My weekend/one day off

Yesterday was the most relaxing day I have had in FOREVER! I did nothing. NOTHING!!! Can you believe it?!! All I did was lounge on the couch & watched the Gossip Girl marathon!!! I am very lucky. My girls just left me alone. I had to bribe them with a movie at the end of the day. Which now I owe them... because the movie they wanted was not playing at the theatre we went to :(

I'm sad that today I don't get to watch the rest of the episodes, but it was nice to see what was going on. I seriously love that show. It would be so easy to catch up now I think/I hope.

This weekend was suppose to be about getting the Christmas stuff out at home. I wasn't feeling it yesterday, so the best I could do was bring out the family of Christmas kitties for now. I have been noticing that more people are decorating their boats down at the marina. I love it.
Boats with lights at night is fantastic! We have to get our lights on the house before it gets to cold out...

The turkey is done!

The turkey is officially done!
Still waiting to hear if we won the window display contest.
I hope we did!!!

Daytime display

Pictures at night to come once dark hits!!!

YAY!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans celebrating today!!!

How old was is it?

I needed help getting the turkey out of the house & to the van. It's so heavy!!! I couldn't find enough stuffin' for it so it is filled with anything & everything I could find - including the kitchen sink! I swear!

We had to make a stop at the box factory, as I making a giant oven for it for the window display & the guy helping us load the cardboard in the van, asks us "How old was it?!". We said "This turkey are given growth hormones to get to this size".

The Turkey is in the window, but I am just making the oven right now. It is getting many comments!!!

I will post more pics when it is done!!!

I'm so in love with these guys

I'm unpacking boxes today of so many goodies, it's been hard to keep my head straight. I am especially in love with these little guys. They are called Troglodytes.
They are handmade by, Jill Penney.

I am in awe of the little army of Trogs. I really really want one for Christmas. I just don't know which one I'm going to claim yet. They each have such a distinct personality. EGAD! they are so adorable.

I started working on my window display Saturday & to my dismay, everyone was sold out of the stuffing I like to use for my toys. It is such a HUGE project & requires about 20 pounds of stuffing or more. I know. I am insane. But, if all goes well, it will be so awesome!

I'm actually leaving work early to go stuff my stuff.

Have a good Monday!!!

Heads up!

I got this little treasure yesterday. I usually stay away from dolls. Because, they seem connected to whatever/whom ever... Like they'll come alive & watch you or something. I had no qualms about this doll. Maybe because it has no body & can't attack me while I sleep. But for whatever reason I was drawn to it. I had to have it.

I got a chance today to look it up from it's embossed marking on it's neck. It is a "Baby Dimples" head from 1928. Now after looking the doll up, I want to find a body for it & put it back together.

Poor Baby Dimples with no body....

I was never into antique dolls. But, after looking at them for the past hour, I could actually get into them. I feel sorry for them. The lives they once had with their original owners... Then tucked away & forgotten about for 80 years. I'm such a sucker for strays. Stray animals, stray toys... stray people.

Check out this giant bunny from Italy.

Holy cake string!

Found these + more cake string on a thriftin' excursion a month or so ago. They even had YELLOW! I was amazed. I think I have a life time supply of cake string now. You can never have too much of a good thing.

I'm procrastinating on this big window display that I have to get done next week. I really ought to start it tonight. It has to be done by next Thursday. I'm all about the "crunch time". I work better under pressure. No, that's not true. I get all stressed out when I work like that.

I'm gettin' on it. I'm so excited!

There is a contest in the neighbourhood for best window display. I wanna win. They are giving $400 worth of gift certificates at restaurants in the 'hood. You know how many bowls of tortilla soup I can by with that??? There is a place around the corner that serves it up. Love it. Love is a hot bowl of tortilla soup with a big goopy mess of melted cheese in the bottom of it. Heaven.

Anyway - the wheels are turning.

The world at our fingers

We found this globe a while back. I had never seen one like this before. There is white dots that are numbered on the globe & if you line up the little viewer number, according to the number on the globe you can see a clip/slide of that country.

Can you see it? I tried so hard to capture what you see through the viewer...

Squint real hard... It's the pyramids (2 to be exact) in Egypt!!!
You see it now don't you???!!!

T.G.I.F

I'm glad it's almost tomorrow.
Tomorrow = sleep in day.

Have a good weekend!

Just 'cause

"I love music", she writes.

My oldest daughter has been learning the guitar at school during music class, just since last week. I think this is fantastic! She is quick to pick up instruments and has a new found love for the acoustic guitar. On every foggy surface she finds, she writes "I love music" really everywhere!!! She is so excited about music class. Bringing home her music book to practice notes on her guitar. Santa got her & her sister lovely Hello Kitty guitars last Christmas. They sadly haven't been brought out very often, but now it's a different story for one of the two kitties. YAY!

The girls were writing out their Christmas Wish/Demand List yesterday. My oldest daughter is now hoping for an acoustic guitar this year. At least she hasn't discovered Guitar Hero! I hooked up the Wii a couple of weekends ago. They hadn't played it since we moved to the floating home, in May. I've created Wii monsters now. They love it, I don't know how I feel about it. They are so competitive. Maybe all sisters are like that. But, it can be vicious, as girls can be. When I was setting up the Wii to the t.v, I had to pull it out a bit to get it behind to plug the cords in the back. The darn thing started to fall!!! It's kind of up high above the built in desk on this shelf in the corner. The 42 inch plasma t.v bonked me straight in the head! I screamed "Oh my god!", as it fell in slow motion on top of my head. Luckily I caught it with my elbow & then my other hand caught up with it as it rebounded off my head. I swear, It made me 2 inches shorter. Those t.v's are h-e-a-v-y. Thankfully it didn't break & my head didn't snap off. I really couldn't imagine life with out my head or some trashy t.v before bed. I told the girls that is the last time I will ever EVER touch the t.v. I will however use a remote.

The guy in the awesome guitar boat is Josh Pykes.
Crazy great.

She wasn't all bummed out! YAY!!!

Contortion class for my daughter went perfect for her yesterday night! I guess our talk kind of worked. There was 3 other girls in the studio doing their own thing when she was in there and she was fine. When I walked in to get her, one of the older girls was so excited for her. I'm so relieved. Relieved that we've made a baby step to being more comfortable around the other girls. I know she can do it & I'm so glad she did her best. Her teacher even said it was the best class she has had so far. Which is surprising, because my daughter has a little bit of a sniffly cold. She even wanted me to give her teacher a heads up on the cold, so she wouldn't work so hard. After class she said she still worked her hard anyway.

The puppy above is sweet Steady. He is my friend Mikes frenchie. He is 8 months old right now & has the cutest biggest paws EVER. I'm in love with his perfect paws. He is so great! We played with Steady last week on a visit to the tattoo shop that Mike works.

Check out this Shibu Inu puppy cam!
I'm in awe of the cuteness going on over there.
Found Via Gracie O

The stubborn contortionist

My youngest has been doing her contortion classes every week. She looks forward to the class so much. Just last week her teacher told me she would now like my daughter to join the older class for November. I wasn't sure how she would feel about it, but you would hope for excitement about moving up a class, rather than refusal to go ahead. To ease her into the next class, we were going to stay extra for a bit so she could watch the other class, after her class. To give her an idea what goes on with the others. She is still just doing one on one right now. My little lady still has issues with shyness. Which has put a hold on her moving forward at this point. When the next class comes in a little early before her class is even over, she kind of freezes up. Gets all shy & won't complete the class. The odd thing is even if I try and come in a little early to watch, same thing happens. She refuses to do what she is told & gets all chin to chest shy. I will leave because it gets so darn uncomfortable.

At home, she will totally train with me. She will even share what she can do (in the comfort of her home) with people she doesn't even know that well. Why, she gets shy around me in front of her teacher is a mystery. This has happened 3 times now. She gets shy to tears almost. It's no fun picking her up & she is crying. Especially when contortion class makes her so happy. Her teacher approached me after last class & said that she knows that my daughter loves the class & loves doing it, but we'll just keep doing one on one for now until she gets more comfortable in front of others. True, she is only 7 & I don't want to push her. But, it was a total fluke she even got to do private lessons. It was only because no one else joined up. If she were in ballet, gymnastics, or even swimming lessons other children would be in her class. It's just the way childhood works... you learn in a class of peers. I just want her to get over the shyness. The other girls in the other class are so excited to have her join them. It's so sad that she is holding herself back. Once she gets to the next class, she'll get to do so many more things. Like more over stretching with a partner & duo tricks. She just doesn't know what she is missing. I'm hoping that maybe we will try again this week to at least watch the other class. I know once she see's what goes on, that she will feel more comfortable. I think it's the not knowing, that is giving her anxiety about moving up. But as for the matter of not being able to continue her class in front of me or other girls, is a mystery.

My little shy stubborn contortionist.

Was that Halloween night?

Maybe my expectations for the new neighborhood were too high. I got home in a manic rush after work, expecting the girls to be ready in costumes to fly out the door for the trick-o-treat-a-thon. To my dismay, they looked a little stunned when I arrived. My youngest was game. The oldest not so much. She had been camping all week & was burnt out I think. She ended up having a melt down and decided to stay home. She is only 11!! Missed out on the trick o' treatin'! I would have never ever!!! I can't believe she was okay with that. Anyway, she stayed & my youngest and I headed to the closest densely populated area. We live in a marina close to nothing but car lots & massage parlours. We headed a few blocks away close to a school. I swear all the houses are only 2 feet apart. I was expecting something out of a scene from E.T. Where there were kids everywhere taking over the cul-de-sacs, just thick of ghosts & ghouls. Not so lucky. Maybe it is Richmond??? Did I not get the memo of Halloween being cancelled?? People don't believe in Halloween in Richmond, I think.... must be.

But, it was 7pm & it was dead. DEAD. Where the hell were all the kids??? The area we were in was right across from an elementary school!!! I couldn't believe it. I pictured most people hiding in their back rooms sitting in the corner listening to their radios. Hoping no one would come to the door. Houses were pitch black. We are talking HUNDREDS of houses. We went to 4 houses in that area. The people participating in the candy giving were really really spread out! We spent a good half an hour just walking & walking HOPING that we would see some sign of a jack-o-lantern. Nothing! So sad.

So we went to another area. We saw a couple of other families so we pulled over & jumped out. Went to one home. The other crew was thick with teenagers & they were so loud. Hit about 4 more houses in a 6 block area! Then it was dead quiet. It was lonely & I got a little spooked after the loud teenagers went missing. We walked all the way back to the van. My poor little devil was a little depressed about how long it was taking to even fill half her bucket. I thought because it was so barren that people would just dump ALL their candy in her little waiting bucket. But, only one candy per house!!! I think we were in hell. For reals.

So once last attempt. We drive to one more area. By this time it is 8pm 'ish. It's getting late. This area we had a little more luck. We met another family (mother & 2 daughters) that kind of leeched on to us. But, they made us walk far ahead (but we are kind of fast walkers), then they would yell out "YOU SEE SOMETHING?". I'd giver her the heads up & they would either run up with us, or turn back around & head back. It was the strangest Halloween I have ever had. I noticed a few more cars would slow down when they saw us. Then a couple kids would jump out & look for houses to stop at & then load back in. Who does that?!!! I am not into the driving & stopping & searching. We are going to go back to our old 'hood in North Vancouver. It was so depressing!!! By the end of it, we ended up loosing our other family & we were all alone in the dark streets (picture above). We called it a night. Where were all the kids!!!???

It was not as fun as previous years. But it was a definite adventure. Some what of a treasure hunt.