First Family Game Night

Last Friday we held our first family game night. It's a perfect day for us, as it's my night off from cooking supper, thanks to our local pizza delivery service, and we're not as concerned with the boys' bedtimes.

Our sister-in-law is a big board game fan. Whenever our families are together, and the boys are in bed (or being looked after by an older cousin), she pulls out a game for the adults to enjoy. And she always has some really fun, different games. No Game of Life or Monopoly for this lady. She's more likely to pull out Ticket to Ride, Apples to Apples, or for the marathon board gamers, Settlers of Catan. Without fail a good time is had by all, and a lot of great conversations have taken place while we play. After witnessing this once again over Christmas holidays, I decided we needed to start bringing this into our boys' lives, hopefully lighting a flame within them that glows with the memories of quality time spent with family and friends.

For Christmas this year, my parents gave both boys their own games. They have other games, which will definitely get pulled off the shelf more often now, but we decided to start with the new ones.

S received Chickyboom. This is a fantastic game. This is our fourth Blue Orange game. I love them. They're wooden, painted pieces, and the games are fun for the whole family, but simple enough that when the kids are only 4 years old, they can understand the rules and play. And there's a level of education too. Chickyboom, for example, is a balance game.

E's game was played after S went to bed. Hubs is a chess player, and since E started reading Harry Potter, he's wanted to learn how to play chess. So, my folks found this Quick Chess game. One side is a smaller board (less squares), for faster games with less pieces, to get the new player used to how the pieces move. E beat Hubs his first time out. The other side is a traditional size, for longer games. E was able to focus for about 45 minutes on this one, which is pretty good for a 6-year old not playing a video game.

I have to say our first family games night was a success. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their game, and as adults we were able to let go of always being in control a little bit, and truly enjoy the evening for what it was, not what we hoped it would be.

What Summer Is All About

A Bowl of Cherries

Eat me!

 Doesn't that look fabulous? Cherries are so cheery and inviting. One of the best things about summer.

When You Need A Pick-Me-Up

This song always puts me in a great mood. From what I understand, this was all one take. Done in Montreal (doesn't the late 60's Canadian university architecture bring back memories?), it was shown a while ago on CBC. A friend passed along the link, and I thought I'd share it.



You gotta love the guy in the hot pink leotard.

The Final Frontier

Seen this?

Apparently yesterday in Calgary there was an information session.

Would you go? (Assuming of course, you a had a fairly sizable disposable income)

I was thinking about this morning. I'm not sure I would.

Oh, yes, I'm a sci-fi geek. Sometimes Often Hubs shakes his head at me...as I quote...Star Trek...

I grew up watching Star Trek, the original Battlestar Gallactica. I love Star Trek! Stargate! Firefly! I read geeky books like The Philosophy of Star Trek and The Physics of Star Trek! I have Spock quotes on my blog, for Pete's sake! I encourage my oldest son's love of the solar system! My younger son sits and watches the opening credits of Voyager with me! I argue with my boss about Star Trek vs. Star Wars!

There's a universe of possibilities out there. I'm just not convinced I was meant to fly in a space ship.

Inquiring mind wants to know...what do you think? Too early? More testing required? Or would you jump on with both feet?

God Bless Mary Walsh!

...Is My Two Front Teeth

No, I still have those, thankyouverymuch. In a completely (and not unprecedented) selfish moment, and since Hubs doesn't like presenting me with things I need, only things I want, I now bring you:

All I Want For Christmas Is...

1. A cast iron fry pan. A cherry red Le Creuset would be the bomb. Another Le Creuset French Oven would be awesome too. Even a plain ol' black $25 cast iron fry pan would be welcome. Why? Because for the past 9 years, I've been dying to make true skillet cornbread.
2. A wooden citrus reamer.
3. French Taste, by Laura Calder (Yay Canada!)
4. Vij's by Vikram Vij (Yay, again, Canada!)
5. A black Lady Dior purse (I have been coveting this since the first time we went to Las Vegas and I spotted it in the Bellagio Dior store)*
   
6. A Paderno saute pan  (Once again, Yay to the Great White North!)
7. A copper bowl**
8. Wine tumblers - not like the stylin' Riedel ones, but earthy, solid, won't-blow-over-on-the-patio-table wine tumblers
9. Novels, food books, geeky books
   
10. World peace***

So, tell me, what's on your wish list this year?

*If this is actually beneath the tree, I will oscillate between sheer bliss and wanting to kill him for spending so much money. Since he knows me so well, I doubt this will be under the tree.


**Anybody know where in Canada to find a decent one of these without having to remortgage my house?

***Couldn't resist throwing that one on there. But, really, do I need to wait for Christmas to wish for this?

The Best Policy

A couple of weeks ago, Jen from 3 Little Monkeys gave me my first ever blog award.

Yay! Bloggy bling!

We're supposed to list 10 honest things about ourselves. And then pass along the award. So, here goes...

1) I am not a patient person. Anything that impedes my progress throughout the day results in much grumbling, muttering and general cantankerousness. Thankfully, I'm also not an outspoken person, otherwise I'm sure I would have been taken down by some large biker dude long ago. I tend to keep my opinions of how inefficiency and disorganization are at the core of everything that is wrong with the world to myself.

2) This being the case, my children are often at the receiving end of my mutterings and grumblings. "Come on", "Let's get going, please", and "Eye on the ball!" are often heard around our house in the morning. Because, let's face it, children are not known for their efficiency. At least mine aren't.

3) I love my job. When I graduated with a Geology degree 10 years ago, I never dreamed I would be supervising a team of 2 engineers and a junior geologist. I never dreamed I would be spending less than 25% of my time in a geological role, learning more and more about engineering and management every day. And enjoying it. I've got some great young people working with me.

4) I love my company. I graduated in April of 1999 and joined them in October of the same year after a brief stint at my Dad's small oil & gas company. I haven't looked back. Not once have I thought I would have it better finding oil and gas than being a consultant. They have believed in me, they've walked beside me as a junior geologist, to professional and senior geologist, to supervisor, and to partner. They had the faith in me to ask me to invest alongside them and help take the company to the next stage as the original partners start to retire. I cannot express what that says to me.

5) I am a morning person. I chatter, I bounce, I annoy Hubs and my night-owl friends. I want to have in-depth conversations about the passing priority on the Autobahn. I can often do this without the aid of caffeine. When we drive to work in the morning, I am often shushed in favour of the sports report. Sad.

6) I can watch Food TV all the live long day. I love them all (well, ok, except for the 'reality shows'. And Rachel Ray). French Food at Home, Barefoot Contessa, The Main, Fresh, Chef at Home...I could go on for pages. Canada has such great kitchen talent (yes, I know Ms. Garten isn't Canadian, but the rest of the list is!)

7) I'm a bit of an Okanagan wine slut. If it has the BC VQA label, I'm all over that bottle. None of this Niagra stuff for me. Hey, Canada has great wines! BC has great wines!

8) I am scared of clowns. They creep me out to no end. Oddly, Cirque du Soleil clowns don't. But, a rainbow afro, giant red shoes and colorful clothes? Gah! And don't get me started on the haunted casino clown on Freemont Street in Las Vegas two weeks ago.

9) I love, love, love having two sons. No, we are not planning to "try for a girl". No, I don't want "one of each". I am looking forward to years of Lego, comic book superheroes, and sci-fi geekdom.

10) I want a tattoo. I know exactly what it is, and where it should be. But I refuse to do it until I have lost some weight. About 35 to 40 pounds to be exact. Hey, I've lost 2! I'm on my way!

Thanks for sticking around! Now, to pass along the award. I always enjoy reading what these ladies have to say. I hope you do too:

G's Blue Eyes
Interrupted Wanderlust
Just Another Mommy Blog
Kami's Khlopchyk
Mimi on the Breach
R Royal Family

Cheers!

Happy Birthday To Me!

I just happened to look and see that two years ago I started this blog! September 20, 2007 was my very first post. (Though I see now that the type colour didn't update along with the rest of my blog. Thanks Blogger!) I've had times where my posting drops off significantly, but lately I've been really enjoying putting my thoughts out there. And I love the comments. Thanks! And keep them coming!

I've also been really enjoying my daily blog rounds! I love reading your blogs! It's especially great when I stumble across a new blog that captures my attention and becomes a new daily favourite.

So, here's to another great year! May all the world be an inspiration!

P.S. My new gadget? The Spock Quotes on my sidebar. Not sure if I'm going to keep it or not.

New Gadget

(Sigh) Yes, I'm a geek.

Wordle!

Thanks to Maggie from and the duck said for the cool link! A little bit of fun for Friday morning. The is my worlde cloud!