Songs of Life, Love & Laughter

Everything from kids to karaoke....these are my petty ramblings

Friday, February 27, 2009

Say It Ain't So


I was watching the CHCH news this morning and Annette Hamm started a story with, "A man was found shot in an SUV that was left running...."

Have we gotten that blase about murder that they must add something that they think the public will react to.

Them: A man was found shot in an SUV.
Us: Yeah, whatever. Pass me the waffles.

OR

Them: A man was found shot in an SUV that was left running.
Us: Oh my god! Please tell me that they found it before it wasted too much gas. Oh, the poor SUV. Oh, and I never even thought of the people in the area that had to wake to all that polution. Oh, and what about the birds and other animals in the neighbourhood. Oh, what a shame!

Come to think of it, maybe we are that blase.

Labels:

Friday, February 20, 2009

Welcome Nicholas Robert

This is Nicholas Robert Timmons, born February 19, 2009, at 5:07 pm, weighing 8 lbs 6 oz. Mom, dad, baby, and baby brother are all doing fine.

So, yesterday I started the morning by preparing for some medical tests. I went to the clinic and was put through a battery of tests on all parts of my body. Each test was done in a different room and meant that I had to take my clothes off, have the test, put my clothes back on, go to another room, take off my clothes, have the test done.....and so it went. After the third such test, I said to the technician, "God, now I know what it's like to be a whore, except you're the one making the money here. Hey, does that make you my pimp?" I'll post later about the tests, once I get all the results. I will say that the worst fears have been put to rest and everything other possibility will simply be a minor inconvenience.

I got home from the clinic and was looking forward to resting. I checked my cell phone to see if I had missed any calls. There was a text message from my daughter, "Can you call me at home when you have a minute? All ok right now." So I called and she told me that she was in labour but it was light and sporadic. She said she had an appointment with her doctor that afternoon and she wondered if she should go. I said as long as she wasn't in heavy labour, she should keep the appointment and maybe the doctor could get things moving. I didn't want her to go alone, however, so I drove her and I watched Grandson number 1 while she was seeing the doctor. A while after Crystal went into the office, someone came out and asked if I were Crystal's mom. I said I was and she said "Crystal is 8 cm dialated. You need to take her to the hospital. Now. And don't stop". So all the necessary phone calls were made (her husband, my husband) and off we went. I arranged for Peter to meet me in front of the hospital. He jumped in my car and took Grandson number 1 to his other grandmother's house and then he went back to work.

Things happened pretty quickly from that point on. I won't get into the gritty details. It was planned that I was going to be in the room with Crystal when she delivered her baby, as I was for Grandson number 1. The problem was that I was appearing in a play. We had discussed this in advance and she was okay with the fact that I may not be there for the birth or that I would be late for it or that I would have to leave just before it, depending on what time she started. As long as her husband was with her. So, here we were in the delivery room together, no husband in sight and my "call time" for my play looming. Crystal was looking a little panicked. I said, "Don't worry. If Stevie doesn't arrive for whatever reason, nothing could drag me out of this room...play be damned". She let out a long-held breath. I had guessed exactly what she was thinking.

Stevie did arrive and at about 4:30 or so, I said, "Crystal, you have two choices if you want me to be here for the birth: you can deliver this baby by 5:30 or you can cross your legs and wait until 8:00 pm, when I get done with the play."

At 5:00 pm, the nurse came in and told Crystal that she was going to do a couple of "test pushes" to see how that went. Crystal gave one big push and the nurse said, "Okay sweetie. That's enough. I have to get the doctor".

At 5:07 pm, Grandson number 2 was born.

One thing I have to say about Crystal....she was always a good girl and listened to her mama!

********************
Note: The ladybug is symbolic of my grandmother and of my mother. We lost my mother in November and the ladybug was a huge source of comfort for me (see post: See You Later, Mom). Last night, I got home from the hospital (where I had gone after my play) and saw my cousin's status update on facebook "...is wondering why there is a ladybug crawling along my bathroom window....Also, congratulating my cousin Crystal and Steve on their new baby boy!!!!"

I was wondering when and how mom would show up.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

It's Tough To Be Somebody

I'm appearing in Black Box Fire's -- It's Tough To Be Somebody
at the Staircase Cafe Theatre 27 Dundurn St. North, Hamilton (map)

Friday, February 13 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, February 14 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, February 14 at 7:00 PM
Thursday, February 19 at 7:00 PM
Friday, February 20 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, February 21 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, February 21 at 7:00 PM

General tickets - $20.00
Student/Senior tickets - $18.00
Reserve online before February 11, 2009, to save $2.00

Pretty Tough and Alone is an engaging theatrical triple-header - great for chasing the February blues away! The evening begins with It's Tough To Be Somebody, a fast-paced comedy demonstrating the latest developments in fame awareness education. Then the winners of Black Box Fire's first monologue competition will perform, followed by PYG - a one-woman comedy about finding romance without losing yourself.

For information about a Valentine's dinner and show special -- click here

****

Video courtesy of:
Chris Farias, Creative Director
Kitestring Creative Marketing and Communications
Blog
Personal Website

Monday, February 2, 2009

Smoke-Free Groundhogs






Four things happened on February 2, 1998:

  1. Both Willie and Phil saw their shadows.
  2. I woke with a feeling of dread.
  3. I headed for the gym for my first workout.
  4. I slapped on an anti-smoking patch after my workout.
Winter lasted another six weeks.

The feeling of dread lasted for a few months.

The gym lasted for about a year.

The smoking cessation lasted for 11 years -- and counting.







Labels:

Friday, January 23, 2009

Here's Mud In Your Ear


When I was younger (I'm not sure exactly what age but I was old enough to walk home from school by myself -- which was pretty young WAAAAAYYYYY back then), mom made appointments for me to see the ear specialist. I was just getting a check-up because I had chronic ear infections as a child.


Mom sent me to school with a note allowing me to leave school early. It was raining that day so she warned me "Don't walk through Burkholder School because it'll be full of mud". Now, why did she have to go and say that? She might as well have shaken the chicken bones and put a full-
blown curse on my head.

Both my teacher and I forgot to watch the time and I left school about 20 minutes later than I should have. I knew I had to get home quickly or mom was going to blow a gasket. I decided to cut through Burkholder School to save some time. (See? What'd I tell ya?).

About halfway across the field, I walked through a puddle and one of my feet sunk into the mud and it became stuck. No problem. I firmly planted the other foot and was able to get the stuck foot out. Only to find that the second foot was stuck instead. CRAP!!!! What the heck was I going to do? I did what any young girl would do...I screamed my ass off. I screamed until I was hoarse. Of course, no one heard me. I was too far from the school and it was mid-day. Everyone was still in school or taking advantage of the kids being in school. I imagine if any of the housewives heard me screaming, they just decided to ignore it until their "stories" were over.

Screaming didn't bring the police, fire and ambulance so I knew I had to try something else. I was wearing those boots that you put over shoes so I thought maybe I'd take the boots off and walk in my shoes. Nope. That would get my shoes all muddy and they were my new runners and mom would kill me. Scratch that idea.

AHA! It came to me. I bent at the waist, leaned way over and grabbed both feet at the toes with my hands and started pulling up. Yup. I was gonna pull both feet out of the mud at the same time. It was working too. I felt my toes lifting from the mud...WHOO HOO!

THUNK....SQUISH....

While I was bent over, I lost my balance and did a summersault to land flat on my back in the mud. I was completely covered in mud. Literally, mud from head to toe.

I think that was the first time I ever prayed for aliens to swoop down and scoop me up. Yeah, only the first time.

Labels:

Monday, January 19, 2009

Cat-o-Log

I love cats. I own four of them. Or they own me. Bear also loves cats. He's the one, however, that keeps me in check. When I see an incredibly cute cat that needs a loving home, Bear will say "Bernie, we have four cats already. We don't have room for any more." Of course, he means no room in our home because there is always enough room in our hearts to love more cats.

This past weekend, we went to the new PetSmart near our home. It's pretty big and I asked for directions to the cat food. As a gentleman was guiding me to the right isle, I lost Bear. I heard him say "Oh cats" and he was gone. I found the food and then went to find Bear because the bag was too big for me to lift. I found him at the "Adopt-a-thon". There were cages and cages of cats. He was standing in front of one cage that housed two black Siamese-cross cats. A woman came out of the back and said "You can go inside and hold them if you'd like." I politely said "Oh, no thanks. That's okay." Bear said "I'd like to". And that was the end of that.

We are now foster parents to the most adorable cats you have ever seen. They are both female and we think they are sisters.

Hugs (pictured above on your left) is approximately five years old and very, very loving. She loves to sit beside you or on you -- but does not like to be picked up. She's very calm and likes to be scratched.

Kisses (pictured above on your right) is approximately three years old and is also very, very loving. She is the more skittish of the two but, after a day and a half, is now integrated into our family. She also likes to sit with you and she loves to be scratched. She also does not like to be picked up.

Hugs and kisses were rescued from a cat hoarder. They are very close to one another and we are looking for a home for them together. They are litter trained. They get along very well with other cats and they are great with kids (our 18 month old grandson). They are spayed, have had their needles, and have been treated for fleas and worms.

We are fostering through Abandoned Cats Rescue.

If you are interested in these cats (or if you're interested in fostering), please send an email to bernie@bernieandbear.com and I can answer any questions you may have.

Labels:

Friday, January 16, 2009

Stealing His Thunder


Stealer is about 12 or 13 years old now. We're not sure exactly how old he is because he was a rescue. We've had him since (we guestimate) he was a year old. Stealer is (or was) our Alpha Male. If you look closely at his picture, you'll see that he has a chunk out of his right (your left) ear missing. That's from one of his many, many scraps.

Lately, Stealer has been slowing down. He still plays and he still gets into squabbles with the other cats (we have four altogether). But lately, he's been the one to back down. All three of the other cats have taken to showing Stealer his place. That's pretty normal when there is an "Alpha Male" position opening up. What's not normal is that Winnie has also been putting Stealer in his place. Until now, Winnie has been more of a female cat. He grooms the other cats, he cuddles them, and he's been the "mom".

Now, Stealer walks across the living room to get to his favourite spot on the heating vent and it's like crossing a battle field. One or another of the cats will stare him down until he turns away or take a swat at him and eventually pin him down until he he's able to get up and run away.

It's a sad thing to watch a leader fall from the podium. Sad until you remember that what they are doing to him, he did to them. Except he showed now mercy where they are showing some.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- What goes around comes around so be nice to the other cats in your home.

Labels:

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Excuse Me if I Sound Bitter


My brother and his wife are separated and have been since the summer. They have two children -- a young son and a daughter who is 18 (and five months pregnant).

When I spoke with my sister-in-flaw about the separation, she was angry. Okay, I get that. At one point, the conversation went like this:

Sister-in-flaw: Your brother is in for a big surprise. I'm going to screw him over.

Me: You do realize who you're talking to, don't you?

Sister-in-flaw: What?

Me: I'm his sister. I may still be friends with you but you are talking about my brother. I'm not going to get involved in your drama, but I'm also not going to sit idly by and watch my brother get screwed over by you.

Sister-in-flaw: But I thought you were on my side.

How dense do you have to be?

It did not end there. I mean that conversation ended, but her ability to amaze me didn't end.

When mom was in the hospital just before she passed away in November, my step-father managed to get hold of my sister-in-flaw and let her know (she had no telephone). Shortly after that, she called me to tell me how sorry she was. I appreciated that and I told her so. Then she started to launch into a laundry list of horrible things my brother was doing to her. I said, "I have enough going on in my life right now and I don't need to deal with your shit". And I hung up on her.

Still does not end there.

My brother had just left Edmonton to come home when my mother suffered her heart attack and we had no way of reaching him. As a family, the rest of us made the decision to remove my mother from life support but we also decided to give my brother one more day to arrive home to be there for it. My sister-in-flaw knew that and she knew we were going to be at the hospital the next day to remove my mother from life support. My brother made it on time and he was there with her at the end.

When he left the hospital, there were police officers waiting for him. His story (and I only have his side) is that they were there so that he could let them (and my sister-in-flaw) into the house so she could get her belongings. I'm not sure if there's more to that story or not -- but my brother did drive away in his own van -- not the police cruiser.

My sister-in-flaw thought it was appropriate to send the police to wait for my brother on the very day he just watched his mother die?!!!?

Still doesn't end there.

She decided that that was also an appropriate day to serve him with court papers for sole custody of their son.

Now I know why they invented the word "c*nt".

Labels: