7 & 35

we have had a busy weekend.

we had 2 birthday parties and a studio move.  

on saturday morning, bright and early and -30 degrees celsius, c.j., dad, chuck and jeff moved most of the studio.  c.j. was at the studio until 2:00 am the night before doing last minute packing and organizing.  it was a big job.  we are so thankful for the extra help, especially on such a brutal day.  they were able to pack it up, move the contents and get back in time for a birthday party for eli which we had at SAIT.  we had the space for 3 hours, four 5-pin bowling lanes and a party room. they bowled for an hour, we ate and opened gifts for an hour and then let them bowl it out 'till it was time to leave.  the kids had a great time.  no score keeping, just throwing that ball down the lanes.  

yesterday was c.j.'s 35th birthday.  we had a delicious meal at mom and dads.  when i asked c.j. what he wanted to eat, he requested mom's swedish meatballs.  so we all met together for meatballs and a relaxing evening.  a little less action than the party the day before, but it was welcoming as we were all pooped.  the food was great and c.j. was in heaven as mom made him 35 individually wrapped cinnamon buns that she froze so he could pull one out at a time for a treat. 

i can't believe it is 3 days until christmas.  we have had such cold and wintery weather this year. today is the first day off for christmas break and eli and i are building the indiana jones lego that he got for his birthday.  we are still in our p.j.'s.  it is just too cold to go out for last minute items, too busy at the malls and i am large.  low key.

heeeyyyyy!!!!! hooooo!!!! heyyyyy!! ho!!!!!

wow, is it ever time for an update.  let's see, i shall tackle it with bullet points.

• -40 degrees celsius.  this last week has been C.O.L.D.  i have one dress coat that kind of fits, i can button the top button, it flares out and i look like a house, but it covers my arms and part of my upper body.  
• car has been in the shop since monday due to an unfortunate accident due to the above conditions... the bmw dealership has already received its gift/$$$ this year... merry christmas...
• got the car back, all is well, wallet is smoking...
• c.j. is gearing up to move his studio.  this december is the busiest on record, pack or work??   BOTH. 
• eli is turning 7 = pizza and bowling, party on.
• the last week i have been able to control my glucose levels, yippee!  
• on saturday we attended a labor and delivery "refresher".  it did the job.  holy crap we are going to have a baby.
• we have some fun family activities planned over the next few weeks:  christmas baking on thursday, nativity re-enactment on christmas eve, christmas party the next day...   it will be so nice to spend time with family.
• mom said she had a dream that ida has red hair and eli had a dream she was born on his birthday (dec. 27th).  it will be fun to see if anyone is right.
• i've got 4 weeks to go.

walk it out

some days i just want to dance like this around my house.

ads

i posted these images many moons ago on the old bloggity blog.  c.j. just got the final layouts the other day, so i thought i would re-post as the final product.  lookin' good.

f stop mag

another c.j. burton interview can be read here. the dude is a machine.
enjoy!

hmmm.....

i am alone.
c.j. is in l.a., sandra just knocked on our door and stole eli away to play with her kids and now i am sitting here on a friday evening alone. this sucks.

i am tired. i need to go buy groceries. there is some laundry to be done. some bills to pay. i guess i will do something like that.
par-tay.

christmas: up and running

this weekend has been fairly productive.

eli came down with a croupy head and chest cold on friday, so it was a slow day while we spent the day at home.
we decided to throw-up the christmas decor on saturday. c.j. is leaving on wednesday morning to fly to las vegas to spend thanksgiving with his family, then he will drive over to l.a. to attend a USC game with dad and the guys. we figured that since he doesn't get home till the sunday and monday is officially december we had better use our time wisely and just gitt'er done.
in my mind, one less thing to do in the next little while.

i was able to clean out under the bathroom sinks, chuck empty containers, discard old crusty lotion and junk. i swear it multiplies...
i filled 3 huge garbage bags to send to the salvation army full of elis old clothes age 12-18 months which freed up 3 storage bins in the basement. i shed a few tears remembering how cute he was at that age in those clothes. how stupid is that. it is just clothes, but it did remind me of him at that wonderful little age.

it's the last week of november folks. can you believe how fast this month has flown by? or is it just me?

TIME shots

so, these two will be in next weeks TIME issue. the statue of liberty was all mocked up to be the cover, however, the art director was concerned that it sent a broader message regarding the united states "state" than just an issue regarding health care. i get it, fine... so look for the cover with a kid sticking his tongue out ready to be examined by a doctor. the "safe" cover.

also, we all know a blood pressure cuff belongs on the upper arm... it's an illustration folks, a representation of a concept... besides, c.j. couldn't get lady liberty to move her robes, she is kind of crusty that way.

for eli

this one is for eli. perfect lyrics for him. we have been rocking out to this since he was born.

for ida

just ordered one of these in pink for ida's room.  it shall be oh, so, cute.

via pennypeople on etsy {out of toronto, i might add}

tidbits

*this morning, as soon as eli woke up, he came to me and said, "can i read the new testament to you?".  sure, i said, as soon as you get dressed, brush your hair, eat breakfast and go to school!.... THERE'S NO TIME!  let's read when you get home...

*eli will sit and read for hours.  on saturday, c.j. got him 18 books from the library.  by 7:00 am the next morning, as we were trying to get out the door to church, he was finishing up #16 and informed us he had 2 left.  the dude is a machine.  

*today "A Maid for a Day" came and deep cleaned my entire house.  let's just say, best money i have ever spent.  worth every penny.  when i broke my foot last year, i had them coming every 3 weeks and it helped out so much.  not that our house is/was a pig-sty, but the deep cleaning maintenance helps everything run a little smoother.

*from the sound of it, c.j. found a new studio space today.  it is huge (2000 sq/ft).   he is on cloud 9.  if he gets in there quick enough, a new years party will be planned...  

*c.j. is working on a bunch of different stuff, possible TIME cover, will post when approved.

fresh

i love the little dude under the paper.

diamonds from diamonds

c.j. found this the other day.  it was a blog entry written by dermot cleary the photographer that shot him for Avenue Magazine several months back.  interesting to read about it from his perspective.  enjoy.

http://dermotcleary.com/blog/?p=26

prop 8

i am going to call it, even though cnn hasn't yet {with 95% of the precincts in....}.  

YES ON PROP 8.

once again YES.  we made efforts in 2000 when c.j. and i lived in l.a. and again family and friends made extraordinaire efforts this year.  way to stand up be counted.  it's what its all about.

pick and roll...

eli, cole and spencer have been playing in an indoor soccer league this year.  they have had 2 practices so far.  lots of drills, running and picking a wedgies...

and the winner is...

nena.  the article was about contributions by gay interest groups to politicians and their influence.  

cover

let's look at chuck sitting on a pile of cash, fishing, instead of thinking about the election, shall we?  let's get happy people.

today i volunteered at elis school all morning.  i even got to go outside and supervise at lunch time.  conclusion:  kids are nuts.  for 40 minutes all i witnessed was aimless running and screaming.  now who wouldn't want a lunch break like that?

change you can believe in

go obama go.

3

last weeks work.  

{shot #2 was for TIME magazine.  props goes to whoever can tell me what the article was about. hint: it's political and a hot button.  the picture will run in TIME in canada and the states on friday and we will see who's guess is correct.  get your noggins thinking...}

in the dead of night...

just took eli to the bus stop.  7 am here {especially in the fall/winter months} is like you have gotten up at 3 am and have decided to get dressed, eat breakfast and then go stand in an open field to wait for the bus. it is pitch black out. just like the middle of the night.  so weird.

speaking of 3 am, i did wake up last night around that time and couldn't sleep, so i started reading some blogs. after about an hour of nothing too interesting, i started reading chuck and sandras archives on their old mac blog.  

man, kids grow up fast.  their kids all looked young and chubby and innocent. 

then i happened on this:

ahhhh, what an angel! the smile, the eyes, the red hair gently, softly orbiting around her head....

then, i saw the next picture:

wha?!?  what had happened??? i started to laugh.  uncontrollably.  the kind of laughing that only happens in the middle of the night, when you are really tired.  it was just such a juxtaposition, her hair, her hair.  HER HAIR WAS, AMAZING.

all i can say is:

1.  thanks for the laugh, i hadn't belly laughed like that for a long, long time.

                and

2.  you better watch her chuck and sandra.  if that is what she looks like in the morning you better ask her what she was doing all night!  hunting prey in the forest with a pack of wolves? escaping from Alcatraz? planing a revolution? mopping the floors of the local high school gym? WITH HER HAIR?!?