Bad sign

You know that it's a bad sign when you mutter to yourself "it's been a long day," and it isn't even 7 am. This morning Mary woke us at 5, and the instant I opened my eyes, I knew things were going to be bad. You see, Mary had spent the weekend exploding her diapers with yuckyness that I do not need to describe here due to a gastro-intestinal upset. She is better now, but has kindly passed it on to me. So. She woke us up, I whimpered cause my stomach hurt. I changed her diaper, got her bottle ready, fed her, burped her, all the while concentrating very very hard on not tossing my cookies. Unfortunately, when Mary decided to turn into "exorcist baby" and fountain out all the milk that I had previously fed her all over me and the bed, my concentration broke. We had chili for supper last night.

I will never eat chili again.

bye bye birdie(s)

Yay! The birds are finally gone. Those bloody budgies were the biggest mistake I've made since I brought home the giant greyhound. I guess I'm just a cat person, which makes sense, as I have four.

Speaking of cats, my second oldest, Brock, had a bit of an adventure this weekend. This morning I woke up, and only saw 3 cats, which isn't that odd, Brock tends to sleep downstairs. What was odd was that he never turned up when I filled up the food dish. I asked Ian if he had seen the cat, and Ian swore up and down that he had earlier in the morning, so I wandered around the house for about 45 minutes, calling Brock. I was terrified that I would find him dead on the furnace, or under the bed or something, and I started to get frantic. I went outside on the off chance that he had escaped, and who was standing at the door with leaves hanging off his whiskers? You guessed it. Brock. He was quite pleased with himself as he marched in to the kitchen to eat his breakfast, and the other cats were all over him, sniffing his butt to see where he had been. As far as we can figure, he escaped last night when I left the house to go to my Angels game (which RAWKED! by the way). So, when the other cats were put out on their harnesses to enjoy the weather this afternoon, I judged that he needed to stay inside.

American deserters

Now, I have an opinion or two on this, and they are quite strong. First, Ive gotta say, I DO NOT agree with the war in Iraq, I think it's stupid and pointless. That being said, I think that people who desert the army should be shot. I mean, honestly, why on earth did you join the army in the first place, if you arent willing to fulfill the job that you signed up for? Did you think the Army was a fun camp where you learn to shoot rifles, and that there would never be a war? You live in AMERICA, for Gods sake! Dubya is your president! If the Americans werent blowing someone up, they would be lost. You see, when you sign up to be in the Military, you are commiting yourself to do your "duty", to follow orders. If you didnt want to go to war, then you shouldnt have joined the military, right? The military is not one of those things that you can do when it's fun, and drop like a hot potato the minute the going gets rough...and they make that clear when you first enlist.

Anyways, I think that Canada should not let American deserters shelter here. Every single person in the american military chose to be there, they should have known better. Now, if Dubya decided on a draft, that is something else entirely.

To whoever invented Baby Einstein DVD's

Thank You. Thank you so very much. I think I love you.

Joys of being a Mum.

I have just discovered one of the great joys that comes with being a mother. No sick days. No calling in sick. Nothing. What other job in the world do you not get paid for, are you on call 24/7, and you cant even take a sick day. For crying out loud, you cant even take a vacation without taking your job with you! Blech.

Mary has somehow managed to shove the entire head of her stuffed giraffe into her mouth, I had best go save the poor thing before she consumes it.

How to drive me crazy

Scream bloody murder every time I stop moving when we are shopping. I can't buy you pretty dresses for you to barf all over if you never let me stop!

Why we do not use smoke signals in the 21st century

I turned on the TV the other day to watch Regis and Kelly, and instead I saw this.

Close up of nondescript smokepipe, perhaps somewhere in Rome. Grayish smoke is pouring from it.

News announcer: Yes, there is definitely smoke coming from the pipe, and it looks white! Yes, I'm sure that is white smoke. What do you see there, Tom?

Tom: Hello? Can you hear me?

News announcer: Yes Tom, we can hear you. Tell us what you see.

Tom: Hello? Hello? Yes. Yes, as you can surely see, there is smoke coming from the pipe! This is a momentous day to be sure! Oh! The bells are ringing! Can you hear the...

News announcer (cutting Tom off): Tom, we have just received a report that the smoke coming from the pipe should actually be BLACK smoke. What do you have to say about that?

Tom: Yes, the smoke is definitely white, the bells are ringing, a new Pope has been elected!

News announcer: Tom, we have just been given word that the bells are actually the hour bells, it is now 6 PM in Rome.

Tom: Ah. Yes, it is 6 PM. I am now just being told that there are reports that the smoke should be black, not white.

News announcer: I see, Tom. So this means that the Cardinals have not decided on a new Pope yet?

Tom: That is correct. Hello? Hello, can you hear me? (loud roaring drowns out Tom for a moment.)

News announcer: Tom? Tom? Can you describe the mood in St. Peters Square for us?

Tom: The bells! The bells! The bells are ringing again! This is a momentous time! They have elected a new Pope! The smoke is white!

Another close up of the smoke coming from the pipe, still grayish.

Anyways, that went on for about 45 minutes, until the new pope, Benedict XVI wandered out onto the balcony.

Both Anne and Dave have already expressed their concerns about the new pope. I agree with them completely, but, honestly, I'm not Roman Catholic, so, I guess I shouldn't be concerned. I am however concerned. The new Pope is old, 78, so chances are he wont be around for very long, of course, that could be a bad thing too. There is a papal prophecy that this pope is the 2nd last pope, and he is following the prophecy to the letter...he even picked the name he should have. Anyways, if the next Pope picks the name Peter, run for your bomb shelter. It's the devil incarnate, hijacking the RC church, and the end of the world is not far behind.

New Job

Today I started a babysitting job. The child that I babysit is an 11 month old boy, who is all in all a very good baby. He has a cold right now, and let me tell you, I never realized such a little creature could produce so much snot! Other than that, and being sad that I'm not his mummy, he was a sweetie. He didn't mind hanging out with me, and playing with his toys, and even though he was sad, he seemed to get comfort from cuddling with me. I think the hardest thing is that he just isn't mine. With Mary, I can understand her non-verbal (and very loudly verbal) cues and signs. I know which cry means she is hungry, how she looks when she is tired, when her diaper is wet, when she wants cuddles, when she wants to be left alone. With him, it's all a guessing game. Another fun thing I experienced for the first time today is cloth diapers. ICKY! Thank God we decided to go with the environmentally unfriendly disposables. Cloth diapers are gross.

Shelly took Mary today, and Ian will have her tomorrow, but after that, I've got to bring her along. I'm a little nervous about that, two babies at once. I think I can handle it, but it's going to be hard. I mean, I'm being paid to look after Jonah, but Mary is my own baby. Hopefully it wont be an issue.

Other than the new baby job, things in my life are pretty normal. The cats are being cats, destructive at times, but joys in my life. Mary is doing well. She has started to work really hard at pulling herself up into a sitting position, I don't think it will be much longer before she can sit up all by herself. She makes me so proud, it's crazy. I love her so much, if I think about it too much, I start to cry. It's odd, I've never loved anything the way I love her...I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much.

The weekend so far

Well, so far my weekend has been mostly enjoyable, which is great, although weekends mean very little to me now. What is the difference between a Saturday and a Wednesday in baby jail?

Anyways, Friday was a lot of fun. Ian and I went over to Shelly's place, and along with a few other people we played Cranium, which Jackie and Ryan won, and Shelly and Zac lost (They were at a bit of a disadvantage, Zac is only 7). After that we played Settlers of Catan. I must admit, I was a little leery at first, I'm not a fan of strategy games, they tend to make me loose my temper...I soon discovered that Settlers of Catan ROCKS! I have to figure out how to get Shelly to invite us over to play that game more often!

Saturday night the Titanic sunk. Iain and Val put a tonne of work into the production, as I expected. I went in the afternoon to help with the setup, and they were pretty much done. They knew I was coming so had kindly saved me one little task so I was able to feel helpful. The actual dinner was fabulous. The food was fantastic, and Iain and Val actually got to sit down and eat! That being said, I didn't have a lot of fun, though it had nothing to do with the production itself. We should have never brought the baby (duh). Ian was busy, so I was desperately lonely, a little bored, and stressed right out about Mary. I was terrified that she would make noise, and when she did, I was frightfully embarrassed. It would have been easier if I had a little help, but Ian was playing his character. I hardly got to see him let alone speak with him all night long. I've learned my lesson though, next time, I'll just stay home with the baby. All in all, Mary was amazingly well behaved, but I was pretty stressed, and couldn't enjoy myself anyways.

Today I slept in, Ian doesn't work, so he was kind enough to get up with Mary. I think this afternoon we may go to West Edmonton mall, but I think the more likely thing is laundry, dishes, and raking the lawn.

I had something to say....

So, last night as I was falling asleep, I thought of a whole bunch of stuff I wanted to say on my blog. That was last night, this is now, and I havnt a clue what it was. Sigh. Ian says I should write things down when Im thinking them, but it was 2am, and I needed to sleep.

My birthday went really well. Ian came home from work, and we took the baby over to Viv's place, she had kindly offered to look after Mary for us. The plan was to go to the Keg for lunch, then catch a movie...unfortunately for us, the Keg doesnt open till four. Stupid bloody place. So, we went to a movie first, too bad that our timing was off, so the only movie that was starting at that time was Miss Congeniality 2. It wasnt terrible, kinda silly, but not too bad. Definately not Sin City though. Then we went to the Keg for supper...yum. It was definately worth the wait. I ate a large portion of flesh and crab meat. mmmmmm. After the Keg, we went to Gerald and Katherines place, ate cake and gossiped with them and Anne & Janet. It was a very pleasant day all around.

Anyways, if I ever remember what it was that I wanted to say, I will post again today...

It's my birthday!

So. On Annes blog, there is quite a discussion going on around some comments that someone made in response to some comments Anne made about the Roman Catholic Church. Now. Some things have been said about the Anglican church by a friend of mine, and I just cant take it anymore. What drives me absolute bonkers is people who badmouth the CofE because the only reason that it came around was so the King could divorce his wife. Grr. That is NOT the only reason. The political and religious climate at the time required a change, a break from the church in Rome. The people were restive, and most of them were very upset with the corrupt church in Rome. There were no bibles in English, there was no chance for the masses to actually understand the faith that they were forced to have. All they saw was thier money being taken by the church. They saw Cardinal Thomas Wolsey living in splendour, yet demanding that his flock give more and more to the church. The Anglican church came about for much the same reasons as most protastant denominations did, and in the same period of time. The fact that the catalyst was that Henry wanted to divorce Katherine means very little to me, and to most Anglicans, I think. It does not change the integrity of the church today. The fact that the Anglican church adapted out of political convenience, as Eman claims, can be applied to most Christian denominations. Some person did not agree with something that the mother church taught, and started his own church that he did agree with...the fact that that someone for the Anglican church was a king does not make it any different!!

So there. Im not sure how much sense that made, but I do get a little upset about things at times. I think that it is one thing to have a discussion about the merits and flaws about a particular religion, but to dismiss a denomination outright for one thing in the distant past? Come on.

Some neat memes

The Lady You scored 26% Cardinal, 48% Monk, 67% Lady, and 27% Knight!

Chaste and pure, you are a good person. You try to help others and do your duty to your family. However, this duty involves you being sold off to a local noble house in order to cement relations between your families. But you know it's for a greater good, and besides you will retain all the comforts and glamour of your position regardless of if you're your father's or you husband's property.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 19% on Cardinal You scored higher than 69% on Monk You scored higher than 99% on Lady You scored higher than 5% on Knight

Link: The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test written by KnightlyKnave on Ok Cupid

Caliphate of Baghdad You scored 55% for Education, 73% for Religion, 43% for Military Might, and 41% for Decentralization!

If ever there was an example of greatness, faith, art, wonder and the highest level of medievel life in one place, it was Baghdad. How ironic that Baghdad was once the center of trade and education in the World, the Jewel of Islam and the Envy of All. To be amongst peers in Baghdad back then is to mean you are a scholar and a saint sir (or madam), laboring the mind in the name of God. You seek knowledge above all and have a deep love and personal faith with God. Relish these warm nights in the desert sands, explore the world around you while you can, in mysterious Baghdad.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 16% on Education You scored higher than 99% on Religion You scored higher than 44% on Military Might You scored higher than 73% on Decentralizatio

Link: The Ancient Civiliazation for you Test written by Rowdyandy on Ok Cupid

Sinking into lollybloggerdom

I have recently been accused of being a lollyblogger. I admit, I havnt had alot to say this week, but at least I have posted at least once in April, unlike some peoples significant others!

Anyways, I never said my life was interesting....I suppose I could come on and describe the dirty diapers (like the one Mary is currently filling) I change every day, but I suspect that would get kind of old. Im not a writer like Dave or Anne, so I have a hard time being witty and coming across as intelligent in my blog too, and I hate to just blather on about nothing.

My mother is still determined that we should move to Vancouver. She seems to think that it isnt that expensive at all to live there, and we would do just fine. I personally think she is on crack. Gas there is 104.9 cents/litre. Her rent for a 2 bedroom appartment is double what we pay on our mortgage here. Everything is far away. I dont want to live in a stupid little appartment. I DONT WANT TO MOVE TO VANCOUVER, MOTHER! There, now that I have that off my chest. I mean, Vancouver really is a lovely place, and I have always wanted to end up there. Now that I am a grown up though, I have other concerns, like being able to pay for groceries, being able to own a house...that sort of thing. I think that because Ian and I both basically qualify as unskilled labour, we would do quite poorly, and never ever get ahead.

The titanic dinner theatre is coming up on saturday. Im quite excited about it, although Im sad that I havnt got a character. I went to the actors practice with Ian last night, and got quite jealous of everyone who has speaking parts. I did get to read some parts of the people who werent there, but Mary got antsy, and we had to go home early. The best part of the thing last year was that they put us to work! It was lots of fun having a part, and serving tables. Anyways, Janet has said that she has a skirt I can borrow (hopefully it will fit, I have become quite large), but I have to get over there some time to pick it up, and I havnt got their phone number (hint hint, Anne). At least with a skirt, I wont like totally ridiculous.

My baby speaks Klingon

Yesterday, while watching Star Trek TNG, I realised that the reason I cannot understand what Mary wants is that she speaks Klingon, and I do not. I am not sure that I know how to rectify this problem, if I learn to speak Klingon to communicate with her, some people may accuse me of being a geek, which is obviously not the truth. I suppose I will just have to deal with her shrieking at me on occasion, I really dont want to know what rude names she is calling me anyways.

Dave recieved an email from the Purgatory organizer inbox the other day accusing him and the other organizers of "being a bit of a game Nazis." Firstly, anyone whose grammar is that terrible really doesnt deserve being taken seriously (Im not saying my grammar is perfect, but come on!), second, if you dont like the game, have the balls to come out and say so. I will admit that I have had my share of problems with Purgatory, but you cant please everyone, right? Yes, there are parts of the game which are scripted, but I really dont think that things could progress properly without a bit of that stuff. Anyways, my point here is, if you dont like the game, quit, and if you do...well, maybe we all ought to take a moment out and tell the organizers that we are enjoying ourselves. People tend to be alot louder when they complain, and it's time for that to change.

Scott is cancelling his Angels game. Sigh. Thats really too bad, but I guess Im not surprised. He is such a busy guy, and seems to be doing really well at the DJ thing. Im a little disapointed as I just got back into it, and there was the potential for lots of cool stuff to happen to my character, but oh well. Real life is more important for some people.

Uh oh, I hear Klingon curses coming from the bedroom, better go see what my little warrior wants now.

The Pope, and Terry Schiavo

So, the Pope is dying, and Terry Schaivo is dead. Im not roman catholic, although I think that Anglicanism is as close to Roman Catholicism as you can get, without actually being one. Anyways, Im not an RC, and I dont pretend to understand alot of what they do. I often wonder...do they really think that it is Gods will to keep people living artificially? I mean, it is one thing to cure a disease, and allow a person to continue on in a relatively functional manner, but to keep someone alive, so they can lay in a bed and drool for 15 years while their muscles atrophy...it all seems kind of barbaric to me.

My father thinks the reason they havnt let the Pope die sooner is that when he does, everyone in the Vatican looses their jobs. I didnt realise that he was right, until I was watching the news today. I guess there are two factions, those that want the Pope to die, so they can jockey for his position, and those that dont, because they will loosed their jobs among the elite.

Purgatory is tonight, it should be an interesting game. Im a little concerned about my character, all of a sudden I have alot on my plate with her. Malkavians may be fun friends, but they tend to be destructive. Tomorow I have a D&D game all afternoon, and then another one that evening! Yay! A weekend of geeking and dice!