My busy girl!

 

Fiona has taken a few independent steps in the last few days, and today she took about 6 or 7 steps.  Of course when I got the camera out she went back to the 2 or 3 steps, but I was glad to capture some on camera anyway.  Exciting!

 

One of Fiona's favorite things is being read to.  Every day she will bring me the same 8 or 10 books one at a time from across the room.  She repeats this a few times each day.  Might be time to dig out some of the books that Jay's mom saved from when he was a kid.  She still has a pretty short attention span, but it is definitely improving.

West Coast Vacation - Vancouver Day 3

There was a good chance of rain in the forecast on our third day in Vancouver, so we decided to plan some indoor activities.  We got up early and made our way over to the Vancouver Aquarium.  I had expected it to be busy, but by the time we got there, right around the time it opened, there were lineups to get in.  We kind of cringed when we saw three or four school buses dropping off kids.  We got our tickets and headed in.

Overall, the aquarium was neat.  Being from the prairies, I had never seen a lot of the fish and sea creatures that they had on display.  I think my favorite displays were the jelly fish.  They were just so neat, kind of mesmerizing to watch.  The belugas were also cool.  I would have enjoyed watching one of the shows, but our parking expired before they started, and I am sure, with all the kids there, we would have not gotten a seat without going and sitting an hour before the start time.

(The first video is obviously some jellyfish.  They had a black light on them and they glowed.  They were so neat!  And the second is the beluga whale.  It liked to make the same lap over and over again.  Such interesting creatures! Note the screaming children in both videos, ugh!)

When we finished up at the aquarium, we were feeling a little headachy and overwhelmed by all the screaming children.  We decided to head over to the Aberdeen Centre in Richmond.  It is a mall that Jay had stumbled upon in his research of things to do in Vancouver.  It is an Asian mall, with mainly Asian stores and all of the food court restaurants are Asian as well.  We didn't have any trouble getting there.  We decided to have some lunch when we got there.  I was quite overwhelmed by all the choices and wasn't sure what we wanted.  We finally settled on something that resembled the Chinese food that we have had before.  We ordered some beef satay and Singapore noodles.  The satay wasn't spectacular, but the noodles were better than any I have had in Saskatoon.  Also the portions were HUGE!  We could have easily shared one dish, and it came to a grand total of $15 for both dishes.  So by the time we were done, we were stuffed.

  (Sitting in front of the fountain, moments before it started it's show.  Thankfully I moved before it started or I am sure I would have gotten wet!)

After lunch we wandered the mall.  Unfortunately it wasn't quite as interesting as we were hoping.  It just seemed like a typical mall, with clothing, electronics, toys, dollar store, etc, but none of the stores were names we had ever heard of.  We made our laps then found the fountain that we had read about.  Every hour they have a fountain in the mall that does a 'show' set to music.  I am not sure how long it goes on, but after about 10 minutes we decided we had seen enough and left.

I have to say, it was interesting being in the minority as a caucasian person.  I think Jay, being white and in a wheelchair felt really unique.  I didn't feel like anyone really cared that we were there, but it was an unusual feeling for us to be a minority, even for just a little while.  It was a pretty busy mall, and I probably saw about 4 or 5 other white people.  Just an interesting observation.  

I think getting back to Vancouver from Richmond was the only time when we really ran into problems with traffic.  There are two main bridges that take traffic across the river from Richmond into Vancouver.  We decided to go to a coffee shop after the mall, and so headed toward the bridge that would take us closer to our destination.  As we got closer there was a lot of traffic backed up, then we finally saw that there was a police officer rerouting traffic around the exits so you couldn't get on the bridge.  So we had to loop around and find our way back to the other bridge.  A friend had mentioned to us an AM radio station that gave traffic reports in the Vancouver area, so we turned it on to find out that there had been an accident on the bridge and that it was closed.  We finally made our way to the other bridge and once we were across we were able to find our way to the coffee shop, Matchstick Coffee.

I had asked a friend of ours, who is a bit of a coffee expert, if he knew of any good coffee shops in Vancouver and/or Seattle.  He gave us a few options and we settled on trying Matchstick because it was not in the heart of downtown and was not too far out of our path of travel.  It was a quiet little place amongst the busyness of the city and was a nice place to sit down and relax with a nice latte and a croissant (Jay had a scone).  Since we had eaten so much Chinese food at lunch, we called this supper and after we were done, we headed back to our hotel to relax for the evening.

Bah Humbug

I saw a video like this last year as well and it really convicted me.  In the last few years I have really felt in need of nothing for Christmas.  I can usually come up with a couple of ideas for those who ask, but there is nothing I need.  There is even very little I want.  We are blessed with an incredibly luxurious life if you look at a lot of people on this planet. 

I do look forward at Christmas to spending time with family and friends, to good food and to a lesser and lesser degree, gifts.  I have chalked it up to the fact that Christmas is more for kids.  I think that when adults have children, it reignites an excitement for Christmas that may have dwindled as an adult.  I don't think it's bad to give gifts, but I have felt in the last two or three years that it might be better to make a donation to a charity of some sort, than to try to think up some gift for a family member, and usually complain about trying to figure out what to buy.  Then get it for them, and possibly have it returned.  What's the point?  It seems in the last few years that all anyone has wanted are gift cards.  And if you have six people drawing names to buy one gift, for one family member, and all anyone wants is a gift card....why not keep your money and buy yourself something?  Not to sound like a grump.  I don't feel grumpy about it, just more practical.

After having a discussion like this with my mom, we decided that instead of buying a gift that we would make a family donation to a worthy cause.  I am not saying this to brag, but I really do think that giving in this way is a great way to bless someone who doesn't have the means to buy gifts or even food for their family.  After throwing around a few ideas of charities to give to (there are so many good and worthy ones!) we have decided to give to the Food Bank.  We settled on it because we heard that Potash Corp is matching donations until December 31st, so we figure if we give, our gift will be doubled, which seemed like a great idea.

I challenge you, the few that read this, to buy one less gift and donate that money to a worthy cause.  It might not seem like much, but you might make a huge difference in someone's life.

Heart of Life

This song really resounded with me this week.  The line that really stuck out to me was "Bad news never had good timing". 

Little Oliver came down with a cold/cough this week.  In his weakened state, and with his reduced ability to swallow and deal with extra phlegm, it could be the type of thing that his little body can't fight off.  When I got the email from Karen that said "This could be the beginning of the end..."  I couldn't help but cry and think not yet.  As much as I don't want to see Oliver suffer, and knowing he is going to die sooner than any child should, it is still going to be so tough for his family to lose him.  I was so glad to hear that he is doing a lot better today.   

Some lambs and goats to make you smile

Your laugh for the day...

Dick and Rick Hoyt

One of my friends on Facebook posted a video online today and I really wanted to share it. What an inspiration, what love, amazing!

One cool mom!

Last summer when I was doing P90X, I spent quite a bit of time reading and commenting on the Facebook P90X page. I found it motivating, and informative. In doing that, I connected with a few people that I didn't know, but who were also doing P90X at the same time. I added them as friends and not that I know these people well, but it has been neat to sort of 'get to know' people over Facebook.

One of the people who friended me is a lady from Texas who is a group fitness instructor at her gym. She is a mom of three teenagers, or preteens, something like that and she is super fit! As you may have heard, last week there was a big storm in the USA that started in Texas with a bad bout of freezing rain and ice. Because they are ill equipped to deal with such situations, their schools, and the gym were shut down for three or four days. Out of despiration, Adrienne created a half hour kick boxing workout. I watched it and it is awesome (I will try it at some point). Then yesterday she uploaded another home workout video of hip hop dance. Another awesome looking workout that I am looking forward to trying.

If you would like a couple of unique workout options I will post the links to the videos for you to check out.

John Mayer Concert

Last night I went to my first 'rock' concert that I have gone to in MANY years. Back in December my sister and I got tickets to see John Mayer. I started to get a little excited for the concert yesterday, but by the time it started I was pretty pumped up. I didn't scream, because I am not a screamer at concerts. I think I learned my lesson back when I was about 12 at a Sawyer Brown concert and I could hardly talk because I screamed so hard.

It was a great concert! The opening act was awesome! It was Michael Franti and Spearhead. They have their first top 20 hit right now with Say Hey (I Love You). They are very reggae-ish music. I didn't know any of their songs but I was up on my feet clapping and dancing around (as much as I can dance, haha). At one point Michael Franti ran out into the audience, and not just the audience on the floor. He was up in the stands pulling people out of their seats to dance with him. He came up the aisle right next to us at one point and sang half a song just a few feet away from us. Then when they played their hit song he called all the kids to come up on stage with him. So there were probably about 15 or 20 kids up on stage dancing and singing along with him. It was really cool. I will definitely be investing in one of their CDs. I hope they make it. They seem very friendly and upbeat.

Then was John Mayer. I have liked his music since I first heard his song No Such Thing around 2001. I definitely have liked some of his albums and songs more than others, but in general I really like his music. He is a VERY talented guitar player. He did some awesome riffs during the concert last night. Though at times they got a little lengthy for my tastes, but he is a talented man. I also appreciate that he sounds almost identical in concert as he does on his albums. He has this tendency to make these weird faces when he is singing though. Our seats were far enough away that we couldn't really see his facial expressions, just a little guy up on stage. But after the first song they turned on a screen behind him that allowed the further away folks to see him better. Then you could see his facial expressions that my sister said reminded her a little of Jean Chretien. Still a great show and I knew every song he played and sang along to every song. It is fun when you know all the songs :)

The downfall of the concert, that came close to ruining it for my sister and I were the people sitting next to us. When the show started they went to get some beer, then were standing up, dancing with their beer cups, spilling beer all over the place. They went back to replenish their beer a number of times during the concert and by the end of the show were drunk. They were also obnoxious and were stepping on my sister's feet. Robin actually went to complain to someone about them but nothing was ever done. Then right at the end of the show, during the encore they lit up a joint. Thankfully the security guard saw it right away and took it away from them. I was thankful that my sister was standing between me and them, but it sure took away from the experience of the concert. I did enjoy myself though and I am really glad we went :)

I took a couple of pictures and a short video clip that I took last night. Nothing too exciting but I thought I would share them!

Stuck in my head

I had this stuck in my head when I was trying to go to sleep last night. I am glad I was finally able to get it out and get some sleep. I thought I would share it, and maybe it will get stuck in YOUR head too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez8rRUDvpq8

Wow

A friend of mine, who works with Real Choices Crisis Pregnancy Centre, posted these videos on Facebook. What a story!

Kiwi watching The Dog Whisperer

I have wanted to get a video of this for a while. She always 'talks' to the tv when she sees or hears other dogs on tv. You may have to turn up the volume to hear her fully. What a funny little dog :)

A little mush

Nostalgia - Part 5

Meteor from last night

I heard on the news this morning about a meteor that fell last night and it sounded like it was quite impressive. I looked up on youtube and was able to find this video from Edmonton. CRAZY! I would have loved to see that.

I can't believe she was ever that small!

Belly Dancing

I had my first class this evening. It was alright and I didn't feel too self conscious or weird being there. We learned three basic moves, the hip circle, the basic shimmy and a more advanced shimmy. I did pretty well with the first two but just couldn't seem to get down the advanced shimmy. I imagine there might be even more advanced shimmys than this one, so hopefully I will get it mastered.

I noticed very early on, doing my hip circles that I think my iliotibial bands are very tight. Each time I would move my hips back and forth or up and down I could feel my IT band popping over top of a bump on my femur (greater trochanter, for those who are familiar with anatomy). I am pretty sure that's what it was, so I think before my next class I should work on some stretching for my IT bands and I could feel my lower back tightening up with the movements. I think our teacher knows what she is doing, but I felt that our warmup time was fairly inadequate. I look forward to learning some new moves and getting more comfortable with what I have learned so far.

Maybe someday I'll be this good (minus the chandelier on my head)...

Nostalgia - Part 4

A while ago, I had posted a few youtube videos of old country music songs that were rather nostalgic. This song is nostalic for me. Karen and I, cruising around singing at the top of our lungs. Or maybe it was just me singing...but it was a fun song and I heard it tonight and had to post this video.

This makes me giggle

Kiwi vs. the Ice Cube