Happy Birthday Nana

So my Mom is getting super old...she just turned, like, 101 or something on December 29.

We tried to call on her birthday but she was out. So I decided to get the kids to sing Happy Birthday to her on video. What a mistake!!! Brooklyn is sick and Justin is 7 going on 17 with all his bloody attitude. So recording a simple Happy Birthday song devolved into slamming of doors, tears, banishment from Wii, etc.

Here are a few of the many outtakes. Sheesh. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Christmas Dinner

Brooks got her hair straightened for Christmas dinner at the Kim's house last night. She was so happy to have "beautiful" hair. Sheesh, if it was straight she'd want to curl it I'm sure.

Mrs. Kim put on a good spread...turkey, stuffing, kimchi, jellyfish salad, tuna sashimi, spicy pork ribs...all washed down with a little Christmas cheer!

The Year Without A Christmas Card

The Christmas cards we ordered from Kodak weeks ago got lost in the mail. We only received them today...the 23rd!!! Needless to say, no one is getting a Christmas card from us this year!!!

I put up our cards for 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005 and 2003...not sure what happened in 2004 and 2006?

The White Stuff is Coming...

Yesterday I swept the snow off the walk. Yes, I said "swept" not "shoveled". Yes, with a broom, not a shovel. Yes, we who live in lotusland are wimps. I had a snowball fight with the kids for about 10 minutes and then all the usaeble snow was gone, so we went inside. I did manage to get a snowball down Brook's shirt so she went in crying anyway. Bad Apa!

More snow forecast for tonight...about 10 cm...turning to rain tomorrow and for the rest of the week. That's what they said last year before we got blasted with 3 feet of snow in December!!!

At least we got the house ready for Christmas. Lights are up, tree is up, Christmas train is chugging through the living room, and the liquor cabinet is stocked!

The Super Mega One Year Blog Anniversary Post

Can you believe a whole year has passed since I created this blog? The blog with a stupid name about nothing? I surpassed my goal of achieving 72 posts...this is number 93. That works out to one post every 3.92 days, for those of you who criticize me for not posting often enough. And they said it couldn't be done!

In following the Lobster With Kimchi tradition of posting about nothing, I have a monster post with pictures, music and video!

The pictures portray the events of the week at the Lobster household. First I bedazzled the outside of the house with lights and shiny red balls. Judie hates it but everyone stops to look...I think it looks great, and what else matters, really. Now if only I could get an inflatable Santa to stick on the roof....the possibilities are endless! After much debate about getting an artificial tree this year, we ended up with a 7 foot Douglas Fir, and I have to admit there's nothing like the smell of a real tree filling the house...unless you're the poor sap covered in sap from wrestling the damned thing into the stand and into place. I've had squirrels following me around for days now!

The kids did a fine job decorating the tree, and although Judie won the battle of white lights over multi-coloured lights this year, the kids won the battle of homemade decorations, construction paper and all. Bwahahahahahaha. Brooklyn was so excited she decorated the tree with her toy beads and necklaces as garland before I even got the lights on it. If you click on the fourth picture of the kids standing in front of the Christmas tree you'll notice Brooklyn is holding a bottle...it is the "Florida Snowman" melted in a bottle that Mom sent us years ago. The kids finally "got" the joke this year. Sheesh.

Justin also finished up his skating lessons today. Congrats, dude, you really gave it your all this time around.

Seems like the whole city is gearing up for Christmas now, and I guess it's just around the corner. One of my favourite Christmas songs is by the Vancouver band, Payola$. Yes, the same Payola$ that sang "Eyes of a Stranger". As far as I know, this song is out of print, which is a shame. Here is "Christmas is Coming" by the Payola$, a great song that kind of makes me miss my brother Barrie this time of year.

The video is from Brooklyn's dance recital. Ah, watching 4 year old girls dance is just so...so...so painful!!!

Thanks for reading...and hey, if you really want to encourage me to post more often, how about leaving a few comments, would ya?

Merry Christmas,

Brian

Snow Miser - Heat Miser

One of my favourite songs of the Christmas season, Snow Miser - Heat Miser is from the 1974 classic "The Year Without A Santa Claus". Snow Miser kicks ass!

Disney On Ice

As if the kids didn't get enough Disney this year already, Brooklyn took in the Disney on Ice spectacular last week. The Little Mermaid seems to be her favourite of the moment, and the show didn't disappoint! The merchandise was even more of a rip off than at Disneyland itself, and that is no small feat!

I didn't think my daughter liked licorice, but there she is in the picture eating it...

Christmas Shopping in New York

After the intense pressure of Board meetings and an openly combative session with the 38 banks that finance our company this week, I was glad to have arranged for 2 days of doing nothing away from the kids in New York. Judie flew down on air miles and we ended up getting a great rate at the Millennium Broadway. They upgraded us to the Premier wing, you know, because I'm such a mover and shaker.

Friday was clear, cool and crisp...a perfect day to stroll down Fifth Avenue. I hate shopping at the best of times but I have to admit I enjoyed it. Shopping and people watching in New York is always interesting, and close to Christmas there is a great vibe in the city with all the shops and streets decorated for the season. The tree at Rockerfeller Center, which is fantastic, had only been lit on Tuesday, so everyone was in a festive mood. Lighting the tree sort of kicks off the holiday season in New York and people come from all over to check it out. The ice rink looked a bit dodgy though, like skating in slush.

We had lunch at Tao, which is supposed to be "the" super trendy place to go for Asian food. It's a rip off of Buddha Bar, with a giant statue at the back of an immense space. The rent must be astronomical! The food was good, but being a spoiled Vancouverite, it didn't hold a candle to the quality and flavour of the Asian cuisine we enjoy on the west coast. So I'm glad we did the $24 three course prix fixe lunch menu instead of battling for a table at dinner, spending a ton of money and being disappointed. I'm told that Spice Market in the Meat Packing District is the same idea with better food.

Back on Fifth Avenue, Judie tried on every pair of UGG's in the city. They are aptly named boots...Ugh! If she had tried one more pair I would have gone postal! I got back at her later making her wait while I tried on suits at Macy's. The discounted prices had an additional 25% off!

All the department stores doll up their windows for Christmas, and I understand that taking your kids into the city to view the "holiday windows" is another New York tradition. I liked the classical approach of the Lord and Taylor windows, but Macy's were more contemporary and a lot more fun for kids. Having said that, the controversial XOXO live model display at 38th and Fifth was my fave! Every guy should check out the hot chic changing her clothes at http://www.whatwillshedonext.com/. Merry Christmas to me!

We also watched some excellent break dancers on the street up by the Plaza. Maybe they don't call it break dancing anymore, but whatever, the kids were great.

After a super late Italian dinner at Lattanzi on 46th, we ended up at the bar at the W until early morning. Yikes. Drinking in New York is not nearly as fun when you're paying for it yourself instead of on an expense account!

On Saturday the weather was a little dodgy, so we scored cheap scalper tickets to the matinee of "A Steady Rain" with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. I thought it was great but admittedly it wouldn't have made such an impression on me without the two big stars. I thought Hugh Jackman was a better actor.

A great couple of days, but nice to get home to see the kids! I spent more than Judie, heh, heh, heh...