Wednesday, November 29, 2006

I have a sickness

I do, I feel completely uncomfortable if I'm not currently reading a novel. I know this sounds weird and I thought I'd be okay reading non-fiction (which, I'm currently doing), but I feel unbalanced right now. The problem is is that I have pretty much gone through all the new books that looked interesting to me at the library...there's one left to come in, so I'm at a loss as to what to do. In the past few weeks I flew through Margaret George's Helen of Troy, I've read all of Emily Giffen's books (the problem with discovering a relatively new author is they don't have many books out yet), gone back and read a lot of Belva Plain's books (I know I'm desperate when I'm doing this), caught up on all the Nicholas Sparks books I've missed in the last few years. And now I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any ideas? Any suggestions? I like historical fiction. I like really good writing. I love a good storyteller. Please help!

Don't do it unless you really mean it!

Jonathan is usually out 2 Saturdays of the month working. This past weekend, Elijah was really missing him. Elijah and I were playing in our room, when he spied one of our wedding pictures on the wall. He said, "I see Daddy and Mommy"...I told him that was our wedding picture. First he wanted to know where he was, then he wanted to know what a wedding was. I told him that we had a movie of the wedding. And I didn't think much more about it until about an hour later. Elijah starts asking to watch Daddy's wedding please, over and over again. Sure. So I dug out the wedding video that I haven't seen in a long time and we started to watch it. He loved it. He starts shouting to the TV things like "Hi Nana, Hi Gramma, Hi Cousin Allan!". He got giddy when he saw Mommy and Daddy on the TV. He loved the hymns and hearing me tell him who everyone was. He wasn't so fond of the sermon (we fastforwarded through it), but he really liked watching the dancing afterwards. I enjoyed it too. It's fun to see all these people I haven't seen in a while (Dave Taylor - where are you?). To think of all the changes that have happened since then...most of the girls standing at the bouquet toss are all married now; the fellow who caught the garter married one of them; describing people to Elijah in terms of whose Mommy and Daddy they are (then having to explain that none of these babies were born yet). So all in all it was fun...the first time. One thing I didn't think of was a 2 year old's viewing habits. Elijah gets fixated on one movie at a time. So we may watch 1 hour of TV a day, but it may be the same show each day for a week or two. So I have now watched (or at least put on) our wedding video for Elijah about 5 or 6 times this week. Now, I loved our wedding, I thought maybe we'd pull out the video on our 5th anniversary this year, but this is getting to be overkill. And apparently, this is all he wants to watch. I suggest Blue's Clues, Thomas, Baby Einstein...No, Mommy and Daddy's wedding. Fortunately, Jonathan is looking into transferring it over to DVD soon before Elijah wears the tape out. Then, maybe we can hide it again for a few years.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

TV Land's 100 top catchphrases

Being one without cable, never mind American cable, I don't think I'm spoiling anything here. TV Land has compiled a list of the top 100 TV catchphrases that they are going to air in a TV land special over the next week. I was actually surprised that more Seinfeldisms were not there. Notibly missing for me were "Not that there's anything wrong with that" and "Master of your domain". Also missing was "NOT!" from Wayne and Garth on SNL...don't tell me that you weren't constantly barraged with that in the early '90's!

Here's the list in alphabetical order:

In alphabetical order, TV Land's list:
_"Aaay" (Fonzie, "Happy Days")
_"And that's the way it is"
_"Ask not what your country can do for you ..." (John F. Kennedy)
_"Baby, you're the greatest" (Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, "The Honeymooners")
_"Bam!" (Emeril Lagasse, "Emeril Live")
_"Book 'em, Danno" (Steve McGarrett, "Hawaii Five-O")
_"Come on down!" (Johnny Olson, "The Price is Right")
_"Danger, Will Robinson" (Robot, "Lost in Space")
_"De plane! De plane!" (Tattoo, "Fantasy Island")
_"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")
_"Do you believe in miracles?" (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics)
_"D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons")
_"Don't make me angry ..." (David Banner, "The Incredible Hulk")
_"Dyn-o-mite" (J.J., "Good Times")
_"Elizabeth, I'm coming!" (Fred Sanford, "Sanford and Son")
_"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver ..." (Eddie Haskell, "Leave it to Beaver")
_"God'll get you for that" (Maude, "Maude")
_"Good grief" (Charlie Brown, "Peanuts" specials)
_"Good night, and good luck" (Edward R. Murrow, "See It Now")
_"Good night, John Boy" ("The Waltons")
_"Have you no sense of decency?" (Joseph Welch to Sen. McCarthy)
_"Heh heh" (Beavis and Butt-head, "Beavis and Butthead")
_"Here it is, your moment of Zen" (Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show")
_"Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show")
_"Hey now!" (Hank Kingsley, "The Larry Sanders Show")
_"Hey hey hey!" (Dwayne Nelson, "What's Happening!!")
_"Hey hey hey!" (Fat Albert, "Fat Albert")
_"Holy (whatever), Batman!" (Robin, "Batman")
_"Holy crap!" (Frank Barone, "Everybody Loves Raymond")
_"Homey don't play that!" (Homey the Clown, "In Living Color")
_"How sweet it is!" (Jackie Gleason, "The Jackie Gleason Show")
_"How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, "Friends")
_"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" (Alka Seltzer ad)
_"I know nothing!" (Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes")
_"I love it when a plan comes together" (Hannibal, "The A-Team")
_"I want my MTV!" (MTV ad)
_"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl ..." (Larry, "Newhart")
_"I'm not a crook ..." (Richard Nixon)
_"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (Vicks Formula 44 ad)
_"I'm Rick James, bitch!" (Dave Chappelle as Rick James, "Chappelle's Show")
_"Is that your final answer?" (Regis Philbin, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire")
_"It keeps going and going and going ..." (Energizer Batteries ad)
_"It takes a licking ..." (Timex ad)
_"Jane, you ignorant slut" (Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin, "Saturday Night Live")
_"Just one more thing ..." (Columbo, "Columbo")
_"Let's be careful out there" (Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues")
_"Let's get ready to rumble!" (Michael Buffer, various sports events)
_"Live long and prosper" (Spock, "Star Trek")
_"Makin' whoopie" (Bob Eubanks, "The Newlywed Game")
_"Mom always liked you best" (Tommy Smothers, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour")
_"Never assume ..." (Felix Unger, "The Odd Couple")
_"Nip it!" (Barney Fife, "The Andy Griffith Show")
_"No soup for you!" (The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld")
_"Norm!" ("Cheers")
_"Now cut that out!" (Jack Benny, "The Jack Benny Program")
_"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park")
_"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch")
_"One small step for man ..." (Neil Armstrong)
_"Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" (Grey Poupon ad)
_"Read my lips: No new taxes!" (George H.W. Bush)
_"Resistance is futile" (Picard as Borg, "Star Trek: The Next Generation")
_"Say good night, Gracie" (George Burns, "The Burns & Allen Show")
_"Schwing!" (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, "Saturday Night Live")
_"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" (Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle)
_"Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids" (Trix cereal ad)
_"Smile, you're on `Candid Camera'" ("Candid Camera")
_"Sock it to me" ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In")
_"Space, the final frontier ..." (Capt. Kirk, "Star Trek")
_"Stifle!" (Archie Bunker, "All in the Family")
_"Suit up!" (Barney Stinson, "How I Met Your Mother")
_"Tastes great! Less filling!" (Miller Lite beer ad)
_"Tell me what you don't like about yourself" (Dr. McNamara and Dr. Troy, "Nip/Tuck")
_"That's hot" (Paris Hilton, "The Simple Life")
_"The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" (Jim McKay, "ABC's Wide World of Sports")
_"The tribe has spoken" (Jeff Probst, "Survivor")
_"The truth is out there" (Fox Mulder, "The X-Files")
_"This is the city ..." (Sgt. Joe Friday, "Dragnet")
_"Time to make the donuts" ("Dunkin' Donuts" ad)
_"Two thumbs up" (Siskel & Ebert, "Siskel & Ebert")
_"Up your nose with a rubber hose" (Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter")
_"We are two wild and crazy guys!" (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys, "Saturday Night Live")
_"Welcome to the O.C., bitch" (Luke, "The O.C.")
_"Well, isn't that special?" (Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, "Saturday Night Live")
_"We've got a really big show!" (Ed Sullivan, "The Ed Sullivan Show")
_"Whassup?" (Budweiser ad)
_"What you see is what you get!" (Geraldine, "The Flip Wilson Show")
_"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes")
_"Where's the beef?" (Wendy's ad)
_"Who loves you, baby?" (Kojak, "Kojak")
_"Would you believe?" (Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart")
_"Yabba dabba do!" (Fred Flintstone, "The Flintstones")
_"Yada, yada, yada" ("Seinfeld")
_"Yeah, that's the ticket" (Jon Lovitz as the pathological liar, "Saturday Night Live")
_"You eeeediot!" (Ren, "Ren & Stimpy")
_"You look mahvelous!" (Billy Crystal as Fernando, "Saturday Night Live")
_"You rang?" (Lurch, "The Addams Family")
_"You're fired!" (Donald Trump, "The Apprentice")
_"You've got spunk ..." (Lou Grant, "The Mary Taylor Moore Show")

Monday, November 27, 2006

Book Review

Most of you know that I love to read...Jonathan frequently mentions that he married a book nerd...which goes hand in hand with my brother's assessment of me growing up. Since university, most of the books I read are novels. This past week; however, I decided to pick up one of those books that isn't a novel that has been sitting on my shelf for about 6 months. I'm terrible that way...I love getting into fiction, but professional reading, I put off and put off. Well, I'm glad I picked this one up and read it. It is "The Bully, The Bullied, and The Bystander" by Barbara Colorosso. It is written specifically for parents and teachers, but I think that anyone who is concerned about recent school shootings, violence, bomb threats, suicides, cyber bullying etc... could get something out of it, looking for a community solution. I highly reccommend this book to all. As soon as I was done, my friend Jaclyn asked to borrow it (she teaches grade 7), Jonathan also wants to read it (he's a youth pastor), and my mom asked for the information (just as a concerned citizen). It is a really easy read...I read it off and on in about a week, and it makes a lot of sense. She has a way of putting situations that I never thought of before, looking into the why's of behaviour and how we can teach our kids to handle situations that they encounter every day.

Long Live the '80's

Saturday, November 18, 2006

All About the 80's

Last weekend we had a combo party: Housewarming (yes, we've lived here 6 months)/my birthday/ethnic food/80's. Oh, the food was soooo yummy! And the 80's rocked! The tunes were great (just ask Elijah). We dressed up (J and I raided VV the night before). After we got ready, Jonathan looked at me and said: "Wow, it's like high school"...fair enough, I admit to being in high school from '88-'93. And, of course what would be a party at my house without party games and prizes (think 80's prizes: Nerds, Jelly bracelets etc.) The games included solving Rubix Cubes, moonwalking, breakdancing and trivia. How many of the top movies of the 80's can you name by year? (BTW, 1984 was a great year for movies - think The Karate Kid, Ghostbusters and Footloose). For those interested here's my 4 part quiz (and no, I didn't make up the questions myself, I searched 80's trivia sites for the questions, but it was fun...and I felt smart). How many can you answer without looking up the answers? Jeff, I'm thinking of you specifically!

All About the 80's Trivia Quiz

Part 1: The Movies

In Empire Strikes Back, what was chewing on the power cables of the Millenium Falcon while Han Solo and company were hiding inside the asteroid cave?

What was the license number on the Ghostbusters' car?

In 'Back To The Future', where did Doc Brown get the plutonium to power the time-travelling DeLorean?

In 'Empire Strikes Back' when the ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi said that Luke was their last hope against the Empire, who was Yoda refering to when he said: "No, there is another"?

In 'Dirty Dancing' what was Baby's real name?

In 1989's "The Little Mermaid", what was Scuttle's name for a fork?

In the 1984 movie "Splash", the pretty blonde mermaid chooses which street name to be her own?

In "The Karate Kid" what color did Daniel have to paint Miagi's house, as part of his training.

In the movie "Stand By Me", what did Gordy, Chris, Vern and Teddy set out to find?

In the movie "Rainman", what was the only airline that Raymond said had never crashed?

Part 2: On TV

Who had the trademark saying "Nanoo Nanoo?"

What did people desperately tried to avoid getting on "Press Your Luck?"

What were the names of Kevin's best friend and girl friend on "The Wonder Years?"

Who was the 4th child on "Growing Pains?"

What actor mouthed the line "Whatch you talkin' 'bout Willis?"

What were the names of all five Huxtable kids on "The Cosby Show?"

Who was the head villian on "The Smurfs" and what was his cat's name?

What was the name of Bo and Luke Duke's automobile?

Name the 4 girls from the "Facts of Life" and their chaperone.

What was the name of Norm's wife on Cheers?

Part 3: The Music - Lyrics

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

Buying bread from a man in Brussels, he was 6 foot 4 and full a muscles

And mama always told me be careful what you do, don't go around breaking young girls' hearts

Been workin, so hard. I'm punchin, my card

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you, it's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do

Tin roof...... Rusted

Slight of hand and a twist of fate, on a bed of nails she makes me wait

Your feet are going to be on the ground, your head is there to move you around

Oh thikin' about all our younger years, it was only you and me, we were young and wild and free

You do the boom boom into lay heart, You set my soul sky high when your lovin starts

Part 4: Odds and Ends

Name six members of the Brat Back

Name 3 books by Judy Blume

Who was the leader of the Transformers?

Name all five New Kids On The Block.

What craft toy involved cutting plastic figures, coloring them in, and then baking them in the
oven?

What was the famous line uttered by an old woman in Wendy's ads?

Name the four ghosts from Pac-Man.

What was the first video played on MTV?

What caused the gremlins in the movie Gremlin to become evil?

What snack food was portrayed in claymation dancing to "Heard it Through the Grapevine"?

For Jonathan

Jonathan wanted to know:

Your results:
You are Spider-Man
Spider-Man
85%
Superman
80%
Wonder Woman
77%
Green Lantern
65%
Robin
64%
Supergirl
57%
Iron Man
50%
The Flash
45%
Batman
20%
Hulk
20%
Catwoman
20%

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Birthdays

I admit that I suffer from pregnant brain...as my brother Jeff would say "where's Kris's famous memory now?". Yes, I used to have a good memory, a really good memory. Then, 3 years ago I got pregnant. Now, I'm pregnant again and suffering even more. Example of how pregnant brain works: Sunday morning and I'm lay reading (which means that I'm leading the service at church). I'm doing okay, following the order all right...Michael comes up to read the epistle...great! Now it's the psalm. I'm looking around...no one is coming up to read the psalm...I notice David mouthing to me "the psalm, the psalm"...oh, yeah, that's right, I'm supposed to read the psalm! Things like this happen quite frequently. I'm getting to be a good writer of notes and constantly use the white board on our fridge to jot things down. Anyways, the whole point of this is, I'm now terrible at remembering birthdays. Sometimes I'm good at remembering the months...or, good at remembering them about a week after the fact, but I just can't rely on myself to remember them any more. So, if you got a little birthday alarm email from me, please respond to it...put in yours, your spouse's, your kids'. My mom tells me that you never fully recover from pregnant brain. I don't know why this is, but it's a true fact. If for some reason, you didn't get an alarm email from me, please just leave your birthday in my comments area. Thank you.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

I admit it, I steal

I steal ideas from other people's blogs and use them...here's one I got from Jaclyn:

A rose by any other name...

1) MY PORN STAR NAME (first pet and current street name): "Bridget Fowler"

2) MY MOVIE STAR NAME (grandfather/grandmother on your Mum's side, your favourite candy): "Winnie Carmel"

3) MY "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME (first Initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name): "K-Da"

4) MY DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): "Blue Dog"

5) MY SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): "Dawn New Westminster"

6) MY STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name andfirst 3 letters of the town you grew up in): "Sprikr Waabb"

I've also done this one as the the 1st 3 letters of your first name, the 1st 2 letters of your maiden name, with the 1st 2 letters of your mom's maiden name and the 1st 3 letters of the town you were born: "Krido Wanew"

7) MY TERRORIST NAME (first name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards): "Netrisk Sretlaw"

8) My SUPERHERO NAME ("The", your favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink): "The Blue Blush"

What are your other names?

Okay, so am I a Maritimer, or...do I still fit the BC People?

I read this Maritimer post today and I got all the jokes...I could relate...after 4 years of being looked at funny because I'm "from away", am I finally becoming one of them? But read on...I also relate and get the BC jokes too!

you know you're a Maritimer when....

1.Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass atractor on the highway
2."Vacation" meansgoing to Moncton for the weekend.
3. You measure distance in hours.
4. You know several people who have hit a deer.
5. Your Grandparents drive 100 km through 13 feet of snowduring a raging blizzard without flinching.
6. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
7. You install security lights on both your house and garageand go and leave both unlocked.
8. You think of the major food groups as: Meat, Fish and TimHortons.
9. You carry jumper cables in your car and yourwife knows how to use them.
10. There are seven empty cars running in the parkinglot of the Canadian Tire store at any given time.
11. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over asnowsuit.
12. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes arefilled with snow.
13. Your lingerie consists of tube socks and flannelpajamas.
14. You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, StillWinter and Construction.
15. It takes three hours to go to the store for one item,even when you're in a hurry because you have to stop and talk toeverybody in town.
And Finally: You know you live in theMaritimes when...16. You actually understand these jokes

You know are from BC if...

1. You know the provincial flower (Mildew)
2. You feel guilty throwing aluminium cans or paper in the trash.
3. You use the statement "sunny break" and know what it means.
4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal.
8. You consider that; if it has no snow on it then it is not a real mountain.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Blendz, Moka House and Tim Horton's.
10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.
11. You know how to pronounce Squamish, Osoyoos, Esquimalt & Nanaimo.
12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
13. You can tell the difference between Japanese,Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai food.
14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark - while only working eight hour days.
15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
16. You are not fazed by "Today's forecast:"showers followed by rain," and Tomorrow's forecast:rain followed by showers."
17. You cannot wait for a day with "showers and sunny breaks".
18. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
19. You know that Dawson Creek is a town, not a TV show.
20. You can point to at least two ski mountains, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
21. You notice "the mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.
22. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 5, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
23. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 10, but keep the socks on.
24. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
25. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
26. You recognize the background shots in your favourite movies & TV shows.
27. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you can't find the old ones after such a long time.
28. You measure distance in hours.
29. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in your car in the same day.
30. You use a down comforter in the summer.
31. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.
32. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
33. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer) &Raining Again (Fall).

Granted, I think measuring distance in hours and using jumper cables must be a Canadian thing!