Why 7 year olds do not make very good swifts

God love him, he tried. And the yarn did not tangle beyond recognition, as it did when I tried to use my feet. He simply lacked the wingspan to hold the yarn and the attention span to hold it well. But the end result was a neatly wound centre-pull ball (thanks Alison for the loan of the ball winder) and a 7 year old very proud that he helped out.

He's holding the second skein of Sweet Georgia yarn in Blue Steel, which I bought with my gift certificates at TS. Here is a pic of the yarn when I brought it home:

The skein on the left is a camel and silk blend. Not the colourway I was looking for when I ventured out to the store, but I am really glad that the other colour was not there since it made see this stuff, which I like better. Not sure yet what it will become, either a lacy scarf or a shawl.
The SW yarn however, is almost a pair of Monkey socks, which seems to be a trend amongst the KOL set, as Meegiemoo has already completed hers and the Ninja has them on her needles too. This is sock #1:

Now, the observant among you will instantly see the difference in my sock. I'd been hesitant in knitting them because I don't like my socks up that high. I prefer ankle height socks. Then, duh, lightbulb moment. There is no rule saying I have to make them that high. So I ended up cutting 3 repeats out of the leg, which made a sock at the perfect height for me.
The reason I had Cam be my swift instead of being sensible and waiting for my husband to get home? I just finished sock #1 and need to get sock #2 cast on so that I can actually wear them. Can't give in to SSS!!!!
I love the pattern though, it was sort of fun to knit. My only complaint is that the twisted rib cuff was a bit fiddly for my liking, and if I were to knit them again I would do a ribbed heel rather than stockingette stitch (sorry to my non-knitter readers, I'm sure that last sentence made no sense to you whatsoever).
I also picked up some of the cotton-elastic sock yarn that was on sale at TS, but I cannot show them to you since one of the colours is going to become a pair of socks for Mom, who is wool-sensitive. Sorry Mom if you've read that and now know you are getting socks...but at least you don't know what colour they are!

Off knitting:
McDonald's finally built a play structure that makes sense. The new building on Main Street has a huge playground in it...that PARENTS CAN GET IN TOO! Which is excellent since I cannot stand hearing parents yelling "(name) get down here NOW!!!!" (I never had to...Cam knows full well that if he ever hid up there he'd never be allowed back on) but not being able to get at their kids and their kids knowing this (although, the child in question has not thought this through at all...they have to come down eventually, and now their parent is royally pissed). Plus, this structure was Grace friendly, and since we could get up there too, Cam could play while we supervised her, he did not have to hover around her. Here are some pics:




They had a total blast.

So tonight is New Year's Eve. I remember the days (which seem forever ago, but really were only a few years back) when I would get all gussied up in my fancy clothes and hit the town, or to a party (ah, the millenium party at Melissa's....whoo, what at time!). Since becoming a Mommy, I have spent the last three Years 1) going bowling then a family party at my moms, 2) The party at Jack Sprat's when the restaurant was officially handed over to my Dad and his business partners at midnight and I was hugely pregnant, 3) Sacked out on the couch watching the countdown with Cam, then the fireworks through the window. Tonight we have ordered Chinese food (a tradition when I was a kid that we are resurrecting), then we are going to play some board games, watch the countdown and put the kids to bed (I doubt Grace will even stay up the whole time, but we'll see) and maybe have an hour to ourselves before we go to sleep (yeah right! I'll be out before Cam!).
Oddly enough...I'm looking forward to this more than I ever did going out.

Merry Christmas All!

Hi!

We've had a great Christmas so far, and we still have dinner with Phil's family to enjoy!

Yesterday morning I was woken up at the unholy hour of 6:45 am by Phil's brother who was dropping off gifts. He figured since I have kids I'd be up. No, not so much. I wasn't able to get back to sleep, so I had about a hour and half to myself. I was able to fold laundry and get the sugar cookie dough prepped without a smallish person "helping" me. So, thanks Scott!
After breakfast Cam and I rolled and cut out sugar cookies and then he decorated two special ones for Santa. We suspect Santa must have really enjoyed them since there was not so much as a crumb left behind!
Then it was off to a lovely church service. After a short visit at Nan's, we headed over to my parents' place. While there we discovered that Santa had made an early drop off while we were out!

He left us a note apologizing for missing us, but he'd left us some goodies!
Cam handed out gifts, doing a great job of reading names. Grace received a Cabbage Patch Newborn, which she was too pleased with:

Cameron got a dragon, whose rider will fly off when you pull the string:

Very cool. All of us made out well.
Then the Davies family came to hang out and we all had a lovely time eating and watching Grace play with the dogs (her fav game is to get kibble from the cupboard and throw it for Angus, their youngest golden retriever). Their older dog, Sam, was extremely excited for Santa, to the point where she was shaking and jumping like a pup. She knows that Santa brings tennis balls, and could not wait!
We went home, put the kiddies to bed, had some eggnog and went to bed ourselves.
This morning we awoke to this:

That's all the gifts from family and friends, this is the kids' Santa stuff:

Here's Cam making his arrival in his Christmas jammies...they look so cool!

We drug out the going to the living room event as long as possible...my goodness it's fun to tease your kids!
Grace had to be hauled out of bed (poor Cam was ready to burst)...she's groggy yet:

but she quickly got into things.

As did Cam:

I was trying to open my stocking when Grace decided she wanted her CPK accessory pack opened...

and the baby needed a diaper change:

The pack came with two disposable diapers, but since they are A) really expensive (I think it's nearly $1 per CPK diaper!) and B) way too big for her tiny newborn, I am going to sew up some cloth ones for her (just as soon as I figure out what I did to my sewing machine to make it stop working...anybody know of a good service place for those things?)
Our boy made this for us at school. He's so talented!

Cameron went to the Build-a-bear workshop to make a present for his sister, he's named it "Tinkerbear" since it's wearing a fairy costume:

So we suprised him by having Grace make him the Husky pup he's been wanting since the store opened, along with a gift card to pick out the clothes himself(unfortunately I don't have a clear pic of it. But if you follow this link, you can see which one he has)
All in all, we had a great day. My husband and my kids got me gift certificates for Tangled Skeins (hello boxing day sale!), a gorgeous robe and a denim booty bag purse from my mom, and lots of other good stuff.

Well, I'll sign off now since my in-laws have arrived. Hope the holiday found you all happy and Santa was good to you!

It's almost here! It's almost here!

AND I am nearly done my knitting! I am more than halfway through a very simple toque for Grampy Gabe, then voila! Finished!
Now I have to wrap everything :P

So, since Steph kinda tagged us, I thought I'd do the Christmas meme;

The Rules:
The player of this game starts with "3 things he/ she would love to get for Christmas" and also has to list "3 things he/ she definitely does not want to get for Christmas". Then he/she tags 5 friends and list their names. The ones who get tagged need to write on their blogs about their Christmas wishes, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. And the one who tags need to leave a comment that says "you've been Christmas tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Yeah...not tagging anyone. But feel free to nab it and either blog it or send it 'round by e-mail.

3 Things I would LOVE to get for Christmas:

1) Yarn. Since I can't make up my mind exactly what yarn I want...Yarn money would be appreciated too, although if someone else could make this decision for me (thus deciding what I'll cast on after Christmas and giving me some direction) I'd love that too.
2) For everyone I care about to be safe and happy this year. Phil's Dad passed away 17 years ago yesterday in a car accident trying to get home for Christmas. Please, if you are travelling...even if it's to the grocery store...pay attention to the
weather and drive like every other driver is a maniac (meaning you'll be cautious). Be safe!
3) For my kids to have a great time Christmas morning.

3 Things I do NOT want for Christmas:

1) Crap Acrylic. Most of the knitters said acrylic, but I feel the need to be specific. Some acrylic is kind of nice, and really good for things like mitts and hats that get washed a lot and for making things for other people who you know are not going to hand wash. However....scratchy, creaky, crap acrylic is simply not welcome here. Neither is novelty yarn. I have enough of both taking up room in the stash.
2) Family nonsense. The only really stressful part of the holiday for me is the bickering and crap that tends to happen when everyone gets together. There is no need of it. Stop it or I will send you all to time out.
3) Well, here I was going to link the video clip for the SNL skit featuring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg singing to their ladies about giving them their "D*ck in a box". It was hilarious. And something Phil would probable tease me about as being my big gift. However...NBC seems to have pulled all the You Tube clips. Scrooges. I can assure you, if you have not seen it, it was wet-your-pants funny.

I saw this in today's newspaper...and found it to be hilarious.

If any of you have tried to remove a toy from it's packaging for an excited child...then you want to hit that guy too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Christmas just brings 'em all out, doesn't it?

I hate Christmas shopping. No wait, that's not exactly true. I love going out with my list and my budget and finding something for each person on my list that I know that they will love and I have a knack for finding good deals. What I hate is dealing with everyone else at the mall.
It never fails, I go to the mall knowing ahead of time where I am going, what I am looking for. And I always get stuck behind someone who believes they are strolling along the beach. No matter where I turn, I get caught behind people who look completely bewildered that there is so much going on and feel the need to look at it ALL. Hello? This is madness...you need to freakin MOVE!!! Go home, make a list of who you are buying for, how much you can spend and an idea of what to get for each person or at the very least a store where you think you might be able to find something for that person. Then come out to the mall.
That's why I usually try to do my shopping on weekday mornings. Of course, this is easier now that I am at home, but when I was working I always took off a Tuesday in December to do serious shopping. It's not so bad on weekdays. But you still get oddities.

Just a few:

A woman was in front of me in the toy dept. I got stuck as I was trying to see the stuff just ahead of her and had no way around. She was talking away, having a conversation with someone, I assumed she was on her cell phone. Nope. When I did pass her I realized she was having a grand ol' time talking very loudly to herself.

In the Panhandler in Penhorn mall, while I was at the counter paying when a woman rammed her cart into my ass. Now, I realize that I have more ass than one might consider necessary, but there was plenty of room. The crazy part? She gave me a dirty look! Um, hello? You hit me chickie. Then she actually sighed in a very exagerrated fashion and says "excuse me" and rolls her eyes. What, the ten feet of room behind me is not enough for you? Oh, and this woman was well dressed and probably in her mid-fifties.

Finally, one you make you smile. Yesterday there was a couple standing in line to see Santa. In the man's arms...a pug. I brought Grace over to see the dog, since she is crazy about dogs right now, and realized the dog was wearing a red velvet dress. I pointed out the dress to Grace, and the man said "yes, this is her Christmas gown." Of course it is.

Knitting: Have finished and mailed the hat for my cousin's daughter, finished the project a friend of mine was paying me for, I am about to finish the embroidery on Aaron's hat, am about 1/3 through Evan's hat, then I need to whip up a basic cable hat for my grampy, who wants to ignore Christmas this year, but since the treatments have left him always cold a knit cap is just the thing for him. We're getting there!

Funniest Mis-heard lyric!

We were sitting down to dinner and I had popped into the cd player the Christmas Album that Cam's school made. The song "The 12 Days of Christmas" was playing.

It gets to "On the 6th day of Christmas..."

And Cam says...

"6 pieces of lettuce?" He looks at us in disbelief "That's a weird gift."

God, I love that kid.

Now (sound of whip snapping) back to my knitting.

Band-wagon Jumping

This was started in the KOL set by Moe. Basically it's a year-end wrap up by listing the first line from the first post of every month of the past year. Since I only started in May, this won't be as long as the others :)

Here we go:

May:
Well, I thought since everyone else was doing this blogger thing I suppose I ought to toss in my 2 cents.

(my first post. awww!)

June:
Exciting happenings in the Allen/Neily household.

(this post was about my kitchen fire. whoops!)

July:
No knitting content, I have no FO's to show, but I HAD to share this:

(this had pictures of Cam's sculptures of us in play dough. We were blue, and I had oddly long arms..it was beautiful)

August:
Hi all!

(this was a long and picture filled post...we'd gotten a digital camera with wedding money and took lots of pics at the Oaklawn Farm Zoo)

September:
Yesterday morning we rushed out of the house early to get to an appointment with Grace's pediatrician...and totally left Henry asleep in Cam's room.

(more of a most memorable week with Henry)

October:
Ok, so most of you are familiar with the term "KIP", stands for "Knitting In Public".

(Breastfeeding Challenge and my b-day)

November:
We took the children to visit their pediatrician this morning (Grace is up a full percentile, whoo hoo! And Cam is growing like weed and doing great), this woman and her daughter came up to the bus shelter.

(a disturbing tale of a young girl's mother enabling her smoking habit)

December:
You Are The Empress

(oh yeah!)

So that's a quick review. This year was very eventful: we got married, we got pregnant, I had knitting triumphs and failures, lessons were learned, children got bigger...many many wonderful things happened this year, I eagerly await the next year's milestones!

Busy Saturday

I am totally ignoring my Christmas knitting to do this. Funny, I love knitting, I love knitting for other people. Slap a deadline on it, it reeks of "you must do this" and suddenly...I don't want to knit another stitch. I really have to get over that. Same thing used to happen to me in school, I love reading. But if I had to read a book for a report, or when I was taking my Canadian Lit class at MSVU, ugh, I could not be bothered. I've read every single book on that list since leaving the mount, and enjoyed most of them. I imagine that after Christmas I'll be knitting joyfully.

Anyway...

Saturday I spent the morning taking my kids pictures. Cam's school photos were terrible (in one he looked angry, the other intoxicated) and I had to cancel the family appointment at Superstore because not all the family could make it. Plus I am a terrible mother who has not sat Grace down to do a portrait since last year. So I did it Saturday, and now have a greater appreciation for those folks who do this for a living, because by the end I so frustrated I was ready to pitch the camera out the window. Any idea how hard it is to get a toddler to sit still and smile at the same time?
Here are a few from the "shoot"

He's so handsome!

They are so cute!!

Yup...I've got real good lookin kids!

This one is going out with out Christmas cards!
And this one illustrates my point about toddler photo-taking...

Her brother was behind me making faces at her, but instead of the desired laugh we got a monkey-see, monkey-do response. Sigh.
After the pics we trotted out to see Santa, stopping on the way to see Steph at the yarn shop. I think Steph is going to lock the door next time she sees us coming;


Grace ran about, positively squealing with laughter as she tossed ball after ball. I managed to wrestle her to the ground and once she was on her back she could not get up due to her winter gear. Lisa was quick to say "Hey, she's only doing what we all wish we could do!" Yep, the wee girl likes her yarn. There's a reason my stash is in rubber maid totes. I helped tidy and hurried my children out the door. Grace oh-so-casually says "Bye now!" and blew them a kiss. Sigh.
At the busstop Grace discovered that snow is cold, but still did not make the connection to keeping her mittens on to keep her hands warm. She'll figure that one out eventually.
We got to the mayhem that is Mic Mac Mall on a Saturday in the Christmas season. I walked in and had two thoughts 1) I must be freakin crazy to come here 2)Thank god for courtesy strollers (my stroller is crap in snow, crap in the mall...basically, it's just crap, unless you are on dry sidewalk).
First stop: Woody the Talking Christmas Tree. Cam enjoyed it, but Grace had no idea what the heck was going on

Then we went to see Santa. Grace was not impressed

Although she really enjoyed that box of smarties he gave her.
After this we hopped on the bus to head to Penhorn so I could get the portraits printed. By this time it was dinner...and Grace had enough fun:

However, a quick nap and some chicken nuggets she was raring to go again. We ran into my mom and my brother near the playground and Grace's fav uncle took over and played with her on the playground while I took a much needed rest on the bench.
Once we finally got home...I passed the kids to Daddy, and crashed. I will never EVER go to the mall on a Saturday during Christmas. NEVER!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

All aound my apartment!


I'm actually a bit late this year with my decorating, there have been years that I have decorated the night of the Halifax Tree Lighting Ceremony (usually the last weekend of November), but I always have had my tree up by December 1st. Oh well, so we're late, and I'm not quite finished yet...it still looks like Christmas just came and threw up in my apartment.
Let's start with the tree shall we? I should tell you, this is the last year for this tree. So if anyone knows of anybody who needs a free artificial tree I am going to give it away after Christmas. But before you all rush at me shouting "pick me!" I feel I should tell you why I am getting this tree out of my house. I've had it for 5 years, and I received it from a co-worker who used it happily for 7 or 8 years before that. So it's a bit old and starting to show signs of wear. But that's not why I want it gone. This tree hates me. It hates being hauled out of the quiet of the storage locker and having it's limbs arranged and lights strung upon it. It shows its displeasure my scratching me viciously every year. My arms are covered in long scratches and I have a particularly bad cut on my pinky finger where the skin is tender anyway from my eczema. I get the branches sorted, then I start on the lights, and the tree will twist, fuss and bend it branches so that I am constantly having to re-adjust the thing. Once the lights are on, the tree is pretty good at allowing us to place ornaments, and we have many many ornaments to decorate with. It looks lovely once it's all done. Then I went to put the star on...and I am telling you the tree pulled it away from me and if it were not for Phil holding on to me to make sure I did not fall, I would have been in the tree. So, take the tempermental jerk of a tree at your own risk. I'm sick of fighting with it and am planning to buy a nice pre-lit tree in the after Christmas sales. At the same time though, I don't want to just throw it out. It has a few more Christmases in it yet...it's more of a personality clash.
Here it is in all it's glory:


In the arch entering the living room we have the festive garland complete with mistletoe! To the left you see our Advent Santa, there are red and green M&M's in his pockets...Grace points him and says "I want it..yum yum"


Over here we have a fine collection of Santas. The one in blue was made by my aunt, the porcelian was a gift from my Dad, the tin one is actually a lamp my pal Janet gave me last year. I can't reach the plug to light him up, it's on Phil's "to-do" list, which means he won't be shining this year. Next to Tin Santa is a candle I received as a gift from one my students at daycare. The story that goes with it is that the mom had a co-worker who painted the candles, so she asked her to make a lot of them for gifts. She figures that by the time she got to the candles for the daycare teachers the painter was sick of snowmen, because they all look a little pissed off. My cranky snowman is probably one of my favourites.


On top of the bookshelf we have the Navity Scene, watched over by a giant snowman who lights up, dances and sings when you squeeze his hand.


Here we see that I apparently have a Grinch infestation in my walls, this one likes to dangle mistletoe over my kitchen doorway


Ok...stockings hung? Check! Antlers on the toddler? Check!


Cat decorated? Check!

Molly says "I'll get you for this human!"

It may seem like a lot, but honestly I have more in my closet that I am not putting out because I have run out of surfaces that the girl can't reach. There is also a bowl full of small red and white Christmas balls on the table next to my Santa salt and pepper shakers and the candy dishes that spell JOY. There is a big Santa head...in the bathroom. My final touch will be to wrap my front door to look like a presnt.

I love Christmas!!!

(ETA: I reposted it, and still many could not see the pics, including me. I just reloaded all the pics and it seems to be working now, I hope!)

Sad day in history

I was all set to post a cheery message about Christmas and all the getting ready for it, when I realized what today is.
December 6th, 1917: Halifax is devastated by an explosion caused by the collision of the French ship Mont Blanc, a munitions ship carrying a deadly cargo, and the Norwegian ship Imo. The collision occured in the Narrows towards the Bedford Basin. The Mont Blanc caught fire and twenty minutes later she exploded with incredible force, flattening much of our city. Thousands were killed, including school children who had stopped to watch the fire with interest on their way to class.
To learn more, visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. They have an amazing display of artifacts, personal stories and the entire story laid out to learn from. I recommend you see it, and pass on the story to anyone who will listen.

December 6th, 1989: 14 women are gunned down in Montreal's École Polytechnique. They were engineering students, and according to my grade 8 Social Studies teacher (he was in a nearby building in class) apparently the gunman's application for the course had been denied. He blamed the women for taking his place, feeling they were less deserving but they got in based on their gender rather than their competencies (read a case study here) Following this horrific event was a movement against all violence against women. I remember clearly my teacher, normally a fun, jokey man, telling us the tale...breaking the rules by telling us in english instead of the french we were supposed to be immersed in...with tears in his eyes. He told us how afraid he was for friends in that building, for himself, and for those women who were the target of the gunman's rage. We spent the rest of that day making purple ribbons out of construction paper and distributing them amongst our peers.

All in all, not the greatest day in our history. How far have we really come since these dark days? We still have warfare that puts all of us, at home and those sent away, in harm's way. The reasons may be different, but there are still incidences of violence against women. I've been lucky in my life, and I learned well from my role models. I hope that I can teach my son to respect all people, and that I can teach my daughter to be safe from harm and to do no harm. My hope is that my children's future will show the lessons learned from today's history.

Take 2

I was most of the way through this post when my computer just shut down completely. I have no idea why, it just turned off. It's been acting oddly lately, my guess is that it's old and on the verge of a complete breakdown. But I did learn this: periodically save your work. It's the smart thing to do.

So here we are, a non-knitting related post in two parts. All my current UFO's are for Christmas presents and while I loved other knit bloggers close-up shots so we can revel in their yarn...the things I am working on now are black. You all know what black yarn looks like.

1)Baby News:
Had my ultrasound today. And I am officially halfway through my pregnancy. And apparently my due date has been moved up to the 23rd of April instead of the 28th. There is no way the baby was conceived before the wedding night (no need for details, just trust me on this) but according to the measurements the baby is a week ahead in gestation.
Anyway, we got to see all kinds of detail this time, the baby's parts all pretty much all accounted for (even got to count wittle toes!) and at one point baby was waving to us which was pretty cute. No pics this time :( The tech turned off the moniter when she left, which is stupid because it does not cost the hospital any time or money to leave it on. Oh well. The baby looks very healthy so far, there are no concerns. And...while I am not saying flat out that it's a girl...when we were in the right area checking out the pelvis and thigh bones, we did not see any boy parts. So unless they are well hidden, or not dropped yet (it happens, although it's 8 weeks late if they have not, according to my many pregnancy books)...all I'm saying is that we did not see evidence of boy parts.
At any rate, boy or girl, I think I am going to knit the baby a shawl. I was re-reading a few things in Knitting Rules! when I was making my shawl and I came across her list of 10 Reasons to Knit a Shawl (page 171). Number 8 reads:

"There is no greater welcome for a new baby than a shawl as delicate as it is. I love the look of a tiny wee face wrapped in exquisite lace stitches. Even the simplest of shawls looks better around a baby, and I labour under the delusion that she will keep this shawl all her life, perhaps wear it on her wedding day, or, if it's a boy baby, give it to his bride. I even imagine that I have created an heirloom that will someday hold this baby's baby. It's hard to think of anything more worthy of baby puke."

I had been feeling a little guilty because I felt I should be knitting my baby a blanket. But I know myself well enough to know that I just do not have the attention span for a blanket, even a baby one. So I knew that while my baby will come home in a knit sweater, hat and bootie set...it would not have a blanket. But a lacy shawl? That I can do! And what great sentiment behind it. So, come January I will begin looking for the right pattern and the right yarn (I need something soft and that will last with proper care, in white. Any suggestions?).

2) A Small Rant:
The other day I was watching Rachel Ray's show, and she made some kind of chili that I thought might be good, so I googled the show to find the website. I found this link: Rachel Ray Sucks Community. This is a huge group of people, over a thousand members, who spend their time apparently hating Rachel Ray. I read through some of the posts, and these people are incredibly mean. But the part I just don't get is that they WATCH the show. So they can be annoyed and post about it apparently. WTF???
There are celebrities I cannot stand. I do not watch CSI Miami because I just could not watch David Caruso's head-tilting, putting sunglasses on in slow-motion and really lame lines for another moment. Q104 has a commercial on TV with a guy claiming to have a radio in his finger...this is quite possibly the worst commercial ever. There is a local news reporter with an obvious drinking problem and it disgusts me to see this person on camera when they are intoxicated. So...I change the channel. I don't campaign against these things, and there are many other things I see on TV that annoy me, so I don't watch them. Songs on the radio that do not sound good...I do not listen. Overdoses of celebrity gossip I tune it out. So I cannot understand the mentality of people devoting so much energy to hating Rachel Ray. To those people I say: turn off your tv. Get away from your computer. Go for a walk, or get a new, less emotionally unhealthy hobby. I recommend that you knit.

This is no suprise (lol!)

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

(thanks for the link to this quiz Ninja!)

One Crazy Weekend in Cape Breton!

This past weekend one of Phil's groomsmen from our wedding got hitched himself to his long-time girlfriend. Adrian and Andrea have been together nearly 9 years. So we sent the kiddies off to Nana-and-Grampy Land, hopped in the car with Nick and headed to Cheticamp to celebrate with them.
The drive up was long and uneventful. There was a bit of excitement near the causeway when we realized that this was Phil's very first time in CB, but he didn't get the full Cape Breton experience until the next day seeing as it was approaching midnight when we crossed. Hard to be impressed by her beauty when it's frickin pitch black outside. We finally landed in Grand Etang, just before Cheticamp, at Nick's parent's place around 12:30. I went straight to bed.
The boys were required to be at the groom's place for the afternoon (they were both standing for him) so I went to visit with my friend Janet and her parents at their summer home on the other side of Cheticamp. I love visiting with Janet's parents, her mom has a gift for making you feel comfortable and taken care of. Immediately upon my arrival I was offered food and tea. We sat around the kitchen table and chatted until it was time to get ready. Since the wedding wasn't until 7pm, we ate an meat pie (chicken and pork) which was very good. This one was from the local co-op (before leaving we bought one to take home) but Janet's mom has promised to give me her recipe for homemade meat pie (I had one years ago on a visit and it was delish!). Then we got gussied up and off to the Acadian Centre we went.
So, I knew I wasn't in the city. And I knew I was probably out of my element. But this point was really driven home when I stopped at a bank machine on the way to the wedding. As I came out of the bank...I heard a "moooo". I stopped. Heard it again. I looked around, there was no one in sight and Janet's giving me an odd look from the driver's seat of her car. "Moooooo!" I nearly ran the rest of the way to the car. I got in, and asked Janet if she'd heard the moo. She hadn't but it didn't seem to suprise her. When we met back up with her parents I asked her Dad and he said "Oh, that was probably a moose" Then he laughed at my shocked expression. Then told me there are cows nearby and it being a calm night that is what I heard.
(Did I mention already that my friend Janet and the groom are related? Distantly, but they are cousins of sorts. Small world).
Finally we get to the main event.
The bride was stunning in her gown, her mom spent many hours working away on it and it was beautiful;

The ceremony was lovely, and the couple looked so very happy;

After the ceremony pics were taken while everyone pitched in to rearrange the chairs around the tables and suddenly you could smell all the wonderful food from the kitchen.
These are the groomsmen;

From left: My handsome husband, Nick, Adrian (groom) and Johnny. I never think about how short my man is (he's got about 6 inches on me, so he seems tall from my angle) until he is standing with his buddies...none of who are shorter than 6ft. But he fits with me!
The happy couple;

Once the furniture was settled, they started the dance. I had done fairly well through the ceremony, only tearing up once briefly during the vows when my husband caught my eye and smiled at me, but when Andrea took the floor with her Dad they played a song referring to that Dad loved her first and I lost it. There is only so much sentimentality a pregnant woman can handle. Janet got me some tissue while Phil and Nick had a good laugh at me. Once the tears started I could not seem to stop, I bawled the entire song. (I'll find out from the bride what the song was and I'll post a link here, when you see the lyrics you'll understand).
Then the moment I'd been waiting for: they opened the buffet. The idea was that you could pick at the finger foods and dance too. I gotta tell ya, try to get yourself invited to a lobster fisherman's wedding. Bacon wrapped scallops, lobster rolls, crab rolls, crab dip...yum yum yum! My god, the food was fantastic.
We danced, we made merry. Adrian also happens to be the first cousin of a friend of mine from school, so I got a chance to catch up on Jay through a chat with his Dad (I've not heard from Jay since I got engaged 3 years ago), found out he met a girl on vacation in the Dominican and married her last month, he's now in Minnesota. I didn't get on the dance floor as often as I might have before, but the baby doesn't seem to like momma shakin her booty...I felt sick by the end of every song I danced to(or maybe it was the food I ate too much of?).
I got Nick to take a pic of Phil and I (we rarely get us in the shots at these events since I am usually behind the camera)

And a remarkable thing happened: we got a nice pic on the first try. That NEVER happens for us.
It was just after midnight when I got my next big hint that I was at a country wedding; a fight broke out on the dance floor. A FIGHT! At a WEDDING! I was shocked. But the bride and groom were not. In fact Andrea got in there in her wedding finery and told the instigator exactly where to go and how to get there. He was carted out, and once outside he removed his shirt and offered to fight anyone who would step up. Inside, we got back to dancing. (Once the dance was all over the cop showed up and arrested the sh*t disturber. And that's not a typo...there was only the one cop. One of the 3 of Cheticamp's finest).
Afterwards we gathered at the Cheticamp Motel for the after party. We didn't stay too long, but it was fun. I fnally got to bed around 3am.
The next day we went to Pleasant Bay (where the couple lives and their families) to the groom's parent's place for the gift opening. We had to go over some moutains;

Beautiful scenery and we saw some moose:

We got to the house and were told by the groom's mom that she understood that we wanted to get on the road so we could get back to our kids, but we were not allowed to leave until we'd eaten. No need to tell me twice!
They had a beautiful cake, the flowers are made of white chocolate...

But they realized late at the dance (when it was over) that they'd forgotten to cut it.
There was live music in the livingroom;

And lots of people talking and laughing all over the place. We feasted on crab sandwiches, a delicious seafood chowder...I ate so much I was certain I would not need to eat anymore for a week at least (that lasted as long as the big stop, where the baby requested beef jerky). We had to get on the road before they actually got to open any gifts, but it was such a nice time.
Coming back over the mountain it was dusk. Which means the moose were out in force and due to the lighting you can't see them until you're on top of them. We crawled over that mountain, which was a good thing because had we been going the speed limit or a bit faster we'd be wearing the bull that sauntered out in front of us as we came around a corner. The two females off to the side would not have been impressed with us at all.
I fell asleep just after we passed through Cheticamp, and woke up just before we came back over the causeway. About an hour's nap, enough to have me be wide awake for the rest of the drive and long enough of laying on my left arm in an odd way to make it hurt until yesterday. It was a really busy trip, but lots of fun. I didn't get to see my kids when we got home because they were both sound asleep, but Cam did not have school yesterday so we got some time together and Grace was handing out happy hugs and kisses all day. They had a blast out at my parents place, and it was really nice to get away and know they were well taken care of. Even if my Dad did make oh-so-hilarious jokes about having sold them and keeping them in the closet with duct tape (he's so fun-nee).
I did get some Christmas knitting done, I have nearly completed Aaron's present. I'd show you, but I am not sure if he checks this and if I ask him he'll want to know why and then he'll tell me "no" so that he can see his present. After Christmas I guess.
That's all for now!

Goodbye and Hello!

Goodbye Shaggy-headed son...


Hello trimmed and handsome boy!


Goodbye baby girl with too long bangs...


Meet Mr Scissors...


Hello Big Girl!


Mommy says...

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Good-bye Pony-tail...


Hello...uh...short and flippy!


New looks all around!