They Never Saw it Coming

At dinner

I asked each boy to pick his two favourite friends. Each kid willingly named two, except for the six-year old, who named four.

I told them to hold the image of those friends in their minds.

Then I picked out a really terrific event that each son could image he was going to-- with his two best friends.
One child was going to see a really awesome movie he's been talking about,
one was going to be a mascot-for-a-day for our favourite footy team and
the youngest boy was going to a fun zone area (with his four friends).

Me: "Now imagine I'm driving you and your two very favourite friends to that special event and Friend One says to Friend Two, 'You're really stupid'. Friend Two says, 'I am not stupid and you stink'. Friend One says, 'You always cry about everything' and crying friend replies, 'I hate you!'".

J2 says, "Oh... like me and A1".

Me: "Yes, like you and A1. Every day I can't wait for my three best friends to come home from their day at school.
I make sure I've finished all of my errands and all of my chores so that I can be standing up at the bus stops eagerly waiting to see your faces."

"I cheer when there's a snow day, I love school holidays, I LIKE being with you, but my best friends-- the people I love most in the world come home and call each other names and antagonize each other to anger or tears".

Very somber faces.

Poor kids, only a few minutes before they thought I was getting ready to let them take friends on some really cool outing.

At least I know I got my point across.





Still in computer switch-over mode , so no 365 this week, but I will happily bore you with photos next Thursday! (my itunes is only missing some parts to some albums and we haven't touched the photos yet-- fingers crossed).
I do want to clarify: Never at any time have I ever been unhappy with my Mac baby. We've been loyal mac owners since they were called apples and took up an entire desk. This switch is to improve space and speed for my continuing education-- you know, just in case you're considering a Mac and think I've had any problems with mine.

Great Reads for the Weekend

I have not been a very good bloggy friend. If you've noticed I haven't stopped by, it's because I've started a new blog over on cre8Buzz and it is taking all of my brain power (all 2 oz I had left) trying to customize my page. And, I still haven't sorted the mess out with my web browsers/hard drive/whatever. I am sooo left behind in this computer age.
So today, in the 5 minutes I had without an extra growth or two clinging to my leg or smearing snot onto my shirt (no, I don't mean that I am smearing snot on my shirt), I caught up on a little reading.

IF I had actually noticed that I wrote my 100th blog when I did, I might've told you 100 things about me (highly unlikely, but still). On that list would have been:
#99). I am a gleaner. Not so original, but I can glean like nobody. Scrap booking? I can monkey a page, but don't expect me to come up with my own idea. Web Surfing? The hubby often brags to his coworkers how I can manage to find the most amazing deals/photos/blogs/You Tube videos etc.... Now if I could turn that talent into a lucrative venture, hmmmmm.

#100). I share real good. (No more room to mention my eloquence and fantastical grammatical abilities).

So today in my un-interrupted 5-minute bloggy bliss, I harvested some real treasures and it's my pleasure to share them with you.

First, for a real belly laugh, check out Tammy's weekend posts (posted ahead since she somehow is escaping from real-life for the weekend). I love this girl's wit. She's the one you want sitting in your living room when you find out your hair dye (that just sat on your head for 25 minutes) has been contaminated with hair removal. You'd still laugh.

To purge yourself of any apathy that may have crept in with this crazy new ice age we've plunged into, check out a story about Allie on Such Simple Pleasures (a wonderful blog with a lot of heart).

And a beautiful picture of Olivia, the third child and only daughter of Tara-- a SAHM who is also a Pastor's Wife, living in waaaay below zero temp. in Canada.

Flea wants you to think about what's really important to you, and after you're done answering her question, see what Fred and Bessie are up to now, and check out the video of Star Wars....

David McMahon's blog is one you really can't afford to miss a day of. He posts funny news stories from around the world; beautiful, original photos and tips on how to achieve them; Post Of The Day where he honors posts he's gleaned and interviews with bloggers. Nice guy!

Last, Kathryn has just posted her 100th (dang, how did I miss this milestone? And was my 100th some lame thing? I'll have to check). She's a daily read for me, but the post that touched me the most (and put her on my computer speed dial), is the Happy Birthday Dad post she did in Nov. 2007. This is an absolute, do not miss, read.

There are others I should mention and others I read and wish I knew where the heck I found them (anybody know where I read the blog about the 20-something woman who started a cow farm with the hubby and decided to give it up and is now about to board horses????), but my freed-leg time is over... and Miss Ky has emptied out an entire box of batteries.
I love my life.

Photographer's Anonymous

I just picked up my prints at ASDA (your Walmart). I usually upload them via my Macbaby, but since it is a Mac and the general world is geared for Winbloze, I can only download ten at a time. So, to save time, we drove to Norwich.
I stood in front of the photo machine long enough for my husband to investigate the entire store, and then made friends with the elderly man behind me while we waited for the 4-foot long receipt to slowly print out.
It was a little embarrassing. Not that I had 928 prints made (and very few duplicates), but that I could only say that these were photos from December and what has passed of January.

Yes, I have a problem.

That's the first step, admitting it, right? Is there a 12-step program to weaning myself from documenting EVERY single moment in my life? Doesn't everyone have a camera on them at all times? Normal people may run into a house fire to save their cat-- I would save my photos, and hope the cat was a good runner (save your PETA-mail, we don't have a cat) (I do now have 928 new prints).

It was a little funny when I handed the clerk my ticket and she opened the puny little drawer to discover my order wasn't in there and then walked to a corner of the room to pick up this massive carrier bag (have you ever held 928 photos at once?). She smiled and said, "Just a few photos today?" What do you say to that?

"Wait 'till you see NEXT month's!"

My husband said, "maybe buying you that bigger disk wasn't a good idea." (nor was the extra SLR, a telephoto lens that can cook your breakfast, the newer iPhoto and extra hard drive to store everything on...) I love you honey!