Learning to ski

Hard to believe, but true...I live close to the Rockies and had never learned how to downhill ski until this past Christmas.

Here are actual photos of my adventure.

Look,lovey, no hands!

Getting tips on how to stop

Me and Jeep before our ride on the chairlift

Oops!

This time I actually slide right off the hill and landed in the ditch

This one I actually fell up a hill. hard to explain. So much fun though!

My Hiding Place and Refuge

The shower has become to me, of late:

a great place to hide

a perfect place to cry

a desperately needed prayer closet

The Lord is my light and the one who saves me.
So why should I fear anyone?
The Lord protects my life.
So why should I be afraid?

Psalm 27 :1

Jesus is ALIVE!!!!!!!

He is alive! He is Risen!

He is not here but alive forevermore!

The enemy has been defeated

Death couldn't hold Him down

We lift His Name up, we Lift His Name up

We're going to let our praise resound!

I just ate a jar of dill pickles...

...all by myself. Followed that with Hawaiian pizza. Pregnancy is in full swing.

Thanks Lindyl for the pickles. The perfect tartness mixed with a delightful crunch.

Even Maxine gets it

Stole this from my friend Shari's blog.

A little squabble with my bro

I thought everyone might get a laugh from the emails between my brother and me about our iMac/PC faceoff. Hehe

Hey Hols,
oh and nice touch about the new imac, let us commoners(pc owners) grovel at the table of thy liege(mac users) in hopes that the crumbs of your excellency may rain down upon us, and we might taste the sweet necter of mac.
jeff

Hey Jess,
I would but love to let you have the crumbs of my excellency, but alas, the imac is too efficient to let but one morsel fall to the floor. I doth fear that ye must return to the days of sniffing the dirt. (To which, Dusty from the movie Twister, responds "better than what you sniff.")
Hols
ps btw, nectar is spelled with an 'a'. iMac has instant spell check...oh, I forgot, you don't have one...maybe you can buy an old paperback dictionary!

Hols,
I have had enough of all you imac backpack high society talk. I will use my paperback dictionary and when I do I won't find imac in there or ipod, iphone but I will find injustice! because that's exactlly what this is." (In the words of Bill from the film Twister) "Dorothy- you stole her you damn thief"(said with the wiggle of my chin). You see, Holly, imac is like the new car on the lot sure she might turn some heads, it might even soothe the itch of the compulsive buyer( I shouldn't ....but I just can't resist). At the end of the day it's just another car that you probably spent too much on. I see myself as a practicle man. The p.c., Hols, is like a great american classic. Everyone know she exsists. Sure, she might break down along the way from point a to b. But there is one thing that seperates the two of us. At the end of the day I have a story of how I had to perservere, that even though things didn't go my way I still got there. Who wants to listen to you ramble on about how 'my mac has never crashed blah blah blah'. Where's the excietment, where's the sense of adventure? If you want to tuck that imac security blanket around go right ahead.
I am fine out here on a limb with my p.c. I will still be here running true, on the edge.
jeff

Hey Jess,
You spelled practical wrong. Is there room for your paperback dictionary out on that limb? Hang tight, little bro. Hang tight.
Hols

And the light goes on!

I just figured out what my problem has been?

Duh! I'm pregnant.

The last few days have been emotionally draining and now I remember why: I'm pregnant. Meaning: massive amounts of hormones in my body affecting my brain.

Here's how I figured it out.

I went to our local Home and Garden Show. I never bring cash with me to these events because I just go to look and not to buy.

Anyway, I brought the $5.00 cash to get in and when I pulled up, there was an additional fee of $2.00 for parking. A lousy twoonie that I did not have on me. When I tried to pay with debit I was told in a matter-of-fact way, "Oh, we don't have debit."

And then something snapped.

I looked at this woman in her fifties and I nearly swore at her.

For no real reason.

I just nearly spoke some four lettered blue language to her.

That has never happened before.

I could never understand why people can swear at someone and then move on like nothing horrible has been said, but... I almost did it.

Then when she told me I could drive to the restaurant across the road and use their cash machine, my eyes filled up with tears and I nearly burst out crying.

A few minutes later, I did.

After I got my money, I was raging mad and raced a vehicle through the parking lot to get a spot back in line in front of them. Then nearly drove away without my $13.00 change. I parked the van and burst into tears.

SuperGirl looked at me,"Mom, why are you crying?"

"I don't know!!!!!"

Wahhhhhh!

And then suddenly, I did know.

The light went on. The moment of epiphany happened.

I remembered that I am pregnant and have way more hormones than normal.

The realization was enough to make me swear.

But I didn't.

Apparently, I'm Gonzo...I guess that makes sense!

Ah, it's good to be back.

Last night I attended my friend, Andrea's, birthday party. I haven't seen her for over a year so it was great to see her (and share her dark chocolate birthday cake)!At the party was some of my favourite people, who I have missed immensely while I've been away. And there were new people too. I enjoy meeting new people.

At one point in the night...after the steak encrusted with dark chocolate sauce (soooo good)...we got into a discussion about why Schwazenegger should move to Canada and run for Prime Minister. There were those at the table who love his recent "green" decisions for California. I'm not a Kyoto supporter (why put the country in unneccessary debt when you can move forward without submerging our economy?) but he has made some commendable decisions. Anyway, I said that anyone who could make the ZENN (zero energy no noise) car legal in our country would definitely get my respect. I mean, come on, the ZENN car is only manufactured in this country, it makes no sense that it's only legal to own one in British Columbia!

Anyway, at the end of the evening and after a highly embarrassing rendition of "Happy Birthday", Andrea decided to give us stickers for attending her party. They were Muppet stickers and after some very serious personal reflection I realized that I am Gonzo...and it's not because I love chicken, either.

A great evenings with friends. A late night cup of tea with my friends Helena and Renae. Stimulating conversation laced with Renae's amazing sense of humour and Helena's wisdom and sense of propriety.

I love this town. Good people live here.

In the words of Gonzo, "Stop the presses!"

News Editor: Why? What just happened?

Gonzo: I don't know. I just always wanted to say that.

Looking for a place to hide in the waiting room

Today was wonderful. I got to hear our baby's heartbeat! SuperGirl was quite thrilled about it and that made it so much more special.

My girls were so well behaved in the waiting room, and it wasn't just because Missie-Moo was asleep on her Dad's shoulder for most of it.

Honest.

Earlier in the day, I practiced with the girls about how to behave at the doctor's office. We played a fun game of office and the girls seemed pretty confident about what to do and what not to do. Practicing ahead of time has been a necessary tool of late since my two year old's curiousity level has sky rocketed and my eldest thinks it's funny to chase her and make things escalate.
We go in.

They wait patiently.

We hear the baby's heart beat.

I pee in a cup.

It's all dandy.

But then came the blood work...

My husband, who left work to be there for the appointment, has to get back to work. While I was "filling the cup" he generously got my children some candy....and then left to go back to work. Sugar works it's magic and suddenly my girls are putting on a show for everyone in the lab waiting room who is waiting to get their blood drawn or pee in a cup.

They squirm, they fight over who gets to sit next to me, they threaten to take off their boots...with a smile on my face, I threaten both to behave or consequences will be experienced. They take off their boots.

And as I prepare to inflict...ahem...dole out justice, my name is called and I, once again, get to go pee in a cup.

I get my bloodwork done with minor incident. The smart lab technician, who probably has kids of her own, offers them a sticker and my girls calm down enough for me to get all the blood work done.

It wasn't so bad.

In the end, I didn't have to hide from embarrassment.

I left with two content kids with Winnie the Pooh stickers and the certain feeling that I did not want to drink anything later that resembles pee in a cup.

I'm baaaack....and really wanting pickles!

Ok...moving is almost complete. I'm back with my husband, who had been living in the Bridge during the week and coming home on the weekends. But now we're all in the Bridge and as I like to say "Home is where my husband is." So, i'm home now.
And I'm craving pickles...because that's what pregnant women do. We crave food!
So, I just finished my first trimester and today is my first doctor's appointment and I'm looking forward to hearing my baby's heartbeat! Wahoo!
Anyway, I will be unpacking boxes (way too many for my liking). We threw out four truck loads to the dump and 6 van fulls to Sally Ann and there is still more stuff than I care to have. I think my boxes were mating and multiplying while I was laying on the couch and avoiding pregnancy nausea.
Anyway, I'm alive and kicking. And will be back online as soon as the internet company hooks up my internet access.