who doesn't love free things? it can be a big thing or a small thing, but regardless of the item...we all love FREE (especially when there's no strings attached)!
everyone knows i'm not a morning person...i shouldn't be approached until i've had my starbucks (or other caffeine of choice), and even though i get to work 15-30 minutes before i'm officially "on duty", i don't like to talk shop until 8 a.m. but some mornings actually start off better. like today!
depending on where my coffee comes from, i take 3 different routes from the burrard skytrain. today i was off to timmies, so i hit the burrard exit. i should AWAYS take that exit...every time i go there they have free stuff. today i got complimentary copies of the vancouver sun AND the province (in the past it's only been the sun), as well as a stick of the new trident layers gum. it was pretty chaotic because the metro and 24 hours people are always hawking their papers, too. but those are free dailies, and i wanted the good stuff :-)
last night shaw was in our building trying to sell their gear. the only free stuff they had were drinks and fortune cookies. i avoided their freebies...it comes with strings attached - listen to our spiel as we try to sell you an expensive box and subscriptions. pass!
not much else going on these days...just getting ready for our "free" hotel in vegas next weekend. giddy'up!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
2010 Olympics
i admit it...i wasn't in favour of the 2010 olympics when we won them back in 2003 (?). leading up to the olympics, all i could think about was the dreaded 1-2 hour waits at skytrain stations. turns out i didn't need to hate the olympics after all. granted, skytrain was crowded no matter what time of day travelled, but it just added to the olympic buzz. at the end of a workday i put on my best irritated-to-hell face, but tourists obviously knew i was a local and sympathized for the commuters. then they'd strike up a conversation with me and i'd give in to their excitement about being in vancouver and loving our great city :-)
and as an original pessimist, i'm not sure how anyone couldn't get lost in the spirit and just embrace what was happening to our city. and once the gold medals started pouring in, and the men's hockey team defied the odds against russia...it was magic. chris and i even managed to get out on 2 saturday nights with our friends to take in the downtown chaos. the first night we had no plan and just wandered around...but the 2nd saturday we had a plan and managed to check out the (gold!) olympic rings, the cauldren and we spent some time at germany house.
when olympic tickets went on sale in 2008, chris got in on the action and bought men's hockey (quarterfinal & semifinal) and men's & women's curling (both bronze medal games). unfortunately none of our hockey tickets were for canada, both times we saw the united states (vs. switzerland - "hop suisse!" and vs. finland). he had to sell the women's curling bronze medal game due a conflict with the hockey game (conveniently enough i know a lot of curling fans), and i managed to get out of the men's curling game and geoff went instead :-) we had hoped to take gabe to an olympic event, but the hassle of a stroller, going thru a "carry-me-everywhere" phase, security, and working around naptime, it just was too much to fathom.
a week after the olympics have ended, the blue volunteer jackets, the "canada" sweatshirts, the flags, the neighbourhood houses, the foot traffic outside my office on thurlow street...it's all becoming a distant memory. i definitely feel sad that the buzz has worn off already, but we're hoping to get out this weekend and do some paralympic activities. one more hoorah in our red hoodies :-)
Thursday, March 04, 2010
17 months old!
i can't believe in another month, gabe will be 1.5 years old! chris and i were just discussing today how fast time has flown by. some days travel at a snails pace, especially the last week with everyone in our family (including the grandparents!) being wiped out by the cold and/or flu blug.
gabe's developing at his own pace, slower than i would've thought compared to other kids (i've even factored in the boy vs. girl growth). on the other hand, he's mastered one of the most important skills that some 3 & 4 year olds can't grasp...potty-training! he's a super-star at signing "poo", but recently he's gotten it mixed up with "pee" (which we don't actually sign), so we've been spending A LOT of time back-and-forth in the bathroom. with the stomach flu, i've been so fortunate that gabe's been able to do his business in the potty...no diarrhea diapers in our household!
gabe's speech has been the slowest development...at 17 months old, he only says "mama" (which still doesn't always mean me) and "no". on the other hand, he knows what he wants and the "no" has come in handy for that. instead of saying "yes", he claps his hands together (we're not sure how that came about). he's developed a new sign for himself that we can't quite decipher. he usually only does it when he's sitting on the potty, but he's quite insistent that we follow through on something (it's related to the door, but it has nothing to do with opening or closing it). even though gabe doesn't talk, we've been really emphasizing his manners (through sign language). whenever he wants a treat, we always ask him to say "please". and before he's excused from the kitchen table, he always says "thank you for food". when he's at my parents house, my mom will sometimes use japanese expressions. i don't expect gabe to learn japanese (my knowledge is non-existent), but i like the fact that he hears the occasional word.
gabe loves to colour. he knows exactly where his drawing accessories are kept at home (and at my parents house), and he'll go over, point, and clap his hands. we're trying to encourage the use of his right hand, but he still favours his left. we'll see how that turns out :-)
music class has always been a big hit! he sits in class and taps his legs, claps his hands, and loves to play instruments. after the "hello" song, we always "drum" on the mats, and gabe's the only child who yells out w/excitement when it's over. it's pretty funny and everyone gets a kick out it :-) since the winter session started in january, gabe's shown his first fear...he is terrified of the parachute! as soon as it's out and the kids get under it for the rippling and waving, gabe makes a bee-line for the wall, paces back and forth, and starts signing "all done, all done!".
thanks in part to music class, gabe's learned to put things away. he used to throw a fit when it was "shakers away" or "instruments away", but now he'll go to the baskets and put them away. he sometimes tries to take them back again but we'll have a little chat and go back to our seats. at home he likes to go into our bathroom and empty my basket of various bottles and place them on the windowsill. afterwards, i'll ask him to put everything away and close the cupboard. it always puts a smile on my face watching him do this simple task.
gabe's a tv junkie. as soon as we turn it on, he points, claps his hands and wants to watch ni-hao kai-lan. we try to save that for when i'm cooking and can't have him hanging around the kitchen, but because of the sickness and gabe needing cuddles with me, we've been putting the tv on more regularly. gabe's also become very proficient with the iphone...he knows how to turn it on and slide the arrow across the screen and will try to enter chris' password, he also enjoys "the wheels on the bus" and can do all the actions that go along with it.
gabe's a climbing monkey! he loves to sit on the couch, and then crawl onto the couch arms and then he leans back a bit too far and falls off :P i usually hold onto his feet to prevent the fall, but sometimes i'm just not fast enough. he's also climbed onto our ottoman many times and of course fallen off that too. we turned it around so he can't climb it, but he's figured out how to maneuver it around.
our strong boy is hilarious. we have a lot of pull-along or walking type toys. when he was learning to walk, he never used them. then for the longest time he refused to use them properly...instead he would actually lift everything off the ground and then walk around with them. he's only just gotten interested in his walker and uses it the proper way. ironic. nowadays he's more interested in moving the kitchen chairs around or carrying his elmo chair.
3 more weeks till we go to vegas, and then my boy'll be 1.5 years old! he's definitely not a little baby anymore :(
gabe's developing at his own pace, slower than i would've thought compared to other kids (i've even factored in the boy vs. girl growth). on the other hand, he's mastered one of the most important skills that some 3 & 4 year olds can't grasp...potty-training! he's a super-star at signing "poo", but recently he's gotten it mixed up with "pee" (which we don't actually sign), so we've been spending A LOT of time back-and-forth in the bathroom. with the stomach flu, i've been so fortunate that gabe's been able to do his business in the potty...no diarrhea diapers in our household!
gabe's speech has been the slowest development...at 17 months old, he only says "mama" (which still doesn't always mean me) and "no". on the other hand, he knows what he wants and the "no" has come in handy for that. instead of saying "yes", he claps his hands together (we're not sure how that came about). he's developed a new sign for himself that we can't quite decipher. he usually only does it when he's sitting on the potty, but he's quite insistent that we follow through on something (it's related to the door, but it has nothing to do with opening or closing it). even though gabe doesn't talk, we've been really emphasizing his manners (through sign language). whenever he wants a treat, we always ask him to say "please". and before he's excused from the kitchen table, he always says "thank you for food". when he's at my parents house, my mom will sometimes use japanese expressions. i don't expect gabe to learn japanese (my knowledge is non-existent), but i like the fact that he hears the occasional word.
gabe loves to colour. he knows exactly where his drawing accessories are kept at home (and at my parents house), and he'll go over, point, and clap his hands. we're trying to encourage the use of his right hand, but he still favours his left. we'll see how that turns out :-)
music class has always been a big hit! he sits in class and taps his legs, claps his hands, and loves to play instruments. after the "hello" song, we always "drum" on the mats, and gabe's the only child who yells out w/excitement when it's over. it's pretty funny and everyone gets a kick out it :-) since the winter session started in january, gabe's shown his first fear...he is terrified of the parachute! as soon as it's out and the kids get under it for the rippling and waving, gabe makes a bee-line for the wall, paces back and forth, and starts signing "all done, all done!".
thanks in part to music class, gabe's learned to put things away. he used to throw a fit when it was "shakers away" or "instruments away", but now he'll go to the baskets and put them away. he sometimes tries to take them back again but we'll have a little chat and go back to our seats. at home he likes to go into our bathroom and empty my basket of various bottles and place them on the windowsill. afterwards, i'll ask him to put everything away and close the cupboard. it always puts a smile on my face watching him do this simple task.
gabe's a tv junkie. as soon as we turn it on, he points, claps his hands and wants to watch ni-hao kai-lan. we try to save that for when i'm cooking and can't have him hanging around the kitchen, but because of the sickness and gabe needing cuddles with me, we've been putting the tv on more regularly. gabe's also become very proficient with the iphone...he knows how to turn it on and slide the arrow across the screen and will try to enter chris' password, he also enjoys "the wheels on the bus" and can do all the actions that go along with it.
gabe's a climbing monkey! he loves to sit on the couch, and then crawl onto the couch arms and then he leans back a bit too far and falls off :P i usually hold onto his feet to prevent the fall, but sometimes i'm just not fast enough. he's also climbed onto our ottoman many times and of course fallen off that too. we turned it around so he can't climb it, but he's figured out how to maneuver it around.
our strong boy is hilarious. we have a lot of pull-along or walking type toys. when he was learning to walk, he never used them. then for the longest time he refused to use them properly...instead he would actually lift everything off the ground and then walk around with them. he's only just gotten interested in his walker and uses it the proper way. ironic. nowadays he's more interested in moving the kitchen chairs around or carrying his elmo chair.
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