Confused buds

Dear Mother Nature,

I know, I know, you've been doing this kind of thing for many, many years...many years more than my lifetime quadrumpled, and I'm sure you have a very good idea of what you're doing, but I just wanted to bring something to your attention, just in case, you know, you missed it or something.

As I wandered my daily path to work in freezing cold temperatures (which means, oh about -3 because I'm now a west coast wimp), I noticed that besides all the frozen puddles that were still frozen, and frozen quite solid, there were a number of trees that looked like this one:


Now, all the sunshine and blue skies are a bit deceptive because it's definitely *NOT* warm...I'm just afraid that the poor little buds and the poor little buds that have blossomed will get too cold.

That's all.

Now I'll get back to my regular job and leave the plants and the weather to you.

Polar Express experienced with D.

On Sunday, Alex and I went to Canada Place and got some tickets to see the Polar Express, in 3D, at the IMAX with our friends Heddy and D.

Alex, Heddy, and D. had a great time modelling their glasses.

3D Alex

D and Heddy eating popcorn

Now this was an experience...not just because it was in 3D, but because we were with D. If you've been to a movie (or Cirque du Soleil) with D, you know that he gets into the movie completely. Special effects? He loves them and sitting near him you get to hear a whole bunch of whoooooaaaaaa, that's cool, woooow! and other such exclamations! It's actually quite entertaining sitting with him. Now, normally, I would have warned Alex about this as it can be a bit surprising sometimes to people new to watching movies with D, but I forgot that Alex had never been to a movie with D before. Alex found D pretty entertaining...I think everyone should go to a movie with D at least once in their lives. It definitely opens your eyes and lets you see the movie in a new and sometimes unexpected way!

And really, if you can't enjoy a movie, then why bother?!

Games, games, and more games

So...yesterday before our crazy hanging out with friends, looking for a couch, hanging out with more friends day, we took another load over to the new house.

Because there's no furniture, we're a bit limited on what we can actually unpack right now, but we thought we'd put the games in the guest room closet. We know we have a lot of games, but in the blue house they lived in the wardrobe which has dark shelves and is deceptively deep or they lived under the guest room bed.

With the exception of the table hockey game, all of them are now in the closet. And they take up more space than we thought.


So, after we move, you're all invited to come over and play games...seriously, if we have them, we better well use them!

Sunday in the city

It was a beautiful day...once the nasty rain stopped. We do live in an incredibly beautiful place! Check out Granville Street!

Waterfront Station

Canada Place...Alex and I both said that hiking up the stairs was like being at Expo all over agian, just 22 years later without the crowds!

Rainbow in Coal Harbour

more Canada Place

Stanley Park

The ghosts are mad

In the past week, we've had a bunch of light bulbs burn out - some really old, some recently replaced, some in the mid-range of light bulb life - the faucet in the bathroom go nuts, the tap-tap-tapping has come back but stops when we ask nicely, and there has been a lot of noise from the suite upstairs...the empty suite. I think we've upset the ghosts with all the move activity. And it's not just one suite, we're all moving. When K. moved out the ghost activity picked up a bit - the tapping came back, but this is more.

Sigh...I should go buy shares in GE.

And no, I'm not crazy. Really.

Aren't we lucky!

So, when we discovered we had to leave our beloved Blue House, Alex and I had some decisions to make about where we were going and what we wanted/needed in an apartment.

We decided

• we could move down to one bedroom if we had to if there was some storage
• staying close to our current neighbourhood was a necessity because of Alex's job and hours
• we could give up a deck/balcony if necessary because we live in a great city and there are lots of parks in the neighbourhood
• we should try to be far away from a White Spot because far too often we cop out on making dinner
• we would be looking at a fair chunk of change more for a two bedroom than we're currently paying, and if we were lucky only a few hundred less for a one bedroom

Well what do you know, we scoured craigslist for anything and everything. Made a few contacts, saw some pictures and decided EWWWWWWWWW and then found the Pink Palace. And we took it right away.

Because

• it had two bedrooms and three closets even if there was no storage in the building
• it was only eight blocks from the Blue House which means a five minute each direction increase in commute time for me and at least a 25 minute reduction for Alex (that's bus versus foot travel)
• while it had no balcony, there is school right behind it and really, it's only about ten blocks from the beach
• there is no White Spot nearby, but we did discover when we actually took the time to look that there is a pub a block away, an Earls, a Moxies and they all have patios so it's okay, because it makes up for the missing deck...yeah, that's it!
• it's only a bit more than what we're paying now, even when utilities and laundry are factored in (and the storage unit we're going to have to get), but it still has two bedrooms

We sort of seconded guessed ourselves and could both be heard wondering out loud if it was the right decision...to take the first place we saw...I mean, it was completely redone inside, it's close to everything, the only real downside besides the storage issue is there is no reserved parking, but well, it's okay.

I'M SO GLAD WE TOOK IT!

I was looking at what's available this month, and well, it's not pretty. Thank goodness we went with instinct. We would be able to find somewhere, it just would not have been an easy thing to do and we probably would not have been too happy. Thank goodness we started looking early.

Now on to the packing (and major decluttering!)

Shannon's 2008 movie viewing

What I've seen in 2008...off to a slow start!

• Love Actually
• The Nanny Diaries
• Music and Lyrics
• Juno
• Superbad

Shannon's 2008 Reading Material

No side bar this year. We're starting the book list off right with its very own page. I'm always looking for new books to read, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

books in progress

• From Time To Time
• What to Expect When You're Expecting
  
• What to Expect The First Year
• Everything is Illuminated

books just finished

• Knit Fast, Die Young: A Knitting Mystery (January)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (February)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (February)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (February)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (March)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (March)
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (March)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (March)
• The Bonesetter's Daughter (March)
• The Other Side of the Story (April)
• Time And Again (April)
• Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging (April)
• On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (May)
  
• Persepolis (June)
• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (June)
  
• Atonement (July)
  
• Stanley Park (August)
• Pursuit of Happyness
  (August)
• The Flying Troutmans
  (October)
  
• Sway (November)
  

Shannon's 2008 knitting

knitting in progress

• baby blanket one (with no designated recipient). Started fall 2007
  
• baby blanket two (for the cub if it's a girl). Started May 2008
  
• baby blanket three (for the cub if it's a boy). Started May 2008
  
• magic scarf for me
  
• a bag without a handle
  

knitting projects completed

• scarf for Bret (finished just in time for New Years...so technically a 2007 project!)
  
• scarf for Kamiah. Started January 2008, completed May 2008
  
• surprise wedding gift for Christy and Rob. Started November 2006, completed May 2008
  

Shannon's 2008 movie view

What I've seen in 2008...off to a slow start!

• Love Actually
• The Nanny Diaries
• Music and Lyrics