One more sleep until Harry Potter!

Okay, I'm actually more excited about seeing my adorable and pregnant sister. But Harry Potter is a nice bonus! Plus I get to see Adam and Chuki and Lucy.

But, of course, I can't dream of visiting Lucy without bringing Mischief. The cat that every cat loves (well, Chucki "tolerates" Mischief but as far as Chuki standards go, that's a close to "love" as he's gotten with a cat).

So tomorrow my little one and I hit the road. Mischief is actually great to travel with. Just chills on the passenger seat and rests and listens to music. But he's excited to see his pal Lucy. It's going to be a great weekend. We'll have to fill you in all about it when we get back!

Yeah!

Mischief!!!

In my attempt to fill you all in on the past year, I must start with the biggies.

Mischief is a biggy. Adopted in January, he has become a fast friend to his sister Jingle and it just adorable altogether. As Jingle has grown up and now has her own bed at night, Mischief can't sleep without holding Mommy's hand (Seriously. He literally puts his paw in my hand when he sleeps).

He's soft, all white (albino actually) which gives him the wonky one green one blue eye and makes him half deaf. Now, the eyes are awesome, see for yourself.... That's not photo shop baby!

He's super cuddly, mostly comatose and happy just to be close to you without being needy. He's sleeping at my feet right now, randomly nibbling a toe here or there.

He just turned one in June and was rescued off the side of the road by a friend. She took him in as a barn cat and although he loved to swing from her horses tail, she knew he was too special to stay a barn cat. Knowing we had four others already she suggested I take him in. Without seeing him I said "okay" thinking I'm dead meat when the parents find out. But one look at him and we all melted. His hearing loss causes him to have this quiet little squeak of a voice which is completely adorable and at a year old, he's about the same size as Jingle, small and cute.

So now I have two babies, one gorgeous little angel who will always be a mommy's girl, and a cuddly little boy who looks like a cross between a Q-tip and pocket lint.

Gotta love cats!

FACEBOOK!!!!

I'm finally on facebook! Mwah ha ha ha. Beware facebook world. You cannot hide anymore.

Actually, I haven't figured out half of what this crazy site is yet. I got invited to YoVille. Wierd little place. Cute though too.

I can't figure out why when I log in I can see every post that people on my list have posted (even if just to each other).

And where's the freakin' instruction manual?!

Anyways, I'm there, and learning new things all the time. May take me a while to respond as I try to figure out where you posted your message, but I will respond!

See you there!

I'm baaaaack!

So, time to get the blog back up and rolling after a long hiatus.

Oh wait, never mind, just start typing and Mischief starts crying "Mommy, mommy, time for bed, let's go!"

Oh well, I guess we'll start up again tomorrow, a little earlier I suppose.

Catch you all soon!

Woohoo!

Wow, what a week!

Okay, so first! I GOT THE JOB IN OTTAWA!!!!

Yeah me!

Then, the week gets a little hard, because I left Jingle to vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few weeks so that was hard. But, apparently she's having loads of fun and settling in nicely.

Then, last night, in class, I was voted by the class as the breakthrough presentation of the night!

Yeah me!

So just to explain the last one a little bit more, each week we vote on two people to gain recognition. First is the person to most effectively communicate. The second is breakthrough (which basically means, who stepped out of their comfort zone and bring the whole class with them). Last nights assignments were all based on enthusiam. We had to present two things where we used a great deal of enthusiams, to the point of exaggeration. Apparently I did well.

And as for the job, I'm very excited. It's a good job, position created for me (not one they had) and it's regular hours, steady pay, a nice change.

So there's my weekly WOOHOO!!!!

I've lost my mind!

Or maybe I finally found it! Not sure which.

But, I've gone and done it either way.

"WTF IS SHE TALKING ABOUT???"

Okay, okay, I'll explain! Yeesh people!

What have I done? I've quit my job. And I'm moving.

You all know work has been rough lately. Not bad really, just that things aren't growing as fast as we all thought and I'm working too much. After a few months of not sleeping, working through most nights to get things done, and not making what everyone anticipated, I finally had a breakdown. I felt awful, tired, depressed, wipped out. I felt like, well, kinda like this....

So I quit! Done, bye bye, so long. And I really have no idea what I'll do next for a job, but I don't really care. I know I'm good at my craft, my family is supportive, I'm not worried.

So, to top it off, I'm moving, with Jingle. I'm uprooting my little girl and taking her away. We're heading to Merrickville. Invading Mom and Dad's basement, moving it all. Now, most parents would be all "crap, the kids are moving back in" but not our parents. In fact, it was their suggestion and seeing them doing so much better, I realized it might just be what I need to turn things around. Jingle will have her best friend back (Peewee) and Holly might get a break. And, since we're going to be in the basement, Jingle can learn a new skill too. Don't get me started, I'm trying not to think about it.

Plus, I'll have my best friends back. Dad with his great music, always ready for a good time. Mom with her calm demeanor, who loves to curl up on a couch and relax or read (usually with a Sudoku book in her hands). Not mention.... HOME COOKED MEALS!!!!!

And I've already told Chantelle and Adam and they seem excited. Chantelle knows how wonderful our parents are and knows I'll love being close to them again. And Adam would be supportive of anything really. He just loves us all, no matter what!

So, here's the official notice! Christmas will be at my place this year in London (you'll have to excuse the boxes because we're moving right afterwards) and it will be fun. Then off to a new life, a new start, dragging little Jingle with me. We have some resumes out in the Ottawa area now, I know something great will turn up. Just wish us luck! Cheers!

Halloween!

So Halloween is approaching and because many of the people in our night class, including the instructors, are parents, it was decided that we would take the night off and finish the class a week later in December.

So, now I have a free night to spend with the kittens! Question is, what are we going to do? How do you make Halloween fun for cats?

Usually, on Halloween, I curl up with all the snacks you shouldn't eat (you know, that spare bag of candy you picked up for the "trick or treaters" in case you didn't have enough with the first 8000 chocolate bars you bought). I pull out a case of pop, not caring about sugar or calories. I grab my favorite quilt, my best horror movies and I enjoy a night of fear.

But see, Peewee doesn't seem to like horror movies. Jingle doesn't really either but as long as she can hide under the quilt in my lap, she's happy.



So, with only two weeks to go, I need some advice. Enjoy my horror night and scare the crap out of the cats? Or enjoy a night of Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life and Harry Potter and please the "kids"?

Any suggestions?

Jingle and Peewee, part 2...

"Oh where, or where has my sanity gone. Oh where, oh where can it be?"

Oh, what an eventful few days. So lets start with the first night, with Peewee sorting through my fruit bowl at 3am. The ensuing conversation with our father....

"Don't worry honey, Peewee hates bananas, he's just curious."
"Okay Dad, I'll take your word for it."

The next night, I hear Peewee on the counter again in the middle of the night. I ignore it, trusting my father. I wake up the next morning to find a mangled, chewed banana on my kitchen floor. Poor banana. What a brutal death.

Then, there's Jingle, all snuggled up on her pillow at night. Peewee decides "I'm going to curl up the cute chicks on the bed, maybe get a scratch. There's half a bed for me anyway, Jingle only takes up one pillow and that silly human who always kisses me only takes the other half of the bed." So instead of sleeping alone in the living room, he decides to join. He barely lands on the bed and Jingle, only lifting her head up, starts hissing like mad. Peewee promptly turns and runs to the condo in the living room with his tail between his legs. Poor Peewee.

Then, Jingle decides she's going to put yet more toys in the water bowl (after it's 5th cleaning for the day) and this time, instead of just drinking around them like he always does, Peewee puts his paw on the side of the bowl and tips it over to release the toys from their watery grave, then tips the bowl back over to take a drink, forgetting that the water drained with the toys. Poor Me.

I came home from work yesterday and stepped in the door and promptly kicked a decorative tin. The same decorative tins that reside on the top of my kitchen cupboards. Fearing the worst, I step over the tin and head to the kitchen and low and behold, there's three more tins on the floor/counter/sink. Complete with fresh new Peewee dents. Poor tins.

So tonight I come home after my class. It's 10:45pm, I'm exhausted, hungry, and ready for bed. I walk in and find Peewee waiting for me, meowing for a scratch or hug or any kind of attention. Letting me know that after having a mother who stays at home most of the time, it is entirely not okay for me to be gone for 15 hours. Just as I lean down to pet him, Jingle comes bounding around the corner and racing down the hall to greet her mommy and when she gets about 4 feet away from us, Peewee whips around a lets our a hiss that clearly said "Buzz off, she's mine right now." After a moment of shock, Jingle hisses back and stalks away to the bedroom. Poor Jingle.

But now, it's 1am, and I have watched the cats play together, each come up in turns for scratches and rubs on the couch while I chill a little before bed, and kiss each other on the noses. And you know what? All that stuff above? I wouldn't change any of it for the world. That's the stuff that keeps cat lovers on their toes, that makes our pets our kids, family, not just animals.

So bring it on you two! What new event am I going to celebrate and laugh over next time?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

So, Jingle and I had company this weekend. Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma to Jingle) came for the weekend and brought Peewee and Holly. It was so wonderful to have them. They arrived late on Friday and we immediately cracked open the beer and rum. On Saturday, mom and I did some running around, Dad has his own running around to do. Then they left to have dinner with their friends John and Karen to celebrate John's 60th birthday. While they were gone, I had grand plans to watch a great Disney movie that the three "kids" would enjoy but by the time I got halfway through my own dinner, with one cat beside me on the couch sleeping, another on the top of the couch sleeping and yet another in the cat condo, you guessed it, sleeping, I lasted all of another 5 minutes before the infectious sleep took over and before I knew it, the parents were back and the cats hadn't moved. But, you know what? A wonderful nap with the cats was more than needed and totally enjoyable. Even if I couldn't move after being squished onto one half of the couch. Someone please explain to me why a tiny 7lbs cat needs a whole half of a couch to sleep when she fits into a cereal box!

So the parents returned and with mom's help, we fixed a treat for lunch the next day. Since we couldn't be together for Thanksgiving and I knew they wanted to hit the road fairly early so they wouldn't be back too late, I planned a thanksgiving dinner for lunch. A wonderful boiled ham with carrots and potatoes, slow cooked in the crock pot. And I got an Apple Pie and Pumpkin pie for desert. Although the parental units seemed to enjoy it, it delayed their leave as the meal seemed to cause them to both need a nap. But it was worth it.

So they leave, to head to TO to see my sister and her husband, and I turn around to find.... Peewee! They left him behind! So Jingle and I have a new roommate for the next month until we meet again for my birthday!

Okay, okay, we planned it ahead of time, they didn't forget their cat. Everyone needs a little Peewee company every once in a while so we all decided that Peewee would come stay at the resort for a while. Give me some extra company, play with Jingle, get a little break from Holly (okay, give Holly a break from him really). So after a day on our own, I was anticipating broken dishes, half eaten fruit, books on the floor, anything that Peewee could "explore" and get into. Thus, the humour of Peewee. So I come home from work and low and behold........... nothing. Jingle is still asleep on top of the fireplace, and Peewee is still asleep in the condo. Yeesh. I guess the weekend really wore them out. And instead of two cats coming to greet me at the door, I get half open eyes and a look from each saying "Oh, it's you" before promptly returning to sleep.

I'm not worried though. I think after a few days here, the two will get their energy back, start fighting and playing. Go back to pushing each other around for the softest warmest spot on the bed.

So welcome to our home Peewee. Now, the only thing to figure out, is how to keep you around another month until Christmas. But I promise you we'll have fun. Jingle, don't bite Peewee's ear. Peewee! That teacup isn't a toy! Jingle, jumping on Peewee isn't very nice. Peewee, don't eat the bananas!

You know what, I better go sort this out. Cheers!

We need more time!!!

Phew! As if Jingle and I weren't busy enough with work. Now, we have more work and a weekly night class too! So this means that we have basically no time to blog.

But, we'll try to catch everyone up.

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to anyone I didn't talk to this weekend.

So yes, work has been crazy, still haven't had a holiday, but hopefully soon I will. But it hasn't been too bad. Work is good. Just need to keep plugging.

And I've started the Dale Carnegie course too. It's a leadership and management course. For the post part, the course is about communication. So each week, we do a series of small speeches and presentations. Not nescessarily about work, just in general. It's a really great course and I'm loving it. Each week the trainers really force you out of your comfort zone. But everyone is very encouraging and so you can't help but feel safe. You know that no matter what, you're not going to be judged and so you feel safe to say anything. So it has been wonderful.

And talk about small world too. Not only is there a wonder girl in the class who happened to attend St. Mary's school with Chantelle and I, who I haven't seen since grade 8 (she was a year behind me), but I found out there is a young man there too who is a friend of Tyler's, my cousin and another man my age who is best friends with Val's brother! I was a little scared at first knowing that these people knew me and considering how open we need to be in the course, but like the others, they are wonderful and completely non-judgmental.

And Jingle of course has been wonderful as always. She is still using the pillow on the bed as her new home, spending most of her nap time and the night there. It's still sweet but I'm still occassionally waking up to find she's turned around and I'm nose to butt with her. And other times, she decides she wants to get closer and move to my pillow and lay against my face. This is usually promptly followed by me waking up in a panic because I'm suffocating. But she means well. But in short. Just is just as happy and bubbly as ever. What a godsend in these stressful times.

So that's us, not really a whole lot to report and we've just been busy, but that is us nonetheless.

Hope everyone else is doing well. It looks like you all have been busy too. Chantelle, I love the new website, I'll get on to post a comment soon.

Love you all!

Elizabethtown

This post is really more about a personal wish than the movie, but I figured I better explain the movie a bit.

I originally figured I'd watch the movie purely because it starred Orlando Bloom, but it ended up being a really sweet, very quirky, completely adorable movie. It's basically about a guy, who father passes away, and his journey to retrieve his father's body, plan a funeral and in the meantime, meet the girl of his dreams (Kirsten Dunst). I highly recommend the movie, it's really cute.

So, how does this movie turn into a personal wish? Well, you have to watch the movie to find out the details, but lets just say, it has one of the best funeral memorials I have ever seen. Sadly, I have been to many funerals, but I usually don't find them sad. Yes, I mourn for loved ones, but as my family knows, it's more about celebrating them and their lives to me than it is missing them.

Well, Elizabethtown has a scene, which is the memorial/funeral of the lead characters father. And its exactly what I would want for my own memorial. It became a party, a celebration. The Widow ended up giving a beautiful speech that was more of a comedy act. She ended up dancing and singing and enjoy life. A nephew of the deceased got on stage with his rock band and brought down the house. By the end, everyone was laughing and celebrating and enjoying themselves, and those around them. Okay, so ignore the fact that the whole memorial went down in flames, literally. I wouldn't want a paper dove setting on fire and ending the celebration early. But, the point would be, I wouldn't want people to be sad. Bring in a band, bring in a Karaoke Machine. Serve breaded mushrooms and wine (my family would understand that one). Just be together, remember the good times, not just with me, but every good time in your life. There is a big difference between tears of sadness, and tears of joy. You would all get your time to mourn me in your own way, but together, cry tears of joy. Be Happy! Celebrate.

Now, as I don't plan to have this day come for a great many years, I don't want anyone making plans right now. But as I don't think the internet is going anywhere anytime soon, this will hopefully be here as a reference 70 years from now. (Yup, that'd make me 98, I'm not optimistic enough for 100, so 98 it is). Or maybe a loved one will simply read this and remember this for the future.

The reality is, none of never know when our time is coming, so each moment should be lived to the fullest. That's not always easy, and we all fail at that task sometimes, but it's worth trying. And it's important to be prepared. Not live in fear of dying, but make our wishes known.


That's my wish.

Happy Birthday to Granpa!!

So mommy has gone to bed and I finally get another chance to write my own blog. Today was grandpa's (mommy's Dad's) birthday! I got a chance to wish him a happy birthday on the phone yesterday as mommy called him, but I wanted to officially put it in writing.

So happy birthday Grandpa, I hope Holly and Peewee spoiled you on your special day!

And here's to many more birthdays!

Love you,
And mommy loves you too, but she's asleep right now and can't say that for herself.

Jingle

That little stinker....

Okay, this actually happened Friday night and Saturday but I figured I better take some time to relax before I told you about this.

So my little stinker of a roommate, yes Jingle, decided on Friday night, in the middle of the night, that after successfully soaking her furball in her water for a while, she was going to bring the dripping toy onto the bed and drop it on mommy's face. FREAKIN' HEART ATTACK!!!!!

A sopping wet furry ball, in your face, in the middle of the night, in a deep sleep. Nice.... And even after throwing the ball on the floor many times afterwards, she kept bringing it back up on the bed so that my morning, I had many little wet spots on my bed. Lovely....

Oh, but the antics didn't stop there! On Saturday I went to have a picnic with my grandparents. I left my purse at home, and just grabbed my wallet. In my purse was my very expensive bluetooth headset. I come home and my very expensive bluetooth headset is in Jingle's water bowl. So that means that she dug into my purse, found the device, pulled it out (which could not have been easy) then carry it across the kitchen to her water bowl. Smart cat. Thankfully after its swim the device is working properly but Jingle is still grounded!

Is this what my parents went through? Sweet innocent kids one day, little pains the next?

Wrapping Presents with a Cat

I got this email from my uncle Denis and laughed like crazy. The whole time I was reading I was thinking "that's my Jingle" but more so, this is such a Peewee thing to do. I can vouch for this as Peewee and Holly were my houseguests during the Christmas Season last year, the time when we all do the most wrapping at once. My wrapping paper will never be the same. So enjoy everyone, and remember your little furballs as you read!

Wrapping Presents with a Cat:

1. Clear large space on table for wrapping present.

2. Go to closet and collect bag in which present is contained, and shut door.

3. Open door and remove cat from closet.

4. Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper.

5. Go back and remove cat from cupboard.

6. Go to drawer, and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc. . .

7. Lay out presents and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed.

8. Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit and collect string.

9. Remove present from bag.

10. Remove cat from bag.

11. Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present.

12. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size.

13. Try and smooth out paper, realize cat is underneath and remove cat.

14. Cut the paper to size, keeping the cutting line straight.

15. Throw away first sheet as cat chased the scissors, and tore the paper.

16. Cut second sheet of paper to size - by putting cat in the bag the present came in.

17. Place present on paper.

18. Lift up edges of paper to seal in present. Wonder why edges don't reach. Realize cat is between present and paper. Remove cat.

19. Place object on paper, to hold in place while tearing transparent sticky tape.

20. Spend 20 minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape from cat with pair of nail scissors.

21. Seal paper with sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible.

22. Look for roll of ribbon. Chase cat down hall in order to retrieve ribbon.

23. Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two-directional turn.

24. Re-roll ribbon and remove paper, which is now torn due to cat's enthusiastic ribbon chase.

25. Repeat steps 17-24 until you reach last sheet of paper.

26. Decide to skip steps 17-21 in order to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that is the right size for sheet of paper.

27. Put present in box, and tie down with string.

28. Remove string, open box and remove cat.

29. Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for locked room.

30. Once inside lockable room, lock door and start to relay out paper and materials.

31. Remove cat from box, unlock door, put cat outside door, close and relock.

32. Repeat previous step as often as is necessary (until you can hear cat from outside door)

33. Lay out last sheet of paper. (This will be difficult in the small area of the toilet, but do your best)

34. Discover cat has already torn paper. Unlock door go out and hunt through various cupboards, looking for sheet of last year's paper. Remember that you haven't got any left because cat helped with this last year as well.

35. Return to lockable room, lock door, and sit on toilet and try to make torn sheet of paper look presentable.

36. Seal box, wrap with paper and repair by very carefully sealing with sticky tape. Tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst areas.

37. Label. Sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulate yourself on completing a difficult job.

38. Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed cat.

39. Spend 15 minutes looking for cat until coming to obvious conclusion.

40. Unwrap present, untie box and remove cat.

41. Go to store and buy a gift bag.

My Fridge!

So Chantelle did a post on her blog showcasing her fridge and invited others do the same. First of all, I want to vouch for Chantelle in confirming that her fridge really is that organized, she didn't alter anything for her post!

So I am finally getting a chance to respond and show my totally non-interesting fridge to you all. I would have done this sooner but in my computer and blogging ignorance, I first had to figure out if I had a program to edit photos, then had to figure out how to edit photos. They don't look as cool as Chantelle's wonderful photo editing, but in my defence, I'm not a photographer like her and Adam, I'm not married to a web designer who gets paid to work with photos online, and I'm a complete goof when it comes to things like this. So forgive the basic appearance and hopefully, enjoy!

Not being quite as organized on my fridge as Chantelle and Adam, my content spans to the side of fridge also so let's start there!

1. Certificate for Adam's Web Design services that I won at their Stag & Doe last year. I was promised that I could exchange it for a photo session with Jingle since I no longer need a website so I keep it there to remind myself to bug Adam about it (Sorry Adam).

2. Ticket for the Lion's club car raffle that my Grandfather bought me. The draw was three months ago, I didn't win, and I also have my parent's ticket there too. I keep forgetting to give it to them. Not really sure why they are still there actually.

3. Brochure and magnet for Body Dynamics, Sarah Zadorsky's Massage Therapy business. I keep the brochure up as a wish list for future visits (she's really incredible!!) and the magnet so I can easily rattle the number off to others or have guests see it and hopefully call her. That's me, always networking!

4. Take out menu for my favorite Chinese food place. I soooo love Paul and Yu's!!! Almond Soo Guy all the way baby!!

5. Notice on recycling rules in building. This was sitting on the counter the day I moved in. I don't think I've ever read it and also don't really know why I have it on my fridge. Maybe I should just throw that one out, eh?

6. Checklist for available "Company's Coming" Cookbooks. Again, don't really know why it's there, or why I bothered to even start checking it off. I really could care less about it. But it's there nonetheless.

And my very random magnets are holding everything up. There's everything from a Cactus to wolves to E.T. to a dog that's looks like Taco (our family dog as kids) up there. There was also a beer stein magnet that mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago. I can't imagine using anything else because they all came from Mom when I first moved out. She cleaned off all the magnets from her fridge and sent them down to St. Catharines saying that "everyone needs magnets on their fridge". And even though most are chipped from Jingle pawing them off and they don't match anything at all, I just can't imagine using anything else. I'm a sentimental sap!

So now, the front of the fridge!

1. 1-800-you-got-junk magnetic pen that I keep handy for grocery lists. I love that pen. And so does Jingle as it is often found under the fridge.

2. Grocery list pad that resembles Jingle. I got the pad from Melissa almost two years ago and it's still got a lot of paper on it. I will be so sad when it runs out.

3. Random magnetic from Mom that somehow got on the front of the fridge (must have walked over from the side of the fridge). I haven't figured out yet what is missing because that magnet was holding something in place but Chantelle's rules were to not alter anything on the fridge so there it is!

4. Picture card from my Cousins wedding in 2006. The wedding was the same time as Chantelle and Adam's and I just received the beautiful picture so it will be showcased for a while until it goes in an album.

5. Sixth and Elm magnets!!!!! I'll admit that I never actually reference the calender magnet but it's so freakin' cool that it's staying right where it is.

6. Whiteboard magnet for jotting reminders. I got this from a client, they advertise with them. It's a handy little thing but for the last five months it has said "Sat - 1pm". It's in my hand writing but I have no clue what Saturday it was supposed to be for or what was to happen at 1pm. I decided not to erase it in case I remembered so it hasn't been used for a while.

7. JINGLE PICTURES!!! Lots and lots of Jingle pics. From Polaroids to my favorite picture that Chantelle took. It's just great to look at them everyday.

8. Sixth and Elm original creation magnets (plug to Chantelle). Following in Mom's footsteps of providing magnets to a first time apartment dweller, Chantelle made me a set of my very own magnets and I love them. They are these adorable tiles with inspirational words on them and my favorite of them all is holding my favorite Jingle picture. Great story really. Chantelle was trying to think of words for the magnets and had one left. Out of ideas, she turned to her friend Colin who was visiting (and is one of the funniest people I know, just love that guy) and said "Colin, I need an encouraging word..." He shrugs and says, "I don't know... 'duck'!". And low and behold, along with "Love", "See", "Laugh" and "Fly" I have a "Duck" magnet. It's the best!

Items not shown: Anything that Jingle has knocked off the fridge, from notices to menus to magnets that I either can't find or didn't notice missing.

So there's my wacky fridge you all! Enjoy and let Chantelle and I know if you decide to join the craziness on your own website!

What Mommy doesn't know...

Okay you all, shhhh, don't mention this to Mom.

I like that she thinks so highly of me but the way she boasts, really! I just need to set the record straight with you all, but let Mommy have her glory, okay?

Mommy is partially right in the fact that I don't get into a whole lot when she's not here because it's more fun to have her watch me and giggle and laugh and try to scold but just laugh more. She thinks it's so cute and it is not as fun when no one is watching.

I learned that if I did something wrong in front of her, she usually just thinks it's cute and that's that. If I did the same thing while she was gone, she'd be pretty mad when she got home.

But, here is my little secret. You know Uncle Chuki? From Toronto? Well, he spends hours upon hours watching my Aunty Chantelle make crafts and trinkets and things like that and while watching her, has figured out a lot about basic repair. I have broken things here and there but Uncle Chuki talked me through the fixes and repairs and so far, everything is holding up well and obviously Mommy hasn't noticed that they were broken. Oh, and no one pick up her Gollum statue if you visit, it may crumble in your hands.

So, you see, I'm not puuuurfect. I'm a curious, young, energetic cat, who like all kids, sometimes does something bad and tries to hide it from their parent(s).

I think it's not all that different then a story Mommy once told me about her and her sister, a little argument, a foot in some drywall and about a gallon of putty.

What I do when I can't sleep...

Which is often...

What do I do? Well, what most people do I think, randomly surf the net! And sometimes I find some pretty cool things too.

Somehow tonight my brain took me to the Much Music web page (which is odd because I really don't care music videos and don't watch any of the shows). But once I got there and little light bulb went off and I said, "Oh, right, my brother works there!"

So on a whim, I decide to search the site for Adam's name and lo and behold, a link came up! On an article about the VJ Search show, Adam is listed in the credits. Check out the link and see for yourself. You'll find in near the end of the Article with the listing of credits.

Way to go Adam!

New Website Added to Links

I was cleaning out my bookmarks in IE to remove sites I don't visit anymore and organize the sites I love (it's my little OCD thingy) and came across the link for the Wonderday Website.

I'm a Wonderday fan, would love to be a member if I ever live in TO but I do get invited to the events and whenever I can make it to TO (which is sadly not often) I join in the fun. I think that makes me an honorary member, but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm this? Maybe I'm just a crazy fan with connections.

I hadn't checked the website in a long, long time and thought, "Hey, let's kill some time!" Boy has it changed! Full blogs, written by the whole Wonderday executive crew, lots of pics and videos, great music, updates on Dumbledore's Army, and tons of upcoming events (which is what they are mostly known for, their incredible social events).

I ended up getting lost for about two hours tonight in this website and was totally impressed (so much for getting some work done!). This crew just keeps getting better and better! Wonderday started as a small group of people that wanted to help young execs in marketing and websites. It became a huge group of friends, all young professionals, who plan social events to network, socialize, and party hard.

My brother, Adam, has a big part in this website as well. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong Adam) that with his website design background, he's a big part of the design. Plus, his amazing photos are often featured, he writes a number of blogs for the site (including a rather large amount of blogs on Harry Potter) and is a member of Dumbledore's Army. And often, if you look closely, you'll see Chantelle hiding in many of the pics from the social events.

I also had the pleasure of meeting some the original Wonderday crew at Chantelle and Adam's wedding last October and immediately fell in love with the guys. Genuinely nice guys, lots of fun, and completely accepting of anyone and everyone. Within minutes, I felt like I had known them for years, they were great fun, and I even had a dance with Evan near the end of the night which surprisingly went very well considering we were both pretty far gone. Somehow we managed not to kill each others toes or wind up in a speaker, pretty amazing feat if you ask me. I think this easy going, accepting nature of theirs is mostly what makes Wonderday so successful. You just feel like family with them, total comfortable.

Nonetheless, the site just keeps getting better and better and the team seems to be constantly growing. Check out the website for the full scoop. It's a riot!

New Sidebar Sections!

We could all use a laugh and it's healthy for us all to smile so how am I helping in this?

I've added a new section to my sidebar called the "Daily Smiley". There is nothing more contagious than a laugh or smile so for a good dose of laughter, visit this site often and click the smiley. We'll change the smiley often so you don't get bored, we've got hundreds of idea too on funny smileys so we'll probably keep this going for a while.

So go ahead, click the smiley, and smile!

I know we're laughing over here now!



We've also added a poll section. I'm testing this one out because I don't know how many poll ideas I could actually come up with but we'll try it, and see what kind of response it gets.


And in honour of my lifelong obsession with movies, I've added a list for everyone titled the "Last 5 recently watched movies that I love" complete with links directly to IMDb for your enjoyment. I've always been considered the family movie expert (until Adam proved to be my equal in this category) and with access to TMN On Demand, Rogers Video Direct, my own growing collection and TV-Links, I see a whole lot of movies all the time. So everytime Jingle and I watch a movie, and like it, even if it's one we've seen many times before, we'll add it to the top of the list. This section was inspired by my Mom who is always asking me what I saw recently so her and Dad can watch it then never has a pen and paper and always foregets the name of the movies. Now you can just pop onto my site and see for yourself Mom!

As well, we've updated the topics list to exclude the "random" topic and open up more possibilities for rambling.

If any of you have suggestions, either for changes, or something new you want to see, please, let me know. I'm having fun changing this around, could use some advice!

Missing my family...

I really love my life. I mean, mommy is great, we're London's premier bachelorettes, and we really love each other. There's nothing like our movie nights, mommy curled up on the couch, me curled up of her hip. I have the run of the house and I don't abuse it. I have the best spot on the bed. But as great as life is, I do miss my best friends often.

Uncle Chuki is amazing. He pretends to be a little uptight and bossy but it's only to keep Peewee in line when we're all together. He's actually really great with Holly and I as long as I don't pounce on him. I've learned a lot from Uncle Chuki. How to properly climb a Christmas tree, how to be curious in a mature way, and I'm pretty sure my fascination with my water bowl stemmed from his fascination with water glasses. And possibly most importantly, Uncle Chuki taught me how to talk. Because of him, Mommy and I learned how to have our long conversations back and forth and I learned how to greet her at the door everyday. He's just an all around cool cat. I wish I had known him when he was a kitten and I wish I saw him more often. But hopefully, I can stay with him for a bit this summer and do some much needed catching up.

Holly is the graceful one of the family and probably my best teacher of all (aside from Mommy). She's a feline to be reckoned with. Beautiful, graceful, quiet, and brilliant. I learned a lot about being a female cat from Holly. As the only girls in the family, we got along great. She was also the first cat in the family I ever met and the first few weeks of my new life was spent entirely with her. I learned that it was okay to be playful, that toys were wonderful, but it was important also to get enough beauty sleep too. She showed me the best ways to show Mommy I love her and that we need to show them love an thanks often. She has impeccable manners and I always strive to be like her. Holly also taught me about my favorite pastime, hunting bugs. She's the best at bug hunting!

And Peewee, well, what can I say? Peewee is Peewee. Almost always in trouble, in everyone's face, always the center of attention, and very, very clumsy. I know that sounds bad, but Peewee is so much fun, so loved by everyone, so carefree, I envy him. He's an all around adorable cat and his innocence is brilliant. He never tries to break things, never tries to get into trouble, he just does! And it's refreshing for everyone. You can ask any of the humans and they will all say they wouldn't change Peewee for anything. Being the same age, Peewee quickly became my best friend. The kind that you can play with, talk to about anything, and just always have fun with.

So, yes, I love my life, but sometimes, I just really miss my friends. Mommy mentioned yesterday that Grandma and Grandpa may visit at the end of this month and I'm so excited because they'll bring Holly and Peewee with them. She later spoke with Aunty Chantelle and found out they are also free that weekend. Mommy wants to borrow a friends car and go pick up Aunty Chantelle, Uncle Adam and Uncle Chuki so we can all be together that weekend. I know its a little rough on the humans to all be squished in the apartment for a weekend because the place isn't THAT big, and there's only one bed so the couches get a lot of use, but we all have more fun than inconvenience. I hope it works out.

Maybe we will see you all soon, but in the meantime, I love you all, miss you much, and in honour of Peewee, promise to do one silly, crazy thing in the meantime to keep you all amused. I'll blog about it as soon as I figure out what it will be.

Jingle