International Tag is Back

Some of you may not know that in addition to this mildly popular Super Happy Blog, I also co-blog on Jen and Carol's International Photo Tag. The premise of which (taken directly from the header of that site) is:

"Canadian Jen posts a picture, then Scottish Carol posts a picture of the same thing (only Scottish). Then Carol posts a pic of something else, then Jen posts a pic of the same thing (only Canadian). And one day, with luck, we'll have a photo blog that compares Burlington, Ontario, Canada with Glasgow, Scotland in some interesting way."

Why am I mentioning this now? Well back in November I posted a pic of Burlington's population sign. Well, Glasgow doesn't have a population sign, and Carol took her time snapping a pic of the equivalent: the "Welcome to Glasgow" city sign (something about her having to risk life and limb on a busy highway, er, I mean, motorway). Anyway it took five months, but she did it!

So anyone who's keen on seeing a pic of a Scottish city sign (as well as many other pics comparing Burlington, Ontario with Glasgow Scotland), click here now.

Taking our Scottish Friends to the Zoo.

Those of you who know us (and/or have been reading this blog more than a couple months), know that my husband and I are big zoo nuts. We'll find any excuse to go to the zoo, including (but not limited to):

1. It's Boxing Day so admission is free.
2. It's winter, so it's totally not crowded.
3. It's summer, so the weather's nice.
4. One of us has recently purchased a new camera.
5. We are entertaining our Scottish friends for the day.

Today we used excuse #5 and picked Carol and Derek up at their hotel for a day of zooriffic fun. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Welcome to Canada Carol and Derek!

Yesterday Mr. William spent the day hanging out with his Omi, while I went to Toronto and played tourist with Scottish Carol and her husband Derek. Now I know Toronto just about as well as the next Burlingtonian (or less) so I really wasn't much of a guide. I took them to 401 Richmond (where the art galleries are, one of my fave Toronto destinations especially since it doesn't cost anything) and we spent most of the day wandering the streets. Carol says the city is "very clean" but I think that has more to do with the fact that it was so sunny yesterday that everything seemed to be shining. I hope we have this nice weather the whole two weeks they're here, then Carol and Derek can tell the folks back home in Scotland that Canada is the perfect tropical destination. Incidentally I learned that Scotland really doesn't have fire hydrants, who knew?

In other news, my son has been kind enough to share his cold germs with me, so last night I had a hard time getting to sleep as my nose was running like Niagara Falls on speed. When I finally got to sleep (because my nostrils stopped dripping and just clogged themselves) my darling husband woke me up to offer me nasal spray. It seems my predicament caused me to "make weird noises" that prevented my hubby from sleeping.

Jen and Carol's International Photo Tag

I started a new blog with my Scottish friend Carol that everyone should check out. (www.internationaltag.blogspot.com) Here's the description:

"Canadian Jen posts a picture, then Scottish Carol posts a picture of the same thing (only Scottish). Then Carol posts a pic of something else, then Jen posts a pic of the same thing (only Canadian). And one day, with luck, we'll have a photo blog that compares Burlington, Ontario, Canada with Glasgow, Scotland in some interesting way."

Okay, so the description's lame. But I felt the best thing to do was to tell it like it is. If you go there right now you can compare Canadian and Scottish squirrels.

On a completely different topic: It's hot. And I got suckered into Morty-sitting again today. And Monday. And it's hot. Did I mention it's hot?

Happy Birthday Carol!!!!

Today is Scottish Carol's birthday. I was going to call her but, alas, by the time I thought of it, it was 5 pm. That means it's 10 pm in Scotland, which is too late to call someone if you want to be polite (and I'm Canadian, so of course I want to be polite).

Carol and I have been e-mail buddies since we were fifteen and now that I have free long distance to the UK, we talk on the phone all the time. We met in person once, in 1999 when I went to England and Scotland with my family. Since then we both got married, Carol bought a house and I had a baby. In September, Carol and her husband are vacationing here in sunny Canada. I can't wait to see her again!!!



Anyway. Tonight we are going to the drive-in to see Shrek. And expect to see more birthday-wishing blog entries in the next few days. Tomorrow is Becca's birthday and Monday is my brother's. Holy birthdays, Batman!

Fell into a Black Hole Today

The great thing about using Vonage as my phone service is that I get to call my Scottish friend Carol and talk as long as I want for free (theoretically I could also call other people overseas, I just can't think of anyone else worth talking to). The thing that sucks is that when the internet cuts out, I fall into a black hole and have to float around in deep space while I wait to be reconnected to the Earth.

It so happened that today I was on the phone with Carol when this happened. Before I realized what was happening, Carol's pleasant Scottish lilt faded into oblivion and I was left in a communications abyss with a suddenly cranky baby and a pan of overdone mushrooms.

A list of things formed in my mind of things that I absolutely had to get done, but obviously couldn't:
-call Carol back and finish our conversation properly
-phone Adam and ask him if he was coming home soon and if he minded burnt mushrooms
-check my e-mail for the second time today
-msn Adam to tell him the phone wasn't working
-attempt to amuse William with some nostalgic cartoon downloaded from youtube
-blog about being in a black hole

William's William Shirt

My good friend Carol made William this custom onesie and sent it to us all the way from Scotland. This morning I finally got the nerve to risk ruining it by actually putting it on him. He promptly spit up on it and pooed in it. Sigh. At least I got this picture. Hopefully that new stain remover we got is as good as the commercials say it is. If not, I may never get a good picture of the back of the shirt, which has his date and time of birth on it. Anyway, the blanket in the picture is also from Carol and has so far remained poo-free.

Other things: Adam has been working late all week. Yesterday, despite it being Saturday, he worked until 5 am! (6 am if you count daylight savings time). He did take a two-hour break to take me out to dinner at Red Lobster (my wonderful Dad watched William for us). Still, I've been missing my Adam. I'm going to go kiss him now.