An update on our move...

Steve, Marc and Darryl moved most of the big stuff into the garage at our new place today...a special thanks to Marc for getting the truck! Tomorrow the people living there now should be out by early afternoon and then we can move in...I'll clean and we'll unpack. I'm not working on Monday so hopefully I'll get most of the important stuff in place by the time Tuesday comes. Tonight we're crashing at Darryl and Stacey's (thanks guys for the great hospitality as always!) and then tomorrow night is our first sleep in our new home...

Thanks to my friend Joanne who helped pack us up today...she's a crazy good packer! She gets stuff done! Oh that reminds me...Joanne and I went to the drugstore today and asked for boxes. So the guy goes in the back and finds us 5 small and kind of crappy boxes but they got the job done, so I was happy...We thank him and he says..."Next time I'll have to charge you." I laugh cause I think he's joking and then he says again with no smile..."Next time I'll put it on a bill." Charging for old boxes that are only going to get thrown away??? What has this world come to????

Happy Birthday to my sister Connie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

moving weekend...busy busy...

It seems like it's been so long since I've posted anything yet I don't have a whole lot to share. Life has been very busy. Work is super busy...packing has kept us busy and the weather has been terrible all week. Rainy and cold. So we didn't do much. I actually wore my winter coat the other night when we walked Jes. We're moving this weekend and looking very forward to it. It'll be nice to get settled and be able to start planting some things on our balcony. My goal this year is a balcony full of plants and flowers. Steve's going to make us an outside table and I'm already having visions of eating dinner outside in the much quieter neighborhood surrounded by flowers. It just seems so far away as I sit in my PJs freezing with the heat turned way up in my apartement like it's winter. Where oh where did the warm weather go???

Steve's Grandma...

Isn't she cute?:) Thanks Lisa for the pics! I promise to write soon! Have an amazing time in Paris and Italy if I don't get to write you before you leave!

My bro's new blog

Calling all fellow family members...George now has his own blog...check it out at...

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/ ... looks pretty cool! I encourage you all to get a blog...it's fun and a great way to stay posted on each other's exciting lives:)

Cari

Easter dinner

My day so far...

Tomorrow we're going to have an Easter dinner at our place with Darryl, Stacey and Shamus. Stacey's making the turkey, gravy and stuffing for the bird and I'm doing the veges and the dessert. Steve and Darryl have been hard at work yesterday, today and will be again tomorrow putting down ceramic tile in Darryl and Stacey's kitchen. It's going to look great! It was just me and Jes here today and the weather has been super weird...sunny one minute and then pouring the next, so I made an Oreo cheesecake and a lemon meringue pie. I also made some stuffing for tomorrow (my sister Connie's yummy recipe!). I LOVE stuffing! I hope the desserts taste good...it's my first time making both! I'm not too sure about the cheesecake...man that stuff takes A LOT of cream cheese...4 packages! Anyway I'm off to the vegetable market to buy the veges for dinner tomorrow.

Steve bought me an Easter Lily yesterday...he's so sweet:) It really smells great! It's making my kitchen smell so nice! Just like spring! It's so pretty...I love lilies.

Here's my pie cooling...not too hard to make at all...hope it tastes good!

Moving date

Official moving date: April 29th. Two more weeks. So for all you poor people who volunteered to help us out...that's the date to save :)
Cari

Easter cookies

Yeah! Last day of work before the long weekend! Last night I made Easter cookies and Jesse was my helper or maybe more like Jesse kept guard of the cookies. Here's some pics that Steve snapped while Jesse and I were hard at work...

Inspiration of the day...

I recieved this as an email from my sister, Carol. I really enjoyed reading it and found that it made me think...so I copied and pasted it for my blog...read on...

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER

by Erma Bombeck (written after she found out she was dying from cancer)

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love you's."
More "I'm sorry's."
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it, live it and never give it back.

Stop sweating the small stuff. Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let's think about what we are blessed to have and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally.

My TV Debut!

So guess what??? It turns out that I was on the news after all! The accountant at work came in today and said, "Didn't I see you on the news last night Cari?" Apparently they did a whole segment on H&M coming to Montreal and they showed me talking! John (the accountant) said that I was the only person who said something negative about H&M! That's probably why they put me on! Anyway, last night Steve and I were both sick and ending up falling asleep from 6 to 9 and for one of the first times in FOREVER we didn't have supper and watch the news. Isn't that always the way??? The one time you don't watch! I missed my big debut! Ha! Ha!

Cari

Jesse Bunny

Looks like the Easter Bunny came early to our house this year!

Shopping...

So I finally went shopping yesterday with my friend Lyndsay. She's awesome to shop with, she's a designer and really knows what she's talking about! I finally got some much needed work clothes and at pretty good prices. I bought 2 pairs of dress pants (one white and one navy), a beige skirt and 2 blouses (one white and one a nice summer green) and a white tank top for wearing under those kind of shirts that go too low in the front. According to Lyndsay, white is in for this summer so anything in the color white goes (as long as it fits nice). Anyway, now I just need to buy some shoes to wear with these outfits! Shopping on a budget can be stressful cause you have to get stuff that works for work but also can be worn casual for outside of work. I'll definitely still need a few more things but it was a great start. It was a fun afternoon and it will be nice to actually wake up and not have to dig for someting to wear!

Cari

So I feel like crap and I just ran out in the rain to get some Advil sinus medicine and guess what? I got interviewed by CTV! I wonder if I'll make the news....If I do...I don't think I handled it very well! They stopped me on the street and asked my opinion on H&M...which I went to and tried on sooooo many things and hated everything. So, I told them that I was disappointed and it wasn't all I heard it would be. Watch the news tonight...You might just see me and hear me (I have a cold and sound terrible!) making a fool out of myself!

Ugh. The weather has been cold and even snowy all week. Winter is making it's come back. I've been sick this week with a sore throat and now chest cold. And to top it all off our shopping trip got cancelled :( I sure am looking forward to the weekend. On a positive note, I found out that my friend Kristi and her husband, Matt are coming to visit us this summer for sure! That'll be fun! Oh and we're moving very soon...the other people will be moving out by the 20th, at the lastest so we'll get to move in before May 1st.

Cari

Our Sunday.

Steve and I went to Voyager Provincial Park in Ontario today. It hasn't officially opened yet but you can park your car outside the gate and walk in. We went for a really nice hike. Jesse had an amazing time! It was so peaceful and calm there. There were a few people here and there but not many. A very big difference from when you go in the summer and it's packed. I really enjoyed it...here's some pics...
The boys.
Me.
See Jesse swimming with his stick?

What a great day!

Jesse swimming (first time this year!)
This is a bench that we found in the middle of the woods...it was pretty weak...I wouldn't sit on it but it sure looked cool!
Steve took this...Not sure what it is...
An old tree stump.



Jes loves to swim.
Okay this was AMAZING. All these birds are Canada geese and I have NEVER seen anything like this in all my life. They were everywhere. But unfortunately, we disturbed them and they all flew away. Like literally 500 birds all honking and flying away. We felt bad but it was pretty cool
Here they are flying away...It seriously was really cool. Really.

Isn't he cute?

Shamus is such a cutie!

We went to see 'Inside Man' last night. Good movie. I enjoyed it and so did Steve.

No dairy for me.

As of yesterday I started a no dairy diet. The stomach pains that I get after I eat have become REALLY bad so I finally went to the doctor. She says that I have to try to determine what it is exactly that sets off the intense pain in my stomach. So for starters, she says that I can't eat any dairy products for at last 2 weeks and see if I feel better. Then if that doesn't help, I won't be able to eat any wheat products and see if I see a difference. Also, I have to keep a food diary and mood diary because she is wondering if it is worse when I feel stressed. Ugh. This is going to be a super pain! But hopefully I will find out what causes the pain and then feel better. It sucks though because it's only day 2 and I'm craving dairy! I'm going for breakfast this morning with my friend Katie and I'm already disappointed that I can't have eggs benedict (my favorite!) because the sauce has milk. Also, no alcohol...which usually wouldn't matter but tonight is a b'day celebration for a friend and I can't even have a glass of wine, oh well at least I can take my car and not have to worry about getting a drive home! I must be postive!

C.

Oh...One more thing...H&M opened in Montreal yesterday! I checked it out last night after work. HOLY BUSY but wow...some great stuff. I saw a zillion things I want to buy but I'll be strong...as our shopping trip to Albany is only 3 weeks away! I think it helped me not to buy anything that I didn't feel well and the changing room line was like literally 50 people long. I am in desperate need of spring/summer clothes for work. I have always had jobs where I dress casually and now that I have to dress up for work, I have nothing! Not much longer now....

Must. Save. Money. Must. Be. Strong.

C.

On my walk today with Jesse, I saw something that for some reason struck me as funny. There was this older woman wearing SUPER short shorts and a tiny little tank top. It is 20 degrees outside today I might add. However, she was standing in a huge pile of snow (the frozen yucky piles that take longer to go away) in BIG ole winter boots that came to her knees, shoveling. She seemed to be on a mission to spread all the snow out all over the pavement to make it melt faster. I wish I could have taken her picture because I think you really had to see this woman to understand the humor in it! Not that I am complaining but isn't it early for weather this warm? It seriously feels like June to me, when everyone first starts to wear flip flops and summer clothes. It is still only March technically. I wore my flip flops and capris today. Don't forget that clocks go ahead this weekend, making the days even longer! I can't wait to be able to walk Jesse in the parks after supper!