a beautiful good-bye

I, along all of Canada (except my Compound Wife TC, which was such an incredibly shocking bit of news that we are now in Compound Couples counseling) watched the Tragically Hip's last concert in utter awe and more than a few tears shining in my eyes. Admittedly, I was less emotional than I had anticipated being. There is something incredibly wonderful and awe inspiring of watching some one live with such incredible grace. I can only hope to achieve a fraction of that.

I don't really know what I want to say about the show. I have so many words, but I fear I don't have the ability to string them together in anything that conveys the true depth of what happened Saturday night and to be fair, far more eloquent writers have written the shit out of it already. Go read them all if you have the chance.

Fully Completely was the soundtrack of this Sunday morning in Blogmotherland. I asked Abby if the music struck a chord in her or if it just wasn't to her taste. Bear in mind this is 14 year old with ear buds permanently affixed to her ears. She listens to a lot of music, is what I am saying. She said, "it's not my bag really, but if you're dancing, I'll dance with you". Not a total fail, I guess.

At that point I tried to explain thirty years of The Hip to her. How they were more Canadian than Canada. How they and their songs were us, her Dad and I, her Uncle Dave...... everyone of our generation. How not achieving mega success across the border made them just ours. Something ultra elite. Like the secret warehouse district party that you need to know the code word to get into. I tried to explain how beautiful and out of this world their lyrics were. How they were so deep despite their, some time, simplicity. How the night before would never happen for a Justin Bieber. And I guess that right there is the problem, there is nothing comparable for her generation.

now what

Tonight Mike and I wrapped up watching Breaking Bad. I'm not going to lie, when we started watching this I was very much in the "What's the big deal?" camp, but by season two I was well and truly hooked. The last few episodes were an intense little roller coaster.  I was dying to know how the whole thing was going to wrap up, but now that I know...... well now what?

There is something pretty fantastic about watching shows on dvd (or bluray). Sure, it doesn't help with the whole getting to bed early thing I've been trying to do. You always want to watch just one more episode and the next thing you know it's one in the morning and you need all the coffee to get through the next day. Yep, binge watching shows is definitely the way to go. So again I ask..... now what?

What do we watch now?

Mike's suggested Deadwood or Boardwalk Empire. I was leaning towards Friday Night Lights. Or is there something else out there amazing that we have to see? The Abster and I are already working our way through Suits and I've got The Wire that I started watching and then abandoned for Breaking Bad. Shhhh, don't tell Uncle Dave.

What do you think?

play it safe i always say

So who's watching the last season of the Office? I admit I have been a bit of a spotty watcher so far this season, but I have tuned in the past couple of weeks. Yes I'm very likely the last person on the planet to not have a PVR, so I have to watch in real time or stay up late to watch it with the west coast peeps. Life is tough back here in the 1800's.

So far I've been enjoying this season (what I've seen of it anyway), but I am truly hating this Pam & Jim story line. What the hell!? Not cool Office writers, not cool. I am curious to see how it's going to play out though. Are they going to play it safe or are they going to piss off all the Pam/Jim love story fans?

Are you an Office fan?

olympics

So the Olympics have begun. I really love the Olympics, summer and winter. Mike isn't as interesting in the summer Olympics as he is in the winter. I get sucked into the stories. I mean the Olympics are the best of the best and you really have to devote your life to your sport to get to that level. It's crazy and awe inspiring and motivating. I feel the least I can do is watch and ... you know... maybe get a little weepy when they win a medal.

Are you watching the Olympics?

life

Did anybody watch Life tonight? What an amazing show. ML and I were supposed to be getting our Just Dance on, but instead we were mesmerized by the amazing creatures we having living in this world while she helped me fold my laundry. Aren't good friends the best? Oh and we may have eaten a cookie or too.

It was wildly fascinating, although I have to say I prefer these types of shows be narrated by David Attenborough... no offense to The Oprah. I really have huge amounts of respect for the camera people who are out in the field capturing this awesome footage so I can see it from the comfort of my own couch... while in my jammies and eating cookies.

The second episode, being all about reptiles and amphibians was more than a little blech enduring at times, but even still I could not look away. Not even when that nest of snakes was slithering all over each other. And that is the biggest gathering of snakes in the world. Damn mating rituals.

Did you watch? What was your favourite part?

only two years until the summer games

Well as of only moments ago the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics were declared officially closed. And with that I have just one question. What the hell am I going to do now that I won't be glued to my TV set every possible moment? We watched just about everything the Olympics had to offer be it on sleds, skis, skates or snowboards. We even watched curling, although don't ask me to explain how the game is played or scored... I have no idea. My favourites - snowboard cross, moguls, hockey, ice dance and biathlon. What were your favourites?

I love love love the Olympics, winter or summer doesn't matter much to me. I do admit, though that enjoyed these games the most of all. I mean sure they were held here in Canada and our Canadian athletes owned the gold podium, but I think it's even more than that. Every time I watched one of our athletes compete I couldn't help, but think of their parents and how overwhelmed with pride they must be. I thought about what it would be like if Abby and/or Maya were competing on the world's stage like that with the best of the best and I was overwhelmed with pride.

It was pure fabulousness from start to finish and I am so sad it's over. Although I'm not going to lie to you I am looking forward to a new episode of The Office this week. And as beautiful as that Believe song is I'm ready to be done hearing the opening bars played eleventy billion times a day.

Did you watch much of the Olympics? Are you sad or glad to see it go?

a funny thing happened watching the super bowl

Remember back in July when I posted that picture of our buddy Jake helping Kevin Costner line up his putt at a celebrity golf tournament? I said at the time it couldn't of happened to a nicer kid who comes from a really great family. His Dad is my online BFF and his Mom is one of my jammie movie night Jersey Girls. And his sister is a kick ass Pictionary player who helped us destroy the guys at games night. Just fantastic people that we are so glad we got to meet, all thanks to ML, who happens to be Jake's Aunt.

So we're at ML and T's tonight, just hanging out. They had the superbowl on, but I wasn't truly watching it. I had brought my knitting with me... I know, I am such a Grandma, but ML asked me to knit her a scarf and I wanted her opinion on the wool I picked out for it. She loved it, by the way. Anyway we're... or they're watching the game and I think Jake's Mom and I were discussing the scarf, or trying to at least, from opposite ends of the room when ML yells out... Hey that's Jake!! I'm serious I just saw Jake!

And she did see him, in the middle of a promo for the Olympics. It was some footage of the crowd in Jake's hometown when the torch went by and there was Jake waving his Canadian flag. Here's a screen shot.



You can watch the entire promo here. Jake pops up at the 1:01 mark. And once again, it couldn't of happened to a nicer kid.

american idol live

As you may know this past season of American Idol was the first season I've watched in it's entirety. And it was all because of Danny Gokey. As soon as I heard the story about how he lost his wife -- that was it -- I was emotionally invested. I had to follow his progress until the end. So I watched the show faithfully all season, cheering on Danny. I was thrilled that he was doing so well and so disappointed when he didn't make it all the way. Now the only person who loved Danny Gokey more than I was Heather. So last night we did the only thing two Danny Gokey fans could do.....



Yep we went to see him in concert. Also known as my lesbian date with Heather. Which was also awesome and not just because I got to second base thirty seconds into the date. Yeah I'm that good!

I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the live show and the Idols did not disappoint. My only minor complaint was I felt like at times the vocals and the music were competing against each other. Especially when Allison performed. She has a huge voice for a little girl and at times it was difficult to hear her singing clearly. I will say she rocked Barracuda by Heart right out of the arena.



Scott, who I liked right from the start as well, did not disappoint. His set was great and he's super funny and y'all know how much I love the funny.



And I do not mind telling you I am developing a little crush on Kris Allen. Why did I not notice how cute he was from the start?



It was just a great night at a great concert with a great friend. Thanks Heather!!

idol round up

Well I have to ask, is the American Idol Finale always that good? I mean I've never watched before, but I thought this one was really entertaining. So much so that I didn't even mind that I had to wait two hours to find out who won.

But enough about the American Idol winner -- although I have to say -- thanks America. This makes up -- in a very small way, mind you -- for that whole Danny Gokey debacle. Not that you're entirely forgiven. Let's not go crazy here.

I thought you might like to learn 5 new facts about me that you didn't know in relation to the American Idol finale.

1. I triple love Keith Urban, although this is a recent development. I have always really enjoyed his music, but didn't think he was that big of a deal. All that changed when I saw the video for You Look Good in My Shirt. Suddenly I thought he was uber hawt. I'm not sure why.

2. I am a huge Rod Stewart fan, by genetics I think. My Mom has been his number one fan for as long as I can remember. The Album Blondes Have More Fun (I think -- I remember a leopard print outfit on the album cover) is one of the distinct memories of my childhood. We played that album a lot, dancing around the living room singing Hot Legs and Maggie May as loud as we could.

3. This is the first season of Idol I have watched from start to finish. I watched because I was emotionally invested in Danny Gokey as soon as I heard his story. I didn't figure I'd watch an entire season again, but I have a funny feeling I'm hooked.

4. I have always found Steve Martin to be hilarious. Someone else my parents were big fans of. I had no idea he could play the banjo too.

5. Beth is my favourite Kiss song. Followed closely by Hard Luck Woman.

really

Okay you have been given fair warning. On the off chance your whole life does not revolve around American Idol and you recorded the show to watch at some later date instead of watching it live -- there be spoilers ahead.



Okay.


Spoilers.



Ahead.


So American voted and the results are in --

your final two --

Kris and Adam

What?!!?

Are you freakin' kidding me? I finally give in and watch an entire season of Idol and this is the thanks I get? Sending my boy Danny home right before the finale.

Now having never watched Idol before I need to know -- is it normal to get this PO'ed when your pick doesn't make the finals? Because I am uber annoyed. I may have gone so far as to tell Mike -- I hate this effing show. I may have sworn never to watch it again. I may have called Ryan Seacrest a douche bag. And I may have flipped Simon my pinky finger (because that is a "swear in China" - according to Abby who heard it from an older boy on the playground) Yeah, true story.

And not that I care now, but who are you picking to win? Adam or Kris?

sham? wow!

Friday night Abby was off at a sleepover with Grandma Sandi so we decided to do something we rarely do with Maya.... take her out. I mean, sure, we take her out. Despite what Kaffy thinks, we don't keep her in a cage. Although some days that would be easier. (Little girl.... BIG temper)

[aside]Remind me to tell you about today's temper tantrum. It was fun.[/aside]

No, what I mean is we took just her out. Well us and Grandma Linda and Papa because you need that many hands around if you're going to let Maya loose on the unsuspecting public. We're staring down the barrel of Fall and that means the Fair season is about to go into full swing, starting with the Paris Fair. Since the collective family is so busy during our local fair working with the various committees we're associated with it was nice to be able to wander aimlessly around checking things out without be worried about getting back to whatever post you're supposed to be manning.

So we checked out the goats...



Who checked out Maya's toes....



Which Maya did not like. At all.



We introduced Maya to cows, some ducks (or quacks in Maya talk), giant chickens and roosters. We looked at some art, bought a raffle ticket and some fudge. We let Maya explore the giant parking blocks....



Checked out the classic car show....



A pinto wagon. Who knew? The only thing that made us scratch our heads more was the Mini Cooper van/SUV type thing.

We had ice cream and lemonade, but no mini donuts.....



But all that pales in comparison to seeing the Sham Wow demonstration live! The commercials on TV play with such regularity I warned Mike that I could feel myself getting pulled in. The desire to purchase a Sham Wow set was getting stronger everyday. Not strong enough that I was reaching for the phone. Not yet anyway. So we're getting ice cream and the guy is starting his pitch. Michael sets himself up front and center. There had been some discussion that evening about the spilled pop on the carpet between the four of us. And whether or not the Sham Wow claims were true. There seemed to be a suspicious editing cut in Grandma Linda's eyes.

I was still busy getting Maya settled with her ice cream when the spilled pop/carpet part of the pitch began, but Michael knew this was important so he stopped the guy, telling him my wife will want to see this. So I rushed over, parked myself front and center and watched as the Sham Wow really did soak up all that pop through the carpet. The lake of pop on the counter underneath the carpet was gone. The area dry. The pop wrung back into the bowl. No suspicious editing cuts. I saw it unfold, live and in person. What else could I do?

friday flashback - that famous zipcode

In 1990, I was 17 and had been dating Michael for a year. So life was already pretty good. And our young love looked like.....



I know, right? We were totally cute.

I guess I was your typical 17 year old. I had the whole world figured out. I was definitely way more mature than most of my peers or so I thought. What could be more perfect for a girl of that age than a teenage soap opera in prime time? Well judging by the way my friends and I watched the hell out of Beverly Hills 90210, not much. Oh my gosh, the endless conversations about Brenda, Kelly and Donna. What they wore, their hair and of course which one was our favourite. Should Dylan pick Brenda or Kelly? Or were Kelly and Brandon soulmates? Should Donna sleep with David? And why was her Mom such a hard ass? Such cutting edge drama when you're 17.

And the best part? It's Back!! Oh that's right baby, 90210 is back. Now I would have tuned in for the title alone, but tell me that Brenda and Kelly (it would have been awesome if they'd been able to work out a deal for Donna too) are back and I am making an evening out of it. We're talking an early bedtime for the kids so I can ensure a two hour time slot of no interruptions for the premiere on Tuesday.

What about you? Were you a 90210 fan back in the day? Will you be watching the updated version? I'm interested to see what's considered racy for a teenage soap now compared to a decade or two ago. I can only imagine how vastly different it will be.

getting you up to speed

Can I tell you a secret?

Come here.

Closer.

I'm afraid I have become addicted to Victoria Beckham; Coming to America. Seriously. No joke. I flipped it on tonight and ... well yeah I guess instantly hooked would cover it. Umm do you still respect me because I understand if you don't. I mean I have a problem. A reality TV programming problem. And this maybe the signal that it's out of control.

Okay, deep cleansing breath and let's move on shall we?

So I know you're all wondering how Miss Abby did today with the whole Vacation Bible School/not wanting to leave the house thing and she did great. Papa reported there were no problems and she was ready to go we he got here to pick her up. So maybe this whole thing is over. Touch wood.

Took the kids for a walk tonight on the rail trail that's conveniently located just steps from my house. Well I walked, Abby road her bike and Maya kicked back in the stroller. As we walked I tried to teach Abby a little bit of rail trail etiquette. For example how she could ride her bike beside me, but she should speed up and ride ahead of me when people are coming in the other direction. For the most part we had the trail to ourselves, but as we were approaching our exit from the trail that I noticed two riders coming our way. Just as I'd taught her Abby sped up and fell in line with Maya and I. So coming towards us we have two hot hard body hardcore trail riders and here's Abby on her pink Dora bike, with training wheels, purple basket, tinsel handle bar streamers and an after market bell that she's ringing for all she's worth. Presumably to warn the oncoming traffic she's coming through. [aside]Did I mention they were hot? Because they were hawt![/aside] As the first guy gets closer he flashes me smile and calls out, "I don't even have a bell on my bike". So I thought he was a hottie before now it's off the charts because he thinks my kid is cute. By contrast the two middle aged road racers who were too busy discussing hedge funds or some such bullshit to wave to a one year old who was waving her arm off well they just suck.

asinine

Okay it's time to come out of the closet. I admit it. I am a Big Brother junkie and since it's just beginning it's eighth season I know I can't be the only one. Now I just have to get something off my chest and then it will be back to regular scheduled programming. If you aren't a BB fan than please feel free to skip over this. Oh and I feel I should warn you that there are spoilers ahead, you know, in case you tivoed it or if you're a Canuck PVRed it.

This is an open letter to Jen,

Okay seriously WTF? I mean really WTF? It's a picture. A *picture*. I think a little perspective is in order. Oh and if I was HOH, no way would you have gotten your key tonight.

double-you tee eff

Oh where to start? We could start at three this morning when I awoke to Maya crying. Mike went across the hall to check on her and found her sitting in a puddle of puke. Nice. So I take the kid and Mike cleans up the mess. Which is a nice change cause it's usually I cleaning up the mess. Start cleaning Maya up in our room hoping to avoid a middle of the nigh bath and she throws up in our bed and on me. As gross as that was I got off easy. Poor Michael had to deal with a leaky diaper. By the time we got her downstairs the poo-splosion was all over her, Mike, the stairs and me. Bath time it was. Of course all the commotion woke up Abby. So now the entire house is up watching cartoons at 4 in the morning. And so the day went. Multiple outfit changes for both of us. Oh and did I mention I still don't have a washing machine.

There is one thing that was nice about today. The snuggling. Maya is typically way too busy to tolerate sitting on my lap for very long. Today she just sat with me for endless minutes. Her head tucked up under my chin, her hands playing with her hair. She even slept briefly like that. By tonight she appeared to be on the mend. She ate a little dinner, a lot of soda crackers, drank all the pedialyte in the house, only had one poo-splosion, but a lot of man-sized farts that even Michael was impressed by. She put up a bit of a foght about going to bed, but she did sleep a fair bit today. I'm hoping I won't hear from her until morning. Keep your fingers crossed.

Okay now let's talk about the big news. How in the world does my Joey Fatone get himself in the bottom two this week? How is that possible? I just don't understand it and, apparently, neither does Ian Ziering. Did you see the look on his face when they announced he was moving on? That was total shock baby. Clearly Joey is a much stronger dancer than Ian. Nothing against Ian, I love me some 90210. Really! It makes me quite nervous for my Yoey, especially since I have boldly predicted him and Apollo in the final two.

Random thoughts for a Friday night.

How naive was I to think the bus problem was all cleared up. Went to the sitter's to pick up Abby off her old bus and imagine our shock when she wasn't on . She had gotten on the new bus and went home on that one instead. The new bus and the old bus drop off at the same time. The new bus at our house, the old bus at the sitters. Lucky for us the new bus was late and we made it home in time, but we had to abandon Maya at the sitter's to do so. Poor Abby was quite upset she had made a mistake. For the whole year she's been riding the bus with C, so she just got on the bus he went on. So I had to explain to her that she and C couldn't ride on the same bus anymore. Monday I'm going to write a note to her teacher asking for some help to make sure she gets on the right bus until she gets used to the change.

Watching SNL with Mike recently and it was a commercial sketch for a store called Sofa King. The actors kept saying the prices were Sofa King Great and so on. I was killing myself laughing and Mike doesn't get it. He actually had to ask me what was so funny. Did you get it? Say it out loud a couple of times. Aww now you got it. Funny, right?

Open house at Abby's school the other night. Open house means Book Fair. Remember those? So there Abby and I are in the library picking out a book and I stop to take a look around. You may or may not know that I attended the very same school back in the day. It had been over 20 years since I had set foot in there. And you know what? It's really small. I mean it's *really* small. Actually I think the whole school may have shrunk. It was definitely much larger when I was 10.

Missed Grey's Anatomy last night, but managed to catch it tonight. I was pretty annoyed when I heard they were going to give Addison her own show. In fact I went so far as to suggest it was a stupid idea. After watching tonight I think I might have to eat my words. I liked the set up for the spin-off. I liked the characters. And Tim Daly is more than an adequate McDreamy/McSteamy replacement.

We had Family Movie Night this evening and watched Chicken Little. It was okay, but I didn't love it. The music in it was good and finally explains why Abby keeps singing Don't Go Breaking My Heart and (If You) Wanna Be (My Lover).

And let me close out with a very sincere may the fourth be with you!

A big sigh of relief.

I am so thankful I didn't have to break up with Dancing With the Stars tonight.

So long Clyde, it was fun while it lasted.

I was only a little bit surprised that Heather Mills was in the bottom two. I mean sure she's performing better than I think most expected or hoped her to because wouldn't the tabloids have loved it if she fell on her ass. Oh wait she did fall on her ass and the tabloid, TV shows anyway, loved it.

Abby got to watch Ian and Cheryl dance. After a moment she turned to me and said, "Wow Mom, she's hot!" She is so her father's daughter.

A bold prediction.

Okay, I'm doing it. I'm going out on a limb and I'm going to predict Joey Fatone and Apolo Anton Ohno for the Dancing With the Stars final two.

Oh and if Clyde doesn't go home tomorrow I am so going to stop watching.

Oh who am I kidding?

Dancing With the Stars, I can't quit you!

You don't have to be Canadian, but it helps.

There are some things that are hugely popular and/or commonplace here in Canada that just don't seem to translate well across the border and beyond. Things like homo milk in bags, fries supreme at Taco Bell, Glass Tiger and the double-double. I could provide links to all of those, but if you're Canadian you know what I'm talking about and, let's be honest, the rest of you don't care that much.

Now it's not often in your day to day life that you stumble across a celebrity. At least I don't. What with the not living anywhere near a rehab centre where celebrities hang out. So this afternoon when Nancy remarked that a big TV star (by Canadian standards) was in the vicinity, well it was met with a lot of "Yeah right's!" Well Nancy had the last laugh because right there in front of us was Lorne Cardinal better known as Davis (the cop) on Corner Gas. Which could be the greatest Canadian produced television series since The Littlest Hobo. To his credit Mr. Cardinal was good natured about our slack jawed staring and our highly intelligent conversation which consisted of us goading Nancy into asking, "You're him right? The guy from Corner Gas?" To which he replied, "Yes, I'm him." With that aforementioned good natured smile on his face.

I wish I had some sort of physical proof of today's meeting. An autograph or maybe even a picture, but alas I have nothing, but the memory. You see, it's safe to say that I am a Corner Gas freak. I triple love this show. So I hope you can all appreciate how much willpower it took to keep from jumping up and down while gushing about how much I triple love his show. Then before you know it I'd be talking about the other characters like they are actual people. And from there it's just a short trip to reciting dialogue from the show all while hyperventilating. And I can't see that there would be any circumstance in which he'd be down with that.

Tonights the night.

Finally the wait is over. Tonight the stars dance again. Okay, can I tell you how much I have been waiting for the return of Dancing With the Stars. Ummm like a lot. Now normally my girls go to bed with no complaints and once tucked in I barely hear a peep out of them. Well you know until 2 am when Maya desperately needs to "talk" to me. Of course tonight when I'm trying to have them both settled before the show's 8 pm start time it all goes to pot. Maya once in her crib instantly began fussing in that, there is no way I'm going to sleep any time soon kind of way. And Abby wanted to do everything from playing a board game to watching a movie to running a triathlon before she was going to agree to go to bed. They two of them brought their a games, but I'm happy to report I made my 8 pm butt on the couch deadline.

So now that it's all said and done what do I think of the newest batch of ballroom dancing wannabes? Well I was hugely impressed with Ian Ziering and Joey Fatone. Also I might be developing a Joey Fatone crush. Maybe. Time will tell. Nobody stood out as really incredibly horrible. Even Heather Mills did quite well her first time out which I'm sure disappointed some. Even still I can't see her being able to keep up with some of the more up tempo numbers that are a bit more difficult to execute than the one she danced tonight. Can't wait for next week.