Skating Anyone?

I have just returned from my first Skate Canada Event in Victoria, BC. For eight days we hosted the worlds best singles and pairs skaters in the world as they short programmed, long programmed and danced their way to the winners podium. I will say one thing about figure skating - it's some kind of serious work! I have never been so up-close and personal with professional athletes before (sorry, Amy), and I was very, very impressed with the physical and emotional stamina that these people (most of them nearly children) have . The focus they have, the respect for one another and their devotion to their sport is outstanding; they have my utmost respect. Beyond the skaters was the phenomenal amount of work that goes into putting on a production of this size. I saw ice being painted, jumbotrons being lowered and reconfigured, miles and miles of something called 'patch cables' being installed and tens of thousands of people filing in and out of our building in orderly, manageable form. Our team definitely took the gold for 'event staging'. I am exhausted, jet lagged and my feet are still aching, but it was a really great time. I really bonded with my coworkers and it feels good to be part of this team. I will say, however, that Victoria is not the end all and be all of beautiful places to visit, as the residents of Victoria would have you believe. While they get very little (or no) snow, it rains all the bloody time; you can't ski on rain, people! Have you ever seen a rainmain? Kids making rain angels? Ever whipped a rainball at someone? No. What you may have seen is leaking roofs, frizzy hair and people being drenched in a tidal wave from a roadside puddle. The other downside to thier mild climate is that the homeless and the aged outnumber anyone else at least five to one, so unless you're a widower looking to score some crack, stay East with the hardier Canadians. Relieved and happy to be home, I have the entire week off and two weeks of office time before my next destination, tropical Moncton, NB. Stay Tuned.

A Wedding Speech...

The four of us have been close, close friends for fifteen years now. But as the first of us is not only getting married, but moving to an entirely other continent, we are presented with a sort of opportunity, if you will. We have an opening in our foursome and this event is as good a place as any to start spreading the word of our opening. As we are filling a very unique role, you should expect us to be quite particular; Firstly, the person will have to possess a rather spectacular flass. (for those not familiar, a flass is a unique trait; it is when a personÂ’s ass actually stretches from the backs of their thighs to their upper-mid-section and leaves all jeans and pant with a baggy, loose area where a typical bum should be; For a live example, please refer to almost any Tector . Yes, we will be requiring a flass to complement our full-bottomed group. Secondly, the person should be punctual to a fault. The fault being that under no situation will any of us be able to live up to their uber-punctuality and as a result we will be passive-aggressively ignored and shunned through tight little pursed lips for hours until we have fed this person a Mars bar. Thirdly the person must be one who dances with the grace of a happy sea crab and who knows all the words to Waltzing Matilda or The Mary Ellen Carter Finally, she should have immaculate taste in men; this is not to say that she couldn't have had her share of undertakers, hot-dog-eaters, or bisexuals, but at present date her partiality should be narrowed down to one extremely lovable, funny man who adores all of her quirks and behaviors, of which there are many. Now, we are not fussy about things like shopping endurance or personal hygiene; we have made concessions in the past for Amy's inability to cope with crowds or ironing boards. Things which are certain to be deal breakers will include, but are not limited to; Generosity of heart; We need someone who will fly her sister in to console her after a bad break-up, send her friends flowers on their last day of work, rearrange her entire life for the birth of not one, but three of our children, someone who always sees the best in people and who keeps in touch with her friends and family despite busy schedules and distance between. The ability to listen, endlessly. Listen to us cry, laugh, tell boring stories, whathaveyou. Listen and not interrupt; listen and not offer advice, just listen. Bring sunshine and light to an otherwise dark day; eat more than we did when we felt bad about eating too much, not judge when we say terrible things, and appreciate and love us for our short comings. These will be very adorable, perhaps shiny-red, unusually narrow shoes to fill. While we are very doubtful that we will be successful in our search and will ultimately remain merely a threesome, we still wish Amy and Andrew all of the happiness and joy that two people can stand. Please raise us glass with us, but do NOT clink them together, for our dearest friend Amy and her wonderful new husband Andrew; he is the only man deserving of taking her from us and I think we can all agree that she is irreplaceable.

God Ajö IKEA!

Friday, September 29th, 2006 will mark my last day at IKEA, Ottawa. After four years of herring, meatballs and more cinnamon buns than I care to think about I will be embarking on a new journey; one paved in ice. I have been hired by Skate Canada as Events Inventory Coordinator and I couldn't be more excited, nervous or thrilled! More details to follow as the big day approaches.

Before...

Here are some before pics of the kitchen, bathroom and back yard, to give you an idea of what we've been up to... If all goes according to plan we should be posting the 'After's in a few weeks. Here's Elizabeth and and Simon playing in their new backyard... So, as you can see the place was a little blue.

Update

Okay, I know it, I'm a dead-beat blogger. I've been busy, really! I have this week off work, so I will now give you all the lo-down on the Moore-Main front. 1. The reno's on our house on First Ave are coming along swimmingly. We held a fabulously productive painting party on the 26th and with the help of Sara, Marc, Andrew, Melissa, Dwight, Jackie and Don the house was practically totally painted in under three hours. Some remarks were made that it was more of a light-labor camp than a party, but I maintain that if Beer and Pizza are served and no one is flogged then it classifies as a party. BIG BIG thank-yous go out to our campers, um, party-guests... 2. Elizabeth maintains a high level of adorability. See pic above. 3. Nicholas has started high-school. No, not a typo, HIGH-SCHOOL. It is horrifying, almost unbelievable, but nonetheless true. So far no yicky pre-teen mustache has appeared, but the B.O. is alive and growing.

jackiebrophyphotography.ca

Our very good friend Jackie has started her own photography company recently. She has asked me to pass along her info to anyone who may be interested. Here's a sample of the pics she took of our kids, but her website is much more extensive. Give her a call, you won't be disappointed!

HOT off the Press

The rain seems to have finally let up and has been replaced by scorching, relentless, stifling heat. I am not complaining, merely observing with the use of non-positive adjectives. Some truly positive notes... Well, I passed the course I was taking. Lets just say I am lucky to have such thick skin on my teeth... I ran the half marathon at National Capital Race Weekend (that's 21km for you non-runners out there). The temperature that day was 27C, so I was very pleased not to be one of the poor bastards being assisted by a medic half way to the finish line. When Nicholas asked me what place I came in I think he was very unimpressed by my answer, "2168th". Simon had an encounter with the pavement again last week resulting in a large welt on the side of his head and a black eye for a few days. To mend his spirits he got a tour of one of the firetrucks that was parked on our block for an evening. Nicholas's soccer season has been incident free, I am pleased to report. Some wins, some non-wins, lots and lots and lots of gas consumed (by the van). Elizabeth has an official forst word. Doggie. We are all suitable pleased. Morely is very proud.

Main Renovations

Officially on the World Wide Web... www.mainrenovations.com

Our Latest Aquisition

If you know anyone looking for a five bedroom, three storey home in trendy Glebe area of Ottawa, let us know. We may have just what theye're looking for...

Some Updates

Well, my semester is almost over, so my final is this Thursday. The results of that could go either way really...I will keep you posted. Kids are great; Nicholas bought himself a new bike this weekend. He had a wonderful bike that his grandparents had bought him two years ago. Though barely used, he had outgrown it. On Saturday afternoon he took it across the way to "Bert's Used Bikes" and proposed a trade. Bert offered him 120$ for his bike and wanted another 75$ for the new one. After test-riding the bike for the afternoon, Nich told Bert he would give hime 50$ and he wanted him to throw in a new bike-lock. They settled on 60$ and a new lock. Look out dad, this kid is going to be buying cars in a few years... Simon has survived another week without a trip to Emerg... (the last trip was a few weeks ago for a broken nose and three stitches to his upper lip. Lesson learned: Pavement is not good toboganing surface. Elizabeth is excessively adorable as the pics will show. We fear she may not be English, however. She seems to not understand anything we say and is always on the phone with someone we have never even heard of.

Gone, but not forgotten....

Some of you may or may not know that on our way back from the Bahamas we lost our beloved camera; our eye on you, if you will. After we returned and discovered it was gone I was very depressed for several days. I called all the airports and taxis and hotels I had been in during our trip, but turned up nothing. I have since forced my self to get on with my life. It has been very, very difficult, but being the strong, brave woman that I am, I have trudged forth. I have ordered a newer, better camera. It should be here tomorrow. Oh what a happy day it will be... Incidentally check out this blog on a similar topic...

We're Baaaacck!

You know what they say, "A bad day in the Bahamas is still better than a good day at home..." At least from now on, that's what I say... Despite all of our outgoing flights being cancelled at the last minute due to the snow in NYC, despite driving nine and a half hours to two different airports to catch two cancelled flights, despite dropping an extra 400$ on unexpected hotels rooms in cities like Syracuse New York and Nassau, when we finally arrived on Tuesday morning rather than Sunday afternoon, Lochabar was a tropical oasis unlike any any we had ever seen....The water was as clear as a swimming pool for miles and our view was only ever impeded by the sunlight reflecting off the water. The locals complained all the time about how cold it was (we were there during a cold snap), but the coldest day was probably about 20 and by the end of the week I am sure the temperature was up to almost 30, but there was always a nice breeze which made getting a scorching sunburn a cinch! When we did venture into town for groceries or island fare, the people were very warm and kind and with the exception for hundreds of roaming goats and sheep, there was almost no "wildlife" to speak of. Sadly, on the way home we lost our camera which was full of great pics, so I only have these three two show you. Its probably for the best; I hear the weather here was one of the coldest weeks this winter...

So Long Baby!!

After what seems like several winters of being pregnant, having babies and selling houses, we are finally off to the sun and sand of glorious Whistling Duck Cottage, Long Island, Bahamas. My fantastic mother and my wonderful sister-in-law have generously offered to look after our adoring children for the week. (if there is a word that reflects generosity to the umpteenth power, please let me know so that I may replace the understated "generous"). Stay tuned for many, many pics of us lounging, sipping, swimming, snorkeling and all around lounging, that will make you mouth water.

Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho...

Well, I am at the end of week two. So far so good. It was somewhat disappointing that the same jokes are going around (we sell a lamp called 'Colon') and the bloody photocopier in our office hasn't been heaved into the compacter, but otherwise, a very smooth transition. I won't pretend like I am not exhausted. Between classes at Ottawa U and trying to keep up with my working out (six mornings a week, swimming, running, gym, just to brag a little), I am pretty pooped by ten o'clock, but I am extremely fortunate to have the support of a wonderful family and the services of a fantastic Nanny. Stay tuned for humorous Swedish anecdotes...

The Final Countdown

Six days and counting... How 55 weeks will fly by when you're changing diapers and counting stretchmarks! On Monday January ninth I will reunite with my coworkers for the first time in over a year. I have some seriously mixed feelings about this, as you can imagine. On the one hand, I do love my job (most of the time). I like the people I work with (most of them). And I know it won't be much longer before I go completely stir-crazy staying at home. But on the other hand, the baby is so darn CUTE and she seems to be exceeding her daily cute record every day!!! (see photo) I have really enjoyed taking walks with her, baking and cooking with Simon (which may explain why my pants keep shrinking...) and all the wonderful home-maker type things that I would never EVER have done before. (cooking for my man and cleaning the oven to name a few). But the fun has to end sometime right? I have a wonderful Nanny who will look after the kids and I will be home on Fridays, so its not like I won't ever see them, sniffle sniffle... but I will be sad to leave on Monday morning just the same.

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Living in a diverse city like Ottawa can be tricky during holiday season. I had a bit of an awkward situation last week when I wished the Pizza-Guy a Merry Christmas. It was evident that Christmas was not one of the holidays observed by this man, but being a friendly person who was not brought up in the age of "PC", I have been throwing around the "Merry Xmas-es" like they were candy canes at the Santa Claus parade. He gave me a blank look for a second and wished me the same, but I could tell I had made him uncomfortable. While I gorged on my pizza, I took some time to reflect on what had happened and I have come up with this solution to what seems to be a problem plaguing department stores and consumers, Christian and Non around the world. Whether you celebrate or even observe the same holidays and anniversaries as I do, I will still continue to wish you a happy "whatever" regardless. I do not feel that I should curtail my enjoyment of the season or my desire to spread joy simply because you do not share in it. I would not be offended if you wished me a "Happy Hanukkah" or a "Merry Eid"; I would be thrilled that you thought to welcome me to your celebration. I think it is sad that someone would take offense to being wished a happy anything for that matter. "Happy Pride Week" to all my gay AND straight friends you will hear me say this summer. I will accept a "Merry Columbus Day" from my neighbors to the south next fall. We should all accept a wish for a nice day from your waiter, neighbor, bus driver and give one in return this year. There are plenty of people wishing ill to oneanother, lets wish something pleasant and be happy when someone wishes it to us!

Student ID 2715440

Its official; I have been admitted to University of Ottawa's Business Admin program! Look out world, pretty soon I will have a license to kick butt all over the map! (up until now I was relying solely on my authoritative tone and good looks). Stay tuned for exciting tales from "Adventures in Macroeconomics 1101"; Coming soon to a blog near you.

You know you have become a true Ottawaian when...

Okay, I have partially ripped this off of my sister's list and a list that was tabulated in Ottawa magazine, but most of these are my own. Feel free to add yours...

1. You have a great suit for work on, but you have white sneakers or any shoe from MEC on your feet.
2. Your kid is four and you're still breastfeeding it.
3. You complain about the traffic (which is non-existent)
4. You aspire to become a Public Servant
5. You won't spank you kid; in public or otherwise
6. You give up smoking
7. Most of your wardrobe comes from MEC and/or is made of hemp
8. You spend over 20k on childcare every year
9. Over 75% of the people on your party list are Public Servants and Lawyers
10. You have a cottage and it is 12 minutes from your home
11. You shop "organic"
12. You ride your bike to and from work (see point 1)
13. You have a nanny and its not considered a luxury but in fact a way of saving money (see point 8)
14. You are more afraid of the police than the crack-heads
15. You paid over 400k for a townhome in the 'burbs
16. You restrict your highlights to blonde, otherwise its too racy
17. You wait until you're in your 40's to start having children
18. You dress badly (upscale to you is the Bay or Cleo)
19. You have named your child Sienna or Bryce or anything ending in an "ie" rather than a "Y"
20. You have forgotten the words to " O Canada" in French, but know them backwards and forwards in English
21. You know the truth about Max Keeping
22. You are surprised to find out someone is straight.
23. Your boys swim instead of play hockey (I think in Quebec you can actually be stoned for this...)
24. You install floating floor (over hardwood!!!)

This May Alarm You...

As mentioned in my first blog I have started a Neighborhood Watch program for our block (yes, the entire rest of the city can drop off the face of the earth for all I care, so long as the few hundred feet of property around me are okay...). In the last three weeks three of my neighbors have been broken in to (one while they were home no less!), so it would seem we are in the middle of a mini crime wave. Like many of my neighbors, upon hearing fo the break-ins I called an alarm company for an estimate. So the guy shows up promptly the next day to regale me with horror stories about the woman down the street being attacked in her home by her ex husband who is a "pathalogical thief in this area" and how my dog will be killed by a lethal screwdriver weilding man any minute now... He also went on about how scared I was and how scared my children are and how he deeply cares about me and them....At this point I was scanning the room for a screwdriver... I finally managed to get rid of Robert Stack by telling him that my husband would have to make the final descision and we woud get back to him. (for those of you just tuning in, I am not married nor have I ever relied on my husband to make descisions). In the end we have decided to forgo the alarm for now. Maybe it has something to do with my rural roots, maybe its because I hate the thought of driving my neighbors up the wall every two hours because some squirrel has set the damn thing off (I think squirrels have excellent connections on the blackmarket trading front....). Mostly I think the thirty dollars a month could be better spent on dog food for our giant man-eating dog; Killer (seen above)

Book Review...

So I have just finished reading Oprah's latest book club selection, A Million Little Pieces. I was not, as many of Oprah's minions were, blown away. This book seems to be nothing more than a 430-page collection of oddly strung together curse words with the occasional descprition of the authors stomach contents. I admit that I had read it almost straight through without any breaks; it was difficult to put down at times, but only because I kept waiting for something to happen. It didnt. I kept waiting for this little pompass prick to get his ass kicked (which he seriously deserved), but instead I am expected to believe that he kicks the ass of several infamous mobsters and beats this overwhelming twleve year addiction to the worlds most additive drugs by simply reading the Tao of Somethingorother... I didn't and don't buy it. I am happy to report that I now know the difference between crack and heroin. Maybe that will come in handy. Most of the curse words I was already familiar with...