street legal

 montreal olympic stadium and tower.  world's tallest inclined tower at 574 feet.

view of montreal from the tower at the olympic stadium.

 can you see the outline of a house on the side of this building?

old montreal

view from our room


well, we are back from montreal.  our flight time going was 3.5 hours, flight time back was 5.  the last time i had a 5 hour flight i was heading to hawaii...  sounds good right about now, eh calgary???

my green card hoop-la is complete.  it was fairly easy.  we showed up at the consulate, was man-handled by the power trippin' "security guards", went up the elevator, took a number, paid $404.00, went to window 9, handed in forms, got fingerprinted, sat back down in the waiting room, called to window 11, handed more forms in, back to the waiting room, called to window 7, raised my right arm to the square and swore to tell the truth, explained where i met cj, why were were moving, what i did for a living, then was welcomed back to the united states by a small squirrelly white man sitting behind thick glass - my green card was to be sent in the mail.  they didn't care my FBI clearance wasn't with me or completed, didn't take a second look at the ream of paper that we used to copy the last 3 years income tax returns and financial reports and only took 2 out of the 3 required 2 x 2 photos.  wow, thanks for being thorough.  glad i was so prepared.

all in all, it was a real treat to visit montreal.  our hotel was fantastic, would stay there again in a heart beat.  the trip was like a little taste of europe, really close to home.  can't beat that!  thank you montreal!


we are pooped tonight.  laying here in bed, i am watching ida on the monitor we have in her bedroom. she has completely undressed herself, diaper and all, 3 times since i put her to bed.  scratch that, just looked over, naked, again.  make that 4 times.  what the heck is going on?!  i go in, re-dress her, explain she has to keep her clothes on, leave and in 5 minutes she is naked again.
dude.  have fun sleeping in the buff.  3 strikes, you're out.

bonjour!

hotel gault.  our room is the 3rd floor, right there on the corner at the top.  we have all 3 windows in our room with amazing views out of each one of them.

maple toffee.  pouring the hot toffee on the snow to harden.

then you take a stick and roll it down the hardening toffee to form your tasty treat.  yum.

montreal is impressive.  

to date we have:  walked all over the cobblestone streets of old montreal, devoured crepes and french onion soup, slept in till 11:00 am {it was really only 9:00 am to us... but better than nothing and the usual 7:00 am alarm clock}, watched 3 movies in 1 day {back to back to back in a theatre i might add} and bought a old school SWATCH.  we have found all the restaurants we have dined in prefer to play '80's hair bands.  it is kind of hilarious.  from the quaint cafes to the hi-brow steak houses, they are hair banding it up.  maybe its a french canadian thing.  who knows?  anyone?

old montreal is like a little slice of europe {never been to europe, but this is how i imagine it}.  what we are enjoying are tiny streets, amazing old buildings with intricate facades, super clean, very friendly, very quiet, nothing is open on sundays and things {ie.  restaurants, shops, galleries} close early {we had a hard time finding a place to eat tonight at 9:30 pm}.

the night we got here i called home and heard that eli's throat was very sore and he was sad.  poor dude.  murphy's law, eh?  then i heard today that one of the brackets on his braces broke off.  so today he hit the doctor and the dentist to get fixed up {sorry mom!}.  turns out antibiotics and some glue patched things up and every things going to be ok.  just hate being so far away.  glad mom and dad are there to take good care of the kids.  

tomorrow {tuesday} i have my interview at 9:00 am at the united states consulate.  am i nervous?  no. am i worried?  no.  am i bummed to have to get up so early?  yes....  come on!  sleeping in has felt so good...    

vancouver

last tuesday, mum and i flew to vancouver.

i was scheduled for my immigration medical on wednesday morning at 6:30 AM sharp.  so i showed up, they x-rayed me, took my blood, weighed, measured, poked and prodded.  then mum and i walked all over the city of vancouver.  we ate and browsed around granville island.  we walked through gastown and yaletown.  the next day we went to the capilano suspension bridge which was very, very cool.  quite spectacular.  hard to translate the height and perspective on film, the bridge and tree-top walk was unique and amazing.

it was a quick trip.  cj and dad held down the fort with the kids.  good job guys.
thanks for being my travel-mate mum!  good times, i love you.

be my valentine?

over the weekend we were at the Glenbow Museum.  at the museum was an interesting dissection of a cell displayed on gels, hanging from the ceiling, lit with black lights.  we all walked into the enclosure, the kids thought it was funny that cj's shoelaces and shirt was glowing in the dark.  then they looked at me...  every freckle since the dawn of time had appeared on my face AND it became very apparent that i am pretty liberal with my lip balm application.  you know, lip balm does not belong just on my lips but ringing the entire parameter of my mouth as well.  the kids ran out screaming and all cj wanted to do was take a picture.

this is why i know cj loves me.  he knows exactly what i look like in different waves of light and he's still sticking around.

happy valentines day!

mike update

what to say.  we received a call last night saying they found mike. information here.

mike

http://www.fox5vegas.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4532573

there are some very sad things going on in las vegas right now.  the girl in the news clip is my niece amber.  we are praying for some comfort and strength and support for the kids and family down there right now.

please join in.

here is another report from a different news station:

making all his dreams come true...

eli is always asking why he can't be in any of c.j.'s shoots.  the explanation that "the client is not looking for a 9 year old boy" never seems to cut it.  until now.

when USA weekend called a few weeks ago and wanted to cast a "9 year old boy" for their bullying story, eli got the gig.  it just came out this weekend in USA TODAY.

go get your copy now, i am sure eli will autograph it for you.  hee hee

come on in

the house pics are up and running!

remember to take your shoes off at the front door...

out of elbow grease

HEY!

this house is shining like the top of the chrysler building.

do you know how much junk/stuff is in your house?  do something for me... walk over to the "phone center/area" in your house {ours is in our kitchen} and open the drawer that is probably there.  IS IT THE BIGGEST JUNK YARD ON EARTH?  or walk into your master bedroom and open the cupboards under your sink.  EXPIRED MEDS/CLEANERS/SUNTAN LOTION FROM 2001?!?  where does all this crap come from?!  holy dina.  now go into your closet and look around.  is there stuff in there you haven't worn for 6 months?  a year?  FORGOT YOU EVEN OWNED?

if so GET RID OF IT.  like, NOW.

that is what we did all weekend long.  'cause this house is going up for sale, it's ready for the photographer to show up and if it looks clean, it is, because every nook and cranny and cupboard and drawer was cleaned, gone through, wiped down, vacuumed, washed off, organized and dusted.  bags and bags of clothes were given away, bags and bags of "stuff" was chucked.  IT WAS AWESOME.  cj was wondering why we hadn't done this a year ago when we moved in.  i don't know.  life happens i guess.

i am now sitting in the last room to finish.  the den/office.  it is pretty much my space.  it is always a mess.  why, why, why, why.  i get it organized and fancy and in a day it is tossed.  fabric, mail, paperwork, bills, junk.  this room is a magnet for crap.  sooooo, i am looking around:  i have 3 filing piles, cheques to be processed, invoices to be entered, fabric to hide away.  it's 1:03 am.

i better give myself a time limit or i will be in trouble.

oh, by the way, re-reading "Joan of Arc" by Mark Twain.  i suggest you read it.  i read it while in university and it changed my life.
i hope it is as good as i remember it being or the book club ladies will kill me....

oh and...

getting rid of newborn baby clothes is really, really hard.

i want you to know...

i gave away most of my clothes today.

i am trying to weed out, clean out, pair down, simplify.

the house goes up for sale next week.

the weather is getting cold again.

food is my enemy.

all my sewing/quilting is going to have to wait until we move. tear, tear, sniff... sniff...

i am doing a lousy job at food prep in our house.

all my clothes are tight and unsightly.

this is going to be a longggggg weekend.

rice, rice baby

success!  ida's rice intolerance {FPIES} is officially over.

i cooked up some rice {which, at the appointed time of consumption she turned her nose up at} so i pulled out the emergency back up... rice crispy treats.

2 treats and 3 hours later we were discharged from the hematology unit with 2 thumbs up from the doctor.

what a relief.  what a day.  what a year and a half.  what good news.

weekender

 los angeles

officially 2

so.  we went to los angeles over the weekend.  

it was a quick trip full of looking at houses, eating really good food, hanging out with family, celebrating birthdays with best friends over sushi and a movie and just enjoying the INCREDIBLE weather. believe me, i'm not a weather girl, but the weather was... pretty much perfect.  

while we were there ida turned 2.  we ended up at the beach for a bit as you can see.  the kids had fun out running the waves.  they got wet, which means sometimes they didn't outrun the waves.  

i didn't really take any pictures this trip.  i'm not quite sure why.  

i got some shots today.  a MMR and a flu shot.  i had to get them for the immigration medical that is booked for mid february.  monday i have to go get the Tdap.  i don't like shots.

c.j. found out his canadian citizenship test is on tuesday.  he is going to have to cram this weekend. 'cause if he doesn't know what the provincial flower of nova scotia is or the ethnic diversity of manitoba... he's hooped.  {ha ha ha} 

ida goes in for her final rice food trial tomorrow morning.  10 am she will be eating 1/3 cup of rice and seeing if it agrees with her.  cross your fingers.

snow dance

coming soon to a theatre near you.

late night shenanigans

unscheduled food trial...

about 10 minutes ago as i was floundering around on the living room floor doing pilates, ida walked around the corner with an unidentified object in her hand.  her mouth was chocolatey and so were her hands, deduction:  she has been holding/eating that for a while...  the luna bar i had been eating for breakfast.  half gone??!!!!  ingredients?!?!
rice flour, brown rice oil, soy rice crisps, blah blah blah.  probably every combination of RICE known to mankind.

NOW.  you can imagine my horror.

she is actually meeting with the folks at the childrens hospital on the 21st and 24th for such things. like, a medically monitored food trial in case things go down the wrong road.

looks like i have 1:45 minutes to see what happens.  i better throw her in the shower so that she is prepared for the ER.

if you have no idea why eating rice is such a big, fat deal, go here and here and here.  and then look around some more.  there is more, i just don't have time to link it all, i've got to get ready for the ER too.

UPDATE:  all is well!  no reaction!  waited and waited and saw a doctor, gave her history, the doctor said they just had a internal seminar on FPIES and Ida was their case study!  hilarious.  anyho, it's all good, will still do the official rice trial later this month but i think we have a winner here.  ya-hoooo!

MR. SUB to the rescue

we have survived.  eli is back at school, c.j. is no longer bed ridden and i am down 5.4 pounds.  half way out of those sweat pants i say!  hurrah!

i knew things were taking a turn for the better when we were sitting on the couch late last night and c.j. said, "man, you know what sounds so good right now all of the sudden, MR. SUB".  so i called and sure enough, open till 10:00.  dude was out the door in a flash.  like a large submarine miracle pill, we ate those sandwiches and voila! we were healed.  he even brought home a sub bun for eli so that we could make a sandwich for him this morning on a MR. SUB bun.  that was a hit.




i thought i would throw the commercial in for good measure.
yes, MR. SUB, you are our hero of the week.

the big bucket

i think we are dealing with the flu here.

i am sitting on the end of eli's bed.  when i left for YW tonight he was complaining of stomach pain and by the time i got home {a few hours later} it was in full swing.  no barfing yet, just falling in and out of sleep with stomach cramps.  like it comes in waves.  oddly enough i have started feeling the same type of thing as well...  dun dun dunnnnnnn.

i guess we will see how this night goes.  there is a humungous bucket sitting right next to him on his bed. he better not miss it.  

in the next room c.j. is working on the cover of TIME.  no big deal.  we work under pressure around here.

i know the flu has been going around during the holidays and we never did get it so maybe it's our turn.

will update in the morn.

UPDATE:  yes, yes, indeed it is the flu.  eli and i stayed in the same room last night writhing around with waves of stomach cramps.  it wasn't until this morning that i finally gave the old heave ho and used the big bucket and the toilet at the same time.  i am feeling marginally better.  eli seems pretty good to go. c.j. is now the one rolling around in bed whimpering.  i told him just to puke and get it over with.

ida.  no signs yet.  i am praying to the flu gods that she doesn't get this.  'cause it pretty much sucks.

off to the races

its the 3rd.  hellooooooooo january!  most of the items on my "get ready for the new year" list are complete.  that is a good thing.

my pants feel tight.  maybe it's because i gained 10+ pounds over the holidays.  i have vowed to only wear sweat pants until my regular pants feel comfy again OR i have lost the previously mentioned lard that i have gained.  i'll let you know when that blessed day happens.

eli starts back to school tomorrow, he gets braces on his bottom teeth on thursday and a new pair of orthotics for his feet on wednesday. man, he is sounding like a nerd, but he is not really {well maybe just a little, but thats ok}.  rather a nerd than a jock, bully, emo, goth, etc, etc, etc.

so far so good on keeping some family resolutions.  that is a good thing too.

i ran 2 miles today to begin training for this.  i registered for it a few years back but broke my foot and had to bag the race and a trip to NY and pretty much everything for about 4 months.

it is redemption time.
 

organizin'

down time.  yessssssss. 

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR.  the period of time right between christmas and new years.  it is the time to prepare for a whole new year.  how great is that?  fresh slate!  new, new, new!  

i have eli in his room right now going through all his clothes, weeding out the "too small" items.  then he will begin a resolution list {9 goals, now that he is 9}.  i have a list a mile long to complete before january 1st.  it will get done.  the last few days i have been transferring ALL of my photos onto a hard drive so they are nifty and neat and very accessible.  while i have been doing this i found this little gem tucked away in the 2005 photos/vids.  i had just flown into LA.  emily and doug were living in encino at the time.  the boys were 3 or 4ish.  cute and chubby.  emily and i decided to make a trip to the sherman oaks {?} costco.  hot weather + mid afternoon = slobbering in a cart at costco.  i love how he was looking for someone to cuddle up with at the end.  

hilarious.  

now, GET OFF YOUR DUFF AND GET READY FOR 2011!!