Monsters vs. Aliens

We took the crew to see this in Real 3D last night. It was a funny movie and everyone enjoyed it from the biggest kid to the smallest (6 to almost 14). It has been a long while since I've been to a 3D movie and they certainly have come a long way. I was sitting next to Turtle and loved listening to him giggle... you know those unexpected squeals of delight that you hear often as a toddler but not so much once they get school age. It made the movie for me listening to him and seeing the sheer joy on his face. Each of the kids had a favorite character. Ice and Turtle have been reenacting bits of the movie all morning and trying the crazy 3D glasses on (made of plastic not cardboard and resembling the glasses worn by the President in the movie). We kept the glasses in hopes that the DVD has some 3D capabilities. The crew said this is one they would definitely want to add to our collection.

What an end to the snowboard season!!

Kodiak and La Diva went out for the last day of boarding at the local hill yesterday. Kodiak was cut off by a new boarder and took a tumble. He ended up with a fractured right wrist which means that he will start the pre-season of soccer training in a cast. He is not impressed. Soccer is his sport and he has been desperate for the snow to melt so the season would start. It is spring break so he will have a week to adjust to it before he's back at school.

Kodiak pre wipeout.

La Diva biting it.

Shade Gardening

Does anyone know if you can grow any vegetables in the shade?

Our front yard has very mature trees. The house next door is nearly 100 years old and our lot used to belong to it. When they built this duplex they kept the large trees. We successfully grow bleeding heart, hostas, begonias, impatiens in the front bed which has more sun in the spring but once the trees leaf out it is quite shady.

This is why I don't craft

ouch.. that hurt to type... I burned the finger tip of the middle finger on my left hand with the glue gun. It was my second attempt to create a spring wreath for my front door. The only money I spent towards it was to buy a $2 grapevine wreath. I wanted to do the rest from materials I had on hand. It's not perfect but it is ok and I won't feel bad if the wind beats the heck out of it on the front door. I needed something cheerful to remind me that spring will come eventually. Now if I can only remember to use my nail tip to type eeeeeeeees instead of my finger. ;) LOL I really wish I was talented in the craft department but it seems to be a gift I missed out on. Don't ask for pictures... you really don't want to see how pathetic I really am.

Strawberry Spinach

We purchased some intriguing seeds the other day. I hope that my Aunt will let us plant them out at the farm. They are called Strawberry Spinach or Blitum capitatum, Chenepodium capitatum. I thought it was a new plant variety but apparently it was harvested by German monks some 400 years ago. It has edible fruit and leaves. I can't wait to try it.

Has anyone ever heard of this or tried it before? Are you planting anything unusual this year? Anything that is new to you?

mmmmmmmmmmm

Iceman and I found a new favorite salad dressing. It is made locally, in Alberta at least, and tastes divine. I tried to recreate it but only had dried basil and that just didn't do it justice. I'm thankful to find another dressing that Iceman enjoys. He loves salad but only ate it with Girard's Champagne dressing , which is not available here.

If anyone has a recipe for a creamy basil & garlic dressing than I'd love it if you could share. Meantime, we will enjoy purchasing this product which is available at 2 of the grocery stores in the neighboring city.

There are other flavors as well and I may have to give them a try. Check out the whole product line at Boccalino Grotto.

I'm going to try one more time to grow some lettuce this year in containers. So far I've had little success but I've noticed some container specific varieties while perusing the seed racks so I will try those.

Are Americans really this stupid?

What an offensive piece of "news". I imagine they would be the first to come running to Canada for sanctuary if they were ever required to serve in their military. I can't believe that with all they have to worry about in the US right now that they find it newsworthy to mock the honorable men and women that serve in Canada's military and RCMP. I'm proud to be Canadian and thankful for the huge sacrifices that our troops have made.

UPDATE: The host has apologized. Doug Benson appearance at a comedy club in Edmonton, home to one of our Canadian Forces bases, has been canceled by the club. Guess it's not so hilarious now.

Rig Beyatches

There is a term for a certain brand of woman around these parts. Their husbands work away from home in the patch, they drive expensive SUVs, dress like teenagers, have the requisite tramp stamp, nose ring, fake nails, chunky streaked hair, lululemon pants or have their ass crack hanging out and they walk around like they own the world. That term is rig b*tches. They stick together in their little group and act like they are the celebrities. Their kids are usually spoiled brats with no manners and the same sense of entitlement. Their conversations in the boot room are of trips, their newest ATV or other "stuff" related insanity. They scarcely acknowledge anyone not in their real housewives club and when they do you just know that they are talking about you after you've left.

I was in the scrapbook store yesterday. I'm not a crackbooker but I love the paper. I was on the hunt for some for a home decor project. Their were sister rig b*itches in the store with their brats running wild. There is a play/activity area in the shop but that wasn't sufficient for these charmers. One mother constantly reminded her little darling that he was lucky that Tara wasn't there or he'd be in big trouble. I know Tara is the sister of the owner of the shop and she has a photography business. I'd had the pleasure of meeting her on another trip to the store and she is a lovely girl. Sad that Tara obviously had to reign in the little princes on other occasions but mommie dearest just couldn't do it. It was hard not to hear the conversation as they were loud, as RB's are because they are the most important you know. She proceeds to tell the shopkeeper about the last time they were there and how she was worried because her vehicle had been acting strangely with the alarm going off, etc. She proceeds to explain that when she got home that night and went to throw her keys under her mat (guess that is where you keep them) to find her other set of keys there. Turns out she had been stepping on her second set of keys as she was driving and she was setting off the alarm and locking and unlocking the doors. It took everything in me to stifle the laughter. How stupid can one be? It was the perfect summation of how brilliant these woman are. I have yet to meet one that has any sort of education or has held a job of any value but they walk around like they are royalty and us common folk should worship them.

Meow! ;)

Suck it up Buttercup

If you read my other blog you will know that I've been having a rough time of it with my fibro. I've been in a flare since Sunday and prior to that I was not feeling much better. This week I had a few appointments so I was in the neighboring city and decided to do something I never thought I'd have to do. I picked up a prepared meal from a new business that was en route to one of my appointments. I thought it was worth a shot to try to feed my family something healthy and "homemade" which didn't require much effort on my part. It turned out to be a tasty meal. I think when I'm feeling better that I will suck it up and go to My Sister's Kitchen to make some meals for the freezer. I have to throw the Martha thing out the window and just do what I can to get through the rough patches. It's better than feeding my family KD or perogies every time I feel awful, right?

Impossible to fail

This was in my inbox today from HeartQuotes. It really describes my Hero and how he goes after things. I wish that I had his confidence sometimes. It's a blessing that he can embrace life this way and his success is evidence of how this kind of an attitude works.

The tricky Leprechaun paid us a visit last night. Iceman and Turtle woke to shamrocks scattered all down the stairs. They reported that he took their pictures off the wall (they painted me some canvas art several years ago that hang along our stairwell), hide one and hung another where it didn't belong, he through dish towels all over the kitchen but he made them green pancakes. Ice said they knew the pancakes were from him because he left a picture of his shoes on them. That tricky guy also took my near dead roses and tipped them stems up in the vase of water, scattering petals all over a table in the living room. The boys could not believe he would be so brazen and mess with mom's flowers. No gold today... the economy must be hitting the Leprechaun's budget ;) or maybe he could not find any gold coins that weren't imported from China.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

12 on the 12th, a day late

1. Slept late.

2. Laundry.

3. Talked to La Diva's music teacher.

4. Filled out registration for music festival.

5. Organized info needed for soccer registration for the boys. Unfortunately, La Diva has music one of the soccer nights and with achievement tests this year we/she decided it would be too much stress for her.

6. Watched too much afternoon TV, surfed the net, felt like crap.

7. Signed agendas and filled out forms for school.

8. Home reading with Turtle.

9. Spelling practice with Iceman.

10. Made supper.

11. Watched too much prime time tv.

12. Snuggled with the Hero and crashed.

Such a boring life............yawn.