sky today

After watching the man in a blizzard clip I looked out and saw the sky reflected in my car. It was so interesting I went out to take pictures of it.

James also had me take pictures of his newly made Lego vehicle that I will post on his blog

Happy New Year! Good bye 2010!

Man in a blizzard

Yesterday, AJ was over for a bit to play with James. I got some things done around the house. I washed the front room floor. It's hardwood and from the amount of dirt I washed up, I probably hadn't given the floor a good washing in a while! I like the shine it gives when it is just washed. However, a nice clean floor is just *asking* for someone to drop something on it, isn't it?

James went to AJs for a sleep over in the evening. The boys have been pleading with us to do this for a while. We tried the sleep over at our house one but it was hard for AJ to sleep. James does very well at AJs house though. He's the kid that was determined to have a sleep over at Karen's when he was about 3. He had a hard time getting to sleep that first one (at Karen's house) but he was DETERMINED and he did it.

Today I found this video on you tube : Man in a blizzard. The description is "An extraordinary film by Jamie Stuart. Not only is it a wonderful evocation of Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent film "Man With a Movie Camera," but consider that it was photographed during the Blizzard of 2010 and edited at lightning speed." I thought my dad or brother might know what the Vertov reference was, but I just liked the film!

Also, Jan 15th 7pm National House of Prayer from Ottawa will be holding a service at Bethel Church downtown Kingston.

The mall

I went early today to the mall. It was already pretty busy.
I did get a pair of pants for James (50% off!) but I think they are too big.
I found an interesting yellowy coloured shirt from the Alfred Sung collection in Zellers for $7 and I used the giftcard my mother gave me for Reitmans to buy a pair of pants (thanks mom!). So I did really well with my purchases, I thought.

After I got back from the mall, I thought that I hadn't walked anywhere yet today (I guess my brain didn't count the time at the mall as *walking*) and I walked down to SDM to fill a prescription for Myron. It was $300!! I was a bit shocked when the lady told me. I'm hoping my drug plan covers that!

Then I got back and walked James to AJ's, talked to Annette for a while and then came back to watch "Amazing Grace". It was based (loosly) on the life of William Wilberforce and his drive to abolish slavery. It was a story about not giving up hope even when everyone else seems against you.

The run

James' team at the tournament tied the first game, won the next 2 and then lost the 4th so he didn't make it into the finals but he sure played a lot of hockey!

Shirt-quest
I tried explaining Marlene's idea of layering to James but he didn't really like the idea of having to put on 2 items of clothing. The effort is too much for an 8 year old who only changes when I force him to. He would wear the same clothing for the whole year, I think, if it weren't for me! So the fact that he only had 2 shirts that fit really wasn't an issue for him, just for me.
I found 2 shirts in what seemed to be his size at Giant Tiger. They had a lot of pajamas and stuff but not a lot of shirts and pants. The one NHL shirt they had in his size was the Senators. Apparently the teams he supports depends on his size. He's growing out of the Maple Leafs into the Senators.
The other shirt was a colourful green and purple one.
Today I went to Loblaws and found another shirt that may fit him- it was for the Northern Hockey League.
I also found him some new splash pants.
None of these items have been actually tried on (as this requires far too much effort from an 8 year old) but I don't think they will be too small- more likely too big. I may hem the arms if it comes down to that being an issue.

This morning I did the grocery shopping. Food Basics was really quiet. Loblaws I went to second and that seemed to be a bit busier. My 'points' covered the cost of James' splash pants and shirt ($30 worth total) so that was a nice surprise.

The afternoon involved a lot of Lego building. His cargo tank is now complete. I have pictures but haven't downloaded them yet.

I am not much further on my holiday cards as I was interrupted by Lego.

I am now thinking of driving out to Zellers tomorrow to work on getting pants for James. If I am successful, he'll have all new outfits for school. So spiffy!

Hockey helmet hair

I've never seen it so curly before!

Causeway classic

Tomorrow James is playing in the "Causeway classic" hockey tournament.
He plays tomorrow (27th)
10am Constantine arena (by RMC)
3pm Cataraqui arena (Hwy 38/401)
7pm Memorial Center
And on the 28th
3pm Constantine arena.
All games are free of charge for spectators so feel free to spectate if you are in the area!

I have reached a crisis point in trying to find shirts for James. He's got a long torso but short arms, so he needs a large size for the torso but a smaller size for the arms. He currently only has 2 long sleeved shirts that fit so he's wearing T-shirts. Maybe I'll try Giant tiger and see if they have any shirts for my odd limbed offspring!

Boxing morning

Some selections of Rustle decorations from December for this morning's post.
This morning Sam says we are watching "The Nativity Story" (movie).
I think we watched this last year too. I seem to recall it was good, but I don't recall enough so that it would be good for me to see again!
On my 'to watch' list at home is "Amazing Grace" (about Wilbert Wilberforce trying to end the British slave trade) and Kim lent me "Faith like Potatoes" but I haven't read the back of that so I don't have a clue what it's about.

It's -9 outside, with a high of -8 and flurries predicted so not too bad. We slept in until 8am and I have been doing things like Lego and watching UFOs since then so I have not had my shower. As it is now almost 10 and the bathroom is occupied, I am giving up on my shower- I'll just brush my hair out and hope for the best!

I need to get the chicken in the slow cooker now. Yesterday we had Christmas pasta and today we'll have chicken with broccoli and either rice or smiley fries depending on James' mood. (Smiley fries are for James but I like them much better than real fries so we all eat them!)

opening sequence

UFO

James woke up about 6:50am squealing (like a vole) that is was Christmas!

We opened the presents in short order. James was impressed with his Lego sets and the UFO from Nat and Karrie. You are purportedly supposed to be able to control said UFO with the palms of your hands. However, in reality the UFO shoots madly around the room only coming to a rest when it gets tangled in my hair. It may be that the batteries are just giving it too much juice and it will settle down on work in a controllable manner in the near future but James seems to be having a good time with it as it is!

James also got a Yoga cat calendar. He loves cats!
My parents found me my favorite agenda- The Polestar Family Calendar. It is the BEST for my needs.
Nat and Karrie got me a journal with an 'a' on the front and a matching cup. To this James declared it was "no fair" as he didn't get ones with 'j's. It really was fair as he got books, a yoda that transformed into a ship AND the UFO from them! No need to complain there. (He also gave you guys an "A+" for wrapping)

James was not to impressed with my gift of a puzzle that depicted the digestive tract. I thought it was neat though :)

James hasn't found the worm in his boot yet!

James has posted a picture of his new star wars ships at http://jamescharlesrogers.blogspot.com/

Only one vole was hurt in the making of this episode.

24th

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a vole. I think it's not stirring because it's dead. Sorry voles.

My father wished Merry Christmas to my voles.

I worked in the morning and I think everything is clear to begin exam scheduling for April. I have my first 2 requests too :)

I did some grocery shopping after work- it wasn't too busy so I did well.

When I got home, I did some dishes and some laundry and then we got ready to go to the Rustle festive dinner.

The dinner was superb. James even ate quite a bit and normally he doesn't eat much at these sort of things.
Michelle's Kelly won the big draw for the amazingly restored dresser.

When Michelle asked if we did stockings, I explained that we did shoes. When James told her what he got in his shoes he said "chocolate" but I was thinking that he might have answered "voles". Thanks Oma for making the chocolate come in the shoes!

I have a wiggly worm to put in his shoe tonight. Just for fun!

When we got home I was quite tired but my mom got me some Cote d'or chocolate and I'm hoping it has enough caffeine to keep me going tonight. James slept in until 9am so I'm expecting him to be up late tonight!

Quieting

It is very strange at work to go from working flat out with the phone never stopping ringing and the email never stopping coming to relative quiet where I can accomplish things. There were still phone calls and emails, just not the intensity that it has been.

I wrapped up a lot of the December exam session loose ends and opened the exam webform to begin the scheduling for April. It doesn't ever really end!

The most excitement of the day I suppose came when Kingston police arrived in my office. They were, however, in the wrong office and so I sent them away to the correct office. I hope they sorted out whatever the problem was!

A vole died in the mousetrap today. I am unsure if it is the same vole as yesterday. We haven't been tagging them!

A cute video of silent monks singing the Halleluia chorus. How do silent monks sing? You'll have to watch the video!

Family Christmas

Subtitle: A Vole surprise!

The 22nd was my family Christmas. The day did not start out well. James started puking when he woke up.
Thankfully, he was feeling better when my parents got in. (ie. he had stopped puking)

I had a big lunch at work and then headed home. I was pretty tired thanks to Kassie having a night fright at 4am. The vole probably scared her. I thought it was mice at the time, now I think it was the vole.

For some reason, during my parents visit, Myron decided to prop open one of the vents to the heating system. Pretty soon after, a vole popped out and ran into James' shoe. James had been asking for presents in his shoe but I don't think this is what he had in mind. Myron shook the vole out of the shoe into an empty waste basket. The vole started screaming! The vole was taken to the compost heap. I hope there is lots of food for him there and that he doesn't come back!

After that we had a LOVELY take out dinner from the Darbar that I think everyone enjoyed very much.

My parents gave James a Lego ship to work on and it had lots of pieces but he did very well. I think he's all done except for the trim! General grievous' starfighter is ready to launch!

James is up now and I need to head to work. Holidays soon!

Making a list

How far I seem to have gotten on my Christmas cards- I have made a list of who to send them to! Actually getting them sent will take more work!

Thursday and Friday at work were especially crazy and involved a number of emergency services, some not from the city.

I worked for a bit this morning to make sure everything was caught up for Monday morning. I'm not entirely sure how to get up on Monday morning as the Survivor finale is Sunday night!

After work I did some shopping and then came home to try to catch up on dishes and laundry, etc. Still working on that!

1/3

It was a crazy busy week this week but 1/3 of the exam session is now done!

They say it is freezing rain outside but it is too dark right now for me to tell.

Today James has practice at the Memorial Center. It's not too far- if it's too slippery to go by car, they can slide there, I guess!

The sliding to Rustle and in the evening to Calvary Bible Church to watch their Christmas play. Hopefully none of these things have to be cancelled due to weather.

first snowplow!

We have enough snow to spot the first snowplow of the season!

On Thursday evening a student fell through the roof of a library and died. And so we had one student fall to his death on the first day of classes as well as on pretty much the last. I explained the recent fall to James (without referencing the one from September) and he immediately remembered the earlier fall and asked me if Queen's had a problem with students falling. I wonder.

Then he asked why students would be on the roof. Good question. If even an 8 year old thinks it sounds silly!

I thought it was neat that today Sam referenced the Katy Perry song "Firework" that I had been listening to all last week.

Today I have been listening to "Wait and See" by Brandon Heath

Yesterday, I worked on the proctor schedule and went to a Christmas dinner at Calvary Bible Church and to Paul and Heath's CD release party. It was a good day.

I have a huge list of things to do tomorrow!

Transit

I can't say I paid any attention to the Toronto mayorial election. I had no vote, so it didn't ride high on my radar. His transit plan did cause me to pay a bit of attention due to my love of public transit. There's an interesting (comical) video about it on youtube.