finally. it arrived.

After a year-and-a-half of one computer problem after the next (endless problems that I can only attribute to hormones), my brand spankin' new (as in not a hand-me-down machine rebuilt from Jeremy's office) Dell laptop has arrived. It is fast. I mean fast. And I love it. Truly. I am seriously digging the Windows Photo Gallery that comes with Vista. I can't wait 'til all my tens of thousands of photos are tagged and ranked. It's a daunting task, but I am just tackling one folder at a time. If I get a couple folders finished each day, maybe by Christmas?! Anyway, it'll make finding photos SO MUCH EASIER. To be able to group and sort by various tags. Dream come true. Plus I can upload photos to Flickr directly from the gallery AND THE TAGS ACCOMPANY THE PICS! The tags are part of the metadata, so they are independent of the program used. Genius.

So my advice... get a photo organizing program stat. And use it. Each and every time you upload your photos. (Other good options: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 or ACDSee Photo Manager.) Don't forget to back up your pics too, using CDs/DVDs and ideally an external hard drive.

Now, let's see if I can take my own advice!

Anyway, looks like I wasn't the only one who was ecstatic about the courier's visit this morning. I still have no idea how he managed to climb in through the box top.

Happy Easter!

What a great day! The forecast was questionable, but we were treated to deep blue skies and temps in the mid-20s (75ish). Actually after a cool autumn morning, the mercury hit 32C on our balcony, that's a blazing 90F! Not a bad way to celebrate Easter.

The dogs had their annual kibble & pig's ear hunt while Quincy had a blast smashing colored eggs (destined for egg salad), tasting (make that devouring) chocolate for the very first time, and discovering the (many) goodies in his basket. He spent ages pulling things out one-by-one. Each bite of chocolate culminated in a wide-eyed "mmmmmmmm". Yes, the Easter Bunny was very good to him, and I think he knows it. When asked if he likes Easter, he responds with an enthusiastic and emphatic, "ya." He took two chocolate-induced coma-like naps almost certainly accompanied by sweet dreams.

In the afternoon we all took a good long (much-needed) walk and played on the playground and the beach. Good to see lots of people out and about enjoying the summery weather and the four-day weekend. Good Friday and Easter Monday are stat holidays here and Easter weekend is the last of the warm weather holidays. I love that all the stores are closed on Good Friday and Easter. There was talk in Parliament of eliminating those Easter trading restrictions, but fortunately nothing came of it. It will be revisited in three years, but I would seriously hate to see that happen. In a country that I think lacks the strong holiday traditions that I am used to, it would simply become just another long weekend with a lot of chocolate and hot cross buns consumed (see below).

Anyway, we seemed to spend the entire day eating. For lunch a fruit salad (in an attempt to injest something somewhat healthy...a tradition I established a few years back). Jeremy made perfect omelettes for brekkie (not a single dark spot to be found) and a yum dinner--his take on my mom's rouladen. He made a risotto which he rolled inside pork tenderloin and served with a kumara (like a sweet potato but much much better) version of sauerkraut. Mmmmm.

And how could I forget choc cross buns. Neither of us care for cooked raisins, so we are not fans of the traditional hot cross buns. But choc cross buns, now that's another story. Warm with melted butter. Mmmmm.

To top it off, and I don't mean to brag here, but... the bodysuit that was covered in chocolate from this morning... Well, it's washed, stain-free, line-dried, and back in Quincy's closet. (You gotta love those days when everything just falls into place. How else would you get through the days when it doesn't?)

The only thing that would have made the day more perfect... an Easter Egg Hunt at my parent's house with Quincy's cousins. Another year perhaps.

You may be wondering what I am doing as I write. Eating a Marshmallow Peep. (Which, by the way, Quincy initially scoffed at. Until he realized it was just pure sugar, at which time he took one very restrained bite and was finished. He'd enjoyed it but had had just enough to satisfy him. And that was that. Now if I could only borrow an ounce of that self control from my ten-month-old!!) Anyway, my poor aching teeth.

waste not, want not

The following is taken from an email. If you don't have a sense of humor or are a bit prim & proper, stop reading now.

I went into Quincy's room this morning as he was happily chatting away only to find him with a big grin on his face and covered in POO!!! All over his pjs, blankets, bed rails, stuffed animal, and snuggle rug. It was even on his face. Gross. As I was getting him undressed for an emergency bath, I noticed he was chewing on something. After much protest I pried it out of his mouth. It was an undigested pea from last night's dinner.

That's our boy.

Waste not, want not.

Now don't say I didn't warn you.

In other news...

1. Quincy is officially climbing up on furniture now (and grabbing all sorts of contraband, in this case a camera filter).

2. Quincy climbed his first stairs this morning and if you have seen our house you are probably taking a deep breath right now. I know I am. But this truly warrants a post of its own another day...

3. It's Kai's 5th birthday today. Fifty-cent McDonalds cones all around. Happy Birthday, little girl dog.