From now on I will be excerpting some of my posts from LiveJournal. That's my other blog that I update more regularly. In my attempt to remain more updated I will posts excerpts here so that you can get a feel for my everyday life and what's going on with me.

This post has some info that the previous post had but with some additional detail:

Posted Feb 8 2007
The day I updated last, Greg was in Dallas and I ended up going to his dodgeball game as his sub. I was rather fearful as I had no idea what to expect. You know I'd seen Dodgeball the movie and it looks fun but you can't get over the vision of being in grade school and being the last one on the court with a bunch of big guys on the other team all loaded with dodgeballs and you in their crosshairs. Will it hurt if I get hit with ball? Will I be able to throw the ball? Will I totally suck and get put out first every game? It's silly and it's just a recreational game but you just don't know if you've never gone.

So I brought the kids to K&J's for babysitting and headed out the game with Rich. I sat out the first game to see how it all worked and then played every other game after. I will admit that it was a lot of fun. I don't have to be that good, I don't have to throw that well, I don't have to catch the ball, I don't have to get the other team out. It was really just fun. The team members are a bunch of good folk and they're very supportive and cheer everyone on. They'd never met me but they were very friendly and outgoing.
I did get 2 shots to the head. One of the balls just grazed my ear and I was fine even though the shot came from this big guy with a wicked arm. The other shot however I got square in the face. My vision was a little fuzzy and I had to sit out the rest of the game. It didn't really hurt though, it was more of a shock I suppose. And the ball came at me so fast that I couldn't do anything to protect myself. I was like a deer caught in headlights, I could not move!
It was a good night and we ended up winning by one game! woohoo

***

Friday, Liam had a PD day so I packed up the kids and trekked out to Montreal to visit my best friend from high school, Michelle, and her 2 girls. I left home around 11am and we were in Montreal by 1pm.
We went up to her apartment which I hadn't seen since they moved in last year and exchanged gifts for the kids. Michelle was so nice to buy my kids some presents so I brought up some gifts for the girls.
Then we had lunch at St Hubert (which is kind of like the french Swiss Chalet). We then headed up to Mount Royal to do some sledding. They also have an outdoor skating rink there but the kids chose to toboggan instead. It's a great site for winter activities and we went at a good time as the hill was almost empty. We had the run of the hill!
By 4:30p a light snow was starting to fall and the kids were running out of steam. I opted to leave Montreal early and head home to avoid being out on the roads too late. It was an excellent visit though and this weekend, Michelle and the family plan on coming here to take in some skating on the Rideau Canal.
It all worked out fine since Liam had a hockey practice at 7am the next day so we were back in town for it.

When we got in, we visited at Rich's for a bit and I decided to put the kids to bed there. Rich was babysitting his niece so we made it a movie night so I could keep him company. Unfortunately I fell asleep during the movie so I have to make another viewing. More on what we watched below.
When Rich's brother arrived home I left the kids at Rich's and went home to sleep. It was a short nap since I got up again at 6am to get Liam to his hockey practice. I can't believe that of all the times I take Liam to hockey, the 7am practice is the one I actually get to early! But I did it, and the boy had a great practice.

After the practice I went back to Rich's to get the girl and ended up having breakfast there. Then Andre asked if Olivia could stay for the afternoon since she keeps Isabelle entertained so I went home kidless again and took some time to puddle around the house on my own and took in a nap.
I went back shortly after lunch and hung out again until it was time to head to Aidan's first birthday party!

The party was a small one with K&J's sister and parents coming out from Toronto. It was then only us, Rich and another couple of good friends of K&J's there. Rich actually had to leave the party halfway through to retrieve Greg from the airport as he flew in from Dallas. It was a nice little shindig. Did some eating and some chatting. Had some yummy chocolate cake and punch. mmmm... party food.
The birthday boy was in a bit of a fuss. I think he was teething. He had been up during the night and then had been up since about 5:30am with only a tiny nap in the morning. He managed to make it through dinner just fine but then he cried during cake (mostly because I think he didn't want to get his hands dirty in the cake) and then opened a few presents before he had to go to bed.

Once the party was over we came home and watched BSG. Such a great show! so good

***

Sunday was Sens Skills Competition. This is fun and relaxing event for the team as they compete against each other in events such as Hardest Shot and Fastest Skater. The rivalry between Teams Red and White is so much fun and it was a very enjoyable event. I'm surprised that they had over 16000 attend! Next year, I'll have to get my tickets earlier as we had seats way up in the nosebleeds. It was fine to watch the action but I'd have taken better pics and movies closer to the ice and we might have gotten some autographs down there too.

***

Monday I had a dentist appt. It was a 4 month cleaning so they could monitor the state of my gums. I didn't have to see the dentist. My gums haven't worsened so that's good news. I will continue my 4 month visits however.
I also happened to have some canker sores on my tongue when I went in for my visit. When the hygienist noticed them she suggested using Laser Sterilization to help get rid of them. What they do is laser the sore and you will never get another sore in that same spot again. It's inexpensive and might even be covered by insurance. Now doesn't that sound like such a great solution. Take a laser to the sore whenever you get them and problem solved. Something to think about!
But when I got home I rethought the issue and decided to work on other less intrusive methods of avoiding and dealing with cankers.
I spent most of the morning researching on the net and came up with a plan. Stuff like changing my toothpaste, eating yogurt with L. acidophilus, and taking vitamins is what I'll start with. I also bought some Fletcher's Liquid (liquid alum) to help battle outbreaks. I used Fletcher's on the ones I had and they didn't get near as painful nor did they stick around for as long as they usually do. I hope I see some progress.

Olivia missed her dance class this week since it coincided with my dentist appt. I did make it in for my ballet class that night though. And then watched the latest episode of Heroes. Also a great great show. Can't believe all the things going down!

***

ok so about the movies...
my goal is to watch as many Oscar-nominated films before the awards at the end of February.
Last week I made a list of all the movies nominated for something. I then went out and rented An Inconvenient Truth, United 93 and Monster House.

I first watched United and it made me so sad. It was also a very interesting take on what happened behind the scenes the morning of 9/11. It was enlightening to see that no one had any idea what was going on and there was nothing that could be done about the hijackings. There was also so much red tape that got in the way of getting anything done. I honestly don't know that the US could have been prepared for such an attack.
I thought it was a well done movie and I started watching some of the extras on the DVD. It was particularly poignant to watch the meeting of one of the actors and the family of one of the men that went down in the plane. It really hits home that there were real people on that plane and what they must have gone through and the people that they left behind.
It was a little rough too because Greg was on a United flight down to the States as I was watching the movie. Scary.

Next I watched An Inconvenient Truth. I like Al Gore. He's a tremendous speaker and seems to have his shit together. I'm not that into politics but I can't see why Bush got elected and not this guy.
Anyway, I liked the movie but I was so tired that I fell asleep half way through. I made another effort last Friday after I got back from Montreal to watch it with Rich but again I was so tired and I think I fell asleep in the exact same spot as the first time! I'll need to go back to it this weekend and finish the rest.

Monster House was quite good. It was entertaining. I got it more for the kids but since I'd seen the other 2 animated films, Cars and Happy Feet, I figured I'd get in the last one. I didn't even really want to see it based on the trailers I'd seen. Now I haven't watched the whole movie yet, I've just missed the ending, but I can say that I liked it better than Cars and Happy Feet. Both of these movies seemed to go on a little too long for me and there was no real joy in it for me though they had their moments. Monster House though was quite enjoyable. I would vote Monster House for best animated film (as the animation was also quite excellent) but I'm pretty sure that the academy will go with one of the other two (probably Cars) because of the tried and true morals of Pixar or the environment-conscious Happy Feet. we'll see...

This week I rented Little Miss Sunshine. It was a good flick and had some pretty funny moments. However, I think it's too little of a film to actually contend for Best Movie. Unfortunately as well, hardly any of the characters are really all that likeable. It is a good movie and I can see why Alan Arkin was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He was pretty good. Good for the movie getting nominated though!