Dedicated to Ancaster

marriedtothesea.com

Publicly

I would like to publicly thank my brother for giving me a copy of Blades of Glory for Christmas. It has already provided hours of entertainment.

Possibly My Fav Holiday Pic

Grandpa Stewart and two year old great-granddaughter Leah:

Christmas Morning

a little something i got in my stocking this morning...

John - Not Only Leprechaun, But A Brother ** was supposed to get posted on December 6

Today is my wee brother's birthday. He is 24. He is getting old. He lives in Whistler now. I miss him. He will not be coming home for Christmas. I am sad about that. I will miss our annual trek to a local pub to just catch up and vent and be. I will miss fighting with him about how much time he isn't spending at home, and how he isn't helping with supper, how he needs to get off the computer, etc. I will miss Dad complaining about the rapid consumption of whiskey. I will miss the onslaught of his friends (that I also grew up with) coming over. I will miss wrestling with him, and the responses of Mom and the cats to that wrestling. I will miss all the new music he would expose me too. I will miss watching movies with him. I will miss tobogganing with him, visiting Grandma and Grandpa with him, having his presence around when we go to see our other Grandparents, playing global warming games of catch with him. I will miss his big, hairy, brother hugs.

Happy birthday brother. You are most definitely loved and missed.



Oh yeah. I forgot the other part of this while I was in the middle of being emotional...

John has a new job in Whistler. He works at the Whistler Sliding Center - that is where the bobsled and luge and skeleton happen. He works on the track there. If you go here you can look pictures of the track. While you're looking at those pictures you'll see one of two guys in a bobsled and outside of the track two guys with swiss type coats on. In that picture it says that its Pierre Lueders and Justin Kripps. But its not says John, its the head coach of the bobsled team and John. Pretty cool.

John has also luged - been on a luge. Yeah, however you say that...



(writing on the correct date now)

Its Christmas Eve - we go to church - Mom and Dad are in the choir, which means with no sibling around I'm going to have to sit by myself or with some random person i see 4 times a year. Also, with a Wii around a brother would help to play with, or for mixing drinks, skating on the driveway, doing dishes, and all the other things listed in the above paragraphs.

Not having your little brother home for Christmas is not fair.

Hilarity Is....

...when the notorious B.E.V meets a Wii (and cow racing).

Does Your Family Do This?

We have a lot of Christmas CDs that are made up of "various artists". We have a similar collection of cassettes. When we listen to these collections we try to identify the very random selection of people or groups who are singing these holiday favourites. This tradition continued with Christmas music I had put on my ipod for our drive to Ottawa and back on Friday.

This game is good for both the parents and the kids as the collections transcend many generations of music and is a good tool for developing one's ear.

I just wondered if anybody else's family played "Name That Tune - Christmas Edition".

Wii

Has anyone in the Quinte - Northumberland area (or passing through this area) got a Wii they'd let my Dad and I use for a few days?

Dashing Through The Snow

We went tobogganing. I think Chelsea had a good time.

(Warning this video may not be suitable for work as it contains the word 'ass')

The Updating...

Please welcome:



Matteo Junior - (or MatteJ (pronounced mattay-J) as I'm calling him) - son of Mary Eva



Matteo Sr is very proud.

2 Things I Learned This Morning

1. Drew Carey is a terrible Price Is Right host
2. The dark ages of only fighting wrinkles are over.
   

Calf Count

There are 10 cows scheduled to calve between Dec 14 and Jan 3. This morning 2 of them came, they were heifers (that means girls, which is a good thing). I will try to a) keep you updated on these calves as they come and b) get another video like last year's (mostly for this guy, 'cause it made him so nauseous).f

I'm Not A Dwarf, I'm A Girl

Writing Exams Means...

• not showering
• forgetting what a balanced meal looks like
• feeling jet lag all the time
• suddenly everything, e v e r y t h i n g is your hobby, or at least your distraction
• bed sores from sitting so much
• leaving the house is a big deal
• a fleeting sense of care
• self diagnosed carpel tunnel syndrome
• rituals
• alsdkfjasldkfjasl;dkfja;sldkdkjffsldkkfjfjasldkfjfjasl;dkdfjsiufuweoijadnlaskmlskjeoiure
• you want Jesus to come back so you can stop studying, or if He wants to come back during the exam, thats ok too!
  

Disheartening

Sometimes you get up real early to finish your last piece of school work, so that it can be out of the way, so that you can study for your last exam. Sometimes you get up real early to read about how there is a winter storm watch for your area and how at the precise time you want to leave the area to go home for Christmas because you are done school for the semester - there is supposed to be 25cm of snow coming down and travel is not recommended. 'Cause I don't want to stay longer. I want to finish that exam, get in my car, drive to Richmond Hill, drop things off and then get my bad self to Brighton. I have been holding on for that plan. In my head there is no plan for, "stay put and leave on Sunday when things are better". I'm operating on a distinct action/reward system here - write another paragraph, get a piece of licorice; finish your semester, get your ass home.

Winter, if you wreck one more thing, oh son, we are going to have words.

You May Want To Repent, I Think Jesus Is Coming Back Soon

My Mom just told me that the Walmart in Trenton is going to be open 24hrs starting this weekend for the rest of the holiday season.

Of The Three

I felt Jenah should have won.

Yup.

I Actually Said This Today

"You're too young to understand the complicated love between a mature woman and a dead reformer."

I Fell For It

Sometimes when you put 'bean' in front of something it makes it sound so much better than it might ordinarily be.

Case in point - vanilla bean ice cream - the mere presence of little black flecks and a stronger vanilla flavour has me absolutely convinced that this ice cream is far superior to any other kind I could put in my mouth.

The same principle holds true for hot chocolate and lattes.

Excited

Sometimes I'm excited to see my parents. They are coming on Friday. And since I only went home for one weekend and one 24hr quickie this semester, well, I just miss them. They leave on Saturday and then a week after that I will leave to go home for a few weeks. Then I'll have a lot of loving. We all know I love loving.

Things I Like

• a garage
• a dishwasher
• a washer and a dryer
• a professional series ceramic top convection oven
• a pillow top bed

...drool, i'm such a consumer wanna-be.

FYI

I'm house sitting in Ancaster from Sunday afternoon until the following Saturday afternoon. So if you're trying to get a hold of me its best to do it electronically or via my cell.