Apparently the only baby blanket I can finish on time is our sons - imagine that! We'll that isn't exactly true, I think I finished the blanket for Zeda on time and the sweater for Eamon on time. But that's it.

I used a really simple pattern, so it really didn't take that long. Plus, I had used the same pattern for the last 2 blankets that I knit this winter for my girlfriends, so I was a pro by the time I got to our sons.

It is fashioned in the 3 primary colours - classically used on superheroes. I did not attempt any special designs, as I am not that skilled.

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tanned woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:
THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE??

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas,seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia . Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.


Mermaids don't exist!
If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don't have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?


The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain eight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't too heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think? Good gosh, look how smart I am.

Things are moving along quite smoothly in preparing for our new family member. We've spent the last number of weeks preparing the house, starting/finishing renovations and purchasing various baby items.

We've got our garage mostly built. There are just a few final touches that need to be complete, and then we can officially start using it. We painted the baby's room last weekend, so now we are just waiting on the furniture to arrive. We purchased a playpen and stroller and are off to get the carseat this weekend. We also plan to start shopping for a new vehicle this weekend, as our 2-door car will not do.

Things left to do: finish the fence and stain it; finish the baby's room - styling it just right with our superhero sketches, pictures and busts; organize the basement and move a bunch of stuff into the garage; wait for our son to arrive.

It's going to be a very busy 2 months and 29 days - not only at home, but at work too. I am glad my family is coming to visit next month - I think I'll put my mom to work cleaning my house, and I'm sure Mr. J could use a hand with the fence. We'll take any help we can get, as our family support network is fairly thin here - we pretty much just have friends around.

The 'Hero' themed nursery is going to be perfect. Now we just have to start work on it. With all the artist sketches we have and Daddy J's DC busts, we're set!

I can't wait to meet our son! I am SO excited!

I am anxiously anticipating this weekend, because I will finally meet my in-laws. Wahoo!!!! Although I have spoken to my mother-in-law and father-in-law (and wife) on the phone, I've never met any of them. Although Mr. J & I have been together for 2 years now, we just haven't got around to visiting Miami (dad and stepmom live) nor Vancouver (mom lives), and they haven't been able to visit us here.

So, after we decided to get married on our own in Jamaica, we thought it would be nice to have a small post-wedding celebration and invite the families.

And that is this weekend. We are only having 25 people to a small reception at a hotel, and then celebrating back at our house with a Saturday night party and Sunday brunch.

Sometimes I wish they lived closer, so I could spend more time getting to know them and learning about the Jamaican culture. They are part of my life now, and I want to learn as much as I can about their background, so I can make sure that knowledge gets passed along to our son/daughter.

It will be a great weekend!!!

I had an amazing Saturday this past weekend. Mr. J & I were in Saskatoon for free comic book day. So, while he busied himself with work at 8th Street Books and Comics, I made it a priority to catch up with old friends.

Now, when I refer to them as old friends I'm not inferring that they are people with which I've lost touch, just friends that I've known for ages (10+ years) and who, sadly, I don't get to see that often (primarily because I live in another city/province).

However, because my friends are so important to me, it is important for me to stay connected to them as much as I can. So when I return to my home province, I make sure that I get-together with whomever I can in order to maintain those relationships.

Usually, I only get to see 1 or 2. Mostly because there are a number of other things going on, and we can only fit so many visits into one day. But this past Saturday, I had the day to wander from friend to friend visiting at will.

I had only set up a few visits, but surprisingly, managed to see a lot more friends that I was anticipating, which is what made the day so wonderful.

My planned lunch with BB & his girlfriend, got bigger when T-ass and Ty became part of the plan. We tried out this little Mexican place on Boychuk called La Bamba - very tasty. It was fun to see my old buddies and we reminisced about years gone by.

Before and after my lunch, I managed to squeeze in some time visiting with the newest parents of the group - the Schnells. I stopped over at the house to visit Jenn & Anara, and then made sure I spent some time at the Den with Al.

My afternoon coffee with AJ turned into a meeting of yuppies (as cenobyte referred to us) at Calories. Just as I was calling AJ to confirm our coffee location, I was surprised with news that ceno was in town, and that AJ had just dropped off J-Bra at Calories for a visit with ceno and Thunderhowl. I immediately wanted to join them, so AJ & I commenced our afternoon coffee with the rest of them. I was very happy to see them, and we had a wonderful afternoon talking shop (gaming).

I finished off my afternoon back at 8th Street with Mr. J and the rest of the crew. Pat took us all out for supper at Amigo's, and I had wonderful time meeting new people, especially a local comic book artist Tom Grummett who was doing sketches for Free Comic Book Day.

This past weekend Mr. J & I made a trip down to Calgary for the Comic & Entertainment Expo.

We drove down early Saturday morning in order to make the 11:00 AM Voice Acting workshop for Mr. J. We arrived around 10:30AM, and found ourselves standing in line for about 40 minutes, even though we had purchased our tickets in advance. It seems as though they weren't appropriately staffed when it came to collecting tickets, providing a 'goodie' bag and ushering everyone through the doors - they only had 3 people for that. I noticed later on that day (around 1:30) that there were still people waiting in line.

We arrived at the Voice Acting workshop about 10 minutes late, but we didn't miss too much. We were entertained by a couple (Yuri & Tara) who work in the industry - they regaled us with stories of their experiences. I think Mr. J got some useful information.

There were a number of 'stars' at the Expo - Edward James Olmos (see picture below), Margot Kidder (wow, has she ever aged), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Sean Astin (see picture below), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), Voice actor of Rhino - Bee-Awesome!!!, and many more.


We didn't actually meet any of the stars, except for Mark Walton - voice of Rhino from Bolt. I am conflicted about meeting movie stars. Yes, I enjoyed watching them in their show/movie - but what am I really going to say to them, 'hey, I liked you in X', or 'You were awesome'. That just seems lame, and because I didn't have any burning questions, I was satisfied with just 'seeing' them. I guess I just don't get worked up about meeting celebrities.

We spent quite a bit of time on 'Artists Lane.' The baby's room is going to be themed 'SuperHeroes', so with limited 'hero' options in the world of 'decorating the nursery', we figured a great way to theme the room is with hero artist sketches. We picked up (and ordered) a number sketches at the Edmonton Comic event - Zatanna, Batgirl, HarlyQuinn, and a signed pic of Ando. In Calgary, we picked up our Edmonton order of Batman, Superman and Captain Marvel (DC version), and purchased a number of other great 'hero' sketches. We will be laminating some and framing the others. I think the nursery will be cool. Now we just need to decide on paint colours for the room. 'Super Baby' (as Mr. J calls him/her) is going to be inundated with comics and superheroes upon birth.

Anywho, I got sidetracked there a little.

Sunday, we walked around the event some more, visiting with various people that Mr. J knew, and attended our final workshop on Breaking into Voice Acting. It was hosted by Helene Rousse from Total Casting. She provided a wealth of knowledge on how to get started to what to put on your demo. Mr. J and I recorded most of the talk, so Mr. J will be able to reference back to it later on.

It was a great little weekend, and prepared me a bit for GenCon. Not in terms of what to expect - I know it will be nothing like I experienced - but helped me understand how tired I'm going to get, and how many snacks and drinks I will need to take with me - 7 month pregger Mama is going to need to be prepared for anything.

We also managed a nice little visit with Uncle and Auntie.