, I’m just not sure at all where to begin.

On the 27th of February, I picked up a moving truck from U-Haul. If you think about moving trucks for a second, you probably know how crappy this was. The truck itself was just one year older than our 1999 Forester, but it was beaten up pretty bad in its life. Really, if I was an honourable U-Haul CEO, I’d make a rule that said anything someone pays $800 for three days use of a vehicle, they should be given something that works properly, and has a very few comforts. At the very least, comforts like a working set of tail-lights and a stable suspension should be provided. Alas, the world is a different place than my aspirations for the quality of my moving truck.

The 27th was a very difficult day. Thanks go very much to JD and Gret, who helped us immeasurably. But in the poor state of our packing, and the difficulties in playing 3D Tetris with misshapen boxes and miscellaneous furniture in the back of a truck, and attempting to pack with a needy and cold-afflicted 9 month old baby in the house…things got problematic.

Our original intent was to split the trip over two days…Richmond to Merritt, and then Merritt to Quesnel. It ended up being Richmond to Chilliwack (not anywhere near as far) and then Chilliwack to 30 minutes from Quesnel and then back to Williams Lake, and then a third day into Quesnel. The hotel we booked in Merritt for that night said that they had to charge us anyway, but the hotel in Quesnel that we weren’t able to reach did not do so. From now on we’ll just not bother booking hotels ahead of time. It never works out well.

1 hour from Quesnel we came across, on an unlit rural road, a truck over on its side in the ditch, with blood in the interior and the rear cab window apparently kicked out. After getting a flashlight to make sure there was no one still inside we headed on, after a fair delay.

30 minutes from Quesnel, according to a trucker I talked to around 10:30pm was a semi that decided to take steep “Chin Hill” without chains in February. He ended up jackknifed and across the whole road, so while the RCMP, a sand truck, and a wrecker-tow truck arrived, they had to stop all traffic in both directions and wait. We waited an hour or so, before I made the judgment call to turn back to the previous town…over an hour backtracking. According to that and another trucker, it could have been another 1.5 to 3 hours before they had it clear, and I didn’t want to make Jen and Molly sit through that.

I wonder though, if we hadn’t stopped for the truck that was flipped over, would we have gotten ahead of the semi? Or perhaps been involved in the accident?

So, on back to the road in the morning, but much later arriving than desired. We got in around 9, and meeting the people who offered to help us unpack. My father’s wife’s sister lives in Quesnel and she arranged for a couple of young, bright, and kind Mormon men to help us unload. I truly cannot express how much I appreciated and continue to appreciate this help, and I still don’t know what I can do in return but continue to be thankful. I asked about offering payment, which they refused, as expected. I ended up offering whatever computer advice I could give whenever they needed it. I hope they take me up on the offer eventually. After helping us, they headed off to wash dishes at the Salvation Army. Like I said, awesome young men.

Now, the house is a disaster, but we are here and can manage it over time. It’s a 2.5 level townhouse, with 3 bedrooms upstairs, kitchen and living room on the main floor, and a half-level basement with laundry, furnace, etc. Pico managed to find his way down there and into the enclosed crawlspace beneath the townhouse…we’ll have to keep him out now, as I don’t know what all is down there. I’ve already managed to make a few contacts that might pay off, and have an interview next week.

The place itself…kinda sucks. When I found this place, I wasn’t able to see it. I was allowed into a neighbors place to see it, and was assured that our place was “in better shape". It’s not. Holes in the industrial-level carpet, crappy paint, and a need for more serious cleaning and updating. It’s livable, but really does need some work. I hope to convince the owner that it’s worth doing.

So, all in all…we’re safe, we’re in Quesnel, and we’ve got a lot of unpacking ahead of us, as well as a lot of bill-paying to do. I haven’t yet looked at the credit card statement. It’s going to be ugly, and I’m certain I’ll need to scrimp and save for a while to recover from this move.


So that is it in a nutshell...

Aside from that Molly is growing like crazy. She stood up on her own in her crib yesterday. Today she waved to a nice lady at the drugstore. She is so happy, and healthy. She is not quite crawling on all fours, but she is getting there. she is so expressive, and she just makes us laugh. She is a joy.

Well, I am off for now. I will be posting new pictures on our flickr account, and hope to have some good ones as soon as the place is put together.

Cheers!
Here are some pics I took today on a walk along the river:

On hiatus for a while...

Well, we are in the midst of packing up our lives, and moving 9 hours away. So life is pretty hectic these days. I won't be blogging until after we get moved, and somewhat settled. In the meantime, feel free to read the archives. :) Be back soon...
cheers!
Jen

We have a place to live!!!!

Greg secured us an older 3 bedroom townhouse in downtown Quesnel today. While it is nothing super fantastic to look at , it is clean, safe, and quiet. That is all I ask for. It has three bedrooms upstairs, the kitchen, and living area are on the main floor, and it has a partial basement with a washer/dryer hookup. There isn't a yard so to speak, but hey we have 5 acres a few miles away! :) I am so excited now, and relieved. I guess it is official now. We are on our way!! :)

Snow on our land in Quesnel :)

Greg went up to our land today, and took these photos. There is a lot of snow for February :D

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Life Changes yet again...

Well, we are finally going to do it! We are going to move to where are land is...lovely Quesnel, BC in the interior. In the summer of 2004, we purchased 5 acres of land off of the Barkerville Highway.

We have had a lot of change in our lives this past year, and with Greg's job ending in December, we decided after long consideration that this was the best time to make the leap to Quesnel.

We are a little nervous, but excited about this new chapter in our lives. I let my employer know that I won't be returning after my maternity leave is up, and we gave our landlady notice.

Greg is currently driving on his way up now to try to find us a place to live. He has started up a small home based business Webwise Network Services in hopes that one day it will take off into something full time. He has been doing well on contract stuff since his job ended. For now, though he is looking for other employment. He has a job interview on Friday. So wish him luck.

We have so much to do in the next 3 weeks! It is crazy. :)

I will continue to stay at home with Molly for now. Daycare in the city is freakishly expensive, and so whether we had opted to stay in the Vancouver area, or move away I would have probably have stayed home either way.

So, it will be interesting to see how this move goes. Especially with a soon to be 8 month old. I imagine we are going to very tired for a while yet! :)

I will try to update as frequently as I can. Life is about to get really hectic for the next little while.
Cheers!
Jen

I will never use regular cat litter again...

We have a male cat named Pico. He is 5 years old. About 6 months ago we quick using the scoopable litter that we have for years. His litter box would just reek from the strong ammonia smell of his urine. So, we tried the crystals, and he would try to eat those. Then Greg brought home these pine pellet things. I was apprehensive, because I thought it would be really bad. Well, to my surprise they work really well. They absorb all the bad smell, and you can't even tell Pico uses his box, unless he just made a big stink, but that goes away. You can scoop out the poop, and after a week I just dump the whole thing, and add fresh. The pellets become a powder after they absorb, but there is no mess really. I highly recommend using the pine pellets if you have a cat. It is better for the environment as well. :) They come in different brands, so just ask you local pet supplier.

Cheers!

Missing the Southland...

Sometimes I really miss Alabama. Especially the sounds, and sights of the warmer weather. I don't necessarily miss the warm weather. In fact I don't miss the 90+F temps, and the high humidity at all that we get there in the warmer months. The spring tends to be balmy a bit too. Fall is the best though.

I miss the sound of the crickets at night, and I miss seeing the stars out at night. They do have stars here in Canada, but you have to drive a couple hours out of the city to see anything. I miss thunderstorms! Thunderstorms are really rare for this part of the country.

I miss southern cooking so much! I miss catfish, and chicken 'n dumplings, cornbread, and butter peas. I could cook chicken, and dumplings & cornbread myself, but nothing replaces my mama's home cooking.

Most of all, I miss my family, and friends.

British Columbia is so beautiful, and I love it here, but sometimes you just have to have that fix every now, and then. :)

I feel pretty lucky...

I have my health,a great husband, a beautiful healthy daughter, and wonderful supportive family, and friends. I have food to eat, clothes to wear, and I have a roof over my head. When I watch shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition, I feel even luckier that I haven't had to endure some of the hardships, and tragedy the people featured have had to go through. I am so touched by this program, and the good they do in this world.

Fear of becoming a "helicopter " parent...

Helicopter parents are so named because, like a helicopter, they hover closely overhead, rarely out of reach whether their children need them or not.

Now, I wouldn't categorize myself as an extremist in this, but I do tend to hover over Molly when she is learning to do things on her own.

Take sitting up for instance... I am just so paranoid about her wacking her little noggin on our laminate floor. So I pad her with quilts, and pillows. Now, she is exploring her padded area, and showing signs of crawling. She is breaching those boundaries, and because her arms are not quite strong enough to support her at a crawl stance she chooses to push her head into the floor, and put her butt in the air. Now this is fine when she is in her crib, or on the quilt because it is padded. Greg says we have to let her learn on her own that if she hits her head, it will hurt. I know he is right, but I hate not having carpeting.

She has hit her head a few times already, and she knows it hurts, but she hasn't made that connection yet in what causes this. It doesn't help that I accidentally let her slip, and fall while getting her out of her jolly jumper while it was still hanging. She hit the floor head first. I was so upset, I cried. She screamed of course, but was fine a couple of minutes later.

I don't want to become a helicopter parent, but does it make me a bad parent for knowingly letting my child hurt herself? My guess is it doesn't make me a bad parent, but it sure makes me feel bad.

Alleged Serial Killer Robert Pickton goes on trial

Once convicted, Robert William Pickton will go down in the history books as Canada's worst serial killer ever.

From Wikipedia " Robert Pickton is charged with the first degree murders of twenty-six women, and is implicated, as of January 28, 2004, in the murders of up to five more, many of them prostitutes from the Downtown Eastside district of the city of Vancouver. The British Columbia Crown Attorney has indicated it plans to bring at least seven more murder charges against him in the coming year, and new DNA evidence continues to be unearthed at his pig farm.

During the first day of his trial, January 22, 2007, the Crown stated he confessed to forty-nine murders to an undercover police officer posing as a cell mate. The crown reported that Pickton told the officer that he wanted to kill another woman to make it an even 50, and that he was caught because he was "sloppy""


There is no death penalty in Canada. This will be a long year.

New Snow on the Ground...

Well, I just discovered that we have new snow on the ground. The lingering bits from the snow we had over a couple of weeks ago was about gone last night. This is our 5th snowfall of the season, and that is highly unusual for the immediate Vancouver area. Molly , and I have baby group today. I am really glad that it is changing over to rain as the temperature climbs above freezing today. I don't want to drive in the snow. Molly was up at 5a.m. this morning, which isn't too unusual. So after her bottle we go back to sleep on the couch. She will usually sleep until 8-8:30a.m. She woke back up at 7a.m.! I was not ready to get up. There's a new episode of Smallville on tonight. YEAH! :) I just love that show.

I'm tired...

Some days being a mom really takes it out of me... Especially when Molly is extremely fussy. She is a very vocal little girl, and she will express very quickly her dislike in something. She will scream, and we are trying to teach her that is not good, but she seems to think it is funny. I know she will catch on , but I hope it is soon.

I see these shows on tv, like Nanny 911, and Super Nanny, and I hope that with all that is good in this world, that my daughter won't turn out to be a hellish little creature like some of the kids I see on those shows.

Anyhow, I feel like I got more accomplished today. I made Molly some food, and I packed up a whole box of clothes that she had outgrown to send to my cousin's wife, who is expecting her third child. This one was a surprise, and they just found out it was a girl. I was so glad, because Molly has so many nice things that I can pass on. She was more that glad to have them, as they had gotten rid of all the baby clothes from the two other children in their last move.

Anyhow, I must go make some food for our baby group tomorrow. We are watching a movie, and having a potluck luncheon. :)

Cheers!
Jen

I feel empowered...

Well, today is the first day in a long while that I feel like I got something accomplished. I have been less motivated as of late, and not getting much done around the house in the way of cleaning up. I would do what was necessary, and let the rest of it go. It is really hard to get things done most days with Molly requiring attention. That is getting to be easier, but some days are better than others. I hope this is the beginning of me getting out of a rut.

I wished I could have seen my face!

Three days ago I made a coffee date for today at 10:30a.m with my good friend G. I was on the computer when I heard a knock at the door... I assumed it was the mailman with a package. Greg, and I neither one were appropriately dressed to answer the door, but I went anyhow. To my complete surprise I saw my friend standing there. I felt I had a quizzical look on my face, as she said, "I am a little early." If I had thought about it, I would have smacked myself in the head.... I completely forgot about our coffee date! I have never done this, and I will never live this down. G. was pretty cool with it, and even waited while I took a sponge bath, and threw some clothes on. I guess motherhood drains your braincells dry. :)

Another blast of weird weather...

Well, the northwest is being slammed again with yet another cold blast weather system. It brought along strong winds and rain, and now snow. This area has been slammed with at least 4 major wind storms in the last 6 weeks. Leaving many people without power, and proper drinking water for quite some time.

Famous BC Place Stadium has been effected as well. A large rip in the canopy caused the dome to deflate...since then three more major tears have occurred. This lastest blast of bad weather won't help the repairs at all. The dome hasn't had a full deflate since it was built 24 years ago.

The wind storm yesterday was insane. I went to Costco for a few things. I had left Molly at home with Greg, and I am so glad that I did. The wind was gusting up to 100km an hour. Carts were aimlessly blowing across the lot, and hitting cars. As people were leaving the store, lightweight items were blowing out of their carts. It was pure craziness.

We woke up to a few cm of snow on the ground. There has been so much damage the last few weeks, the area will take a while to recover, and lots of money to make repairs. Legendary Stanley Park has lost thousands of trees this past 6 weeks or so. I know Vancouver Island, and the North Shore has had a harder time of it than we have in Richmond. We have been lucky that we haven't lost power here, and we only had to boil our water a couple of days.

Apparently, it has been bad for the entire province. Blizzard conditions have roads closed all over. I tell you this is the weirdest winter I have experienced since moving to Canada.

I have family in nearby Washington State, and they haven't been spared either.
I know they have had to run their generator for days because of power loss, and they are enduring the same system we currently are.

Pictures taken tonight:
Snow
More Snow

The Grace - Neverending White Lights

I love this song! It is so beautiful.

Lady in the Water

Greg and I watched Lady in the Water... M. Night Shyamalan's newest movie. It is based on a bedtime story he wrote for his daughters. It is a great story. I think I will be buying this book to read to Molly when she is older.
Official Movie Website

Girls Raised in the South G.R.I.T.S

I got a some merchandise from Girls Raised in the South from my mom for Christmas.
Too Fun! :)

you can visit their website
here.

Happy New Year!!!

May 2007 be everything that you want it to be
Cheers!!!