A Girlfriend, Not a Girlfriend, Two Girl Friends, and a Movie to See With a Girl Friend…NEW POST!

Jim and Devin in a lightsaber duel, ca. 1999

Our “little boy” is growing up…at almost 18, Devin has his first girlfriend!  We met K briefly (long enough to say “Hi” but not long enough to sufficiently embarrass Dev) on Wednesday night…they were in deep conversation at the snack bar, after seeing the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  The girls had “interrogated” her in an online chat…Jim and I limited ourselves to checking her out on Facebook.  Dev and K seem to have a lot in common, and she’s a very talented animé artist.  Hopefully, we’ll be allowed to have her over to the house some time soon…

Work’s been pretty busy lately, since there have been two or three cruise ships in Saint John every week (more vendors at the Market on cruise days).  My boss comes down every week for a meeting with me on Tuesday mornings.  This past week, my list for him was almost as long as my arm…he was there nearly an hour.  He let me know that our contract had been extended through the end of August (which means no summer vacation for me – Jim will take the girls himself).  After our meeting was over, I opened up my e-mail…hmmm…there was one from my boss.  When I finished reading it, I burst out laughing, and then called Jim to tell him about it: I had been the mistaken recipient of an e-mail meant for my boss’ girlfriend!  “I love you,” he said, and signed his name with two XX’s after it (I knew it wasn’t for me, because he talked about an upcoming date they had planned!).

“Um…I’m fond of you, too…perhaps you should forward this to the right person,” I responded. 

The reply came back quickly: “Ha ha…that hardly ever happens!” [hardly ever?].  We have another meeting tomorrow…”Awkward!” as my girls would say…

In April, I mentioned that Hope and her friend Gabrielle were going to sing the national anthem for the Canada Day ceremony at Market Square.  Hope arranged it herself…she’s the most assertive of all the kids (maybe it’s because she’s the youngest)!  The Marketing Coordinator of the mall had invited the girls to participate in the parade before the opening, and had said they would be singing at 11:30 am.  I had to work that day, but left at 11:15 to make sure I caught their song.  Jim and Anna were on their way, having watched the parade.  I didn’t see Jim and Anna at the mall.  The girls sang “Oh Canada,” finishing just before Jim and Anna came in from outside…luckily, Gabrielle’s mom had their video camera and was right up front!  Here’s a photo Anna took after the girls sang…Hope was having a little trouble looking enthused about our Cultural Services Officer’s speech:

Gabrielle and Hope after singing "Oh Canada"...Gabrielle really wasn't putting her head on our mayor's shoulder...photo by Anna

Wednesday night, Jim was recruited to drive Devin into town for his movie date, and Anna and Brianna to Saint John Idol.   Hope and I decided to go along and go to a movie with Jim (a different one than Dev and K went to!).  After checking Rotten Tomatoes online, we opted for Bridesmaids.  It had one of our favourite actors, Chris O’Dowd, in it (he’s hilarious as Roy on The IT Crowd).  Perhaps I should have checked the rating before agreeing to take Hope along…I spent the first five minutes of the movie with my hand over her eyes!  The movie was great, even though it was quite raunchy…a lot of fun to go see with your girl friends (Jim enjoyed it too, though!).  Melissa McCarthy (Mike and Molly) was laugh-out-loud funny as Megan…I’m not a fan of her other show (I find it mean-spirited).  Her real-life husband, Ben Falcone, is also in the movie (don’t leave until the credits are over, or you’ll miss a bonus scene!).

Chris O'Dowd as "Officer Rhodes" in Bridesmaids...photo by Universal Pictures...

Last week, I promised you some dragonfly photos that Anna took…here they are (my friend Jeanne tells me they’re actually “damselflies”…see her comment below – thanks, Jeanne):

Damselfly...photo by Anna...

Another damselfly closeup...photo by Anna...

This weekend, I sat staring at five Hotmail pages of unread blog posts (about 150 e-mails)…I was approximately 10 days behind on my reading, and it would only get worse.  So, I deleted them, resolving to go through my blogroll on my days off, and read the latest post by everyone on my list.  Hopefully, this will get be somewhat back in the loop, and eliminate some of the guilt!  I am sorry that I have probably missed some pretty great posts!  I’ll try to do a better job of keeping up…

Tuesday Tidbits…

Here are some random things from this week:

1. Picking tomatoes in the dark is really hard (note to self: get someone else to make dinner on nights I get home late so that I can get out to the garden before the light is gone!).  I don’t see well even when it’s light out…I have two green tomatoes sitting on the counter that I mistook for ripe ones.  I also came in with my hair full of sunflower bits (they’re beside the tomatoes, and are seriously in my way!).

2. I need to get out and pick some squash…they’re everywhere now (note to self #2: send pumpkins to Omawarisan at Blurt, because he loves them so much!).  I also need to process the last of the green beans, and the tomatoes and zucchini I’ve already picked.  Maybe the Freezer Fairy will come and clean out my freezer so that I’ll have some room to put stuff in it!

3. We had our first beets from the garden this week…yummy!  They were a bit warty-looking, but they tasted good!

4. There’s nothing sexier than a man holding a baby.

Jim with Elise on Open Farm Day...

5. Cows experience their milk “letting down” at inappropriate times, just like nursing mothers…my children were amused (and a little horrified) to see streams of milk coming from several cows’ teats just before milking time at Open Farm Day.

This poor girl was in need of some heavy-duty nursing pads...

6.  We may have to invest in some knee pads for Anna…she comes home from cheerleading practice with her knees all bruised up.  She’s also bummed out because they can’t do any stunting or tumbling while the union representing Teacher’s Assistants and School Librarians is on a “job action.”  Their team’s faculty advisor is the librarian at the school.  With the New Brunswick provincial election coming up this weekend, it may be a while before they get things sorted out.  Come on, you guys!  There are a lot of families with children with learning disabilities who depend on TA’s!

7. Some schools believe in overkill…Hope was late to her first class yesterday because her inconsiderate locker neighbour was in her way.  The school left identical messages on the home phone, cell phone, and the bookstore phone to let me know my kid was late!  Thanks for telling me…I’ll get on with my life now…

8. I learned yesterday that, according to Root Beer World, there have been more than 2500 kinds of root beer produced (assuming that many of the brands are now defunct).  Root beer is pretty much the only kind of pop I drink, and I don’t have it very often.  Root beer floats are awesome!

My Granddad always had a case of Dad's Root Beer at his house when we visited...

9. The producers of Big Bang Theory have sadly disappointed me with their new sitcom, Mike and Molly.  Jim and I watched the premiere episode last night.  It was predictable, mean-spirited, and unfunny.  I will not watch it again.  On a related note, the new season of Two and a Half Men started last night as well…it is back to its pre-Chelsea standards (I’m glad she’s gone!)…I laughed out loud several times!  Ryan Stiles rocks, and Jon Cryer was his usual deadpan self.

10. Since I gave out the Bloody Brilliant Blogger’s Award  a little while ago, I have enjoyed watching my blogging buddies discover each other.  I love the fact that I was instrumental in turning somebody else on to someone whose writing I enjoy.  I am, however, missing more than a few “homework assignments”…am watching for the awardees to post their own lists of “Bloody Brilliant Bloggers” so that the Award gets passed on.  Looking forward to it!