helllllllllooooooo summer!

Summer has arrived and I love it!!!!! The sun is shining. I am out on my bike again with an added little companion being towed behind in my bike trailer. It's wonderful. And on a sidenote...I feel like my bike was meant for a kid. The little baskets have great storage, it only goes three gears...I predict there will be quite a few bike rides in our future...not just the 4 we have had in the last 4 days.

What has happened in the last month....

With the little: she is practicing her gymnastics skills lately. Swinging on any bar she can find (even if it means it's right above the slide (mom panic). Practicing somersaults. And continuing her love of swings and slides, going head first down the latter. Not to mention the independence that she takes doing them. These adventurous skills were taught lovingly by her dad. She is turning more into a monkey as the days go by (and growing up).

Growing up so much that we are finally starting to see more sleep nights than wake up nights. WOW. I never thought I would see that day come and had no idea it would take a year and a half! Phew!

Her favourite song right now is Handclap by Fitz and the Tantrums. So much so that if you play it, it will need to be played over and over and over again or we will get our out "tantrum" ha. She loves it as it is fast to dance with and slow....but obviously she needs a companion, so as soon as it goes on she must grab a stuffy or doll.

As far as words, we are getting lots of no, and yeah's. Mom is definitely being said with meaning like Daddy and doggie. And we are getting the nods and shakes of the head. She really loves to say car and truck and being in both (the front seat playing that is). Whenever she sees a red truck she always points to it and says "Daddy" which cracks me up. Plus little words everyday that I can't keep track of. ABC's is still a fun song to sing and Frere Jaques, Shaker song, 5 little ducks and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Plus counting to 10 (can you tell her dad is a teacher...good dad).

We have had dates with friends that she particularly loves. Even though she has to assert herself that she is old too and doesn't need to be carried around all over the place. One particular fun day was going to the spray park/park with friends. All the adults got to sit around, eat pizza and talk and the young ones got to jump around on the playground and splash around in the spray park. It was a great night. Lots of geese and poop though...but still fun all the same.

Our gardens are in full swing. The veggies (Mark's passion) in the back and the flowers (mine) in the front. And some future landscaping next year as we tragically lost a tree last week in a wind storm. Crazily so, that we both watched it as it went from slightly bent to all the way over. The ideas now are flowing with some edible shrubs and pumpkins along with flowers and rocks. Next years project obviously as this years is all about the....

Bees. They have arrived. They have a home and it appears that they are producing. All good news and I am sure more to say except I am no beekeeper and really know nothing about it. Except to say that they are extraordinarily fun to watch. When people say "busy as bees" I actually know what that means now as they are busy. The combs look like artwork. And Mark seems to be enjoying it quite a bit which is fun to watch. Oh and only one stung person so far...me as I stepped on one when they first came in. Not bad. In all seriousness they really do keep to themselves and you can go right up to them without fear as they don't seem bothered. Now mess with their home....that's different.

Now it is just time to sit back and enjoy the BBQ's, the ice cream (toddler's with ice cream are hilarious), sport ball (golf last time) and the weather.

My car broke down the other day (oh game of life) and because of summer I am not even bothered by it. Mainly because of my dear bike (going back to the beginning of this post). I love that bike! However picking the car up tomorrow, fingers crossed!

In the news: The oilers are out of the playoffs. Sad night for me as I really started to get into it. Surveys are out to redevelop the playground in our neighbourhood (yay)!

I just finished Girls the last season. Girlboss. Beauty and the Beast 2017. Gifted. All wonderful shows and movies. And I watched Moana again because I love that movie so much! Also saw Love the Coopers...meh.

That's about it!
Happy Summer
xoxo

oooooooo james corden

so this guy i have a teeny little crush on...mainly cause he loves to sing in his car the way i do and his laugh makes me laugh....AND now he has done a carpool karaoke with broadway showtunes!

love. too bad the last song brought on crocodile tears from the little one. need to teach her the awesomeness of broadway as i need dates in the future!




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I love a good weekend

Especially when it is spent with good friends. 

And when you get to see good music on top of it. 

Like the Dixie Chicks. 

Who were fantastic. Even if I was hoping for some sass. 

But seriously. Love the voice and the music

And then the fun weekend continues. 

With a birthday celebration for a special lady. 

Shopping, catching up and laughs were involved. 

Plus eating out and chatting some more. 

Then I return home to the falling (first) snowfall of the year. 

To watch rental movies with my husband. 

And to cosy up on the couch today and continue watching movies. 

Eat leftovers and have pie. 

Life is good. 

And needs to be savored. 

Where have I been?

New York. Yes I think it is official. I have a slight obsession with that city. I love it. Everything about it. I don't know if I ever want to live there, but visiting is fantastic...maybe yearly...or at least every two years?  He he he.

This time around I went with Anita. Anita was not the type of traveller I thought she would be. At least when it came to New York. She wasn't interested in seeing every sight you could. Instead she wanted to shop and see plays. A girl after my own heart. 

So that is what we did. Shop. We, visited my favourite toy store, FAO Schwartz, where Anita made her sister a muppet....so exciting. And I enjoyed all the big candy. Too bad my suitcase wasn't big enough. We then trekked to Dylan's candy store to ogle at all the other wonderful sweet treats. And I may have dragged Anita to the M&M store to bulk up on coconut, raspberry and mint M&M's. 

 After the sugar coma we treated ourselves to some fantastic plays. Book of Mormon, controversial yet amusing. Avenue Q the anti-Sesame Street with puppets and hilarious songs. And my personal fav. Newsies. My favourite musical as a preteen come to life on the stage with fantastic dancing, songs and sets. Loved it. I may have danced all night....and the morning....and the afternoon....AND on the plane.

It wasn't all plays and shopping. We did check out Central Park on a beautiful 24 degree day. Performers, comedians, boat rides and baseball games all around. I love that place. So quiet in the middle of a big city. Along the walk (as that is the only way we got around, minus one water taxi ride) was grand central station, Madison square park, the flat iron building, the Statue of Liberty, the freedom tower, ellis island, St Patricks cathedral, the intrepid, Brooklyn bridge, Rockefeller square, Times Square, Macy's, Empire State Building and my fav the top of the rock at night. 

We did eat too. Sushi at Tao, Maine lobster at db bistro, pasta galore along restaurant row, Thai, pizza, pretzels, hot dogs, and Indian. Plus red velvet cupcakes, coconut cake...Yum.

And a visit to Hoboken, New Jersey to visit Carlos Bakery from Cake Boss. Sidenote for fans of the show. You will probably enjoy this. And props to giving front of the line service to locals as they are your loyal customers. Personally it will only be a one time visit for me. The wait was excruciating and I think with the amount of money probably made by them (we were seeing orders of approx. 50-100 $ a customer), they could organize a bit better and employ a few more. But the cannolis were amazing! But I digress....

All and all a fantastic holiday. With a bit of apartment madness from our renter as the neighbour complained about him and we may have received a subpoena on his behalf. But the place was what it was suppose to be minus those little hitches. Ha ha. 

And Anita was a great traveller. For a girl that has her camera always ready it was refreshing to watch Anita just take things in. She would pull out the camera every once in awhile but really liked to just look around and watch. Take in the memories. It was nice. And she was sympathetic to my struggles as I was having a bit of GI and cold issues the day before and a couple of days in (Sidenote I seem to always get sick a couple of days prior to leaving New York. All three times. Weird). Good times with a good girlfriend.

Overall I am grateful. 

Lets talk about my husband

I talk about him at times on this little diddy. I was driving in the car and heard a song and thought of him. It was a song that he downloaded before it became radio play. And it is a really good song. A socially aware song. And then I got to thinking how much I admire Mark.

You see I am the type of person who seeks out entertainment to escape. Sometimes I have guilty indulgences that I find fun to watch. On the other hand Mark looks for entertainment to inform. Shows that don't strive for conflict. Songs that don't have messages that are undesirable. He tries very hard to be socially conscience of what is out there. 

I am not saying one way is right or wrong. But I am in awe of things that Mark finds and likes. Because really they are good things. Like this song. 

Love

Musical madness

I love Anita.

There are many reasons that I do. 

One is that she enjoys musicals as much as me. 

She watched the movie les miserables 

and loved the story as much as I. 

She also agreed (and wanted to) see the play when it came to our city. 

She enjoyed getting dressed up like I. 

She knew fun facts that I didn't. 

She didn't get annoyed when I lip synced to the play. 

And she said it was one of her favourite musicals. 

And loved it as much as I. 

Not only that but she wants to follow the loveliness to the original city. 

And watch a lot of plays. 

Another adventure begins. 

A little escapism.

Just had two days off and during that time took a little run around the neighborhood. Must admit I did get lost a bit but enjoyed some of the trails. And my favourite song right now is this one. Don't know many people got to see this show as it did get cancelled but loved it. Might have to do with it being about broadway. He he. Been singing it in my head for the past three days. 

Now on to my day two of six.

Love

gotta love her

i don't think its a secret how much i love beyonce. her songs are just what gets me to run that extra km or 2. love her. this is what i am loving in particular right now!

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i am really loving these two songs from glee right now! little songs that perk me right up!

Les miserables

remember this post. well i am practically peeing pants as it is going to be a feature movie. the unfortunate thing is i won't beable to see it with my mom as it opens christmas day...but that will not stop me from seeing it. i will go alone if i have to, although i have a few fanatical musical friends to take so i am sure i will be in good company.



he he. i still remember obsessing over this play when it first came to edmonton. i dreamed that i auditioned for cosette and would dance around the house singing castle on the cloud obsessively. i even think my mom took me out to buy a nice outfit as it was my first big musical to see at the jubilee. she definitely started a long never ending expensive hobby as i continue to see a play (or two or three) a year (just yesterday seeing rock of ages with jeaninne, anita and casey)...fun fun.

this is also the musical that (ironically enough) got me out of my funk when i was in that hard clinical last year. i think just the music and singing it loudly in my office gave me such a tension release. oooo, les miz, i love you so!  you will be such a welcome christmas treat!



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Never fully dressed without a smile

love love this glee. mainly because it has one of my favourite songs from annie, loved when all the orphans sang this part!



and of course the original.


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love you till the end

i seriously love this song...it was what i kind of wanted our first dance to be but i had another one too and mark picked the other...he said these guys had weird voices...lol. but i seriously i love it!

so maybe if you are thinking of a first dance you should consider this one....



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will me make so happy for the rest of my life...let me sleep on it

i don't know what this says about me but this is one of my favourite meatloaf songs...he he he


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how will i know...

its almost over for the season so of course i had to make a little shout out of this one....



love it

i feel it coming

that being a cold. its the first big snowfall and i feel it coming.

i hate that pre-stage with the slight chills and the tingle in your throat. when you try to fight off the cold before it takes over your body for good. this is done by taking as much cold fx as possible. hoping, wishing, willing the cold to be gone by the morning. pummeling down as much fluids as would be allowed, bundling in warm clothes till you "sweat". taking warm baths to relax and let your body fight the evil germs that are lurking in your body.

and colds always come in the most inopportune times. but really when it is it opportunistic. i remember having one right before i left for new york city. another came during final exams. then two hit me during two music festivals, folk fest, and lilith fair. not to mention during the summer months when you are not suppose to be sick. this time around, my first week of my last clinical rotation, seriously?? (!!)

all this said in done i will tell you the result of this one. let's see if i can just fight it off! wish me luck...now back to the water!

in the meantime, enjoy this little video.


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time warp!

halloween is upon us once again. this year mark and i have been a bit lazy. i don't know if its being busy with school (mark) or procrastinating on papers (moi) or it could even be the sugar coma we fell into the past week eating little candy bars but we didn't do anything (well i guess we did buy some candy!)

regardless we have had our fair share of halloween fun in the years we have been together. whether it was dressing up in disco costumes and going rollerskating, attending parties (as a ninga and hippie...guess which one) or having a pumpkin carving contest (i still say i won).

i was even looking back at old blog posts made on this blog. it made me laugh at some of the things we were doing for halloween like this and of course rocky horror with a pregnant christine and very random outfits by all of us....he he he.

next year we will have to make a concentrated effort not to be halloween grinches. he he he

until next time i will give you this little video in honor of halloween. someone posted it on facebook and brought back so many good memories from halloween and not! :) happy halloween!

i have an obsession....

an obsession with meatloaf. 

not the food

the singer

you see i have borrowed my dad's car this semester to get me around the city and some of the city's far limits (seriously!). mark, on the other hand, will use the other one to get back and forth from school. it will most likely be late nights for both of us so it is extremely useful to have this. thank you parent's as you are helping both of us this year!!

but what about meatloaf. well dad left some of his prized cd's in there (maybe to make it on the drive back to n.b.). i came across bat out of hell. there is just something about his music, while driving. memories of suicide ski trips or driving lessons come to mind. BUT overall, meatloaf is the perfect driving cd. i find myself singing (aka yelling) along with his musicality. wonderful! don't you wish you were in the car with me??

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jump, jump

so the other day i went to see friends with benefits with my girlfriends. quite funny and it played this song...totally reminded me of grade 6 and the overalls we used to wear (although i never wore mine backwards...that is just silly). enjoy and see if you still know the words! :)



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this is for jimi

this is something i think my brother would enjoy. so this is for you! :)



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who runs the world?

my half marathon running song right now. so simple but love it! ;)



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