Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pierced!

Madeline has wanted her ears pierced for a long time now, and I've told her she could get it done when she's 12, because that's what my Mom told me.  It's a good put-it-off tactic.  It also makes it a good surprise when you let her get it done early!  I wrapped a pair of earrings for Christmas, and when she opened them, her eyes got really big and she asked, "I'm getting my ears pierced?"  Such a great reaction and expression!

So yesterday Manon and Michelle came over (Manon has been one of M's closest friends since kindergarten, and Michelle's her mom), and Michelle brought her supplies.  She used to have a salon, so has been the one to pierce the ears of all their friends when they get it done.  M was excited, but nervous.  She brought Pooh bear with her to squeeze, and Michelle let her pierce the bear's ears to see what it was like.  So Pooh has little gold heart studs in his ears...

Here are a few pics from the adventure:


The Nerves



Look at her expression as she pulls the trigger!



A few tears... I like the one dripping off her nose.



We did it!



Manon, Michelle and Madeline

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

sick :(

Nothing like a day with not much planned except last minute baking and wrapping to get puking sick.  Sean and M ran out to the store tonight, and I didn't move from my spot on the couch the whole time they were gone.

I was out for about 5 hours, but I'm feeling better now, thanks.  I managed to get cinnamon buns made, and they're pretty good - I hear - I had an apple, but that's it.  (Ok, no that's not it - I also had some Lay's Stacks.  They're our new favorite, and when Sean pulled them out I had a few...  Can't eat healthy even when I'm not eating or healthy!)

We went to the store this morning to order pictures: their one hour machine was down + we got instant prints for the price of one hour = no need for a trip back.  Sweet.

PS - When Sean brought home the new computer yesterday, he also brought a new 20 inch flatscreen monitor...  Merry Christmas to me!  (And then he listed the old monitor and half empty computer on Used Regina, and had it sold within 5 minutes.  The guy came right after work today to take it away.) 

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Computers.

Just after I wrote on Friday, I figured I would upload my pictures from the camera.  I had been doing that on the laptop all year, but with that gone and a new external hard drive in place, I thought I would start putting them on the desktop again, since that's the one I use mostly.  So I got the camera, plugged in the cord, and shocked the computer to death.  Unreal.  And the new external hard drive that had everything backed up?  Nothing on it.  Sean went to our friendly neighborhood Saturday morning and ordered a new computer, and came home with a casing for the hard drive - you pop your hard drive into it, plug it in to another computer by usb, and presto, there was all our desktop info, safe and sound.  Nice.  So, a few hundred dollars later (and we just got the laptop back this week remember) we'll have a nice shiny new desktop, too.

And I thought, hmmm... maybe I should bring up that humidifier and get rid of some of this static.  Little late, don't you think?

And the pictures are still on the camera.  Some day I'll have some to show you.

Friday, December 18, 2009

sick kid, cancelled parties, and takeout

We went to bed last night and had just gotten settled and warm when we heard Madeline get up - and throw up. Glad her floor was nice and tidy! She slept the rest of the night, half in her bed, then half on the couch in the living room, which I found out when I went to wake her up this morning and she wasn't there. She was not 100%, and she was running a bit of a fever - 99.7, so I sent her back to bed, where she slept for another couple of hours. No cough or pains, just fever and not feeling great. I took her into work for an hour so I could do a couple of things that needed doing today, then brought the rest home. She laid in front of the TV this afternoon while I did work and home work, and didn't prepare supper.

Tonight we were supposed to go to the Andres place for a moving party, but with M sick, Sean was going to go solo. I called over when he got home, and they must have had a bunch of keeners on the job since the unpacking of the moving truck was all done. Sean didn't want to go solo just to eat and visit, so we ordered 2 pizzas and bread sticks and cinnasticks and coke... what a feast. So good. Both the food and the not having to cook!

So that party wasn't cancelled, but having M sick threw a wrinkle in the plans. The other party that was cancelled was tomorrow night's get together at a friend's place... we had a sitter booked and everything. Oh, well. I'm happy to stay home, too.

Have a nice low key weekend - may you find a quiet moment in the dark to sit and watch the lights on your tree.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A little bit of catch up

I don't know where to start! Being a one computer family means that when I have "I should blog that" thoughts, they get put off and go astray before they get blogged. My friends just left our meeting here and Sean is out playing pool with a friend, so I'm grabbing this minute for me. And you.

The biggest thing is that I am THANKFUL. My Dad had an adventure this weekend where his semi met a cliff... and he's not dead. That is a miracle, and I am thankful! To God, to the kind people who helped out, to Rebecca Schroeder who prays for my dad's safety on the roads every day...

The friends who were over tonight? My DESIGN TEAM. I am enjoying my role at the church as "Coordinator of Worship Arts and Communications" and I am more aware now of what it requires, and what I can produce, and thankfully, I am aware of a few people who have creative minds and knowledge of design software and production. Tonight was the first meeting of the 5 of us, so I ran through what kinds of things I am working on, what kinds of things we could dream about for the future, and got some specific input of some of my current projects. We had lots of laughs and I'm so glad that they're all super stoked to be involved.



I had a fiction craving this weekend. I love to read and find that's my best escape and way to relax. I try not to have too many books around the house when I'm working on a paper because it's far too easy to read instead of write. But Friday I went to the library and picked up two books. One was huge, and one was small. I started reading the huge one that night, and because Sean was busy with other stuff, I just kept reading. Till 1:30 AM. I got half done. Saturday? Yeah. I finished it. The Book of Negros, by Lawrence Hill. I'd highly recommend it. Thanks, Mom for mentioning that one to me.


Last week, I had taken Madeline down to the dentist for a filling.  I was driving her back to school and we were goofing off, dancing around to the radio, when she says, "Anna..."
Anna is one of her best friends.  She called me Anna.  Not Madam (her teacher, though I get that once in a while, just like teachers get called Mom), but her FRIEND's name.
I'll take that as a compliment.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Help Joe's Place

Joe's Place is a youth center in Moose Jaw that was started 14 years ago by Joe Dueck, a guy we went to Briercrest with. They've entered a competition for some funding and if they get enough votes, they'll be able to afford to put a kitchen in the drop in center and expand what they do there. Please take a minute and go here to sign up and vote once a day for the next five days. They do great work at Joe's and this would be a great Christmas miracle for them.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Roll Over

Yesterday the odometer on my van read 199999... and I saw it roll over to 200000.

I may have had my eyes on the numbers more than on the road for that km, but I was still safe. I promise.

(And soon after that, I gassed up, but could only fill half the tank - because it was TOO COLD to stand outside long enough to fill the whole thing!)

Monday, December 07, 2009

Monday Morning

I just sent in a paper - feels like a productive morning, and a weight off my shoulders. I did enjoy reading the primary source material by Augustine and Bohnoeffer, though. For me the reading isn't the hardship, it's the translating my thoughts into words that make sense and look good on paper, and finding alert brain time to do that!

We had our hard drive in our laptop crash last week. Days after we bought an external hard drive that didn't work and got taken back, and two weeks after the warranty ran out. Can you say OUCH?? After a year of having two computers, going back to one was a little painful. We'll see when the laptop gets back into play. With this paper done, it's not as big of a deal for me. Just for Sean who likes to watch TV while he's on the computer...

M tried out for a special dance group at school and made it - they will be performing a couple of times at the Fire and Ice Carnival here in January, and also are going to be involved in the processional when the Olympic Torch comes through town. She wanted to be involved so badly, but there were important practices over the holidays when we're away, and it was iffy for a while there. The teacher in charge called and said it was ok for M to miss those; she was confident in M's ability to pick it up quickly. Nice for her to make that work out for the kid! Holidays with family comes before extra stuff like that, no matter how cool it is.

We set up the tree Friday night and decorated it Saturday - it's too big of a job to do all at once, and it stretches the fun to two days. We have 5 nativity sets, and 4 of them are in the living room right now. It's sort of a joke on Sean - he only likes one set up, not have them all over the place! I'll take a couple to work today and put them in my office, and one will go up to M's room. I've been taking lots of pictures to make a December album with, so if I get time later, I'll post the nativity sets for your perusal. Not now, though, because I have to go get groceries. It's -20 or so out there. I'm wearing long johns and big woolly socks. The long johns will stay, but these socks only fit in my Sorels, and I'm not wearing those to the store and work!