Unplanned Parenthood

PS. Prayers offered up for my emotional well being are being gratefully accepted.

Paska Time

Oh, I had a craving for this stuff the other day! So I set out to make a batch this morning with my breadmaker. I have the BEST recipe from my aunt. It makes the softest, most lovely tasting paska ever. We almost ate one whole loaf already and I brought the other one to my parents. So I suppose that means I'll have to make some more!!!

Big Milestone!

Not sure if I'm crazy or very wise but I have achieved 15 years at my current job as of March 2, 2008. I was presented with the plaque below and this lovely crystal vase. The best part of my job are my co-workers for sure! The job itself....meh. I think that I am getting restless now and ready for a change. Who knows what the future may hold but changing employers would be a big deal for me! I like familiarity but nothing ventured nothing gained...or so I've heard.

Whistler

Today was ski day for Nate's school. My friend and I tagged along and hit the slopes as well. We had a great time. It helped we had skiied here last year....we knew exactly where the best powder was. I even have hope that I won't be too sore tomorrow. I think the squats we did all of Dec and Jan really helped (Feb was a bit of a write-off in the exercise department!). The most painful part of today? Getting up at 4:20 am to get to the bus on time. Simply awful!!!!

Home Sweet Home

Hey everyone! We are back, safe and sound. Thanks for all of you who prayed for a safe trip. The roads were clear, traffic light and it was smooth sailing there and back.

We all had a good time!

Here is a link to the photos. They are all captioned so you should get lots of info without me typing it all out here for you.

http://picasaweb.google.com/krnc1994/Disneyland2008?authkey=gGbObHFi2hA


Oh and a little side note. I came home to find that a new lid for my popcorn maker had been mailed to me free of charge from Scheider's! I know you were concerned for my addiciton.

Just About Outta Here!

I am packed.
The kids are packed.
I sit home alone waiting for them to return from Vancouver.
The anticipation is KILLING me!!!!!!
Thanks for all your prayers. Nathan is much much better today.
The forecast for Anaheim is for sun....and I am ready to get there!

Please pray for our safety on our journey.
Will definitely be updating just as soon as we get back!
Ciao friends.

The Timing is All Wrong

Please pray for us!
I woke up at 11:30 pm tonight to the wonderful sound of puking. Not really knowing where it was coming from, I raced straight to Chad's room and flipped on the light....no he's fast asleep. Hop over to Nate's room and he's sitting there all dazed from just having puked gallons of nastiness all over his bedroom floor. OI VEY!
I called for Keith who was still in the basement working on the computer to come up and please help me n.o.w.!!!!!!
Needless to say this is horrible timing. Please pray for a very speedy recovery for Nathan and please pray that the rest of us stay healthy.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you

PS. I sit here blogging. Nate is cleaned up and in a cot in our bedroom. His room is a haz-mat situation. Keith is at his brother's getting their mini steam cleaner.

Happy

On Friday we are packing up the car and pointing it south. Destination....DISNEYLAND!

I am quite excited....obviously!

This is a completely impulsive and spontaneous trip. We had planned to go in October but changed our minds. I am a total planner so this was a bit out of my comfort zone but it feels pretty good!

The boys have NO idea....and boy, has it been hard keeping it a secret from them. We can't wait to tell them! I will videotape their reaction on Friday and if it's blog-worthy I'll share it with you all.

Anyhow....couldn't keep the secret much longer!

My brother and I - at the Magical Kingdom in 1982

Lazy Blogger

I'm sorry. My blogging has been rather pathetic lately....do I have any readers left? I could list off a mile of excuses but do you really want to hear them? I thought not!
So here's a little catch up post. On Sunday, I opened my birthday gifts from Keith and the boys. They got me a nice electric wok! Sadly it will have to be returned as the base is very wobbly and unstable. I do look forward to getting one though as I want to make more stir frys.

I also got a box of my new obsession. I had always been a milk chocolate girl but as I 'mature' I am finding the dark chocolate to be quite divine! If you haven't tried Lindt in the black wrappers please do so immediately.

The other night I was having a real craving for a greek style pizza. This was so incredibly good. I do love feta and am making up for lost time when I thought I didn't like it! It was maybe only 3 years ago I decided it wasn't disgusting!

And lastly I have some tragic news. My Whirly pop crank mechanism broke last night. NOT HAPPY! I knew when I got the pot that a plastic mechanism didn't stand a chance to last long but only a year? Sigh.....Keith said he will try and fix it but I might have to go on the hunt for a new pot with higher quality parts. At least it snapped AFTER the popcorn was popped. It was a yummy bowl of kettle corn...could be the last bowl for a long time!

35 and Still Kicking!

Last night we went out to a shi-shi poo-poo fancy restaurant for my birthday with our dear friends. It was scrumptious! I had a very tasty pasta dish with artichokes and jumbo tiger prawns. Keith had mahi-mahi and the rest of the gang had either pork chops or pork tenderloin. I would highly recommend Restaurant 62.

Afterwards we came back to our place for dessert but sadly no one could eat a bite! Which is completely fine because I plan to eat it all myself today :) Look at this gorgeous mirror that Keri and Kori got me!!! I love it and can't wait for Keith to hang it up for me.

Working Hard!

Last night we did our weights a bit earlier than usual so we could all relax in the hot tub. Chad was very eager to join us! We do our routine three times a week and it consists of: crunches, lateral raises, side bends, wall squats, negative push-ups, overhead pull overs and bicep curls! I could never do it alone so I am very grateful Keith is my partner in all this. We crank up the '80's tunes on the computer and are done before we know it!

Dinner Out

Did you know that if you sign up for the Black Angus newsletter online, you receive a coupon close to your birthday for a free steak dinner? Thankfully Kori did tip me off and I received my coupon last week. Of course we don't turn down free food of any kind so we made a little trip to Bellingham last night to partake in some delicous steak! The unfortunate part is that I have been experiencing a very awful toothache so chewing the food very carefully was the order of the night. Ugh...just get over a bladder infection and now my tooth feels like it's going to explode. If this is a taste of getting older then I'm very afraid!

Glorious

The early bird gets the worm AND the sunrise! What a gorgeous morning. Unfortunately my camera does NOT do it justice at all.

Lots and Lots of Bathroom Breaks

How many male readers do I have? Two at the most I think.
Perhaps now you should avert your eyes....if TMI is a phase you utter with regularity!
I am distressed to be the receipient of my very first bladder infection.
Yuck
Ugh
Nasty


**Jan 19 Update**:

Thanks to all my caring bloggy readers for your comments and good wishes. I didn't really clarify that this was NOT a painful experience so I did feel a bit guilty getting all the sympathy! It was and is mostly a pain to visit the facilities a gazillion times a day is all. And this is why I let it go for 5 days before I went to the doctor. From what I read on the net, I should have also had pain and possibly a fever. Anyhow....I have my prescription and do already feel like I am well on my way to 'normal'!!!!

Soccer Season

Soccer is our sport around here. To be honest we started Nate in it simply for the cost. It was and I believe still is one of the least expensive sports out there. Another considering factor was the fact that soccer promotes excellent cardio fitness and teamwork. A winning combination. The nasty aspect is that it is played during BC's wettest and coldest months. Brrrrr!!!!

Thankfully both kids have taken to it and enjoy it thoroughly. They are both great players and are well liked on their teams by their coaches and team mates alike! It's always fun to watch them having fun.

I just picked up their photos today.....

British Invasion

Bread pudding. It's English, right? Up until this night I do not believe that I had ever tasted this dish. Ever since seeing it on one of my favorite site (The Pioneer Women)I had a hankering to try it. Well....now I've tried it. It's good. But not so good that I would like to waste my caloric intake on it. I'd rather have many other things. The recipe also made a sauce for it called 'Whiskey Cream Sauce' which was entirely too rich! That being said, Keith and Chad gobbled it up and declared it delicious! Of course Nathan would not touch it because it had pecans in it. Fussy child, that one.

Gotta Share!

We received a call from the school principal earlier this week inviting us to please attend today's assembly. Hmmmm...we had a feeling that perhaps Nate would be receiving a special something! Unfortunately, I was working but Keith was able to attend. December's virture was kindness and Nate's classmates voted him as Student of the Month for December. That's my boy!!!

Projects

When Keith initiates a project on his own (aka with my nagging) I become quite happy. This has been on the 'to do' list since we moved here but since it involved a room that is out of sight it was not top priority. Our basement storage room was in need of new sturdy shelves and re-organization. Keith worked on it this week while I was at work.

Removing the old flimsy shelving. They were not strong or deep enough for anything bigger than a shoebox.

It had to all come out so it could go back in properly! Keith found six boxes of his that he hadn't unpacked from the move. This will be his next project :)
All those shoe boxes contain every card received by myself or the family. I can't throw away greeting cards for some reason! I also have a large box of 'Seventeen' magazines that I have kept over the years. I think they will be amusing to look at in about 20 years or so!

And the finished shelfing unit. It's sturdy and organized and just what that room needed!

And this is what the boys have been doing. As a result of clearing out the 'stuff' we discovered my long kept tube of Doodle Art posters. I love coloring and bought out all the Doodle Art from a local hobby shop when it was closing down eons ago. I don't know if you can even buy the original Doodle Art anymore. So I checked out the contents of the tube to find one blank poster left. Yippee....the boys (and the big boy) are having a great deal of fun coloring!!!

Hello 2008!

Annual Tradition....getting together with Kori, Roger, Keri & Dave for an evening of eating, visiting, games and whatever else we decide to do! Extra thankful that Kori was able to make it since the evil flu had been keeping her down for the past five days.

See, there she is in fine form dancing with her main squeeze.

The men all took a dip in the tub and we ladies decided it was much nicer indoors.

And wouldn't you know it? I had to also promise these kids a 'funny pose' so they would give me one decent picture!

So good-bye 2007! It was a good year....a fast one as they all seem to be. I am looking forward to a fitter and leaner 2008! Lofty goals to be sure. I am so happy to discover that I didn't gain any weight over the holidays. Maintenance is something to be really happy about after all the gluttony. I am positive that the weight-lifting Keith and I have been doing totally is the reason for it.

And a shout-out to my parents who are basking in the warmth of Southern California right now. If it tickles your fancy you can read about their holiday on my dad's blog. He's all about the laptop and free Wi-Fi!!!

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends!