Friday, March 28, 2008

This doesn't add up

Okay, I'm no mathematician, but this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me:

Number of kids in my house: 2
Major holidays that occurred in the past week: 1
Number of grandparents in immediate vicinity: 4
---
My net chocolate gain: 0

I have not seen a bit of chocolate in this house since Easter. My kids got all sorts of trinkets and such, but where's the chocolate?

I feel so cheated.

Monday, March 24, 2008

A list....

1. My parents got home from a 3 week Mediterranean cruise/visit with my mom's sister in England. While they were in transit back to Canada, I got a call informing me that my mom's brother in the Bahamas had passed away. So when I got to the airport to pick them up last night, I was responsible for breaking the news to my mom. He had been battling cancer, so it wasn't totally unexpected, but still, not a fun situation.

2. On a much different and lighter note, DD is now toilet trained (with the odd accident here and there). Yay! She just turned three last month. DS aka Bubba aka cockroach (he wears a lot of overalls, and when he does he kinda resembles the guy from Men in Black that the bug embodies, because he kinda stumbles around) is doing good too.. although he's much messier than DD ever was, which does not sit well with I or DW (we're both clean freaks).

What? You want a picture? Ok



3. We did a rockin' hand-clapping, knee-slapping, hallelujah-shouting, gospel-type song for our Sunday easter service, and I had a chance to wail on my saxamaphone. I haven't had a chance to play like that in years, particularly in that context (with 1,000 people standing and clapping along). In the words of the great Chris Farley: "That was awesome."

4. I expect to be getting a big raise and promotion in the next month or so. If not, I will be looking for a new job.

5. I might get to see Lightsy next month! All I have to do is respond to her e-mail :-)

6. We're planning a trip to Newfoundland later this year (for a wedding). It will be another place to cross off my list of places I've never been before.

7. I've been getting along fairly well with my brother (aka asshat) lately. I'm sure he'll do something to screw that up soon enough :-)

Monday, March 17, 2008

A little boasting here..

http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=380132

Brock wins national basketball title
Wayne Kondro, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, March 16, 2008


REUTERS/Chris Wattie
Members of the Brock Badgers celebrate with the W.P. McGee trophy after their win against the Acadia Axemen at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship finals in Ottawa on Sunday.

OTTAWA - Their basketball histories and lives were so inextricably linked that it's a wonder they still had individual identities.

In various combinations, the Brock Badgers had played together on club teams, high school teams, provincial teams and in neighbourhood pickup games since the age of 12, and in some cases even younger.

That familiarity and their resulting faith in each proved the difference as the Badgers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to nip the Acadia Axemen 64-61 in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball final Sunday at Scotiabank Place.

"We'll probably have a few drinks to celebrate, but, whatever we do, we'll do it together because that's how we won it, together," said guard Scott Murray, son of coach Ken Murray, who also coached Brock to its first CIS title in 1992.

"We didn't panic," said forward Dusty Bianchin, who made a pair of jump 15-foot jump shots in the final two minutes as the Badgers completed an improbable rally from being down 31-21 at halftime. "We were down 10, but we weren't shooting the ball well and we knew that we could get back on them. The team cohesion we have is unbelievable, and we all trust that each other can get the job done, particularly on defence."

Tournament MVP Owen White said a younger team might have lost its poise, but the veteran Badgers didn't.

"We didn't give up," White said. "Even when things weren't working well, we stayed positive and we kept working on them."

Another Badger, Rohan Steen, said the team had been up and down in its shooting all season, but Murray told them to keep firing.

"We know we're good shooters, so we just kept shooting," Steen said. "Whether it falls or not, we're going to shoot, and, when it falls, we win. There was never a doubt in my mind that we would win this. Check what I told the local papers (in St. Catharines). I guaranteed this win."

Steen added that the national title would cement lifelong friendships. "We get on each other's nerves every now and then, but we're friends forever now."

Murray, the coach, was left beaming - like any father would.

"I've been watching these kids play together since they were 12 years old, and I told them, with 10 minutes to play, ‘You can be the best in the country.' I'm really, really proud of them. I've watched them grow as individuals. What a fitting way for them to end their careers."

It certainly looked grim in the first half as the Badgers fell behind after shooting 8-for-23 (23 per cent) from the floor, including 3-for-18 from behind the three-point arc, producing their lowest scoring half on the season.

They clawed back into the game in the second half as point guard Brad Rootes began to attack the Acadia defence, and they knotted the score at 43 on a basket by White.

With the score tied at 50 heading into the final quarter, Paolo Santana used his quickness to restore Acadia's lead on driving layups and a banked three-pointer.

The Badgers, though, maintained their poise. Steen hit one three-pointer while Mike Kemp hit another, and Bianchin made a 15-footer off a pass from a Rootes with 1:45 to play to give Brock a 62-60 lead.

Acadia's Shawn Berry hit a free throw with 56.1 seconds remaining, and the Axemen got the ball back after the rebound of the second attempt was tied up. Steen stepped into a passing lane and stole the ball, though, which led to another 15-footer by Bianchin with 11.4 seconds remaining for insurance.

Acadia's Leonel Saintil, a former Ottawa high school star and this year's Atlantic conference player of the year, speculated the Axemen had a bit of a letdown after their 82-80 double-overtime upset of the top-seeded, five-time defending CIS champion Carleton Ravens in the semifinals on Saturday night.

"But no excuses," Saintil said. "They outplayed us. They were the better team. They came out with more energy in the second half, and we couldn't match that. They came out and wanted it more, I guess."

Acadia coach Les Berry said his team was badly outrebounded.

"They were really aggressive," Berry said of the Badgers. "They rebounded well and we got lost in transition a couple of times, and they hit some big three-point shots. That's what they do well."

Kemp paced Brock with 23 points, and White added 12. Santana led Acadia with 18 points. Shawn Berry contributed 14 and Saintil had 12.

In the fifth-place consolation final, the Laval Rouge et Or clipped the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 86-84.

Jean-Philippe Morin and Jean-Francois Beaulieu-Maheux paced Laval with 20 points each. Jerome Turcotte-Routhier 19.

Chris Dyck notched a tournament high 37 points for the Thunderbirds, while Blain LaBranche added 10.

Joining White on the all-tournament team were Saintil, Kemp, Beaulieu-Maheux and Acadia's Achuil Lual.

Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Deep thoughts...

I was watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse the other day (with my kids... really ), and an old mystery was brought back to my attention.

Why is it that Goofy (a dog) can talk, but Pluto (also a dog) cannot?

And in this particular episode, Donald Duck took off his shirt (the only article of clothes he typically wears), and put on a pair of swim trunks to go swimming.

Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

And in case you were wondering, my favourite kids show is Bunnytown. Freakin' hilarious.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

I'm still here... and kicking....

Not sure if everyone has given up on me, but I'm still here, and hope to start contributing more frequently again.

1. January and February were brutal for sickness around our family. Everything from respiratory infections to stomach bugs (resulting in me yakking for the first time in about 15 years. Yay.)

2. I'm in desperate need of a haircut.

3. Wheezy's book "Wake" is now available in bookstores. Go and get it... author Lisa McMann. I have a copy sitting on my desk right here beside me. See:



Oh crap, I just posted a pic of myself, didn't I? And for the record, my mac reverses the image... that's not a misprinted cover or anything...

4. Why am I still dealing with acne on a daily basis at age 33? *sigh*

5. I've been having self-esteem issues of late. Can you tell? lol

6. That cruise back in Nov.? Seems like years ago. That's the last time I take a November vacation and then have to ride out the rest of the winter.

7. I think I'm this close *pinches fingers together* to convincing my wife that we need to relocate to a more temperate climate. The weather has really gotten to me this year to the point it's affecting my personality and my moods. Anybody want to sponsor me for a job so that I can move to the U.S.?

8. I think I deserve a big raise... now I just have to wait for the right opportunity to ask for it.

*smooches and hugs to all my bloggy friends*