I know ya'll might be anxious to see the pictures from the e:PMT New Year's Eve bash last night... and some of you may be cringing. But i had other pics i wanted to post too, so i thought i would do them all, for all the holiday, in one big post. So here goes...

The obligitory "godmom" pictures of Kirsten's pets taken over the holidays.

Cute lil Ava in her holiday wear


Elliott borrowed Ava's hat


Ava and Nolan


I must be boring Nolan.



Then there was the holiday with the family. Since they never asked to be stars of my blog, all the pictures of my brother and his family are, well, of them hiding mostly. Which is what the kids did naturally, i suspect.

Nephew Luke


Foster nephew Jamie


My brother, John


My neice, Arianna taking a picture of her Gramps


Arianna taking a picture of their dog, Rosie


Sister-In-Law, Michelle, petting Rosie


Rosie the basset hound


My Parent's dog, Ralphie, scared of all the humans, hiding behind his mom


My parent's little predecorated tree


My mom with her hand up a turkey


The piggie footie massager the kids got me for xmas


Me and a giant 10lb loaf of german rye bread my brother brought for us from the bakery he works for


And now, ladies and germs, the show you have been waiting for -- the e:PMT New Year's Eve bash. Thank you, yet again, e:Paul e:Matthew and e:Terry for hosting!

Oh, and before i go any further, thank you thank you thank you, my Secret Santa. I ADORE my gift!


The hosts with the mosts, e:PMT


e:imk2 happy with her secret santa gift


e:Terry showing everyone the slight flaw in the design of e:imk2 's gift... the hole in the fabric should be down here, i think...


Uhmm... nice bottle, e:imk2 !


e:Enknot 's crime fighting duo


e:Metalpeter and e:Vycious


The women of AbFab loving on e:Metalpeter


e:Mike drinking with style


awe, isn't dating cute?


e:jenks e:Ladycroft and e:imk2 showing some girl on girl on girl action


Is this my best side, Darling?


From AbFab to I Love Lucy, all in one night


An e:Jenks sandwich... with e:Soma kicking out the jams

I stuck it in the bottom the freezer we have in our basement yesterday after a wash and a thorough dry. The bowl was ready to go. Since e:jenks suggested it, i asked my parents for an ice cream maker for christmas. And now, the eggonog is churning away! The recipe was easy. One quart of eggnog. We'll let you know how it tastes!!

I love my family, but we are so damn disfunctional. I try my best to do what i think is right and not model the behaviour of my parents.

I wonder if it is possible for the group of us to get together for any reason without there being some sort of drama. No wonder i get horrid stomach pains or end up being sick every year around this time.

I avoid the conflicts now, at almost any cost, even when i feel strongly about something. The rights of someone unable to speak for themselves is someone i should stand up for, yet i didn't, so i wouldn't be in the middle of something i had nothing to do with in the first place. I'm torn by having kept my mouth shut. Knowing it would have caused more drama, yet very displeased with the behaviour of so-called adults.

Yet this year, only 2 bits of drama... pretty good for our lot. But, there is always the second gathering of the year, on the 28th. Still time.

I described the 36 or so hours when my brother, his family, my parents, e:Uncutsaniflush and i were at my parent's house as "pleasant" to a few friends since we have been back home. Yet when telling of the 2 drama filled incidents, i was met with shock that a time in which both happened could still be described this way.

My friend Mark said it best, "sometimes i am grateful all my family does is talk about the weather and watch t.v."

Menstral cramps are the worst. So is getting up about every hour in the middle of the night to stumble into a cold bathroom to change one soggy bloody mess and change it out for something that will just be the same in another hour or so. I'm tired and drained (perhaps that pun was intended) today....

Well, i gone done did it. Last night, i went to my first GED pre class. Thanks again, e:Ladycroft for dropping off that brochure to me.

I called yesterday to see when classes start and i was told Mondays. And that i could come in that night, if i wanted to. I would have to have an orientation and do the prelim tests anyway, so why not do them now. OK, that makes sense.

So, last night, i did a short 50 question test. That was quickly graded and i was given the appropriate TABE test. That took the rest of the evening.

Tonight, i think i will get the TABE results and find out, more or less, where i need to concentrate my energies. I suspect maths will be the issue.. but i think i still need some social studies upgrades.

Having been school in another country, despite everyone here thinking "well, it's only right next door, Canada", we did learn different things. I have no idea, for example, what ANY of the amendments to the constitution are. Or how many ounces in a pound.... i learned metric! I think i only know inches because, for whatever reason, they are still the worldwide standard in hairdressing... wonder why that is?

Teach says i won't need to know some of those social studies things, that it is all in the test, you just need to read it to find it. But i had a math qestion last night i wouldn't have been able to figure out if i didn't know there are 16 ounces in a pound. How else could i know 8 ounces are 1/2 a pound?

As much as i would love to say that i could take that wonderful book you gave me, e:Theecarey (thanks once again for giving it to me!) and do it all, i have realized that after over 20 years away from schooling, i need more structure. Else, i think i would already have this damn GED.

So, for now, i will be satisfied by being the oldest one in the class. Perhaps even older than the teacher...