Good news and bad news...

Bryan and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first! Look for a little Carbol-Ritcey in August!

Bryan was the one to break the news to everyone at Mom and Dad's on Christmas Day. It took a bit to get everyone into the same room (leave the gravy Mom!) Once everyone was settled, he said to everyone, "We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, in the New Year some of you are going to be grandparents. The bad news is that the rest of you get to be aunts and uncles and cousins. "

I don't think we could have given a better Christmas present. Everyone was so happy (and suprised!) to hear our news.

We wanted to tell the family all at once, but since Craig is in China, and because his birthday is right before Christmas, we did tell him first. Or so we thought. I emailed him on the 15th so he would get the email on Friday the 16th, his 31st birthday. The email went something like this:

We have a present for you, but you will be getting it a bit late. In about 7 months. You're going to be an uncle! We are so excited, but have decided to tell the family on Christmas Day when we are all together. Can you keep a secret for 9 days?

Friday goes by, no email or call. Saturday, no email or call. Sunday, the same. At this point I wonder if he actually received the email. So I sent a quick note to ask if he got the email I sent on his birthday, and that he could call pretty much anytime during the week as I would be home. On Monday he finally called. He asked how everyone was, and how our Christmas shopping was going. It was at this point that I realized he hadn't really read the email in full...so I told him he needed to read it again, and then told him he was going to be 'Uncle Craig'. He wasn't sure how he completely missed that in the email... Anyway, Uncle Craig is thrilled too.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The cat water fountain is a success! After looking at it suspiciously for a couple of days, they were both using it this morning. Leo looked at me as if he was saying " What? I was using it all along you know..." Then he went over to it to prove it to me, and promptly got a snout full of water because he stuck his nose in the fountain part. Silly cat. Right now he's doing yoga. I left my yoga mat out and he thinks it's the best thing. Yes, he's doing cat pose. I'm sure he'll move on to the Sun Salutation once I head out for my hair appointment.

It's the shortest day of the year - mixed celebrations in our house today. I love that the days are going to get longer and brighter, and Bryan is sad that the darkness is going away.

Only 4 days until Christmas!

So Mall-Wart didn't have any green ribbon either. I bought red.

We decided to purchase a gift for Santa's Anonymous this year. One very lucky little boy (or girl) gets a Star Wars Light Saber that lights up and makes battle sounds. We even included the batteries. I liked the warning on the package that said the light saber tube would not collapse down properly if it had been thrust into an "object, person or animal..." I guess that means that one should not go Jedi on the family cat or dog.

Speaking of cats...our cats prefer to drink water that isn't stationary. If it drips from a tap, it's far more palatable to them. So we bought them a cat fountain. (No dad, it's not a cat spouting water...) It's a water bowl that has a small pump and filter in it that recirculates the water. The reaction so far has been mixed. Mookie saw it and hissed, and Leo has gotten close enough to smell the dish, but won't drink. I put a real bowl of water next to it so they have something to drink. Once the actually get used to the new dish, I'll take the other dish away. If they're thirsty, they will have no choice.

I would love to know why shopping malls find it neccesary to crank the heat up during the Christmas rush. We went downtown to City Centre today & the heat was unbearable! You would think that they would remember that being winter, people are wearing more clothing, and being Christmas, people are rushing around with parcels. As we walked through the mall, off came the hat, the scarf and then my coat. Forget parcels. We had to escape to the car to cool off.

My quest for green ribbon was in vain. I bought the coolest wrapping paper, red and white and pink and (I thought) blue candy stripes, and another in the same colors with big polka dots. I found a ton of ribbon on sale at London Drugs, only to discover that my paper has green stripes not blue. So I have a lot of blue ribbon. Is there anywhere in the city that has green ribbon left? Nope.

I'm hoping that the local Mall-Wart has some, or I'll have to drive to the Park to get some, and I'm trying to avoid it while on vacation.

We went to the craft show at the Butterdome on Friday. We bought our first ornament together! It's now on our not-so-colorful Christmas tree. Yes, it's a Christmas tree, not a 'holiday tree' as the media seems to want to call them these days.  

The tv carcass...

Ok, the TV is back and functioning normally; and to kick off its return i purchased a ps2 game i was looking for, for the last 3 and a half weeks. I missed my tv, i wont lie about it, granted its an inanimate object but i still missed having it there, just felt a little odd.
We went out to see Chronicles of Narnia today, rather enjoyed it, seemed a bit long, but as i was starting to feel very ill towards the end perhaps that had something to do with it; will definately purchase it when it comes out on video though. Lucked out and saw every single disney movie preview for the upcoming year, well not really lucky i guess, seeing disney corp is behind the release of Narnia. Pirates of the carribean 2 looks enjoyable, will go see that i believe.
Spent some quality time with my girl after i slept for a few hours and started to feel better, even watched the ending of survivor, which i have never seen the ending of any of the previous shows; most likely because of lack of interest i would assume.
Carrie is still doing her utmost to make me feel the xmas spirit, oh i should put back on the santa hat she had me wear last night. Hope all is well with all our readers, will post again soon i am certain.
Now where is that Santa hat...

It's fun here today. Still no big tv, the invalid comes home on Saturday morning. Bryan's wireless card is not talking to my computer so he has no internet right now. I have heard a lot of 'technical language' being used in the computer room. I'm just staying away. It's the best thing to do when a Brian/Bryan starts using 'technical language'. For those of you that are not familiar with the term, I suggest installing a ceiling fan somewhere with my dad.

Going to attempt to put up the Christmas tree tonight, which may or may not involve a round of the aforementioned language.

I post again....my lovely wife is off enjoying herself in BC this weekend. Leaving me to a weekend of debauchery, well as debauched as eating junkfood and drinking dr pepper can make one; but anyways, big plan, play lots of video games. Alas, seeing my tv is still in the shop until at least mid next week, i have been using Carries' old vcr to redirect the signal input so i can play; that came to an end this morning, her vcr has stopped functioning in that regard. So no more video games for Bryan...unless i pop over to walmart and buy a new vcr for 40$ that i can change the input status on.....hmm 40$ or no video games this weekend...decisions decisions decisions.
I just might be hitting walmart.
In other news, it snowed yet again last night, making me not want to put up the xmas lights, that should be accomplished this afternoon. Oh and it figures the moment Carrie leaves, mucha (who i always envision her name as mooka) our creamsicle colored cat began a vomitfest last night, leaving me scrambling to find household cleaning products; fun oh fun when the wifes away. Hopefully both Bonnie and Carrie will have a great time, and i'll figure something out, because i NEED TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES!
Hmm i fiddled with it, i dont know how just turning off the power on a device completely changes the settings, it didnt last night, but it did this morning, weird, but once again aside from a run on sentence i can play! So play i must!