Seven days and still waiting.....

So it's been 7 days since my May 1st birthday....when I turned f...f...f...forty...two. Yes 42....which, according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is supposed to represent the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Really? Well my question is.....does that start anytime soon? I mean it's been a week already and so far nothing...nada, zilch, zip, diddley squat and bugger all. Come on, I only have another 358 days to go, time is of the essence!

Don't get me wrong, I had a great birthday - the weather was sunny and we sat outside on Vicky & Mark's lovely rooftop deck, enjoying a glass of wine and eating home-cooked snacks, treats and fabulously decadent chocolate birthday cake that Lorne bought at Fratellis orgasmic bakery no less, along with the first chocolate cornflake cakes I've eaten in y-e-a-r-s! that Bronwyn and Vicky made :-) Bronwyn also made me a lovely birthday card. She adores our cats!

This is the back of the card, which shows all four cats, including our much missed Lucy.

Oddly enough, the blue collar with gold name tag that Bronnie has drawn in the center is exactly the collar I bought for Lucy to wear in the first few years I had her.....but Bronwyn's never seen that collar, in fact none of the cats have actually worn one in years. There's a hidden surprise with this card too - the 'pop-up' picture once you unfold it..... A remarkable headshot of Lucy. I'm really quite touched that she made this for me, it's so thoughtful and really cute - not to mention that she's quite the artist!

Of course it's a little less 'cheeky' than this one that Bronwyn chose for me last year. Nice :-)


And since I'm on a birthday card roll, I have nooo idea where Vicky and Mark managed to find this hunk-o-hunk-o-fabulous Elvis card, where the black around Elvis is velour no less. Classic! I think this one (& the cat card) has got to get framed.

But enough about cards. For my birthday dinner (which we did Tuesday night) Lorne had bought tickets for a 4-course dinner + scotch-tasting event at Vancouver's Dubrulle Culinary Institute through a local whisky lovers group Rare Drams It was an excellent and really delicious 4-course meal cooked by students of the Culinary Institute and the accompanying scotch tasting enlightened me to a few new and rare 'drams' that I'd actually not heard of but hope to have tingle my tastebuds again some time soon. After opening with a smooth Glenandrew upon arrival, we were treated to Clan Denny from both Speyside and Isla with the starter (both were good but the Isla was outstanding), then Tomintoul 14 yr old with the next course. With the entree we were treated to the delectable blend of McAllan & Laphroaig (a marriage truly made in heaven) and a great dinner was rounded off with the rather excellent Ardberg 18yr old. Bliss. I still can't believe it took me so long to get around to discovering scotch but better later than never, that's what I say! Could it be these delights are part of my life, universe and everything enlightenment?

And here I am, almost a full 7 days into being 42 and still waiting on my 'Answer'. Tum de dum de dum.......any time now would be good......la-de-daa-de-dum.....yup....aaaany-time sooon would be great.....hmmmmm deee da diddley deee......

So while I'm waiting for that pearly wisdom, I'll just run with Terry's analogy of being 42.....i.e. 'two 21-year olds rolled into one'. Hey, works for me!

Bronwyn and River

So in the blur of the past few months, I realize I have some photos of Bronwyn and River that I should forward and, now that I have this blog, I guess I could put them here too. Albeit I'm still familiarizing myself with the technical wizardry of my new Nikon camera body, I have taken a few snapshots that capture the humour and spontaneity of being around Bronwyn and River. I love their energy and curiosity and their intrigue of things that I've long-since taken for granted without even really meaning to.

Nothing like being around children to give you a reality check on what matters and what is really just 'stuff' - not to mention their brutal honesty at times. In spending time with them, and in seeing all the postings on Vicky's blog, they bring me back down to earth with a more honest sense of what matters and how to take pleasure in the moments that go to make up each day. A welcome respite from the all-consuming work stuff that often occupies my mind much more than I'd like.

Anyhow, here are some photos that make me smile when I look at them - I love River's crazy Albert Einstein hair and Bronwyn's perplexed curiosity of just about everything. It's so much fun exploring the world through their eyes.

(Unfortunately I haven't tried photoshop for getting rid of red-eye yet, but it's among the many things on my to-do list. I know, I know...you can do it in-camera, but have you ever tried to get excited kids to sit still while the pre-flash flash blinks away at them and not end up getting them with their eyes closed? That said, in an attempt to better capture such moments, I've just signed myself up for yet another photography class at Focal Point, this time a Wednesday night class on "The Natural Portrait" starting April 7th. Who knows, maybe I'll even (finally) get around to taking the family photos that Vicky has been asking me to do for....well, ...ages!)

Bronwyn had so much fun with this gluey-sticky-jelly-like alien thing that I got Lorne at Hallowe'en....it's now matted in cat hair and other goobers and has even left a grease blob on the living room ceiling after we threw it hard to see if it would stick.


And here's River... being so angelic and wild-haired which he does so well:




And here's one I took last weekend when we made a trip to the park. He just loves being on the swing.


Of course it also makes me miss Thomas and Hannah, Edward and Gareth more - not forgetting William whom I have't even met yet. It's hard to think of them growing up so fast and so far away. Hopefully they won't all have left school and got their driver's license before I next see them!