Gears of War

My friend Ian came up from the city to hang out for couple of days, of course meaning we played xbox most of the time.
I rented Gears of War because I have heard nothing but awesome things about it and because you can play two-player co-op through the entire game. We beat it in 2 very long sittings (well, last night and today)
It was amazing. It was seriously like sitting through a very tense 8 hour action movie with amazing visuals. Ian actually just paused it a couple of times and was like "Woah, lets just slow down for second."

Man was that game fun.

The graphics in the above link are exacly how the game looks too, except at a higher resolution.
I am glad to have won the xbox because it does make the ability to play a game with a friend a much easier process than on the computer.

Camera

Maya recived a used Camera we got from a mission store for 1$ in her stocking. To replace the one I forgot in Virgina at a restarant we stoped at coming home for breakfast. There was a buffet and I asked them to cook me real eggs and they did...... thats what you get if you ask. Luke wants to get Maya this camera when he gets a job.
Take a special note of Mayas Hair. This is pre brsuhing in the am hair.

Wee Wonderfuls Doll

Here is a sick little Maya and the Doll I made for her from Wee wonderfuls pattern. We opened stockings and presents on the 27th as I was working Christmas and Boxing day. Problem with this was Maya was sick. She had been up for the good majority of the night- along with us- coughing and crying with a fever. She refused to take medication and she was miserable. Sooo we just went along with the presents anyway- mostly sleeping though the experience.

The doll was not too difficult- mostly finding time to do it. The most difficult part was sewing the legs on to the body and ripping out the stitches after I realized I had done it wrong. I did it four times!!!!! At that point the fabric was falling apart and I had to do some creative cutting. I will be making another doll so she can be a twin- Maya's idea, and 'the stuff' like sleeping bags, sweaters, and backpacks.
Actually the doll is more for me as Maya seems more excited by the Dora doll that somebody bought her- not realizing the only exposure to Dora she has had has been at a store.

The sweater and pants she is wearing are from H & M, which BTW is a great place to buy cheap made by children for children clothes. She had to put them over her PJs.

Maya openning up her Christmas eve present of Hungery hippos game. Notice the dress Courtney? It if long on her but Maya is larger arond the back and the buttons pop open.

Tree 2006

Our wonderful tree we chopped down when there was still snow at a cut your own place. Our lights are dead in the middle of the tree. LEDs will be purchased at a boxing week sale.

Re-Gift

Is it a bad thing to re gift a gift at the same occasion in which you receive it?

Merry Christmas

All is quiet on the ER front and i'm hoping it should stay that way. Our Christmas dinner is in a few minutes and i'm hiding so I do not have to feed patients their Christmas dinner- my least favorite duty. Merry Christmas!

Futsal in the paper.

Here is the picture of Anne that was in the walkerton paper. Taken just before that great championship game.

Why?

What is wrong with my child so that she wants to wear diapers and pretend she is a baby?? To the point she puts the diaper on herself???

Carrots

I think this is a cute picture of carrots. I think this was just after the surgery that took away his ability to procreate.

Nativity

Saw the Nativity story last night at the Hanover Multi-plex. Really enjoyed it. I'm not a biblical scholar nor am I any sort of theologian so I do not care if it depicts the story accurately. My child- like faith thought the story was presented simply and effectively. My favorite scene was Mary and Elizabeth experiencing joy unthinkable while their fetuses moved within their wombs.

Was a little desecrated by Joseph. Hmmm.

Digg

At 0200 digging the digg

Running Quote

Goal: becoming a back of the pack runner.
Current status: wondering which way the pack went.
Ultimate goal (because you gotta dream big): getting the dirt stains out of my white running socks.

Princess

No offence Luke, but I want to be the next princess and marry royalty.

Sugar Overload

So you know those Sun-Maid little read boxes of raisins? We have some of the 42.5 gram ones here and last night I happened to look at the Nutrition Guide on the side of the little box. In a 42.5g box, 30 grams is sugar!! Thats 71% of the box!
So much for those being Maya's healthy bed time snack.

Bestest Christmas Evar!!!

So on Monday my Xbox 360 came!
So far I am very pleased. I was hoping for the holiday bundle with GRAW and Live Arcade, but it "only" came with Project Gotham Racing 3. The PGR3 is a holdover until Forza 2 is released next year, which then will be sent to winners. Its okay for a racing game, but I don't think I will play it that much, except to race with friends when they are over.
The other game I have is Dead or Alive 4, which I picked up at Walmart a month and a half ago for 18$. Its my favorite fighting game series due to the over-the-top characters, extremely quick fighting system, and awesome graphics. This one doesn't disappoint. Keep in mind we have a high-end computer system, but I was till totally blown away by the graphics this game produces on the 360. Seriously, the characters are amazing the levels very close to "realistic" as I have seen in any games.

So I am very happy with this "Christmas present" although I won't have a lot to play on it. At least with Xbox Live I can download the latest demos and stuff to check out, which is an awesome thing to be able to do with a console.
Play time isn't too much of a concern as I have it hooked up to my computer monitor and all the same sound stuff as the computer, so I just play it instead on my computer when I sit here at night.

Family

You know that you are not very close to your blood relations if completely forget to send a christmas card to your brother...... opps

Bathroom

I'm surfing the internet on the toliet- now what could be more fun then that. We need to get a laptop.

ANnd why have y'al forsaken me? Where are the comments? Is anybody mad at me? I forgot to ask you that julie today. I even told some people about this blog today to boost readership- it has dropped off. Come on give me some comment lovin.

Sugar

This past summer while buying some floor bulk at the New life mills outlet store we also picked up a 10lb bag of sugar....and i'm embarrassed to say that it is all gone...
I can't believe we use that much sugar. We bake more then average, some preserves require a fair amount but I would say that the good majority is from our morning coffee and Luke's tea throughout the day. I can't say it was even company cause we all know how phobic I am about having people in.

Indoor Soccer Championship Match

So last night was the final game in the Session 1 of the indoor soccer league we play in. We had a pretty good season and a lot of fun. We did well enough that we were fourth before the playoffs last week. That meant that we played the 1st placed team and the winner would play the for championship this week. They were short players and so were we, so it was a fairly quiet game and we won!
So back to this week. All of our players showed up, the bleachers were full of friends and family of players from all lots of teams, and energy was in the air because the game before ours was decided by a shoot-out.
It's not supposed to be a competitive league, but this last game was very much so. All players were giving 110% and it was evident by the blistering shots, bruised ankles (delivered by Anne), yelling from the benches and cheers by the crowd. At the end of the first half we were down by 4-2 and had got a goal in the last minute, so spirits were high.
The second half started and we got 2 goals in the first few minutes to tie it. Then another a few minutes later. Now the intensity was amazing, players were doing all they could to get a shot off, and the goalies were keeping everything out. They squeaked a goal in with about 5 minutes left and we couldn't get another.
So at the end of 40 minutes it was a tie and whet to a shootout. After 4 shooters on each side it was still tied. It wasn't unil the 13th shot that the other team won. But seriously, after a game like that, who cares who won. I have played very few organized games that I have enjoyed so much.
Playing with Anne on the same team was extremely enjoyable too. Being able to discuss the game afterward and trade compliments/critisisms is about each others play is great. And she finally gets why I am so pumped after a good game.
We are both really looking forward the the start of the second session in january.

Laptops are for cats who play soccer at Christmas.

• After all my moaning and complaining about soccer last week, this week prior to our championship game I was awarded 'Most Sportsmanlike' on my team. If that means I play an aggressive game, have few ball skills, laugh when my team players get nailed in the testicles, I guess i'm it. I'm really there to have fun and do not care if we win or lose. We did lose the game but in sudden death overtime- I even had to take a shot on goal which was laughed at. It deserved it.
• I want to remind everybody- yes you three who read this - that it is christmas card time. Mine are half done to be in the mail by Wednesday. I have received four thus far and eagerly stalk the mailperson for yours.
• The acts came through with their surgery fine. They are now neutered and up to date on all their shots.... and we are about $500 poorer.
• Luke ordered a laptop for somebody and in his testing noticed it wasn't perfect so Dell is sending a new one....until then I'm blogging in bed.

Looks like fun to me.

If you took a very violent and angry man and squezed his testoserone onto a roll of movie film, I am pretty sure this is the movie you would get:

Warning: Rated "R"

Tall Pines On-Board

These guys were awesome to watch from the spectator area. But because they were obviously pushing hard and going wide on stuff, I wasn't really expecting them to make it to the night stages. Now I know what happened. This stage would be crazy with ice and snow like it is most other years.

Rally of the Tall Pines

So this year I once again attended Tall Pines. Its the final round of the Canadian National Rally Championship.
What was different this year was that I signed up to be a worker, and in this case I was assigned to be a marsall. It was a new experience for me and went well. I basically just told people to stay behind the tape at the spectator areas, did some traffic directing, and helped with some setup and clean-up afterwards. There wasn't a real great line up this year but there was some really good driving and some close calls anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
It was fun being able to see the podium at the end of the night and hang out with and congratulate some of the drivers.
Anne and I may do it next year, but it depends on work and stuff.