Mr. Mackenzie

Mr. Mackenzie is too funny. “Look Mom, look how much hair I have, time for a haircut?” The next day I called to make an appointment.

Mackenzie had a project in his class called “Enfant Vedette”. I went in to his class to talk about my job or hobby. Coincidentally, mine is combined. So I did an activity with Mackenzie’s class as well, and we made pom pom monsters. Making pom pom monsters with 19 kids at the same time in a short time frame was a little challenging, but I made do. Luckily, Mackenzie’s teacher and an aide in the classroom where there to help with the kids. The kids had fun and Mack was super happy to have me come to his class, since I haven’t been able to volunteer at all this past year now that I’m working full time out of the house.

Mackenzie loves all sports (we play frisbee at Sean’s baseball practices), however he still has no interest in participating in organized sports.

And he loves climbing to the top of the structure at the local park and scream out “I’m the kind of the castle, you’re the dirty rascal!” The joys of being a child. I think I’d get dirty looks if I tried that.

Mr. Mackenzie is surprising us greatly with his maturity this year. While he hasn’t lost any teeth yet, maybe soon, who knows, he is eager for the tooth fairy to pay him a visit.

And with the blink of an eye, Mackenzie’s just about done Kindergarten. Just a few short weeks left – I can’t believe it! Where on earth does time go? My birthday buddy turns 6 in less then a month.

That Time of Year Again

It’s that time of the year again, when new school supplies are acquired and labeled and the kids moan that summer flew by too fast and they don’t want school to start yet. I love back to school. I love shopping for school supplies, finding the best deal on any given item. I have managed to get every last item on their supply lists, school bags approved by the boys, lunch boxes too, and now begins the tedious job of putting their names on everything.Tedious yet fun at the same time! (Shhh! I enjoy doing it). Too bad these pencils don’t come pre-sharpened, I have to go sharpen these above 40 for Sean & another 12 for Mackenzie. (I’m super happy the coloured pencils came sharpened!) Sean will be starting the 1st grade & Mackenzie will be starting Kindergarten. I must also get their uniform in order – making sure I have everything they need for the school year. Do you like back to school? Do your kids too? Or do they dread going back to school as there is homework/tests, etc?

50th Anniversary

This week my son’s elementary school is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary. I was actually a student there when the school celebrated it’s 25th, and I remember celebrating it. I graduated there 20 years ago this June. It’s nice being able to celebrate this with my son being a student there.

Today I got to volunteer to help with the Retired Teacher’s tea/coffee event. A bunch of my former teachers came! Above, I’m standing with my grade 5 French Teacher (next to me) and on the right, a teacher that I had I think for Science (in French), but looking through my report cards right now, I didn’t have her as a main teacher for homeroom. I was in French Immersion back in school.

And this was my Kindergarten teacher! She now (still!) teaches Art (as a specialty) at my son’s school. I only had her for half the year, as she went on maternity leave from January onward. She is retiring this June after 37 years teaching at the same school. My son doesn’t have her as she only teachers grade 2-6. Kindergarten & Grade 1 do a lot of art in class, that they don’t have art as a specialty.

I got a group shot of past & present Principals and Vice-Principals. The man on the right is a general director or something, he popped in to see how our event went this morning. The two gentlemen in the middle were my VP (blue shirt) and my Principal (stripped sweater) when I was a student there. The current VP is on the left hand of the photo and the current Principal is the lady with the long scarf. (Actually the current VP and Principal are both wearing matching scarves, the school green color). The other VPs and Principals I don’t know at all.

It was a huge trip down memory lane this morning and I am so glad to have been able to take part in this. It was nice reminiscing with my former teachers and showing them my little brag book of my family. They were all shocked that I had a child in Kindergarten at the school already and that I was a mom of 3. I’ll definitely never forget this experience. I am very fortunate that I have the opportunity to be so involved in my son’s school. Between volunteering my time in the library weekly and being on governing board (and next year Home & School) and the Parent Participation Organization, all as secretary, and sitting in on the allergy committee (since I am a mom with a child with an allergy at the school). Sean’s teacher also appointed me as Class Mother this past year and I have been helping her out in every way that I can. This past week and a half I was at the school almost every day helping out in Sean’s classroom for the 50th Anniversary. The school held an open house Wednesday and Thursday night this past week and half the classes had live exhibits one night but were open for visits and the other half was the 2nd night. (The school invited the parents of the live exhibits to come on their respective nights) as the school has somewhere between 525 and 550 students (I can’t remember the exact number) and the school cannot accommodate that many students + parents on one night. Sean’s class exhibit was last night, and I had been working hard with his teacher (and another mom on one of the days) to get the exhibit on display.

Sean’s class, worked on Abécédaire, which is French for The Alaphabet, and they displayed it over time. The kids made booklets with things starting with the letters of the alphabet, (which are the white booklets hanging from the wall in the image below). They made their own Alphabet Ebook (which works only in iBooks as it was made with Book Creator, an iPad app) and each kid did a letter or two of the alphabet, they took a picture with the iPad of their page, and said what it was (in French of course) and the class turned it into an ebook. The pages are the ones on the construction paper below hanging). Then, on the table, is displayed from every decade starting in the 1950’s, 16 different ABC books in both French & English. For the night that our class didn’t have a “live” exhibit, Sean’s teacher wanted to display the book covers and not the actual books, as she didn’t want them to go missing, since they belong to some of the students, or even to some the relatives of some of the students (for example, my mom sent in one book). So I went in two weeks ago, photographed each of the 16 books, sent them to Costco to print in 5x7 size and they are on the blue part of the wall, behind the books, as a timeline, which is pretty cool. The kids were impressed on how the images of the ABC books changed over time from the 1950’s to today. It’s really hard for children to understand time – but this was a great way to help them learn.

It’s been a long week and a half – making sure everything was done perfectly and set up just right. I’m so proud of all their hard work!

‘Twas the day before Kindergarten

‘Twas the day before kindergarten and fresh haircuts were done.

A certain 5 and a half year old looks handsome and ready to make new friends.

Last minute labeling was done.

And last minute pencil sharpening was exciting.

Homework was completed just in time.
(Poster board with pictures from his summer vacation).

School supplies were all loaded into his school bag (not pictured here).

I do have to tell you that the school supplies for kindergarten are insane!

o 1 school bag (easy to close, big enough to carry books, duotangs, pocket folders)
o 1 lunch box
o 1 good pair of running shoes with non-skid soles (for indoor use and gym)
o 1 smock with long sleeves for painting with elastic wrists
o 2 white erasers
o 1 box of sharpened coloring pencils ALL identified (minimum 24) (PLEASE Prismacolour, Laurentian or Crayola coloring pencils only)
o 12 sharpened HB2 lead pencils ALL identified
o 1 good metal sharpener with container
o 1 large zipped pencil case (no box please) - big enough for easy access to all coloring pencils, pencils, and erasers
o 3 glue sticks (40grams each) PRITT or LEPAGE only
o 1 big box of kleenex
o 1 box of medium Ziploc bags
o 1 box of large Ziploc bags
o 2 wallet size pictures of your child (birthday bulletin board)
o 2 packages of stickers - students love to see that we are using them for incentives
o 2 strong pocket folders with 2 pockets (top loading pockets are preferable and much easier when papers are longer)
o 1 regular sized binder (1" or 1 ½" for worksheets - no zips necessary)
o 1 package of dividers for the binder
o 1 bottle of antibacterial soap with pump
o 1 bottle of hand sanitizer
o 1 box of antibacterial wipes (ex Wet Ones, Clorox, Mr Clean, etc…)
o 1 small coloring book (nothing violent) for rainy days (lunch program and recess)
o 1 pillow case
o 1 big recyclable grocery bag for art projects
o 1 large ziploc bag with a change of clothes (underwear, pants, socks, shirt - does not have to be uniform colors)
o 1 $30.00 merchandise/gift card to cover the processing cost of digital pictures since regular films or disposable cameras are being discontinued. PLEASE WAIT TO BUY THE CARD UNTIL THE TEACHERS INDICATE THEIR CHOICE OF STORES WHERE THEY SEND THE PICTURES TO BE PROCESSED

Some of these items are ABSURD! The main one is the 30$ gift card for digital printing. There are 20 students in the class. That’s 600$!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 30$ divided by .08 cent prints (one of our local stores now has 8 cent prints ALL the time… that’s 375 pictures per kid. Is the teacher really going to be printing 7500 photos?? To me this is an unnecessary item. I can’t believe I have to supply Sean’s reward stickers for his work! And a coloring book for rainy days for recess & lunch.

In any case, Sean’s all ready for school tomorrow! He’s got his backpack packed, his school outfit laid out and ready to go, and he’s super excited. Mommy on the other hand is nervous, excited, emotional and will probably cry tomorrow. I can’t believe he’s starting Kindergarten. It’s a whole new chapter of our life starting.

Shooting at Dawson College

MONTREAL, Quebec (CNN) — A gunman was killed by police and at least 19 students were wounded after a Wednesday shooting at Dawson College in downtown Montreal, police said.
One student later died of her wounds, police spokesman Olivier Lapointe said. Radio Canada quoted Montreal Police Chief Yvan Delorme as saying the victim was a woman in her 20s.
Initial reports indicated that as many as four people, including two gunmen, had been killed, but Delorme told CNN that only the single gunman was killed. Police were looking for other possible suspects, he said.

Students said mayhem ensued after the gunman opened fire outside the college before taking his weapons into the school’s atrium, near a cafeteria where students were eating lunch. (Watch students flee the scene — 1:38)

One student told Global News in Montreal that the shooter was in his early 20s and was wearing a trench coat.

“He was saying nothing, just shooting. He told people to get away, and that was it,” the student said.

Another student, Daniel Mightley, 21, said he was outside the college, heading to lunch, when he saw a shooter to his right. The gunman, who was wearing a black trench coat and had a Mohawk, fired a shot and “everybody just ran inside,” he said.

“I saw his face and he had no emotion in his face whatsoever,” Mightley said. “He was walking very slowly toward us and just shooting.”

Delorme would not comment on a motive, but said the shootings were not hate crimes or terror-related. Asked to describe the shooter, Delorme said only that he had three weapons.

Police responding to an unrelated call saw the shooter about 12:41 p.m. outside the college and followed him inside where a shootout broke out, leaving the gunman dead, Delorme said.

Five of the wounded were critically hurt, and four more were seriously injured, hospital officials said.

Six of those needed surgery, a Montreal General Hospital spokeswoman said. All surgeries were scheduled to be complete by Wednesday evening, she said.

The spokeswoman said at least 15 victims were brought to area hospitals. Eleven patients were transported to Montreal General and four or five more were taken to two other area hospitals to ease the burden on Montreal General, she said.

Among the wounds being treated were gunshots to the head, abdomen, chest, arms and legs, she said. (Watch witnesses describe escaping through pools of blood — 3:44)

Police set up perimeter

Police cordoned off the 12-acre campus after the incident and searched a nearby shopping mall for suspects, a police spokesman said.

A Montreal police spokesman told reporters that a SWAT team searched the college door-to-door for other suspects, but there was no word on whether any were found or apprehended.
Video showed students streaming from the campus after the midday shootings.

“People were literally running for their lives,” said CTV reporter Genevieve Beauchemin, describing what students told her was a “stampede.”

Emergency personnel and police, in bulletproof vests, wheeled people on two stretchers to ambulances.

A first-year student who didn’t give her name said she saw one victim who had been shot in the leg being helped across the street, and another who had been shot in the stomach lying on the sidewalk. (Watch the scene inside the college, captured on a cell phone — :50)

“We were just sitting in class, and we were listening to the teacher and we heard guns going off,” the student said. “We looked outside and everyone was screaming and crying and there were people that got shot that were running away.

“And then our teacher left, and he came back and said the gunmen were inside and we had to leave.”

Dawson College will be closed until Monday, Radio Canada reported.

The college has 7,000 day students and 3,000 night students, according to the Dawson Web site.

In Canada, students as young as 16 attend college, which generally serves as a bridge between high schools and universities.

This is not the first shooting at a Montreal college. About 17 years ago, Marc Lepine opened fire at Ecole Polytechnique. Fourteen female students were killed in the December 1989 shooting before Lepine killed himself.

Lepine left behind a three-page letter blaming feminists for his not being able to get into the school.

New Shoes & Other Stuff

This morning I went into class, handed in my final assignement, did a very quick color seperation quiz in class in front of my teacher (one on one) and got my Illustrator Project back (the Barbie girl I did) - got 35/40 which is a 87.5% and I'm very happy with that. Yesterday, I got back my 16 page brochure that I did - (she only corrected 3 of our projects from 11 of us, and mine happened to be one of them) and I got 36/40 - which is a nice 90%. I am VERY happy with my marks. Go me! I am expecting to do VERY well on her exams, and it will get me a very high mark - low to mid 90% as a final mark!

Since there was no point in me staying the entire 4 hour class (I was there for maybe 30 minutes), I went shopping to see if I could find an outfit for Friday night. I ended up finding a dress for 16$ at Winners (TJ MAXX for you Americans) for Friday night, which I will also use for the wedding we have the last weekend of August, and I will bring it on the cruise for one of the 5 nice outfits I have to bring. 16$! What a good deal! I also got this really awesome shoes (clogs) for also 16$. I love love love them!

My new fave shoes!

Today, I ran around the city to discover that the Old Navy by me does NOT have a maternity section (so I will go out to where my mom lives tomorrow to find myself something hopefully) and I did find some stuff at Winners (besides my new shoes & dress) and some stuff for the baby too (which some I may have to return next week after I find out the sex of the baby!)

I going to start knitting at sock (for Veronik), which they are paying me to do. The pattern is really awesome, and so is the yarn. I'm in love with the yarn, which will be available sometime in the spring I think - to purchase. I'm totally into "appletini green" lately. Here is a sneak-peak at the colour of the yarn - all I can show you! I took it close up - so you can't tell what it is - etc..

Isn't it gorgeous?

Above is the invite to my graduation Friday night. I don't know who came up with the Monopoly theme for it - but it doesn't fit and I don't like it at all. I can't wait to graduate - let me tell you! If you double click on the ticket, it opens in larger for more details.

This evening, like last night, we went to the shiva house, and this time, we celebrated Jamie's Uncle's birthday. It's is really unfortunate that he is sitting shiva on his birthday, so Jamie's dad sent over Chinese Food from my fave place (mmm! it was exactly what I was craving) and I picked up 2 pies (Lemon Merangue & Chocolate Truffle) from Rockaberries. Boy was the Chocolate Truffle delicious! When sitting shiva, you are not supposed to celebrate for pleasure, pretty much anything - even after sitting shiva (not sure if it's for 1 month or for 12 months - it depends on your tradition - I think). But since Bubbie Rae would have wanted us to get together and celebrate (she was always on top of things to get everyone together) we decided to go ahead and just celebrate (immediate family only), and it was nice.

Lots of errands and things to do tomorrow. Studying to do too!

No knitting news - there will be knitting news once I GRADUATE FRIDAY!!!!

UPS, Yarn & The Remote Control

Last night I forgot to write about our trusty remote control....! Remember on Tuesday night I couldn't find it, and swore that it was thrown out? Well, for some odd reason, at 10:45pm after lying in bed watching some TV, I decided to check to see whether or not the garbage had been picked up or not. It had not. So.... I dragged the garbage bah down to our garage, and with a fresh pair of yellow rubber gloves, and a new garbage bag, I tore apart the bag I knew it had to be in, and what do we have? The remote control in the exact spot that I ripped the bag open.... My luck - because now I did not have to dig through the garbage bag! Phew!

This morning, after Merlyn got picked up by Nana for the day, I worked a bit on school things, and then hopped into a shower to get ready for school. As I was done rinsing out the shampoo from my hair, the doorbells rings. So I spring out the shower (knowing that I was expecting UPS as I had tracked the package since my pal had given me the tracking number) and in a towel I answered the door. It was UPS. He had my one skein package, and was also questioning me about the transaction from June 16th (my birthday) (it was the same UPS guy, the one that had forgotten my expiry date). Anyhow, He wanted my expiry date now. I was like "Uhm, NO!" So, I ran to my office and got all my paper work (still in my towel just to let you know) and provided him with the information that I had received a bill, etc, and the people I had spoken to when I called UPS on June 16th, and all that jazz. He said he would look into it. I also told him, that on top of my payment, that my pal in the USA was called and also charged for my import tax. WHAT? How stupid is UPS? They are sooooo dumb, let me tell you. And that is why I do not ever deal with them!

On a horrible note, my new yarn is in a tangle. Not too sure how that happened, but I do need one of those swift thingies, that would be a great fanstastic purchase, but I heard they can be quite expensive, so I will be holding off on that purchase for now

Today was a VERY productive day at school. I got a lot done, and I'm very happy. I've now (as of this evening, maybe 30 minutes ago) have 1 of 6 assignments done. 3 are due next week and the other 2 are due the week after. I also have 3 exams the week of August 7th. I'll manage. I'll do fine.

I also finished printing up pieces for my portfolio, as tomorrow in class our teacher is giving us each 30 minutes to go over our portfolio with us. I wanted to have a lot accomplished before going in tomorrow, so that I'm not empty handed. I'm very happy with my progress on that, and that I have 1 full assignment ready to be handed in (and it's actually the last thing that I have to do for that class, so as soon as I get the mark for that back, which will probably be next Thursday, (when I have that teacher next), then I'll know my final mark for that class. (WOOHOO!) I like knowing final marks upon completion of final assignments. Makes me worry less!

Alright, that detangle is calling my name.

Women Fully Clothed

Today was a little bit better of a day. Even though I was in a little bit of a grumpy mood from yesterday, I am feeling a tad better today. I went to class today, worked on my 1 colour poster, which was due by the end of the period today, and even though I had compatibility issues between softwares (QuarkXpress didn't want to import my Adobe Illustrator Illustrations properly in regards to the colour (even though it was the exact same Pantone shade)), I was right on time with handing in my project.

On my way home from school today, I returned the shoes to Aldo that I had gotten for Jenn's wedding (I felt they were too pointy at the toe - which I usually don't mind, but my feet are starting to swell up - so I'm going to wear the shoes I got the other day, the sandles, I'll take a picture soon of those and blog them!) Since Walmart was next door, I did a return at Walmart. And stupidly decided to go into Payless to see if they had anything bronze for Jenn's wedding (just in case). But instead, I picked up some airwalk flip flops, LOVE THEM, and a new purse:

The airwalks were on sale for 13$ a pair! So I bought 2 in the pink/yellow and 1 in the blue/orange. I'm going to start with one pair and put away the rest for when the first pair are finito. So cheap and soooo worth it. The purse I got 10% off on (which was already on sale) because of my CAA (AAA for you americans!) membership. Gotta love owning memberships that give you discounts at other places.

Tonight I went with the women in my family (my mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, cousin Jenn and Jenn's aunt) to see Women Fully Clothed. I had a really good time at the show, and it was REALLY funny. Good laughs. There was a lot of menopause jokes, lesbian references (hey, they show was with 5 women), breastfeeding and bringing up children, cooking, anything "women related". The women in the show were awesome, and our seats were awesome too. It's a good thing that Jenn and I brought our knitting along, we got to knit before the show (and Jenn at intermission). I would have knitted at intermission, but I got to the row before I would close the heel, and I needed Jamie's foot for measurement!

I can't wait to have my day off tomorrow, I'm going to do some errands in the West Island (Return at Zellers, Costco, pick up more baby items from Tina - my sister's friend) and possibly go knitting at night with Montreal Knits (we'll see tomorrow how I'm feeling).

Rotten Day

So today, after a long day at school (and handing in my DVD cover - which I am very proud of by the way), I have come to realize that I can't wait to finish school because I no longer want to be involved with that school in any which way.
During our afternoon class, our teacher blew up at us.

Let's start from the beginning.

A few weeks ago we gave the school a really bad evaluation when asked to fill one out. We also (like we do each semester), fill out evaluations on the teachers. Teachers are NOT supposed to see the evaluations until AFTER the semester is over. Even if said teacher is also our coordinator.

Somehow, our teacher of 3 classes got a hold of our evaluations, and even though she doesn't know who wrote what..... she blew up in class today saying that someone wrote on the school's evaluation that all the teachers are lazy, and she took offence to it, and that we are the class that gave her the worst evaluation of her career, and that we're horrible, and all that jazz.

Then she also mentioned that the Gala being held on August 11th (the night that we graduate), which was supposed to be our "vernissage" turns out that non of our work is being shown, it's not a diploma ceremony (as marks wont be in yet, and they don't give out diploma's unless you graduate) and no one in our group is getting an award (because apparently we don't deserve any) and so, why should I go waste 2-3 hours of my life, to watch everyone else drink cocktails I can't drink because I'm pregnant, and to bring my family for what? To watch one of the Fashion or Interior Design or 3d Animation students get awards?

... a waste of my time.

So I'm not going. I've decided.

In other bad news today, Jamie's Uncle's really good friend Dave's son Mackenzie died yesterday up north. He was 4 years old. He drowned in the lake. I don't know all details, only some, and all I know is that the funeral is tomorrow morning at 9:30 am. I've met the father once, but that's about it, and their elder daughter. I don't think I will be going to the funeral tomorrow as I have class at noon and stuff to prepare for class. Plus, I didn't know the family at all, besides one brief meeting, and just feel like I'd be awkward there. There is an article in today's Gazette (page A7), but no details and no names are mentioned. Just some facts of the incident.

Tonight I rented the movie Firewall and Jamie and I just finishe watching it. I should have been doing some homework, but I just couldn't look at my computer screen anymore, and had to go knit in front of a movie. The movie was not bad, but typical. Harrison Ford was the main actor. The girl who played his daughter, almost 16 year old Carly Schroeder, the whole movie I was trying to place her, and I just looked her name up on IMDB and she was in Mean Creek, a movie with Rory Culkin that I watched two summers ago. I really liked that movie, and she was one of the main characters in it.

Alright, I'm off to bed. I want to wake up tomorrow in a better mood and with no stress, no worries about school or fears of children dying by water. (I emailed Jamie's sister tonight to make sure that my nephew can swim, or what floatation devices he owns, to pack so that if we should* go near any water, I don't have to worry that he'll drown.

*I'm really feaked out and he's not my child, and I don't want to have any problems for the two weeks that he's staying with me for, in regards to water and not knowing how to swim. I mean, he's only 3 1/2! Who knows at what age kids can swim properly these days? I don't know? I was reassured that he was in the water all last week and he just wears those floaties on his arms (the ones that blow up) and he doesn't need a lifevest and that he puts his head under the water all by himself, etc., and that I should STAY near the water if it's hot (like it's been) and to NOT avoid it! Well, I'll tell you one thing, he won't be unattended near any water.

I Hate Mondays

I hate Mondays. I hate Mondays because of my 8 am - 4:30pm days at school. This particular Monday sucked because of my lack of sleep from last night, because upon getting in from the wedding, I just couldn't sleep!

In my photoshop morning class, barely awake, I have made some progress on my DVD cover that we have to produce. Please ignore the white writing for the title, I just plugged it in to see where it would go, I have not yet finished with it. I also added in the white title before adding in the clouds behind her, so I didn't think the white title would be faded out, but it is - so I will have to change it. I will show the work once I'm done.

In my afternoon class, I worked on my 16 page travel brochure. I scanned my 2nd passport (yes, I have two passports - duo citizenship - even though I was born in Canada), to be the cover page for my project.

I am making my 16 page brochure on an information packet for if you're traveling to Israel, and you need info on what to pack, the climate, what kind of money they have there, info on what kind of popular foods are in Israel, etc... It's a fun project to put together, I'm going to include coupons for museums and stuff like that, and I have to put a few ads into the brochure, so I'm going to create and invent some! I can't wait to be done with this project as well (due the 2nd to last week of school I believe! - Which is sneaking up fast on me!)

After class, I crashed on my couch for a few hours, I needed much rest! Tonight I've been chilling on the couch, it's too freakin' hot to do anything. Jamie's baseball game got rained out tonight, he was caught in a NASTY downpour - a thunder storm that actually woke me up from my sleep (I had no idea there was a storm going on outside!)

I Heart Cherries

I got this bag on Tuesday after my class, and forgot to take a picture of it - so here she is:

I had seen her in the window of this little antique shop around the corner from school a few days ago - and just had to have it. So - when I remember on Tuesday that the shop was now opened, I got parking right in front of it (after having to move my car due to parking signs from school), and found out that it was 25$ and well worth EVERY penny. It's reversable (the inside is the same pattern as the handles) and I just LOVE IT. Cherries is my new addiction, I just love love love cherries. Anything cherries. I'm thinking about getting a cherry tattoo as my next tattoo (of course after the baby is born - not before!)

Today was a long day at school. In my Illustrator class, we had a theory class on Colour Separation, and then we worked a little bit on our poster (which has to have one Illustrator element (as the main element), one photoshop element (I'm going to do a texture), and I think that's it. I could be mistaken, but for some reason I seem to think it needs to be mounted in Quark - which is weird, because it's for my Illustrator class (which is the software Adobe Illustrator)... I'll have to check my project outline to be sure.

In my afternoon class, we worked on our project which is an estimation for a quote for a job (we're learning how to do that). Anyhow, at the end of the class, the teacher came to my desk to help me with some questions I had. She put down her papers of the same project that we're doing, but that she did when she was a student at our school. She's using it to correct ours when we're done (and to answer questions to those who may have questions). Anyhow, I didn't realize that she put them down, and when it was time to leave, I scrounged up all my papers into one pile (if scrounging it the right word - no crumpling involved - just gathering off all my papers, which were everywhere) and without realizing (and without her realizing they were on my desk) I took them home with me, in my papers.

Upon getting home, I had 2 missed calls on my cell (and 1 message) as well as 1 message from my teacher on my house line. She asked me to check to see if I had them, and if so, to discreetly put them into an enveloped, sealed, and to return them tomorrow. So I did. I didn't even look at them. I felt soooo guilty for doing this - but I did it without realizing and knowing that she put them down with my papers on my desk. (Serves her right for doing that). She knows I didn't take them on purpose, but anyhow, I feel really bad now.... I hope that doesn't affect my mark! I hope she doesn't hate me now... Ugh. Why does retarded shit like this have to happen to me???

In other more uplifting news, today I joined Craftster.org, but I find the site very intimidating right now, because I am not so sure where to find anything on that site. I've got to find more time to spend navigating that site!

Tonight Jamie and I are going to watch Big Brother 7 All-Stars as well as Rockstar: Supernova. So I'm off to go chill on the couch and watch some TV!

Tomorrow I've got to call a plumber. Yesterday while making a double batch of Cabbage Rolls (upon getting home from my OBGYN apt. and before going knitting with Montreal Knits) somehow my garborater (the garborater from hell - I don't recommend these machines - nothing but hell & trouble since it's been installed) and it clogged (backed up) my entire TWO part kitchen sink. (One side we keep the dirty dishes that need to be washed and on the other side is the hole for the garborater, etc..) It's sooooo nasty and we thought we could solve it ourselves, but no such luck. I pray that the plumber will do the job quickly and not charge us too much.

My Socketta Socks

So I wanted a new address and new look, just to spring clean. I absolutely LOVE the new colours, and my new banner. The new banner - I made myself, and it's a dyptic of two images that I took on my trip to Israel back in June 2004. It's 2 images that I put together (dyptic) for my portfolio upon graduating from Professional Photogaphy in May 2005. I like the two images together, and they have nothing to do with knitting, but they're my work and I love them. Love the colours. My last banner (which Karine says she liked better) was my image, but I didn't make the banner (That was curtosey of {love, joleen}). Apparently the black background, and the hot pink writing was WAY too much hard on the eyes, but then again, Karine liked it because it was good for reading in the dark at night. I do see a point there - but most of my few readers that I have - don't read my blog at night in the dark - and had told me that they had to highlight the text on the screen in order to be able to read the hot pink on the black. Too many suggestions (I'm not going to call them complaints) = time for a new blog look! Which was fine by me, because I used to be very crafty (which was incorporated in the name of my old blog) and now I've got pretty much only time for knitting (or the occassional crochet) so the new Knitpurlknitpearl is VERY appropriate, and I think very cute! I'm loving the new name.... and the new look.

Today, Friday, in class in the morning, my teacher went over a bunch more complicated things. I'm starting to really hate this class. It's just really tough material, and an exam on my birthday. And we're not talking about some little quiz here. We're talking about heavy duty material. Exam material is including: Pre-flighting (which is a program that checks if you're file is corrupted or missing fonts, or "defective" pretty much), the different types of printing techniques (press printing and publication printing, not like printing at home on your printer but at a printing bureau type of printing), web press vs. sheet fed press, different types of screens (AM/FM - not the radio stations - but a type of screen), colour separation, dot gain, types of prepress proofs, printer's spread and reader's spread (where you'd find the location of the front and back cover, the inside front and back cover, and the inside center spread), different binding methods and creepage/shingling (which are binding/folding things).

UGH! This is A LOT of material for next Friday's exam. I am just happy that it will be over by noon and then I have the rest of the day to enjoy my birthday. Goody!

This morning my teacher also approved my thumbnails for the session project (boy is there a lot of work to do in all my classes this semester, I just DO NOT see how there is going to be enough time. There's already just about 9 weeks of school left, or something like that - and most of my session projects are due the second to last class, so there is only 8 weeks left to do them. Yeah - you can say I'm slowly starting to stress out - but I'm trying to keep my cool - for the baby!

All afternoon I just relaxed at home, watched CSI from this past season, my mom sent over some episodes I missed on tape, and I've been knitting and working on my sock. I love the yarn I'm using, the Socketta - it's fantastic. I don't think I've seen socketta in Montreal LYS - but I am curious to what other colours exist. I think once I'm done with these socks, I'm going to start on the pair that I've promised my hubby. He keeps saying that I have until October to finish them, cuz that's when he'll start wearing warmer socks.... but I'd like to be done them way before then! Socks have been really easy to knit - for me, and I love making them!

This evening Jamie had a bunch of friends over, and I took another self night. It felt great just to do nothing and watch TV. I am going to go head into bed and watch more TV - and knit. I have to get up super early tomorrow as I'm going to the Montreal Knititng Guild Garden Party with Jenn and it starts at 10 am! 10-2pm. And then I'm doing some errands with my cousin Jenn (Walmart!)

Rain Won't Go Away.

Here are current pictures of Bosco.

This last picture, he's hiding in my sister's closet. Amy is in the middle of packing to move out around the 1st of June - she'll be moving out from my parents house.

Today in my montage class we ACTUALLY did a lecture/tutorial and learned a few new things, but most of it was just revision on the software called Quark - so it was all just shit we already knew. I am finding that lately we've really not been learning much, at all - and it's just been the same old bruchures and pamphlets to put together. What a joke - I tell you.

The rain in Montreal just WON'T go away - and it looks as though it's going to last the entire week - even the weekend when we should be going to the country house for the long weekend (It's Victoria Day Weekend this upcoming weekend).

On the knitting front I've been working on my Clapotis, and I'm already on my third drop stitch repeat. It's sooo much fun to get to a stitch that you get to drop - and then drop it! I'm loving this pattern - a little repetative, but so easy - as I'm new to reading patterns.

Took a self night tonight, Jamie had some friends over - as he usually does on a Tuesday night. (Hockey is usually on!)

Self Night

This is the image that we've chosen for the 8x10's that we have included in our wedding package. We will be getting 10 - 8x10's (not all of this picture, but almost 7 of them will be - I think). I ordered another one for myself, and my mom ordered also a different pose. I hope to have them by Friday, so I can frame them and give them to Jamie's mom and step-mom along with their other mother's day presents this weekend.

Today, class was kinda dragging on. On Tuesdays, I only have one class from 12-4pm, and I am starting to feel that 4 hours is a LONG class. I didn't realize that I had to have something finished by today in class, so I got my ass on it, and got it finished. I got my layout approved for a pamphlet I have to do this semester for my montage class (layout) and it's with images and text we were provided with. It's not too creative, but we have freedom with the layout, so that's nice. And the images are quite nice Black & Whites that we have to turn into duotones.

After class, I got stood up for the apartment showing at 7 pm. I am really upset. I finally got intouch with the lady at about 9:30pm and she was like "Oh, so sorry, I totally forgot, I just got in from work, feeding my kids now, etc" She still wants to come, so this woman, Patti, will come tomorrow. At least she's coming back - and I'm not losing out on a potential tenant, you know?

My office is a mess, and I can't stand it. It's starting to really annoy me. I just CANT keep it clean. Mainly it's my desk. Huge huge huge mess. Which sucks. I need to clean up my office majorly, as in a short few months I will be losing my office, and moving my desk - as my office will become the baby's room.

Took a self night tonight. Jamie has some friends over for the hockey game (playoff's) and I've been doing laundry. (Washing the stains out of the hand-me-down baby clothes I got from my sister's friend). I've been doing a great job, and all the clothes are back to almost new! I think my sister's friend needs to learn what STAIN REMOVER is! May do her some good when her daughter starts walking and playing at the park in sand and in the grass..... it may become her best friend. It's already become mine (hubby plays softball).... stain remover = good.

Today was a good day. No nausea and no sickness. Praying for a good day tomorrow too.

Alright. Calling it a night. Going to crawl into bed with Pregnancy for Dummies. (By far the best book I'm reading, besides What to Expect While Expecting).

5 of 6 School Marks

I have 5/6 school marks from this past semester. I am pretty happy with my marks, in the most part (except for one by 2%), I have achieved higher than the class average.

Photoshop II- 80% Class Average= 78%
Illustrator II - 88% Class Average= 85%
QuarkXpress II - 86% Class Average= 88%
Visual Communications = 91% Class Average= 85%
Typography = 78% Class Average= 72%

The only mark of mine that I'm missing is my HTML Web Site Design class mark.

Maybe it'll be posted on Monday? I hope!

And It Makes Three....

Today has been a VERY exciting day.

Slept in this morning, as I didn't have class until 11:30 am. Around 10:15 I finally got out of bed, and made my way to the bathroom. Still have not gotten my period - usually I get it between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. So I decided - why not - let's take a pregnancy test. (I've done two already, one about two or three weeks ago, just to test it out to see how it works, and obviously got a negative result. But I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. Then I did another test on Sunday at the airport, one of those "early" pregnancy tests which say you can test as early as 5 days, but it was negative, which is possible I didn't have enough HGC yet). This morning, I get this result right off the bat, within maybe 30 seconds - 45 seconds of the test!

Yes, the first line is lighter than the second line, but the second line is always guaranteed to show up, since it's involved in the pregnant and not pregnant equation. However, there is a line in the "pregnant window":

I read the instructions that came with the box and tests, and CLEARLY states: "One line in the result window and one line in the control window is a positive result and you are pregnant. NOTE that the line can be ANY shade of colour and can be lighter or darker than the line in the picture. The line in the control window (Second line, the line on the right hand side) shows that you performed the test correctly... etc."

Just to be sure, I will take another test in about a week. But this is good news! An addition to our family!

I called my gyno. He won't see me until I've missed 2 periods, so I have an appointment for June 7th (Wednesday) at 9:15 am. I am glad I called today. The secretary actually asked me if I want to keep the baby. I was like "Uhm, of course?!" All confused. What the hell? I guess if I didn't want to keep it - the doctor sees you sooner, so you can "get rid" of it... but not in my case. WE WANT IT!

Before calling the gyno, I called Jamie. He couldn't really say much, because he was in the office (sitting right next to my brother) but I could tell he was really excited. I can't wait to show him the test when he gets home from work!

Then I called my sister and my cousin - I had to call someone! I was sooooooo excited. Then after speaking to Jenn - I called the gyno for an appointment.

I want to tell my parents and his parents - but wouldn't Mother's Day make it a nice present??? I hate keeping it for this long - but mother's day??? (Watch I wont be able to keep it until then!) (I'll probably end up calling tomorrow or something!) I can't ever keep big news a secret!

My friend in my class Laura knows also. We've gotten really close, and she's realized before the end of last semester that my hormones were all messed up and I was acting a little off. So I kinda wanted to tell her the good news. Plus I wanted someone in class to understand. What if I get sick and need to run out of class, etc... you know? Obviously, eventually I'll have to tell my teachers, they may think it's nuts if I constantly have to pee or if I am sick or something! But I am not there yet, so we'll see what happens with that.

Classes today were a little hard to concentrate! Let me tell you. I just was sooo anxious and excited and yeah! In my first class, Illustrator, we have to create a poster for a children's movie, (can be any) and old cartoons are better than the new more 3D animated ones, (for tracing purposes) and we need to create a poster as if the movie was coming out soon to theaters. I didn't want to do any that other people were doing, so I chose to go with (in the end) Donald & Daisy Duck. (That's her name right? Daisy?) I had gone from Mary Poppins (my fave - but she's humand and that's hard to trace) to Shrek (but he's new animation - too dificult for this assignment) to Betty Boop (She's too sexual for kids) to Lady & the Tramp - but then I found this adorable image of Donald Duck and his girlfriend, that I wasnted to do - so I chose a movie title off IMDB called "Donald's Lucky Day" and I'm turning it into a "romance movie" (1939).

For the rest of the class, it was a workshop period, after getting our movie approved by our "client" (our teacher).

Our second class was with Andrea - the teacher we had as a sub for a sub last semester, but she's our actual teacher this semester. I have her again tomorrow. I am not sure if I like her teaching methods, but anyhow. We'll see how this semester goes, now that we know her. Today's called was called Estimation. It's on how to price jobs for bidding against other graphic designers. It's actually very interesting.

Ok - Jamie just got home from work. I'm going to go chill with him and celebrate (sans wine for me!)

... I never in a million years dreamed that it would happen THIS fast for me!

*Glowing*

Long Day From Hell

I took this photograph this morning before leaving the house for my long day of hell. Spring is coming and I am getting sooooo excited about that! I love spring - one of my favourite seasons. That is for sure.

This morning I had a bunch of things to print out before leaving the house for school, and I also had to make sure that I had all my files burned onto CD and all my supplies and parts to my project. It took a while to make sure everything was in order, but it was well worth it - because I didn't forget anything that I needed at home - which sometimes happens, and is the case with me. But not today - I had everything and people were coming to me for supplies. It's their fault for not bringing shit - and I only loaned out my supplies to certain people. Some people I just didn't care if they finished or not - hey this is a competitive field, you know?? They'd do the same, so it wasn't like it wasn't fair.

My morning's class was in two parts. Part 1 - do the exam. Part 2 - finish and hand in projects. My exam, which was corrected on screen in front of us, was a major joke. I got 20/20 - of course, really was not worried about that exam. (Using the software Quark Xpress). As far as my project goes, everything was done, I just had to get help from my teacher to cut the "pochette" we made, and fold it and put everything all together in the "pochette". I was very happy when it was done and handed in. I also got my project back that I did on Sabrina Ward Harrison. The "Artist" project. We had to create an invite, poster, magazine ad, magazine cover for an exhibit of an artist of our choice. Since I love the colours that Sabrina works with - I chose her. I got 16.83/20 on that project, which is not too shabby.

The exam in typography - was wicked hard. I didn't know the shortcuts to certain things in Quark - which I probably should have - but I'm the type of person that finds the function in the tool bar, and doesn't really use shortcuts (unless it's copy, paste, undo move, or like save, print, etc.. THE EASY ONES! Oh and I do know apple (or control on a pc) zero and apple T (transform) , apple d (deselect) in photoshop). I didn't even think to study shortcuts for Stylesheet, etc... for the exam. Oh well. I am sure I passed, but maybe not by much. Oh well. I just need to pass that class, that's all. Which I am sure I did. That - I am not worried about.

Handed in my project, and I was out of there. (I did go through about 4 cd-r's which I kept bumming off people, as I kept remembering to fix something after burning the info to my CD). I wanted to kick myself for that stupidity, and the stupidity of not bringing extra blanks to class. I should have known better!

Today was the longest day in hell at school... but I told myself at the beginning of the week that if I made it through to today... then I would survive! And voila - I made it through today! ALIVE!

This evening Jamie and I just vegged out on the couch watching TV. Didn't feel like doing much. We watched Survivor, and then CSI and Without A Trace.

Well, off to bed. Have one more exam tomorrow...

Feeling Better Today...!

I am feeling a lot better today, about a lot of things. First off, 2 exams are done, and 4 assignments are now handed in. 2 more assignments to finish (tomorrow) and 3 more exams. Thurs morning's exam will be easy, Thursday afternoon's a tad tougher and Friday morning's will be a joke.

I got a preview of my schedule for next semester, courtosey of our coordinator Phillipe, and so far, he's missing one class that he doesn't know when it will be - BUT so far - I HAVE FRIDAYS OFF FROM SCHOOL. FRIDAY'S! GO ME AND MY LONG WEEKEND. Also, my birthday happens to fall during next semester, on a Friday! That would be so nice not to have to go in for my birthday. I really don't mind school Mondays to Friday. That's fine by me. And as of now we start Monday's at 1pm. Wow - this is the life! REALLY.

My morning exam this morning in photoshop was a complete joke. 9 questions, 2 to be done in Photoshop - which she corrected one part already on screen in front of us, and I got 6/6 on it - GO ME. And, the rest, I'm sure I did very well on. I know I may have gotten 1 or 2 mistakes, at max 3 mistakes, but I'm guessing I will end up with 18/20, which is worth 20% of my final grade. I am doing a lot better in my photoshop class than I thought... Phew. I am sure I won't get a high high mark, but I am sure I am doing okay.

Then in my HTML class - this afternoon, what a joke. I handed in my assignment, and wrote the exam. I was the first one done the written part of the exam, which I'm sure I got at least 13/15 (but it's only worth 5% of our final grade) and I am not sure what the second part of the exam is worth, but we had to create a website in Dreamweaver, using a layout that he had given to us - we had to slice it - do rollovers in dreamweaver, and also have 3 pages. One page had text and an image. The second page had text and an image. The third page had text and the titles of the text if you cliked on them had to open an image up in an i-frame on the right hand side of the screen. We were allowed using notes, so I got that done pretty efficiently and did a very nice job. Thanks to Angela though - a friend - who helped me out and actually showed me how to use dreamweaver, because my teacher was useless and I didn't get very far learning from him.

This afternoon I had my job interview with a local photographer. Anyhow, I wasn't too impressed with him, and his wife, who isn't a photographer, sat with us the entire interview, what a weird lady, with a very weak handshake (shook their hands upon coming in, and leaving as well). I felt like if I did my regular handshake, I'd break her hands.... Anyhow, Shira, whom I went to photography school with - but who is graduating now, as she took a year off) works there, and was there today, when I showed up. Daniel, whom I actually graduated with - works there and is going from full time to part time - that's why they need to hire a full-timer. I was under the impression that they were willing to hire a part- time, that's why I sent in my CV. But they aren't. So, we'll see what happens.

Anyhow, this evening, Jamie's friends Michel & Louise (whom we sat on Saturday night) came by to look at our backyard and start making plans for the weekend and all the work that needs to be done in the backyard. I've booked 2 people to show the apartment to this weekend - one to a guy named Adam from Toronto, he's a web site guru or something, lives with his dog - and is looking for a place to live/for his home office. I wonder if a 6 1/2 will be too big for 1 person, but it would be nice and quiet for a change, maybe. I think Adam is coming on Friday to see the place. Saturday, I have someone who called me today, coming to look at it - his name is Collin. I really hope that I get a lease signed soon, I don't want to have to think about it anymore. I just want to go on living life, and not having to worry about renting out my apartment for July 1st.

After dinner I kicked my butt over to the gym. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical - I love that machine, while listening to my music. I then started in the abs room, where I started a bit on my routine from the trainer. In the middle of my routine, a guy, named Gino - started telling me that he likes my shoes. Asked where I got them, and then kept on talking to me. It took me a while to realize I was being PICKED UP! It's been a while since that has happened to me, being married and all - but it was very flattering. He asked me what I did today - I was being nice, so I told him I was at school, and did 2 exams, and he told me that I looked like I had a good head on my shoulders and that I was very smart. He also told me that he likes my dimples (which come out only when I smile or blush!) He told me that he thinks I have a good sense of humor, etc... He asked me how long I've been coming to the gym, etc.... We talked about the trainers a bit. During conversing, I tried to do my routine in the abs room, but it was getting to be distracting, so I started to leave, and he said - "So is that it?" and I was like "What do you mean?" and he's like "Will I get to see you again?" And I was like "I work out here, you'll see me around" and he was like "Is that it?" and I'm like "Well, I'm married, so I don't know what you want from me..." and walked away.

WEIRD.

But yet, flattering.....

I definitely would not have given this guy my number... that's for sure. Not even to be friends.....

Too creepy! But I didn't mind making small talk with him a the gym.

Serves me right for going to the gym at 8:30pm, instead of earlier when it's crowded business people and everyone minds their own business!

I did some more of my routine, not 100% all of it today as it really tired me out, and then headed home.

I told Jamie abou this and he finds it amusing I think. I am not even flattered - this guy was creepy.

Now I'm going to go hop into a shower, and hop into bed.

School Projects

I absolutely love this photograph - ain't it gorgeous? I did a selection in Photoshop and used it in my website re-creation project that is due tomorrow morning. But this picture is just what Spring is all about - lively and vibrant!

Today I ran into Margaret, Jamie's step-aunt at Walmart, I went to do a return, and she was on her way in while I was on my way out. It was very nice to talk to her, for a few minutes, before I had to run off to school.

Laura and I handed in our organ poster project, and the teacher really really liked it. I am so glad. I think I am going to get a really good mark in my Visual Communications class. Phew! I got my portfolio project back today and I got 23/25, and I am very happy with my mark. It was also the best mark in the class. Go me!

On my way home, I stopped and did some groceries and picked up some art supplies for my project that is due on Thursday. I needed Bristol Board, Manilla Construction paper, Vellum, Acetate, amongst some other items. I found some at the art store near me house and some other items at the dollar store (good dollar store) around the corner from my house.

I worked on my project that is due tomorrow and then ate dinner with Jamie. We had chicken wings as well as nachos with cheese and salsa melted on it. Delicious. I kinda copied what we had on Saturday night at Michel & Louise (the way she made the nachos) and it was soo good. Not very on track with my diet - but very good nonetheless.

We watched 24 this evening, and then I worked a bit more on my project. I worked on both my photoshop assignment and my website that is due tomorrow. I realized that I can't have any lorem ipsum in the project, so I had to put in real text. That was nothing to fix up. I should probably have made my project more "graphic design-y" but I left it as is - as I didn't have any more time to keep working more on it - after all it was very nice - so I think.

Going to go hop into bed now.

Geisha Done & Elle Canada Jury

Last night I napped from 6pm until about 8pm - oh did it feel great. I don't udnerstand what has gotten into me lately - but I have been napping a great deal. I feel like I have constant fatigue.

This morning I got up, expecting Peter at 8:30 am to finish the sealant in my bathroom - the job that he started. But he didn't show up at 8:30 am so I started to clean up my office.

Steve ended up showing up and not Peter by 9:45 am. I didn't even realize it was Steve, until it was time to write out the check at the end of the job (got it done for half price, due to Peter's stupidities two weeks ago about) and was soooo happy that it was Steve that ended up finishing the job, and not Peter fuckface.

As Steve was leaving, the people to see my apartment for rent showed up. They seemed interested - but didn't say anything, so I guess I have to wait to see if the agent calls me back or something? I'm not really too sure what that was all about - because the housing agent came with the guy's mother, and it's for the son the apartment or something, so I have no idea. They also have a dog - but a small one, so that I don't mind at all... as long as they know that the dog will be walked and not put out in my backyard to shit on my grass. No way. Thank goodness my front lawn there is no access - as it's blocked in by bushes. Phew.

I got my parcel from ELLE CANADA Magazine. I had entered and got a spot on their Jury. I have a bunch of products to test - which should be interesting, seeing as though I have 3 categories. Face Moisterizer - okay, cool, but then the last two categories - are NOT my thing.... Eye Makeup remover (I don't wear makeup) and also Shampoo and Conditioner for Colour Treated hair. I don't have colour treated hair - but I do have dry hair - so maybe it'll work on my hair because it's dry (so says the girl who called me back when I called to tell them that I think I'm on the wrong jury because I don't have colour treated hair. I have until June 19th to use up all the products and in the booklet I have to fill out there is a certain amount of time I'm supposed to test out each product. Each bottle they sent is stickered over with ELLE stickers so I can't see the brand - but a few of the products, by the way the bottle is - I can tell what brand it is... ANd some of the bottles - the ELLE stickers are easy to get off - but they leave the bottle sticky, so I'm not going to pull them off. YEY! I have 5 free bottle of shampoo and 5 free bottles of conditioner - as well as 5 free bottles of eye makeup remover and 5 free bottles of face moisterizer, which if I like them, I can use more than just the 1 weeks trial - because it's full size tubes and stuff! Pretty neat. I wonder if I have a friend or someone who wears makeup on a regular basis who wants to try out the eye makeup remover for me. I really don't want to start wearing eye makeup - cuz then that means wearing my contacts instead of my glasses - and I'm not really into that. Anyone want to help the jury? Free bottles of eyemake up remover! LOL.

I just just just just finished my Geisha image - it's due tomorrow at noon. I have some other homework to prepare for 8 am tomorrow morning, but I will start on that a little now, and then I will finish whatever I can tonight after I get back in from the Passover Seder at Jamie's cousin Lori & David's house. We'll be seeing Jamie's mom's side of the family tonight. I made sure pack with the present that we're bringing to their house - a copy of my wedding video that I have for Jamie's mom. Everyone else has a copy (my parents, Jamie's dad & Step-mom, Jamie's sister Andrea has a copy too) that last person left was Jamie's mom and her wife. I have been hanging on to it for a while, finally seeing them tonight. (It's been a while since we've seen them last - can't even recall the last time I've seen them - I'm thinking not since Jamie's birthday in December, I can't think of another time we have seen them since...). And that was the beginning of December. Wow - I haven't seen them yet this year. That's crazy. There have been no birthdays, and we didn't get together with them for Jamie's mom's birthday - which I thought we would have - but didn't - and there have been no other special occasions since....)

Well, I have some other homework to try and prepare for tomorrow - so I will get to that - and then I still need to get myself ready for dinner tonight at Jamie's cousin's house. More later!