Rini's second Christmas

Last year was Rini's first Christmas, and there were all sorts of wonderful things that happened. The only glitch is that I doubt Rini remembers any of it. Goodness, I barely remember it. I'll just to go back to last years blog and see what I wrote. Hopefully something!

This year we tried to do a little bit of a family christmas thing. I know that it's only Christmas Eve, but before we headed out chez Tolley, we opened up the presents that we got from Grammie and Grandpa Clark (my parents). They are going to be visiting Grandma tomorrow, but I don't know if we would be able to drop by for a visit of sorts. We'll have to play it by ear.

It a drastic departure, this year the Christmas PJ's were cropped pants and knee socks! There were also T-shirts, but the socks were blue and black stripes, and the shirts blue with black cropped pants. For all the grandkids, they all fit like pants, if they fit. It's kind of weird to have solid colours. I'm used to the zany prints that always befit the crazy Tolley clan. This year, solid colour, but the socks are new. Crazy didn't let me down!

Rini might have discovered a new favourite toy with one of the presents from Grammie and Grandpa! There was a felt flower that she absolutely loves. She even dropped her bunny to play with it, and that's saying something! For the six months that she's had that bunny they have pretty much been inseparable.

I've also learned that Rini is kind of funny when it comes to watching movies. Granted, she just turned 22 months today, but she only likes movies that are really cute. She LOVES Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but of that movie, she only likes the part with the little bunnies. She also likes the DVD game, but she runs around and plays while the movie runs for the more part, as she did today when we watched "Horton Hears A Who." Funny funny movie, really cute, lots of smart comedy, good physical comedy, but could not hold Rini's attention. What a goof!

She was quite the character while taking the family pictures, and at first she didn't want to lie down on the ottoman, but when she saw her cousins doing it, we couldn't get her off! We got some really cute pictures, but I'll have to post them later. We'll get the pictures emailed to us, probably before the new year, and I'll be able to do something with them then.

Should be for a wonderful day tomorrow!

Also, it's much safer to drive Elene now. All we had to do was open up the Fresh air vents and most of the moisture in the car was able to equalize with the air outside. Who knew?

Simple things in life

Today, after a crazy day at work that made me realize I need to take
my meds, we went to get some Christmas shopping done. It wasn't that
busy, and we actually found quite a few good things. Mind, Rini and I
had a good time playing in the store. We went up and down the
escalator about a dozen times, and she was getting quite good at
getting on and off without tripping or falling over. I also taught
her to keep both feet in the middle of the step. Simple things, and
I'm sure she won't remember this, but I hope she remembers that I
spent time with her, even if we just went up and down the escalator
loads of times.

I actually got the idea from 'One Fine Day.' George Clooney: "Don't
worry about them, they're on the escalators." And that's what the kids
did! They went up and down the escalators throughout the entire
scene! What are the odds that my daughter acts just like kids in
movies?

On second thought, the chances are pretty good.

The other frightening thing I realized is that I haven't given much
thought towards presents for my parents, sisters, or grandmother! I'm
horrible! And running out of money. Caitlin mentioned that my
parents celebrate Ukranian Christmas, which is on 6 January. So we're
covered, plus I'll have my first paycheck of the new year by then. I
have no idea if we are going to get a Christmas bonus, but judging
from the outstanding accounts that we have in front of us, I would say
that I'll be lucky if I still have a job in the new year!

Ha ha! No, I am seriously freaked out of my tree. Hence the meds.

Winter adventuring in Minus Hell Frozen Over temperatures

You would think that cold weather and snow would be the ideal
conditions for some winter playtime. And if the temperatures still
confused Americans, you would be right. But when you get down close
to MINUS FORTY, it's quite safe to say that it's much to cold to do
much of anything except complain about how cold it is.

But we did manage to brave the cold for a little while to go to a
nearby park. I never realized how fast slides are once they freeze.
Rini learned that when she went down the spiral slide the first time.
Good thing Caitlin was at the bottom, because Rini practically flew
off the slide! I was a bit more fool hearty and I went down the
'bumpy' slide. The first drop was fast, second was quicker, and the
third drop I hovered above the slide until I got to the bottom. I
then stumbled to catch my footing and after three wild steps, I did a
faceplant. Caitlin still laughs whenever she thinks about it.

My only regret is that we didn't take any pictures.

Pink Cheeks

You know it's cold when Rini wants to go to the park going to Safeway,
but going home she just wants to get back in the warm house! This
afternoon is was rather cold when we went shopping to replenish our
food stocks. Really cold. Like... cold enough that you run out of
euphamisms to explain just how cold it is! I would like to say that
it was cold enough to freeze a dog to a fire hydrant, but that was
yesterday. Today, it was just plain cold. We were going to go to
Superstore to do our shopping, but when I tired to start Elene, she
chugged. It was not a pleasant sound. Of course, it would have been
smart to plug in her block heater, but I failed to do that, because I
didn't think that we would be travelling out and about today. Again,
I was wrong.

We plugged her in, because we thought that we could go shopping, and
then travel to Beaumont afterwards. That didn't happen either. We
got home, and all Caitlin wanted to do was to stay home. Not that I
could blame her. Did I fail to mention that it was REALLY COLD out
today? I did? It bear repeating...

But the other good news is that I have emerged THE VICTOR from the
battle of the bug. The past three days have passed in a virus induced
haze, and only tonight did I feel like, 'Hey, I don't feel like death
anymore!'

I had the hope to go to work today, but this morning we took my
temperature and thought otherwise. Then, I thought that I would be
able to come in for a half day. Around 11am, I was watching Sesame
Street and my eyes started to tear up. I couldn't tell if I had
forgotten to blink or if the pressure in my head was forcing my tear
ducts to squeeze out liquid. In any case, I was too out of it to be
productive, and I called in sick the rest of the day. I didn't feel
confident driving at that point in time. Then I went to bed and slept
for an hour and a half. In the past 72 hours, I spent more than half
of that time asleep. It was pretty bad.

The crazy thing is that was feeling a little backwards on Tuesday last
week, but I pushed through it. Friday, I was starting to get a cough,
but Saturday, I sat back relaxed, and it hit me with a few days charge
up. It was horrible. But since it was so cold out, it didn't really
matter.

I felt bad that we didn't go to church, but I picked one of the best
weeks to miss, in terms of my calling. We just had a new Sunday
School teacher called, and that meant that we were set for teachers!
I didn't have to teach a class this week unlike the past four! And I
was sick... Of course, we missed putting in our tithing, and we also
missed the pick up for the giving tree.

The latter was remedied tonight after Elene had been plugged in for a
couple of hours. I hopped in the car, she started on the first try,
and I was off to Bishop Morais' to drop off the presents. After I did
two U turns, and went past his house once, I finally found the place.
I swear that the people who designed Millwoods decended from M C
Esher. (I don't know if we should pay for a dimension we're never
going to use.)

Rini was also having a bit of fun with daddy tonight as we did some
Karaoke singing! I popped in HSM:Sing it! and we sang for about an
hour. Of course at one point, she wanted my mic, and I did horribly
poor on the song. Eh. That's what memories are made of. The great
irony is that when I started to feel better, Caitlin started to feel
worse. For a little while she was feeling quite nauseated, but now
she just has a moderately upset tummy. She hoping it's pregnancy
pains.

If there is a bun in the oven, I will be changing the name of the blog again.

Check back soon!

Out with the old

And in with the upgrade! If you haven't visited before, then I supposed you wouldn't know any difference now. But for anyone else who has been following this blog for longer than... ten minutes ago, you will notice that there is a subtle difference. First, there is the followers. This allows you to have a direct RSS feed with the blog. Also, I am pleased to note, the archives are easier to navigate. If there is a certain entry you are trying to find, you can browse by year or month with the tiered menu. HOT!

I know. I'm a nerd. I would not quite say that I'm a geek, because I have yet to bite the head of a small animal. I haven't even slaughtered a chicken, although I have plucked one.

In any case, enjoy the new bits and bytes!

Slippery slope

I was hoping that I would be able to edit the letter that I wrote to
my brother-in-law, and then head off to bed, but using iPaq for
writing leaves some things to be desired. First off, I couldn't get
the whole thing on one page. Something about the way that gmail works
with iPaq. At least it works, of else I would have quite the time
posting these entries. Sure I could do it from the rig. but something
about writing in bed is so much more comfortable. Besides, that means
that I can snuggle while I write, and that's always better for Caitlin
and myself. Happy Wife, Happy Life. Words to live by.

In any case, I wrote about Rini's first sledding adventure, but the
second adventure was a bit crazier, and not quite as ideal... First
off, we got a new sled. If anyone has seen my facebook status, you
would know what I think of it. Needless to say, I don't really want
to hang onto it, because it pulls to the right, is really hard to
control, and it threw me every time I went on a run. It threw Rini
too, and she wasn't prepared for it! She got her first facewash, and
I can't say that I was happy about that. Neither was she. After that
incident, she was ready to go home, and announced that with vigor.

Maybe we could live with just the crazy carpet, but I would like to
have a sled that all three of us could go on a run with. There is a
wooden folding sled I saw at Zellers, and it was about $40. I could
put that on the Christmas wish list.

The other fun thing is the fact that life has got a bit more fun at
work. The three month mark has passed, and that means two things.
Evaluation! and RAISE! HIGH WOOTAGE! I don't know when that will
kick in, but for the moment, I'll just have to see on Monday.

I'm off to play some online cash cab!

First time sledding!

Caitlin was not feeling her normal 110% today, and we had a bit of a
disagreement on what to do today. We went to the Ward Primary
Christmas party, and that went very well. I was told that my wise man
costume was quite the sight, and the extra headpieces that we were
working on until 2am were well appreciated too! Next time this
happens, I think that Caitlin would appreciate more than two days
notice about making the costume! Mind, Caitlin made the most
elaborate costume, most everyone else had wraps or bathrobes. It was
still a lot of fun.

We were supposed to meet the missionaries today, but one of the Elders
fell ill, so our appointment had to be rescheduled. Just as well, we
all needed a nap after that party! I woke up around 5pm, and Rini
woke up soon after. After a bit of a discussion regarding whether we
should go sledding, Rini and I went off and left Caitlin behind to
have a snooze uninterupted.
I was intent on getting a set of house keys cut for Caitlin because
when we got back from the Christmas party, I discovered that not only
was I driving illegally (I didn't have my lisence on me) we were
locked out of the house! I had forgotten my keys! I keep them on a
seperate key chain, and I keep the car key in a wrist pouch that I was
wearing. Hence I didn't think of checking for the key. Plus, we
usually don't lock the door when we leave. We should really stop
doing that... In any case, after Caitlin broke into the house using a
window, I decided that we were going to get keys for Caitlin THAT DAY.
We can't go breaking into the house everytime our upstairs neighbour
is gone and locks the door.

The place that I was planning on going to was at Millwoods Town
Center, which is right across the road from Millwoods Park, and I was
quite certain that there was a good tobogganing hill in the park.
However, we only had a crazy carpet, but it was better than nothing.

Surprise! We weren't the only one's on the hill! There was a group
of ten or twelve year old boys with one of the boys father there.
They had an extra sled that wasn't being used, so after a run on the
crazy carpet (which was pretty fun) I asked if we could use the sled.
They said yes, and Rini and I hopped into the sled and went zooming
down the hill! Normally I worry about getting hit by other people on
the hill, but since it was just those boys, Rini and I went farther
than any of them, and we had no worries to collect ourselves and start
back up the hill. We had to be careful walking back up, because the
hill was really slick. When we first got there, I saw one of the boys
slip and fall on his face as he was walking back up the hill...

Rini is proving to be quite the independant girl! After we had done a
few runs, Rini got in the sled, and sat in the back. I told her that
she had to scoot forward to let daddy sit down, and she did. Once I
got in though, she got out. I was a little perplexed, so I got out,
and woudn't you know, she got back in. Sitting in the back again. I
scooted her forward so I could get in, and again she got out when I
sat down! Fortunately, there was a bunny hill right behind the hill
we were going down. I turned the sled around, she got in, and I sent
her down on her first solo sled run. Just my luck, she hit a tree.
Glanced off it actually, but I wasn't overly impressed with myself.
She wasn't going very fast, so she didn't really notice, and she went
for a few more runs by herself before she would let me go on another
run with her. Silly me, the last run we did together, we hit the jump
on the hill! I tried to steer away from it, but we went right over
it! BOOMPH! I almost lost control of the sled, but we didn't tip
over thankfully! I would have hated to have her spill on her first
time sledding!

We got home a little late, but it was a lot of fun! We just added
'sled' to Rini's Christmas list. :)

Done

November is done, and so is NaNoWriMo. What a month. I was quite
confident that I was going to write 50k this year, and despite some
setbacks, and writer's block, I actually succeeded. It was really
crazy that last little bit after I crossed 45k. That last 5k was like
a 'writer's high' you could say, because I didn't think that the story
was coming to an end, in fact it was only the beginning. I had just
gotten into the characters, and the original story line was still
there, but it had spawned into something else entirely. Characters
that I had never thought of popped up and guided the story in a way I
never considered. And the fact that Caitlin was able to write with me
this year was fabulous. Rini had her way of helping us too, but most
of the writing we did when she was asleep. Yes, I had a LOT of late
nights. And I had quite a few naps when I got home bone tired from
work!

The funny thing is that when I was heading off to work on Monday, 1
Dec 2008, the first official day after NaNoWriMo 2008, I was feeling a
little down because it was over for another year. Then 'Good
Riddance' by Green Day started playing on the radio. It was the first
time in recent memory that I cried when I heard a song on the radio.
Everyone usually gushes at the chorus, "It's something unpredictable/
but in the end it's right/ I hope you had the time of your life," but
for me, one of the versus struck a chord. "Another turning point, a
fork stuck in the road/ Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where
to go/ So make the best of this test and don't ask why/ It's not a
question, but a lesson learned in time."

Writing and parenting seem to have one thing in common. The only way
you can truly learn how to do it, is to do it. There is no equal
substitute for experience, and that's something I learned from doing
NaNoWriMo. Last year, I enjoyed writing, although I really had no
idea what I was writing, and I really mangled my original idea like I
couldn't believe. The story that I've read I have not been able to
read over again, at least not in one sitting. I've heard some parts
here and there, but that's the long and short of it. The story itself
is ridiculous, and not very coherent.

I'm not going to send my 2008 work off to a publisher right away, but
at least it's something that I'm a bit more proud of. I may revisit
it later, and try to finish it up. Until that time, I'm going to get
ready for the Christmas Party on Friday. Caitlin and I are going to
be singing "Once in Royal David's City" and we've been asked if we
could perform another song. I just now got the idea of a 12 days of
Christmas song, somehow tied into parenting. I'll have to mention it
to Caitlin and see if she'll help me with the writing.

Or maybe I'll do it tomorrow once I've had some sleep!

Living with the femto

Kind of funny how Rini's alias comes into play for the month of November. With NaNoWriMo underway, both Caitlin and I have got in the habit of refering to our daughter as the 'FemtoWriMo.' Although she is a lot bigger than she was last year, I feel that she will graduate to the status of 'PicoWrimo' when she knows how to write her name. Until then, she will still be known as the 'FemtoWriMo.' I came up with the idea last year, and originally I wanted to go with NaNoRiniMo, but then I discovered that I was pronouncing it wrong. It wasn't NaNo-WREE-mo, but rather NaNo-WRY-Mo. Novel WRY-ting month. Oops. Hence I had a change of tactic, and went with FemtoWriMo, since Rini is so small. :) It stuck.

A couple of water related episodes today. First, we went swimming after we played some DDR at home. Good ol' Dance Dance Revolution is always a fun way to get your groove on, especially when you don't have to worry about failing the songs in front of everyone. I prefer when you can adjust the settings to your own liking. We also found that we can both do the dancing, and take care of Rini at the same time. One would think that you simply plug in two dance pads, and Rini entertains herself. Yeah, tried that, didn't work. What does work, is plugging in one, leaving the second one unplugged, and then you have her dance on the pad herself, or with whomever is not on the active pad. I also changed the settings so that the games are three songs instead of the five that I had it set at previously. That way we can get through the games quicker, and we can trade off more often. It works well, because I always like to challenge myself on the last song, and that comes up quicker now. Before, I would always try to figure out what song I would like to do and last until the fifth song. Now, it's a matter of warm up, crank up, and then challenge. Caitlin really likes the new setup too, because I'm able to distract Rini, but I'm also able to dance with her, and encourage her to try new songs. Another thing I changed was the fail setting. Before, if the dance bar bottoms out, then the song would immediately stop. Now, it will let you finish the entire song. The crash in the middle of the song is useful in the arcade when you're trying to get as many people through as you can. More people go through, more money generated. It's not personal, it's business. Besides, at the arcade, it's not very entertaining to watch people play poorly. Sometimes it's just sad.

How does that relate to water? We did go swimming later, but we were also drinking water as we played. Something that I do at work as well. The funny thing is at one point, I spilled my water on a worksheet that I had finished and was ready to collate with some other documents. I was a little mad at myself because I had done something so foolish, and I was thinking that I wasn't going to allow myself to have drinks at my desk anymore. Upon closer inspection of the worksheet, I realized that I would have had to redo it anyway. I had incorrectly entered a few things, and some numbers I had not entered at all! That was kind of odd how that worked out!

Fuss Bus Driver

Every time we head out shopping, especially to the local Safeway, Rini
is drawn to the balloons. She has one at home right now, but she
always likes to play with the other ones. Maybe because they still
have all their helium, or maybe because they're shiny. In any case,
that's the first thing she goes for, where ever she finds them.

Maybe I'll put that in my book. A character that loves balloons.

Ok, I'm going to have to go and stockpile some sleep. I was having
trouble keeping my eyes open today.

Indoor exercise

We didn't go to a park today, but Rini and I got quite a bit of
exercise by playing with exercise equipment that we have at home. We
don't have a Bowflex or anything quite like that, but we have the
swivel board, the balance board, and Rini's giant swivel board that we
picked up at IKEA. At one point, Rini was standing on the giant IKEA
board, and I was on the swivel board, and we were doing a sort of
dance. Rini can also stand on the balance board all my herself now!
She does still like to grab onto my legs every now and then. She is
such a cutie, and her balance is amazing. I'm not saying that we're
going to take her on a zip line tomorrow or get her to walk across
Niagara Falls on a tightrope, but I'm sure she's going to be trying
crazy things soon enough.

Sooner than I'm ready for too.

Weekend comin' at ya!

For some odd reason I'm finding it a little difficult to write. I think it might be due to the fact that we have ABBA playing in the background, while we usually don't have any music playing in our house when we're winding down for bed. That being said, we're not at home right now, we are chez Tolley. Grandma and Grandpa Tolley were going to be looking after Rini tomorrow when we went to High School Musical 3 and the original idea was that we were going to pick up the FemtoWriMo and then head out to the NaNo kick off party. I was actually hoping that mom Tolley was going to get on board with NaNoWriMo, and we even mentioned that you can work on a novel that you are already working on, but she still said no. Shame. In any case, we'll be coming back out to Beaumont after the soirée at the bibliothèque. We also have not been able to get a hold of Kloe, so we won't be taking her to the kick off party either.

I was reading a letter from Tristan today, and he'll be back in nine months. In the letter he mentioned that if any of the female sort conceive right about now, he'll be home in time for the delivery! Hey, for all we know, he'll get off the plane, and he'll deliver the baby! Are we pregnant? Uh... no. Not that I know of anyway. We are hoping that we'll be expanding our family soon, but children requires a team: Mother, Father and Heavenly Father. At least that's what I think. Others are of the opinion that if you fail, you're not trying hard enough!

I'll just leave it at that.

NRG

Rini just runs and runs these days. Good thing we take her out to parks most everyday! It's nice to have a schedule that allows me to do so. However, in a couple of weeks, when we go out to the park, it's going to be dark out. It's something you get used to, but that doesn't mean that I look forward to it.

I'm not really sure if that's why I've been a bit off today, but Caitlin noticed that my mood didn't lift after she fed me, and I wasn't overjoyed when Rini was climbing on the rope ladder by herself today. Normally I would be up there with my cell phone taking a video or a picture, but today, I just took a look up, watched her climb, smiled, and went back to the book that I got from the library.

Yes, we went back to the mall today, but only because Caitlin couldn't find the pattern that she bought on Tuesday. Upon inspection of the receipt, we found that it wasn't rung through, and she was charged twice for the batting she bought. Well, now we know what went wrong, and the interesting thing was that the ladies working at Fabricland knew too. When Caitlin went in to resolve the issue, the pattern was sitting behind the counter in anticipation of my wife's arrival. So Caitlin is going to cut out the pieces tonight, and start sewing tomorrow. I would think that she should be able to get the costume done for next Friday.

Funny thing is that I haven't given much thought as to what we are going to do for Hallowe'en. I was only thinking about the costumes. I wasn't thinking about the 'Trick or Treating' or if we were going to any parties. Maybe we'll go to the Millwoods Town Center thing. Then again, the Tolley's might have something in store as well. Have to talk to them about that soon!

Lack of TV

For the past few days, I've made a habit of going out to one of the parks close to our home. I mention this, because we went to a different park today. We went to the park at Millwoods Town Center, and we walked there. By we, I mean Caitlin, Rini, and myself. Caitlin has been working out at Millwoods Rec Center on a pretty regular basis, every other day. Today was the off day, and I figured that a good walk would do us all good. Why Millwoods town center? Caitlin needed some fabric for Rini's Hallowe'en costume. I'm hoping that she'll be able to get the costume together in the next ten days.

Rini is surprising me more and more each day. When we go to the park, I don't have to watch her that much. Although, I am quite paranoid when she climbs things that take her higher than two feet off the ground. She's quite adept at climbing ladders, or ladder-like things. The rope ladders she's a little shaky, but that, I'm very sure, will improve with time. She has quite a bit of upper body strength, and I say this because yesterday when she was climbing up a sort-of ladder, her feet completely slipped out from under her. I was at little worried, and I had my hands out to catch her, but she never graced my skin. She held onto the ladder on her own power, and continued climbing.

That little girl is going places, and I'm going to have to come to terms with that one day.

But not today.

Downward Facing Puppy

For some odd reason, when our hometeachers were over tonight, Rini got
into a very hyper mood. She was running around, and then going into
her "Downward Facing Puppy" move, in which she stands with her feet
shoulder width apart, then bends over until her head touches the
floor. She then balances on her head, or rather tries to, and then
falls over. Needless to say, this little girl dropped off like a
light when she finally went to bed.

We were also getting a little concerned at church today when we were
waiting to get set apart for our new callings. Rini was starting to
really fuss and carry on, probably because she wasn't used to sticking
around after church. For some odd reason, we had Dory with us, and
that provided sufficient distraction for her. Then she was walking
around, and she stopped at the south coat closest, pointed inside and
said, "Paka!" Wouldn't you know, someone had left a Makka-pakka doll
on top of the coat racks. I got it down, and told her that it wasn't
hers, and she could play with it now, but we would have to leave it
behind.

She was very understanding of that, and she had a ball with that
little guy. Especially once she figured out that it can sing. She's
still happy with the little Makka-pakka doll that she has at home, but
just for the fact that she was happy for those extra moments while we
were set apart made all the difference.

The funny thing is that the Bishop had never heard of "In the Night
Garden," and everytime we mentioned Makka-pakka, he thought we talking
about Michael Peca. That would be funny if the Oilers defenceman
(forward? I don't really know) sang the Makka-pakka song and did the
corresponding dance. Hee hee!

I'm just amazed that Rini was able to see that doll in the coat room
since the light was off!

Pach

I rather pleased with Rini's progress with conversational skills.
Although if she wants something, she still just says, "Peas." She
hasn't learned to specify what it is she wants. For example, at the
park today, when we she wanted up onto or down from the swings, she
just said "Pease." I told her what she needed to say, but it was
received in a 'yeah, thanks, I'll do that next time, daddy' kind of
way. I really spoil my girls, and I'm sure that's not the best thing
to do.

Earlier, I mentioned that she was getting into the whole, "Seh, GO!"
thing, and now, she actually enunciates the word 'set'. Now she says,
"Set. Go!" with a very sharp 'tuh' at the end of 'set.' I was so
pleased! Yes, small sucesses, but next thing I know, she'll be asking
for $20 to put on her cell phone bill.

SRIGU

I have heard multiple times that children grow up faster than you
realize. The first time I had one of those, "She really is growing
up" moments was when we were washing her in the tub, and I noticed
that her fingers were signifigantly longer than I remembered.

Today was another SRIGU moments. We went to the park, and the whole
way there she was saying "Paok, paok, paok." She knew where we going,
and she was letting everyone know. Mind, she wasn't very loud, and I
only realized what she was saying in retrospect. At the time I
thought she was saying the french word for "seal," but I figured that
I was mistaken. Turns out I was right.

At the public recreational area, which my daughter refered to as the
Thessaloniki Football team, the first thing she wanted to do was go on
the swings. At first, we went on the baby swings, and I realized that
she's gettnig a bit big for them when her bot got stuck when I got her
out. She then wanted to try the bigger swings, and I obliged by
getting on the swing, and then putting her on my lap. She squired and
struggled, and I let her down because I thought she wanted to go on
the slide next. Surprise, she went to the swing next to me, and tried
to get on it. I helped her onto the seat, told her to hang on - which
she did - and I gave her a push. That was the SRIGU moment. When I
saw her holding onto that swing, smiling and giggling and saying
"Wheee" as she went back and forth, I felt a little heartbroken.

She really is growing up.

Swimming girl

Day two of the exercise regime, and we're still going! By we, I mean
Caitlin of course, but Rini and I went swimming while Caitlin worked
out in the gym while Rini and I had some fun in the wave pool, the
kiddie pool, and the hot tub. Mostly, Rini was all about climbing up
and down the stairs. Sillly girl! She was also quite brave going out
into the waves, and was holding her own quite well. Once we got into
the deeper water, I had to hold onto her, but she was still having
fun. She's also starting to get the hang of the idea that if water
goes in your mouth, don't breathe it in. Still learning, but she's
getting there.

We went for dinner before we went swimming, and decided to try
something new, and we went to a Chinese restuarant close to MRC. Our
waitress brought some fortune cookies for Rini, and we got Rini to say
thank you. Of course, she only says it in Mandarin right now, so when
she said "Sheh-sheh," our waitress's jaw dropped in surprise. "She
learn Manadrin? How she learn?" We then explained that Rini watches
a TV program where they teach Chinese, and she was further surprised.
When we left, she told Rini "Tzai Chen!" Rini tried to parrot her,
but all she got out was "CHEN!"

What a precious girl we have. :)

And the beat goes on

Although there was a lot of things that happened today, I can't help
but feel it was not an extra-ordinary day.

Mind, we all went to Wal-Mart for the first time in about a year, in
order to use the gift certificates from Jess and Chris. We got a
couple of movies that we've been meaning to pick up. I was trying to
see if there was a PS2 game that caught my eye, but nothing drew me
in. Most of the movies at Wal-Mart didn't jump out at me either, but
there were a few that caught my eye. The Black Cauldron, The
Aristocats, and we also got a Christmas present for Erik as well.
Yes, we are actually doing some advance shopping this time around!

I picked up Caitlin's workout bra yesterday, and today she went and
got a one month membership at Millwoods Rec Center. She immediately
put both to use, and has plans to continue attending for the next 30
days. Probably three times a week, if not more. Bonus if she can go
everyday, but we'll see how that works. How it is right now, Rini and
I will have some daddy-daughter time while Caitlin goes to work out.
I wonder how this is going to work next month, with NaNoWriMo going
on. I guess we'll see!

The Vote is Cast

Really tired tonight. Tired to the point that I was falling asleep at
work today. Not good.

By the time I went to vote I was plenty awake, and I had to be, since
I was chasing around Rini for a good part of the time that we were at
the polling station! I'm not sure if she fully understood why we were
there, but she enjoyed the time outside!

Visit with family

Rini had a couple of firsts today, many of them centered around the visit to my parents. Today was her first time on a gravel road, which was a bit of a freaky experience for me, but I used the knowledge that I gained from the last unfortunate incident on gravel: Don't go faster than you feel comfortable, no matter what the speed limit is. At times, I was going 50 kph, although the posted limit was 80. I really didn't care when we got there, so long as we got there alive! You learn that when you roll a car on loose gravel..

But, on to happier things! Rini also saw a horse up close for the first time today, and she went for a ride on Lacey Jane too! Bareback riding, and I was walking along side holding onto her, as was my dad, and mom was leading Lacey. She looked so cute up there! I wanted to get up and ride with her, but Lacey was pretty wet, and we didn't have time to dry off my pants. We didn't have time to dry off Rini's pants either. But since the horsie ride was the last thing we did before we left, we took off the wet pants, put her in her carseat with a blanket wrapped around her legs, and turned up the heat. She was okay until we got some dry pants for her at the Tolleys.

The other great news is that while at my parents place, we picked up a bed for Rini. I had completely forgotten that Jess had dropped it off who knows how long ago. But as soon as mom mentioned it, I was up like a rocket and we were taking a look at the bed. It was a perfect little bed for Rini, and we already had the crib mattress, so that worked even better! We put it together tonight, but I think we were missing a couple of support boards. It's not really a huge problem right now, but as long as she stays at her current weight, and doesn't jump on the bed too much, we'll be okay. We'll have to go back sometime and see if there are any other boards out there. It looks like two were missing.

But the important thing is that Rini has a bed to sleep in! No more sleeping in the playpen for her! Now we can save up to get a single bed for her.

Moving house

Today was the big move for some friends of ours. Although they were only moving a couple of blocks south, they are moving to a new church ward, and they didn't get much notification as to the what's what, and the who's who. They know when they go to church, and when, but it's a bit of a challenge for them to get their whole family there, since they would have to take the bus. A car is in the future, they have it now, just the licence is still in the works.

I was amazed that everything was so organized, and there wasn't really a whole lot to move. Mind, this is because they got rid of a LOT of stuff, old clothing, junk, and things that they had not looked at since they moved in there! Made for a lighter load, but we did have a few things that broke in transit. The exploding plastic boxes for one! Good ol' Ikea. "Enjoy your affordable Swedish crap!" says the Ikea robot as it falls apart while leaving.

Caitlin, Rini and I are going to have to pay them a visit once they get on their feet, and there is a lot less cardboard in there. One of these days, Caitlin and I are going to have to clean out all our junk, that would reduce the amount of clutter we have in our place signifigantly!

The Big Three Oh

Late posting - Should have posted yesterday, but I was too tired to transfer from iPaq.
****************************************************
I think I'm getting into the whole dad thing now, because of the milestone I just passed. At the same time, I did think that I would have more than one child by the time I was thirty. I should dig out that French work book where we did an exercise of what we think our lives would be like when we're 30. I have no idea where it is though.

I'm still tired from yesterday, and I'm helping Kenzie and Gary move. Woof. I'm going to bed.

Welcome Home

I don't honk my horn very often, such to the point that I sometimes
wonder if it works, but I used it tonight and felt very justified in
doing so. Rini was more interesting in the noise the car was making,
rather than the reason why, and I'm sure if she were a little older,
it would have been a great teaching moment. I honked my horn when we
were stopped in traffic on 99st and Sask. Drive. Why was traffic
stopped? To allow the Canadian troops and their police escort to get
through. I know that honking my horn to welcome them home is a
pretty weak thing to do, but I remember what it was like when my dad
was over in Croatia, and how I felt when he came home, and he was just
doing peacekeeping. My former co-worker had a much rougher time when
her then fiancee, now husband, was in Afganistan, and she was
overjoyed when he returned home.

It's hard to explain to children how war works, and why we wage it.
I'm going to have to do it some time, but I think that I'll be using
examples from the Book of Mormon, ie. 2060 strilping warriors, Capitan
Moroni, Teancum, just to name a few. Righteous people who just wanted
freedom for their homes and families.

I seem to recall a radio news story which told of a survey amoung
college students, and maybe some high school students, regarding what
they would accept as payment to give up their right to vote. Some
were satisfied with an iPod. Although your voice may seem small an
insignifigant, especially with stories of fraud and miscounts of
ballots, I still have faith in the system.

Speaking of which, I still need to hanker down and investigate who to
vote for on Tuesday. If only Mr. Kimball hadn't retired. Well, one
candidates headquarters is located across the road from our home, so
we could check it out tomorrow, or Friday.

Beautiful Balloon

I'm not sure what it is with Rini and balloons, but she absolutely
loves them. When we were at Safeway today, there was a lost balloon
on the ceiling, and I couldn't reach it to bring it down for her.
Then I got the brilliant idea of lifting up Rini so she could grab it!
Yeah, that didn't work either. I'm happy to say that she didn't
fall, I am not that reckless, but at the same time, I don't think she
felt that comfortable reaching up to grab it, with daddy holding onto
her below. Not time for the circus for her!

Another reason I feel she is strongly attached to balloons is because
of her coniptions whenever we take away the balloon that we did get
her. Even when we tied the balloon to her wrist, she would shriek and
shriek! Even on her zipper pull, SHRIEK! In the end, we tied it to
one of her mittens, and then put her mitten on, and she was fine. I
don't understand, but I am glad it worked.

We also bumped into some people from our ward, the Habings, as we were
walking to Safeway. Funny, but I never remember talking to very many
people from our ward outside of church. Probably because whenever we
were out, we never were out when people in the ward were typically out
and about! I love this new job!

Curious Cllimber

Rini's newest feat is climbing into her high chair. I know, I'm going
crazy about little things, but I keep getting reminders that childhood
only comes by once in your lifetime, and you should treasure every
moment. I should have also mentioned that Rini is now 33.75" tall (or
long, depending if you are a pediatrician), and seems to be growing
more everyday!

I'm thinking that she learned the climbing into her highchair from her
cousin, who is six months and two days older than her, but I'm not
sure where she learned her new favourite phrase. It's still a bit of
baby babble, but from what I could decipher, she was trying to say
"Ready... Set... GO!" The "GO" was very audible, and the "Set" was a
little quieter, but I'm not sure if she ever said "Ready." She would
just repeat, "Shehhhh, GO!" The "Shehh" would stay at the same
volume, but the "GO" was progressively louder with each repitition.
We had to shush her after awhile, but she said it for Grandma over the
phone. I should see if Rini would want to talk with Grammie and
Grandpa. I should at the very least send a CD with those videos we
have of Rini. Although I took them on my cell phone, they are OK
quality, so long as you watch them on a small screen! Our digital
camera can take video, but it doesn't record any sound, so it does not
help for recording any kind of speech development. Maybe we should
get a video camera. HA HA HA HA!!!! No. I would rather save the
money for her first bicycle. Or some kind of prohibitive expense,
like a bed. That's going to be rearing its head sooner than we
realize. I hate that thought. Maybe I'm a bad person, since the
wicked take the truth to be hard.

Caitlin: {Rolls eyes}

My idea is to follow what my co-worker did. Went from crib, to
mattress on the floor, to single bed. Japan they have bed mats, and
even have meals on the floor too. Yes, I know, this is not Japan, but
that does not mean that we have to have everything.

Gratitude

It's funny, but I remember ten years ago I was in the MTC
participating in Conference, and President (actually, Elder at the
time) Monson gave an address about how we should be grateful for our
mothers and the great lessons and sacrifices that they have done for
us all.

Today, he gave a similar address about appreciating the journey. How
we shouldn't wait for things to happen, or for the right time to come,
because by and large, the 'perfect' time never does come. Hence I
would have say, again, that I am very grateful for my parents. I'm
not sure if I thanked them appropriately for helping me with repaying
my student loans the past couple years, but especially this past year
is was keeping us alive financially. When August hit, I was truly
worried, because I didn't know how we were going to get by if I didn't
get a new job. I was stressed to the point that I could not sleep,
nor find comfort in the fact that I was on vacation. I was pretty
much pleading with Heavenly Father that I would get this new job, and
by so doing, be able to provide better for my family.

I did get the new job, and in retrospect, my parents were not only
helping us financially, but spiritually as well. Since I didn't have
to worry about the finances as much, I could dedicate what little time
to my family. Time is one of the most valuble resources we have, and
it's best the we use it wisely.

That was something mentioned in the Priesthood session as well. Elder
Uchtdorf said, "The Lord loves a noble servent, instead of a
self-serving noble." A little bit different in message, I suppose,
but the underlying idea is the same. We are more of what the Lord
wants us to be when we think outside of ourselves. Or, "Stand close
together and lift where you stand" also hits it on the mark too.

I'm very glad that I took notes last night! I'm also amazed that the
Saturday session has already been video archived and posted online!
We watched Elder Worthlin's talk again this morning, and I was
corrected by who said what. I didn't take notes for that session.
Oops.

I come back to my parents, and the fact that they instilled in me a
love for the words of the prophets. Back in my day (I can't believe I
just wrote that), we stayed at the Stake Center for six hours on both
Saturday and Sunday to take advantage of all sessions of Conference.
Sometimes I would wonder why we had to stay, but now I have to try to
fret when Rini distracts me, which is quite easy for a 19-month old to
do! Amazing what a couple of decades will do, eh?

Success

Conference went well. We only had one major crash, and I was able to
get it back up and running within a couple minutes. Kind of weird
working with a giant screen. Rini surprised me a couple times during
conference. She actually sat beside me and folded her arms for the
first ten minutes straight! She also did the same thing a few hours
later in the second session. Simply amazing.

The biggest surprise was the announcement of the Calgary Alberta
Temple! Wow! I would think that Jess, Chris, and Liz and company in
Southern Alberta should be quite pleased with that announcement! I'm
going to guess that the next Canadian temple will be in Ottawa, but
then again, I could be wrong. Vancouver might get their own temple
before then. The important thing, for me anyway, would be to attend
the temple here in Edmonton. That was the reason they built it. I
was planning to attend sometime this month, but I still need to get a
hold of Dad. He's the only with the plan, and I think he said that it
would be on the 18th of the month. I could be wrong, but I hope it's
not next weekend.

October 11 I'm helping some friends move, and they have already lost
some of their helpers. That's how the chips fall sometimes.

If all goes well tomorrow, we'll be heading home about 8pm. If not, I
don't know what we're going to do. But I have been charged with
keeping Rini occupied, or else we won't be going home. Caitlin needs
to get her sewing project done for tomorrow, and unless she can focus
her undivided attetion, it won't get done. Sad but true.

Intertesting thing of note. Rini is starting to favour her left hand.
I am quite sure that it's too early to tell if she will be
left-handed, but this girl is quite the creative sort. I wonder how
well she would relate to Auntie Liz.

There was also a talk in Conference, I believe it was Elder
Worthlin's, in which I was reminded about a time I learned true
terror. Kind of silly in retrospect, but I was never quite as scared
as I've been in my life before as when I thought I lost Rini. I was
out front, putting something in the car, and I turned around, and Rini
was gone. I looked on the road, not there. Across the street, not
there. In the backyard, not there. Only then did I think of looking
West, and there she was on their steps, looking at their kitty. I
usually don't worry about Rini, but at that moment, I was in a panic,
and terror was contorting my mind to all sorts of bad ends.

Made me wonder if our Heavenly Father thinks the same when his spirit
children lose their way. He knows how things will work, and he is
eternally patient, but he is our Father, and knows that we can make
mistakes and get lost from time to time.

Bigger is not always better

I am currently typing this out on my home computer, but I have it hooked up to a 52" TV.  Pretty cool, when you think about it, but at the same time, I'm not going to do it to my TV when I get home.  Well, maybe, but I'm not going to leave it like that.  The resolution is rather poor since he connection is S-video.  I'm sure it would look better on a smaller screen, and our TV is signifigantly smaller than 52"!  I have it hooked up with the hope of watching conference using the internet.  It won't be a perfect picture, but it will be something, and it will be better than crowding around the computer screen.

 

The only big problem that I forsee is keeping the cords out of the way.  I can see Rini or Aldo tripping across the cables, and POOF!  We have to wait until they archive it online  That would be about a day, but it's better to hear somethings live.  Needless to say, Conference is going to be quite the experience this time around.  Especially since I have the wifi set up Chez Tolley.  We might have an audiio stream running upstairs, because if we had two video streams running that would eat up too much bandwidth.  At least I think so.  I don't really want to experiment with it too much, because we would miss conference!  I suppose we could try during the musical numbers or something.  I am not blessed with the gift of perfect foresight, or else I would be working for CSIS. 

Wow she's smart! Or average...

As I mentioned earlier, Rini can say a few words in Chinese, of which we were somewhat surprised. I'm thinking it's the fact that Chinese is more tonal than english, or maybe it's just the fact that she's working with a blank slate. You would have to forget most everything that you know about english to even begin to learn Chinese. It might also be the fact that it's easier for her to say. I don't know. "Thank you" as compared to "Shieh-shieh" (rough enunciation), or "Ni-hao" compared to "Hello."

I also thought Rini was making progress with drinking from a cup! Nineteen months old and she can drink from a cup all by herself! Wow! Yeah. Turns out that back in the day, sippy cups didn't exist, and kids learned to drink from a cup as soon as they were weaned. Some at one year, some earlier. Crumbs.

I think I'm going to start teaching her Greek.

Rollercoaster

Funny how life can bring you up and down to the point that you forget that your day has only been 24 hours long instead of 48, 72 or even 168. I've been up since 6am, common thing now with my job, and I'm starting to get used to that. Around noon, I received word that a family friend had died. It was my in-laws family friend, hence I didn't have extremely strong attachments, but my wife was beside herself when she heard the news. Well, not literally, because she was busy comforting her mother when she heard the news. I wished that I could have been there to comfort her, but I was at work and we were in the middle of getting our month end together. That was some crazy stunts. I did manage to get most everything wrapped up, and I got the deposit to the bank, which is a sight better than yesterday. I almost thought that I was done for when I got to the bank and found that the door was locked. Mercifully, there was an attendant standing at the door letting people out, and keeping most everyone else out, who saw that I only had a business deposit and she let me in. Bless you, woman!

Although Iron Man was release on DVD today, I didn't have a burning urge to get it. Especially because if I bought it, I would want to watch it, and if I watched it, then Caitlin and my mother-in-law would want to watch it. I remembered that there was a scene, in the Middle East, where raiders are wrecking havoc. At one point, they are herding people this way and that, and they seperate a father from his family. His son breaks free of the terrorists grasp and runs to his father who embraces him.

I don't think either my wife nor my mother-in-law would react well to that. I can wait a couple days. Or weeks.

The greatest irony is that my way of coping with the news of the passing of the family friend was to bury myself in work. When I got home, I played with Rini for a bit, and then watched some episodes of House Season 4. Understanding and mourning a lost loved one by looking to drama.

Is it the fact that I don't want to deal with it, or that I don't feel I feel the need? I'm not sure. What I do know is that he is going to be watching his family from afar, and that they will see each other again. As sure as I will see my grandfather again.

On that note, I need to get to the temple soon. Thankfully temple recommends are good for two years now. I almost thought that mine was two months expired!

While I'm mentioning things I forgot, I also forgot to get the CD in the mail! I think it would help if I actually stepped foot inside our home today, but I guarantee I will be there tomorrow! Why? Rent is due. So, tomorrow, rent and CD, priority A-1.

I best sign off, or else my day will be longer than 24 hours.

Rejuvination

The craziest thing that happened today was when we left Rini in her chair because she wouldn't say please to get out. She literally sat there for 45 minutes before she put her hand to her chest in an effort to make the sign for please, but she would not audibly say it. I've been told that it's my fault. Whether it's because I'm stubborn to the point that I think teachers are wrong because there is no way that I can be in the wrong, or because I've done crazy stunts like riding my bicycle across Cyprus, aparently I'm the stubborn one. At first we thought that this was a battle of wills and we would just watch her until she said please. Then we get the message from Kallie that she's still getting attention, so we had to leave. That raised her noise output by about 20 decibels. Rini's, of course. That little girl has quite the set of lungs.

I don't know if she gets that from me or Caitlin, or a bit of both. Probably both.

Work is getting a little harried, because we are approaching our month end, and we have to get some of our invoicing done, or else some of the sales agents will not get paid. That would be killing the golden goose, so I'm kind of under the gun here. Yet, the atmosphere is much more calm than I ever experienced at Source. Might be due to the fact that I know I'm not going to be taking part of the Christmas rush! That's a load off my shoulders.

I went by the Millwoods store today, just to see how things were shaping up, because I knew that Mike was gone by now. There was a new manager in place, and I could see him doing well in the store. Also there as a full time associate was Mike, aka Old Mike, from Southgate. He was there on a permanent transfer. There were a few new people starting, but oddly enough I didn't hear mention of Celyne's name. I wonder if she is still there? Maybe I can check it out when I go to HMV tomorrow. Hmmm... I'm not sure if I should go, because Caitlin might get Iron Man for my birthday. Then again, we might be getting Sleeping Beauty, since that will be hitting the shelves Oct 7. Meh. I would like to have Aurora added to the library, but Tony Stark would be an awesome addition too!

That calls for a little air guitar!
Baumm baaaa ber neer neer
Badum badum badum ber beer neer neer!

Hee hee.

Or the Watchmen graphic novel. Or maybe a family get-together. My parents haven't seen Rini for ages now. Uh oh. It'll still be a little while before they see her, because I just realized I forgot to mail off that CD today! And Caitlin even told me to pick up some things at home, which I did!

Well, I am just the fool today.

First Ward Activity

I was chatting with Caitlin at the "Linger Longer" Potluck our ward had after church today, and I asked her, "When was the last Ward Activity we attended?" To which I received a bit of a shock when she replied, "In this ward? This is our first one." We have been in the ward for thriteen months, and we have never attended a ward activity. NEVER. Until today. I would think that attending church would at least count, but the activities commitee do not have a hand in planning sacrament meeting, or any of the other meetings in the three hour block. Now that I think about it, we haven't been attending church for the full three hours for quite some time either! Man, you have got to love Nursery!

It feels a little cold to drop off Rini and then leave as quickly as you can so that you don't hear the ear-piercing shriek that emits from her frame. But we both know that she only does that for about five minutes. Then she gets distracted by the other kids, or the toys, or the toys the other kids are playing with. When Caitlin went to pick up Rini last week, she was chasing bubbles around with the other kids. This week when I went to pick up Rini, she was asleep in one of the Nursery workers arms. I apologize that I don't remember this Sister's name! Turns out that Rini was falling asleep - yes, she was that tired that she was falling asleep in Nursery! - and this Sister picked her up so that she didn't get stepped on. Rini had only snoozed off for about ninety seconds when I arrived, and she woke up straight away. She is currently sleeping like the dead.

Funny thing happened in Priesthood. I was sitting through opening exercises, taking it all in, when I'm snapped out of my trance when I heard my name called. Turns out that I was going to be giving the "Hometeaching Moment" that day. I should not have been surprised, because Kurt assigned it to me over a week ago, and gave me a reminder last Sunday. Nevertheless, I had realized when he announced my name, that I had completely forgotten and by so doing had prepared nothing. I walked to the front as calmly and collected as I could. It was much like bearing a testimony, because as I spoke, the words came. I thought back to my hometeaching experience this past week, and yes, I had done it, and I had helped out my family because they had not gone through the lesson yet, and I got to meet a few more people in the ward. Something I had been lacking in doing for the past year. At that moment I realized what my story was for hometeaching. My hometeacher had been my link to the church for the past year. When the Bishop thought we had gone inactive, and statistically I think we had, my hometeacher knew that it was just a matter of scheduling that blocked us from attending church. He knew we wanted to go, and he was constantly checking up when he hadn't seen us at church for a week or two. After I told that story I closed things up saying that I hope that I would be that kind of hometeacher to my families, and I sat back down.

I then confided to my hometeacher, who was sitting beside me, about my folly in not filling the hole in my head that allowed that speaking assignment to fall out. We had a good laugh, and then someone sitting behind us mentioned, that no one could tell I had just winged it.

Sometimes that works. Sometimes it really, really does not. I recall a 30 second rendition of a five minute youth talk I was to give in sacrament meeting back in St. Albert. You could feel the heat from the firey crash on that one!

Time for bed. My commutte is going to be a lot longer tomorrow, since I'm going to be driving in from Beaumont. Caitlin and I are camping out Chez In-laws this week, so Caitlin can help with a sewing consignment project. Yeah, money! Boo, long drive! Mind, I might be able to car pool a couple of days this week. :)

A return to Geekiness

Although Rini had a bit of an upset stomach last night, she seemed okay today. Hence I was bold and took her with me to visit a friend I have not seen for some time. He was beside himself when he saw the DVDs that I brought over, Clone Wars Volume one and two. We managed to get through the first disc, but we had to get going home by thetime we got the second disc in. We watched up to the knighting of Anikin, but then we realized that Rini needed to get to sleep, and she wouldn't be able to sleep there!

Although the visit was partially inturupted by my rushing out temporarily to pick up Caitlin from the Women's Broadcast, we were able to get some good guy time in. Caitlin is right. I don't spend enough time with other guys. I partially blame my old job for that. Kinda hard to keep in touch with church friends when YOU DON'T GO TO CHURCH! Very glad that my new job lets me attend church meetings again. Have I mentioned that before? Well, it bears repeating.

Another geeky thing I did today, which has been long overdue, was that I burnt my first CD with the burner on our computer. Ridiculously easy, and the only reason that I didn't do it earlier is simply because I didn't have any discs to burn. Funny that it only took a trip to Staples to fix that problem. Further funny is the fact that I worked in a store where we had CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and Lightscribe versions of both discs stocked on a regular basis, and I never thought to dig out $10 and buy a dozen or so. I NEVER bought discs at The Source by CC, and I worked there for two years! That's rather odd, seeing I bought the burner, USB card, memory card reader, camera, memory cards, and a boatload of batteries, as well as a wireless router and card, not to mention a network card for my landlord's computer all at The Source. All that stuff, and I never bought CDs. And it's not that I went and bought CDs somewhere else. I never bought them anywhere until I was done, and into my new job.

That is really weird.

Now that I got that out of my system, I should mention that it was not the burning of the disc itself that was long overdue, but rather what is on the disc. Pictures of Rini, Caitlin and myself for my parents. They do have internet, but it's dialup, and the postal service can get the CD, with 160 pictures on it, to their computer faster than their dialup could. There are actually a lot more pictures, and videos, that I could have put on the disc. Hmm... Maybe I'll burn another tomorrow. The mail won't be picked up until Monday anyway.

Service Surprise

A couple days ago, I received an email from my Elders Quorum
Presidency. With the women's broadcast tonight, there was a certain
amount of chairs that needed to be set up. Usually this kind of thing
is brought up on Sunday, but I guess there was some kind of scheduling
goof up, because I only received a couple days notice. Nevertheless,
I did have the time available and I made a note to attend.

Caitlin and Rini came along, so we made it a bit of a family activity.
Especially when we overestimated how long it would take to get to the
chapel, and we wound up taking a walk around the building.
Fortunately, the weather was seasonably warm, and we had some decent
jackets on. Rini had a ball running around looking at all the trees
and fallen leaves. I'm sure she would have loved it even more if the
leaves crunched, but it rained this morning, so the leaves only
crunched a little if at all.

Once we got in, we were still a little early for setting up the tables
and chairs. The only reason that we were able to get into the chapel
was because another ward was having a baptism, and they arrived early
to fill the font. We found a couple basketballs and a soccer ball
that we played with for a little until we decided that we should start
setting up. We had just set up about ten tables when we received word
of how the setting was supposed to be, and we were doing it wrong.
Simple fix though, and even simpler once a couple more people showed
up.

That's kind of the sad part too. Only two other men showed up to help
with the chairs and tables. There were a number of sisters who were
helping in the kitchen and working on the centerpieces. Caitlin also
helped with laying out the tablecloths. Meh. It really wasn't all
that tough with three brethern.

Good exercise!

Tomorrow, I'm going to get together with a friend I haven't seen for
some time. I'm looking forward to this guy's night/afternoon out,
even though we'll be spending the time with our respective children
because our wives will be at the Women's Broadcast. I only hope that
Rini doesn't have anything contageous, but I'm thinking the reason she
threw up tonight was because of the brownie she ate.

Another thing I'm a little concerned about is that she's not saying
"Please" anymore. Whenever we prompt her to say it, she becomes
silent. Or screams. Or hits. But whatever she does, she does not
say "Please." She is almost 2 years old, and she might be moving into
ye olde rebilious stage one. Officially there are three rebelious
stages. One at two years old, the second at five, and the third at
thirteen. I'm thinking that each one is progressively stronger, and
builds upon the previous one. None of the stages end, but tend to
lessen in intensity from time to time. Like when they're asleep!

Takes after her father

You could say that Rini was taking after her father, or her mother
depending on how you define the context, in her behaviour tonight.
We were trying to teach her how to ask to get out of her chair.
Prompting "Mama", "Down", "Please". She was being quite the goof,
because she would say "Mama, <something unintelligable assumed to be
'down'>" then after our prompt for 'please', "Juice!" Yeah.

Me: "Daddy"
Rini: "Dada"
Me: "Down"
Rini: <mumble something or other, but I guessed it to be 'down'>
Me: "Please"
Rini: "Juice!" <giggle hysterically>

So I made up a song, sung to the tune of the Chorus of "Jerk It Out"

My daughter
Is such a goof.
The way she's acting is more than proof.
She frustrated my wife,
Hey but that is life.

I can't wait until this girl is a teenager.

OH WAIT! I can!

No more drip!

This might sound a little odd to celebrate a lack of sound, but
anytime Rini goes down for a nap, you would think that it is time for
a celebration of sorts.

Today, I fixed up Andy's computer, and he in turn fixed up our kitchen
tap. The computer was a very easy fix. First, the network cable was
plugged into the on board ethernet port, which doesn't have any
drivers. This was a problem that I already solved by installing a new
ethernet card. They had just forgotten to plug the cord into it.
Also the cord was not plugged into the router, so we were not getting
any internet signal either. Again, quick fix. Finally, the biggest
reason the internet was not working: the modem was on standby. Press
of a button and we were in business again.

The taps were fairly simple as well. First we shut off the water to
the taps, simple, then we removed the... parts. I want to call them
spigots, but I think the proper name is cartridge. In any case, once
that part was out, it was plain that the reason for the leak was due
to the leak in the O-rings. They were quite damaged and needed to be
replaced. One trip to Home Depot, and the solution presents itself.
Or so I thought. Andy and I went to Home Depot with the cartridges
and the O-rings, hoping that it was be a quick, in and out ordeal.
Turns out they were sold out of the O-rings that we needed, but there
were some other stores that had them. Clairview and St. Albert.
Uh... Yeah. No. We just bought new cartridges that cost $4 more, and
they also had new O-rings on them. After that, it was a simple matter
to install the cartridges. Then turn on the water, and... NO MORE
DRIPS!

Last night, we kept a 4L milk jug under the tap to catch the water.
It was full by morning. The time to fix that tap had definitely come!
It is so much nicer not to have to worry about the tap, or listen to
the incessant dripping. Caitlin is very happy for that!

And as the saying goes, "Happy Wife; happy life."

Prayful girl

One thing that I'm proud that Rini has figured out is prayer. I'm not
quite sure if she's figured out that we address Heavenly Father
because we're speaking to God, but she does cross her arms, and most
of the time she will stay still for the entirety of a prayer. She
does have some trouble when we're in sacrament meeting, and the
opening or closing prayer goes on for longer than five minutes. Two
or three minutes, she's fine. When we have our evening family prayer
or mealtime prayer, she's fine!

We would get her to start saying prayers, but we are still having a
trial of a time to get her to ask for drink, toys or 'up.' Whenever
we try to prompt her, ie. Say 'Daddy', say 'juice', say 'please', she
usually follows those prompts. When she's impatient, she'll jump
right to the end and say 'peaz'.

The closest we have tried for family scripture study is reading her
Book of Mormon board books. She also has a Bible board book, and we
read from that sometimes. We need to move on to the bigger things.

One other thing. Rini hasn't said "Thank you" very much, but she can
say it in Chineese quite well! Maybe we should do that for a bit.

More exploration

I think that Rini is getting to be smarter than we give her credit
for. That, and we are going to have to seriously look into getting a
proper bed for her very soon. The playpen isn't working so well
anymore because she's figured out that the bottom can come up, and
when she does that, she gets stuck.

We have the offer of a toddler bed for $50. The only thing is that we
would have to travel to St. Paul to pick it up. Oie. Might have to
hold out on that one, or find something a little bit closer. Maybe
IKEA, or maybe Kijiji. I hear there's lots of stuff there! The other
thing to check would be that yahoo group that I used to subscribe to.
I'll have to dig around for that though.

Rini is getting to be a climbing fiend. One of her favourite
activities is to climb on the computer chair, and then let herself
down by sliding underneath the armrest. She also does that with the
rocking chair too. I'm thinking we might have to take her bouldering
one day, but we'll see how that pans out.

One thing that she's climbing quite well is her car seat. We only
have to help her when she gets out now. She quite capable of getting
into the seat all by herself! Mind, she hasn't quite figured out how
to secure the seat, so we do have to conitnue helping with that little
bit.

Kallie pointed out that skill development works differently with girls
than it does with boys. The general pattern of development with boys
is: First, fine motors skills; Second, verbal skills; and third, gross
motor skills. With girls, the pattern is the opposite. Gross motor
skills develop first, and then you have the verbal skills, and then
the fine motor skills develop. Rini has already mastered the basic
ambulatory skills, such as crawling, walking, running, climbing and
descending stairs. Right now she's trying to pull up the cover on the
base of the playpen. Why? I'm assuming because she can!

A interesting bit of advice I got tongiht from an experienced father
of three boys and two girls. The relationship a father has with his
sons is different than the one that he has with his daughters. Mostly
because the daughters tend to get away with murder. I don't think
that I'll be quite like that. Then again, I've never been a father
before, and I'm just learning as I go here.

Yesterday, Caitlin and I discussed an odd matter, planning in advance.
We discussed when would be the best age for Rini to get a cell phone,
bank account, and allowance. We decided that allowance would start
when she started school, and would segue into compensation for chores
done around the house when she's fourteen. That would be about the
time that we would consider a cell phone. I would want her to have a
phone once she starts dating. Caitlin said sixteen would be the ideal
age for that, but I thought that fourteen would work just as well,
because that's group dating age. We still have at least twelve years
to discuss this, and with the way technology is running, things might
be a bit different in ten years. Or the pessimist in me thinks that
we'll be on the edge of armagedden anyway so we won't be worrying
about trite things like cell phones.

New Job!

Just got the phone call this morning, and I put in my notification soon after. As of 8 Sep 2008, I will be working at Pro-Tech Seal in the Accounts payable department. Wage is higher than where I am right now, hours are better, and it's still close to home! I was getting a little worried because we just started vacation here in Banff, and we are pretty much broke already. I know. Backwards vacation. You're supposed to be broke at the end of vacation!

Still, I'm glad I got this job offer, because I had the worst sleep last night worrying about how our vacation is going to work, since I could only think of the financial turmoil that would be waiting for us back home.

Most everyone was praying for this, and even this morning Caitlin said in our couple prayer, that "I would be lifted of a great burden." She could tell that I was distressed. Wasn't hard to notice!

And I'm just the opposite now. This is going to be a great vacation!

Crazy Weekend

This weekend was a little bit of chaos and chance. First, David Pratt
and Chantal Bennett FINALLY got married! Their reception was on
Saturday, so I didn't bother trying to book it off, because I figured
that I would go to work, and then go to the reception afterwards,
since work was done at 6pm, and the reception started at 7pm.
SURPRISE! We had inventory on Saturday! I told Dave that I wouldn't
be going, and Caitlin didn't want to go if I didn't, because it would
be hard to enjoy the time while taking care of Rini. And then Caitlin
and I had some headshots scheduled at Chan International on Sunday,
and I noticed that there was a big X through my request for time off.
Turns out we were doing tilts - counting corrections - the next day,
and no one had the day off that day either! Oh cwap!

At this point, I'm thinking that my weekend has been absolutely
destroyed, but I fought to get it in my favour. I mentioned to Mike
that I needed time off for the appointment on Sunday, but I would come
back and help with tilts right afterwards. That he approved.
Inventory, there was no getting out of that, and I knew that I
couldn't even fake getting sick on that one. Miracle upon miracle, we
finished early! We had everything counted by about 8pm, and even
though there was plans to go to Boston Pizza afterwards, I told
everyone that I preferred to go to my best friends' wedding reception.
After I said that, everyone told me to leave. :) I sped home, not
too much over the speed limit, I'm not stupid, and we got ourselves
ready to go quick quick, and we were out the door, ready to go in
fifteen minutes. A NEW RECORD! We missed the cutting of the cake and
the toast to the bride and groom, I'll bet Pete had a few good stories
about Dave, but we were still able to mingle with a lot of the guests.
Some of these people I had not seen in years. Leslie Jones, Robert,
Jared, and Tim Bennett, Ruth Fergueson Whiffin (Doug was feeling ill),
all the guys from Morgan Kern's old house (Mike, Luke, Chris Brooks
and their respective spouses, although Chris and Helen left before we
got there), and even the groom himself Dave Pratt, I had not seen in a
couple years. Lara Litchfield and I got to rub rings, hee hee, and I
was surprised to see Emily-Marie eight months pregnant. I never
thought that someone that small could carry a child that big. Thank
goodness for Facebook, or I might not have recognized some of them.
It was kind of weird because it made me feel old, especially when I
realized that I had known Chantal for thirteen years. We also got
there just in time for the dance to start, and we hung around for a
few songs. Numa Numa was a big hit! In the end, we were all grateful
that we were able to go and celebrate the union of Dave and Chantal.
Still can't believe they were dating for SIX years! That's long even
by worldly standards. Their engagement was pretty average by Mormon
standards, but ridiculously short compared to their dating time. Two
months. I suppose that keeps with the idea that it's a good idea to
have a long courtship, and a short engagement.

Today we got a "Track Pack" for Rock Band, for PS2 no less, and kind
of wanted to get it. Then I realized that I should enact the idea
that I've had for awhile, in fact since we got Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
for PS2. Get their CD's from the library, and go nuts on the air
guitar! As for DDR, the only reason I like the game is for the music.
I thought it would be a great way to get Caitlin up and going, but
turning on a CD and rocking out works just as well. I couldn't find
and Aerosmith, so I picked up Boston and Weird Al "Straight out of
Lynwood." I keep thinking we should buy some Weird Al CD's, but I
just rip them onto the computer and load them onto iPaq or my phone.
Rini likes dancing to music too, so CDs work well. That way we don't
need to worry about her getting in the way of anything. Hard to
concentrate on the dance pad when you have a little girl crawling
across it! I still think drums would be cool to try, but not to buy.
We already have too much stuff!

Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France

It's not fair to compare IMAX versions of Star Wars or other
mainstream films to films like Wired to Win. Some would think that
it's not worth your time or money to see documentaries in IMAX, when
you could go see Fung Fu Panda in a similar setting for the same
price. Nonetheless, at the beginning, you sort of wonder what you
paid for when the film starts with a family video of a kid riding a
bike for the first time. A couple of crashes, and then he's finally
riding.

It was similar to a magician's act in which you're not sure what's
going on, and you're fairly unimpressed, until he pulls back the
curtains with a dramatic WHOOSH! Then you forget everything you've
ever known, live in the moment, and try to take in every bit of detail
that's thrown at you.

Any fan of cycling should see this movie, because until they start
airing the Tour in HD, this is the most breathtaking coverage yet.
Just with the opening shot over the Alps and the peloton threading
their way through the perilous pass, it's enough to make you wonder
why they don't charge more for admission.

The documentary follows two athletes, one of whom suffers serious
injury and is forced to drop from the Tour. The second goes on to
claim Sprinter's victory in Paris. By a hair mind you, but he does
win.

The cycling fans will wonder why there isn't more bike action in the
film, but the CG sections that explain neurological pathways are
linked very effectively with the action. In one case, the Peloton is
on a decent through the Pyrenese and one of the cyclists hears the
warning cry, "Look out!" After this the camera follows the sounds
waves into the inner ear, stops in the cochlea where the sound is
processed, then hops aboard the auditory nerve to the brain where
Alfred Molina - another great reason to see this film - explains how
the brain gauges the importance of the warning.

This is something that the entire family would enjoy. People who
enjoy a good crash, learning more about the way your body functions,
and even those who love the sweeping vistas that the french
countryside is famous for. This IMAX feature will not disappoint.

VIVE LE TOUR!

Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France

It's not fair to compare IMAX versions of Star Wars or other
mainstream films to films like Wired to Win. Some would think that
it's not worth your time or money to see documentaries in IMAX, when
you could go see Fung Fu Panda in a similar setting for the same
price. Nonetheless, at the beginning, you sort of wonder what you
paid for when the film starts with a family video of a kid riding a
bike for the first time. A couple of crashes, and then he's finally
riding.

It was similar to a magician's act in which you're not sure what's
going on, and you're fairly unimpressed, until he pulls back the
curtains with a dramatic WHOOSH! Then you forget everything you've
ever known, live in the moment, and try to take in every bit of detail
that's thrown at you.

Any fan of cycling should see this movie, because until they start
airing the Tour in HD, this is the most breathtaking coverage yet.
Just with the opening shot over the Alps and the peloton threading
their way through the perilous pass, it's enough to make you wonder
why they don't charge more for admission.

The documentary follows two athletes, one of whom suffers serious
injury and is forced to drop from the Tour. The second goes on to
claim Sprinter's victory in Paris. By a hair mind you, but he does
win.

The cycling fans will wonder why there isn't more bike action in the
film, but the CG sections that explain neurological pathways are
linked very effectively with the action. In one case, the Peloton is
on a decent through the Pyrenese and one of the cyclists hears the
warning cry, "Look out!" After this the camera follows the sounds
waves into the inner ear, stops in the cochlea where the sound is
processed, then hops aboard the auditory nerve to the brain where
Alfred Molina - another great reason to see this film - explains how
the brain gauges the importance of the warning.

This is something that the entire family would enjoy. People who
enjoy a good crash, learning more about the way your body functions,
and even those who love the sweeping vistas that the french
countryside is famous for. This IMAX feature will not disappoint.

VIVE LE TOUR!

Exploring at the World of Science

Caitlin and I decided to take a trip to Telus World of Science. We
had heard about the Body Works exibit, and I was quite intrigued to
find out about this place. Little did I know, there is an extra cost
to see the exibit. Another surprise was one of the IMAX films, which
I had to see: Wired to Win:Surviving the Tour de France. I was nearly
jumping out of my boots when I saw the poster. I'm a sucker for these
things, and Caitlin agreed. Again, that's an added expense, but it
was just the two of us, because Rini is less than four years of age.
She still had fun in the Exploration gallery. Her favourite was the
Water station. Second favourite was the area with the giant gears and
keyboard. Her least favourite was the construction area, because she
wound up on the wrong side of a wall, and was seperated from Mommy and
Daddy! Oh no! Her life was over! I don't really know what her
opinion of the magnifying glass area was, because we didn't spend a
lot of time there. She only went there because it was on the way to
the water works.

She didn't have the best time in body works though. She wasn't
scared, it's just that she couldn't run around, or crawl on top of the
displays, and she had to be quiet, and we couldn't eat anything in
there! It was a nightmare for her! At first things we cool with the
running around, but once she realized she couldn't touch anything, it
was pretty boring. Then again, she was really quiet and attentive in
the gestation area. They had fetuses from the beginning of the fourth
week, all the way to 9 months. They also had a pregnant woman as
well. The lady had a terminal illness, and knew that she may not
survive the pregnancy. She died, as did the fetus, at eight months.
You feel bad for her, but at the same time you marvel that she had the
courage to submit her body, and her baby's, for the plastinization
process. It was a beautiful thing to see, and it made me feel for
Caitlin when I saw how compressed the organs were.

I was also very impressed with the heart displays. There was one
display with the cornonary arteries (yes, there are two coming from
the aorta, another thing I learned) and the heart could not have been
larger than a decently sized apple. Still, there was a network of
arteries. Tiny, whispy little things that I am amazed that anything
can get through there, but blood does, everyday, and it circulates to
keep you alive. Looking at something like that, I was amazed that
people don't die sooner from clogged arteries. The body can certainly
put up with a lot of abuse, and it's able to heal itself at the same
time. It's a marvel and a wonder, yet some hold to the belief that we
were randomly put together through a series of comsic chance events.
Yeah, I'm going to say no on that!

In the gift shop, there was a corner where there was an assortment of
toys, and Rini immediately went for the weelinks, a very unique set of
blocks that can be stacked in a variety of ways. They're kind of a
mix of Lego and stacking cups. Really cool, and we were going to get
a set at Cap Ex a couple of years ago, but that didn't happen. I
didn't want that oppurtunity to pass by again. So, $20 later, Rini
was proudly carrying out the blocks, even though the box was almost as
big as her!

She's remarkably smart, that little girl, and she's starting to get
the hang of walking down stairs, instead of crawling down them. She
reaches out for our hands ever now and then too. We had a pause on
the lawn outside Telus World of Science, and Rini was very attentive
when we told her to look but not touch the flowers. She stayed on the
perimeter, and even walked on the sidewalks for the more part. Just
watch, she's going to turn 2 and turn into a demon. Or maybe it'll be
at 13. One of these days, she's not going to be our little girl
anymore. Just have to remember, "Teach up a child the way s/he should
go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it."

Eragon

Three stars (out of five)

Watching this movie made me very glad that I had gambled on getting surround sound all those years ago. Right from the get go when dragons were flying around setting stuff, and each other, on fire, I got the message in my head, "Enjoy the ride." There was a substantial plot of a young boy, arrogant teen, who is thinking that he's got life figured out and knows where he's going, and then gets the wake up call of the wild, and discovers that he is the fabled hero that will overthrow the brutal John Malcovich. He leaves behind his home and kind stepfather, which were torn to pieces by assasins looking to cut the movie short by killing off the main character 20 minutes into the film.

I wish that I hadn't heard that it was a Star Wars rip off, because throughout the movie, I was searching for similarities and they were not that hard to find. You could almost hear Frank Oz when Jeremy Irons chastizes Eragon for leaving to pick up some chick that appeared to him in a dream. Turns out it's a trap and he has to fight a soceror to escape. He gets some help from his friends, and more importantly his dragon, and they run away to face off again. Round two has more people, more action, and the craziest showdown between Eragon and creepy sorceror guy. I was fully entralled by the arial battle, and I was even more pleased with how they handled the ending. I knew there is another book to the work the movie is based on, yet I found myself questioning whether Eragon would have to find himself another dragon. Jeremy Irons didn't, but he went out with a bang, and that was pretty cool. If I had a dragon entomb me in glass, I'd rest easy.

If it wasn't for the DTS surround sound that was rumbling throughout the movie, I don't think I would as happy about it. Okay story, Jeremy Irons, and a really cool dragon makes for some good entertainment. We might even buy the DVD just for the dragon. :)

Caitlin: Ditto the dragon!

Relief and character growth

Rini is feeling much better, and her rash is going away too. I was getting a little worried about her bottom, because it was getting really red, and she was constantly scratching. We got her into the medi-clinic across the street, but we need to get a family doctor again. My perscription is good for a few more months, but that is the clock, and it is ticking. Caitlin also told me that we should get Rini registered with the provincial health care. We already have a SIN for her, might as well get her registered with the government completely! So long as she doesn't have to get a chip implanted, I think we'll be fine. That little goof is getting around almost too well now. We are going to have to do some serious reorganization around here. Or we could move. That works too.

Our daughter is quite the character, because yesterday, I had some Spoon size Shredded Wheat for breakfast, and Rini climbed into my lap. I said, "Fold arms," and she folds her arms. Crazy enough, she does it in a formal way, in which she grabs her wrist. She looks quite dainty when she does. The funny thing, neither Caitlin, nor myself taught her how to do that. I used cutlery properly at age five or something and Caitlin sat like a lady with her legs crossed when she was still in diapers. Neither one of us received ANY teaching, formal or otherwise, to do so beforehand. After I said prayer, she didn't quite unfold her arms right away, so I started eating, and she wanted some too. So I would feed her a piece of cereal now and again. By the time I was done breakfast, she had eaten about a dozen pieces. For some odd reason, she won't do that with mommy, but she'll eat just fine with daddy. Then again, I didn't put her in her chair. Life is weird when you don't have a dinner table.

Wall E: The Experience

I could talk about a lot of things that happened over the past few days, but I'm going to focus on Pixar's latest creation, Wall E, but I'm not going to get to the movie quite yet. Another part of the Wall E experience is the video game that was released in time with the movie. Caitlin and I couldn't go and see the movie opening night, and on a whim I decided to rent the PS2 game, thinking that it would be the same thing. I know that video games based on movies can be very campy, very dumb, and the taste of the plot can be compared to a tepid, thin broth. I will thank my wife again for encouraging me to rent Happy Feet the game instead of buying it.

However, this can also be compared to reading the book before going to see the movie. With books, you have time to explore the surroundings, get to know the characters, and have a better idea of what the world is like, rather than witnessing a thoroughly wonderful story edited down to two or three hours. Wall E the game took me between five to six hours to complete, incredibly short for a game, but I didn't jump through all the hoops, per se. One very endearing feature of the game, which was not explored very much in the movie, was Wall E interacting with human artifacts. I can full well understand that there was not much more than was shown in the trailer (eg. bra, fire extinguisher, car remote) because it does not advance the plot. Plus, if you have seen the trailer, I could see some people thinking, "Ok, that's cute. GET ON WITH IT!" The plot of the game is also adjusted somewhat since **SPOILER ALERT** Wall E is damaged quite badly close to the end of the movie, and the other robots assist achieving the goal of returning the plant to the Holo emitter, as opposed to the game where Wall E places the plant himself. **End SPOILER ALERT** You play the role of Wall E and EVE, but EVE's controls are much more limited than Wall E's, and thus it's obvious Wall E would play a larger role in the game. In retrospect, playing the game was much like going through the special features on the DVD.

The game doesn't give away the entire movie, and I was very grateful for that. You did get a good run through of what the movie was about, but it was enough that the movie more than stands on its own.

I take that back, the movie doesn't stand on its own. It looms over the game and casts a shadow large enough to block out the sun, yet completes the game like a missing puzzle piece. Pixar has always strove to do themselves better, not only to prove to their audience that they know how to make good movies, but to show that they are passionate about what they do.

Wall E is part of a fleet of robots that were commissioned to clean up all the trash on the Earth, while everyone on earth shipped off on space cruise liners big enough to dwarf Super Star Destroyers and the Death Star. The clean up was supposed to only take five years, but seven centuries has passed and like most government projects, it wasn't completed yet. As for the fleet of units left behind to clean up, only one remains, and his only company is his pet cockroach. He's a big fan of "Hello Dolly!" and parallels the role of Cornelius Hackle, in which he dreams of seeing more than the wasteland that the world has become.

I was very excited for this movie, because I was looking forward to seeing how Pixar would do with a silent film. There are speaking roles, but the amount of dialogue is minimal compared to most animated films. Yet I dare say the animated robots emote more than some live action stars I've seen. For example, when you first see EVE, she's busy working away, like you would suspect a robot to do. However, immediately after the departure of the ship that dropped her off, she tears around like my daughter when I turn my back on her. Also Wall E's vocabulary is restricted to less than a dozen words, yet you really understand him and truly care for him. You also see his devotion for EVE, especially when he gets hit by lightning multiple times in an effort to keep her dry during a rainstorm.

Ever since I heard about this movie, I have had the highest hopes in terms of story, character, sets and backdrops. It excelled on every level I can think of, and then some. The game was a nice complement to the movie, especially the animatics when he finds artifacts, my favourite being the boomerang. It would have been nice to include his search for the other Wall E bot in the movie, but the movie was just as memorable without it. Pixar has made a name for itself in making very tight, very fun, and very moving pictures. Mark my words though, if the burnt out Luxo logo is not on the DVD, I will be buying the game.

I KNOW IT'S A ROCK!

For some odd reason that reminds me of a story I heard, back in seminary I think. There was a tree that was not supported properly, and it started to grow sideways. The person who owned it had to pruned it down severely in order to correct the growth. That's not right either, because when he looked back at what he had done he had a conversation with the tree in which the tree was defending the growth that he had done. The tree thought that it was become a marvelous bush, and the owner replied, "I am the gardener, and I know what is best. You are not meant to be a bush, you are meant to be a tree."

Then Dot says with a strain of unbelief, "But it's a rock!" Flick then rants, "I KNOW IT'S A ROCK! I spend a lot of time around ROCKS! You'd think I'd know a rock when I SEE one!"

The biggest thorn is the fact that I'm not all that sure of what I'm doing. I know what I want to do, but I'm not precisely sure how to do it, or if that's the right way to do it, and I don't want to screw it all up. All I want is to provide for my family. I'm not thinking about myself anymore. I'm just thinking about something that provides money, maybe not copious amounts, but enough to live. Then there's the idea of owning a home. Yikes. If we can't even provide for ourselves to the point that we can pay our bills NOW, how on earth can we even imagine to pay a mortgage! I haven't paid anything to my Canada Student Loans for over six months now, and I know that's going to hit me hard really quickly. The stupid thing is that I'm not sure if we can afford to pay out another $350 a month towards something else!

I need a new job. That's all there is to it. But the dumb thing is that I don't know what job I want to move to, and I want it to be something that I'll want to get up and do.

Okay, now I'm at an odd state. If I like my job, would that mean I would put it ahead of my family, and purposely avoid coming home because I like my job so much? I can't seem to find a happy medium here!

I would like to expand upon my acting, because Caitlin and I just finished some classes that we've been taking for the past few weeks, and I'd like to build upon that. I did learn a substantial amount, and by the end I was told that I just need to get to an audition and I would have a job. I'd like to see where that goes, because I'm obviously getting nowhere with Engineering. I also have a notion to take a PLC class in the fall, but I would have to make $1500 appear out of thin air for that to happen. Hmmm... Maybe we can do some kind of Rowan Atkinson thing.

On a happier note, the other day we went for a family bike ride. Caitlin finally has here bike from the Tolley's (they had a bike that mom Tolley wasn't using), and we also got a second-hand bike trailer from Eric and Kallie. Third-hand I suppose, since they got it from the Stouts. I also took Rini out my myself earlier on this week to get her a helmet, which she hates to wear of course. On Monday, we plan to do a trek out to Beaumont, something that I figure will take about an hour, seeing it took me 45 minutes on my own.

On 21 June 2008, I had a bit of a startling dream that I felt I had to write down. I wrote down as many of the details that we present in my mind, essentially working backwords until I was dry on images. Then later on I remembered that Terry McAlister had that weird ability to control the focal point of his lens, and could thereby look through perscription glasses, no matter the perscription. Something that can be handy if anything should happen to the character who fits that perscription, since the glasses have an ability that the main character will need. Something for another book, and I did enjoy writing back in November, and I plan to do it again this year.