who and where and why are...

Too easy, but I thought I'd ask...

Olive?

Carol-Ann?

Marion Bright?

"....and that says volumes for the Peloponesians..."

I have no idea where this quote comes from; I only know I've been using it for years.

Three thoughts for perhaps our next skype:


- Head of the Line -- following up on Karen's suggestion, this one could be an opportunity for us to interview parents and / or finish our collections/transcriptions of our parents, and collate and annotate more of those old photos while peope even remotely related to them remember who/what/where they are.

- Leaving and Coming Home: a volume I'd be willing to work on, between the Oshawa years (which begin to end in 1976 for me, and 1982 for Dave?) and ... how would you define the transition between that and...

- The Next Generation: a volume already between ten and twenty years old, depending on how one is counting.

J3 on Salt Spring Island

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE TRIP

Boxing day...

Did stop at Staples to get one of these:


So we'll see if the image quality improves any once I hook it up. Havent' done so yet.

Went to the Science Centre for a couple of hours, then tried to fly Benjmain's new RC Helicopter. Found out that it wouldn't hold a charge, so I've called the Source to get an exchange. They have to courier one in from another city, so it'll be a couple of days.

Susan's making Yorkshire Puddings for to eat with Round II of Turkey Dinner. Yummy!

Speaking of nice things Susan does for me, she also bought me a proper chair for my computer hidey-hole under the stairs, so I don't have to slouch in a badly arranged wooden chair while I'm at the computer. Very nice.

I also received the latest Pratchett book, Wintersmith, which I'm reading.

Susan received a book entitled "Marley & Me", which she's been reading since yesterday. Last night, she was in complete tears from laughing so much, I thought she was going to have to go and have a little lie down. I'm looking forward to reading it after her, just to see what made her laugh so hard. She's been doing more laugh-out-loud laughing than I get out of a good Discworld novel, so it's got to be good.

Speaking of Discworld, the Brits put together a 3-hour adaptation of one of the Pratchett novels, "The Hogfather", which I ripped off the internet and Susan and I have been watching. Not a bad job, considering the complexity of the subject matter, and the richness of the Universe that Terry Pratchett created. Look for it on a torrent near you. Or I can mail a copy if anybody's interested...

A Day of Pugilism

Nobody's fighting, but it IS Boxing Day.

We had a great Christmas here on Woodbine. Skyped with Calgary Christmas Eve and day and with Judy Christmas day. Talked to dad Christmas day. Mom for a very late French christmas eve dinner and another on Christmas day. Karen and clan all came by with Santa on Christmas eve. Simon has been having a great time with all the excitement and people including his little cousin Thomas around.

So today we're off for the traditional boxing day sales!

ps. ok so it's not spelled pugalism. thx judy. I actually googled it to check but there is so much junk on the web now that there's lots of boxing references that include the same misspelling I used.

Santa Drops by

Click on them for the bigger pictures...


Santa with Simon and cousins Fiona and Thomas

The Woolley's of Wonderland


Thomas adjusting to Papa Noel.

Francis, Marie-Laure and Thomas

Guess What I am....

put up the tree before my ... spirits fall again

We need a little christmas, right this very minute
so here is our Dec 23rd tree decor finale
from here, fiona put the candy canes on the tree
then took off the ornaments and candy canes
and put them on
and took them off
and put them on

she's danced around the house
she's hugged the tree
she's called her gifts "my baby"

she's such my christmas kid

Happy Christmas Eve to you all
see some of you tonight
and all of you before the year's up

It's Cold! Drink Booze!

As discussed in an earlier post, here's picture of a most festive holiday sign.

Santa is Irish!

It took the Biovail kid's party have Simon finally get closer to, as he calls him, "Papa O'Nel" (yes, this is the end of the mystery, Santa is Irish!!!!!).

Il a fallu attendre la fête de Noël organisée par Biovail pour que Simon soit d'accord de se laisser approcher par "Papa O'Nel (et oui, c'est la fin d'un long mystère, le Père Noël est Irlandais !!!!!)

Advanced Wishes of the Season:

I suppose these two attachments reflect that we are ready for the Santa Man to get his sleigh on our roof! Thanks to Arlene having all last week off work, we managed to dress the exterior and the inside of the house in just five days.Ge-e-e-e-z-e, but it's a pile of work. It was almost like moving again, what with all of the boxes of decors.

We're looking forward to visiting you on the 31st, as it'll be a lot of fun for all. We're home on Christmas eve. On the 25th and at 7:00 A.M., we are going over to Jerry's where the rest of the Lawlors will be awaiting for the opening of all the gifts. (We have to be there early, so little 2 1/2 year-old John can see that Santa really did arrive!) We will be back here around 2:00 P.M. to get everything ready for the turkey dinner, as we're hosting this year. (I think I'll be looking for a sleep-in on Jan. 1st.;)

'Trust all's well with everyone and I look forward in hearing from Judy and David, during the times when we'll be home on the 25th.

That's about it, for now.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

During the Sermon on Sunday, our pastor spoke about Handel's Messiah, and the beauty of not only the music, but of the word as well. We've listened to it before, but I don't think in it's entirity, so I was inspired to go out and find a copy.

So into HMV I went yesterday. I approached one of the staff, and asked "Do you have a copy of Handel's Messiah?". She gave me the proverbial Chicken Look. "Let's see..." she says, and walks over to the trusty computer to look it up. "OK, how do you spell that?". "H - A - N - D - E - L, " I say. "Not H-A-N-D-L-E?" she says. "No," I say.

"Ok," she says, "and what was his last name?"

I am so saddened by today's youth.

I was subsequently in another store where I decided to describe this experience to that staff, who I presumed would share my disgust. After I tell the tale, they too are giving me Chicken Looks. "You don't know who Handel is, do you?" I inquired. Silence. "He was a composer in the 1700s," I say.

"Oh, no wonder I've never heard of him" is the reply. I hang my head and leave.

j3 Seasons Greetings are ready online...

All the best to you! We'll see you very soon in Toronto...and hope to see the Calgary Bradts more often in 2007!

Click here for slideshow of 2006 Highlights, otherwise known as the e-version of our holiday card...

I used a program to compact this file, so the zillion images are not high-rez, but most look okay and download MUCH faster. I hope you approve.

Twas the week before Christmas

And whatever you said,
You just weren't avoiding
Playing with Gingerbread.

BONUS MATERIAL

Once you have read the blog entry from Friday December 15th below, AND viewed this seasons hottest movie trailer (yes there is even a version for dial up in Woolley Wonderland), click the link to EMAIL us and we'll send you a link to the 'Bonus Material'.

THE movie of the season!

With all the new Christmas Season movies coming out, here's a link to THE show not to miss:
MOVIE TRAILER
BANDE ANNONCE

Get in the mood !

Something to get everyone going..... as WE are already in the mood after an evening of Christmas carols in the park.
Click here.

A warm day's lights

It was a sunny 9 degrees today. Perfect day to put up some lights. Corinne picked them out and I hung them. Not exactly designer but ya got yer colour and yer symetry. What more can you ask for? The kid likes it. And so do Simon and Corinne. Now that I look at it, maybe we should start a frat house, Alpha Chi Alpha.

Finally done!

It took about a month of messing around with it but I finally finished the cabinet for under the screen. Learned lots of things, mostly things NOT to do when building a cabinet. In the end it turned out ok me thinks.


And thanks to David for his tips and suggestions.

Neige tout blanc! & Our Tree

It was a perfect chilly and slightly snowy and sunny day so we ventured out to Stouffville (where there is still snow on the ground) to find our Christmas tree. The only question is will it fit in the living room.
And once you've seen the trees, click here to see something really fun!

More Firsts

It's Simon's first walk in the snow and his first snowball throw all in 3 min. That's a full day right there...
Yes that's dad in the background with the video camera.

Riding a Cheetah

The weather was very nice in Calgary today. Natalie took a Walk to a meadow. She was wearing her bedroom slippers She met a cheetah named Duma. She climbed on his back. He took off like a shot. And we took a picture...