Paul's birthday is tomorrow. I feel I should showcase some of the posters that will be hung, celebrating him and all his super-powerness.

More will be posted tomorrow - tonight, I clean, figure out the menu for the party...and hopefully sleep.

February 17 - no show, no call, no apology.

On Saturday he calls and leaves a message rescheduling for Monday February 23 but no call back confirming time. Finally emails Paul late last night to confirm 6pm TODAY.

Oops, nope, can't do it. Just called, double booked himself with his family.

So...tomorrow morning, 8:00 am.

If only people would have bet money on his actually showing up - I'd have a new carpet in my living room by now!

I ____ my contractor.

We are experiencing a dark cloud over the house - the kids are alternating sicknesses. Satchel now has strep throat and I'm frantically trying to find a doctor friend at home who will phone in a prescription for antibiotics.

My biggest fear is that Jakob will get strep...and then I will lose my mind. For good. FOREVER.

So...I may have mentioned that our contractor was to meet with Paul yesterday at 8:00am to walk through the house, finalizing the final few jobs needing attention under the warranty list and how much time it would take. Because he really wants to finish everything up this week.

Yeah, he didn't show.

Didn't call.

Didn't email.

He finally emailed Paul in response to his many phone messages and emails this afternoon to say he's at home with a cold and would call tomorrow or the day after to reschedule.

I wonder if he's feeling the huge number of toothpicks I have jammed into my voodoo doll?

Oh Mike Holmes, dressed in your undershirt, overalls and heavy gold chain, where are you when we need you?

My valentine present (minus the crazy person) from my darling husband:

The stress of sitting still for nearly 10 seconds almost made Jakob's head pop.

Pop.


My belated valentine's gift to you: DO NOT SEE PINK PANTHER 2, otherwise known as the film that completely destroyed Steve Martin's career. It will lead to excessive head banging against concrete structures and the damage to your children by the long stream of cursing over the $40+ spent to see such crap...well, the poor little things will have not only lost their innocence but may never get over the trauma.

DayofPink is a day of action, born when a youth in a high school in Cambridge, Nova Scotia was bullied because he wore a pink shirt to school. His fellow students decided to stand up to bullying;
and hundreds of students came to school wearing pink to show support for diversity and stopping discrimination, bullying and homophobia.

Moved by this event, the National Capital Region GSA Network (an initiative by Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative) decided to share this day with the world and create the International DayofPink.


Goal
The goal of DayofPink.org is to bring this message across the world, through an international day of action that anyone can take part in. We encourage groups to not only wear pink in support of Diversity,
but to also hold events and activities that will engage their community.

Why should you participate?
Across the world discrimination continues to be the leading source of conflict. Discrimination is racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, anti-semitism... and many others. These social diseases affect how we work, study and treat one another; and they create barriers, bullying, harassment, hate and violence. DayofPink is more than just a symbol of a shared belief in celebrating diversity - it's also a commitment to being open minded, to being understanding of differences and to learning to respect each other.

I'll be wearing my pink sweater (sadly all that I own)!

http://www.dayofpink.org/

Coraline was fantastic! (And so was the pint of Irish ale before hand which unfortunately led Paul to falling asleep for a short nap during the movie.) The film was dark, but not quite as dark as the book. And I truly believe that most children love darker stories - especially if the ongoing popularity of Brothers Grimm is any indication, and tales shared by girlfriends as their favourite stories of childhood...and then good lord what my sister and I used to do to our barbie dolls! Children are twisted and slightly disturbed.

The 3D effect was incredible, Jakob sat on the edge of his seat through the entire film and I would catch his hands waving in front of him, trying to touch whatever was floating out of the screen towards us. We were even forced to sit through the credits, something he normally has no patience for, because the 3D animation continued. And what a relief that the cardboard glasses with red and blue lenses are now a relic of the past and replaced by funky black plastic sunglasses which Jakob took proudly to school.

Life is irritating me.

I have been blown off by my guitar instructor. He slept in, can't make it over today.

I had to "talk" (code for yell) to Jakob this morning because he loves saying incredibly inappropriate things to his 7 year old friends (his best friend slept over last night), thinking that he is hilarious but truly having no idea what he's saying. And the diatribes are not funny, they're obscene and if his little friends run home and tell their parents what Jakob says, well...no friends will ever be allowed over to our house again, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if CAS shows up knocking at our door.

And our "beloved" (again code for total opposite of) contractor is also blowing us off with promises of coming to our house to determine how much time is needed to fix the last few things which should have been completed over a year ago but then doesn't contact us again until Paul emails him with "where the #@*&$ are you?!?!". Whew...now that was the very definition of a run-on sentence and shows exactly how pissed off I am.

But why are people not honoring their commitments and obligations? Where is their sense of pride? Did the concept of work ethic fall apart in the 70s?

Perhaps seeing Coraline this afternoon will put me in better spirits. Jakob and I just finished ready the book together and it is fabulous and dark. When I heard they were making a movie of the story I was incredibly excited - long being a Neil Gaiman fan and reading the story to Satchel when he was small. Maybe a pint in a pub beforehand too...

Jakob's in a mood today.

I picked him up from school and he told me that his day sucked, two periods of gym. Tomorrow's going to suck too, just to forewarn me I guess, two periods of gym AND a dance-a-thon. Plus Friday is PAJAMA day...and just so I know, he's boycotting that whole thing. No way is he wearing pajamas.

And the snack I brought? SUCKS. Not eating it. And it's not like I brought him vegetables, no sir, I brought him little organic chocolate cookies with a soft chocolate centre. Man that kid is high maintenance.

Plus to make the day even more miserable he told his whole class that he had diarrhea on the plane.

M: The plane? When we flew to Edmonton?

J: Yes.

M: And how did the kids react?

J: One girl laughed.

M: Oh.

J: And that was really rude of her because it's not funny when you have diarrhea on an airplane.

M: Though it was pretty sweet when all the flight attendants loaded you up on ginger ale afterward!

J: Yeah that was good. And remember all the episodes of Family Guy I got to watch?

M. Yeah, about that...you and Satchel are banned from watching Family Guy.

J: This is the worst day EVER!

So 21 years ago today, Paul and I had our first date - spontaneously heading over to Pedlars for $1.99 pizza and salad with a pint of beer...only to be joined by Ian. The boy who made up words in Art History and would have many strips verbally torn off him at each class.

It's amazing we survived the first few weeks of dating - most of our dates were thwarted. If not by Alan & Dave then by Inge...or perhaps just bad movie choices. Movies with tag lines such as Don't Bury Me, I'm Not Dead Yet!

In other words, absolute classics.

Yesterday while at Remenyi House of Music looking at music books that I am not even close to having the ability to play, a man who had the smell and appearance of a street person also looked at books. After leafing through a few he moved on to the pianos and while standing began to play so beautifully a song I had never heard before. And then he began to sing with absolute confidence and in a voice that gave me no doubt he should be someone I recognize. Initially a salesperson advanced on him and then stopped, listened and stood smiling.

A rare day because it was also so beautiful outside, a respite from the cold that never seems to want to let up and leaves so many of us curled up in the fetal position hiding from the world.

What also made the day insanely special was that Jakob after terrorizing Hamish by chasing him through the house yelling "clod hopper to destiny!" - WHAT?! - sat down at the island and wrote me a fabulous story designed to shake me to the very core with fear called World vs. Vampiers (sic).