He Got a Wii!

We managed to make one of Z's dreams come true today. I found a Wii for Z, and only got scalped $60. Not bad, considering most online scalpers want $600 for one....NO WAY!

In May, while on our trip to the Twin Cities, we searched every store we came across for a Wii. We found tons of XBox 360s and PS3s, but not ONE Wii.

L insisted on buying a second set of controllers. He had played with Z's friend's Wii, and was instantly hooked. So, it looks like this will be the only game system that we'll play as a family.
Catch you later....I'm off to create my Mii!

Here he is, happily herding sheeplike creatures on his new Wii Zelda game!
HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!

Recharging

It's been beastly hot and humid here for the past week....95F with 90% humidity!! The AC at work isn't keeping up with the combined heat of ovens, grill, deep-fryer, steam table, dishwasher, and over-heated customers. We're all surviving by wrapping frozen bar towels around our necks. Thank God our home AC is still working well! *knocking wood*

SME and family are safely back home in Edmonton. They spent another day with us on their way back from southern Ontario. We crammed a LOT of love and laughter into those 2 nights and a day! I've got more pictures and stories to share, but I'm too drained to think straight.

With our whole family here, we haven't had an empty electrical outlet. They've been plugged up with recharging RC cars, a laptop computer, camcorders, MP3 players and phones. Next week, the outlets will be charging up cordless drilldrivers, and grass clippers, as we get back to our chores and projects.

Right now, I wish my body had a rechargeable battery pack.

Spreading Like Wildfire!

My good pal, Monica, at grizzlymama.blogspot.com has honored me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger award. Thanks Monica, you ROCK too!

I was curious about what this award meant, so I Googled it. It turns out that the award started circulating on 6/18/07, and was created by Roberta Ferguson (www.robertaferguson.com/2007/06/18/why-not-start-something/), just for fun. Thanks Roberta! I think it's amazing how quickly this award has spread!

In my opinion, ALL of my blog friends ROCK! I'm going to pass this award on to my *ahem*.... "aged to perfection friends". It's only fair, considering our generation spawned the first rockers.

Bridget Jones
Cherie
Gardenia
Jeannie(I realize this award has already been bestowed upon you, but you still rock!)
Raven
Pam
Rhea

Update: Oops, I forgot my good friend, Squirl, on my list!! SORRY!
Ha, I didn't want you to think that you weren't in the ranks of my "aged" friends. ;)

Lots of Laughs!

WARNING!: Leaving your camera lying around in the presence of teenaged pranksters, can result in embarrassing pictures! Our digital camera and camcorder had a mess of pictures on them, that L and I didn't take.

I'm CERTAIN that Demi took the above picture of SME snarfing her veggie pizza. HONEST SME, I didn't take that picture! However, that didn't stop me from posting it. ;) This pic isn't QUITE as bad as the infamous "banana picture", but it's close. heehee
I HAD to take this picture of Aaron eating UNCOOKED ramen noodles! Aaron breaks up the noodles, opens the package, dumps the seasoning packet on the noodles, shakes up the bag, then eats the dry, seasoned noodles. I think he's too lazy to cook them, but Aaron insists he likes them this way. *shudder*
Here's Hairry, taking advantage of the tent effect Demi's blanket made while she was snoozing in the recliner.
Our cameras weren't the only objects that were hijacked. Demi's creations kept appearing on the desktop of our computer. The statement above, appeared the first night they were here.
The "princess" thoroughly enjoyed playing with both Shadow and Hairry, when we got together with my parents!


Ya gotta LOVE a warped sense of humor! As Cherie says: "Weird works here!"

Eerily Quiet!

The wandering half of our family is now on their way to Chicago. They plan on hitting their downtown hotel sometime around midnight. Tomorrow, they will tour a couple of places, then head for southern Ontario, where they will visit Doug's family. They will be spending another day with us on their way home to Edmonton.

The last empty Coke can has been put in the recycling. The last wet towel has been hung up to dry. The last family-sized load of dishes has been run through the dishwasher. The extra table leaves have been removed from the kitchen table. The population of our home has been abruptly cut in half. The house is too quiet. I can actually hear the TV in the living room. I prefer the steady stream of happy voices.

I've lost my voice....talking 18 hours a day tends to affect me that way. The dog is catching up on the 4 days worth of naps he's missed. L and I are exhausted! SME and Doug's internal clocks are set to their night-shift lifestyle. L and I are geared to the day-shift. The kids are teenagers and have no problem staying up late, and sleeping until noon.

With 3 teenagers in the house, SME and I were unable to get enough computer time to blog. We barely got time to check our emails! This means that I'll still have to teach MYSELF how to post videos. I'll get to it....eventually.
We haven't taken a picture of the 4 of us since SME left home, 7 years ago. So, before they left, we had Aaron take a picture of us. Z thoroughly enjoyed razzing his "little" sister about her height. He's now her "big" brother!

I have several more pictures to post and stories to tell. Right now, I think I need a nap. L and I return to the rat-race of work tomorrow, and need to be semi-alert.

Ready or Not....

Our family will be leaving Edmonton this afternoon. They should be here sometime tomorrow night.

The freezer and cupboards are packed to overflow capacity. Immense amounts of clutter have been removed from the house. Now, we just need to do the laundry and give the house and camper a quick cleaning.

Blogging will be sporadic. SME and I will TRY to wrestle the computer away from the kids to publish a post together. Ready or not, we're ALL officially on VACATION!!

It's ALL Good!

Did you know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, 5 hours apart?
They both died July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of our great country. Weird, isn't it?

Our family has never been into the insanity that has become the popular way to celebrate our nation's Independence Day. When SME was little, we always went camping on the 4th. Now, my boss closes for July 4th only, so camping is out.

We rarely leave home on the 4th. We prefer to celebrate our freedoms on our own piece of property, far away from the drunks and the crowds of whining kids. We usually have a discussion about WHY we celebrate this day. We have a LOT to be grateful for!

I started my day at 5 a.m., sipping my coffee and watching our hummingbirds bully our new crop of baby chickadees. Life doesn't get any better than this!

L and I worked Monday and Tuesday. We have today off. Then we work Thursday and Friday. THEN, we have 6 DAYS OFF!! SME's family should be here sometime Monday. We hope to do a blog post together. Maybe a video? I want SME to teach me how to post home videos while she's here. THEN I can bore my readers with an entirely new aspect of our lives. Consider yourselves warned! ;)

I Got Vision....or OCD!

Ta-da! There it is, SME and Doug's home-away-from-home.
When Z and I got home from work yesterday, L had the camper uncovered and jacked up, ready to remove the flat tire. By the time I had changed my clothes and started the laundry, L had the camper ready to move. We pulled it out of its winter storage spot, mowed that spot, and backed the camper closer to the garage. Now, it's all leveled, with the stabilizer jacks down, and ready to be popped up, and vacuumed, next Friday. The camper battery will be done charging today so L can hook it to the camper tomorrow.

L loaded the truck with recycling, and threw the old tire behind the recycling, where he can easily reach it. Tomorrow, he'll haul the recycling to the center, while the camper rim is fitted with a sturdy new tire. While L completed his chores, I decluttered the kitchen and finished the laundry. Not bad for an afternoon's work, eh?

One of my favorite quotes comes from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: "I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals!" I LOVE IT when a plan comes together! We bought the land for our home a year before we moved here. I spent that year carefully planning where everything would fit onto our property, even the garage. The first thing I planned was where the sewer and water connections needed to be, so they could be dug in that fall. The following summer we had our driveway built, and the yard stabilized and sloped properly. The month before our house arrived, L and 2 of our friends built the shed. Once the shed was built, we started moving our non-essential possessions into it. While L was building the shed, I was busy meeting with the power company, planning where our power pole would go, and hiring an electrician to hook up the house when it arrived.

22 years later, I marvel at how well my planning paid off! It took 20 years to get the garage I had planned for, but I think this makes us appreciate it more. The picture of our camper, sidled up to the garage, brings another plan to fruition. Next weekend, we'll be running a cord under the garage door, to the camper. The cord will be totally out of the way, where nobody will be tripping over it. We will put one of the remotes, which operate the front garage lights, in the camper, so SME and Doug will have a well-lit journey to the house, if necessary. All of this is part of the master plan that I formulated 22 years ago!

After spending years researching TS and OCD, I'm certain that my zealous over-planning is an OCD trait. I'm NOT a spontaneous person. Everything I do must be carefully planned out. Once my plans are complete, I become TOTALLY frustrated, and angry, if my plans must be changed. Fortunately for me, this rarely happens. Where do I get this behavior? My Dad. I used to think that I LEARNED to carefully plan EVERYTHING from my Dad. Now I realize that I INHERITED this trait from him. Perfectionism can be a heavy burden to bear, but... sometimes it pays off!

Today, the 3 of us are tackling the remaining clutter in Z's room. THEN....we will eliminate the clutter in the den. The rest of the week will be spent catching up on the housework we're neglecting, stockpiling enough groceries to feed THREE teenagers, making beds, AND....anxiously awaiting the arrival of our family from Edmonton!

I leave you with the peaceful sunset photo L took last week.....