The Voice Is Winning

Again with the reality TV I know. *sigh*  I was watching the Season 4 Premiere of The Voice and I realized that I really love it.  More so than American Idol or any other music show.  I used to love AI, but it's been a while.  AI was fun back with the original 3 - Simon, Randy and Paula (yes, even crazy Paula).  But now...
And now, there's The Voice.  So much more appealing.  They know what they are doing on that show.  Very enigmatic famous musicians being kind (gasp!) to aspiring musicians.  And they make no secret of the fact that they are all about second chances, unlike some other shows out there.  Sure they find the cheesy sob stories (it is reality TV after all), but it's a little more of a feel good show and less of the cheese.
We're now into week 2 of the blind auditions and I'm still loving it.  I don't miss AI at all.  This is my 3rd season with The Voice (I missed out on Season 1).  And I have to admit that I'm enjoying this season more than previous ones.  A lot of that has to do with the addition of Shakira.  What a great choice to sit in on the Voice with Christina Augulera gone touring.  She is so kind and encouraging (and not catty to other females).  You still have the chemistry of Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, which let's face it is a gold mine for viewership.  And then they add Usher too.  Well done.  I do miss Cee-Lo as he is always intreguing to listen to and gets the quirky contestants.  But I really look forward to what this season has to offer.  
 

Happy Easter/April Fools

I got to celebrate Easter yesterday and took some gorgeous pictures of my kids outdoors. Unfortunately, the cord for my Macbook is shot and I am currently running on the generosity of my husband to use his instead. Therefore my pics are stashed into my iPhone. I just read that back to myself and realized what horrible grammar I used there. 
Ooh, I just went to upload the picture of my annual April Fools Breakfast via Instagram to Facebook (dyed pancakes and milk) and saw there was an option to upload from your phone.  Let me try it.  First, here's the April Fool's Breakfast:

Well, while Google+ is installing on my iPhone, here's a few snippets of our home for the long weekend.
It's been a mixed bag of good and not so good.  The not so good is that I've been recovering from a virus that kept me home from work for 3 days last week.  Weird virus, I still had energy to do stuff, but my doctor wanted me home so I had a sense of guilt of not being at work which translated into me doing a great amount of work at home.  I got my house cleaned.  I got my taxes (and my hubby's taxes) done - oh yeah me!  I got an insane amount of episodes of How I Met Your Mother watched.  (thank you Netflix)  Okay maybe that last one wasn't so productive in a good way, but it was productive in the way of my resting and wellness right?  By the end of the week, my hubby wasn't feeling all that great either which meant we cancelled our company for Easter.  :(  Not so happy about that, but we really didn't want to get anyone else sick.
In the good news, the weather out here has been fantastic.  At least in the sense that Maritime weather can be.  We had a couple of runs out to the beach (10 minutes down the road - love that!).  My dog loved that too!  Nothing like an empty beach for a dog to have a good run.
Easter services were great.  This is the first Good Friday service I've been too in years.  My kids are all old enough now that I can take them to a church service without Sunday School and have them sit (mostly) quietly and respectfully through it. 
Easter Sunday itself I spent teaching Sunday School.  I found a great little treat for the Sunday School Kids that tied into the Easter lesson...which I will post pictures of later because apparently Google + can't access my photos that were taken before the app was on my phone (lame).  Well I guess that's all then really. Happy Easter and Happy April Fools :)
 

Reality TV and The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race has long been my favorite reality show out there.  I love it.  There have been along the way a few moments that just make me shake my head.  The kind where I want to shout out: "You are on the Amazing Race people! What were you thinking"
There are a few things that contestants going on the Amazing Race should do before getting to the race and it blows me away that they don't come prepared.
1.  Get in Shape people.  I know I prefer sitting and reading to working out.  But if I ever got that call letting me know I was going to be on the race, you know I would be on that treadmill so fast.  Speed is key and you can't go huffing and puffing up a staircase thinking you are going to win any leg, never mind the race itself.
2. Learn to drive stick.  I don't know how to drive a manual car.  I learned on a automatic and have driven automatic for 20 years.  But I also know that most countries in the world don't rely on automatics.  And cars on the race are usually, if not always stick shift.
3. Learn to swim.  I can't believe how many racers to not know how to swim, or, have a fear of water.  Yet, there is almost always a water challenge.  This I could do.  I am a pretty decent swimmer.
4. Face your fear of heights.  Every race has a height challenge of some sort.  They have parachuted and skydived and ziplined around the world.  I admit this would be my biggest challenge, but I would work at it before the race so it wasn't such a big challenge during.
5.  Mind your manners.  This one really, really bothers me.  There have been some very rude, disrespectful contestants on the race.  You are going around the world, be prepared for things to be different than home.
 

One of those days

I've been having one of 'those days' - and then I saw this. It made me smile. Enjoy!

Saturday Night Post

My poor blogs have been suffering from a case of "the busies".  Not them being busy, but me being busy and not posting.  I always have the greatest of intentions to post (trust me, you should see the back log of pictures of food waiting to go onto Whatcha' Eatin'?).  I also have a backlog of teaching successes to share with my teacher friends, parenting updates and even a few crafty bits to share on here.  Those great intentions are more and more sidelined by...well life really.  Living life with my family.  The time for blogging slips away as I teach 8 and 9 year olds how to multiply and use proper punctutation in their writing.  It goes as I go once again to cheer on my favorite 5 and 8 year old hockey stars.  It goes as I juggle all 3 kids attending 3 separate birthday parties at the same time.  It goes as 100 day and Valentines Day come and go and Winter Carnival begins its approach.  And when I do sit down I realize that book stack I bought with my Christmas money has barely been touched because the only time I have left in the day is a half hour to myself where a glass of wine and the Big Bang Theory is just so darn appealing.  And I look back and see the best times I've had blogging are in the summer and Christmas Breaks and mat leaves.  So my dear blogs, know that I do enjoy you and you are missed.  March Break is a couple of weeks away and we will catch up a bit then.
 

Looking Back

This past week my husband was cleaning up some computer files and stumbled upon some older videos we took of our kids about 5 years ago. What a treat for our family to watch these. This was back when we had 2, not 3 kids. The boys were just these sweet little guys, babies really. My oldest had boundless energy and loved playing ball hockey in the hallway and dancing to Elvis. My middle child was just a baby learning to crawl and walk and had the most kissable chubby cheeks ever. These moment we captured were nothing big like birthday parties or Christmas morning, just every day events. I love my boys dearly the way they are now, but boy do I miss those sweet little boys!

My boys in Feb. 2008

My boys last week

Haters Gonna Hate!

I get a kick out of them.  You know who they are too.  The haters.  I find them hilarious.  They spend their time stalking out articles on Yahoo! et al just to state how horrible things are.  You know, because they are so superior to the rest of us.
They come in many forms.
Form 1 - the Yahoo! readers who critique all articles ever written by a Yahoo! writer.  Granted, I've read my fair share of poorly written, poorly edited 'news' but, don't you find it comical the amount of people who write comments about how lame Yahoo! writers are?  Really?  Then why do you continue to read it?  And then spend your precious time writing about it?
Form 2 - the "This is news?" people.  Those who stalk celebrity articles: who broke up, who wore what dress better, whose child is now driving, who wrote a break up song about someone else...If you don't think an article is worth it, then why are you clicking and reading enough to comment?
Form 3 - the find a topic (usually Facebook), read the article and then claim how much better you are than the rest of us because you generally disapprove of and would never partake in the topic at hand.  Yes, yes you are so much better than me because you don't use Facebook, how silly of me to use it myself. ;)
Form 4 - The anti-bloggers - those who pour over blogs (which last I checked were personal journals written for the general amusement of those who write them) and then proceed to bash the blogger's point of view, or, feel the need to correct them on something.  Well, whatever works for you I guess.  I just find you amusing.

Coffee

I mentioned in yesterday's post that on our recent trip to Toronto my husband and I went to Ethiopian House for dinner.  It was a restaurant that came highly recommended and along with the recommendation was "don't miss the coffee ceremony".  Now I'm a tea drinker from way back.  I love tea.  I never have coffee.  I have a bad association with it in writing a Spanish final that I knew didn't go well back in university and really haven't touched it since.
Well as they say, when in Rome...
So we ordered the coffee ceremony.  After our meal our server came round with a pan of roasting coffee beans and had us smell the aroma.  She then brought out a bowl of popcorn "coffee snack" she declared.  The coffee was then presented to us on this box, holding the coffee pot, two cups, spoons, sugar and a container of burning incense.  It was really neat. 

Then came the moment of truth, would I actually drink the stuff?  I was actually quite nervous about it.  I thought after all of this coolness of experience, what if I really hate it?  I took a sip, and then another.  I loved it.  And matched my husband cup for cup drinking it all up.  Isn't this a cute little cup?

Since we've been back, I've started having coffee cravings.  I've tried a few kinds, love Tim's, not so much a fan of the Starbucks Sumatra (though J assures me there's a blend for me there).  So it's true, while I'm a tea granny at heart, I've found a place for coffee in my life after all.

Till Death Do Us Part?

This week I was discussing The Barber of Seville with a class of grade 5 students. Most of them did not know what a dowry was. After explaining it to them one of the boys asked, "What would happen if they got divorced, would he still get all her money and stuff?". I told him that back then that divorce didn't happen very often. "Why?" I told them that marriage is supposed to be for life. "What?!" The class was totally shocked by this idea.   "Why would you get married if you couldn't get divorced, that just doesn't make sense!"  said one.  "Well, I'm not ever getting married if you are supposed to marry for life" said another.
Wow.  I know I sound old when I say this, but I've always viewed marriage as for life.  When I was a kid very few of my classmates had parents who were divorced.  In fact I'm pretty sure in my circle of friends that there was only one.  But now, most of my students have parents who are divorced, or, who were never married at all.  They have no memory of their parents ever being together.  That's pretty amazing really.  It really makes me wonder about where we are going.  What kind of relationships will this generation have as we forge ahead?
 

March Madness

                                                        March 9: 9*C

                                                            March 22: 25*C

                                                           March 29: -3*C

 

The Bucket List

My brother has a very cool bucket list. Just recently he worked backstage at a Megadeth show. He can also check off eating snake and being in a music video. Truthfully, I wouldn't want to do at least two of those things (I can check off working backstage, but mine was for Shakespeare, not Heavy Metal). But I think it's very cool nonetheless whenever he tells me about something new he's been up to. It's gotten me thinking about my own bucket list. Yet to come usually involves travel experiences (one day I will visit the Holy Land and go on an African Safari) more than adventurous pursuits. My dream list would include things like eating at the kitchen table experience of one of Gordon Ramsay's Restaurants or being on the Amazing Race (please start accepting Canadian contestants!).  Okay, and I'm a little jealous about the music video cameo ;)
As I reflect are 10 cool things that I can cross off my bucket list.
-been to a Paul McCartney concert (truly fantastic!)
-driven across Canada (a must for all Canadians!)
-parasailing (I'm really glad Dad and my brother talked me into this one, amazing!)
-gone to an All Star Sporting Event (my brother and I went to the Home Run Derby in Seattle)
-seen both the World Series Trophy and the Stanley Cup
-been up many tall places including the Eiffel Tower, The CN Tower, and the Empire State Building
-given my testimony to Nicky Gumbel in front of a whole conference of people
-been part of a game show audience (Wheel of Fortune and the long gone Classic Concentration)
-ministered on the streets of New York
-taken ballroom dancing lessons
And just for fun, here's the video my brother is in - he's the guy adjusting the mic at about the 3 minute mark :)

 

20 years ago - give or take...

Yesterday the song of the day for my middle schoolers was Metallica's "Enter Sandman". I realised that Enter Sandman came out in 1991 - 21 years ago. Really! Does it feel like that long ago? But I guess it was. It was huge back in high school. My husband's 20 year high school reunion is this year, which means mine is coming up next year. Here are a few of the 20 years ago this happened headlines:
-First website published - August 6, 1991
-Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive - Nov. 1991
-Kristi Yamaguchi wins Olympic Gold - Feb. 1992
-Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love get married - Feb. 1992
-Silence of the Lambs wins Best Picture at the Oscars - March 1992
-Top songs of 1992 include: I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred, Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus and End of the Road by Boys II Men
-Queen finds a new audience with the success of Wayne's World featurning Bohemian Rhapsody
-Aladdin, the Bodyguard and A Few Good Men were also on-screen
-Jay Leno started hosting The Tonight Show in 1992
-"Melrose Place" and "Barney and Friends" were both new shows on TV in 1992
-Seinfeld first aired the episode "The Contest" but Seinfeld wasn't in the top 20 of shows on TV - the top 5 shows of 1992 were 60 Minutes, Roseanne, Cheers, Murphy Brown and Home Improvement
-Kevin Nealon took over Weekend Update on SNL in the 1991/1992 season - other players included Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Mike Meyers, Chris Rock and Julia Sweeney