Monkey See, Monkey Do

On the way home yesterday Zachary was getting into a right state, so when it was safe to do so, I looked behind and there is Zachary trying to put his pink ball into his jacket...why you ask?


Well, Grandad had taken it from him and said “My Ball” and put it in his shirt pocket. (A little game they play but Grandad had never put it in his shirt pocket before). Zachary was just trying to do what Grandad did! Bless!

Prison Break Obsession Part 2

Season Three arrived yesterday and we've already watched 2 episodes! Yippee!

Prison Break Obsession

So, last week Smiley and I ran out of shows to watch so I started watching Prison Break as we had the first two seasons loaded on to our BT Vision box. We didn't start watching it when it first came out as we had a lot of other shows on the go at the time. So...I started watching...and then Smiley started watching with me...and it became an obsession, we would watch 2 or 3 episodes in an evening and even spent our lunch hour sitting in front of the tv just to catch an extra episode. SO BAD! I know...I'm still so tired from staying up way to late to watch the nail biting adventures the "Fox River 8" were having. Almost every episode I would say "Oh dear! How are they going to get out of this one?" But sure enough...it was fine. The story line is great! But...here is my confession...I seem to be totally infatuated with the lead character, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller). I know, SAD!

But seriously, he is HOT!

Ok, the show just reeks of hotness...Michaels brother, Lincon Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is pretty smokin' as well not to mention other cast members.

So I've thought about this for a week and I decided that it is indeed the character I’m infatuated with, not the actor himself. How have I come to this decision you ask...well, I don't know the actor, Wentworth Miller, at all. Ok, he's hot (or was from 2005 - 2009) but...that's it...so what. But Michael Scofield...he's smokin' hot and ever so clever, and loyal and broody! OMG!

I just want to clarify that this NEVER happens to me. I can admit that a celebrity is hot but I never get weak in the knees at the thought of one. Oh well I guess there is a first for everything!

But it turns out that Wentworth has let himself go recently. Here is a picture of him taken from the daily mail. Even hot guys get older and softer sometimes! Oh well!

Smiley had ordered Season 3 off eBay and we're just awaiting its arrival so we can continue with our Prison Break obsession!

Happy Easter

So it's Easter morning...and no, the first thing I did wasn't to log on to facebook. Not enough time for that, it'll have to wait till tonight probably.

However...this morning I did get an email from facebook. See the snippet below.

So, looks like facebook will be keeping me busy for some time! Giving up Facebook for lent was difficult but probably not as difficult as giving up something like chocolate or alcohol because, although I don't have either of those very often, saying I can't have them will make me want them more!

Getting ready for our car boot sale...and it's raining, hopefully it'll be like yesterday when it rained a bit in the morning but cleared up for the rest of the day.

Easter is Here...nearly!

Ok, so I've not blogged nearly as much as I thought I would have as I've been busy doing other things, like surfing the net, or vegging and watching tv or doing my latest project, a cross stitch for my baby boy...not so much of a baby any more. He's 18 1/2 months now!

So today is the last day of lent. As tomorrow is Easter Sunday I'm allowed to get back on facebook. I can't wait. I've missed so much. I know, whatever, plenty of people survive without facebook. But sure, if you've never had it then your friends and family regularly update you of what's new...but since I'm usually on facebook I've missed loads. Apparently friends of mine Krista and Sep have had a baby...don't know the name or the sex. My best friend has sold her house and leaving Victoria for Nelson...but will she be there in May...Apparently my cousin is pregnant...but I don't know when she's due...my bff has moved from Boston to Portland and I still don't know if they've made it there safely. So I am definitely looking forward to getting back on facebook and being able to keep up with my friends and family. I do have some BIG news as well, but it'll have to wait a day or two...and no, I'm not pregnant again :)

I will try to blog more often than I have done recently...I always think of things to write about when I'm away from my laptop and can never remember what it was when I'm sitting here with time on my hands. I know, pictures of Venice have yet to appear...there are just masses of them and it's very tiring trying to sort out what I want to put up.

Tonight we had our friends Noel and Julia round. They have a 5 year old Daughter who is great company for Zachary. They get on so well but it was very difficult to get Zachary to bed. He will be VERY tired tomorrow as we have to get up early and he didn't go to bed till 10:30 as we ended up getting him up until our guests left.

Why must we get up early tomorrow, well, as a start of getting rid of everything we own to move home to Canada we are going to a Car boot sale. For my non-English visitors, a car boot sale is like a garage sale but instead of people driving round to everyone's different houses, the people with stuff to sell jam their cars full of their junk (er treasures) and head to a field or car park etc and unload all their stuff and sell it there. Currently our CRV has the back seats down and it is absolutely packed full to the ceiling of our crap (er...treasures...really!) We figure if we come home with £100 then we'll be happy, I'm hoping for more as we've labeled everything and we're looking at nearly £700 worth of stuff (and there is a load of stuff labeled  £1) I am a bit nervous as I keep being told about watching out for the dealers and other people that will steal our stuff. So I'm hoping that between the two of us we'll keep the theft down to a minimum. Fortunately Smiley's parents have said they'll have Zachary for us while we get rid of all our old junk (er...fantastic, bargain items!)

So...as I'll be extremely busy tomorrow with Car Boot and then Dinner round the in-laws...Happy Easter! I'll see you on Facebook!

More Pictures

I have just realised that I really don't post enough pictures on my blog. I will try and start posting more! (including the Venice pictures!)

I'm doing ok as far as not accessing Facebook. But I did have to get DH to have a look at my step sisters pictures today to see if there was a weight and birthday for her youngest son as I'm nearly finished his cross stitch! Pictures to follow!

Only 12 more days till I can go back to my beloved Facebook! So Sad I know!

BTW, Zachary has got a funny rash on his bum which seems to have spread a bit down his legs and one or two dots on his tummy and neck...Chicken Pox? Who knows, but he's just as happy as ever. He's at nursery at the moment and I've not got a call to say to pick him up. I'll see what they say at 5:30!

Happy St Paddy's Day!

Zachary sporting his Irish shirt from Uncle Graham and Aunty Sandra and his Irish socks from Uncle Geoff and Aunty Susan. Smiley was wearing Green today as well but didn't want his picture taken. Moose is the only Paddy among us so Happy St. Patricks Day Moose!

Venice - The LONG version!

This weekend we went to Venice. It was nice to get away and finally see a place that has been on my top 10 for years. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting. I know I didn't imagine it like the movies as we all know movies are never a good representation of reality.


It was cold, very very cold! I guess I imagined it warm(ish) like spring where we could sit outside and sip a cup of coffee. Also. I knew there were canals...but there were hundreds of them not to mention the bridges to go over! I wasn't hugely impressed on Friday when we arrived but by Monday when the weather was a wee bit warmer and the sun was shining and I knew where I was going, it was starting to grow on me.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and took a coach from the airport to the bus station in Venice. From there we took the Vaporetto (water bus) to a stop instructed by the agency for the apartment we were renting. Unfortunately we missed the stop as we were too slow getting off and had to get off on the next stop and wait for another boat going in the other direction. Eventually we got to our tiny flat (but very recently updated) and dumped our stuff before going to the supermarket to get some supplies (milk, breakfast stuff, beer, wine and of course nappies!). Both Smiley and I found the people SO rude. The shop was very small and people would push by and not hold doors and that was for me, with a pushchair with Zachary in it. On Monday morning Smiley confessed to me that he thought "What a dump!" on our first day there.

We managed to walk to a main "road" Strada Nuvoa or something like that and had dinner. It was...interesting! Starters, First course, Second course, desert...REALLY???? We all had a meatball which was scrummy and then had just one course and no dessert. I had the house wine every where we had dinner and it was SO good. none of the harsh/bitter crap you get here.

The next day we met Laura (our friend that came with us!) at San Marco Piazza (St. Marks Square). She got up nice and early but with little man we were a lot more restricted on our coming and goings. We left and got the Vapporetto right round to the square. It took 45 minutes and we were about an hour later than we had planned meeting Laura. Fortunately, or unfortunately the tour she desperately wanted to go on was fully booked till Monday so we weren't really late in the end! We did the typical wandering around a museum and went through the bridge of sighs. It was nice to get a bit of history...but unless you're into all that, it gets a bit boring. Next we went up the bell tower to have a look but this trip wasn't well planned as we arrived at the top about 1:55pm and the bells chime every hour! OPPPS! Poor Zachary and his little ears! Fortunately it doesn't seem to have damaged his hearing. Next we went on the number 2 Vaporetto up the Grand Canal. Forget going on a gondola, go on the water bus, it won't bankrupt you! It was along the Grand Canal that you can start to see the charm of Venice. After that we wandered around and got lost and had a coffee and a crepe (which Zachary loved with the yummy Nutella in the middle!) and got told where we were. "Erm, excuse me, do you mind showing us where we are on this map please" The man was very nice and smiled and said of course. I wasn't even on the right page! It's very easy to get lost in Venice unless you follow the flow of people! Dinner was at an out of the way pizzeria and Smiley had a massive beer. I'm sure it was a litre! The staff were very nice and even suggested a lovely pizza for me. For desert we had Tiramisu which I've once before and I didn't like it much. I was convinced to try it again and it was SO Good! That and a coffee and we were set to head out in the cold again.

Sunday the plan was to walk to the Jewish Ghetto and then take the Vaporetto to Murano and the Burano. This was the coldest day. It was every so windy and it made it so very, very cold. I found Murano boring, lots of glass shops and I was so cold I just couldn't warm up. After some lunch we got back on the water bus and headed to Burano which I loved. The wind seemed to calm down and the buildings are painted such lovely bright colours. It also seemed in better upkeep than Venice and also cleaner, this could be because of the bright colours, or the size of the island (it is tiny!) or possibly because there was just less traffic (foot traffic of course!). We stopped for a hot chocolate and a biscuit and Zachary thoroughly enjoyed dunking his biscuit in my hot chocolate! Back in Venice we wandered around the streets a bit and even though we were trying to get lost we got trapped in the throng of people heading to and from St Marks Square. We had dinner just off the square and I settled with the "Menu Turisto" but it was very nice and again the wine was Delicious! The Waiters adored Zachary and gave him a little toy and loved watching him run around. This of course is the benefit of eating earlier is that little man can run around without being a nuisance to other patrons. After dinner we headed back to the Square to take some night shots. There were much less people around and it was really quite nice. Zachary started to get in a strop and we quickly rushed back to our flat...it took about 45 minutes to get back what with all the lifting the push chair up and down the stairs to get over the bridges. I still have bruises on the back of my leg from where the pushchair kept banging against it going up the stairs!

Monday Morning we had to be out of the flat by 11am so we got up and went for a little walk down to Rialto bridge. Smiley and I hadn't bought hardly any souvenirs yet so we spent about 2 hours wandering and purchasing our goods. We had a bit of time and let Zachary out to walk. He's really starting to get to the age where he would rather walk than be in his pushchair, not all the time mind, but some of the time.

In the end, regardless of the cold and the masses of stairs and the lack of changing facilities (I got really, really good at changing Zachary on my lap while squatting against a wall to steady myself!) and the old rude Italians (the rude ones always seemed to be old...I'm not just being ageist), we had a lovely time.

It was quite the experience taking Zachary with us as we had yet to go on a city break since he arrived. Usually we walk loads and loads and see everything we possibly can in a very short time and we weren't sure on how well Zachary would do. He really seemed to enjoy himself. We invested in a harness for him (something I said I would never do!) and let him wander around. He loved chasing the birds in St. Marks Square but I felt very secure knowing he was less than a foot away from us at all times and couldn't get lost in a crowd of people. Birds and Boats, something Venice has plenty of were Zachary's favourite items on our trip, not to mention the Gelato!

I don't think I'd want to visit Venice in the summer as we did get the slightest hint of rotting seaweed/algae a couple of times and the heat would just make it so much worse. Not to mention hoards of people and more birds which tend to rip into the rubbish bags and spread the rubbish all over the streets. Perhaps the beginning April would have been a better choice, but hey, ho.

Venice...I've been, I can cross it off my list and I'm very, very glad for that.

(short version with pictures to follow)

Go Canada Go...Part 2!

So turns out the BBC did show the whole game. Well done girls on the gold!

Today...I've watched the Canadian Men win gold against the States on Men's Speed Skating Team Pursuit and Anderson stole the Gold from the Austrians in the Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom. Right now I'm just waiting for the Men's 4 man bobsled to start in 5 minutes! Canada is 0.45 behind the USA in Silver position...fingers crossed another steal!

In Canada and the States the USA are at the top of the medals table because over all, they have the most medals (currently 35). Here, the BBC have listed the rankings based on the number of gold medals. Currently Canada have 12 and the USA have 8. It is SO nice to see Canada at the top of the medals table!

HERE is the link in case you fancy having a little look and basking in the glory of being at the very top of the Medals Table.

We still have a number of Medals that we're in the running for so 12 may increase. Apparently 13 is the most gold medals one before at a winter Olympics. Could we meet or even better, beat it!

I have really loved keeping up with the Olympics and cheering on my Country(ies). I will be sad to see them over tomorrow but at least I will be able to get some sleep!

Go Canada Go!

Go Canada Go!

It's been a bit difficult to keep up with the Winter Olympics this time due to the 8 hour difference. Obviously I'm mainly interested in the Canadian progress especially as these games are on home soil. However, living in England, the BBC are focusing on the Brits out there, and so they should.

Tonight is the Woman's Ice Hockey Final and we've stayed up to watch it. It turns out that the BBC is only showing the first Period! ARRRRRRGGGG! They're then going on to show nearly 2 hours of Men's curling, and the Brits are no longer involved, and it won't be live as they're already in End 7! This of course makes me very sad. I would love to stay up and watch the whole game but it doesn't seem to be on the cards for us.

Well, regardless I will enjoy what I can and am wearing my Canadian Spirit with Pride.

GO CANADA GO!

Drunk Ramblings

So last night I went out with the girlies, nothing special, just a group of us hanging out chatting, drinking wine and having some nibbles. Since getting pregnant and having Zachary I have cut down my alcohol intake, for obvious reasons, so this has made me a very cheap drunk. I didn't run down the street in my undies or anything like that but I always find I tend to get over excited and agree to all sorts of things when I've been drinking.

For instance, 4 years ago we were in Prague for my Brother-in-law's 40th birthday. We were having dinner with Brother-in-law #2 and his fiancee talking about their wedding, due to take place 3 weeks later. Susan had mentioned that she hadn't picked the music yet for the ceremony and in the end I volunteered to play Trumpet Voluntary for her entrance. I hadn't played in 7 years! What was I thinking! but I pulled it off...but it could have been a great big mess!

So last night I think I agreed to going skydiving with Sandra, going away with 5 other girlies to Budapest sometime this year and I'm sure that wasn't the end of it.

Today I'm suffering a bit, just tired mainly but that could also be due to not getting home till 3am and then proceeding to wake up Smiley and Zachary. Fortunately Zachary slept till 9:30 this morning but no chance of a nap for me as Zachary had his nap while we were out today.

Early to bed for me, (right around 10 is early!) and then up at 6 to go for a run! We'll see! I won't be getting up at 1 to watch the hockey though as it will just make me so tired for the rest of the week and I have far too much driving to do. Guess I'll have to watch the highlights on bbc iPlayer tomorrow!

As for Lent...so far so good, not been on facebook at all. Did have a report from darling hubby that Krista and Sipili have had their second baby! Congrats guys!

Lent

So it's lent again...and I've done something BIG! Well, it's big for me. Usually I give up something like Chocolate or Alcohol or sugar. This year I didn't want to do that for the following reasons.

1) Chocolate - I don't actually eat that much of it so giving it up for 40 days wouldn't be that big of a deal...I wanted something that would be truly difficult for me.

2) Crisps/Savoury Snacks - Same thing with Chocolate, I don't always have them and giving them up would make me just want them more.

3) Alcohol - This would be a bit more difficult because we're going to Venice in March and not drinking on holiday isn't any fun...Plus...I don't drink every weekend or anything like...This one was an option.

4) Swearing - Yup, that's right, I have a potty mouth! I work in IT and the majority of my co-workers are men and they all have potty mouths so it's easy to pick up...plus I do A LOT of driving and can be a bit aggressive sometimes...So figured this would be a good one and even thought about having a swear jar.

But they guys at work helped me decide...None of these really felt inspiring so I had mentioned that I had posted on facebook for ideas and they all decided right then and there that I should give up facebook for Lent...So I have.

This will be very difficult for me. Usually in the evening I sit on the sofa and watch TV and check facebook. I love keeping up with what everyone else is doing. I guess this way I will have more time for other things. Tonight I did 10 minutes on the elliptical trainer and I'm blogging...something I haven't done in ages!

I'm quite looking forward to shaking up my routine a bit but sad that I will miss the daily events of all my friends.