And they're off!

To the sunnier climes of Bermuda, pink sand and turquoise waters here we come.

So this is just to say that I won't be blogging about anything for at least the next week or so.

But in the immortal words of Arnie, "I'll be back!"...

Before I go - Me from A-Z

Read a couple of different people's entries on this meme and decided that before I leave you all (all?) that I would have a go at answering it and give you something to think about.

A - Act your age - I'm 38 and have decided that I'm going to be fabulous at 40!

B - Breast size - Hahahahaha, did you really think I would tell you?

C - Chore you hate - Housework, probably no surprise that.

D - Dad's name - Roger

E - Essential makeup item - Generally never wear it but if I do then it's normally just lipstick.

F - Favourite singer - Oh, there are so many but if pushed then I would say at the moment it's Daniel Beddingfield.

G - Gold or silver - Silver

H - Hometown - I was born and raised in Plymouth, Devon, England but home is currently Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

I - Ice cream - I'm in love with Skors ice cream, yum, yum.

J - Job title - Mum but soon to be Scrapbook Instructor and part-time sales assistant at my local scrapbooking store, woohoo, now I won't feel guilty buying all my supplies!

K - Kisses, what kind do you prefer - Definitely kisses from my DH and closely followed by kisses from my children.

L - Living arrangements - 5 Bedroom home, set in around 3 acres on a lake.  Beautiful and everyone morning when I wake up one of my most favourite things to do is too see what 'mood' the lake is in :-)

M - Meat, favourite kind - Has to be a nice medium rare steak, preferably at Ryan Duffy's along with one of their amazing Caesar salads.

N - Number of kiddos - 3 but at times can feel like 6!

O - Overnight hospital stays - Oh, my, let's see if I can remember.  I spent a few days in hospital at the age of 12 due to an appendectomy, around 2 nights or so when I had my tonsils out, I was in for a few days before I gave birth to my eldest DD and a few nights or so after the birth and 1 night spent in hospital with each of my subsequent 2 children.  So in total that must be around, as a conservative guess, say 12 nights give or take a few nights.  Quite a lot really.

P - Packing habits - I have a list on my computer that I print off and check off as I pack the various items.  I amend it if necessary and up date the pc each time we go away, usually as one of the children gets older and we no longer need to bring a particular item, for example, nappies.

Q - Quote that you love - This can varies but my favourite at the moment is "I treat life with a pinch of salt, add a dash of lemon and a shot of tequila!"

R - Religion - Christian. 

S - Siblings - 1 sister and 1 brother, both younger.

T - Time you get up in the morning - As late as I possibly can, I'm so not a morning person.

U - Underwear of choice - Plain white cotton generally but anything really as long as it's comfortable.

V - Vegetable you can't stand - Sweetcorn, ugh!  Just the smell can make me feel nauseous!

W - Worst habit - According to my darling husband he tells me that I don't really have any!  LOL!

X - Xrays - I've had a few, mostly dental but I was involved in a very mild car accident in France during my teens and had x-rays taken of my foot and head.  I've also had various chest x-rays over the years.

Y - Yummy food you make - Neapolitan Ziti, which is a pasta bake dish with meatballs and salami and mozzarella and is delicious even if I say so myself!

Z - Zodiac sign - Not that I believe in any of that mumbo jumbo but I'm a Gemini.

All things stationery

I love stationery.  I find a certain
amount of comfort from purchasing new stationery.  I don't know when this
closet addiction came about but I do know that when I first started work, way
back when, nothing could beat the feel of going to the stationery cupboard and
picking out new biros, in red, black and blue, a crisp newly sharpened
unused pencil, a nice unblemished white rubber, a notebook which has never been
written on.  If I felt a little stressed a trip to the stationery cupboard
was guaranteed to give me a little "pick me up".  Now,
obviously, I don't admit this to just anyone so please let's just keep it to
ourselves!

I think this is probably part of the appeal of scrapbooking, buying pens,
paints, paper, cardstock is an extension of stationery.

So I have mixed feelings upon being presented with my girls "School
Supply" lists.  On one hand, just think of all that lovely new
stationery I get to purchase but on the other hand... well, here is the list:

• 24 HB pencils sharpened (no eversharp pencils please)



• 4 pink pearl erasers



• 1 pencil case



• 1 pair of good quality scissors



• 3 large glue sticks



• 1 small bottle white glue



• 1 covered pencil sharpener



• 1 box of crayons



• 1 pkg. coloured pencils sharpened



• 1 pkg. fat unscented markers



• 5 large ziplock bags



• 1 box of Kleenex



• 2 heritage notebooks (orange: 12.7cm x 20cm: if you buy Hilroy, number is 42-511)



• 1 80 page Hilroy scribbler (no coiled scribblers or scribblers with tear sheets please)



• 6 green duotangs



• 10 red duotangs



• 6 yellow duotangs



• 1 pocket folder



• 1 activity book (puzzles, word searches, etc.) for rainy recesses



• 1 ruler 30cm clear



• 1 pkg. Xerox paper



• 1 backpack



• 1 pair of indoor sneakers to leave in school (no soles that will mark the gym floor please)



• 1 small plastic box (20cm x 12cm approx.) no larger please, space is limited in the desks



• **$10.00 will be collected for a School Agenda in the fall on the first day of school.  All students in the school will record their homework in this agenda.  It also serves as a message book between teacher and school.



• **Please label all supplies with your name (please label the duotangs on the inside front cover)

Now, a few things first spring to mind upon reading this.  How
many pencils do they expect the children to actually go through?  In my
experience 1 pencil is usually sufficient to see me through quite a few months
if not a whole year.  What is wrong with a run of the mill white
eraser?  When I read 'heritage' notebooks, I immediately think of
scrapbooking and old photos!  What is a 'duotang'?  I actually now do
know what this is as this will be the second year of the girls attending school here in
Canada but must admit I was baffled at first and actually had to ring the school and ask
(it's folder with metal strips that you file your work in).  1 pkg. Xerox
paper?  The government can't even supply the paper teachers need in order
to photocopy notes, letters, homework etc.  It is a crying
shame!  And finally on top of all of the above they also want
another $10.00 for a School Agenda.  Now silly question but do they expect me to label every sheet of Xerox paper too?

Now, you would be mistaken in thinking that the above list was for both girls
but you would be wrong.  This list is just for Harriet, I have a whole
other list for Katarina which includes most of the above, but not all of it, as
well as a large binder, an 8½" x 11" artist sketch pad, 1 protractor,
1 calculator and a headset for the computer.  Oh, and let's not forget the obligatory $10.00 for the School Agenda.

You can imagine my shock on first being handed these supplies lists last year just 2 weeks before the girls first time of entering Canadian school system.  But on the other hand there is no school uniform to buy, so I suppose this is the trade off.  I do think it is a sorry state of affairs when the education system in Canada is such that the school can't even supply a tissue to blow their noses!

It is therefore with mixed feelings I now go off to buy said items.  Although we both know I will thoroughly enjoy it too! 

The new Googling your name game

Ok, I did this just for the fun of it, without any intention of actually posting it in my blog, but after having seen number 4, well, I couldn't resist it.

This is a new version of the game where you Google your name and see who else out there has the same name as you and what do they do.  I first saw this on Michelle's (Scrapability) website, who in turn got it from Kathryn's (Gettin' My Kicks).  This time however you do a search in Google for "YOURNAME is", obviously inserting your own name in to the appropriate place, and you then list the top 10 responses back.  No cheating just because you don't like the answer!

1. Miss Julie is irate at the pregnancy.  Jean says Miss Julie is "too
   stuck-up in some ways and not proud enough in others," just like her
   mother. (Whose pregnancy?  Stuck-up?  Now my sister would agree if she sees this as she has always teased me about being stuck-up, I still insist, I'm just very shy!)



2. From the 1958 record, "Julie is Her Name Vol. 2" I like especially "Blue Moon"  (Apparently I sing!)



3. Julie is an IRC bot based around the Redland RDF framework. ... Julie is a Python IRC bot.  (Come again?  I'm a bot?  A Python?)



4. Julie is one sexy lady. Sometimes dressed in a partially unzipped wedding gown, sometimes in a black bikini, Julie is being exposed, so to speak  (Now, see that ONE SEXY LADY!!!  However I have only ever once been dressed in a partially unzipped wedding gown - and that is between me and my husband!)



5. Julie is an MP3 and OGG jukebox written in Python and C for UNIX systems. Julie is a client/server system  (What is it with me and Pythons?)



6. Jeff Probst says Julie is the “love of my life,”  (It wasn't me, I deny all knowledge of Jeff Probst... although there was that night 12 years ago... no, that wasn't him)



7. As many know, Julie is embroiled in a fight against City Hall regarding leaf blowers.  (I want to state for the record that I have nothing against leaf blowers but must admit that I do like the idea of being "embroiled" in something)



8. Yahoo! Shopping is the best place to comparison shop for Julie Is Her Name, Vols. 1-2 (Remastered)  (Back to the singing again, I presume)



9. At Passover dinner, Julie is secretly grateful for the chaos that ensues–but how much of it is she responsible for?  (Ooooh, I'm a little minx!)



10. Below, Elyse Sommer astutely observes that Miss Julie is a "lacerating power play".... Julie is a passionate young woman whose family history and wildly....  (Back to the passionate and sexy again, I see, obviously my true nature)

 

Hey, we’re going to …

...  nope, not Barbados, but somewhere even better, Bermuda!

In the immortal words of the Cat in the Hat, I’m soooo excited. For those of you who haven’t seen this film, you have to imagine saying it in a Manchurian accent, well at least in an accent to be found in the north of England. My girls just love all the different voices Mike Myers uses in this film and this is one of our family’s favourite lines and gets used by us all to express moments of, well, excitement.

Back to topic. Richard has to go to Bermuda, what a hard life he leads, as this is where the HO of the company he works for is based. His boss is away for 2 weeks and he has to cover for one of those weeks. Anyway, it turns out that one week is right at the end of the school holidays and I suddenly have one of those light bulb moments! Hey, why don’t we come too? So, flights are booked and we are off in just over 2 week’s time.

Richard was a little concerned that I would be on my own all day with 3 children, but my reply? I’m on my own all day with 3 children here; I may as well be on my own all day with 3 children sitting on a beach in Bermuda. I'm not stupid.

So, my checklist so far?

1. Buy guidebook - Check


2. Charge battery for camera – o/s


3. Organise P20 to be sent over from the UK via good friends - Check

For those of you not in the know, P20 is just the best ever sun protection lotion. This stuff is amazing. You put it on in the morning, it takes 90 minutes to absorb in to your skin and that’s it. No topping up during the day, even if you go for a swim and towel yourself off after. It’s a once a day application and you can then forget about it. It’s not sticky, so no more applying extra sun cream on the beach and then getting covered in sand. On the downside it is expensive but in my opinion it is worth every penny. I’ve been using it on the whole family all summer and we all now have healthy little tans, even our youngest can stay out in the sun and not get burned. Fabulous stuff!

And shall I let you in on a little secret? Want to know what one of my first thoughts were on going to Bermuda? What great photos I’ll be able to take and scrapbook later!  LOL! Honestly, I’m not obsessed, really, truly …

This is awesome!

I just discovered this song recently and I can't stop listening to it.  It's by a band called MercyMe and the lead singer wrote this song after his father died from cancer in 1991.  The lyrics just speak to me and I love it.  Oh, did I remember to say that I just love it?

Music Video Codes - MySpace Codes - Funny Videos

There goes my virginity!

So with this first sentence I've lost it, my blogging virginity that is!

I have been playing with the idea of doing this now for quite a while and finally decided to take the plunge.  I'm not sure where it will go, why I'm really doing it or how long it will last but perhaps I will discover the answer to these questions over time.

For now I suppose I am doing this primarily for my family and friends as a way of keeping in touch with them over the miles that separate us.  This blog is not intended to be a scrapbooking blog but no doubt that will slowly creep in and take over seeing as, in my husbands words, I am completely obsessed!

So, hello from me!