Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

I thought I had to be the most brilliant person in the world. Several weeks ago as we were raking our leaves and tossing them into the leaf collection bags (that everyone in the city uses), it donned on me that the bags were HUGE and I could EASILY make an outfit or two out of them. Lowell and I hadn’t planned on doing anything overly exciting for Halloween, but when this exceptional idea popped into my head, I knew our lives would never be the same.

I made Lowell swear the idea to secrecy because SURELY no one else on the planet had the same brainwave as me. CERTAINLY no one else even NOTICED the great size of the leaf collection bags.

As Halloween grew nearer, my anticipation swelled and I could hardly wait to show the world how intensely ORIGINAL Lowell and I were.

Then my bubble was burst by a local radio DJ who announced that his young daughter could fit into the leaf collection bags, so she would be dressing up as a paper bag princess. At that point I faced the obvious fact that others HAD indeed noticed the conveniently large size of the paper bags. My denial melted away. If HE thought of it (and ANNOUNCED it), then undoubtedly there would be several paper bag princesses in the city this year.

But were those princesses specifically environmentally friendly paper bag princesses?

And did those princesses have an environmentally friendly paper bag PRINCE on their arm?...

...An environmentally friendly paper bag prince whose outfit was complete with PANTS (which caused him to awkwardly toddle like a robot)??!!

And did those princesses receive a traditional 1-2-3-kiss from their parents?

I think not.

We WERE one-of-a-kind after all (at least compared to the 27 trick-or-treaters that we saw).

Pumpkin Painting Prodigies

Nearly every autumn, my artist of a sister (Carlynne) paints a beautiful scene or landscape on a pumpkin, and my parents proudly display said pumpkin in the front entry.

Well, now Carlynne is in Ottawa, and it’s impractical for her to create an artistic pumpkin and ship it to Alberta. I know my parents love this little tradition, so I thought I’d do my part (since I live less than 2 blocks away and the word impractical is not in my vocabulary). I’ve painted a vegetable or two in my day and I quite enjoy it. I’m no breath-taking-landscape-painting-artist, but I DO have an uncanny ability to paint googly eyes on giant vegetables- I’m somewhat of a prodigy that way.

What can I say…. I tried!

Good Things Come in Fours

Four months ago, Lowell and I were a happy-go-lucky-couple-traveling-the-globe with 4 adorable nieces back at home (all on Lowell’s side).

When we came home to Canada, we came home to the reality that Canada appears to be having a baby boom. But not just Canada is general, but specifically our families.

First Lowell’s sister, Janelle, and her husband Dave let us know that they’re expecting baby number three. YIPPEE- another niece/nephew to spoil. We were thrilled.

Then my constantly-in-some-other-country brother and sister-in-law, Marc & Kylie, announced that they’re expecting their first child- who also happens to be the FIRST baby on my side… THE G FAMILY IS FINALLY REPRODUCING! Thank you, Marc & Kylie, for spreading our impeccable genes at last.

THEN… Last month Lowell’s sister, Lori, and her husband Dave announced that they’re expecting a baby in March. OH BOY! THAT MAKES THREE NEW NIECES/NEPHEWS!

Lowell and I have been thrilled about these announcements. A little disappointed that no one took our advice to make a Kiwi baby, but still over-the-moon.

But that’s not all.

Last night we received a phone call. There’s ANOTHER one on the way that gets to call us Uncle Lowell and Auntie Julie Renee. No, it’s not Shareen or Carlynne or Marti or Julie Anne… LORI’S HAVING TWINS!! TWINS!!!

This is a top-down view of the two babies. Not one but TWO babies!

My brain was already overflowing with joy, but this delightful piece of news put my poor little brain into overdrive- in a manic-type state, if you will. Sleep eludes me, my heart continues to race at a dangerously quick rate, and the smile couldn’t be wiped off my face if a piano fell out of the sky and directly onto my head. I’m soooo excited (and only like 3% jealous)!

Provided that I can keep my faculties about me and not step in front of a bus while dreaming of babies… between late December and mid March, we’ll have FOUR little babies to jack up on love and candy then hand back to their parents. Yesssssssss!

I love babies.

International House of Aprons

I may as well just come right out with it loud and proud—I have an apron fetish. It began in high school when Shareen brought me a funky apron from Austria.

I wore it so much- whether in the kitchen or not; whether indoors or outdoors; whether with pants or without- that the rest of the family (but still mostly Shareen) continued to feed my addiction.

I have two Christmassy aprons…

A denim one that is currently MIA…

A denim/floral reversible apron that I made for Lowell less than 24 hours after he insisted that I become his girlfriend (what every guy dreams of I’m SURE).

The denim side is for when he’s feeling like a manly man…

And the floral side is for his more feminine days…

I purchased an apron in New Zealand…

Then one in Thailand…

And Marc & Kylie brought me one from Holland…

I’m kicking myself for not getting one from Australia. At that point I was strictly following my “ONE SOUVENIR” policy, so my sole Australian purchase was a pair of Uggs. Genuine Uggs, mind you. Maybe when they’re too worn out to be suitable footwear, I’ll somehow fashion them into an apron. Perhaps a kangaroo-style apron with enough room to stuff a baby (or two) in the front.

In the meantime, however, I shall continue to enjoy the heck out of my current apron collection. Just like I'm enjoying my multicultural jammie collection.