rudolph splat

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A few weeks ago, I bought a ponsettia at Home Depot and vowed to keep it alive until the New Year. I even bought a moisture reader thingy to help keep me informed on my First Plant's health. And I -did- try to water it when it needed it. Really, I did. Sadly, I had to toss the poor thing into the garbage yesterday...I couldn't stand to watch it wither down to nothing (it had about three leaves left, and two of those had turned black).

This leaves us with two plants...one large plant given to us as an officewarming gift from Brian and Helen, and a nicely-potted evergreen from my mom-in-law. (Debbie takes a deep breath and crosses her fingers...)

Hey, Amanda gave me a Christmas present today...a Partridge Family t-shirt! Woohoo, very cool.

Took this morning off to visit Sara and Annie. They were VERY excited to see me. Annie sang "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" for me (she has a very strong toddler accent...I'm glad she can hold a tune pretty well, else I might not have recognized it :)). I was a bit confused by her interrupting the last verse with a loud "SPLAT" in the middle. Ruth explained...Annie was recently using the public toilet at Sara's school. She was sitting on the seat, rocking back and forth while singing the Rudolph song at the top of her lungs, when she slipped and fell into the toilet. She got a -very- thorough scrubbing once she got home, needless to say.

In case I don't get online again in the next few days, I wish you all a very happy holiday season!

happy holidays!

I'm typing this in a guestroom at my mom-in-law's place, watching the snow fall gently outside the window. Jeff and I are staying in a house the family nicknames "The Log House", a building we used to live in over five years ago, out in the Hockley Valley. Across the expanse of white is the pond, and beyond that is a bank of willow trees. Jeff and I were married beneath those trees over eight years ago. :-)

Last night we had Christmas dinner at my mom-in-law's house. My niece Brittany and I had a grand time playing "wild animals". I was always the Mommy animal, and she was the baby animal. Sometimes we were tigers, looking for food. Other times we were snakes, hissing through the grass and wrapping ourselves around unsuspecting victims. Afterwards, Jeff and I came back to the Log House and lit a fire in the fireplace while we exchanged gifts. He gave me a day at the spa; I gave him a Slashdot t-shirt and cap plus a couple of CDs.

In a few minutes, we'll put on our boots and coats and scarves to head over to my mom-in-law's place for the Ridpath gift opening. Later this afternoon, we go to my sister's place for another round of presents. I'm going to try to stay offline for the rest of the day.

A very merry Christmas/holiday season to you all. :-)

post-xmas

Today's blatherpic was one of my Christmas presents...a gift from my sis-in-law and is one of my favourite mother-daughter portraits ever.

First day back at work today. I've decided to take an hour or two and scan some of the extra pics I received from my Nahanni trip friends to add to the trip report...those should be appearing this afternoon, if you're interested. :-)

Dear lord. Doug just came into the office with a giant tube full of nearly a hundred mini-chocolate bars. So much for my resolution to eat more healthy food this coming year...

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Sunday, December 26th, 1999

As usual, Christmas was over in a flash...a flurry of last-minute gift wrapping, hugging of relatives, plates of brandy-filled chocolates and plum pudding. Some people loathe doing the "family thing"; I guess I'm the odd sort of actually likes it.

Jeff's still sick...looks like he may have bronchitis or pneumonia. :-( Neither of us got much sleep last night because of his coughing; I'm going to sleep out in the living room tonight. If you'd like to send him a get well note (he's feeling a bit down because of being sick for so long), please do send him an e-mail.

Going back to work tomorrow. Our friend Scott D. is visiting from Germany and will be staying with us starting tomorrow through Jan.2nd...hope he doesn't catch our bug!

Y2K

Went to see Toy Story 2 again with Scott D. (his first time) and was pleasantly surprised to find outtakes at the end of the movie, through the end credits...these weren't there the first time I saw the movie. Also went to see GalaxyQuest with Scott D. and Jeff...I liked it, Jeff was neutral, Scott gave it a thumbs down. You definitely have to be somewhat of an sf fan (esp. of Star Trek) to appreciate this movie, I think.

Is Toronto the only city suffering from iciclitis this winter? "Icicle lights" seem to be all the rage this year, and are causing heaps of controversy. How Christmas lights can cause such raging debate is beyond me, but then again Toronto doesn't have anything else to get upset about these days.

Hey, I've been asked to do another book. Sounds like a very cool project (it's a kids' book), if the timing works out okay. More details if things solidify to the point where I can give details. :-)

Anyone have any predictions for the year 2000? Please post them in blatherchat. If you're interested in seeing past Blatherchat predictions for 1999, see the Blatherchat archives. Just a few:

• I predict that the Y2K problem will turn out to be greatly overblown. However, there will be major disruptions caused by attempts to install Y2K quick fixes in Fall 1999 and a flood of Y2K lawsuits starting on 03 Jan 2000. -- I predict that The Artist Formerly Known As Prince will make a huge pile of money on "Party Like It's 1999". -- I predict that we will see more of the old-fashioned type of card games where all the cards come in the initial set -- I predict a wave of really bad political-scandal movies, and perhaps one or two good ones. (Steve Brinich)
• I predict the Vikings and Broncos will meet in the Superbowl. Internet stocks will continue to rise, then take a dip as Y2K approaches, only to roar back. The Star Wars movie will be good, but cannot live up to the overblown hype (though it will set an opening weekend record). The Prince of Egypt will win the Oscar for Best Original Song and Best Score. (Joe Neff)
• Given my birthday horoscope a few weeks back said "March of 1999 will be most memorable," I predict I'll have a great time at Consonance and FilkONtario!! ;-) (Gary)

Allison's coming to visit the office today, and we're having lunch. Hopefully we'll find some place not very near the Hasty Market. :-)

my first book!

Well, it looks like I might be getting a book published. I'd rather not give details until the contract's been signed, but it's looking pretty darned hopeful. :-) More details later. (and I'm a LOT more excited about the news than this paragraph seems to indicate, by the way, but am trying to remain neutral just in case)

Getting together with Allison and Jodi tonight!