Get ready for the onslaught..

Alright...
So it has been a while...yet again.  Now that I have some time off between work and impending motherhood I figured this is as good time as any to finally update my bloggity blog.  I hope you are all ready (what all 5 of you? haha) for what's about to come your way.  I will start off with a little reminiscing about my wedding and hopefully share a few photos (this might come in stages since my regular computer conked out and all my pictures are on there).  After that I will share my Cuba experience with pics of course and eventually lead you into my time as a pregnant woman (this might get a little descriptive as I'm all about telling you the truth and not sugar coating anything).  Remember...I did warn you.  :)  Let's do this in stages so this way I don't overwhelm you, the computer and my blog.
Sooo here we go.
P.s.  You know you haven't posted much on the blog when you log in and EVERYTHING has changed and you have no idea what the hell is going on here.
Tootles.
Ewa

4 months overdue

I cannot believe it has been that long since my last post.  I get wrapped up in life sometimes too much, but I guess there can be worst things right?  I had the pleasure in those 4 months to have my first anniversary with my lovely hubby and go to a lovely trip to Cayo Largo Cuba in November as well as have a lovely Christmas with family and friends and a few "surprises" along the way.  I read some good books, listened to some good music and all in all had a wonderful time.  That's just the quick summary of all that happened.  I missed my writing though and hence, here I am back again.  In the next few posts I will pay a little homage to my wonderful marriage (that sounded a little mushy but bear with me) by posting a few pictures from my wedding.  I will also regale you with stories of my wonderful trip to Cuba.  Show a few pictures and such. 
So with this said, I shall return soon (less than 24 hrs I assure you) to share my stories.

Tootles
Ewa

Zippity-doo-das with my LuLu

I would like to introduce everyone (formally) to my BFF, my Bonnie to my Clyde, my Hip to my Hop, my Maj. Buttons to my Sgt. Peaches....alright you get the idea.  Her name is Lucia Juliao and you can read about her well versed adventures here.  This is one of those friendships that have lasted since the highschool years and I can imagine the two of us growing old together, sitting on a porch in our rockers...rocking back and forth, reminiscing about the good old days.  I imagine our hubbies fit in there somewhere too.  The two of us have agreed to do a little "guest appearance" on eachother's blogs.  Without further ado here she is...
My LuLu

Hi there! Lulu here...we haven’t met yet, but I have been mentioned in previous posts & as I’m just starting my own bloggy, Ews and I have decided to do some guest posting for each other. In Ewa’s Sep 3 post she mentioned my little friend, Blueberry, who you’ll see here...I’ve been asked many times about my little yellow friend. The most frequently asked question is, “Why did you start doing this?” I could launch into a monologue about a social experiment studying the effects of personifying a piece of plastic to see if I can garner strong feelings from normal, mentally-healthy adults (well, pretty much normal) towards an inanimate object. In fact, that’s what my fiancee would like to hear (since it took him only 2 months to grow very weary of the whole thing). But the truth of the matter is that it’s fun, it gets my creative juices flowing and it gets me taking pictures. We bought our first home together on Jan 1st of this year, moved in mid-Feb and spent the next several months trying to figure out how to live together (we’d each lived alone for the past several years) & where to put stuff. I could go off on several tangents here, but my point is that my camera gear was stuffed into a closet and I didn’t even look in its direction for almost four months. This is really disappointing for me since I love taking pictures. I’m most inspired by travel and with the new house (and new mortgage), I knew it would be a while before I could travel anywhere interesting. There really wasn’t much else that felt important enough to pull out the camera for (Sled Island & Calgary Folk Music Festival were still months away at that point). Oh sure, I still kept my little point-&-shoot in my purse and even used it occasionally, but it’s not quite the same.

So, during a weekend visit to Oshawa in June (see Ewa’s June 20 post) I was able to catch up with my bestest bestie, Squirrelly Monkey aka Sgt Peaches (you know her as Ewa). Whenever we meet up (which is much less frequent than either of us would like, due to the 4-hour plane ride keeping us apart and the unjustifiably high cost of domestic air travel in Canada), we give each other little gifts. These often manifest themselves in the form of inside stories we share and/or pretty little things. And this reunion was no exception. I got her a necklace with a decorated Scrabble tile - unfortunately sporting an “F” on the back rather than an “E”, due to the cute design that was on the front. I considered etching a line on the bottom to turn the F into an E, but decided against it, figuring I’d get caught since everyone knows that an E in Scrabble is only worth 1 point, not the 4 points showing on this tile. Well, maybe not everyone, but wordy wordsmith Ewa would surely have smelled a rat.

But I digress...on that fateful day, my dear, darling Ewa gave me (among other fun things) something called an Ugly Doll. I didn’t know what it was, but I tore open the box and then the opaque silver liner inside the box like a kid at Christmas - or like an adult that hasn’t fully accepted adulthood, in June. And there he was: a nameless yellow monster, as adorable as he is compact. Which is to say, very. I really liked the little guy from the start and wanted to ensure I did something useful with him; I love Ewa’s gifts and didn’t want him becoming a dust collector. So I decided to take a picture of him in front of a wicked rainbow that appeared behind our house. The next day we had our first-ever garage sale in the pouring rain and when I got bored I decided to take a picture of Blueberry to amuse myself. And a new chapter of my life was born. Disclaimer: those first two photos are utter crap, since it was cold and wet outside. I forgot to turn on the macro setting, but wasn’t about to go back out for another shot. I figured these were only going on facebook for a laugh, so why bother?

Anyway, the only strict rule I set for myself once I realized this might go on for a while was that this is not a 365 project, meaning:

a)   If I feel particularly creative one day and I shoot several photos, I can ‘bank’ them to post on other days when I’m too busy or unmotivated to do it.

b)   If there are any days when I don’t post at all, that’s ok. I’m not cheating because

c)   there are no strict rules.

(yes, I realize that c is negating a & b. It’s a joke, don’t take anything too seriously. Seriously, don’t). I tried doing a 365 project in May 2010, but it just ended up being a source of stress and I rally didn’t want that to happen with Blueberry. So there you have it. That’s my long and drawn-out story of how Blueberry came to be in my life. Maybe next time I’ll tell you about how he got his name (but probably not, because it’s not a very interesting story. One of those “it’s funny if you are me or Ewa” kind of things)

See all of Blueberry’s adventures here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150813887165454.734023.636470453&l=eca8c4d524&type=1

So you're an adult...what to do now?

• Morning wake up call - 6:00 am
• Get ready, make sure I bring my music books with me and get in the car and go to piano teacher's house for 7:30...
• Get there 5 mins late (dammit)
• Get started on my Grade 9 pieces.  This is when they get picked to be played and start my journey into another year of playing and learning piano.
• ....take one look at the pieces...aaaaaahhhh shit....
• There's no bullshitting now.  Pieces are hard and my fingers will have to behave which means practice, practice, practice.
• cry a little to myself.

This is it ladies and gents.  This is where I have to pull my socks up and really make this whole piano business work.  No more slacking or anything of such nature.  I do love playing, however, so this should not be too difficult for me.  For fun I have found sheets music for Adele's song "Someone like you" and some sheet music from the movie Amelie (2 things I ADORE!).  I am really not in the business of caring if I annoy my neighbourinos with my playing.  They have loud voices, cussing, and annoying tendencies....I have my piano to do that for me (I wish all neighbours were annoying as me).

Today I started my day at 6 am and only now, at 12:00 am am I close to finishing it.  This is pretty much my life in a nutshell.  HOWEVER, I got to see my friends Val and Bri (who is battling cancer) as well as Victoria and Kyle.  Bri is a strong woman and if anyone is going to beat cancer, it would be her.  She is one strong cookie and I absolutely admire her and how she holds herself up in this battle.  Val is pure awesomness and absolutely wonderful human being.  We got to chill at Coffee Culture and talk and laugh together, which was Uber fantastic.

We chilled with Kyle and Victoria afterwards and had an absolutely wonderful time together as per always.  Speaking of another wonderful couple, Matt and Aggie hung out with us on Friday.  We love these two as well and always enjoy our time together.

I <3 my friends and count myself a very lucky person to have these wonderful people around me.
Hope others can be as lucky as I am.
Tootles
Ewa 

Here's to good times

Alright, so since I mentioned in my previous blog I guess it is only fitting to tell you (selected few who care to read this) how my brother-in-laws wedding went. 

The newlyweds :) Rich & Michele

IT WAS FAB!  I honestly had a lot of fun :)  I don't know if it was the lack of sleep or the Monster filled shots but I was a ball of energy....OR energizer bunny as people called me.  It could also be the fact that when you are the bride, you don't get to enjoy the whole party aspect as much as when you are just the bridesmaid :)  I got to dance, drink, take pics and such with everyone...something I felt like I did not do enough of when I was the bride because everyone fights for the attention of the bride.

The bride and us <3



Groom and I



The ceremony was wonderful, the party bus was awesome, the hall (Mississauga Convention Centre) was beautiful inside and out and the dancing and booze plentiful.  

The awesome part of the reception was a photo booth.  I believe EVERYONE had fun with that and koodos to the bride for thinking of it :) I wish the new couple nothing but happiness in their future together. 

In my last blog I wrote how I love and adore my hubby...it could also be due to the fact that he spoils me like crazy.  Before the wedding, we went out and he bought me (or us as I would like to think) an SLR camera. 

Self shot...a must :)

I finally get to enjoy this little toy and see why in fact it is a wonderful camera. 

I also decided to honour one of my very best friends with a little photo story of two little characters bestowed upon me by her.  Now to understand all this random stuff I guess I should say that my dear friend made a little photo story of a little character (Blueberry) that was given to her by me.  She is a wonderful photographer and a very funny gal to boot....which makes the photo story totes awesome.  So here's a story of Patrick and his Chick friend.



Patrick and Chick...boozing it up on a Saturday evening



Patrick outdrinks Chick any day

Pee break

Patrick pays ultimate price for all the boozin

Chick tucks Patrick to bed

Goodnight buddy..sleep tight

   The end :)

Hope you enjoyed it.

Tootles everyone

Ewa







Memories of a Lifetime

Today 5 years ago (and I can still say that since it is 11:51 pm) I have met a wonderful person.  He was a bit crazy but then again, so was I.  He seemed different and even though at the beginning I did not think anything of it, we ended up going on a date 2 days later....followed by many dates and then even a marriage.  My hubby and I have been together for almost 5 years and they were fabulous.  Last week my brother-in-law got married and I was fortunate enough to say a toast in their name.  In it I mentioned how you are only so lucky to be able to spend the rest of your life with your very best friend, and I can honestly say I am that lucky person.  In those five years my feeling got nothing but stronger and I cannot imagine my life without my sidekick, partner in crime, soulmate...etc.



One of our first hangouts as a couple <3

 I am looking forward to the rest of my life and see where our adventures will lead us.  Je l'adore xo

My love xo

  Tootles
Ewa

Loooves it

Oh My God....
Becky....Look at her butt..It is sooo big
I like big butts and I cannot lie, the other brothers can't deny..
BUT i digress
Without sounding like a broken record and telling you all how busy I have been, I will just say that I have been slacking with writing in my beloved bloggie.  Aight..sooooo Lots of things have been happening but I will just focus on something without writing about EVERYTHING...because that would bore you to tears.  I took another week off not too long ago and mmmmaaaaaan was I tired after that week passed.  I started the week off with a bachelorette.  We went downtown T.O. to a club named Babaluus.  It is a Latin club nestled in the Yorkville part of Toronto.  I have been there previously and this was my returning trip to the club.  I went again with the fond recollection of good food and even better mojitos.  Once again, I was not disappointed.  The food was scrumptious and the mojito too die for.  We also did a little salsa dancing and I was one of the girls privileged to dance with don juan himself.  I am not talking about some fine piece of Latino ass but a 60ish year old man that danced with some ladies at the club.  It was all in all a wicked experience yet again. 
I also managed to finish not only writing my wedding thank you cards...but also watching Dawson's Creek!  Oh the memories, the tears, the looooove....I am not talking about recollection of my wedding as I was writing the thank you cards (although I always like to go back to that awesome, special day), but I'm talking about Dawson's Creek.  *SPOILER ALERT*I adore PACEY! and was so glad to see him and Joey at the end of that series.  I absolutely forgot that Dougie ends up revealing that he is, in fact, gay and he is gay with JACK!  Also that Jen dies :*(  I cried soooo hard at that part.  All in all I loved going back to that series.  Writing out the Thank You cards were less fun.  Didn't enjoy that part too much. 
My hubby and I got a new bed and bedroom suite and it is quite enjoyable.  I'm looking forward to more new furniture, because buying it is always so much fun. 
Well, it is almost 2 am so I believe I must go to sleep.  It doesn't pay off too much sleeping off your exhaustion because then you stay up too long the next night. 
Tootles
Ewa