Hannah's Birthday Party

Hannah-bear is three!

She had a Nemo themed birthday party, complete with a body of water (their inflatable pool) to swim in, but the dear little birthday girl doesn't like this pool and wouldn't get in it. (Her Mum said she loves hotel swimming pools!)

The little princess got an inflatable swan for the pool but since she didn't want to go in the water, the older girls (like Miranda) enjoyed playing with it.

It was sooo hot, Max the pug puppy walked around wet (hosed down to keep cool) with his tongue hanging out.

More party pictures here

Sunflower Update

On May 31st, Eelke and Miranda planted seeds in the back yard. As of today, the ones transplanted in the garden (they were originally planted in pots) are not as tall as the ones still in the pots, but they are still alive!

In the pots, about 20cm tall.
In the ground, about 12cm tall.

This evening, I transplanted a bunch from the pots into the flower bed in the front of the house, and planted a small carnation plant, a gladiola, and a polka dot plant (hypoestes phyllostachya). I pulled out a lot of plants and I hope they were weeds!! I don't remember planting any seeds this year in the front, and I don't know if Eelke and Miranda did.

The Time Traveler's Wife

"It's hard to be left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he's okay.

It's hard to be the one who stays.

I keep myself busy. Time goes faster that way.

I go to sleep alone, and wake up alone. I take walks. I work until I'm tired. I want the wind play with the trash that's been under the snow all winter. Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence?

Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. ..."

I almost bought this book in December, but instead opted for The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, because I had read somewhere it was supposed to be good. I still haven't been able to suffer past more than 40 of the 167 pages. But The Time Traveler's Wife has a different effect on me: I was sucked in before the first page even ended! (Now I'm on page 395, and still loving every moment of the story.)

Buddhist Thought of the Day

Ask yourself this; 'Are you a human being having a spiritual experience, or a spiritual being having a human experience? - Wayne Dyer, PhD

A Dream

Last night I had a dream that Eelke came home after being gone for less than a week. I didn't ask why he was back so soon. Then I saw a toilet, standing in the middle of the room, filled with water. It flooded over when I flushed it.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow (2.2.184-85).
... or in this case a few weeks longer...

Photos from the airport, out of focus because I was a little distraught that I did not notice the flash was turned off. :(

No Stanley Cup for us

On Monday, Deb, Jamie and I went to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals at Kelly's Pub. There was a suuuuper annoying girl sitting next to me, who kept screeching and screaming in my ear, giving me a great pain in my head. Fortunatley, she left after the first period of play.

The Oilers lost. :(

Deb and I walked back to her place (Jamie had his bike and no extra helmet) and ordered pizza. We stopped along the way and took a photo on a bus bench. She would kill me if she knew I posted this on the internet.

Zoo 2

In celebration of our last date in Edmonton, this Father's Day we took a trip to the zoo, since it was where we went on our first date. We saw the animals, Miranda and Eelke touched a tarantula, saw a man let a Black Widow spider crawl on him, ate ice cream, and Miranda went on a pony ride and saw her friend Amanda from tap class. ZOO PHOTOS

Happy Birthday to Me

It is 8am and there is such a pounding in my head, and it is not from the drinking at Eelke's farewell party last night... well maybe a little... but apparently the city thinks it is appropriate to tear up the concrete along Jasper Avenue, right in front of Eelke's place, at this ungodly hour on a Saturday morning. Any other Saturday might be ok, but this Saturday is the first Saturday morning where Miranda does not have tap class. grrrr!

They Gave Me The Crab

This morning I saw Michelle in the lobby on our way up to work so I figured I was safe. I was wrong. This is the state in which I found my desk... The sweet little buggers (Michelle, Jennifer, Stephanie and Lisa) took advantage of my leaving early yesterday (for Miranda's dance recital) and decorated my desk in honour of my birthday. Balloons, happy birthday banners, pink streamers, shiny bows gallore! Tim was kind enough (and all too willing) to part with the office crab.And Rhonda (unknowingly) surprised me with my favourite flowers!

Overheard in the Office

4PM Call Transfer Coworker #1: A lady just called wanting to speak to someone who knows Korean. Coworker #2: Uh, oh. No one here does. So, what did you do? Coworker #1: I transferred her over to the Ukrainian Village Branch. Ukrainia is near Korea, right? 7000 County Line Road Burr Ridge, Illinois via Overheard in the Office, Jun 15, 2006

Miranda's pre-game song

Miranda, with her Oilers game-face on, wrote a song while watching the pre-game show leading up to game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. She asked me if I would like to hear her sing it, and so she reads off her paper,

Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers
Go Go Go Oilers

Then she says, Mummy, my song is called Go Oilers.

heehee how cute.

She then proceeded to tell me she was going to cheer for the following players: Pisani, Ponger (heeehee, I corrected her that his name is Pronger), Peca, and the two Smiths, the one with the "I" and the one with the "Y". She also wishes that Roloson was playing again, and isn't his knee better yet? she asked.

You never know what you might see in the mall

On Monday I happened across the Western Conference cup on display at the City Centre mall.

You never know who you might see

You never know who you might see when you go for lunch at Quiznos.

Sometimes you just happen to run into Don Cherry, like we did today.

Recently Read

A few weeks ago I finally finished reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. I got hung up on the part where he started talking about botany and biology. I should have pushed through it sooner because after that he moves into genetics and then it was interesting again. I loved the stories about the chemists and
astronomers and geologists!

In only a few evening, I read The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, a historical fiction about the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which were woven in the late 15th century, and which now hang in the Cluny Museum in Paris. I liked it! And found it to be quite different than the other books in the same genre I have read, but perhaps that is because most of the historical fiction books I have read have the focal point being the royal families, whereas this one is not about kings and queens.

Continuing with the historical fiction books, I have started to read Girl With A Pearl Earring, also by Tracy Chevalier, about the famous painting, by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. The painting (with the same name at the book) was painted in the 1660s, and now is housed at The Mauritshuis in The Hague. Once I am done, I will watch the movie, but I imagine it will not be as good as the book.

After that, I will be reading Falling Angels , also by Tracy Chevalier,
about the Edwardian era, beginning on the day after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 and ends on the night before King Edward’s funeral in 1910.

The downside of me reading these books is that it makes me want to see all this historic things overseas. I want to go to Paris and see the tapestries! I want to go see the famous paintings! I want the same thing Miranda wants - to go to Buckingham Palace and see the Queen (and the crown jewels). I totally live on the wrong side of the ocean.

Fence Painting Party

Sunday we found ourselves in Rineke's back yard for her fence painting party. Oh joy! you might think. Actually, it was a lot of fun. It was a great day to be outside, sunny and warm, but not too warm to be uncomfortable. With so many people around it wasn't like work at all. The food Rineke set out as reward for the hard work was wonderful! The kids also helped with the painting, played with Cleo & Minoes (the dog & cat), climbed in the tree, and even tried to sell cookie and limonade. When we ran out of paint we had a nice dinner, drank beer and wine, and kicked a soccer ball around. Don't you wish you had been there? ;)

more photos can be seen HERE

Observation

I gave Miranda a new note book today. She thanked me, and as she was walking out of the room she said, "Almost everything is made in China!" heehee She reads even the small print on everything!