A quick thank you for the phone call...

Happy Holidays everyone!

Just wanted to say thanks to Aunt Judy for giving me a call on Christmas Eve and allowing me the opportunity to chat for a moment with almost all of you. It was very much appreciated and added such a boost to an already milestone season.

The warmth and affection was indeed felt through the phone line and across all the miles. While all of you were missed and I would have loved to have been there for the no doubt great gathering, I just want to assure you of what a great family Marielena has. Being part of this years Holiday festivities here with both the Boisverts and the DiBartolos has made for one the best Christmas's I can remember.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to pop home towards late winter or spring!

The pictures that I've seen of Olivia celebrating her first actual Christmas were fantastic. She surely attacks the wrapping with good 'ol King enthusiasm!

Check out the pics in the post below of the Boisvert Christmas bash; it was certainly one for the ages.

Christmas!!

Well, Christmas in Ottawa was a rousing success on both the DiBartolo and Boisvert sides of Marielena's family.

Shortly after returning home from midnight mass, folks started to arrive at the house for the Reveillons. I believe in English it loosly means "Let's all wake up". It's a Boisvert family tradition in which the family gathers after mass to open gifts and then have Christmas dinner at roughly 3 a.m. Everyone in the family draws a name for this gift exchange, but when there's almost 30 people...yeah, it still takes two hours!!

Essentially it's a gathering of crazy sleep deprived Francophones on Moosemilk (two 1 litre cartons of eggnog, one whole bottle of rum, half a bottle of brandy and two scoops of ice cream - stir, chill and voila!) And boy, was I honoured to be a part of it.

So after gifts and dinner, there was more socializing and partying until roughly 5:30 a.m. Then bed and up at just before noon to have regular family gift opening before heading over to Grandpa Joe's for the DiBartolo Christmas dinner. Yep...two full turkey meals within 15 hours of each other. Can't beat it!

So below are some pics from the Reveillons (Rev-eh-on). Soon I'll post some pics from the DiBartolo Christmas feast.

Enjoy!!

Christmas!! Cont'd

Mini Christmas

Hi all,

We had ourselves a "Mini Christmas" on Sunday evening. Marielena's cousin Ghyslene, from Victoria has been staying here in Ottawa with the DiBartolo's for a while and has now left for home for the holiday's.

As a nice sendoff, we had "Mini Christmas" for her so she could have a Christmas'ish dinner and open some gifts with her family here.

Here is the post complete with pics that I submitted on the DiBartolo/Boisvert Blog highlighting the evening:

P.S The crazy guy in some of the pics, is Marielena's brother, Michael.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 2005 Holiday Season is officially underway with last nights inagural Mini Christmas. Will it become an annual event? One can only wait and see.

As Ghyslene is leaving to head back to Victoria for the Holidays, Diane had the brilliant idea to host a sleek and compact version of the holiday festivities just for her! In addition to Diane, Fred, Michael, Staci, Marielena and myself, Grandmaman, Aunt Mariette and one of Ghyslene's friends Nick, were all in attendance.

We kicked off the evening with some Moose Milk and then sat down to dinner. We even had mini Christmas presents at each place setting. In keeping with the mini theme, we comitted a mini masacre to an entire family of Cornish chickens; all neatly lined up in the baking pan wrapped in swaddling tin foil.

Afterwards, Ghyslene opened all her gifts and made off with quite a bounty of girly bathroom stuff, a great sweater and a beautiful angel pendant. Some peanut butter cheesecake topped off the evening quite well, I must say.

Here are some pics of the evening.

Lookin forward to Christmas

Hi everyone.

Christmas is fast approaching and I am really looking forward to it.
This year is very special for us. Last year we were all very worried for Chris and this year we can celebrate for her. Although she is still under going some preventative treatments at oncology she is will be 1 year cancer free on December 28. See, God does answer prayers. Now that is a reason for a Merry Christmas.

Now for some words of caution. WATCH THE ICE!!!
On Sarturday I walked to work and slipped on some ice not far from my house. I scraped my right knee, slightly sprained my left ankle and severly damaged by pride (there were witnesses to my clumsiness , of course).

C Ya L8tr

Christmas is coming!

Hey Everyone!

Merry (early) Christmas!! It's coming soooo fast. I have soooo much left to do. But! The important thing is that Brian and I will be home in, wait for it.....FOUR MORE DAYS! Eeeek! I seriously have been waiting forever for this, and I am so excited to see everyone! So far, they're calling for good weather on Thursday and it had better stay that way or I will NOT be a happy traveler :)

Things here in Regina are good, they've been chilly. Regina is an odd city, in that it doesn't bother to plow, ever. It snowed 5 days ago, and there are still drifts on MAIN roads, so as you can imagine driving on our street is next to impossible. It baffles us. It's causing Brian to have some road rage :) Classes are now completed, and I live to tell of my first semester of my MA. An accomplishment in itself. I am still working full time, and have 35 exams to grad before I come home on Thursday. Busy busy! I also have a scary amount of my Christmas shopping left to do, but it will get done! Today is alotted for a scholarship application, and cleaning and doing laundry so that we can pack before I have to start my marathon marking session on Tuesday night. It's already 2 however, and I'm still in my pyjamas so I'd better get motivated.

Glad to hear that all is well with everyone. Mike and Lena, hope you have a fantastic time in Ottawa, take lots of pics and we'll miss you. To everyone else - see you in a few days!!!!!!

Loads of love from Brian and I!

Theresa
xoxoxox

TEN DAYS AND COUNTING!

TEN DAYS AND COUNTING!

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe Christmas is 10 days away?! I know I can't. I am just about finished the shopping and everything I have is wrapped. Tomorrow night we will be decorating our tree and having a few drinks with our neighbors!

I can not wait to see everyone. Hopefully we will be at Cath's when everyone is there. Bri and I love being home fairly early! Its nice to sit around the tree. We have a pretty busy Christmas day so its nice to relax the night before.

We finally purchased a computer and are now connected at home. It is very nice. I will let you know what are email address is when I have it changed. It was sbr@sympatico.ca but we are changing it to .nbnet.nb.ca.

The pictures of the COP Mike are amazing. That is such a view. How are the wedding plans coming?

The big day is fast approaching

Crazziness!

So how is everyone copping?

This week is exam week, fortunatley I only have two, and I think I just need to review as opposed to study reams of material.

It'll all be over early Tuesday afternoon and I can relax a bit. I picked up a few shifts at the store for the last half of the week to grab a bit of extra cash before heading away for the holidays.

We leave on Sunday a.m for Ottawa and will be there until January 8!! Beleive it or not, we are on seperate flights to Ottawa. We booked through Air Miles but there weren't two Air Miles seats available on any one flight all day. So we had to book me on one flight and Lena on the next! So I'll arrive in Ottawa and her dad and I will have to wait a bit and chat before Lena touches down!

How is everyone's shopping going? I think most of ours is done, just have to mail some stuff off. I have to say I love shopping for little Olivia! Lots of fun.

Well, hope all is well with all. Let us know how your holidays are shapping up so far.
Cheers and Merry Christmas,

Making snow at C.O.P

These pictures were taken through our bedroom window this morning. Excuse the telephone pole and light post.

Despite the powerlines, we have a tremendous view of Canada Olympic Park through both our bedroom and living room windows. I'm sure most of you remember seeing C.O.P on TV during the XV Winter Olympic Games held here in Calgary in 1988.

The past few weeks have been busy ones at the park as they have been making snow almost every day and the slopes opened for the season on November 18.

This morning, however, I awoke to the most spectacular snow making session to date. When I looked out the window, the sky was mostly blue, but C.O.P was gone and covered in a huge pure white cloud. The previous times I noticed snow making in progress, it was a small cloud covering an isolated part of the park. Today, the snow cannons were all going full throttle to take advantage of the drop in temperature over the last two days.

In the first picture, the hill is completely obscured and is as I found it this morning. In the second picture, if you look just to the left of the light post and directly above the telephone pole, you can just make out the top of the K114 Ski Jump Tower which is the tallest of the three towers. Just to the right of center, you can also see the tip of the huge Canadian flag.

As the pictures progress, you can make out more and more of the park. Although the angle puts it out of view from our house, at the far right is the luge and bobsleigh tracks. I tried to take a picture tonight with the hill lit up with the lights but unfortunately it didn't turn out with that stupid lamp post so close. If I can configure my camera a different way and get a good shot, I'll post a night picture.

You can check out more on C.O.P by going to www.canadaolympicpark.ca They even have a 24 hour live web-cam so you can see what's going on.

Enjoy!

Joke of the Day

Little Red Riding Hood is skipping down the road when she sees the Big Bad Wolf crouched down behind a big log.

"My what big eyes you have, Mr. Wolf," says Little Red Riding Hood.

The surprised wolf jumps up and runs away.

Further down the road Little Red Riding Hood sees the wolf again, this time he is crouched behind a large tree stump.

"My what big ears you have Mr. Wolf," says Little Red Riding Hood.

Again the foiled wolf jumps up and runs away.

About 2 miles down the road, Little Red Riding Hood sees the wolf again, this time crouched down behind a large rock.

"My what big teeth you have Mr. Wolf," taunts Little Red Riding Hood.

With that the Big Bad Wolf jumps up and screams, " For goodness sakes little girl!! Will you get lost?! I'm trying to take a poo!"

Snowed In

Hello Everyone!

Mike, your post made me smile! Good for you for getting in the pool. And 18 month old diving? Man, what the crap! :)Good to hear that things are going well in Calgary! I also have been thinking about swimming lately...the U of R has a fantastic gym but I just can't seem to make the time to go there. Whoever designed the masters program was clearly trying to give people a breakdown their first semester!:)

So, its winter here now in Regina. Go figure. We got 15 cm of snow yesterday, and today its -25 with the windchill. It hurts me most when I check the weather at home and it says its +13. But whatever. You guys are s'pose to get ice pellets tonight anyway. Join us in the winter yuckiness. I cleary get that from Nan. When I see snow I just want to go back to bed!

School is going well...November is a bad month for work. I've been working super hard though, and I still have so much left to do! But it will get done, I've never not finished something before! And, the countdown is still on. Only 37 days til I get home!!

And! I found out last week that I got the internship posting I wanted. Next summer for 16 weeks I do an internship, so I got my first choice here in Regina and it means that I'll get to have my very own clients who I see once a week and I'll be treating their pain, depresson, anxiety and PTSD. Pretty grown up eh??

Anyway, back to work I go. Gotta put in another couple hours before class :)

Loves You!
Theresa
xoxoxoxo

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Not to worry. Your fear/dislike of water comes naturally. I don't swim and if I'm not mistaken neither do any of my sisters. Cathy and I took lessons together years ago but met with limited success. Thanks to the lessons if I fell in the water I could survive long enough to yell.."Holy $@*#, I'm drowning!!"

C ya

PS: I bet you look great hanging on to that noodle.

Michael? Swimming?

Conquering fear one pool noodle at a time...

One of Marielena's top priorites has always been getting me into a swimming pool.

At age 30, I could still boast to be one of the only people alive to grow up on the east coast and not only dislike fish, but to not be able to swim either.

So now and then, she'd skillfully slip in some subtle prodding in the hopes of me aggreeing to at least try to learn or just get a bit comfortable in the water.

Well, on Friday she succeeded! She has been going to one of the local public pools lately just to do some laps and get some exercize. We were both off on Friday and she wanted to have a quick dip in the pool and asked me to go.

I agreed, the whole time thinking, "What have I gotten myself into??"

So after changing into my very sexy new swim trunks, I peeked my head out of the change room into the pool area. Marielena was already in and waiting for me!

First a toe, then an ankle, then eventually a whole foot went in! Bit by bit, I got all of me in there.

It took some getting used to, but after the initial shock of getting in the pool and actually being in the water, I gradually became more and more comfortable. It was really very exciting! The more comfortable I got, the more daring I became; at one point actually partially submerging my face!

Lena was very helpful and supportive, arming me with all the tools I would need; a flutter board and the all important sacred pool noodle.

As the time went on, I was able to bob under and stay for longer and longer. Then I was able to try swimming under the water and eventually on the water (with the noodle of course).

I still have to master the art of remembering NOT to breathe when under there, though...

I would smile and say hello as the 4 and 5 year olds swam expertly by curiously looking at me clutching my noodle around my chest as well as holding on to the side of the pool. The 18 month old diving off the diving board with his water wings was a great sight.

All in all, a great afternoon. I may now even invest in some lessons! Still a long way to go, but the journey has at least begun!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

Hey Everyone,

Happy Halloween! Glad to hear everyone's went well. We had no trick or treaters, but didn't really expect any in the apartment building! I was at class that night til 10, so I would have missed them all anyway, but Bri was home.

Things here are going very well, but I'm insanely busy and am starting to feel quite sleep deprived, having whittled myself down from about 9 hours a night to closer to 5 and sometimes less than that! There's just no time for sleep! (But don't worry Mom, I'm eating well and all that and will get a flu shot!) November is particularly frightening for me, with 3 major presentations, 2 small papers, 3 huuuge papers a few assignments, massive work deadlines and a major final project. How is that even s'pose to get done in the next 4 weeks?? I don't like to think about it, so I've happily situated myself in denial for now.

Brian and I arrive home in 50 days (he makes fun of me for counting, but it helps me, honest!) We booked our flights and had 83 days to go, so 50 is significantly less! That's only like a month and a half! We're home for 12 days and are very excited and looking forward to seeing everyone. I feel like it's going to be a whirlwind to get everything in that we want to do, but I'm very much looking forward to trying! I've never been so excited for something in my entire life! By the time I get home it will have been 6 months since my last visit, that's just too long! And unfortuantely, I dont know when I'll be home again after this! :(

Mike - are you and Lena coming home for Christmas or will you be heading to Ottawa? Or staying in Calgary? So many options!

Anyway, hope to hear from you all soon!

Love You!
Theresa
xoxoxox

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Halloween was quite quiet here. Not too many kids so there are treats left over. See. God does look after me. It must be because I went to Mass on Sunday. The roof at St Anne's did not collapse either.

When I attempted to shake hands with a woman and wish her "the peace of Christ" she backed up and told me she had allergies and could not shake hands so she bowed. Very neat. Probably a good idea during this flu season.

Hugs and kisses to all. Mike, I miss your hugs.

Halloween...

How was everyone's turnout?? We only got one group of 6 or so 12 year-old boys... Looks like Mike now has 2 bags of Halloween chewy things, and 34 Wagon-wheels to eat... :)

Very cute pics of Olivia we got on e-mail! Thanks for sending them! Makes up for the lack of cute kids I saw last night.

So,guess it's time to start hinking about the next holiday... 7 1/2 weeks 'til Christmas! Yay! Wish Mike luck - he's survived all the DiBartolo/Boisvert family do's so far... this'll be the biggest (or at least, the longest) yet! We tend to party for days... :) We'll post some pictures again afterward so you can join in the fun - and we'll expect to see soem of yours!

Anyways, hope everyone has a good week, and doesn't get too sick on Halloween candy!

Happy Halloween, everybody!

So what are peoples plans?

Not much here. I work tonight, so not much excitement for me. Although I hear parents actually bring their kids to the mall and go around store to store to collect candy! Not sure if we are planning on giving any out though.

Not much new here. School is going great. Went to the driving range on Saturday and might get out for a round of 9 in the next couple of weeks. One great thing about Calgary - you can golf 'till almost Christmas and then be back on the course by late March!

Well, have a great Halloween!!

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Hi Mary

Happy Birthday, Mary Berry. My little girl is 25. Where did the time go? Mary, if I lost evrything I own I would still be rich as long as I have you.

Love always
Dad
xoxoxo

Yet another birthday!

I was going to open this post with the traditional "Happy Birthday" to my sister, Mary.

However, after some research, I discovered that the phrase "Happy Birthday" and the song of the same name are both copyrighted material and I or any one of us could be exposing ourselves to criminal prosecution upon publicaly saying/singing said phrase or song.

Have a look at: http://unhappybirthday.com

Sarah, maybe we could use your expertise on this tricky matter, if we are to be able to properly express our well wishes to Mary or anyone else on their big day...

Ah, screw it........HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!!!!!!!!

Hello Everyone

Hi Family,

It's 2pm here in Regina. I'm at work and I've never been so unproductive in my LIFE. It's just one of those days where I can't motivate myself to do a thing. Work related stuff wasn't happening, so I decided to get some work done on my stats assignment. That went okay for an hour or so and now I'm tired of that too. I just want to go hooome since I have class at 7 tonight, but I'm gonna try to stick it out for another hour. I think that I'm feeling so unproductive because I'm EXHAUSTED! :)
Yesterday, I gave a two and a half hour presentation. I don't know what the rest of you think, but that is LONG. It's a lot of material and its a looooong time to stand up and talk in front of people. I think it almost killed me! It seemed to go okay for the most part though, hopefully that's true and not just my perception since it's worth 50% of my mark :)

Mike and Lena, I'm glad to hear that you guys had a great Thanksgiving! Ours also went well...I can't remember if I've posted about that already? See how tired I am, I can't think:) I'm becoming quite domesticated, I even made Chicken Parmagiana this past weekend for my and Brian's anniversary. It was yummy! Are you guys coming home for Christmas?

Whats new with everyone else? Things here are good, although like I said I've been very busy of late and I cannot WAIT to get home for Christmas. Only like 68 more days or something hahah, that doesn't seem like a lot does it?? It's scary how much work I have to accomplish before then though! We also need to put a block heater in our car so that it doesn't die while we're home for two weeks;) Apparently you need one daily in Regina anyway since it's so cold in the winter!

Anyway, I guess I should try and go be productive on SOMETHING for the next hour or so til I can justify going home;) Hope that everyone is doing well, I miss you all tons and tons!

Love You!
Theresa
xoxoxox

How was everyone's holiday??

Hi all,

Hope your Turkey Day was a great one. Where did everyone gather??

Marielena and I spent the weekend in Ottawa, and had two spectacular dinners wedged between visiting some of her friends and of course, tons of wedding plans.

Here's some quick pics:


The turkey!! 23 pounds. This one was at Marielena's grandfathers house and fed about 25 people.











The table just before dinner was served.















Two of the three tables at Lena's parents house on Monday.

















So all in all a great weekend!! Hectic, but great!

Hope all is well with everyone. Take care.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hello Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mike and Lena - I hope you have a great time in Ottawa! I hope it's warmer than it is here. It's -7 normal for the first of October??? I seem to think October is warmer at home. I'm wearing all my sweaters waay to early.

What are everyone else's plans for thanksgiving? This year is a very different one for Brian and I since we're not at home. I love getting to see everyone at Thanksgiving, so I spent a couple of days crying and sulking and then "bucked up" as Mom would say and planned a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday for Brian and I, my friend Andrea and her husband Justin (friends from home who live in MooseJaw, SK which is about 45 minutes from Regina), and Kelsey (another first year master's student from Toronto). I've got to say that I'm a little concerned about how this is going to go. Mom always makes it seem like cooking a Thanksgiving dinner takes about the same effort as making Kraft Dinner (she gets the timing down and everything!) so hopefully some of that is hereditary and I've got it! She gave me some excellent directions, and I'm sure I'll be calling her about 10,000 times before the meal is ready. Brian is pretty good in the kitchen too, so I won't be totally on my own.

Things here are going well. We did NOT get the snow that South-Eastern Sask got yesterday, thank heavens. I'm not ready for that. My first year Masters is proving to be VERY busy, with presentatoins and papers due everyweek. This weeking, in addition to cooking the dinner, I have to do a stats assignment, a brief presentation (about a half hour) and then starting working on my TWO AND A HALF HOUR presentation for October 17th. That is soooo long and I have no idea how I'm going to be able to talk for that long. All of the first year masters students are very nice, and two other girls and I have been spending quite a bit of time together, shopping and having weekly OC And Pizza nights so that's good. Especially when Brian was home for two weeks it was good to have some people in and out of the apartment!

We booked our flights for Christmas (hoooooray!) and will be arriving in Moncton on the afternoon of Decemeber 22nd (78 days from now, in case anyone is curious:) ) We're very excited about being home for almost two weeks, and can't wait to see everyone! We also can't wait to meet our beautiful little niece Marah who I think, if possible, gets cuter in every picture we see of her. (The picture posted is of her over the weekend...she's so smart, already she's learned how to grab things - you can see her holding onto her hair) Brian's parents were in Quebec to meet her over the weekend, so we got some very nice photographs!

Speaking of pictures, Mary the pictures of Olivia's first birthday were too cute - I was so sorry to miss the party! She is absolutely gorgeous, I think she has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen!

I hope that everyone is doing well, and Mike - travel safe this weekend!

Love you!

Theresa and Brian

Happy Thanksgiving all!!

I'll be scarfing down turkey, stuffing and assorted other festive goodies at the DiBartolo residence in Ottawa this year. We leave tomorrow afternoon and return on Tuesday. (but returning early enough in the day that I won't miss science class...damn!!)

Will post pics upon our return.

So on behalf of Marielena and myself, have a great turkey day, whether it's an intimate home gathering, or a mamoth extended King family gathering!

And don't forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving...FOOTBALL!!!!!!

Ciao

HELLO EVERYONE

Hello Everyone!

Well I finally figured this out. I can't believe it. Now I will attempt to try and show Mom this weekend.

Hope all is well with everyone. Can you believe it is the end of September already. I miss the warm weather already.

Again Congratulatios to Mike and Lena. I am so excited to hear we are invited. The wedding will be wonderful and I have never been to Ottawa. I will note that I will be driving there not flying! :) Sarah thought 12 hours - that is not bad.

For those of you that don't know, Brian and I have a new addition(s) to our family. Yes, two puppies. Their names are Kali and Keya. They are pretty cute. I never thought I would see the day that I would own a pet. Kali was my pick. She is so smart and just loves me - LOL. They are both staying at Brian's parents until we move in the house. Which I might add should be less then a couple weeks away.

The house is coming along. We really really love it! I will have to send some pictures. The neighbours are great there as well. We are all pretty much the same age. Should have some fun times.

I can't believe Olivia will be two on Sunday. Boy time goes by so fast.

Well I better get back to work. It is month end so it is extra busy.

I hope to see you all soon,

Love ya's
Shell

Proud Grandparents

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

heyhey

I'm just about to hit the sack and stopped to take a look. That is a beautiful ring. It is really quite a thing for a man to buy "the ring" for his sweetheart. If I remember correctly I was afraid it wasn't the right one or the right size. Luckily, it was. The weird thing was I was $5.00 short when I went to pick it up. No ATMs in those days.
I had to run up King St to the cinema where I worked and borrow $5.00 from the cleaning guy so I could get the ring.

Carl

Dum dum da dum (to the tune of here comes the bride)

Congratulations Mike and Lena!!!

I was so thrilled to hear the news - that's fantastic. And Lena, the ring is beautiful (very good taste, Mike!) Do we get any details about the proposal?:) Or if you dont want to share the details thats okay too! I meant what I said in the email, being only 7 hours away we have no excuse but to get together at some point. (You know, when we moved to Regina we were told that long drives would eventually seem like nothing, and its soooo true. Now I'm all 7 hours? pfffft. That's NOTHING.)

So things here are going well. I'm ridiculously busy. I didn't think it was possible to have more work than I did last year doing my undergrad thesis and applications and stuff, but I do. There's not enough time to do things as well as you want to, because you just need to finish and move on. It's frustrating in a way! But I'm learning to cope!

Mike - to answer your question, yes the niece is on Brian's side :) His sister, Leah, gave birth to the beautiful Miss Marah Lillian Duncan last Tuesday and let me tell you she is GORGEOUS. I can't wait to see her in person. (Speaking of which, we are flying home in less than three months and I can't WAIT).

Also, just so you all now, I am now officially independent. Brian's grandfather passed away a couple of weeks ago and he went home for two weeks and I survived! All by myself. Didn't think I had it in me:)

Anyway, I have to teach my first class in the morning (scary eh) and I'm not prepared yet so I'm off to put in a couple hours before finally getting to go to bed :)

Congratulations again to you two love birds!:)

Love,

theresa

!?!?!?

First, let me just clear something up - in my family, there's no such thing as "in spirit only" - trust me... none of us lock our doors while we're home, and know that if there's a knock, it's someone we don't know, 'cause everyone we do, just walks in!... and since my family is now yours, and vice versa, there will be no such talk!!

YES, we want you all there!!!!! We of course understand that it's a bit of a trip, and understand if anyone can't make it, but the idea of "small and intimate"... well, when you look at it, it's either 2 or 200, so 200 it is! (all the more reason for a good maritime contigent... need to balance things out a bit! Did I mention my mother's one of 10 children...??)

So, now that we've settled that... here are the pics... :) He's got such great taste, doesn't he?

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Hi Lena

I just read your blog. Are you sure that it's my Michael you're talking about? Liking school? You've changed him for the better.

And, no, he didn't answer what's new but I'm aware that he was taking you out to dinner last night. You'll have to send pics of the
new finger decoration. I looked at the dibartolo blog so I know you have it. Congatulations and welcome to the family. Chris and I and the girls are very excited. Can't wait to hear details.

Love to all
Carl

Hi

Well, 5 days since anyone's posted anything... hmmm... This won't do. So, thought I'd add something to make up for the lack of blogging action in the last few days...

Did Mike ever answer your "what's new" question? If not, well, it's probably 'cause not much is new! He's liking school... you should see him when he comes home all excited because he had math class! Now, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just guessing, but I was thinking this was probably a slightly different point of view than he had a little over 10 years ago...? Comments, Carl? :) He comes home complaining about the kids who show up late and disturb everyone's concentraion, and he looks so forlorn over losing one, yes one, single mark on his tests (he *only* got 29/30!! - the world's coming to an end!). Have to say though, I love seeing him enjoying something so much. :)

As for me, pretty much same old, same old. I did desert him for a few days last week - was down in Cincinnati (couldn't get the bloody WKRP song out of my head the whole time!) doing a bronchoscopy course, ie looking down into people's (or in this case, piggies') lungs with a flexible fibreoptic tube, with the picture projected on a monitor. VERY cool stuff! Learned lots, and got lots of practice. And I couldn't believe how well organized it all was - block of rooms booked at hotel a block over, shuttles to bring us between the hotel and course venue, fabulous lunches (ever had filet mignon at a conference before?!?), even a dinner cruise one night. Incredible. Very professionally done. 'Course, for the price, I suppose that's what I should have expected! Here's hoping my program comes through with a little subsidy!

Other than that, just looking forward to Thanksgiving - going to Ottawa for a whirlwind wkd - one of my friends is getting married Sat, we have dinner at my Grampa's (Dad's dad) Sun, dinner at my parents' place Mon for my mom's side of the family - and the big 3-0 for me :( - then leave Tues a.m. No rest for the weary. Or was that wicked??

Speaking of my family, thought I'd send you all the site of the family blog I set up... think of it as a little preview (ie forwarning...) :) I set it up because one of my aunts (mom's youngest sister) is currently in the Ivory Coast - just left for a year to work on some project for the UN, helping the government to set up a training program for prison workers (I think!) - and thought it'd be a good, and easy, way to keep in touch with her... she's got some pretty funny stories already... few things you should know: she's a coffee connoisseur (the type with her own grinder, who drinks coffee into the wee hours of the morning), and somewhat of a, uh, practical dresser. That should help understand most of her comments :) The site is "www.dibartoloboisvert.blogspot.com" if you're interested.

Anyways, I think I've written a novel... hope it inspires people to keep writing :)

Bye for now. Love to all.
Lena

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Aunty Theresa. Has a nice ring to it, eh?
I can tell you from experience that baby girls are nice to have around.
No offense, Mike. You were fun, too.

What's new, Michael?????????

It's a Girl!

Hello Family!

Well, a couple of hours ago I officially became an Aunty (I think that's a Saskatchewan term, but that's what everyone here is calling me!) to a beautiful 8 lb 1 oz baby girl! No name yet (I think really we all thought it was a boy) but I'm sure Bill and Leah will have her named in no time! I'll post a picture sometime soon. For now, I've got to stop celebrating and get back to work!:)

Ciao for now!

Love,

Theresa

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Hi all

Two birthdays today. Shayne Orland Mott is 16 years old. Who would have thought that the no good little..........oh wait, I'm sorry. I was thinking about the other birthday. Our stupid cat, Midnight "Minnie" King is also 16 years old today.

To hell with the cat. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAYNE!!!!!!!!!!

King's of Cyberspace...Unite!!!

Hi King Clan:


September 10. Guess who has a birthday today. Hint: she recently obtained a law degree, has a sister named Theresa and a weird uncle named Carl.

HiYa

Thanks, Mike for deleting me. Now, I'm back and I did remember to write down my password. I even saved it in an e-mail so I can find it.

It was nice talking to you Monday. Call when you know more.

Hello, Lena. xoxoxo

C Ya
Dad

Officially a master's student!

Well, Hello again family!

As you have Mike, I have now also completed my first week of classes. Actually, that's only because my class tonight was canceled, and my class that I usually have tomorrow we had Tuesday because the prof is away tomorrow. And because Monday was a holiday, I only actually ended up having one class, and one seminar this week. But whatever, I'm done.

I've gotta say, being a master's student is a little bit frightening! The class I had last night is going to be a LOT of work, and I imagine when I finally have stats, and psychopathology I'll find the same thing. So I'm just going to have to be super organized and try to stay on top of things.

All of the students seem super nice. There's 9 of us in total, 7 girls and 2 guys. 5 of us (me included) are in the clinical program, and 4 people are in the Experimental/applied program (meaning they don't get trained to be clinicians, they'll only do research, whereas I will be trained in both). Hence, the insanely busy year predicted in my future.

Other than that, we're doing well. The weather here is still nice, but I hear its only a matter of time before it turns bitterly cold. Apparently, they often have quite a bit of snow by halloween. We're going to a potluck with all of the psychology graduate students on the weekend, which should be fun, although I haven't decided what to make yet! The first years aren't technically s'pose to bring anything but probably I will anyway.

Anyway, sadly that's all thats new with me because I'm boring and I just work and go to school:) Oh, except I'm getting my first niece or nephew in 20 days!! (Give or take a few). Brian insists I'm not actually an aunt until we get married, but I say otherwise (and so does Leah, and she's the mother so I think our word trumps brian's). I hope its a nephew. Brian and I made a bet a few months ago, because our 4 year anniversary is October 13, and if its a boy he has to plan it, and if it's a girl I have to. Here's hoping!

Talk to you all soon!

Love,

Theresa

First week of school down...three more years to go...

Hey all,

Well, I've joined the ranks of our other family members hittin' the books. I'm attending SAIT - the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Very similar to NBCC.

I originally was set on taking computer engineering technology, but am now tossing a few other ideas around (Steve, we'll have to talk). For now, I'm working on upgrading some pre-requesites to best position myself for entry into the program of my choice.

It's been an anxious experience, leaving a career that I was very happy and advancing in. But, school was something that had been on my mind for a few years.

So without further ado...here are some pics I snapped this afternoon on my way to class...


Downtown Calgary from the campus front lawn






Heritage Hall, the original building from 1916














Heart Building, behind Heritage Hall









View from third floor catwalk inside the Heart Building looking at back side of Heritage Hall

The Heart Building was attached in an open concept to showcase the brickwork of Heritage Hall

Looking upwards, the entire roof is glass paned to create a massive skylight, which floods the centre atrium with natural light


Well, that's it for now.

Glad to see some folks joining the blog, but we are still missing a lot of family members. So encourage others that you see or talk to, to join in!

It's Alive!!

This is great!

Thanks Dad and Theresa for the first posts to the King family Blog. It's coming together exactly as how it was envisioned.

That is exciting news about the theatre. Do they go by the name Empire in Ont and out west? We'll have to keep an eye open.

Theresa, if you ever want to visit the big city, please call me anytime. We have more than enough room for quests to have their own room and bathroom. You know you cannot live out west and not see the mountains! Glad to hear your program is starting off great and you and Brian are settling in.

Well, I'm off to class. Stay tuned for my first school report post complete with pictures!

Hello from the Sask!

Hey Everyone!

Mike - what a great idea this is! You're so smart! I love any way that lets us all keep in touch. Things here in Regina are going well. It's currently 8:34....I wanted to be into work by 8 (don't worry, I make my own hours AND my supervisor isn't in today so it's no big deal that I'm not yet) and now instead of getting ready I thought I'd send a little message to everyone!

It's very stormy here today, and has been all night. Which is surprising, because in the three and a half months that we've been here, I've never seen it rain for more than 10 minutes at a time. It's making me not want to go outside :) It's funny here when it storms because it's soooooo windy. No trees or hills to block the wind I suppose!

This is my last week of working full time before I officially start my masters. Eek! I'm getting really excited to start my classes, but a little nervous too, this is a whole new ball game! Classes start on Tuesday, so I get to go buy my books this week which is always exciting for me. I even get a copy of the DSM-IV (this huge book with all the recognized mental disorders and their diagnostic criteria) and it makes me feel like an actual psychologist which is pretty cool! Brian is also doing great, still looking for work but he applied for a job last week that he's definintely very qualified for so we're hoping something comes out of that because he's getting pretty bored around the house while I'm at work all day. It's been nice for him to have a break though, he's always worked from immediately after finals until labour day, so I was glad to see him relax a bit.

Well, as much as I'd love to keep babbling on (I tend to be a bit long winded) I should actually go to work and get some things accomplished! Hope to be reading all your posts soon! :)

Loves ya! Miss ya!

Theresa (am I s'pose to sign my name to this, or do you already know its from me?) :)

nice to be on

Hi there

Nice to be on your blog. This will be a good way to post messages for the family.
Good idea, Mike

My first bit of news is work related. Empire bought 27 theatres in Ontario and the western provinces. The company is now the largest 100% Canadian owned movie exhibition company in the country and the 2nd largest overall. Empire now has 59 locations and 402 screens.

Speaking of work. Gotta go get ready.

C ya
Dad

Is this thing on?

Picture it: Calgary, 11:17 pm on a dry, late summer, western night. Mike tries to figure out how to get this thing working. Finally, success!

Well, here it is folks. Our very own soap box, picture album, news area, announcements, and well, just a plain distraction from the hustle and bustle.

Want the rest of the fam to see that great pic you got of Wayne in his tighty whities? Post it here! Have some news? Share it with us! Need to rant about the rotten service last night at the Quicky Mart? Let us know!

With Theresa being the latest to leave the nest, I thought this was a great way to enhance the "staying in touch" experience.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at my most checked address at msk_sj@hotmail.com.

Cheers and happy blogging!
Mike