Peter Pan for Christmas

This Christmas when I asked my 4 year old nephew what he wanted, he replied "A Peter Pan Set". When I asked what that was, his answer was so obvious "so you can dress up like Peter Pan and Captain Hook" ...why of course! Unfortunately, this is not an item you can buy in the store, so I set about to create this present. After finishing the hat the night before (with the help of my super-talented, miracle-working mom) I think the end result was worth the effort. He LOVED it... and is he ever a cute Peter Pan!

Tickle Trunk

Keeping with tradition, I made a tickle trunk (almost an exact replica of Mr. Dressup's original) for my niece Madison. I even filled it with dress-up clothes. It was a big hit on Christmas morning. Sadly, I doubt she's actually watched an episode of Mr. Dressup.

I was able to capture the excitement when my niece Abby opened her My Little Pony Dance Studio. It was all she asked for...so, what's an auntie to do? :)

Merry Christmas!

Well, the big day has finally arrived! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with memories to treasure in the years to come. Enjoy the day and Merry Christmas!

Snow Snow Snow

Have I mentioned how much I hate winter? For the past few weeks, we have been digging out our cars in the morning and driving through sloppy, slushy streets. I've had enough and it's only just begun! Yikes. Last week I drove to my parents and halfway there I completely lost the road. It was so scary. I hit the rumble strips a few times and fortunately was able to follow a Ford Escape until I was out of the white out. It was horrible. Bring on the sun & hot weather. If it weren't for family and friends I would be seriously considering a move further south.

However, at this time of year, I can put up with the snow simply because it's the Christmas season. I love it. The music, the cookies, the shopping, the crazy schedule...it's so fun. I can't believe it's almost here again. Only 12 more days...hey, just like the song!

Jacob Moon

I saw the most phenomenal guitar-player on Sunday night. His name is Jacob Moon and he is from the Hamilton area. I first saw him about 2 years ago and have been telling my friends about him since! His CD is great, but until you see him live, you can't fully appreciate his incredible talent. His fingers fly over the frets and strum, pick and slap the strings. He plays alone, but makes it sound like there are at least 3 or 4 playing with him!

http://www.jacobmoon.com/video/leaving.html

I'm not sure of technical terms, but he uses a little foot-pedal to "record" certain parts and them plays them back and layers on top of himself. It is SO COOL! He played a Peter Gabriel song "Come Talk To Me" and got this really cool sound by "slapping" the strings. So amazing. As a bonus, he played a Paul Simon song, (my favourite artist) Under African Skies. He is coming back to London in January, so if you're in the area, you should plan on going to see him.

I also coined a new word on the weekend. Following a misunderstanding, I came up with "indecitis" which, of course, the disease where you can't decide anything! Feel free to use it in future conversations.

The Man In Black

I just had a Johnny Cash-packed weekend. I have been anticipating the release of "Walk The Line" since I heard it was in production. The date finally arrived! My friend Char and I had plans to see it on release night. (I even dressed all in black) I had heard all the hype about this movie and was prepared for an "oscar-worthy" performance, but I just could not get over how bang-on he was. Joaquin Phoenix became Johnny Cash. Now, I might be a tiny-bit biased since I love Johnny Cash, but I thought the movie was amazing. I'd see it again in a heart-beat. One of the really cool things in the movie was when he proposed to June...it was in LONDON ONTARIO!!! The rest of the weekend I spent listening to his music, watching various specials on TV and reading anything I could find about the Man In Black. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has any interest in Johnny Cash.

Halloween

I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but I saw October 31st as an opportunity to wear my favourite hat. Living in the city, I just don't feel I can wear it as much as I'd like. So, here are a couple of pictures of me & fellow co-workers. (my friend Matt is the 70's cop...the other is local celebrity, Nick Paparella as himself)

EHR

This weekend, I discovered EHR...Extreme Hay Riding. This, of course has a lead-up story!
Several month ago, I suggested that since my friends Wayne & Sharon have a great piece of property in the country, they should host a hay ride. There was just one problem with this idea...they don't have a wagon, tractor, horse, even hay! They did, however, decide to host a "harvest" party. I kept bugging Wayne about a hay ride, but in reality, thought it wasn't going to happen.

Well, as it turns out, Wayne & Sharon rock and they rigged together the best hay ride I've ever been on! When I arrived, it was drizzling rain and Wayne was in the shop putting a tarp on the top of the UNIMOG. In case you have no idea what a Unimog is (because I didn't have a clue until last night) it is an old army-type vehicle. I felt like we were on M*A*S*H. There were benches down the sides in the back and a "chair of hay" for me to sit in at the front!! I was pumped.

The first trip was fun but rather uneventful. We headed inside for a huge spread of food and once it got dark, headed back out for a much wilder ride. This time we headed for the bush where we rolled over anything that got in our way (more or less) The adventure was heightened by the fact that the headlights were periodically going off, at which point we used a flashlight! By the time we got back, we were all cold but had a great adventure. It was time to warm up by the wood stove with a coffee or hot apple cider.

Wayne & Sharon, thanks for hosting such a great event! Looking forward to next year!

The Cute One

Paul McCartney...what a legend! I remember seeing a broadcast of his Off The Ground tour and thinking "wow if I could only see Paul McCartney one day... " Well, I did!

Monday afternoon Karla & I headed to Toronto to see if we could catch a glimpse of the former Beatle. There were a few people (25) standing around the end of the ACC where he would enter for sound check. As we waited, the crowd swelled to about 200. The anticipation was great... we were going to have an up-close encounter with Sir Paul.

Several vehicles came and went, including his tour bus. Each time, the crowd held their breath. However, there was no denying when the icon arrived... complete with sirens and a police escort that stopped traffic! True to form, the window was down and Macca was waving and giving alternate thumbs up and the peace sign.

Although we had practiced getting the camera ready, when the time came, I was awe-struck and was a little slow on the draw. This left me with a photo of the back of the car! Fortnately Karla was a bit more composed and snapped the photo shown above.

It was so cool to have such a close up encounter with someone I have admired for SO long!
We headed out for dinner and ran into my friend Mark and his wife Cathy. I, of course, told them the story and showed them the pathetic photo on my phone! When we finally got to the ACC we had to wait in this super-huge line, but it was ok as the anticipation was building. Inside I ran into several more people I work with that were there for the concert. Then we started our ascent to the TOP of the arena. Yep, that's right, our seats were in the very last row of the top section! (although there was a row of people behind me that had "standing room only") Although, our location wasn't too bad as we were almost beside the stage, so it worked out ok. After sitting through a DJ and 10 minute McCartney bio, the curtain rose to the sound of Magical Mystery Tour. The stage was a kalaidescope of colour as it was actually all video screens...very cool. Magical Mystery Tour was followed by Flaming Pie and Jet.

The whole night was just amazing. This guy never stops....63 years old and he's running all around and singing like it was 1964. I'm just struck by how adorable he is. He's this mega-star (and has been since he was basically a teenager) and he just acts like he's going to sing us a few songs, you know, whatever! A great concert by a fabulous entertainer. (and his guitar-hotties weren't too bad either!) Looking forward to seeing him next time around!

Girls' Weekend

What a great weekend! The weather was absolutely perfect. On Friday I headed to a cottage in Grand Bend with 5 girls from my book club. It was so fun. The cottage was pretty much right on the lake and the weather was just beautiful. Friday night we headed into "the bend" for dinner and later headed to the beach for a bonfire. We then had a late night card game and stayed up late chatting and laughing. It was like being in junior high again! Good times. The weather was gorgeous again on Saturday and we were able to eat breakfast outside and spend some time walking on the beach.

I finally headed home and in the evening had some friends over to play board games. Frankly, I think board games are underrated. Maybe it's my competitive nature or my love of all things fun...who knows, but I love board games. We started off with a rousing game of OUTBURST and split up to play FLASHBACK (70's, 80's & 90's TV trivia) in one room and CONJECTURE in the other. Conjecture just might be my most favourite board game. It is similar to Pictionary but it is played with playdough. It might sound a little strange and intimidating, but once you play a round, you're hooked!
Wayne was my partner after his wife Sharon tossed him aside like last week's trash. She apparently didn't think he had any artistic abilities, but we rocked! Of course, Sharon's feeble attempt at a tooth fairy (see photos) was proof of her own artistic talents.
All in all, a fun evening. I've already had requests for the next one!!

Well, another post, another concert! This time I'm looking forward to seeing SIR Paul McCartney! On Monday I'm heading to Toronto to see one of my favourite Pauls. (the other being Paul Simon) After talking with my fellow-beatle-fanatic-co-worker Mark Finch, I've decided to try and get an autograph. I know it's a long-shot, but I've been reading some online reviews of other concerts and some fans have been successful. Also, he apparently picks about 20 people to attend the sound check. I'm making every effort to be one of those people!! Really, what do I have to lose?? I'm so pumped. I'll post a full review next week.

In the past week, I have gone to 2 concerts. I enjoyed them both, although a very different vibe at each. The first was Pearl Jam at the John Labatt Centre. I got tickets last minute, and although I'm not the hugest fan, decided to go for nostalgic reasons. My friend Chris and I headed to the JLC after work and found our seats. Unfortunately we couldn't take our weapons, chains, bottles or gang colours with us, so it wasn't quite as fun as it could have been!! It was the first concert I went to that they even checked my socks for a weapon...a little crazy! The opening act (Sleater-Kinney) was horrible. It pretty much sounded like noise to me and I was surrounded by a bunch of really annoying frat-type boys... however, once PJ hit the stage it was pretty good. With classics like Alive and Evenflow, I felt like I was in highschool again!
On Saturday I headed off to Toronto to see Jack Johnson with Animal Liberation Orchestra http://www.alomusic.com/ and Matt Costa http://mattcosta.com/. I LOVED IT!! Well, I loved it after we actually got to our seats. For some reason they sold all tickets as general admission...this caused mass chaos. Throw a "wristband" policy in there and you've got a lot of confusion. Both opening acts were GREAT...and Jack was even better. I loved it...great feel.
One think I discovered from these concerts so close together is, I'm really not into large crowds of drunk people. I'm so sick of seeing people tripping over themselves and everyone else. Get ahold of yourself! I'm also really disgusted by women that insist on using their cleveage for who knows what reason! AUGH. Ok, that's my little rant.

September 9 was my niece Kaelyn's first birthday. Happy Birthday Kaelyn!

I'm going to see Pearl Jam on Monday night! I didn't have tickets until Friday afternoon... one of our sales people at work came up and told me he had 2 tickets if I wanted them. I'm not the hugest fan, but they were pretty popular during my high school days and I thought it would be cool to see them live, so I took the tix! My concert-going friend Chris is going with me. (in the past we've seen U2 and Paul McCartney together, so just one more to add to the list!) I think it will be pretty cool.

My week will be bookend-ed with concerts! Pearl Jam on Monday and Jack Johnson on Saturday! I've had these tickets since April, so the anticipation has been building. It is at the Molson Amphitheatre, which is a semi-outdoor venue, so it should be perfect on a September evening. Yeah! Can't wait. In case you haven't heard of Jack Johnson, check him out at: http://jackjohnsonmusic.com

This weekend, my friends Janice & Lisa are at the Toronto Film Festival. This is the first time in 5 years that I have not joined them. Last year I decided it was my last year, but now that the time is here, I'm a little sad. It is always a lot of fun and holds many memories. We've met tonnes of stars over the years...lots of fun.

I couldn't resist posting these pictures from the weekend.

Hmm, it's funny how when I started this blog I was so excited about it...and I never update it! Oops. I need to work on that.
So, this is the last weekend of "summer". Labour Day weekend is always a strange mix of sadness to see summer go and relief that some sort of routine is in store. I also LOVE fall, but it's what follows that I hate. Today my friend Char and I planned on hanging out at the pool, but it just wasn't quite warm enough. I was a little sad.
Tonight I went to see the African Children's Choir sing at North Park church. It was fantastic! What could be cuter than African children singing and dancing? They put everything they had into it...amazing. You can check them out at: http://www.africanchildrenschoir.com/ I definitely have a heart for African kids and have no doubt that I will end up there someday.
My Grammie is leaving for 5 weeks in England/Spain next Saturday. She is originally from Manchester and is returning to visit her sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Anyway, I decided to make her an activity pack for the plane ride. It has been so fun! I made her a personalized wordsearch, crossword and cryptogram! It's amazing what you can find online! Other things I'm including: snacks, ear plugs, advil, hand-wipes, a book AND I'm making her a CD and sending her with my discman. I'm so excited to give it to her...I hope she enjoys it as much as I did making it!
I just found out tonight that my nephew Josh won "Most Improved Player" on his T-Ball team! I'm so proud of him! He's four and starting JK next week. He's really shy so playing on the team this summer was a big step for him, but he did so awesome! Way to go JOSH!

I watched two movies this weekend that I really liked. Both were on "the list" for a long time, but since I rarely watch movies, it's taken me a while.
Mystic River with Sean Penn & Kevin Bacon http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/pirates/main_site/main.html and Pirates Of The Caribbean with Johnny Depp & Orlando Bloom. http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/pirates/main_site/main.html When it first came out, I really didn't think I'd be intersted in watching a "pirate movie" but I LOVED it. Johnny Depp definitely made the movie. I also really enjoyed him in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory http://chocolatefactorymovie.warnerbros.com/ which I saw last week. I heard somewhere that Johnny Depp fashioned his character after Keith Richards. I could totally see that while watching the movie. In fact, I heard Keith Richards is playing Jack Sparrow's father in the sequel!! Check out a photo comparison at the top!
I can't believe how much it feels like fall today. I've been sensing it for about a week now, but today was downright chilly and my favourite season is almost upon us... in fact it is one month from today! That means shorter days, crisp evenings, picking apples, pumpkins, hayrides, thanksgiving... The only problem with fall is that it is quickly followed by my LEAST favourite season...winter. Oh well, I'm determined to make the most of the rest of my summer.

This is Kaelyn. She is soon going to be 1 year old and is such a sweetie! I love how we match in this picture!

Abby & Josh learning how to throw the ball at T-Ball. Total Cuteness!

I love this picture of my nephew Josh. The colour of the sky, the water, the sailboats, his eagerness to get in the water...so cute. This was taken a few weeks ago when we went on a picnic, visited the animal farm and finally hit the beach. 'twas great fun!

This is my niece Madison. Last Sunday we spent the day together eating ice cream, visiting Grammie, going for a stroller ride and swinging in the back yard. We had lots of fun and I wish we could do it more often.

Out with "The New (PL)" and in with A-Channel.

OK, I admit, I have been slacking off on my posts...but I have a good excuse! The New PL is now A-Channel and has it ever been a lot of work!! For the past 3 weeks we've been working away at getting all of our old logos switched to the new ones as well as integrating a whole new graphics system, lighting, camera shots, and a brand new newsroom. I actually went to Toronto for a few days to get some training on how to use the DEKO 3000. Upon my return, I was hit with L-O-N-G days getting everything up and running.

Since launching our new look wasn't enough to do on the day after the holiday weekend, we decided to hook up brand new cameras that afternoon (ready to go by 5pm) AND an international flight (Air France) crashed at the Toronto Airport that afternoon. Needless to say, it was the most exhilarating day I've spent in the newsroom.

Make sure you check out our brand new look and let me know what you think!

waiting....waiting...waiting...

After spending 19 hours at St. Joe's Hospital, I'm the proud Auntie of Jesse Harding Koiter. I'm a little tired right now so I'm just going to post some pictures and I'll post more later.

For all of you that missed it, I'm posting some photos from my recent Canada Day bash. It was a fun-filled day complete with The Great Canadian Trivia Challenge.

Congratulations to Amy Robitaille who was "crowned" Miss Canada. Wayne Axelson gave her a run for her money, pulling the "canoe" answer "out-of-the-water"!! Robbyn Rowswell was contestant number 3 with little success in the competition. (but she kept up a fine attitude)

Despite the cool temperatures, we enjoyed a great BBQ and then headed to the park for the fireworks. Looking forward to next year!

Howdy

Hey, I just joined the cyber world! How exciting. I'm kind of pumped about starting up a blog. It will be a fun way to keep my friends posted on what is going on in my life. I'm just getting started on figuring things out, so check back often to see my progress!