Spring is here!

This is how crazy I've become as a result of a long, cold, dark winter. I can't even smile nicely at a funeral; gotta do a toothy-goofy grin to make the cameraperson laugh.

This is me (wearing the lovely black suit -- with not-quite-black hose)) with Mr X's sister and our nephew at Mr X's grandma's funeral this week. She had been sick and unaware of her surroundings for many years, so this service was more a celebration of her life than a depressing funeral. It was good to see all of Mr X's relatives again. I met many of them last year at a reunion that Mr X was unable to attend, but he hadn't seen a lot of them for about 20 years. It was fun to point out his cousins and their spouses to him. Most of them came up to say hi to me and said, "So, this must be Mr X!". Too funny.

We have both been SOOOOO busy at work lately, which is why I haven't been on here much. Between O/T, trying to work out, fielding company and hanging out with the family, time just flies by. By the time I get a chance to come on here my brain is fried and my hands don't want to type anymore.

Last night one of Mr X's best friends (and former hockey team mate) was playing hockey here at a First Nations tournament so we went to watch him play. One of my favorite things is to be surrounded by that community. Mr X, too, but he fits in by blood; I just fit in by the love I have for the culture and the people. I'm pretty sure I was a Plains Indian in a previous life because that's what I've always wanted to be for as long as I can remember and that's where I've always felt comfortable. I see the little kids (boys specifically, oddly) and I want them to be mine. It's the weirdest thing; I just feel surrounded by warmth and peace when I'm at a First Nations function, especially when there are drums and singing (which there wasn't this weekend).
I've never told Mr X's FN friends that -- I'm sure they'd think I'm crazy -- but they love me anyway. hah.

I don't have any special Chaeli stories that I can think of today. She's just getting cuter and chattier every day. We were colouring today and she was showing off her colour skills. Blue and purple are her favorite. She'd pick a colour for herself, blue for example, tell me what it was, then she'd pick a very similar colour for me. When she'd change crayons, I'd have to change too so we matched. She's our sunshine, no doubt about it.

I'm watching a CBC documentary right now on why the US always needs to be at war. It's so disturbing. Donald Rumsfeld is my least-favorite person on the planet, I believe. Killing innocent people sucks. That is all.

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood...

Ah, it feels so springy and melty and warmish outside these days. It's heavenly. I've been in a bit of a grumpy-slump the past couple of weeks because winter was just getting me down, but I feel the joy coming back now. Whoot!

On Saturday, I took Chaeli to the park for almost 2 hours. We had so much fun on the slides and the crawling-on-thingys. As soon as we got to the playground she jumped out of her sled and ran for the merry-go-round. She must remember it from last year because right away she said, "wheeeee" and tried to push it. Unfortunately, it's packed half way up with snow so it won't be spinning until this time in May, so we didn't spend much time there. I went down the slides with her a few times but after a couple of rounds she looked back at me, held up her hand and said, "Ima. No." and she zipped down by herself. It was a twisty slide so she went fast, but I slid down right after her and it was fine. That was it, no more help. She is Ms. Independence.

One of Chaeli's favorite games is hide-and-seek. She plays it a lot at Nanna and Poppa's (her day care providers), apparently. At the playground, we were playing around under the slides, kind of hiding, and she'd cover her face and count to three like she was playing hide and seek. One time, she put her head down on the lower end of the slide, covered her eyes and said, "One, two, three, come!" like she always does. She looked up, expecting to see me but I was standing behind her. She said, "Where are you?" then turned around, saw me and said, "Boo!". It was so hilarious.

Nyk took Chaeli to the doctor for her 2-year checkup today. She's about 27 pounds (12.4 kgs) and almost 30 inches (78cm) tall. As tiny as she is, she's still bigger than Nyk was at her age. The doctor pronounced her perfectly healthy and said her face looks wiser than 2. Cute!

Argh, work is crazy insane these days. I just cannot get anywhere. I think I'm going to have to start working overtime again because I keep getting new stuff for April 1st and I'm falling further and further behind. It's so frustrating because a few of my coworkers don't have enough to do and I'm going insane trying to stay afloat. I don't know why everyone is so afraid of real estate -- I could really use a hand. Whatevah. I can do it. I did it last year; I can do it again.

Mr X is working tonnes of overtime. He didn't take any time off at all this weekend. I feel bad for him -- I don't know how he does it. He's a machine. I'm so proud of him. I just hope he gets some time off when the weather gets nice so we can do stuff outside together.

Miles and Nyk bought their wedding bands yesterday in the Big City. I think they're actually going to go through with this whole thing. Well, not the whole thing; Nyk has put the kabosh on an actual wedding. She says it freaked her out when people started saying, "It's your day!" and "... you'll be the centre of attention" whereby she decided she totally does not want a Day and she most certainly does not want to be the Centre of anything. So, Marriage Commissioner it is. That doesn't surprise or disappoint me at all. I'll be lucky if I get to see it all go down, but I just want her to do what she feels comfortable doing. She is so funny. And she is so happy. I'm incredibly proud of her and her job and her house and her perfect little child.

Oh, and I take back my hateful spiel about black nylons. Partly, anyway. I saw someone wearing black nylons with the right skirt and the right shoes last week and it was very cute. I was wrong. There can be a time and a place. Next thing, I'll be waxing poetic about shoulder pads. Stay tuned.