great article i want to share

I came across this article this evening that I thought was very well written. It's called "I Married Myself". It's about a single woman, turning 50, who decided to throw herself an "un"wedding. It occured to me while reading this how unfair women are with eachother. And we allow it. I truly hope that we are headed into a more compassionate and considerate time. Here's hoping!

Here's the link: http://www.more.ca/relationships/single-life/i-married-myself/a/19022

Some Excerpts:

"we singles should not have to put up with being seen as immature, defective human beings whose accomplishments aren’t even worthy of a paper-plate hat covered in tacky bows, let alone a set of china or a $150-a-plate dinner."

"What I was really jealous of was my married friends’ and relatives’ certain knowledge that they were “normal,” that they had a privileged place in society that deserved to be honoured, celebrated and financially supported while I did not. As a single person, I sometimes feel like one of those nuts or bolts or cotter pins left over after you put together an Ikea shelving unit, or maybe like an appendix or a set of tonsils — something that hangs around but serves no real purpose and sometimes gets in the way."

"Where is the soup tureen for building a reasonably successful career? What tax advantage comes with being a faithful aunt, devoted friend or helpful neighbour? Who bought a bridesmaid’s dress when I got my BA at 42? Where, in the words of Carrie Bradshaw, is the Hallmark card that says, “Congratulations, you didn’t marry the wrong guy”? "

"dear friends and relatives who immediately reassured me that I merited such a celebration, that they would be there no matter what, and asked how they could contribute. The penny dropped for my mother a couple of weeks before the party when I got a bit cross with her for asking if my father had to wear a suit. Suddenly she realized I was handing her the opportunity to play mother of the bride again, and she got into the spirit admirably. We had a couple of girlie conversations about centrepieces and flowers, which filled a hole in my heart that I’d never acknowledged was there."

"Five years ago, I think an unwedding party would have seemed to me the height of self-pity — and some of my guests may have been motivated by pity to attend. Yet that night I felt contented with my lot, and was thrilled to be surrounded and honoured by people from every phase and corner of my life, several of whom flew in from a great distance, paid for hotel rooms, dressed up for the occasion and even brought their kids."

"I don’t feel that sense of contentment every day; I go through phases during which I struggle under a crushing load of loneliness, fear and the certainty that I’m a failure. Sadly, I know plenty of married people who go through similar phases. In the end, life is what it is — why not celebrate when we can? On what turned out to be the most important night of my life, I was simply pointing out that human beings deserve to be honoured in all their varied circumstances, and that single people have a significant role to play within families and communities."

"Surely if singlehood weren’t perceived as a fate worse than death, if singles weren’t excluded and infantilized and pitied, fewer people would feel compelled by terror to become involved in unsuitable matches, and everyone would be a lot happier."

"In the future, when my niece and nephews grow up and leave their parents’ homes, I’d like to throw “showers” for them, whether they’re leaving to get married, to go away to school or simply to live independently. There’s more than one way to become an adult." This is a FABULOUS idea that I think needs to be adopted into mainstream. Doesn't it make so much more sense??????

Digi Layout numero trois...

This is a layout that I threw together for our new neice Mallory. She is David's sister Andrea and her husband Mike's baby. She was just born this December.

Another Digital LO

I just went online and bought myself a digital scrapbooking kit and did a new lo. I am getting better with the Photoshop. It does have quite a steep learning curve though I'm told. I think it's the kind of program that takes years to master.

ANyway, here it is:

Pictures to share and digital Scrapbooking

This is the first digi layout that I have done with Photoshop and my 5th ever. I'm excited to start doing it more often. It certainly is cheaper, plus I don't have to wait to get pictures printed. I think that I will do all my Dad's digitally. It is also faster.

David working in the basement:

Owen and Ella playing on the floor in the basement:

I got this shot of David across the street using my telephoto lens. I love how it got his cloud of smoke, not that I like smoking, just thought it looked neat:

This is what Ella did in the hallway the other day. She likes to stack and arrange her toys:

Shoe boat:

Editing my Dad's old family photos

Before:

My dad asked me to try to edit a few of his old family photos for him. I happily agreed and just did the first one. Just wanted to post right away because I'm very happy with the results. What do you think? This one is of my great-grandfather, on my Grannie's side, Charles Gaudet, who died in February of 1943 at the age of 59.

After:

And a new scrapbook layout:

January 22, 2009

This is a picture I took of the kids outside of the Harbour Store. I did some playing around with it in Photoshop. Thought this looked cool.

January 19, 2009

It was a rough couple of days as a seriously heinous virus ripped through Ella, then Owen, then me and then Meaghan. It took less that a day of incubation time from first exposure to being horribly sick.

So so so awful.

Meaghan playing with Ella during a micro burst of energy:

Snuggles: (Meaghan took this picture)

In a rage:

Ella slithering herself across the floor, also in a rage:

We Can Do It!!!

I was very touched today watching the new president's 1st speech. I was inspired by firm message of hope and possibilty. It takes but a few seconds of watching him in action before you see a glimpse of the greatness that he posseses and the possibilities that he represents both as a leader and as a man. I am finally filled with hope and it feels great.

Here are quotes of my favorite moments in the speech:

"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."
-This was such a realistic address of the current situation and an honest and collective assignment of responsibility.

"These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. "

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.
They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. "

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."
-This last part hit hard for me as of lately and I feel needs to applied to everything in the whole world about "recriminations and worn out dogmas". What an incredibly inspiring moment in history!!!

"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
-AMEN!

"Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

"We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."
-Inspiring.

What he says to those that question the system's ability to make big changes:
"For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage."

"a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."
-So true.

"We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."
-Beautiful

"know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

"In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Thank you Obama and world for the inspiration today!!!

Anyway, his charisma, sincerity and confidence cannot be expressed by words alone, I highly recommend everyone watching this historic speech. http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-ca&tab=&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:1b2243c2-3988-482f-81e3-a62486ae70e9&showPlaylist=&from=inline&fg=gtlv2

January 17, 2008

Well Ella has the flu and I once again have the smell of vomit burnt into my scent memory. It's all I can smell. Anyway, she's a trooper. She still tried playing as usual today. I kept having to remind her that she is sick. Owen is good so far, but I imagine that he will start getting sick just as Ella is getting better. It's easier to take care of them that way, but what usually ends up happening is that David or I get sick then too but after the kids. Which pretty much means that one of the four of us is sick at all times. At least it feels that way.

Anyway, today I got photoshop and I am so excited to play around with it. Apparently me being a "techie" knows no bounds. I am figuring out so much on the computer.

Poor David is on call this week. He only got in at 3:00am this morning and has been out on calls since about 9:00 am this morning. It's now 11:20 pm. He has been working like mad since after Christmas and we miss him; it's true. Oh well, after all this cold weather lets up, I'm sure it will slow down some. No pictures to share at the moment on account of the sickness and stuff.

Oh also, I started listening to "The Secret" on audiobook on my newly recovered iPod. It is an intriguing non-fiction about the law of attraction. I am quite intrigued by the whole concept. Not sure to what degree I believe in it, but it definitely has some universal truths. It is actually much like the stuff that my employer teaches. On that note, I'm thinking that audio books are the way of the future for me. What a fantastic way for me to get my information in. I can listen to stuff when I'm doing the dishes, walking Owen to school, anywhere and everywhere. AWESOME!! Oh another audiobook that I downloaded is called the 4 hour work week by Tim Ferriss, I highly recommend it so far. It has some extremely practical tips that anyone could apply to their lives to make it more efficient. This book really makes you reframe the way you look at the 9-5, work to retire ideology. Just wanted to share.

Well I think I might go to bed early (ie.now) as I'm probably in for a long couple of nights.

January 15, 2008

I'm getting pretty sick of this whole deep freeze thing. Ella is quite the nightmare in the cold. Today I was hoping to take the car to drop Owen off for school to eliminate some of the potential freak-outs, but the car wouldn't start. It shouldn't have surprised me since my car was practically a block of ice. Anyway, we had to walk which actually went well, with the exception of us being late for school. The walk home was another story. Ella was crying the whole way home complaining that her hands were too cold. Poor thing.

Oddly enough, Owen wanted to keep playing outside so I let him play outside for about 5 minutes while Ella and I watched him from the window. I yanked him inside prematurely though, after talking to David and him telling me that he had heard that you could get frostbite ridiculously fast today. I then proceeded to madly search his face for signs of frostbite. I think David might have been exageratting a bit. Ah well

When Owen came inside he decided that he wanted to have a chat with Grandpa on the phone. Owen did an awful lot of humming and hawing in a deepened voice in his best attempts to talk like Daddy does on the phone. Grandpa was very patient with Owen.

After lunch and a short nap, Connor came over to play Wii with Owen. This picture is them doing a run on Wii Fit:

Snacktime:

Goofing around:

This is what was left of my dining room table after I was done scrapbooking today.
New Layout:
OHHH, and good news: I got my iPod replaced!!!!! The one that Owen peed on after a mere four months (enough to be completely hooked on the thing ). Pee + iPod=lethal combo. Anyway, they sent me a new one and I am so happy because I was afraid that I would get busted out on account of the whole being peed on thing. They don't cover damage from pee in their warranty. Anyway I feel so lucky with all of my new gadgets. I feel very high tech.

January 10, 2009

This evening we went over to Theresa and David's to celebrate Lauren's 13th birthday. The kids had a ball there as always and stayed up ridiculously late (for them) with us playing Wii.

Lauren flashing her birthday money:

Dueling cameras, we have the same camera:

We found this guy under a bush apparently:

AWWW...Alanna looks so pretty and grown up:

January 9, 2009

I got a new scrapbook page done tonight. I used a bigger photo than I usually do and turned the photo to B&W and then added colour to our eyes.

January 9, 2008

Today Auntie Andrea, Lauren and baby Mallory came by for lunch and a visit. It was nice to have baby Mallory in our house for the first time. I was however, starting to enjoy holding that sweet baby too much. Man, what a horribly powerful built in instict we have to reproduce. In my mind I want to be done having babies, but the body says "more, more, more." I'm hoping that having a baby niece will be enough baby lovin' for me.

I wanted a good one of her crying, hard to get because she doesn't cry much:

I got this as Mallory was just about to transition to crying, I caught the tail end of a grin:

Lauren taught Owen and Ella how to do flips off the chair:

January 7, 2008

I feel like this week has been my holiday. It has been so relaxing getting back to normal. David got home at a reasonable hour tonight so he has been working downstairs in the basement all evening. I can't even begin to describe how exciting it is to finally be finishing these projects up. Maybe next winter my Dad won't have to bring his slippers and long johns with him when he comes to visit.

A couple of months ago, I was trying to clean up our computer and I accidentaly deleted our audio driver. Since that I haven't had any sound on the computer, ie. no music, which on it's own might be dealable but paired with the fact that I've also got a defunct ipod, has been utterly miserable. I haven't had the time to investigate the solution to the problem and so, have lived with this problem. Yesterday I finally looked into it and had only to go to the manufacterer's website and re-download it. Bam! Problem solved. Wish I had have done it sooner. ANyway I have been in music heaven all day long!!!

In this picture Owen was running away because I asked him togive Ella a hug. I had it on a funny setting and this was the result. I made the mistake of telling him that it was because he moves too fast for the camera: We had to reenact the scene for the following photo. Now I think he thinks he's a superhero:

Later the kids broke out into dance as per usual:

I like this one of the kids and I: Here's our basement: