Name That Tune

Thought I would check in for a minute. Haven't blogged in quite some time. I ran into town today to get groceries and finish up some Christmas shopping. I bought a few things for Jason (can't tell!) and finished Margaret's shopping for the kids. I dare say I'm done my Christmas shopping. All that's left is Dad and I think we are still all going in on his present, so that's just a matter of donating my amount of the money. No shopping really required. So just Dad and the "Christmas groceries" which I can't buy right now anyway. Cool! I think this is the earliest I've ever been done. Credit can be a wonderful thing....or not. :)

While perusing the kids toys at Zellers, I came across the game "Name That Tune" - 80's edition. It's a DVD game that apparently plays classic video clips. It's regular price was $39.97 but it was on clearance for only $12.97. So even though I hadn't allotted for it, I snatched it up anyway. Games always come in handy over the holidays. I think it's safe to say it will be played at least once over Christmas. The question is....can any of us beat Kellie?? She seems to be the expert of that era. Hmm...I am definitely up to the challenge. Game on!

My house is all decorated inside and out. We actually put up our tree on Sunday. I've slowly been decorating it, little by little. All that is left now is the ornaments. We would have been done already but Jason is working nights this week and we're waiting for us all to do it together. I looped boughs from the ceiling this year. It involved drilling holes in the gyp rock, much to Mom's dismay. Apparently this is something you just don't do. It's only three holes, in our center beam. We shoved those plastic anchor things into the holes and then screwed in screws. After Christmas I'm simply going to remove the screws and touch up with paint. Then next year, the holes will already be there, ready for screws. I'm hoping that you won't even notice them. I just can't live in a world where we can't hang the things we want, wherever we want them. I mean what's the point?

Right now I'm listening to Brook Benton sing "This time of year", it's an old Christmas song. I should totally hunt up some more Brook Benton songs. I never heard of him, other than this song. His voice sounds a bit like Nat King Cole? Or someone else? Maybe his voice sounds like Brook Benton and I have heard him before and didn't realize? Anyway it's a good voice singing a good song.

Is anyone else been watching Pushing Daisies? I really enjoy that show. It's so....charming. Whimsical even. It reminds me of something but I can't remember what. LOL. I sense a pattern coming on.

Walking On Sunshine

Saturday morning we packed up the family and headed for Moncton. This was the weekend of the walk. We arrived around noon and checked into our motel room. We stayed in the same place as we did when we were down buying the van. It's perfect for us because it has a full kitchen, that way we can bring some of our own food to supplement cost. It also has two double beds and a fold out couch, which we needed since my mother was staying with us. The biggest selling feature of course is the heated indoor pool. The kids couldn't wait to go swimming. All of this for $95 plus tax! Hard to beat that!

We had a quick lunch with the rest of our group(their room wasn't ready) and then we took the kids shopping. Abby was very excited because we were also celebrating her birthday. The stores were mostly crowded, almost annoyingly so. It was hard to keep track of the kids. They were always running off with Mom, Kel or Sher. In the dollar store, I searched for something that all of us could wear to unite our team at the walk. I really would have like to have ball caps, but since it was the dollar store, this was hard to find. We opted instead for pink visors. Pink, of course, because we were representing such girly girls. lol. Maybe we should have done crowns?

After shopping, we ran into DQ and bought Abby her ice cream cake that we promised her. Then it was time for her "party". Everyone gathered in our motel room where we ate take-out, ice cream cake and watched Abby open her presents. She really enjoyed herself. I'm glad that she got to have a special birthday. Samuel is now asking if he can have his next birthday party in Moncton. Ummmm, no! lol. Then it was time to go into the pool. Jason had bought the kids these long plastic water shooters.....not a good idea. I might "accidentally" leave those home next time. It was great to be in the water again. First swim of the season! Later in the evening, we did our usual trek to Value Village. We always seem to go there whenever we are in the city. It might sound sad, but this is how I get clothes. This trip I snatched three pairs of jeans, one pair of shorts and a tee. Not too shabby.

The next morning the sky was blue and the sun was shining. We all ate breakfast together in the motel's little diner. Not feeling like eating the usual fare, I choose the Belgian waffle with strawberries and cream. Heaven! I couldn't finish all of it, it was so big. Then it was time to pack up, check out and don our visors!

JDRF's Walk for the Cure was located in Riverfront Park in downtown Moncton. In other words it's in behind Main Street, along the Petticodiac River. In regards to the walk, I must start by saying that it was one of the most organized events I've ever been to. Awesome! Since we were early, we snagged a picnic table and managed to keep it throughout the entire time. I led my team over to where we submit our pledges. When they saw how much we raised, they gave us a round of applause. Very nice. They also gave me a walk t-shirt, a nice bag and an ipod shuffle! Very nice indeed! My teammates also got a t-shirt, but no ipod. :( An ipod was the incentive prize for any walker who personally earned more than $1000, and since our yardsale profits were on my pledgesheet.....I got the ipod. Oh well, there's always next year girls. lol.

Scattered around the park were activities for kids. There was a jumping castle, some sort of blow-up tunnel castle, an arts and crafts table and the most amazing face painting.

There was also a very efficient BBQ area(no lines!), a snack stand, and coolers everywhere filled with ice cold water, juice and pop. Everything was free! Maybe the best part was the band Cat Sass - freaking awesome! I mean every single song was good. Their music really helped pump everyone up. A hockey player(#26) from the Moncton Wildcats and it's furry mascot were also there getting their pics taken with kids and signing t-shirts.

He signed my shirt, which would probably be more cool if I knew who he was. lol. Abby was not at all impressed with the mascot. She's not that into large fuzzy strangers trying to hug her. Go figure.

At 1:45pm, the band announced that it was picture time and could all the kids with diabetes please come up to the front of the stage to get their picture taken together. My girls were pretty well in the center, with fellow diabetic kids on either side. Just as the kids were finally all situated and smiling for pics, the band starts playing You and Me by Lifehouse. "What day is it.....". They were not 3 notes in and I was crying. I will never be able to hear it again without crying and seeing this image in my head.

Just after this pic was shot, two babies were seated on the right hand side. They were no more than 7-8 months old. It made me cry even harder to know that they too had this disease.

A few sleeve wipes later (I forgot kleenex) and after a very interesting trip with the kids to the port-a-potty, it was time to start the actual walk. We all lined up at the Start sign. Much to my Mom's chagrin, a bagpipe player started to play. And then we were off! The walk did not seem to take too long, 35-45 mins I would say. To Samuel, it was an eternity. lol. Jason carried Abby a lot of the time. Halfway through they had a stand set up with water bottles, where we took a rest so we could check the girls sugars. Then it was time for the home stretch.

This whole experience has helped me in ways I couldn't even imagine. I would recommend it to anyone who has gone through the same situation. I can not begin to describe my emotions as my family neared the finish line. Jason, the kids and I all held hands and stepped across. It was like that finish line represented so much more than just a 5k walk. It was that together, as a family, we had been to hell and back and yet we were not beaten. In fact we were stronger than ever. A moment I will never forget.

Ready for the Walk?

I've been active online much more than usual this week. Blogging, twittering, facebooking, etc... Don't get too used to it, though. As anyone who follows me knows I go through phases. Periods of time where I will blog everyday, or like today - twice a day, followed by weeks of nothing. lol.

I just received an email from the JDRF fundraising coordinator in Moncton. She sent out an email to all team captains to go over some last minute information and instructions. I read the instructions regarding submitting pledges, etc.. and then began reading the schedule of Sunday's events.

12pm – 1:45 pm - Registration (all pledges should be remitted by 1:45 pm)
12pm – 1:45 pm – Live Entertainment by musical band “Cat Sass”, BBQ, refreshments and activities for kids of all ages
1:30 pm – group picture of all children with Juvenile Diabetes (this picture will be used for a Thank You poster after the walk

I started to cry. Just the image of a group of young children gathered together, all smiles, all suffering with Diabetes would have been enough to make me cry back in the day. But now my two beautiful daughters faces will be there too. Too much.

She ended the email with the usual "if you have any questions, please contact me" etc... But then in large letters she wrote:

On Sunday, June 3rd, we WILL WALK TO CURE DIABETES!

And again the waterworks! I'm starting to become anxious about the walk now. If I can't read an email without bawling, how am I going to hold it together on Sunday? I've always known it was going to be an emotional, moving experience. I've just been avoiding thinking about it, I guess. Instead I've focused on the yard sale, Abby's birthday, etc.. But now the walk is upon us and there's no avoiding it any longer. It's one thing to get misty eyed and quite another to convulse uncontrollably. I don't want the kids to have to witness that. lol. Sunglasses are most definitely on the top of my list of things to pack, followed by a box of kleenex.

Not sure if I will be posting again before we leave. Today I'll be busy cutting cake, playing Mario, etc.... and tomorrow I work. Then comes the craze of making sure everything I want to take is clean and laundered, packing, double checking my list(OMG! Must make a list!) and helping the kids pack their bags. So, yeah I might not be back. But I'll be sure to take lots of pics which I will post and/or flickr. That is if I can stop crying long enough. ;)

Happy Birthday Abby!

Today is Abby's fifth birthday, so of course pancakes were in order this morning. I don't quite remember when or how this tradition began, but on every one's birthday we always have pancakes for breakfast. I baked her a cake last night after she went to bed and put up a few decorations. That way when she woke up this morning, she would feel it was her special day. Right now she is wearing a red sparkly dress and black dress shoes. We're not going anyway today, she just felt the need to dress for the occasion.

Our kids have recently been introduced to Mario, as in Luigi's brother. One of the items we snagged at our recent yard sale was an old Nintendo 64 game system complete with four controllers and a handful of games. One of which is Mario Party 3. Jason and I used to play games like these for hours on end. Entire weekends even. You could say we're both a little geeky. Anyway, as a special treat since there is no party today, the whole family is going to play Mario Party 3 together. The kids love playing it. It is not the regular Mario adventure game but more like a board game where you roll the dice and compete in little mini-games together. Good times!