Merry Xmas from us to you!

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Life has been hectic, no Christmas cards were sent this year... no presents have been bought yet .. so please excuse my lame blog as of late.

Hope you are all full of holiday spirit and you and your family enjoy this special time~

BLOGHER

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Who's heard of Blogher? It is something fairly new to me too.

Well, what do you know, each year in the summer there is a 2 day blogging conferrence (held in different cities each year).

Well next July it's being held in Chicago!! I totally want to go. I was talking to Laura, who's already gone once, and she loved it. There are seminars to attend so you can learn about how to write the type of material that people are drawn to, and how to improve things on your blog.

Not to mention meeting bloggers that you may or may not know in the blogworld. From all over the world!! (I can't think of a better opportunity than this)

As I was saying, I'd love to go, and I want to see who else would consider joining me? Seriously, 2 days (July 24th and 25th in Chicago...do I have to twist your arm?)

Let me know, and we can chat... there's lots to talk about, like room sharing, favorite beverages and other such important things, etc...

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19 days gone...

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And I'm back to let you know that the hateful website - the one which all of you kindly flagged, has finally been (either forced, or willfully - doesn't matter) made private.

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Yeay I am so happy that I'm doing a happy snoopy dance around my living room!!

I know I've been gone long, but I know you understand, since I was working on my relationship.

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I am happy to report that things are going splendidly and we are awesome, in some ways better than before because now we know what the problems were and have fixed those.

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With Xmas coming fast and furious, how is everyone else holding up?

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

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Jp will be in Montreal next weekend, from thursday to monday - so I will have plenty of time for blogging... just giving you the heads up.

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In the meantime I'm driving a 'rental' Toyota Corrolla as my Yaris is getting a makeover. It's weird, but after driving a small tiny hatchback for so long, a Corrolla seems gi-normous.

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Missed you all and it's good to be back!

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Hey y'all!

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When I got out of the underground parking the other day - a new driver had a stop sign, waiting to get out of the parking lot and COMPLETLY ignored the stop sign... so this is what my car looks like now:

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...

Nice, eh?

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My pretty little blue Yaris :=(

Let's move on

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It is almost Halloween after all... and now that we've had the spooky post below, let's have a fun one above it.

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Today at work, there was a pumpkin carving contest. Big deal, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too. Oh my gosh was I wrong! WOW

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Each department got into it and they were soo competitive. I've never seen anything like it. Now I didn't have a camera handy to take pictures of all the different departments, and because this was a raffle for charity, the pumpkins have already been 'won' by people so they are gone.

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But I do have some shots that I received via email from a co worker of a few of the departments... including the department who won the contest.

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Here's what we did all day at work, lol.

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First up:

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Finance Department

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They turned their pumpkin into Cinderella...glitter and everything on their pumpkin. How stinkin' cute is that? This was the first pumpkin on display, so it raised the bar. No one even thought about add-ons before this....lol

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Next up, came

Police Department

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Theirs was the most fun one. If you look closely you can see the half eaten doughnut and coffee on the car. And they are carrying a smaller pumpkin behind them (there is a sign on top marked 'paddy wagon', lol)

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Ours is the

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Tax Department

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We pretty much freaked out when we saw the other ones, as our department consists of 5 girls. Our idea of carving a pumpkin was cut out triangles and a mouth. So, we downloaded some 'easy clown mask pumpkin tips' from the internet and went to the dollar store to buy a carving kit on our break. Then, I called my dad and asked him to raid my daughter's toybox and bring me her Mr. Potato Head's arms so I could use them.

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I am not sure what the next one is really supposed to be:

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Community Services Department

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And the winner is

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The Planning Department

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It's no wonder they deal with building permits and construction by-laws. I mean just LOOK at their work of art. This must have been planned for for a while. I mean, seriously, did they create blueprints for it? It was awesome. I even voted for it to win, even though I told the girls in Taxes that I voted for ours, tee hee.

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My only question is, for the people who won these pumpkins... I wonder how they took them home in one piece?

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I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

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You want spooky? Read this!

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Okay so I am pissed.

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I spent about a week and a half thinking of what to do about this blog. As you all know, I went private for 2 weeks to privately mourn when JP left. Since he's come back and we're working things out, I wanted to make the blog un-private again.

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Then I saw a website that my lovely ex boyfriend put up about me. So I clammed up and quickly went private again, when I realized this person is STILL keeping such close tabs on me.

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I mean, seriously? You still read me? WTH?

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I am angry, freaked out and a bit disturbed by this. He has taken posts that i've written in the past, and spun his own interpretation of it on this web page. Never mind that he's taken something out of contest, or that it's not even true.

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Those of you who have read me for a while will remember these posts... after each post he claims something.

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At first he claims I went private because I wanted to bad mouth my exhusband Richard. As you all know, (since you've read me for 2 years) that is not the case. I went private because this nutbar (still clearly) followed my life on the blog and I was uncomfortable with that.

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Then he claimed I lied about our wedding day. No I didn't. As you all remember, I got married in July and our pictures got lost. We re-did our pictures on our Alaskan cruise, which was in September. (Sept. 11 also happens to be the day we met, so we alwasy from the Alaskan cruise on have referred to that as our anniversary)

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Third he claims I bad mouthed JP for leaving me (which you ALL KNOW I DIDN'T) and he claims JP left me for a 'not keeping my legs closed'.... dumbass doesn't know what he's talking about.

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Lastly, (on a private blog that only a handful of people still read) I revealed that we were expecting. Obviously that wasn't meant to be, since we lost it are no longer pregnant. He pokes fun at that as well and claims I must have lied since the picture on my blog shows me thin.

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I have not retalliated, but I have contacted the municipal police department. I had filed a complaint with them before about him, about a year or so ago... so they have that on file. They told me that if I could prove he's lying and they can do something about it, because its slander.

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Now I have two lawyers (Dave and Karen) who read this blog... tell me what my options are here, as I'm getting really fed up of turning the other cheek.

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And now, after all that, here is the website (I am only showing you because I contacted Blogger and they said if enough people 'flag' his website they can take action against him as well.)

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http://www.jpandmichelle.blogspot.com/ *and yes, for those of you who remember, this was my original blog about how JP and I met, but I deleted it after this asshole found it... then he goes and re-instates it and writes this crap about me*

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You tell me, WHO DOES THAT?!

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And what should I do about this? Un-private-ize it so he can see that I'm exposing him? Or just keep staying private?

Speaking of odd..

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So I took my toyota to get serviced this weekend. All nice and good. When I went to get in and drive it home, I noticed that all my radio pre-sets were changed. WTF?

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WHO does that to a vehicle they service?

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I guess nobody likes country anymore...

~~~~~

I *heart* my new job.

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The benefits are amazing, we even get to use the gym on our one hour lunch break if we want to (for a nominal fee each pay period). And we get to park underground - for a nominal fee each pay period. We pay 6% of our pay to our pension plan each pay period (the govt matches our contribution), and (yes, you guessed it!!) for a nominal fee each pay period we also get to have cappucinos or all sorts of goodies delivered to our desks each day.

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(I can already FEEL me gain back all that weight I lost, haha)

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However, by the time you add all these nominal fees all together, I figure I'll be bringing home about $5 every two weeks...

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SUPER!

You've got a social life? You must not have children!

"Mom - I've got a playdate with Cameron" my son informs me today.

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And I've got a playdate with Neeve" interrupts my daughter.

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My son wants to go to his friend's house. My daughter wants to have her friend come over to our house.

I quickly do a mental check and try and remember if I've cleaned up the dishes from this morning... yup, all clear.

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Phew.

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Now I just gotta figure out a way to drop off my son and make it back to my place in time for my daughter's playdate. And then, of course, once that is over, race over to my son's friend and pick him up again.

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Did I mention I need to make dinner but instead I'm running around like a chaffeur?
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I spend more time making phone calls on behalf of my offspring, arranging and re-arranging playdates than any phone calls I make for my own social life.

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In fact, my big calendar on the fridge is colourfully marked with all their activities (my daughter has Sparks and Art and my son has Karate twice a week) as well as playdates.

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The other day I was trying to schedule some alone time for me and my husband, and I had to 'fit it in' between all the children's activities!!

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Who knew 8 and 6 year olds could have a more active social life than their 35 year old parents?

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Dear Jerk behind me in line at the grocery store

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If my children hadn't been with me today, I would've decked you. Right in front of all those witnesses.

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I know that you were quite vocal in your displeasure with my son today, and I congratulate you about not only embarrassing yourself and us, but about making a little 8 year old boy feel truly humiliated.
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You see, this is the type of behaviour I expect from kids his age at school, though luckily there hasn't been any. But not from a 40 something old in a public place.

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I realize that the loud squeaking coming from him bothered you. In fact, I think even the cashier heard you complaining about it, and she was a few feet away from us. And I couldn't help noticing you giving him a dirty look when he kept jerked his head back repeatedly. I especially am impressed with your sensitive nature when you loudly declared "there's something wrong with this kid"!

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My son's tics got progressively louder after that, and he couldn't wait to get back into the car. Him and I both.

Your insensitive and thoughtless act has done damage to a sensitive young soul. I am very glad that my 6 year old daughter had the sense to scold you and tell you to 'stop being rude'! You see, she understands that when someone is different - we do not point or loudly talk about that difference. She also understands that the person that is different than her, has the same feelings that she does, and therefore she wanted you to stop making her brother feel bad.

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If you had been nicer, or perhaps more sensitive, I could have told you that my son has Tourette's. He has involuntary tics. He squeaks, he grunts and he blinks his eyes a hundred times a minute. He also shrugs his shoulders and leans his head backward.

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These don't usually occur at the same time, and they are usually not loud/pronounced enough for anyone to comment on them. Surpressing a tic only works for a short period of time. And it requires tremendous amount of concentration and effort, time better spent on other things - you know, like being 8 years old. A tic is like a sneeze, you can hold it back for a while, but eventually it has to come out.

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I am mortified at your behaviour, I am amazed that I felt powerless to defend my son - normally I am much more confrontational when I feel strongly about something. I guess you took me off guard.

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I went home and talked to my son about people like you. We both agree that you wouldn't make a very good friend.

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Today I had a glimpse of what life could be like for my son. But I also had a glimpse of the strength that his sister displayed and the grace with which my son handled the situation. I would've burst into tears if I had been 8 and I had a grown up talk about me like that.

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My son is wise beyond his years.

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You however, need to go back to kindergarten.

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I think you may have missed out on the first lesson:

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Treat others like you want to be treated.

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Now that Big Brother's over...

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Yesterday the cleaners got fired, so we all had to take our garbage to the dump ourselves.

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Nothing like trotting across the parking lot in stilletos and a white leaking bag of crap.

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Today the water guy came in an proceeded to remove our water cooler.

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Did I mention we're on well water? Hello!!!

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Anybody else smell layoffs coming?

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Blogland

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Reposting this for Fned ....

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Blog land. It's a different kind of place.

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For those of you who have recently moved to the neighborhood, welcome. This is really the kind of place most people usually only read about. It's nowhere in particular, but right outside your front door. You can be yourself. Or anyone else for that matter.

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You can be as open or as raw as you wish. You can be as creative or as imaginative as you wish. You can be the person next door, or you can be the one that's unreachable.

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Blog land has rules, as most good lands do. But blogland's rules are a bit sketchy and not as rigid. Most of us who live here are easygoing and there are not a lot of hooligans around. I am only guessing, but if we were to be asked what motivated us to move to blogland, I bet most would say we were just looking for a place to be ourselves .

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Be it fact or fiction, entertaining or dramatic, we all want a piece of our own land, here in blogland.

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So we moved and we built our own little space, eventually we met the neighbours. Like all lands, we'll have many that we instantly click with and like to catch up with every day and some that we don't click with as well, but feel like we have to stop and wave every once in a while or they'll get mad.

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Sometimes we get stuck in a neighbourhood with that one neighbour that nobody likes but everyone sort of puts up with. Probably the lady with the hundred cats, who nobody visits. She'll sometimes come by and you just think to yourself " I bet those cats would leave too, if they weren't locked in"...

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Another common trend in our land is voyeurism. We all have those familiar faces that we see, and start to recognize, but for some reason they never stop to wave or say hi. They just watch us from the car. Then they leave just as quickly as they came, but days later, we spot them again. Makes me wonder, why are they here? Are they scouting the neighbourhood, trying to decide if they want to move there? Or are they simply lost? Should I say hi first?

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I wonder if it's hard being a police officer in blogland. It's really not a very fast paced place. I doubt the officers get to write a lot of tickets for not stopping at the red blog. Or taking off too quick from another one. Indeed it's the kind of place where all happens at your own pace, and on your own time. If you don't have time for it today, blogland waits for your tomorrow.

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Sort of like Florida I would imagine.

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Sometimes it seems like a "masquerade party".... everyone has their own masks on, looking for clues to other's identity. Some are quite cleverly disguised...like the cat lady, (who I bet, if you look closer is probably male) and some not so much.

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After almost a year of being here, I have decided that I am glad I moved here, and have all of you as neighbours. I am happy to come home and catch up with you, learn about your day, and even after I am asleep, it feels good to know that you can still check up on me.

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Yup. I sure do have great neighbours here. I'd lend each of you a cup of sugar anytime.

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Even those of you who never stop and say hi.

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Is it over yet?

I am sure I have mentioned this before. I hate nature. I know a lot of you are going camping these days, happily sleeping outdoors in a tent and cooking weenies over a fire and dousing yourselves with bug spray.

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Not me.

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And this weekend reminded me of why I hate nature so much.

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1. On Friday, I had zero mosquito bites. By Sunday night, after spending Saturday and Sunday outdoors, I have 11 just on my legs. When I was little, my mom used to say they'd bite me because I was so sweet.
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I'm not that sweet at all.

Bugs just suck.

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2. I was at a girlfriend's house in her bathroom upstairs. So I see the shadow of a dragonfly on the window and open the window to flick the screen and make it go away. Well, I forgot that there is no screen and not one but THREE dragonflies flew into the bathroom. I had to flee, slamming the door behind me. I am only hoping they starve or run out of oxygen or something before I have to go back in there. Thank God for multiple bathrooms.

Again, bugs suck.

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3. We are out bbq'ing and I look at our patio set. WTF is that all over the chairs? OMG, it's spider webs, attaching the chairs to each other, and the webs are covered in a combination of teensy little spiders and spider eggs. We had just been sitting on these chairs a few nights before and there was none of this. DIS-gusting.

And, once again, bugs suck.

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4. A bee was in my kitchen. I freaked out. I smashed it against the window with a coupon-envelope-thingee. It fell to the window sill. I smushed it against the window frame with a big glass bottle that's on the sill. Whew, it's dead.
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I leave it there for Frenchie to pick up later. ( i don't really touch bugs in any way, shape or form) and I continue doing the dishes when I hear buzzing. OMG, the thing came back to life! I grab the coupon-envelope-thingee again and hit it, four times, against the window. It appears to be dead, but I do not fall for it this time. I see its little stinger twitching and I know it's trying to reincarnate so it can sting me. So I hit it again three times for good measure, then swipe it into the sink, into the drain and drown it. I run the water for a good 3 minutes, just to be sure. It swirls down the drain, never to be heard from again.

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If a soggy bee comes after me tomorrow, I'm making a movie about it!

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5. The scariest part of the weekend having to do with nature: we were outside golfing on Sunday evening. When we got back, I talked to the neighbors about enjoying the weather. When all of a sudden we hear a rustling noise. Now, I live in the suburbs, but practically the city. We do not have animals of any kind except for squirrels and the occasional chipmunk.

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So I start freaking out. Their boys think it's a racoon, but I think "no way!" We don't have wild animals like racoons and tigers and giraffes around here! Her husband goes inside and gets a flashlight. He shines it toward the bushes and what do we see but a baby bear? Which means, his mother is not far behind.
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Did I mention this is in our back yard?! This cannot be. I decide right then and there, as I barricaded myself in the house, that we need to move someplace less rural.
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Nature sucks.

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I am never going outside again.

Today is not our anniversary. It is not my birthday. It is not even the day after a fight.

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But this is what he wrote:

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Hmmm .... I wonder what he wants?

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I'm doing what?!

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The reason I got into blogging at first is to journal. To put pen to paper and to write. Freely, and without censorship.

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I've always loved to write.
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But what started off as something I wanted to do for me, somehow ended up being something I do for others.

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Don't get me wrong, I love it. I love blogging. In fact, I love it so much that I forgot that it was supposed to be about me, and it became all about you, the readers.

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I look for comments and rejoice in the fact that there are some, or equally I am puzzled by other posts I write that hardly get any comments at all. As mentioned, at some point or another, slowly my writing changed and instead of 'journaling' as I'd intended, I'd turned into a comment counter.
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Which brings me to now:

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I'm writing a book. Probably not a great book, or even a good book. But nonetheless I am writing it and it's all mine.

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( Amazing, isn't it, that if you throw enough money at someone they will publish any old garbage?! )

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I've compiled a bunch of short stories, mostly like a diary, from my past that I would like to remember - or at least have someone read to me as I get old - that will remind me that I lived a full life and that each chapter of that life was filled with something memorable.

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Not everything in my life has turned up roses, and I'd like to remember that part as well. As I get older, I like to forget certain things I've said or done that paint me in a negative light, or that show my unflattering selfish ways, but those too, I've documented in this book.

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When it is finished, I will keep it, and perhaps when my kids are grown, they will read it and maybe for the first time in their life they will see me as I was, before I became their mama.

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"The night before we left on our trip, we went out to a club locally. Drunk and hot on the dance floor, I actually literally bumped into K. We both stopped in the middle of the dance and just stared. I was still mad, and tried to walk away. He grabbed my arm and escorted me outside. He wanted to talk. Reasonable as he always was, K told me how I had hurt him with my ultimatum. He said he never pictured himself with anyone else and he couldn't believe we hadn't talked in so long. He wanted to make up for lost time and hang out.I told him about my 2 week vacation coming up and he made me promise I'd call him once I got back. I promised I'd think about it.

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When my gal pal and I arrived at our vacation resort, we realized we were in heaven. Hot air filled up the airport as we stepped off the plane. Smoggy hot air. No airconditioning in sight. After a long cold winter, to us, it was heaven.The taxi driver drove like a maniac all the way to our hotel. It looked much fancier in the brochure but we didn't care. It was clean and it was in a tropical place. For the next couple weeks, it'd be home.I proceeded to unpack my suitcases, but my fun loving friend persuaded me to leave them and head out on the town. A quick change out of our travelling clothes and we were ready to party. There is nothing like being young and single on vacation with a girl friend. The world is your oyster.

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The first bar we went into, we sat down and met two other 'white girls' who became our bossom buddies for the night. Shooters, drinks and tequila shots flowed freely. Smoking like there's no tomorrow. Yup, this was the life.Our waiter was a very exotic looking fellow with dark curly long hair. You could tell that without the product holding it together it was unmanagably curly hair. It made me want to grab it and hold on to it. His eyes were the darkest of dark with long black eyelashes. When he smiled, he flashed perfectly white and straight pearly whites. One earing in one ear, and when he leaned in to poor the drinks I could see that he had a cross necklace through his unbuttoned shirt.

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The accent and exotic look were too much for me. I asked for his name. It was G. I introduced myself, and asked the girls to take a picture of my mystery man and myself. Oddly enough it didn't scare him off. I smiled brightly and he dutyfully posed for the camera.As we were getting ready to leave I took my napkin of the table and wrote "What time do you get off?" He took the napkin (later I learned it was to get it translated, as he hardly spoke -let alone read- english)and when he returned there was "5AM" written on it.I gestured that I would come back for him at that time, and he seemed exited as well. We barhopped some more, getting back to the hotel around 3am. As my girlfriend passed out in the bed next to me, I called the front desk for a wake up call for 4:40am. I took a cab and went back to the bar where G was.

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I'm sure he never expected to see me, as he seemed pleasantly surprised. I stayed until they cleaned up, and at the end of his shift, a bunch of them went out for breakfast. I joined them, my first taste of deliciously local food. As my tastebuds rejoiced, my eyes feasted only on G.I hardly knew him, but I couldn't keep my hands off him. He was only too happy to oblige, and we went back to his apartment and made love in his pool. Then we fell asleep wrapped in each others arms and I spent most of the morning taking in his scent. He was unlike any other man I had been with. He was nothing like sweet K. He was daring, exotic, mysterious and dangerous. He looked like trouble and I was hooked. That afternoon when we finally woke up, we talked for the first time. Really talked. It was rough at first as I didn't speak his language at all and he barely spoke mine. But we managed. We drew on napkins, we acted out charades and made sound effects in order to get ourselves understood. To tell you the truth, we clicked immediatly and neither one of us seemed concerned about the language issue.

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We took a cab back to my hotel, where my poor roomate was frantic that I hadn't returned. Her mouth dropped when she saw me with G. Even more surprised was she when I told her I'd be taking my bags and 'storing them' at G's apartment for now. I wanted to be with him every second of this short 2 weeks and she thought I had gone mental.Of course we had the normal "how do you know he's not some psycho?" conversation, and she reminded me that he probably thought I was some easy chick from abroad looking for a fling. She told me to be careful and safe and I assured her I'd see her that evening after G went to work.

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For the next 2 weeks, I hung out with my girlfriend in the evenings and partied with her, but I always found my way back to G's bar before closing time to pick him up and 'go home'. G had a motorcycle and on his days off we'd take off and explore the surroundings. It was so different being with him, there were no rules. He did what he wanted when he wanted. He and I answered only to each other. We talked about our home lives, our families and how we grew up. We noticed similarites in our upbringing and cultures that at first one may not see right away. We bonded and for the first time in my life I had met someone who, like me, thought the only thing that mattered in life was love.

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All else would fall into place."

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Now don't you go worrying your pretty little heads, I will still blog for comments on this blog!

Blogger eats comments?!

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How odd... I've heard of this, but it's the first time that it happened to me... I had 2 comments eaten by blogger yesterday, Hammer's and Sayre's. Both were there, and then they were gone... has that ever happened to anyone?

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Sayre's comment was a meme, so here we go:

(she did bribe me with an award, so how can I refuse?)

Attached or single? Attached. Married to Frenchie.

Best friend? Frenchie.

Cake or Pie? Pie a la Mode.

Day of Choice? Sunday.

Essential Item? A purse to complete your outfit.

Favorite color? Red.

Gummy bears or worms? Gummy bears.

Hometown? Little town in eastern europe.

Indulgence? Massages, purses, shoes.

January or July? We have both kids birthday in January, right after Xmas...so I'd say July.

Kids? A couple.

Life isn't complete.... without my husband and my kids.

Marriage Date? Sept 11... I know... I know.

Number of Brothers and Sisters? I'm an only child.

Oranges or Apples? Apples - does anyone really prefer oranges?!

Phobias? Someone hurting my kids. I'm paranoid.

Quote? "This too, shall pass."

Reasons to Smile? Tonight? Jesse got evicted from Big Brother. I'm addicted, remember?!

Season of Choice? Fall. I love fall. Beautiful colours everywhere, and hands down the best wardrobe choices.

Tag Seven People No thanks.

Unknown Fact? My mother and I do not get along. At all.

Vegetable? Cilantro. Is that a vegetable?

Worst habits? Micro managing everybody.

XRay or Ultrasound? Xray. Broken limbs can be fixed.

Your favorite food? Mongolian. Thai. Indian. In that order.

Zodiac sign? Cancer.

So there you have it, another meme all done. Learned anything new?

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And thank you, Sayre, for the award... you know I'm an attention whore, don't ya?

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I love awards, recognition and all sorts of bling!

A tourist in my own town

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I am so tired, I can barely type. We've been playing tourist ever since the kids arrived from Montreal.

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We've walked downtown, we've gone to Grouse Mountain, even did the Grouse Grind Trail (which, by the way, for those of you who don't know is an insanely steep 'hike', 2.9 km uphill) we've gone to Stanley park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, and tomorrow we are heading to Vancouver Island.

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I have come to realize that although I live in this city, I don't know as much about it as I should.

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Jp's eldest son is quite curious and smart, asking all sorts of good questions, like: "how many people live here?" "When was this bridge built?" "Why did they name it Stanley Park?"

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I had to shrug at all of them. "I don't know kid... I just live here".

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Have you ever had company in town, and been a really bad tour guide?

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One that shouldn't be allowed to show tourists around?

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The kind like me?

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I mean, you have to make shit up if you don't know, right?

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So I did... we'll see how much of my crap they're going to remember once they get home and tell their mother.

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I can already see her eyes rolling now.

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(All indignant, like only the french know how to do)

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We are the host city for the 2010 Olympics, I'd better learn some trivia fast so I can answer the millions of questions that will come from the many many tourists.

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Before I do that, I'm gonna pass out of sheer exhaustion first.

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Or so they say....

Bear with me as I re-post a couple of posts from my previous blog... Jp's kids are in town from Montreal til August 9th,

(yes - both of them, and NO they don't speak english!)

So I don't have time for new posts... I know there are a handful of reders who followed me here from my old blog, and if you've read this before, I appologize.

A little padding never hurt anyone...

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But how would you feel if you had a playdate for your 5 year old one afternoon...

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Let's suppose Ms. Snobby dropped off her junior at your house.

Then suppose you tried not to notice her looks of disaproval as she notices that your house is probably 3 times smaller than hers.

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Furthermore suppose that the same Ms. Snobby comes back to pick up junior and wants to come in. Suppose you let the kids play quietly by themselves, and are quite proud of how nicely and quietly they've been playing.

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Assume that you let Ms. Snobby into the house and together you go to get junior for her. Then suppose they are not in their room, so you call for them. Pretend that their voices are coming from the bathroom down the hall...

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Skip to the part where you enter the bathroom, and find the kids sticking maxi pads ALL OVER YOUR BATHROOM WALLS. ("mom, we're wallpapering your bathroom")

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How would you feel?

Yup, that's EXACTLY how I felt.

Couldn't think of 6, so you get 100.

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UPDATE:

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We're going away for the weekend to a golf

and spa resort, where we plan on enjoying both equally. We'll be back on sunday night. (Yes, it's a birthday re-do for me)

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I was tagged again, by V.V. Dancing Madrona this time, to write 6 things about myself.

Instead of thinking up new 6 things, I'm re-posting an old post with 100 things about myself:

(hopefully that still counts, eh K?)

1. I was born in Transylvania.
2. I lived there until my teenage years.
3. I legally changed my first name at 25.
4. I also added a middle name just for fun at the same time.
5. My astrological sign is Cancer.
6. English is my 3rd language.
7. I also speak a 4th.
8. I don't have a birth certificate.
9. I have been married. And divorced. Twice.
10. I always wanted to have blue eyes.
11. My favorite movie is "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".
12. I broke both my arms twice. Not at the same time.
13. I read by candle light while I was young, and have bad eyes because of it.
14. I don't like to eat red meat. Or pork.
15. I became a parent by accident.
16. My grandfather was a gypsy.
17. My blood type is 0 negative.
18. I don't like public pools.
19.I required stitches after my left foot got accidentally hit with an axe by my friend.
20. I prefer pickles to cookies.
21. While visiting a foreign country I decided to live there, and simply stayed. For 4 years.
22. I weigh the same now as I did in high school.
23. I prefer white gold to gold.
24. I ate my first banana at age 13.
25. My husband is my best friend.
26. My best girl friend forgot I existed the moment she met her current boyfriend, that was last year...
27. I have a good memory. When I was younger I could remember all the numbers on a telephone book page. I don't think that was useful information.
28. In school I got bugged for getting good grades.
29. My shoe size is 7.
30. I am an only child.
31. I want to live in South America.
32. I don't sew. Not even a button.
33. When I was 16 my French teacher said I'd never amount to anything.

34. I became an accountant and last year, the same teacher asked me to do her taxes. I said no.
35. My first kiss was in grade 8.
36. I once accidentally killed a bird by running it over.
37. I am outspoken and am often perceived as abrupt or insensitive.
38. I get nightmares when I am upset.
39. I never had to wear braces.
40. I have recently switched jobs.
41. I love paint-by-numbers projects.
42. Between JP and me, we have 4 children.
43. 3 out of the 4 are affected by autism.
44. I don't like snow.
45. I'm afraid of flying. And bears. Equally.
46. I have been "the other woman".
47. Past lives fascinate me.
48. I am a cat person.
49. When I was pregnant I was in a car accident.
50. I have scoliosis because of it.
51. My exboyfriend is my only regret.
52. I own more than one wig.
53. I don't understand computers.
54. My cousin and I recently found out we're in fact not related at all.
55. I had a job once that was only based on commission. It was one of my favorites.
56. I don't own an ipod. Or an mp3 player.
57. I only listen to Country Music.
58. I don't care if people make fun of it.
59. I have no traditions that I can remember.
60. I drive 60 minutes to eat at my favorite restaurant.
61. I am an auditory learner.
62. In university I taped my lectures and listened to them in my car.
63. When I was young I thought I'd be an astronaut.
64. Looking at a rollercoaster gets me motion sick.
65. My Christmas decorations come down on Boxing Day.
66. I read all my junk mail.
67. I don't camp. Ever.
68.When I was a kid, I almost got bit by a snake.
69. I woke up once to find a cockroach on my face in Mexico.
70. I drove on the autobahn in Germany at 16.
71. I (used to) take 4 sugars in my coffee. Now I'm down to 2.
72. I re-decorate and re-paint my bedroom on a regular basis.
73. My friends are mostly male. (actually this is no longer true)
74. I recently had a hernia that needed to be operated on.
75. Both my kids were colicky as infants.
76. I always wanted to have an easy last name. Never happened.
77. I can not catch a ball that is thrown at me.
78. I am over sensitive to criticism.
79. I have a tattoo.
80. After that I discovered I am allergic to tattoo ink.
81. I only drink one or two cups of water a day.
82. The first thing I notice about people is their eyebrows.
83. I am slightly claustrophobic.
84. My favorite book is still "1984".
85. When I was in high school my best friend and I made up our own secret language. It included symbols and characters. I still remember it.
86. I rarely chew gum. It reminds me of cows.
87. I had a paper route when I was a kid.
88. I've never had chicken pox.
89. I prefer the toilet paper to roll off the top.
90. I almost ate turtle once, but couldn't go through with it.
91. I like to smell things. All things. I do it subconsciously and it annoys people.
92. I can't fall asleep if music is on.
93. I like traditional man/woman roles.
94. When brushing my teeth, I like to sit on my bathroom counter.
95. I don't like when teachers go on strike.
96. I used to eat pizza with just green olives on it. Yum.
97. I cut my tomatoes is wedges not slices.
98. I pay my bills as soon as I get them in the mail.
99. As a child I used to pick up frogs and kiss them to see if they’d turn into princes.
100. I take great pleasure in refilling things, like salt shakers and liquid soap dispensers.

What a difference a day makes

Now that I've officially turned 33, I figure it was time for a change.

YESTERDAY

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TODAY

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Out of the hospital

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So, we're home. And he's doing much better.
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You guys all rock.

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Some of you were kind enough to email me and share your own experiences with me. And so many of you left me nice thoughtful comments. I know a few of you prayed for him, and I thank you for that as well.

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Let's recap. He got sick just before my birthday, with something that I thought was a normal cold. He had very high fever, 104...for 6 days straight. When I went to the doctor the first time, around day 3 of the fever, they told me it was just a cold and to wait it out.

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Then he ended up with some really big swollen lymph nodes in his neck and a rash on his body. We went to the Children's Hospital, where they told us he had 3 out of the 5 signs of Kawasaki Disease. (What the hell is Kawasaki disease, right? I heard of the Kawasaki - the motorcycle)

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Click here to read more about Kawasaki disease.

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With Kawasaki, there is a potential for its young victims to develop severe heart problems and it has even been known to cause heart attacks in kids, and if not treated, could potentially become fatal in some cases, so the doctors were very clear when they told us that if he does have Kawasaki, it needs to be treated within 10 days of the onset of the first symptoms in order for him to have a 90% rate of recovery.

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The treatment would include an intravenous dose of antibodies of gamma globulin (purified antibodies) from other blood donors, to clean his blood basically. Anyway, they were going to start the treatment on day 8...wednesday. But then, that morning we found out he tested positive for another virus...that only mimics Kawasaki disease.

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Big sigh of relief.

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This one is also a lymph node virus, but it's one that he can recover from on his own. It's just going to take another week or so before he is all better and back to normal.

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So...it's been a roller-coaster of a week, him and I both lost 5 pounds (me due to stress, and him due to the illness) but I gained about a million grey hairs in the process.

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Next year, I'm skipping my birthday alltogether.... just in case.

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FOR UPDATE, READ MY LAST COMMENT

To lighten the mood somewhat, and because it's my birthday tomorrow, JP and I went golfing. It's something we like doing together. I am not good at all, so he's teaching me :-) Here is a short clip of us, isn't his accent just so cute?

Un Fucking Believable

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*Steam coming out of my ears*

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I am so mad. Let me start at the beginning. A month ago I get a call from my mastercard company, Capital One. (That's right, I'm naming names)

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Capital One: "good afternoon, bla bla bla, nonsense, nonsense... we'd like to offer you a new credit card with a microchip in it that would be better for you than your current one"

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Me: No thanks.

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Capital One: "actually ma'am we're going to send this card to all our customers as we are updating our system".

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Me: "So, it's less of you offering it to me, than it is you bullying me into taking your new card"

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C.O: "Oh, we wouldn't refer to it that way".
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Me: "Of course you wouldn't."

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So, they send their bloody card. Or so I thought. Fast forward about 2 weeks, and I realize I haven't yet received this magical card from them yet. So I call them. *I should probably inform you that calling any credit card company is on my least favorite things to do list. It ranks right up there with calling the phone or cell phone company. They piss me off every single time*

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Capital One: "Oh, you didn't get your card?"

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Me: "Nope. Can we just forget the whole thing now, and I'll just keep my old one"

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C.O: "Oh no, we'll have to send you a new one. But now we may have a breech in the card so we'll have to issue you a new account number."

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Me: "What does that mean?"

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CO: "The card you have now will become invalid at the end of this call and we'll send you a brand new one with a new account number within 10 business days"

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Me: "WHAT?! Are you frikkin' kidding me? I don't want my card to be invalid, there's a long weekend coming up."

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CO: "I'm sorry ma'am it's to protect you against fraud."
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I hang up.

How the fuck are they protecting me against fraud? I never asked for their stupid card. Now, I am without a c/c for 2 weeks. On a long weekend. Granted, I don't use it much, so I am grateful for that. But I'm still pissed.

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Fast forward to yesterday. It's been 2 weeks. No card yet. I call them again.
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Me: " Where the hell is my card?"

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C.O: "We sent it 2 weeks ago."
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Me: "Well, did you send it to me?! 'Cause I didn't get it. Just like the first one I didn't get. And now I have no c/c"

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C.O: "Well, it shows it hasn't been activated yet, so that is a good sign."
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Me: "Indeed. When can I expect it?"

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CO: "Any day now. But I can offer you extra protection if you want it. We can ask them to request a password upon activation of the new card."
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Me: "So, just for the activation, the person would need a password to activate it?"
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CO: " That is correct. That way it can only be activated by you."

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Me: " Okay. Let's put a password on the activation."

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Done. I feel slightly less annoyed. Then today, I get my card in the mail. I open it up. It doesn't look any different as my old card. What makes this card so coveted?

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I see a big sticker on the card that says "Call here to activate". So I call. It's an automated message. It asks for the card number. "Your card is activated" it tells me.

What the fuck? Why put the damn password on if I can activate it without one?
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I call them again. I can't even get a word in, she asks for my password.
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Me: "Yeah, that's what I'm calling about. I shouldn't have a password on my account. It was supposed to be for activation purposes only. But I just activated it, without being asked for the password."

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CO: "Did you call the customer help line to activate the card or the automated line?"
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Me: "Well, I called the number on the orange sticker. It was an automated line."
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CO:"We can't have passwords on the automated line. Only at customer service".

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Me: " You guys said the password is to stop any possible fraud against the card being activated by someone else. If someone else were to find it, why would they call the number on the statement? They'd obviously use the automated line to activate it, which means it didn't protect against fraud at all".

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CO: "It would have had they called the customer service line"

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Me: "You're missing the point. Never mind. Just take the damn thing off and let's just get on with it."

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CO: "I'm sorry but passwords can only be removed after writing a letter in to customer service"

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Me: "What? what are you talking about?"

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I'll spare you the rest of the conversation. Turns out even though I didn't ask for the card, and didn't want my account changed or cancelled, and didn't actually want a password on the account, but only on the activation (Which by the way, what was the point of that anyway?) I do now, need to write a letter and spend even more time on this god forsaken company to undo this password.

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I know that to most this wouldn't be a big deal. But it IS a big deal to me! This is complete foolishness. Why take a password over the phone (never mind that they're not describing the rules accurately, therefor I'm making a decision based on mis-information) but now, to undo, it must be in writing?

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That's wrong.

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I know it's petty, but it's the principal behind this people! I've told my husband and my parents about this because I was outraged. All have said to drop it.

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But principals are not like a hat that you take off or on when it's convenient. You either have them or you don't.

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So, I'll write my letter. And another one to the supervisor. And then, I'll call them just one more time.

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To change my password to 'dumbass'.

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Offensive to sensitive readers

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So here's my beef with women: They manipulate men.

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Now before you go and send me nasty comments, I have plenty of women that I have as friends and they are dear friends to me. I am in no way saying that ALL women are manipulators (After all, I am a woman so that wouldn't be very smart of me)

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But I am talking about women in general. You know what I mean ladies. When you pout and cry and yell and scream, or make yourself appear more vulnerable than you really are, just to make that certain man in your life act according to your will.

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I've just about had it with those types of women! Yes it works, and most of the time the man doesn't even realize he's being manipulated. But I hate when otherwise intelligent women resort to this type of behaviour.

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Stomping your feet and slamming doors will not change what is happening around you. All it does is let everyone know that you are feeling out of control. And what bugs me is when otherwise intelligent men sit miserably by, while it all plays out.

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Granted, only a nice guy will allow you to act like a primadonna and not put you in your place, but come on nice guys! You don't have to let women walk all over you. There are plenty of women who , appreciate but not take advantage of, a 'nice guy'.

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Plenty that will treat you with the respect you deserve, and love you without trying to change you into someone else.

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My grandpa always said: "Men marry hoping their wives will never change. Women marry hoping their husbands will."

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Sad, but true.

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Bragging

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Most of you know by now that my frenchie is a pretty awesome photographer.

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He is much more shy and modest than me, so he never boasts about his skill - but this time I thought I should.

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I am so excited to tell you that he'll be participating in an Art Exhibition soon! I'm proud of him for being part of it, especially since it's an exhibition entirely and totally about him as an artist and they'll have only his work on display.

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Today we had to pick a handful of photos out of thousands that he has, to be displayed at this art show. He'll be displaying about 15 - 20 pieces.

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Wanna see some of the ones we picked?

(they're local photos, and fairly recent, which was part of their request)

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Cool right?
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Too bad you don't live closer, I'd so invite you to come!
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You know you totally want the free champagne :-)

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I must speak more slowly...

(This is a recycled post from my old blog.)

This post is all about my old job. Mostly actually, it's just about me venting about stupid people.

My title at my last job was "Dealer's Sales Liaison" which is fancy schmancy and doesn't mean anything - but I liked it anyway.

I liked my job exept on days like like this one.

It was crazy busy and everyone was pulling out their hair. (A common occurance on the last day of the month as we struggled to collect our outstanding accounts receivables.)

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Patience is highly over rated on a day like that. One of our computers crashed (hmmm...come to think about it, maybe it was me - I'm awfully bad with technology) so I was trying to call the Geek Squad (actual company name).

It went something like this:

Me: I don’t know why I got the dispatch department. I need tech support. Could you transfer me please?

Replicant: I see here that you have a parts order being processed. Do you need the status of your shipment?

Me: No. I need support. Could you please transfer me to technical support?

R: Okay. But before I transfer you, what’s the problem?

M: Well, my computer died this morning. It needs a new motherboard which is the new part that you see a dispatch order for. However, I need to ask a technician about recovering some data.

R: Well, I cannot help you with that

M: (Well, no kidding!) Yes, I kind of imagined that. Hence, why I’m asking you transfer me to tech support

R: Okay, since you have a technical question and I cannot help you with that, I’m going to have to transfer you to the technical support department who’ll be able to help you with your technical question. Long pause...

M: Yes???

R: So right now I’m going to be transferring you to the technical support department so they can help you with the troubleshooting you need. Okay?

M: (Yawn) I thought we had established that already

R: Okay! So I’m going to have to put you on hold so I can get a technician on the line.

M: Sure. Do you think we can skip to the part where you actually transfer me to tech support?

R: Sure. Can I get your permission to put you on hold so I can transfer you to the tech support department?

M: (In tears of desperation and hope) Do I have a choice? Bloody do it already!

I never knew my patience could be squeezed like a shammy for an entire 20 minutes.

Free Money

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I passed my 3 month probation at my new job a few weeks ago, and to my *pleasant* surprise, I got a very nice raise. Of course, I am excited about it and JP and I are now trying to work out our finances and monthly budget with the new amount.

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Well, today I got my very first cheque with the new amount. It was considerably higher than I'd expected. I called him at work, we both laughed and cheered.

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At home, again we talked about how much difference this raise has made. Then my smart husband says "I'm sure it's a mistake, that is too much"... so we work it out on paper.

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And it IS a mistake!

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It's exactly double than what I'm supposed to get. You see, our accountant resigned the same day I got the raise. Before she left, she ammended my pay to reflect my raise that I got. The next day the new accountant started at our company. She was asked to make sure the raise got included in my pay.

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(I am only guessing the next part, but I'm pretty sure this is what happened)

She also added the raise to my (already elevated) salary.

So now, both of them have added this and I'm stuck with the extra money. The problem is that now that I think I've figured it out I don't know if I can keep it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I shouldn't.

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Karma and all....

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ARGGG....Why'd Jp have to go and notice this?

At least before I could claim ignorance.

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So, do I tell or keep the money?

UPDATE: i did tell. I went to the accountant first thing the next morning and showed her my stub.

Meme

If you hate MEME's blame Queen, she tagged me. (how's that for pointing fingers?)

You're supposed to sum up your last 15 years in 10 bullet points, as if you were talking to someone who used to know you before.

15 years ago = June 1993.

1. 1993 = I was living in Berlin, as an exchange student.

(actually I was supposed to be there for 6 months, but I fell in love with it, and didn't want to return. To my teacher and parents' dismay, I decided to just 'stay longer' and I stretched it out to a full year... I'll never forget it.)

2. 1994 = Came back and graduated from highschool in Canada

(I ended up graduating a year late, but it was all worth it, since I now speak German and still keep in contact with friends that I met there)

3. 1995 = Went to Mexico, for vacation, met a cute latin bartender and decided to stay there.

(My roommate and I went to Puerto Vallarta for a 2 week holiday. The first night we arrived, I saw the most beautiful man in the world... short, dark and handsome - well, he was mexican and they're all short -. I was captivated and that night I ended up moving into his apartment and 'lived' with him for the remainder of my 2 week holiday.

My girlfriend = not impressed at all)

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4. 1996 = Married my bartender and started working as an english teacher in Mexico.

(Well, after the 2 weeks were over, my new 'boyfriend' drove us both to the airport and as we were checking our bags, he gets on one knee and proposes with everyone watching. He had a ring and everything. How can you not say YES? So, I tore up my ticket and said "SI". My girlfriend who, as mentioned, was also my roommate back home = not impressed.

( FYI - I paid rent for another month so she'd get over it, lol-)

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5. 1998 = Divorced the cute bartender because he didn't want to have babies, moved back to Canada.

(Yeah, yeah, before you think "of course it didn't work!" let me just say that I think we'd have had a good shot at making it, had we agreed on this issue. Of course, perhaps we SHOULD'VE discussed it BEFORE we got married, but in our defense, we hardly spoke the other one's language when we first met...lol. -wait, I think I may have just made that worse- Hehe. I still keep in touch with him - he's remarried and still doesn't want children)

6. 1999 = Came back to Canada and married my best guy friend - because he wanted babies

(After my first divorce I was devastated, I was heartbroken. My friend, who'd always liked me, was nice to me and we seemed to have the same goals so we decided - on a whim one weekend- we'd get married and have babies. Lots of babies. That would make it all okay I thought and it'd get me over my loss)

7. 2000 = Had my first baby. A boy. Yeay.

(We had our first child right away, and I was over the moon.)

8. 2002 = Had second baby. This time a girl. Yeay again.

(Again, I was over the moon, I had two babies - one boy one girl. What more could I ask for?)

9. 2004 = Divorced best guy friend and remained friends.

(We realized that our marriage was a mistake since we were more friends than anything. Unfortunatly it was a rebound relationship. A weird fit from the start. The divorce was a good idea, but breaking up our family was the hardest thing I've ever had to do)

10. 2006 = Met my frenchie... and two years later married him.

(I met JP at the aquarium, in Vancouver when he was on a business trip here. He was living in Quebec then, and I was here... people thought we were crazy when we got together. We did the whole long distance dating for 9 months before he moved here.

Now, for the first time in 12 years I can truly say I'm in love again, and this time, we got it right.

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Don't laugh - Sometimes, third time IS a charm.

If you want to do the MEME - let me know that you've done it, and I'll be the first to come by and read it.

I was in the bathroom bathing my son when the phone rang. I reached over to see who it was on the call display, but I missed it.
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So, I chose not to answer. I hate not knowing who is calling ahead of time. I'm one of those people who will screen my calls.

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Later in the evening, after the kids are both in bed, I decide to call the mystery number back.

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I try not to feel like an idiot when I say:

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"Uh, I think someone called me from this number".
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A man's voice answers back in a very thick accent, appologizing for dialing the wrong number.

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He excuses himself again for misdialing, and just as I'm about to hang up after saying goodbye, I hear the stranger on the other line say "Bye Michelle".
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It takes me about a minute to go "HUH?" to myself but I don't dare call back the creepy man with the accent and ask how he knows my name.