Next.

Anyone else need a hair cut?

the end.

-Our house guests are leaving today and that makes me sad. Today the sun came out and will stay out for the next few days. Back porch kinda weather. And of course its the weekend. Those two things combined make for some good times. While our house guest were here we were pretty busy and they were busy so we didn't get to visit much. It was nice to see them, I would have like to have actually gone to see the show they came all this way to do but that didn't work out this time. I hope they come back for another...perhaps house concert?? hmmmm
-The other sad part about this, with the rain being gone and the promise of a weekend of sunshine ahead, is the kids are going back to their Father's for a week starting today.
Suddenly the house is empty.
-The NHL playoffs are done. While most don't care, for me it is a bit of a relief. For 8 and a half months I spend my 'spare time' trying to catch part of ~the game~. I get in quite a few actually much to the dismay of most of my family. I go to one when I can but usually just catching it at home satisfies me. The payoffs come and suddenly its warm outside, two really great things in my book that just don't fit together. I LOVE the action...the build up to the finally, but then its done...can I get a phew? Yeah, it is a relief to be done, trying to shut my mind off from "what time is the game on" is easy, like finally getting that nap I wanted. Glad its over ...Now I start the 3 and a half month count down until hockey starts again. yyyaaaaayyy
-The work week, just a couple more hours. The Monday to Friday. What can I say about that? OK, keeping positive here....yes, OK, I got it. ~~Thank you to my job for allowing me to spend my weekends with my friends and family. Thank you for the income you provide so we can eat well and enjoy the good things life has to offer. Thank you for the security of medical insurance and most of all I thank you fro my daily access to the Internet. ~~
(wow, I think these new little pills I am taking are working! j.k)
-While all of these things winding down and coming to a version of end I am excited in a mellow, laid back kind of way, about the quiet date night I get to enjoy with my husband at home. Through him I find my calm, my rest and a peace like nothing else can give me. Thank God for that and him. (and these wonderful little pills....again I kid)

I am Grateful

Team Up Thursday-Mirror

In following along again this week with the ladies over at Mental Inventory our theme was mirror.
I wandered around the house sneaking peaks and getting shots of my kids in their element and came upon my daughter on her bedroom floor managing to grab one of her cute smirks.
As Michel was out and about as always in our wonderful city of Edmonton she found some calm waters at our City Hall which I imagine is not easy to do.

you know things are a little hectic when.....

......your son, and we will call him Nathan, suddenly produces a letter from his backpack talking about the up and coming multicultural day at school.

Nathan had multicultural day at his school today.

Each kid had to go to school with a dish/snack representing their culture as well as tell a story or have info about their heritage,as you can well guess we had nothing…..we had no time to spend on our nothing as well so this is what Nathan looked like going to school this morning, I wish I took a picture, he had on white sweat bands~ head and wrist~ with the Canadian flag on them, he had an Oilers jersey, a Canadian flag nicely tie strapped to a mini Tim Horton's hockey stick (thanks to Terry) and a store bought bag of maple cookies made IN Canada with pure maple syrup directly from Quebec (which just so happens to be the largest producer of maple syrup in the whole world don’t you know)… :o) He was quite pleased with him self as we dropped him off at school yelling ‘I AM CANADIAN’ He was only missing the beer.

Enough to bring a tear to your eye isn't it?
*proud Mom moment*

Pecha Kucha #7

We had the pleasure of attending an event last night a group called Next Gen hosts a few time a year. Michel is a volunteer for Next Gen, she thought we would be interested in checking one out so we did, last night. This is their mission:

Mission-We are creating a city that attracts and give voice to the Next Generation in the life and growth of our community. The Committee acts as a hub for networking and learning events, fosters leadership opportunities and supports initiatives of interest to the Next Generation.

I will let their web site speak for them, I would hate to butcher the good they actually do in my attempts to describe it to you.

I took a few pictures last night while there with my little purse camera....we had a good time and were really taken with all the different styles of presenters and speakers sharing with us their own passions for our city and their communities....basically each presenter submits 20 images. These images are shown on a screen behind them for 20 seconds each, the speakers are in turn given 6 min 40 seconds to get their point out.

It is interesting watching this challenge unfold in front of us. Some people are obviously nervous where as some are pure naturals. Some trying to cram as much information as possible in their allotted time with out fail and some just needed to get out a few choice points letting the images do the talking.

I didn't take any pictures of my favorites, too busy listening, but I did get this shot.

You can't see it here but this man (the small glow) is tweeting..twitting?...anyway, it wasn't just him, it was most every one around us. We were actully encouraged to pull out our pocket sized computers to post comments on the speakers and the event as a whole as it rolled along. I was a bit taken by this having been raised in a society that was taught to stay in yours seats, do not speak giveing your full polite undivided attention to the speaker/show/presentation in front of you, to do so other wise is insanely rude and not tolerated behavior, ask any one who ever tries to stand up at a comedy club or forgets to turn off their phone....not me I tell you that!

This really is the next generation, a generation of open minded, looser thinking individuals trying to make their own way in this fast paced electronic world all the while taking with them our past stories and traditions. I think I will just sit back and watch them make a go of it, clap my hands and show my support. I am just not ready to leap into the tweetbookpodberry world around me.

Here is the drink table. This is where the crowd collected for the after party in the Citadel Theater's atriun

A local D.J. was there spinning out some tunes (Is that how the cool kids talk?)

Team Up Thursday: Signs

We're baaaaack.....and I couldn't be happier.

Seems as much, as we try, our lives are not allowing us to keep up with our team up picture on every Thursday.

We followed along again with the ladies over at Mental Inventory handing out the latest assignment of signs. I found my mind racing with this weeks challenge, I had so many ideas, after all there are signs everywhere.

Should I be metaphorical? Or try to do something a little wilder? In the end it seems Michel and I were on the same page, we both took shots of signs we see most everyday near our work place. Sharing with you this week a little piece of our everyday signage.

Mine is on top (those who know me, know me well) I see this leaving work every day. To resist is futile.

Michel walks past this greyhound station on her way from work everyday she was only implying with this day those skies were nothing but.

happy team up Thursday!!

It's about time....

....about time I get acquainted with my inner hippy that is.
I did it. After years and years of saying in my whinny inside my head voice "I wish I could go to Folk Festival one year, I would sure like to go, It looks so fun and relaxing and so many people I talk to go all the time.."wha wha wha. You know how those in your head conversations go, sometimes they just never shut up.
Well here I am silencing that whine (just that one mind you, I have others, no really it's true) Thanks to some encouraging words from a Folk Fest junkie and a push in the right direction I got myself a four day pass to this years Edmonton Folk Festival in August.....
......I am so excited.
On the agenda now, I am on the hunt for the perfect low to the ground festival chair. Also for some reason I have an urge to buy a big wide rimmed hat. That may be something entirely unrelated butI am willing to run with it.