No, I’m not talking about Sierra’s old man, I’m talking about a man of age and wisdom!
I was eating crackers while walking around on break yesterday and I felt a cracker stuck in between my teeth. Like every other human being on the planet, I used my tongue to try and get it out. It just wasn’t budging.
It wasn’t until five minutes later that I realized that a cracker wasn’t stuck between my teeth….part of my back molar had chipped off and left a jagged edge!
What the heck?! What is going on here?
Luckily there was no pain and it didn’t get any worse throughout the day. The dentist tells me these things happen sometime. Is this true? Do people have pieces of their teeth just chip off when eating crackers? I need some feedback on this one!
As it stands, I got it polished up so it doesn’t slice my tongue and I’ll get it filled in next week.
Welcome to old age my young friend. It’s been a good ride until now. Your body is essentially like an eight year old Mazda3…rusting from the inside!
Sierra’s first birthday was a resounding success (that’s what she reported).
The formula to a successful birthday is calculated as such:
Sleep in an hour later
Have a killer breakfast
Have a party where you are the center of attention
Have some icing
Open some gifts
Go for a three hour nap in the afternoon
Live like a queen for the rest of the night
Don’t get bit by a mosquito while sleeping
Vero spent the past two weeks planning Sierra’s birthday and it paid off in spades. The only thing I felt bad for was how she spent so much time trying to figure out how to make a cake that doesn’t contain milk or soy…and then Sierra just ate the icing and none of the cake! Ah well, she looked like she was enjoying the icing.
Super special thanks to everyone who showed up for the party. It was a fantastic afternoon to hang outside (other than the million mosquitoes) and I’m glad that everyone seemed well fed. I have to say it’s a lot harder to make sure everyone is well fed at a one year old’s birthday party compared to the Christmas party where it’s basically a potluck.
Some highlights:
When a kid comes upstairs and says that something is broken downstairs, you know it’s going to be bad. Turns out it was Uncle Greg’s record player. The hinge broke off while the kids were playing around there. I’ll have to fix that up. At least it wasn’t the TV!
Ethan, who generally is the go-to drummer in the gang of kids, comes upstairs and declares “It’s much too loud downstairs!”. It definitely was. I’m pretty sure we’ve created a new kids band.
Sierra loved the cake icing! I was quite surprised at how much she was into it.
Rob pressure washing my lawnchairs (aka, getting around to something I needed to do) was a good sight to behold.
Onto the photos, taken mostly by our resident photohound Mike!
It’s pretty lonely waiting for your party to start.
She wasn’t eating too much lunch as she was eyeing up the feast about to come her way.
Sierra was super lucky to have a lot of friend visit and shower her with gifts. Please note that the shirt I’m wearing was the same I wore a year ago when she was born!
The main event!
Keep the eye on the prize kid.
I’m surprised she hasn’t dug into that cake yet!
I made a comment about all the people who wandered in behind Sierra during the photoshoot. Then I realize I was as guilty as the rest. Ah well, focus on the happy girl!
Yummers!
Has there ever been a happier birthday girl? Nope.
At one point Sierra threw the cake off the side of her tray and Vero caught it. Vero thought it would be funny if she smeared icing on my face. It wasn’t funny.
This is the point of the day where we are wondering when she is going to dig into the actual cake. Spoiler: she doesn’t.
One year old!
Ok, enough photos of Sierra, let’s take a look at who else was around…
Grace, who was clearly happy about being here.
This photo probably has a limited life on this site as Ferda will email me and say “For Pete’s sake, take the photo of Kaya picking his nose off of your site!” Get it while it lasts folks! Let’s also remember how Cora was in behind Ferda and somehow managed to make her mom fall down on the floor, head over heels.
Ben, showing us all how it’s done with Ellie.
Killer birthday card!
I love Krista’s face in this one.
Every party always has the child possessed by a demon. Hey, yet another photo that will probably need to come down after Chantal asks for it down.
Here’s a better shot.
Here’s an even better shot!
Jenna hanging out next to the doll that was called Jenna on the package.
Killer time with the trooper helmet!
Sierra hanging out in the lawn away from the party.
Vero and I are super excited for the upcoming year of Sierra’s life and we had a fantastic time with her in the past year. Bonne fete Sierra!
I swear I have messed up on the counting along the way…oh well, here is Sierra’s final month before her birthday!
Sierra was helping me put up some safety locks on the doors. Little did she know that she was an instrument in her own unhappiness.
We kept telling her it was too early in the year to go into the hot tub with her new toy but she wouldn’t hear it!
Look at those chompers!
We’ve had a lot of fun carrying around Sierra on our front. However, she was getting a little too heavy to make it a fun activity so we found this backpack that Anne-Marie hd given us. Two thumbs up for this thing! We’ve brought her up a few times and she LOVES it.
Here is a photo of the Ottawa river. In the distance you can see how high the water was getting. It was nearly touching the bottom of the Chaudiere bridge! That is quite ridiculously high…there’s usually a 100 foot drop to the water!
Etienne and I went down to get a closer view of the action. Look at that pipe swaying back and forth! Shortly after this, they had blocked off access to this stairwell. I can see why!
Etienne and I scoping out the damage.
Almost a year later, Sierra finally gets to take her new wheels out for a spin! Mom and Dad bought this at the Vars garage sale a year ago.
Etienne and I had a good vantage point of our colleague Claudia’s going away party.
I’m not sure how doing the same thing day in and day out can be…but she always loves putting this stuff on the floor!
I love how it looks like she is taking out her tooth!
*cue the maniacal laughter*
All aboard the SS Toybox!
Multiply this by 1,000 times and this is basically Vero’s typical day.
Fun at the playground!
I may or may not have had a hand in giving Sierra a new hairstyle. I call it ‘finger in the electrical socket’
I finally picked up a Raspberry Pi! Pretty amazing how small this thing is…the size of a credit card!
I went to the Ottawa ComicCon with Trish. We vowed not to go back unless something amazing was happening and then John Cusack swooped in and won Trish’s heart. However, the coolest panel was a retrospective on the show ‘You can’t do that on television!’. I had no idea it was filmed in Ottawa until many years later. Turns out that these kids had this acting gig just like you and I have a part time job at Wal-Mart. Some of their classmates didn’t even know the show they were on! Very neat to see some of the cast get together and share their stories.
Shopping date!
I love the dinosaur jacket that Nicki got for Sierra!
Here’s a pro tip for all you Dads out there. If you are going to head out for a hike in the woods near the cemetery with your daughter on your back, make sure you take a close look at the forecast. We were deep in the woods when this massive downpour hit us! We hoofed it back home in the pouring rain. Poor Sierra’s hands were freezing but once I got her home, I found that she wasn’t wet under her dinosaur jacket so at least she wasn’t cold all over. I warmed her up with a blanket and we were fast friends again!
Doing some gardening.
Ruining some pictures and having some fun at Tulip Festival with Etienne, Emilie, Andree and Nat.
Speaking about tulips, this is how my front yard turned out with those Canada 150 bulbs…Mom, how do yours look?
You’ve seen one tulip, you’ve seen them all. Time to take a break.
I don’t know what this tree is in our yard, but it blooms for a few days in the spring. Here’s a lovely shot of my wife.
I mean, HERE is the lovely shot of my wife.
Here’s how my brain works. I look at something (like my driveway) and say “Psh, there’s no maintenance needed!” and I leave it for years. Then I notice neighbours getting their driveway sprayed and I think “Ah, I don’t need that. Even if I did, I can do it myself.” Then a few years go by and I actually do research and realize that maybe it’s a good thing to seal my driveway every few years to make it last longer. So I spend a few years thinking “Yeah, I should look into how much it costs and what’s the best way to do it myself etc etc etc.”
Fast forward to seeing some guys doing all my neighbours driveways. I walk over, ask if they can do my driveway and then slap $500 in their pocket. Sometimes procrastination is ridiculous and you just need to go for it. Plus, if all your neighbours are getting it done, you’re not the only one getting screwed if something goes wrong!
I had a good laugh at this sign in the washroom at Pele Mele.
It’s been an interesting month here in Ottawa. Many houses were flooded on the Gatineau and Ottawa side. It’s quite crazy to think of how powerful water can be when it wants to be. Here’s a picture of the walking path near the river. To give it some context, I generally sit on the rocks near the river and let my legs hang over. To give some further context, a week after this photo was taken, the water had risen so much that I had to blaze a trail through the woods because it was impossible to walk on the path. Weeks later, my office building was closed for a few days so I helped out with filling sandbags in Rockland. My body ached for days afterwards!
Sierra getting ready to rock out!
Sierra having fun outside after a long winter.
THIS is why we had a child!
Sierra is SUPER happy that Danny and Mike came for a visit.
Speaking about visitors, Abbey, Maureen and John dropped for a few days as well!
Hanging out down at the playground.
I’m pretty sure they were creating some device to snatch cookies from the cupboard.
Oh Google Photo collage, how I love thee.
Fun times with times with Uncle Ryan.
Abbey and Sierra playing!
Sierra has seen more tunnel action than the Ninja Turtles!
As the Spring arrives, the goatee tends to leave the building. I wanted Sierra to see what was going on so she wouldn’t be too freaked out with a clean shaven Dad.
Man, those fish and chips from the Blackburn Arms sound amazing.
I was trying to see if I had already written a blog post about my introduction to Star Wars, but it doesn’t look like it!
This is still my greatest pumpkin accomplishment!
I have memories of sitting in the guest room in the basement and there was a television set up there. I remember watching MCTV and there was a movie on. I had no idea what this movie was but it involved a giant snow planet and some dudes riding on some kind of creatures. I remember watching the entire thing and not really understanding a whole lot of what was going on, but hey, as a kid, how much do you REALLY understand of a movie? Not much. You just understand awesome visuals and action sequences and good guys kicking ass. The Empire Strikes Back has all of that and more! Of course, I wouldn’t even know the title of that movie until later.
I always love how Mike dressed up as George Lucas for Halloween!
Fast forward to an evening over at my parents friends place…Ernie and Gloria (I believe?). What are you going to do when you bring your kids to an evening of fun? Set them up in front of the television with some movies of course! This was a big deal. I remember us renting a VCR from time to time, but these folks actually owned one. “I can watch movies on demand?” “You sure can kid, why don’t you watch these films called Star Wars.”
Star Wars brothers in arms.
I remember being mesmerized by Star Wars and then we popped the other movie in and it turned out to be the same movie that I had seen on that Sunday afternoon in my basement! I have no idea what time frame elapsed between the two events…it could have been a week, it could have been years. Either way, I finally knew the name of the film I had seen and it was time to watch it again.
A new fan in the making!
That’s my introduction to Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back still has a spot in my heart as the best Star Wars film, although I have to say Rogue One is pretty darn close to it. Benoit and I always debate which is better (his favourite is A New Hope) and I’ve realized that maybe everyone’s favourite is always their first. Because your first experience of something you love will always leave an impressionable mark on a young boy.
Strong with the smiles, this one is!
It’s an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan, let alone be a geek. Sierra is already becoming a fan through osmosis. I can’t wait to see what the next forty years brings in the land we call a galaxy far, far away.
I can’t stop laughing at this one of Sierra!
This was from the Star Wars in Concert event in Ottawa. They had some cool props.
Dropping Sierra off at daycare for the first (Vero did a few times last week but this was my first) is an interesting experience.
When I leave her in the arms of a stranger and she looks at me and starts crying, my brain says “Hey, this is what we all signed up for. Just leave the kid and walk out the door.” but my heart goes “WHAT AM I DOING?! MY BABY IS CRYING AND I JUST HANDED HER TO A STRANGER AND AM LEAVING HER THERE! I NEED TO QUIT MY JOB!”
So…it was an interesting experience. I’m sure it gets better for everyone eventually!
I could have either went with a speech or a song. I chose the latter.
On Friday we headed out to this amazing spot called Golden Lake for Mike and Melanie’s wedding! It was grand event and I have to say that I loved, loved, LOVED the hotel we stayed at. We had a balcony room with a view of the lake. I felt like I was at a resort down south with a view like that!
It was great spending time amongst the Losier and Millette clan. I have to say when Sunday arrived and I felt like dying, I also realized that this was a bittersweet event for me as I’m not sure when I’ll see the Losier extended clan in my future. It’s great to get to know a family over the span of three weddings of brothers and sisters!
Here’s my top events at the wedding:
Playing guitar for a few hours at this great campfire across the road. I also got around to ending the set with Free Bird, much to the satisfaction of Aunt Linda who gave me the idea at Danny’s wedding to learn that song.
Best man duties include putting my hair gel in Max’s hair. Let’s just say I botched the job up pretty good as evident in Mike’s mom’s face when she saw his hair.
Hanging out with the Millette clan after the wedding. They are quite the partiers! I couldn’t keep up and actually was filling up my empty beer can with water from the sink. The secret is out! Hey, when you know your kid is waking up at 6am, you have to keep things in check!
Speaking of waking up at 6am, the Saturday morning was one of my favourite moments of the weekend. Sierra woke up, I gave her a bottle and then we headed out for a car ride for a few hours to give Mom a break. We listened to nearly the entire Forrest Gump soundtrack on some empty highways and the sun coming up. That’s a moment that’ll stay with me.
Having an amazing wife who let me do my best man duties while taking care of Sierra.6.
When entering the wedding reception, I was introduced as Mike’s best man AND best friend! I finally make the cut! Best friend status, woo!
At one point I go to the bar and I say “Hmm…do you have anything on tap?”. They tell me that it’s upstairs but because I’m the best man, they’ll go out of their way to get me some. WELL! I never knew being best man gets some premium status! I strutted around the dance hall with beer in hand like a king. I told Mike about it and he said he got the same service because he was a groom! Nothing wrong with that! It wasn’t until later on that I noticed a lot of people had the same beer in hand. Clearly I was NOT receiving premium service! Ha ha, oh well, it was fun to feel like a king for an hour.
It was a freaking beautiful day out on the day of the wedding. Not hot enough to sweat, not cold enough to freeze. Perfect day.
Seeing Andre and Vero dance up a storm to Gloria Estefan. See video below.
Partaking in the event of the year…the marriage of my friends Mike and Melanie. Their preparation over the past year paid off and it was a killer wedding. Hopefully they can get back to normal life now! Congratulations guys!
Hanging out with the kids. I think they liked the comics I brought them (alright, alright, they loved Sierra more than me)
Carol snapped our all time favourite picture of us. A week later, it’s now in the large frame above our fireplace at home! Thanks Carol!
I rarely (maybe never?) post anything to Facebook as I have this site to update. So I surprised the hell out of Mike when I said “Well Mike, I’m going to break tradition and post this picture to Facebook.” I loved his reaction of “WOW, REALLY?” He was quite blown away with this gift from God.
I loved how the hotel put up this sign!
Hanging out before the wedding.
Grooms troop!
View from our balcony.
Sierra loves being carried around like this. Mike’s Dad told me he once had Mike on his shoulders like this and completely forgot about a doorway that Mike smashed his face into!
I love how this shot makes it look like Mike is standing for a national anthem.
Best man duty #1: Carry the rings. Best man duty #2: Carry the back of ring-pop ring.
Hanging out with my cutie!
Best view in the house!
Hanging out before the reception.
Getting a good photo of kids who don’t stand still is kind of futile.
So is trying to get a shot of all of us! Just isn’t going to happen.
Classic kid photo! Carol and Danny had a good laugh at this one after seeing it.
Stole this one off of Facebook. Quite an amazing photo…I wonder how she gets the colour in that shot like that?
Move over Mick Jagger.
I love how I have a fake wooden leg in this photo!
Danny making sure Vero had a great time on the dance floor.
The next morning, Vero was walking around the yard and found this little wagon for Sierra to sit in!
My life with Chris Cornell has been an abnormal one. While most people grew up with him during the Soundgarden era, I can’t say that I was ever a big Soundgarden fan back in the day. Sure, I knew their hits and I could recognize his voice instantly on the radio (who couldn’t?), but they weren’t on my radar.
Until Audioslave came around and I really started understanding why this guy, this rock god was worthy of respect. This gentleman can SING. To the heavens and beyond. Name me the Top 10 singers out there and he’s on that list every time.
I did manage to see Soundgarden a few years back at Bluesfest and it was a great show, but like I said before, they were still off of my radar.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I popped in the Soundgarden Superunknown album into the cd player and something finally clicked for me and I instantly fell in love with it. Soundgarden has become my world in the past few years. I find it really odd sometimes how it takes a long time to get into a band/album but when it does, it’s like your brain rewards you for the effort you put into trying to like it. You have a stronger bond to the things you work harder for.
It’s a very sad day in the music world with Chris now gone. A force to be reckoned with, his voice will forever be ringing inside our head.
I read the following passage on the Pearl Jam message board and it pretty well nails how I feel.
For people who don’t understand why others mourn the death of artists, you need to understand that these people have been a shoulder to cry on. Our rock. They’ve been family, leaders, teachers and role models. Many have taught us what we need to know and what to do when times get rough.
They’ve helped us move on. They’ve pushed us out of bed. They’ve helped us live when nobody else had the time to.
Artists have inspired us in endless ways and have been with us through stages in our lives.
We’ve made memories with them. So when they die, part of us dies.
We got the driveway sealed from a company called Canark Aphalt Sealing and Repairs. Jumped on the opportunity as we saw practically the entire street getting it done. While Vero and I don’t generally jump into things without a lot of research, we decided that if the entire neighbourhood is getting screwed over, well, so be it.
Financial reference: It cost $450 + tax and should last a couple of years.
My life with Chris Cornell has been an abnormal one. While most people grew up with him during the Soundgarden era, I can’t say that I was ever a big Soundgarden fan back in the day. Sure, I knew their hits and I could recognize his voice instantly on the radio (who couldn’t?), but they weren’t on my radar.