Since when...

...are they called the Anaheim "Ducks"? They're not Mighty any more? Is "Ducks" supposed to be more sophisticated? Did ownership change and/or Disney sue for trademark infringement?

Both names are stupid for a hockey team (I'm sure this isn't a novel judgement), but at least there was a reason for the previous name (however lame).

Just "Ducks"? It's just stupid. Stupid like hockey mania is stupid.

(Look, now that I've given in and watch TV every so often, I need a new target for my withering disapproval.)

Adrenaline spike

I was sitting here slumped at my desk, first day back after a working (but still lovely) vacation, when a friend sent the link to this video. (For both of you out there who read this and may not be familiar with ultimate frisbee, this will give you a taste, and it is sweet.)

Immediate goosebumps of anticipation, and I couldn't help but watch it twice. Now I'm sitting a little straighter in my seat, a little more raring to go.

Nine days and counting until our first tournament of the year!

(My guess is that the video was shot at No Borders? A local Ottawa tournament...)

In the weeds

I am very busy with work these days. I expect to come up for air in about a week.

Then, I'm straight onto vacationy goodness. After that, I'll have pictures and updates from our upcoming trip to the Farmhouse Inn.

Check out the link on the right under Pals. The Fair Innkeepers have just finished reno'ing two of their rooms and will be posting pictures... All the better to lure you into an East Coast vacation!

Portrait of a modern family

Left to right: Ben, Constance, Dad, Hevver, Lilly, Maman.

We came, we saw, we narrowly avoided puking

This weekend, team Gong Show took our act to Montreal. It was chaotic, chronically behind schedule (as much as we ever schedule anything), and lots of fun. We came home feeling like a team that just won the big trophy.

We'd been meaning to visit Aunt Olive in Lachine for a while; she's not too far away and apparently a load of fun. She's also pushing 90, so we figured we'd better take the kids to meet her sooner than later.

So we concocted a plan to pop over to Montreal, see "Tante Oh-Leev", stay in a hotel WITH A POOL, and visit the Biodome. Good clean, kidlet-friendly fun.

We aimed to leave on Saturday around noon or so. In true form, we hit the road at 2 PM. (Thanks to McPie for doing all the prep so I could go on a big 18 km run.) We had to stop on the way to buy a bathing suit for Constance who is constantly growing out of them. (She's grown AN INCH since February.) The whole way, we battled "kids in the back seat together" (if you have siblings, you know what I'm talking about) and potential car sickness. We arrived at Aunt Olive's two hours late, and C had to go straight to bed with a nervous stomach (she's not one for car trips, and planes are even worse. We think is psychosomatic, but that remains to be seen.)

Aunt Olive is awesome. She plied us with cocktails and delicious tortière, patiently humoured Ben on his need to watch TV because there was nothing to play with. She worried over poor Constance, and in a classic move, she slipped both kids fivers on the way out. She also assured us that 90 year olds still talk about sex (usually over drinks at the Legion), but generally can't be bothered to have it. Now we know. I had seriously been wondering about that.

Sunday was breakfast in the hotel restaurant, swimming in the pool, watching Teletoons, and the Biodome. We even ate lunch at the cafeteria there, AND got to pick out souvenirs from the gift shop. How's that for adventure?!

(I'd never been to the Biodome before - it was pretty cool. Ben was pretty much swinging from the trees with the monkeys with energy, so we kind of whizzed through the place. We did enjoy a satisfying tête-à-tête with a beaver - I'm convinced that the beaver has to be the largest rodent ever. At least, the well-fed buddy at Biodome was bigger than the capybara we saw...)

Towards the end of drive home (during which there was much napping), we heard a little Ben voice pipe up from the back seat:

"It was a big day, huh, Dad?"

Go team!

I'm the only one who finds me funny.

An email exchange at work:

EngineerGuy: I've spoken to QEGuy about the issue, he's going push it via the QE council.

MsHedda: I like how they call it the "council". Very Middle Earth.

Then I sit alone in my cube laughing my ass off, imagining the QE Council meeting, the geeks-in-cloaks sitting around an oaken table, with staffs and satchels and whatnot, looking very grave.

"The elders of The Council have spoken. The JMS Messaging bug SHALL NOT PASS!"

I don't get a reply from EngineerGuy.

At least I know my humour gets at least one person through her day.

Goblin-y Goodness

I've made progress on the GG. It's starting to look like a garment that I might one day be able to actually wear in public. It appears to be the right size, and McPie gives it a preliminary score of Hot Factor=5, so I guess I'm on the right track.

Here's the back.

You may notice, there on the backs of my arms, the souvenir I picked up on our Sunday run. I'm not usually so foolish - it's been years since I was part of the "first sunburn of the year" club. It wasn't a total disaster - I did manage to get some SPF on my face and shoulders before we bolted from the house to meet our run buddies, water bottles in one hand, half-finished coffees in the other...