I’m rarely in pictures. And even more rarely will I post them. But there was something about this one that was all wrong – the light, the grain, the blur – that made it just perfect.
And I guess this makes Frank the Baby’s debut on forgetful. :) I imagine you’ll be seeing alot of him in a couple of months…
March 9, 2010 - 9:34 am - The terrible photographer did not do his subjects justice. My apologies :)
March 9, 2010 - 9:46 am - Don't be silly. There were some technically correct, perfectly lit and in-focus shots in the bunch, but they weren't near as nice as this 'mistake'. I love it.
March 9, 2010 - 10:26 am - Gorgeous!
March 10, 2010 - 10:35 am - This is beautiful! Once again, you're pulling off that baby bump like no one's business.
It’s amazing what a little vitamin D will do for the soul. As I’ve mentioned this week already, Jaia and I have been spending a lot of time outside and it’s paying off in spades. I can already feel the cabin fever lifting and my spirits rising. I feel rejuvenated.
When you are happy and feeling good, celebrating other good things that make you happy is in order. That’s my plan today.
1. TILES. Dan started tiling the backsplash last weekend, a task that will likely be finished this weekend. This kitchen reno has taken a lot out of us (especially Dan) and we will all be thrilled when it’s done. A few weeks ago, when all the cabinets, flooring and island were in place, I thought it looked great and could see an end in sight. Now that the tiles are up, I’m in love. Serious L.O.V.E.
We hummed and hawed for about which glass tiles to choose for about a month and now that they are up on the wall, I know we made the right decision. Stunning, if I do say so myself.
2. TIME. We have less than 9 weeks until Frank the Baby makes his appearance. I have to admit, some weeks felt like they were each 3 months long, but now that I look back and have already passed the 30 week mark, I can’t believe how fast time flies.
We have a lot to do to prepare for a new little person in our house, so here’s hoping the next fews weeks are of the slow variety to give me a chance to catch up.
3. LEARNING. Jaia has spent the last week perfectling her ‘A’s. Seeing as it is the majority letter in her name, she’s wanted to make sure she does them right …everywhere. Every chance she gets. On every surface she can. Dan and I walk into rooms to find the chalk board, the white board or every bit of scrap paper covered in the most beautiful ‘A’s we’ve ever seen.
The really great part about it is how proud she is of herself. Seeing her face when something she’s been working on just clicks is really indescribable. What isn’t, is how proud I am of her.
4. CATNAPS.
There’s nothing I like better than an afternoon nap. Seriously. Well, except maybe when Jaia takes an afternoon nap. She hasn’t been taking them on a regular basis since about October and some days they are a necessity – for her rest and my sanity. So an afternoon nap on a beautiful Friday makes me very, very happy.
What makes you happy on a beautiful Friday afternoon?
March 5, 2010 - 5:31 pm - leaving work on Friday afternoon, knowing that you're a maximum amount of time away from being back at work, is GLORIOUS.
March 5, 2010 - 6:25 pm - The tiles look awesome... good job guys :) I can't believe its only 9 weeks until FtB debuts into the world!! That is crazy.
It better not be a tease. The weather has been improving significantly every day and Jaia and I have easily spent more time outdoors than in over the last three. It is still warm jacket/coat and mitt weather, but at least it is warming up. And I can’t deny that watching the snow recede is like much needed therapy for me.
Today, we dusted off the cutest trike in the world and took it out for a spin. Then, after dinner, Little Miss convinced her dad to take her out again.
I can’t wait for summer…
March 4, 2010 - 1:05 am - Ha...my ant-spam word was 'bunion'. Anyways, lovely that you guys out east are getting a bit of what we West Coasters had last week. Nothing like a taste of spring to keep the hope alive that summer WILL return!! A little sunshine makes everything happy!
Jaia rarely sits for me to take her picture. Not without her putting up a fight then pouting or making a face at me in more than 3/4 of the ones I take.
But today, when she was cruising around in her Snow White dress, she happily offered to LET me take her picture. And I must say, maybe it was the fact that she was playing along – finally – or maybe the light or the colours were right, but this is now my new favourite picture.
February 26, 2010 - 8:12 pm - She looks like Cinderella. Very cute !!!
My distaste for winter has not been well hidden this year. I’ve talked about it a lot. But, in my defence, it’s been going on a looooong time. Didn’t it start snowing in November?
I feel like I’m just done wrapping up in warm coats and hats and mitts and fighting the cold. We get out, Jaia and I, almost every day, for walks and fresh air, but I’m dying for springtime. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up, for the flowers to bloom, for the snow to melt. I’m just done.
And when I’ve crawled out of bed the past two mornings to more snow, I felt defeated. Wasn’t it supposed to stop now? I realize it is still February, but I was hopeful.
So. Rather than sulk all day and look out the window, Jaia and I embraced the weather today. To see Jaia revel in the snow, made it not seem so bad. To hear her squeal with laughter as she slid down the hill, made it worth it.
Here’s a little of our 2 hours outside today:
Namely, the Warm Fuzzy Jar. That’s what we’ve instituted in our house and it works like a charm.
Jaia is a good kid. A really good kid. And I’m not just saying that on the blog to make people believe it. She really is. Our naughty stool went virtually unused for months on end because we just didn’t need it. No problem was too big that a conversation about it wouldn’t solve it.
And then she turned three. I won’t say it all went to hell in a handbasket (that’s a ridiculous saying, I wouldn’t say it even if it were true…or made sense), but things have changed a little. Our quiet, sweet, sensitive bean has acquired a voice. A loud voice. She can be stubborn and if she wants something to go her way, she’ll let you know.
So, after having our quiet, sweet, sensitive daughter all along, Dan and I were fairly unprepared for such a change. It wasn’t an every day occurrence, but the episodes were far more frequent than we would have liked. Dan and I aren’t really punishers or voice raisers so we suddenly found ourselves in quite the predicament. The naughty stool re-emerged with less than glowing results. Talking calmly and quietly went ignored. The silent treatment was laughable. We were at a loss.
And then I saw it. On one of my favourite blogs, a mom talked about the warm fuzzy jar she used for her kids. The (very) simple concept is this: Kid does something awesome without being asked or follows directions without whining, etc and they get a ‘warm fuzzy’. We are using pompoms as our warm fuzzies. Pretty coloured ones, just cause it’s more fun. (White cotton balls would work just as well). Once the jar is full, The kid gets a reward. Depending on how your household works, this can be whatever you and your family deems reward-worthy. A day out at the movies, a new toy, kids choice of restaurant. Whatever.
So far it’s been brilliant. Jaia works hard to get the warm fuzzies added to her jar and she takes pride in each one she adds. She already seems to be back to her old self. Tantrums have faded and are few and far between again. It’s been lovely. So much so that …it gives me the warm fuzzies. ;)
February 23, 2010 - 6:56 pm - Best idea I've heard in a long time!
February 23, 2010 - 8:35 pm - What an awesome idea. What will her reward be for a full jar? On another note, the phrase "to hell in a handbasket" always makes me think of those hilarious cards in the card store in the bottom of 100 Queen. Remember those?
February 23, 2010 - 9:48 pm - I can totally picture that card. As for the reward, I think we'll give Jaia a few options and let her pick. Unless I find something awesome in the meantime.
February 24, 2010 - 1:41 pm - I want a warm fuzzy jar. Can you make one for me and add Farm Boy sour jubes for good deeds, the prize at the end being I get to eat them? Red ones only :)
Overheard after dinner tonight:
“Daddy, will you be mine forever?”
Cutest. Ever.
February 23, 2010 - 5:23 pm - *I* say that to Dan, and everyone thinks it's weird.
February 24, 2010 - 1:42 pm - It's definitely cuter when Jaia says it. And I don't get the evil eyes from Sonja that I do when you say it to me. But seriously, that was pretty high up on the list of best questions ever asked of me.
And that’s what he was, a friend. To everyone. And today, after 16 years, he passed away.
When I started university I got the crazy idea to get a puppy. Not the best plan for a university student, but at the time was still living at home and after having lost a puppy in someone else’s care one day and having never fully recovered, it was something I was sure about. I knew I wanted a dog.
And when I saw him, the runt of the little and smaller than a guinea pig, I knew I wanted him. We named him Kennedy. He was my dog (I was reminded constantly) but we all loved him. And we all took care of him.
Over the first few years, Kennedy lived with me, but after some living arrangements with questionable roommates and a worry that he was not being treated by them as well as he could be, the decision was made to have Kennedy move home with my parents ‘temporarily’.
He never left them again. And although they spent a few years continuing to call him my dog, he was theirs. He loved my mom and Dave so much and gave up on me almost immediately. It broke my heart a little at first, but I came to realize that they were the perfect home for him. They had time for him when I didn’t. And, though they wouldn’t ever admit to this, I doubt they would have given him up even if I’d asked for him.
Looking back, deciding to get a dog when I was just starting school was the wrong decision, but bringing Kennedy home to be part of our family was not. He fit right in. He was perfect for us at the time and always.
Just a few weeks ago, our boy who was up until that point still playing like a puppy, took a turn for the worst. Dan, Jaia and I were down in Virginia for a week and I got a chance to say goodbye. I feel so fortunate to have been there.
When you are forced to say goodbye and your heart feels likes it is breaking you question why you did this in the first place. But I can say, that having Kennedy be part of our family was worth it. He was a constant in our lives when we needed him and without him, the last 16 years would have been a little less rich.
Rest in Peace, little man. You will be missed.
February 22, 2010 - 8:54 am - I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy :( We had just been talking about him a few weeks back. I'm happy that you got to see him while you where away last week. xo
February 22, 2010 - 9:05 am - I remember the little skip he took every 5 steps or so ... he was a cute little guy.
February 23, 2010 - 2:55 pm - Shannen what a lovely note you wrote about Kennedy and the pictures were/are just perfect. Your Mom & "Lorne" sent them on to us. It will be very difficult for you and your Mom to lose Kennedy. For you it will be a link to your University days and to your last home with your Mom. To your Mom it will be the loss of a friend and your time at home as a young carefree girl. Big losses for both of you. We really hope that you are well and that your pregnancy is going well. Love to Dan and to Jaia Jim & Marian
Hello. This is Mark. You might rememember me from a few years ago when I wrote some silly posts about terrible commercials and a guy who tried to jump over the St Lawrence river in a winged car. Some posts have been devoured into the mysterious nether-regions of wordpress, while some are still around for your perusal. I’ve also noticed that a lot of posts I didn’t write have been credited to me. Like this one about what it’s like to be Jaia’s dad. Peculiar. In any case, if Dan can keep getting me to drunkenly promise to write things on forgetful from time to time, I could be around a bit more.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, a number of us were sitting around my dining room table discussing music (I guess we had already finished talking about football, hockey and the Wire), when I off-the-cuff mentioned that Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was not only easily the best album of 2009 (due to a lack of much strong competition), but would also easily make my “top ten albums of the decade” list. This lead to a discussion of what else would be on the list. After much self-reflection and deliberation, I think I’m finally ready to delve into it.
A quick disclaimer: Gary and I have been having a silly argument recently with a certain someone (let’s call him “Jason W”. No, that’s too obvious… we’ll go with “J. Wiens”) about whether or not someone can say that an album is better than another. His argument is that music is art, all music reviews and rankings are just opinions, all opinions are equal, and music is “good” as long as someone likes it. Being snobs, Gary and I naturally disagree, but find it a difficult position to argue. In any event, we’ve reached an uneasy truce, but just to make it clear, this list is my favourite albums of the 2000s.
Because limiting a list like this to only 10 is friggin impossible, here’s 25-11 without any commentary whatsoever.
25. jay-z – the black album (2003)
24. godspeed you black emperor – lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven (2000)
23. band of horses – everything all the time (2006)
22. the postal service – give up (2005)
21. tv on the radio – dear science (2008)
20. radiohead – kid a (2000)
19. amon tobin – out from out where (2002)
18. the avalanches – since i left you (2000)
17. dismemberment plan – change (2001)
16. junior boys – so this is goodbye (2006)
15. mogwai – happy songs for happy people (2003)
14. phoenix – it’s never been like that (2006)
13. do make say think – winter hymn country hymn secret hymn (2003)
12. the wrens – the meadowlands (2003)
11. the national – alligator (2005)
Alright, here we go…
10. interpol – turn on the bright lights (2002)
Outstanding debut album from a great band. When people complained that they sounded “too much like Joy Division” (like it’s a bad thing that a band would want to sound like Joy Division), it got a lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t know they ever existed to start listening to Joy Division, which I think is a good thing. Plus, this album introduced us all to Carlos D, probably the coolest live performer I’ve ever seen.
09. four tet – rounds (2003)
When I lived with my old roommate Paul and I’d play this album, he’d say something “hilarious” like “get out your glowsticks!”, or “yo, your album’s skipping, B”. Well screw him, this album is awesome.
08. daft punk – alive 2007 (2007, duh)
You might think it’s cheap to include a live album on a list like this since it contains all of the best songs from a favourite artist with no filler. Normally, I might agree with you, but I don’t even like Daft Punk. This album, though, is amazing and probably the best live album I’ve ever heard.
07. bloc party – silent alarm (2005)
Bloc Party’s rapid decent into embarassing awfulness is one of the saddest musical developments of the 2000s, but that doesn’t change how great Silent Alarm was/is. Outstanding debut that showed tons of potential. The two albums since have gotten progressively worse (“Mercury” remains one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard), but they’re still young, so maybe there’s still hope.
06. phoenix – wolfgang amadeus phoenix (2009)
And here it is, as promised. The best english-language indie rock album from France of the 2000s – a prestigious honour, to be sure. Since I got this album at the beginning of 2009, I think I’ve listened to it at least once every 2 days, and on the way to every soccer/hockey game I’ve played since. If I do this list again in a few years, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s #1.
05. arcade fire – funeral (2004)
One of my favourite memories of the 2000s is seeing Arcade Fire in Montreal at the Corona Theatre with Shannen and Dan a few months after Funeral had been released. The night before, we had all gone out to dinner in Montreal with friends at a bring-your-own wine restaurant where we plowed through 9 or 10 bottles of wine between 7 people. We then went back to a friend’s house for homemade mojitos, after which we split up for further shenanigans (I think Shan and Dan went for drunken karaoke and poutine, while Sonja and I went to a club to see one of the DJs from Jurassic 5). Needless to say, we all had horrible hangovers the next day. Homemade mojitos will do that, I suppose. I don’t think any of us really felt like being out in public, let alone standing in a packed theatre, but once the music started, the headaches cleared, we all rallied, and had an amazing time.
04. cannibal ox – the cold vein (2001)
My favourite hip hop album ever. I don’t really know what else there is to say about it.
03. broken social scene – you forgot it in people (2002)
This was my first introduction to the incestuous Broken Social Scene family of dirty hippy bands (Metric, Stars, Feist, DMST, Apostle of Hustle, etc, etc, etc). A perfect summer album, it sounds like a bunch of talented mid-20-somethings rented a house for a summer and randomly recorded new songs with whoever happened to be in the room at the time.
02. radiohead - in rainbows (2007 or 2008, depending on whether or not you have a computer)
I wrote too much about In Rainbows already, in my now-gone 4 part “best albums of 2007″ mega post, but the whole revolutionary “internet release, no promotion, pay what you want” idea wouldn’t have worked nearly as well if this album wasn’t near-perfect.
01. sigur ros – takk (2005)
“A non-English post rock album from Iceland?! what a ripoff!” you might think (if you’re still reading). Let me explain… I think I discovered Sigur Ros at the beginning of 2000 after reading glowing reviews of their 1999 album Agaetis Byrjun. I fell in love with them immediately. In the 10 years since, they’ve released 3 more amazing albums, I saw them live twice (including the best concert I’ve ever seen in 2008 at the Greek Theatre in Berkley, CA), and “Hoppipolla” from Takk was Sonja’s and my wedding song – Sigur Ros (and this album in particular) have been the soundtrack to my decade.
So there you go – my favourite albums of the decade. Comment away, Gary…
February 19, 2010 - 11:29 am - Mark: What happens if an incredible album comes out later this year? You've closed your best albums of the decade category one year too early. There are still 10 1/2 months left in the first decade of the 21st century. Do the math.
February 19, 2010 - 11:40 am - while you're technically correct, I don't think many people consider 2000 to be part of the 1990s. In any case, this list covers 2000-2009, same as pitchfork's 2000s list, and every other site/zine.
February 19, 2010 - 3:32 pm - I found my rant about commercials: http://www.forgetful.ca/?p=351 It's been credited to Dan now for some reason. Maybe nothing's acutally gone missing, just the "author" field is messed up...
February 19, 2010 - 3:44 pm - Oh, I'll comment. Although, what can I say when you cop out and say these are your 'favorite' albums of the decade. HOW CAN I ARGUE? So let me start arguements by stating that Interpol's 'Antics' is a better album than 'Turn on the Bright Lights' and Band of Horses's "Cease to Begin" is better than 'Everything All the Time". Oh, and it's inexcusable that Kid A is so high up the list.
February 19, 2010 - 4:10 pm - I would have added the following to the list: Nickelback - Silver Side Up (2001) Darius Rucker - Learn to Live (2008) Justin Bieber - My World (2009)
February 19, 2010 - 5:07 pm - I would've adde: Motley crue: Saints of Los Angeles(2008), Daughtry: Daughtry(2006) and Jonas Brothers(2007)
by shannen
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