Winter Schminter

This is what winter is SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE where we live. To play in the snow the kids have to make ice sculptures out of coloured water frozen in old Starbucks coffee cups and tupperware containers. This is Tomas and his "little buddy" (kindergartener) showing off their castle from last week.



This was Toria yesterday. This is NOT how it is supposed to be.


That's all I have to say on the matter.

Except that it is only -1C (31F) and not -40C like it is in other parts of the country that say they have no snow but it is so cold they can't be exposed for 30 seconds or body parts start freezing (but I don't know anyone like that, do I mom?).

I guess I'll take the snow over the cold.

At least it is perfect snow for snowball fights!

Nothing

I have nothing,nada, zip, zulu to blog but I know that so many of you excitingly check each day to see if I've posted anything witty and wise (OK, my mom does) but nonetheless I felt I would be slipping if I didn't respond to my audience.... (AKA Mom)

Alas, no new pictures have been taken, no wise children stories, we're muddling through our spring, though there are less than 9 weeks left of school.

I guess I could blog about hockey.... Go Dallas Go. I'll be cheering for you Wednesday! WAHOO. (I don't have anything against San Jose but oiy oiy oiy was I ever glad when Pronger was given his golf clubs! Nice.)

It's Official

The Edmonton Oilers are out of the playoffs. Now, since I've been an Oiler fan since I was knee high to a grasshopper I say with some authority that they've been &^%'d since they traded Ryan Smyth (and where is he now? ... talk about a lose-lose situation. (OK, he's in the playoffs but he's at a -3 on the year for crying out loud! He's just another overpaid skater in a hockey helmet). Then there was the entire Oilers/Wayne Gretzky trade mess... Yes ,I know that was like 2 decades ago - give me a break - I'm in Oiler non-playoff-mourning. [And yep! I still have my Jari Kurri #17 (he was THE BEST!) hockey player.] Anyway, now Edmonton has The Kid Line: Cogliano, Gagner and Nilsson so we shall KEEP THE FAITH! 'Til Next Year.

Alas with the beloved Oilers out of the playoffs who am I going to throw my heart and cheering soul behind?

Fine. By default I would usually cheer for the Canucks. We live nearby, blah blah blah. Alas, they royally screwed up their last few games and now the only Western Canadian team left is Calgary.

(I briefly thought about cheering for the Winnipeg Jets, err, Phoenix Coyotes but oh lord, don't get me started on that debacle).

That brings me back to the Calgary Flames. Nope. Can't do it. Even lived in Calgary for awhile. Can't cheer for them. I'm an Oilers fan. I bleed blue (well, green for the Grey Cup Winning Saskatchewan Roughriders but that's football in the summer so let's not confuse the matter). Oilers hate Flames. We extinguish them! So, err, that ends the cheering for the Flames. Ain't going to happen.

Who, in sam heaven, am I going to cheer for during this seemingly endless playoff season that hockey is thoughtful enough to offer?

The Montreal Canadiens? Ha ha ha. Non.
The Ottawa Senators? Really, what kind of a name is Senators? Have you seen a government Senator? OK, I might break down and cheer for them but they are Easterners! Easterners I SAY. Quite frankly, if my neighbours found out I was cheering for the Easterners I'm not sure if they would allow me to remain living here. [Never mind that the latest statistics show 96.3% of the population here is actually from the East ... and never going back - because the West is the Best.]

I digress....
I guess I could cheer for the Dallas Stars since through my MIL's, friends' son we have a connection to the coach and he got us autographs. Way Cool.

Though I've always had a soft spot for Steve Yzerman - which lead to a marginal like of the Detroit Red Wings. Yeah, maybe I'll cheer for them. Chris Chelios still plays for them and he's even older than me! A lot older! But.... they're the team most expected to win the playoffs and you know me - I don't want to be seen as a bandwagon jumper. (OK, sister, you can stop laughing on the floor now.)

The Anaheim Ducks dropped the Mighty part but that's OK because they couldn't use it when they have Chris Pronger as a team member which is the one and only reason necessary to NOT cheer for them.

I suppose I could review the remaining 16 teams but... maybe just maybe... I'll cheer for the Nashville Predators. I've been to Nashville. I liked it. They're a scrappy little team... who will get knocked out in the first round. There goes that idea.

If you are still reading this post - then you must be my parents (parents are great that way) - Hi Mom and Dad! - Anyway, I may offer polite applause for Colorado (well for Ryan Smyth) , Dallas and Detroit but the throat screaming cheers have yet to find a team.

I guess I will consult further with my fellow hockey fan, Tomas "Roloson", when he wakes in the morning. ... because we only have 5 more sleeps until the 2008 NHL Hockey playoffs start!

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Which by the way is the same day that my library is going to open it's doors! Yes, thanks to us rowdy protestors we forced everyone back to the bargaining table and an agreement has been reached.
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UPDATE: At 7:45am my brother-in-law phoned me (and he hadn't even read my blog!). He's a super Oiler fan too and we've consulted with Tomas and agreed to throw our support behind Ryan Smyth.

First Protest

Toria says "Open the Library Please"
Tomas says "Get the Library Open Please"
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ALL the libraries in my city are CLOSED!!

The politicians LOCKED OUT the Librarians over 5 weeks ago. Nor will the politicians even negotiate. Today there was a rally to force both parties to binding arbitration (the librarians have been willing to do anything to get to a resolution).

Binding arbitration uses an unbiased party to determine a fair solution but the politicians said "No, we don't want to do anything that may force us to do something we don't want". AHHHH. Technically, I am one of the bosses of these politicians and they are really THICK.

Fortunately today's Rally was peaceful and we were not arrested.

Next to the Shout! and beside the Tide...

I'm sure everyone has seen this already but apparently I've been living under a mound of post-vacation laundry and I had no idea! So, just in case you missed it too - I thought I'd post the link to Sarah Silverman's video to her boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel and then his retaliation video.

I kid you not - I fell off of the kitchen stool laughing when I watched these. EDITED TO ADD: Todd, on the other hand, didn't have the same response tonight when he watched the clips. Alas, you may laugh or you may cry, but first you've gotta try!

WARNING: Do Not Watch while young children are around.



And the response:



(yes, that is Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Robin Williams,Cameron Diaz, Don Cheadle, Huey Lewis, Rebecca Romijn, Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, "Lost" star Dominic Monaghan, Joel and Benji Madden, Josh Groban, Christina Applegate, Meat Loaf, Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell, Lance Bass, Joan Jett, "Superbad" thespian Christopher Mintz-Plasse and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Dicky Barret)

Oops, heard the beep of the dryer - must go fold laundry. Enjoy!

Bleeding Green FOR WINNERS

EDITED: Final Score:
The Great Saskatchewan Roughriders :23 (Rider Pride Coast to Coast!)
The sad Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 19 (I do feel bad for Milt, though)

Today is the day that the Great Saskatchewan Roughriders take to the field against the lowly Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 95th Grey Cup.

Technically Winnipeg is in the West but due to crazy Easterners they put Winnipeg in the East Conference for purposes of the CFL (Canadian Football League). Ha ha ha. Don't they know that there is no greater rivalry than Winnipeg and Saskatchewan?? Not just for football but for anything. Have you been to either province? (Well, Winnipeg is a city in the province of Manitoba but we won't hold that against them). Both provinces are flat expanses of dust peppered with very kind, generous, fantastic people who love their own province and despise the prairie land next to them. I speak with some experience having been born and raised in Saskatchewan but spending 2 precious years of my life in my late 20's in Winnipeg. [Besides nice people who cheer for a bad football team - Winnipeg also has the very best restaurants I have been to anywhere in the world... Rae & Jerry's anyone?]

Winnipeg vs. Saskatchewan. This is going to be the best damn Grey Cup game ever.

AND as if having 2 teams from the 'west' playing each other wasn't weird enough. Saskatchewan is actually the FAVOURED TEAM TO WIN. This is clearly a sign of global warming and the world going crazy.

And to Sunny Side Up who is cheering for Winnipeg (boo). I'll leave you and all those Rider fans with this thought:



P.S. Yes, the Rider mascot is a Gopher. But not just any gopher. He is Gainer the Gopher. So there.