It's really hard to believe that I started this blog over five years ago (and let's just forget that I haven't updated in two and a half years). It really doesn't seem like it has been five years since we left California, but it has.

I thought I would try to start blogging again, but no promises. I don't know, is personal blogging even necessary anymore, with Facebook and Twitter? Do we need blog posts updating people on our lives when we can just write a quick Facebook update?

Anyway.

You may or may not know that we have moved to a new apartment in our neighbourhood. It's a three bedroom in a small building of six apartments, and we're very happy here. It's on a quiet street, but only a few minutes walk to Yonge & Eglinton, Yonge & Davisville, or Mount Pleasant. The kids are still at the same school, though Hayley will be changing schools in September to begin the Junior Extended French Program. Half her day will be in French instruction, and half in English. She's sad to be leaving her friends and teachers behind, but she's also very excited, and we think it's a great opportunity for her. I'm not sure at this point how I'm going to manage getting them both to and from school every day (the current school is southwest of here, the new school is northeast, and we are about equal distance from each).

I am the co-chair of the school council this year, and that's keeping me busy. I'm also co-ordinating our annual fun fair in June, and preparations are under way for that. It's a lot of work, but I'm excited about it.

Carl is enjoying his job. He's been there since July, and it's a great fit for him. Life is better for the whole family when he comes home happy at the end of the day!

So that's the update. Let's see if I can post more often.

Happy Halloween...

... from this funny looking family:

April!

Ah, spring is in the air. Okay, we've still got some snow on the ground, and the bitter cold is fresh in my memory, but the last few days have been beautiful, and I'm thinking positively! A little more rain should wash away the rest of the snow, and we'll be singin'.

Life is good here. I'm still working for Quartet with Carl in the mornings, home with the kids in the afternoons.

Carson has become quite the morbid little storyteller, with all his stories involving some kind of unhealthy end for some character or another. Is this supposed to happen at 4? Poor, poor George Shrinks. I won't go into details, because not only is it morbid, but it's also gross.

He just got his very first report card, and it basically said that our son is a genius. Which we knew. :D He's doing very well, and apparently his math skills are quite developed for his age. His teacher is also impressed with his vocabulary. He still gets upset easily, but he's on the young end of the class, so it's normal.

Hayley is doing well. She didn't get a report card this time (they stagger the report cards for the Junior and Senior Kindergarteners), but I spoke with her teacher, and she's doing very well too. Her reading is fantastic, I'm so proud of her.

I am very excited to be going away next weekend to ScrapFest in Kitchener. I am meeting up with a bunch of women from an online forum whom I chat with every day, but have never met in real life (except for my sister-in-law Christine of course, we've met ;)). They're coming from Nova Scotia, Washington State, and all over Ontario. I can't wait to meet them. I'm also taking two classes with Jen Starr while I'm there, and planning to do some shopping. Yay!

Speaking of scrapbooking, here are some layouts I've done lately.

Some Scrapbook Layouts

I've been focusing on digital scrapbooking a lot, but last weekend we had an online crop at Scrap Central, and I decided I was going to do all paper layouts. It was great to play with the papers, inks, and tools again. These are the layouts I did.

2008

Hard to believe we're into 2008. The older I get, the quicker the years fly by.

Things are going well here. I think that anyone who reads this blog (if there's anyone left) got our Christmas newsletter, so you know what's new with us. Not much has changed since January.

I've decided I'm going to start to post some pictures here and some of my scrapbook layouts as well. I haven't been doing the flickr thing lately, so I figured I'd try this instead. I get overwhelmed trying to get everything up and end up doing nothing, so I figure I'll casually post pictures and layouts here and there, and try not to worry about it.

Is it Really October??

Wow, from May to October, that's... horrible!

We're settling nicely into fall. Carson began JK in September, and Hayley is in SK. They are in different classes, but both in the morning, which I am really enjoying! Carson is still unsure how well he likes school. He was eager to go, but once he realized that it's more than just playing and doing what you want, he wasn't so enthusiastic. He's adjusting. Hayley still loves school.

I'm still working at Shopper's, but only on weekends now. It was getting kind of crazy, I was working most nights during the week, and it was just too much. Working weekends is much better.

Still scrapbooking, too. I've gotten into digital scrapbooking lately, which I really enjoy. I still like the tactile nature of scrapping with paper, though.

I've decided that I'm not going to follow the editing track. The revelation that it wasn't for me came in the form of an opening for an editor at Torontoist, a local blog. I was considering it, and then I thought, "that would be so boring." Well. Besides, the nature of editing seems to be a lot of freelance work, and don't think living job-to-job is for me. Next week I begin one of two computer courses that are pre-requisites for a medical office assistant program at the same college (George Brown). I think it's the better option for me, and I think it's something I would enjoy. I'm looking forward to it.

Carl is still plugging away at his job at Quartet. Not much to say about it.

I'm a bad blogger

I update so infrequently that I don't think anyone remembers that I even have a blog! Anyway, even if this is only going out into the blogosphere, this is what I've been up to lately.

I've been working two or three times a week at Shopper's. It's going fine, except that I hurt myself on Saturday. Stupid really, I just tripped over a shopping basket and pulled some muscles in my neck, shoulder, and back. I work tomorrow and I think I'll be ok for that. The doctor gave me the go-ahead.

My favourite thing to do these days is to scrapbook, and to chat about scrapbooking at ScrapCentral. It's a great community where there's always lots to do, like challenges and contests. If you're a scrapbooker, I highly recommend you come and join us! It's Canadian, but we have American scrapbookers on there too. This weekend we're having a National Scrapbooking Day (Saturday) online crop. There will be lots of challenges and prizes. I can't wait! I have to work for 5 hours on Saturday, but I'll still be able to fit some scrapping in. :D

I'm also really addicted to facebook now. I've gotten back in touch with so many people I went to school with (grade school through university), people I worked with, people I played ringette with, and so forth. It's really great!

Carl and I are doing our best to go green. We still have our SUV ::cringes::, but are buying credits to offset our carbon footprint. We also don't drive very much. Carl's work & Hayley's school are within walking distance, and I take the subway to work. That's all we can do until it's time to buy another car, and then we hope to go hybrid. I can't wait until all the farmers' markets open for the summer, because it makes it much easier to eat locally, which we're also trying to do as much as possible.

Paige

Oh my God, I can't believe I haven't blogged about Paige yet! Paige Madison Lees was born on February 17th. She was 7 lbs, 1 oz, and 19 inches long. She has a head of thick black hair, just like her daddy did, and I'm told that her mommy did too. She's beautiful.

We were supposed to go up north this week, but Hayley has a cold that is really holding on. We've postponed our trip until next week. It's killing me to wait! I want to see my niece now! At least I've got pictures. Greg opened a flickr account, which you can find here.

In other news, I started work on Saturday. It went well. The people I will be working with seem like a good group. The day was a little dull, but I think the time will go more quickly once the store opens. I was very sore on Saturday night and Sunday. We weren't doing anything too taxing, but I was standing, squatting, or knealing all day; I'm not used to that.

I have a test tonight in my editing class. It's just a little test, so I'm not very concerned. The class is really interesting. The copy editing marks can make your head spin, but I will be taking a whole course in copy editing, so I'm not really worried about having them all memorized by the end of this short introductory course.