Let The Bodies Hit The Floor!!!!!

EMBED-Parrot Sing "Let The Bodies Hit The Floor" - Watch more free videos
Simple things like this make life worth living. This parrot makes me laugh every time I listen to him and trust me, I've listened to it over and over again. I think I am updating my Christmas Wish List - I now want this bird!

Guestblogging From an Undisclosed Location

Duncan and I co-wrote a playful election piece for Edmonton's popular podcast talk show - The Unknown Studio. Involving Battlestar Galactica and Edmonton's 12 wards, it was a lot of fun. Intrigued? You can read it here:

Edmonton’s Quorum of Twelve (October 07 2010, the Unknown Studio)

True Story...

I had a check up with my Doctor today and he was asking me about my sleep habits - worried that a new medication I recently started might be causing insomnia for me. I wasn't sure how to answer that so I described to him Empire Avenue and told him it was hard for me to know if I was staying up at night because of the medication or because of Empire Avenue. He asked me some questions about how long it takes me to fall asleep once I do pack it in and after some thought he declared that the medication was having no ill affect and that my poor sleep habits are indeed entirely related to Empire Avenue!

Hiding...

You're doing it wrong

Wesley is trying to teach Raven the basic rules of camouflage...

I'm Not That Old!

Acting my age... Wait, What's my age again?

Tonight my darling son gleefully told every stranger that would listen that I was turning FORTY. I didn't fully realize the extent of his mischievousness until the cashier at the drug store turned to me and told me that I looked really good "for my age."

I was momentarily speechless, not quite understanding what was occurring, until I noticed that he had turned a slight shade of red trying to stifle his laughter and I put two and two together. "I'm not that old," I informed her, trying to regain some control of the situation - which only made it worse as she backtracked with "oh, of course you're not." So I just smiled.

But what I should have said is that the birthday card my darling, clever son was buying, the one that said "Happy 40th Birthday," was a joke - a mild teasing of my getting older that is all in good fun.

Why I feel the need to reiterate that I am not turning forty (just in case anyone hadn't surmised that yet) I don't know, but I really do.

I am looking forward to the awesome forty year old that will be me when my time comes, but I am not there yet... and what's the rush? I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Adventures in Edmonton

It started innocently enough… but then, isn’t that always the case?

A woman in a semi-frantic state approached us at a store in Terra Losa while I was picking Duncan up. She said “My kids are in the hospital. It’s an emergency, can you give me a ride?” We were only about 5 minutes from the hospital so how could I say no to that? We weren’t in the car for more than 45 seconds before she asked me if I could cash a cheque for her. I said “No, I can not” in my best Hillary Clinton voice.

What I should have asked her was if she needed a ride to the hospital, because, well, I just assumed. When I got to the hospital and went to turn in she told me to keep going as she actually wanted to go to a house a couple of kilometers away. That irritated me a little but it was cold out so I figured a couple of kilometers couldn’t hurt.

It only took me a few seconds to change my mind. She looked at me and said “We know each other... the last time my kids were kidnapped you gave me a ride. We went to California.” I glanced at her, thinking this was going to be the longest two kilometers I had ever driven, and decided there was something very wrong with her but that she wasn’t much of a threat.

When we finally got to the street she wanted it was kind of dark and a tad bit too deserted for my liking. She said to keep going to a house down the street with a light on where people were “waiting for her.” That was enough for me; I pulled over and told her this was as far as we were going. She did get out then but walked up to a different house. We kind of had a chuckle at her crazy antics, until I got home and found a cheque book belonging to some guy on the floor in the back of the car. It had a few cheques in it written out for 1000.00 each, obviously forged. So in addition to being used as a free taxi (or perhaps a get away car) Duncan and I had to spend a good portion of our evening in the community police station relaying the story to an officer whom I am sure has heard it all.

Best reaction to my story so far goes to Adam B. who exclaimed “Geez Allie, you’re like frickin’ Gandhi!”

Maybe I am too nice.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Politics is no place for grown-ups!

I Dreemed I had Cheezburgers...

more lol catz

Big Foot Lives...

Actual Shoe Size = Gigantic

Shoe shopping for my firstborn isn't quite what it used to be. During yesterday's excursion to purchase running shoes for my son I couldn't help but sit there and recollect. Seems like just yesterday when I would pick out a cute pair of shoes, press the fronts to make sure there was room for toes and watch him wobble around the store before making my purchase.

I marvel somewhat just how big those feet are - and I'm not convinced they have even remotely reached their adult size yet. He's not really my baby boy anymore.

For anyone who came here looking for actual info on Bigfoot, check this out.

Pay no attention to the iRack...

The iRack looks unstable!

I am coming to a sad realization...

I've been a Vista user now for about three months - those three months have been characterized somewhat by disappointment and frustration (Duncan even managed to break Vista in the first week). Don't get me wrong, the Northern Lights screen saver is AWESOME (I could stare at that for hours) but a screen saver does not an OS make! Everything else, even the new Office 2007, has presented it's own challenges. It's slow, it's not compatible (whose brilliant idea was that?), something (I'm not sure what) is sucking my ram, sometimes I have trouble connecting to the internet, and the security features (as illustrated so well in the ad above) drive me crazy. I don't need all these extra steps in order to get something done or sent, and to be frank the things that Vista decides on it's own to disallow bugs me more than you can know.

I almost bought a printer last month, it was 50% off. I asked the salesperson if it would work with Vista and she shook her head sadly and said "No." I found myself quipping in apology "thats okay, my laptop doesn't work with Vista either..."

Now it seems that a Mac will be joining our previously PC only home. I am sure the side to side comparision will be documented.

Soundwave vs. Dollansky (and CAUS)

"... We do not inherit this Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from Megatron. Lastly, I seek to eradicate unnecessary fees that burden our students. I speak of the portion of SU fees that are paid to CAUS. The Council of Alberta University Students. This external advocacy organization cannot match my superior intellect and brute force!"

In case you're wondering, Stephen Dollansky did indeed win. And so did us humans.

Parenting with Love... and Logic?

There are all these books out there about parenting with Love and Logic. I know this because I have read my fair share of them, and up until this exact point of time in my parenting career I would say that they have been helpful and welcome.

I believe that teens are perhaps the most endearing, challenging and important group of people in our society - our strongest critics, our future leaders and eventually, our caregivers. This belief, combined with the memory of my own teenhood challenges and the fact that I love my children, lead me to figure the parenting teenagers "stage" would be easy. Or at least, easier for me. Because I am just that good.

Boy, was I wrong. And it really has nothing to do with Logic...

"Raising teens is like trying to nail jello to a tree"
- some poor, unknown parent of a teenager

I really do try, but there are times I am still on the recieving end of "the look" again (if you're a parent of a teen I am sure you know this one - it's the "You're so Retarded" look). I can't wait to be smart and cool again! Can't they see how totally awesome I am?

Like living in Red Deer

Premier Ralph Klein handed in his letter of resignation today. All sorts of things are going to happen now... and if I thought I didn't have time to blog before this, well... this might be the beggining of a 2.5 month hiatus - but I'd like to blog through the Leadership race so we will see if I can't make some time.

At the Roast last night this was one of the things he said:

"Because the premier can't be seen supporting one team over another, I've had to sit in the stands at the Labour Day Classic and the Battle of Alberta hockey games cheering like an idiot for both teams. It's unnatural. It's like living in Red Deer."
- Ralph Klein

Nice.

Exit stage right... again

Being a party member I have become used to "shake up" and moving these past nine months. Actually, it's usually a good thing, as I suspect is this case with Mr Love. That's all I am going to say about that.

But I did get to thinking of the first time I met Rod Love, years ago now. He came over, shook my hand and this is what he said.

"Hello there. I'm the Love Rod..."

Look Sir... Droids!

Yes, he really did hold up his Onion Ring and say "Look Sir, Droids!" Actually, he held up each and every Onion Ring and said it. That's why I love him so...

Dogged Determination

Pssst... Luna! Look at me... making a hole...


...almost.. through...

Princess, the little dog that lives next door, obviously decided this morning that no mere fence was going to stand in between her and Luna anymore. That's a lot of digging for a dog with such little paws, I must admit she tried so hard, and had almost suceeded when her owner's found her (half in their yard, half in mine) and moved her over to the other side of their yard. Where she sits, pining.

Don't worry, Princess. The real difference between the impossible and the possible lies within your determination. With determination such as yours, I am almost certain you will find a way!

I am a bomb technician...

Make Your Time
All your base are belong to us.

Spring Fling and more Bling Bling

Here are some things we have been doing these past couple of days: lunching outside, reading and basking in the sun, primping and preening the yard, planting some bulbs, walking with Duncan, tanning, spending lazy evenings at the park, readying the barbecue, peeling off the clothes, living longer days... Sun.

Kiss my butt, winter. Spring is here.

It makes it VERY hard to stay in my office and do work...

And... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Dispensing with the platitudes…

Signs I maybe should have gone shopping:

* I'm drinking wine just because I am thirsty
* There isn’t any toilet paper in the house
* There is nothing resembling fresh produce in the fridge (not even in the left overs)
* My son went to school today with a "butter sandwich" for lunch
* I found the dish soap in the bathroom (being used as hand soap)
* I owe my daughter’s girl guides group an increasing amount for the cookies we pilfer
* I'm saving the last egg because I could bake something if push comes to shove