Would you believe that it's been 10 YEARS!?!

I know, I can't believe it!

Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday!

Other times it feels like TEN l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g years!

We did the church thing


We did the picture thing even if we felt like goofballs


We did the family thing

MacKenzie's

Wright's

We did the wedding party thing


...and then we did the celebrating!



Three and a half years later (to the day) we did the 'Our Family' thing

How to bring up a Don Juan...

Geordie celebrated Valentine's Day at school on Thursday.

We quickly went to the grocery store Wednesday evening to pick up some ingredients to make a treat for the party. As soon as you walk into the store there is a floral place. Due to Valentine's coming up they were stocked full of flowers and then some...

Gerodie went right up to the flowers, took a great big sniff and said,

"Oh Mummy, these smell beautiful! The girls will love them!"

He then picked out a bouquet of flowers and put them in his basket. I couldn't say no.
On the way home he named off who was going to get one. Starting with 'his (9 year old) twins' across the street and then girls in his class and his teachers.

So, on Thursday when he got to school he gave out the flowers one by one to 'the girls' and then that afternoon when we got home he washed his face, put gel in his hair and took the flowers over to 'ma girls'.

Walking up the steps

Ringing the bell

Peeping Geordie (we really have to work on this!)

Hugs and Thank You's!

He came back with a huge smile on his face!



Meanwhile, on Wednesday Callum called me at 2:50 saying that he had meetings in Michigan the next day and that his work was scheduling him on the 7:00 pm. flight that night. Can you say annoying?!??

So, on Thursday I received a phone call from a florist asking if I was going to be home for a drop off.

I was completely puzzled. Who would send me flowers?!? I knew it wasn't Callum. He did try and convince me yesterday that he has though... I don't believe him!

Can you guess who?

Washington Or Bust - prt I

Well, we made it to DC. We left Friday around 6:00 pm and drove 4 hours stayed in a hotel in N.C. and then drove the rest of the way on Saturday.

Geordie had no idea where we were going. On Friday after I told him that we will be staying in a hotel that night we were out running errands;

Geordie: "Mummy, I hope the hotel is in Washington!"

Me: "Why?"

Geordie: "Then we can see NJ!"

My mother is convinced he's psychic!

We get to The Gray's and Geordie does not recognize their car.

Geordie: "Is there a boy here?"

Me: "Yes, he's 2."

Geordie: "Are there other children?"

Me: "Yes, 2 girls, one is 2 and the other is 5"

We get up to the door, he's hiding a little behind me. The door is opened and it's NJ;

Geordie: "NORA JANE?!?!?!"

He was completely stunned. I'm not sure what we expected, we did think that he would dance around or something but he hardly did. He seemed to be more in shock. 30 seconds later they were playing!

Sunday Geordie went to church with The Gray's and Callum and I went down to The National Mall (which I will admit I thought was an actual Mall!). The Inaugural Concert was going on at The Lincoln Memorial, which was beside The Mall.

It was spectacular, spectacular!!!

The atmosphere was amazing. It was peaceful, friendly, and magical. Sounds lame, doesn't it?!?! But there is no other way to describe it.

Here are a few pics...

The arrival of the Obama's

Jon Bon Jovi

Herbie Hancock

Sheryl Crow

Will.I.Am

James Taylor

People were finding seats EVERYWHERE!

I actually enjoyed the Inaugural Concert more than the actual Inauguration. Don't get me wrong...both were spectacular but where the concert was less formal there just seemed to be a more laid back feel.

With Garth Brooks performance it was awesome to watch the crowd;

But this was my favourite performance! I love James Taylor and I'm beginning to really enjoy John Legend and Jennifer Nettles;

While the Inaugural Concert was very multicultural the Inauguration seemed to be mainly African American. One thing I noticed was how much people dressed up. Especially the older generation. Everyone was out in their Sunday bests, and they all looked GREAT! It really was a special time.

The Inauguration was crazy! So many people! Thing is, again, everyone was in such good spirits it was fine that you couldn't move, or that you were stuck behind a tree and could only see part of the screen. You were all there experiencing this great event together...you almost didn't feel the cold!

Callum & Geordie

Obama!

The Swearing In!

Callum & Geordie making friends!

The Speech!

Getting back to The Gray's was a little difficult...

It was a little busy! What is usually a 30 minute travel time took 2 hours.


Usually I'm not into the paraphernalia but on this day it just worked!


...and Geordie got a new t-shirt!

This was the best last minute decision we have ever made...and if you know me well you know that I'm always making last minute decisions!!!!

Did you watch the events?

I love racing, I love racing...maybe if I say it enough it will take! ;)

Did you know that we're having a little bit of a gas shortage in the south/east?!?

Last Monday when trying to get gas I had to go to 3 stations. Then on Thursday when we were driving to VIRginia we stopped in Concord, N.C. for supper as well as gas. Got the supper, couldn't find the gas! All the gas stations were out.

As it is Concord...home of Lowe's Motor Speedway one gas station had racing fuel. So, that's what we got at $2.00 more a gallon (putting it around the same price as they pay in Canada for regular gas!).

As we were driving along we noticed that those gas stations with gas had line ups that went out to the exits. The rest of the gas stations had bags over their handles.

Yesterday, Callum had to go to 5 different stations to get gas. They say that this is going to be going on until the holiday in a couple of weeks.

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It was a great weekend for Callum and Geordie. They really enjoyed themselves at the racetrack. It had been six months since Geordie had been to a track, that's the longest he has ever gone! Really, it's 1/9 of his life!

Yes, those are Geordie's own pair of mechanic gloves!

We could not get over the change in him. All he wanted to do was watch the races. It was quite funny, and possibly a little tiresome for Grannie. Luckily we stayed at the track and in the morning he could just sit outside our room and watch the races...as they start at 8 AM!!!

Guess, who does not enjoy that bit!??!

The Wright Team!

Callum and Geordie driving off into the sunset...well to the garage!!

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As you may guess, racing isn't exactly my 'bag'...but it is my husbands! Not just his but his whole family. Callum was to his first race when he was 6 weeks old...so was Geordie. So, while we've been living down here every couple of months we will be found at a racetrack for the weekend, sometimes monthly!

What do I do? Well, this weekend I read and did about 50 Sudoku puzzles! I will get food once in awhile and I stay with Geordie while everyone else is on the track but that's about it.

Do I feel guilty for doing nothing?!? At first...YES! but not so much anymore. There really isn't anything for me to do. Everyone has their set jobs now...including Geordie.

So, I just make sure that I have a good book and possibly some other things to entertain me. Geordie has learned 'track etiquette' and is quite easy to manage, pretty much all day long now! Yup, from 8 or 9 in the morning until the 7 o'clock dinner in the evening...we're there! For 3 days in a row!

So, that's my 'give'...the racetrack! Years a go when I was playing Callum had to go to all of my games/concerts/practices. That was my 'take'. Years to come will probably see both 'hobbies' happening at the same time. There will be a hell of a lot of 'give and take' there!

For now, I'm more than willing to deal with long weekends with my in-laws and loud cars! ;)


What do you 'give' for your spouse?
Better yet, what do you 'take'?

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Y'all, I just need some time to wallow in loneliness...

Well, yesterday the day I was dreading came...

My (Southern) BFF moved away.

Today I had to drive by while the moving truck was packing up.

I had to have Geordie, once again, console me.

As soon as we saw the truck he said, "It's okay Mummy, remember we're going to visit them and when we move back to Canada they'll visit us!"

We all had a great day together on Tuesday. In the afternoon Nora Jane came down to play with Geordie, then Alaina came down to play with me.

When the time came for them to leave it looked like it was going to rain so we drove them up...
then we had to come into the house to get some of their fridge stuff...then we just had to stay for a little bit longer...then Kevin said that we had go out for supper with them...Alaina and I piled into our car with one child, Kevin & Callum and the rest in their car...we ate supper...then Alaina and I had to get gas...then we had to come into the house for a couple more minutes.

A fine way to prolong the inevitable!!

Finally we all said goodbye.


NJ: "Goodbye Geordie, I'm never going to see you again"

Geordie:"Yes, you will! We will be visiting you at your new house!"

NJ: "Geordie, you and I are always going to be best friends, always! You're my best friend!"

Geordie: "Okay!"


That night Geordie woke up just after 10:00p.m. calling out, "Nora Jane?!? Nora Jane?!? Where are you?"


We said goodbye to...

our emergency contact people on EVERYTHING we fill out

our great friends

our family

I am incredibly excited for them and can't wait to go and visit.

For now, I just need a day or two to wallow in loneliness...

You don't really need your right arm...can I have it?!?!?

Last night Callum and I were about to sit down and watch a show on the boob-tube together. He got up, walked into the kitchen. I heard some rustling of a bag and the opening and closing of a cupboard and the fridge.



In he walks with ONE drink and ONE single serving of something for himself.

"You didn't get anything for me?"

Callum: "you heard me! you knew I was getting something you could have asked."

Do you believe this?!?!?! Every time I go to get a snack I always ask him if he would like something. Half the time he says no. When he says no I make sure that I include more than what I want because I know that he is going to want some of whatever I have...
Because Callum ALWAYS wants what ever I have!!!!

On top of that he always asks for the last piece!!!

He still has not yet learned that golden rule...

YOU NEVER ASK FOR ANYONE'S LAST PIECE especially WHEN CHOCOLATE IS INVOLVED!!!

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Hi my name is Helen and I don't turn the channel when Supernanny is on!

Callum and I are known to watch an episode or two of Supernanny. It's one of the few shows that we can watch together. Really, it makes us feel better as parents...

Through the four years, four months and 22 days that we have been parents we have done it OUR WAY but we have also received many parenting ideas from various places.

Geordie is four weeks old

We tend to stay away from books; we find that they all contradict each other. We kept with the Dr Sears book when needed, mainly for their 'liquor cabinet', or was that 'medicine cabinet'. Another reason is (it seems) at the beginning of every second sentence they write that "all children are different". It made you not feel bad if your child was not doing what THE BOOK tells you they should be doing.

B.G. (before Geordie) I was an early childhood music educator at a Montessori school (still can't spell Montessori though, can never remember if it's 2 - s's or 2 - r's). So I have some child psych courses under my belt and experience...as an educator which is, let me tell you, not the same as experience as a parent!!

Our biggest help, we find, is learning from other peoples parenting mistakes. Come on...you know you do it!!!! Goodness, you can even do it with a family you see for five minutes. You see the parents doing something, realize that it's not working and file it away as 'parenting I will not be using'.

Truth is, we have a family that we get a lot of our "don't parenting" from. It's sad to say, but it's true. Sometimes it's not even that they have parented 'wrong' it's just SO NOT US!!

For the most part Callum and I try to stay on the same page (kind of). Try and not overly criticize each other (well, I try...Callum's pretty good at just NOT doing it). We also feel that living away from all family helped us to be confident in our parenting. No one to tell us what to do or how they did it! It also means that we are stuck, alone, together, doing it by ourselves!!

Do we have the perfect child? YES!!! ...for us!!!!

Here's hoping that we aren't someone else's "don't parenting family"!!!!

Do you have a "don't parenting family"?
Better yet, do you think that you ARE a "don't parenting family"?


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Every Moanday morning...

This is what my sink looked like last night...


This is what it looked like this morning when I got up...


Doesn't look that much different in the picture does it?!? Take a closer look...

Just like it does every Moanday morning!! Drives me crazy!!! Sometimes I will just bite the bullet and clean it. Other times I wait and see if Callum will clean it. Funny, huh?!?!? You know he doesn't because, "my glasses are off, I don't see it" and I end up doing it anyway!!

Does anyone else have this problem?!?!?!

On to better things...

As for my weekend project;

It really didn't take that long. We almost have it totally finished. See those pictures on the floor, they need to go up on the wall but we ran out of 'putter-uppers'. Great thing is, it totally motivates you to do more. We even started on the next room.



Here is the next room to downsize and organize...

It is our playroom/office. Yesterday we actually got half way through. We are hoping to finish over the next couple of days.






This weekend we also added a new pet...

Meet Steve - he's a little bigger than Baby Geordie and there is a possibility that it might be Stephanie. The two seem to get along.

Not the best picture but he's still a little too frisky to come out and play.

BBQ Tip #1...and #2

Since moving south of the Mason-Dixon line I have become quite the little Barbecuer [if I do say so myself!] Look at my resent steak...



Tip #1

- Barbecue is a type of food down here, much like Italian or Chinese. A grill is what you use to make the barbecue. When you are invited 'round for a BBQ you show up and eat chicken/pulled pork/brisket/beans/etc... The term 'grilling out' is also used.

- In Canada (and much of the non-southern States) barbecue is what you do to the food. The BBQ is the 'appliance' that you cook on. Most of the time when you are invited over for a BBQ it's usually hotdogs and hamburgers or you B.Y.O.M. (bring your own meat). You usually B.Y.O.B. (bring your own beer) as well. On the east coast [of Canada] many are known to B.Y.O.C. (bring your own cooler) that way nobody can steal your beer!


When we lived in Toronto, Callum used to do all the barbecuing. When we moved down here I quickly got tired of having to wait for him to come home from work so I took over.

I will tell you that I had to train Callum how to barbecue. How did I do this, you may ask?!?!
Well, that leads me to ...

Tip #2

-if the barbecuer/griller is a little fire crazy and enjoys to cook cajun-style wrap the meat/chicken/pork in bacon.

One evening Callum was to grill and I wasn't in the mood for crunchy chicken so when I was getting everything ready I wrapped two or three pieces of bacon over (and around) each piece. The chicken came out amazing!! It was so juicy and tender and not a black spec on it. The bacon on the other hand, did not survive.

Now, I didn't tell Callum what I was doing. He didn't find out about this until years later...

Sweet Home Alabama!!

We travel to Alabama a lot due to Callum's work. The plant where they put all the pieces together is there. Callum usually travels there once a week for the day to make sure that everything is running smoothly and (I'm convinced) to hang out with Vijay!!
The plant is in the suburbs of Birmingham. We stay in the Hoover area and I LOVE IT!!!! It's quite pretty and there is great shopping there.
This time we stayed in a hotel that just opened. When Callum booked the room they asked if we wanted the beautiful mountain view or the mall view. This was our view...




Isn't it beautiful?!?!?!?!?! Quite often I found myself in total awe of the topography!!

Geordie and I swam, checked out the shops, met Callum for various meals. We had a great time! Callum, on the other hand, worked until 9:00 each night (which was 10:00 for us) and had to go in on Saturday morning.


Saturday afternoon we went to the Birmingham Zoo. Geordie and I had been there once before, when he wasn't even two and it was a cold day in January (beginning of November cold for back home).
Geordie was psyched to see the elephants. Unfortunately, there was none. So, then he was very excited to see the giraffes. We went, one minute later he was ready to move on. Callum couldn't believe it!! I loved it!!!


I am not an animal person at all. I really can't stand them. I like kittens, sometimes I like the look of puppy's but I rarely ever touch them. We have Baby Geordie so that Geordie can have a pet. [Callum too!] Just because I do not like them doesn't mean that I should ruin it for everyone else, right?!?!? So going to the zoo with a four year old is right up my alley!! We have the same attention span for looking at those damn animals!!! Actually sometimes, Geordie's is longer than mine!

I found someone who was just as enthralled with the animals as I was...


There was a carousel there. It was Geordie's first time on one...'ALL BY MYSELF!!'


...and no trip could be done without the ever present silly thingie to stick your head in!!