When I woke up

Friday morning, I had a thought. (I know!! That IS hard to believe) But it's pretty deep. Why are they called Chinese? Why not Chinan? I can't think of another country that ends in "a" that refers to their people as "-ese". Most of the rest just add an "n". For example: American, Cuban, Australian, Bolivian, Indonesian, Slovakian, Russian, Algerian, etc. Am I right? There are other exceptions CanadIan, ArgentinIan. Where an "i" is added. But by and large if a country ends in "a", just add an "n". Not China. They follow a different trend. Like Japanese and Sudanese. Who decides on "n" countries? Whethere to go "-ese" or "i", or "-ian"? I better drop this train of thought before my brain explodes. Netherlands=Holland-->Dutch? WTF?! Are they called New Zealanders? Trinidad and Tobaggan?? HAHAAH I'm so easily amused.

Grace had a party!!

Grace had a party for her 5th birthday on Saturday. She had lots of fun. There was friends from school, friends from daycare, cousins and other friends. They did some crafts, decorated (and ate) cupcakes, played some games and opened some gifts. I got to meet some of her friends from school. Mixed first impressions. They made lots of noise and plenty of mess, but they had fun. It really made me feel like a dad. I do everyday but I felt like other people identified me as "Grace's dad". Nobody called me Mr. Hinch, so that's good. That would just make me feel old. Although, I did almost have one the parents convinced that TV was only in black and white when I was a kid. Almost.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

I just finished reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. It about two boys on opposite sides of the fence. One in striped pajamas ( in a concentration camp) and the other the son of a high ranking Nazi. It is written from the perspective of the naive son of the Nazi official. It's a very compelling read. It explores the Holocaust from a very interesting perspective. We have all read about the horrors of the Holocaust but never in this way. It speaks to the innocence of youth even in the face of the unspeakable. It's even relavant to our time, without the blatant hatred of the Nazis. It demonstrates what we can learn from children. In the eyes of children, we are all the same. No matter our race, religion, ancestry or social standing, we are all people.

I highly recommend this book. It's a very quick read. Which is good because once you start, you won't want to put it down. In the notes at the end of the book, the author states that he wrote it in a week and half, but it doesn't feel rushed or half-assed.

It's almost time!!

The snow is gone. The flowers are coming up. Time to get outside. We went for our first after supper walk of the season the other day. It was very nice. We are now looking for a double jogging stroller. We used to have a double bike trailer/stroller but it was cumbersome and Grace hated it. Then we had a jogging stroller but we never used it. I think we sold it for as much or more than we paid for it. We want a jogging stroller because they tend to have bigger wheels and can handle uneven sidewalks better than normal strollers. We need the double to we can take both girls when we are alone. Finding a used one is not proving easy.

I am really itching to get outside.  I have a lot of work to do. Not to mention using the scooter!! I need to get some dirt and level out the yard in some places to make it so the fence doesn't look crooked (it's level). And to "freshen up" the dog's kennel. I can pick it all up but with the rain and stuff....

I need to strart doing some measuring and planning for my first project of the summer. I am putting a railing around the front porch. Need to measure to see how long of 2x4s I'll need and then plan for spacing of the 2x2 spindles and calculate how many of those I need. I'm going to get those holders I guess, that you screw onto the upright and then fit the end of the 2x4 into it. That is so much easier than trying to hammer the nails in on an angle and all that. When that's all done I will be building some window boxes but not for the windows. haha. They will sit on either side of the stairs. I am going to mount the numbers for our address on one of the boxes. Dad and Zena got us some really nice ceramic ones from a vendor when they were down in Chile. I haven't put them up anywhere yet because I wanted to do it right. If I get all that done, and we have the money, I'll be building a bigger deck. Not sure on the size yet but it will be bigger then the 8x7ft one we have now. At least 12x12, maybe 12x16. I have room for 12x20 but that might be a bit much. We'll see. I might even use the wood from the old deck to make a scooter port. hahaha Like a carport, but for the scooter.

Grace's birthday party is Saturday. There will be quite a few people at the house. I think 11 kids including Grace? plus Amelia, and the teenage cousin help. and parents. I just hope Amelia is well enough that she can be involved and we won't have to seclude her or take her somewhere else. Poor thing.

Saturday morning, I will find myself in Kingston. I have to get Becky the Best Buy exclusive Limited Edition Twilight DVD. It's got a bunch of extra stuff that is only on that version. It's sold out online. I need to call the store tomorrow and see if the are doing anything special. Like opening early or anything. Doubtless there will be hordes of teen girls there waiting to get it. Should be interesting. I hope I don't look like a creep and/or nerd. IT'S NOT FOR ME!!!!! hahaha

Grace's Birthday!

Grace turned 5 today. Well, yesterday. Fine! Wednesday.

She got a Peek-a-Boo Barbie and a Princess Barbie. A Tinkerbell balloon. A nice little toy bin and a Littlest Pet Shop Fitness CLub from us.

She got a Bratz Princess (she thinks it's Barbie) and a Camp Rock "Mitchie" doll (She thinks it's Hanna Montana) in the mail from Grammie and Poppa Rose. She's happy, that's all that matters. She was very excited to get mail.

She spent the day with us and her friend Makenzie. We went to the Pirate Park in Belleville then to McDonald's (with PlayPlace). When it was time to leave, Mackenzie went to get Grace and Grace screamed bloody murder because she didn't want to leave. My gawd was it loud! This horrible screech in a little acoustically resonant room was loud enough that federal safety regulations would have required hearing protection. Then we went back to our place and the girls played. I managed to nap in the next room with no problem. I wasn't THAT tired, and I doubt they were quiet, but I think I have myself trained.

Grace talked to or got birthday messages from just about everyone. It was good. She is going to have such a blast at her party on Saturday!

Hard to believe she's so old!! Next thing I know she'll be in high schooo. Please no! I'll stick with the fancy song she sang Grampa about how she'll be six and go to Grade One.

Can I get my hopes up yet?

No daily high temperatures in the minus until at least Monday. And the 14 Day Trend says nothing below 5 after that. That would be very nice indeed. I am sick of the cold.

I went to Value Village yesterday to grab a couple cassettes that I didn't get last time because I didn't want to use debit for $2.26 and they were gone!! Who else other than me would want a Megadeth and Rage Against the Machine cassette? crap.

I hope to do alot of cleaning up outside on Friday. The high is only 1 for Friday though. But sunny.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! and Happy Submarine Day!

wow!

I had to walk down to another area of the plant to train someone on something. It looked nice enough outside so I walked to the end of plant outside. My initial thought was "Yeah, not bad. Not t-shirt weather, but maybe a light hoodie."

20 minutes later, I take the same path back. But in that 20 minutes, it has warmed up even more! There was robins hopping around in the grass chirping at eachother, not a cloud in the sky and a nice gentle breeze.I felt like doing cartwheels! Seriously! And yes, I can do cartwheels. I did not, however, do any cartwheels. Someone might have been looking. And I'm already gonna catch enough flack this summer when I ride our electric scooter to work. I don't need to add any fuel to the fire.

I guess what I am trying to say is: What a nice day for me to be cooped up in a smelly ole plant!

I lost my travel mug

I can't find it anywhere. I probably left it laying around at work. And
since it looks like everyone else's, someone probably picked it up. I
didn't pay for it so it's no big loss, but now I have to buy a new one.

On Sunday we took the girls to the Pirate Cove playground in Belleville.
Man! did they ever have fun! I really enjoyed seeing them so happy. It's a
geat place to take them. It's great because it's fenced in. Then we took
them to the new renovated Reid's Dairy for ice cream. Amelia made quite a
mess but it was better than my expectations. That's why they get vanilla.
First Grace wanted vanilla, then Pistachio, then strawberry, then chocolate
then back to vanilla.

Amelia slept throught the might Sunday night. A full 12 hours. Thank you
thank you thank you! I haven't got an email from Becky yet so I hope she is
sleeping through tonight aswell.We've had her on lactose free milk for a
couple weeks now and she actually has solid poops now and her diaper rash
is clearing right up. It's a little more expensive but it's worth it.

I was freaking Sunday and all day Monday because I could find the receipt
for my $500 orthotics. Then when I was leaving for work I had a revelation!
I flipped open the thing in the center console that I keep my change and CT
money in and Voila!! I thought I put it right on the seat but the console
wasn the next logical place to look because that's where I put everything
so it doesn't blow out the window or fall out the door. Why I didn't look
there is beyond my comprehension. But now I have it and I can submit it to
my benefits. Phew!!

I have this feeling in the back of my throat. It's like there is a string
or a feather or something stuck at the back. It would be really nice if it
went away soon. I haven't been able to swallow normally for over a week.

I should take PC repair

Wednesday night my computer didn't work. It wouldn't turn on. It sounded like a car turning over but it just didn't have the strength. It would start going full bore for a couple seconds and then it would start chugging again. I asked a buddy at work and he said it sounded like the power supply. That's what I thought too.
Friday I went to Canada Computers and bought a new one. I changed it myself and everything is cool.
Then yesterday I took the old hard-drive out of my old computer and putting in the one I am using. And I didn't mess it up. It gives me an extra 10GB of storage after I formatted it. It's a 12GB drive but I can't seem to get the other 2GB cleared.
Later today or Monday I'll be swapping out the DVD drives. The one that came with this computer wasn't working right so I put my old in a while ago. It was doing the same thing so I figured it wasn't the drives but rather a CPU problem. In light of the power supply issue, it may be related so I am going to put the newer, better (it burns) one back in and give that a shot.
Someday I am going to buy some more RAM and speed this baby up a bit. I have slots for at least one more RAM card, maybe 2.
In the meantime, I have to move all the pictures onto the MyBook. Just in case this baby dies. I can replace programs, mp3s, movies and stuff but I can't replace the pictures.

Stand back people!!

So here's the thing about adding lots of fibre into your diet. Yeah, it lowers cholesterol, helps regularity, detox and it tastes great (lmao), but I have been farting A LOT. Nowhere near silent, and very violent. I ripped an air biscuit last night doing dishes and it almost knocked ME on my ass. It's that bad. Maybe it's just temporary. My flatulence had sibsided considerably when we cut way back on pop, but it's back with a vengeance.

Maybe the nasal strips have something to do with it? I am getting more oxygen in my system at night so maybe it's building up? But it's not oxygen on the way out.....