Nan & Pop Bishop

I was just going back to previous blogs and realized that I meant to post a pic of Nan & Pop Bishop but hadn't sent the pic to the computer therefore couldn't do it. Then I ended up forgetting, so better late than never a picture of Nan & Pop in their Sunday's Best clothes, I caught them just as they arrived home from the morning service.

Introducing Kennedy Barnes

Here is the pretty baby girl :)

Update on Lori

It's a girl, she weighed in at 4lbs. 11oz. unsure of her name. She came out crying much to Lori's delight. She was breathing on her own (a concern when born pre-mature) however her lungs were a bit cloudy so they have her on an assisted breathing even though its not life support. The Doctor said she'll probably be in the Hamilton hospital for a week and then transferred back to Peel in Brampton for another week, with high hopes that she can be brought home in two weeks. Which is GREAT news!!

Lori still has some risk but everyone is hoping for the best. Myrna sent me an article about Placenta previa if you would like to read up: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregcomplications/830.html

Emergency C-section

I don't think I have mentioned in previous blogs that my cousin Lori has been in the hospital since this summer (July I think) due to a high risk pregnancy. She has Placenta previa if I remember correctly. Basically it means that she could hemorrhage to death and the baby coudl die as well. It's really scary but every precaution has been taken by the Doctors to monitor her and keep her as stable as possible.

Yesterday my Aunt informed me that they would be doing a c-section on Oct. 7th. The baby is at 33 weeks currently and the goal was to get passed 32 so this is a good thing. However this morning the bleeding started again and doesn't appear to be stopping. At 11am today the Doctors will be doing an emergency c-section. I just hope everything goes well and both mom and baby are okay. Please say a prayer and keep them in your thoughts today.

Introducing Zachery

Some pics of my friend Tina's new bundle of joy...isn't he adorable?

Babbling for a tuesday...

Well I had a pretty good weekend, Friday night made cookies for the baby shower, then went to Kristen's hockey game. Saturday I went shopping with Jen for gifts for the baby shower, then spent the rest of the day scrapbooking and Sunday I went to the baby shower and did some more scrapbooking while Kristen was gone to his 2nd game of hockey for the weekend.

Bobbi-Lynn's baby shower was nice. There were a lot of people in a small living room so it was extremely warm and humid but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves regardless of being a bit uncomfortable. She got a LOT of gifts for her new baby girl Shannon and the food was great. I'll post pics once I take them off the camera :)

Last night Jen and I went to register for the 2005-06 season of volleyball. It's just so exciting, I think we "might" be starting Oct. 12th just based on part of a conversation we heard last night, and based on knowledge from previous years which is great cause the sooner we get started the better. Also on Monday, Oct. 3rd I start my pilates sessions. I think it'll feel good to be working out twice a week again. When we get settled in Acton I'm hoping to get back into my walking routine as well. Hopefully it won't be too cold...brr.

This morning I put ribs on to cook in the slowcooker, based on Myrna's VERY simple instructions. I hope they turn out good, might be a new meal favourite if they do. Anyway that's it, just some babbling for today.

1 Month til I MOVE!!

It's exactly 30 sleeps today til I move into the new house. Just sooo exciting, thought I'd share.

Volleyball

Well last night Kristen and I went to Acton (2nd time this week and it's only Wed) the house is really coming along. Soaker tub, windows, doors, wiring, plumbing all installed, not to mention our garage floor is now poured. So we went by Jason's and Steph's house where she was still preparing dinner at 7:30 I strongly suggested to her she starting using her slowcooker. Which reminds me I need get Myrna to share her ribs recipe with her. Anyway....the reason we went by was to pick up money and waivers for registration for the Brampton Volleyball league, womens division. Only a few weeks away and our Wednesday girls night out will begin. I look forward to these nights, not only because I LOVE VOLLEYBALL but because it's a good way to just socialize with my girlfriends and have a great time out. This year since so many of us are going to be Acton residents we had to alter our addresses a little bit...he, he, cause 80% of your team must be from Brampton and since 4 out of 8 will be driving in,...the numbers didn't quite add up :)

I'm so excited to be getting back into the swing of things, I do enjoy fall for so many reasons...change of season, the colours, Thanksgiving & Halloween but most of all getting back into the "winter" routine of hockey, pilates, and the greatest thing of all VOLLEYBALL! If you're from Brampton check out the website www.bramptonvolleyball.com

It's a Boy

My mom called me at work Friday evening to tell me that a childhood friend Tina Fagan (formerly Young) had a baby boy on Thursday evening (Sept. 15th) So far as she knew he was being called Zachery Michael and weighed in just under 8lbs. If someone knows more accurate info please let me know.

Congratulations to Tina and Mike on the arrival of your baby boy. I hope all is well and to mommy Tina a speedy recovery :)

Love

I rec'd an email this morning about love in the eyes of 4-8 year olds...a couple really stood out. Here they are:

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby-age 7

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Marina's Pregnant Belly

My friend since I was a very young age (even before Kindergarten) informed me when I was in Nfld that she was pregnant. I don't remember exactly how far along she is, but I think its like 4 months. Anyway, she sent me pics. Thought I'd share this one cause I thinks she's huge for being so early. Everyone keeps teasing her (myself included) that she's having twins. Either way I hope she has a healthy pregnancy and all the best :)

Fruit Flies

Today is going to be a great day, I can just tell! First the stupid email from the landlord and now a fruit fly was on my bagel so I had to throw it out. Well it decided to fly off my bagel and right into my coffee. So much for my breakfast :(

I guess later this morning I'll have crackers and tea.

Renting an Apt

I'm so upset this morning. Kristen sent an email to our landlord yesterday explaining about a fee that we've been paying on the gas/heat bill and asking for reimbursement since we moved into the apt 2 years ago. We figured he probably would say no but no harm in asking, this email has been one of many many emails sent to our landlord over the time that we have lived in his crappy basement apt.

I came in this morning to his response on my email....I'm so upset I could cry, or I should say so angry I could cry. He not only has said he's stunned that we should ask this cause he's done us SOOO many favours (what a crock of shit that is) that he should be the one asking for money for this and that, all of which were problems before and when we moved in. He has also basically called me a liar!! A liar of all things! One thing to accuse us of doing or not doing something but to attack my character directly is a big no no. He claimed that I told him we were moving into our new house in the spring and he's doing us a huge favour by allowing us to stay til Oct. First of all I didn't tell him when we were moving cause we didn't want him to know so he wouldn't make up some excuse to evict us earlier (he's pissed at us cause he's a real estate guy and we bought a new house and not a shitty old house like he wanted us to buy through him,....he's not a very good real estate guy in my opinion) and second of all you have to give a 60 day notice, we have never given notice for anything regarding moving out until the end of Aug 2005 when I submitted our official 60 day notice that we were moving the end of October.

Anyway, I could bitch and vent and go on forever but I'm going to let it be. Kristen nor I will be responding to the email. We will have no communication with our landlord until we move when we pass in our keys (if at all possible) I'm done, I'm tired of arguing, tired of being accused of being something I'm not just cause a cheap ass real estate guy is so money hungry that he doesn't care if his tennats are happy, or take pride in the home that he's trying to make his money from.

Can't wait to move into the house, only 41 more sleeps....yay! Going to be a LONG 41 days living in the shithole we're in :(

Courage

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.

-Mary Anne Radmacher

Pics of Shannon

Pics courtesy of Myrna Hynes :)

Another Baby in the world...

Congratulations to Bobbi-Lynn & Rusty on the birth of their new baby girl "Shannon Rebecca" who came into the world on Sept. 11 weighing in at 6lbs. 12oz.

Bobbi-Lynn was 3 weeks early but both mom and baby are in excellent health and doing well. Will post pics of the baby when I get some.

Congrats you guys!

Homesick

So many things have went through my mind since returning from Nfld. I realized how much I miss the lifestyle, scenery and most of all my family. I think quite a bit about how I could create an opportunity for myself to make a go of a life back there. I've realized that I would love for my children to grow up having the similiar experiences in life that I had as a young child. Something they wouldn't have growing up in the city rather than small town Nfld.

I don't know what the future holds, where I will live or work. I do know that Kristen and I have to do a lot of talking and thinking about where we see our lives going and what our goals are. In the meantime, here are a few quotes on Oprah's website for September.

“My art and profession is to live.”

—Montaigne

“People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do a difficult thing.”

—John Porter

“The future is called ‘perhaps,’ which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the only important thing is not to allow that to scare you.”

—Tennessee Williams

Rain

I love the rain....as long as I can remember there were few occassions where I was disappointed that it rained (not counting weddings & camping) I find it very soothing, calming, relaxing. I feel like it protects me, like a big blanket around me. I know cheesy but for some reason I just do.

My favourite rain is summer rain. Hot Rain I call it, when its pouring but it doesn't matter cause it's just like you're standing in the shower. I know there are some who hate rain, especially those who are victims of Hurricane Katrina, I'm sure they've cursed the rain more than one in the past days. My heart & prayers go out to them, however I cannot change how I feel today.

When it rains, I often think of a song that I like by Jo Dee Messina it's called Bring on the Rain. Here are the lyrics:

Another day has almost come and gone
Can’t imagine what else could wrong
Sometimes I’d like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war
(‘cause)

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

It’s almost like the hard times circle ‘round
A couple drops and they all start coming down
Yeah, I might feel defeated,I might hang my head
I might be barely breathing - but I’m not dead

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain
I’m not gonna let it get me down
I’m not gonna cry
And I’m not gonna lose any sleep tonight

Tomorrow's another day
And I am not afraid
So Bring on the Rain...

My apologies if any of the lyrics are wrong, but I think that's the jest of it.

Scrapbooking

I've decided that blogger needs new font colours, I want PINK!! This is the closest they have to it.

Anyway, thanks to Myrna and Jennifer...about 2 years ago they got me into scrapbooking. They had been bugging me for quite a while to take up the hobby. I had done amateur scrapbooks in previous years but nothing like what they were doing. I kept saying, "nope cause then I have to commit and what if I get tired and I have all this supplies?!?! So nope, stop asking me." Finally I cracked and picked up the habit.

Then last Sept (2004) I had a hardcore scrapbooking day with them and then....that was it. Nothing, I probably did 4 pages after that date. Until last weekend that was...we decided to get together on Sunday (Sept. 4th, 2005) I did 5 or 6 pages and now once again I'm hooked. I'm kicking myself for getting so behind. However, I'm not discouraged about what I have to do, I'm looking forward to getting my creative juices flowing again.

Here are a couple of the websites that I refer to: www.discountscrapbooksupplies.com (for purchases) and www.twopeasinabucket.com (for ideas, click on peanut gallery) If you're a fellow scrapbooker share your ideas, websites, and experiences.

Our House has Walls

Kristen and I went to Acton last night to discover our house is pretty much framed. Pretty good considering we went a week ago and there was no progress since before our Nfld trip. All the roof thingys (not house vocabulary educated) are sitting in our front yard to go on either today or early next week is my guess. Boring to most of you but exciting for me, here's some pics.

God's Purpose

I'd rather not explain why I'm posting this entry but I NEED feedback from anyone and everyone. Tell me what you think your purpose is in life, why did God put you here? What's your calling? Were you meant to be a school teacher? A minister? A good neighbour? Do you even believe in God? Do you believe in some other power? Whatever you think or feel, please share....

My Name by George Canyon

Yesterday while I was home I was watching some talk show, Vicki Gabereau or something?!!? And the winner of Nashville Star was on there, George Canyon. He sang this song that he wrote for his cousin who had a miscarriage. Its written from the perspective of the baby. We've all known someone who has experienced such a sad thing so I thought I would share the lyrics. It's called My Name.

It’s cold in here feels like everything’s upside down
I can feel you talking but I can barely make out the sound
I been kicking around these parts, feels like a year
I’m gonna change this world if I ever get out of here
She wants to dress me in pink, paint’s my bedroom blue
And I just laugh to myself, because only I know the truth
This love is my only emotion
Haven’t learned any fear any pain
It’s kind of funny with all this commotion
I guess they’ve got me, to blame
And they don’t even know my name
And they don’t even know my name

Well I’ve never felt so ready, think it’s finally time
Cause that big old world is waiting, and it’s mine all mine
Just then everything got real quiet, it got real bright
And a man took my hand said don’t worry, your mommas gonna be alright
Then he opened the gate, & I followed him in
Said you can wait right here, till it’s your turn again
And his love is the one true emotion
Heaven knows no fear no pain
I never got to set my wheels in motion
But they loved me just the same
And they didnt even know my name
Didn’t even know my name
You loved me just the same
And you didn’t even know my name