INTRODUCING the salmon speaks

it is my pleasure to introduce the salmon speaks. I decided to launch http://thesalmon.blogspot.com for several reasons:
1. the name is quicker to spell than "amandajsalmon" & i have been wanting a shorter name for my blog
2. it is more general and apt for derek, so he can proudly share it with his friends too
3. i have a good email address that will help establish the branding of "the salmon" as i spread the word
4. i am anticipating preparing my Christmas letter and it will be great to include the email addy and the url that are both "the salmon"

I will be focusing on updating "thesalmon" from now on so please add it to your list of blogs (i will probably update "amandajsalmon" from time to time, but not necessarily as frequently).

thanks and enjoy

peace.

Miles stands up

derek helping miles stand..soo cute...i love my nephew and husband! derek's gonna be a great dad.

Babysitting Miles Grey

I offered to babysit tonight while derek went climbing with the boys...however, the boys were not up to it, so derek came to babysit with me.

derek was so good with miles and was able to calm him down. he would give him to me and then miles would get upset again. eventually miles slept and i held him while he slept until andrew and heather came home.

Michelle, this ones for you!

a funny thing happened today, it snowed nov 29 04
Well Michelle asked me what winter was like in BC earlier TODAY.

I emailed her and said the weather is fairly warm, doesn't really hang around below zero that much, and it might snow, but don't count on it...

I was going to take a picture of what winter looked like around here because I wrote that its that fall brown colour, kind of been wet and ugly...however, I was proven wrong again. Ok, I know, I'm not in control, I don't know everything! how humbling

Proud Grandma

kalen & grandma at the shower

Happy Hour

these girls sure do love babies! here's kristin, rose, miles & joanna at Kalen's baby shower

Kalen's Baby Shower

heather, miles & mom roy

living room jam time

derek & shawn & ben are jamming right now as i type. its fun to listen to them. ben is the shredder, shawn's on bass, derek on acoustic. they've gone back and forth between Christmas carol medleys to some of their old hits from back when they used to jam weekly.

i'm waiting to go to a baby shower for my friend Christie...i'm so tired and sore from all the moving i did today. i emptied a huge bookshelf and comandeered a room-switcheroo. marks room is now in the front office area and his former room is our new storage room. it is much more spacious than the last storage room...probably b/c andrew and ben moved the deepfreeze out...andrew apparently looked like a robot from Starwars with a big freezer on his head, covering his body with only legs sticking out--said ben (rob, trivia question for you maybe? do you know what creature that would be?).

it will be interesting go to hang out with all girls (except for babies) after being the foreman (woman) to the guys all afternoon today.

anyway, another page in my nesting diary for the arrival of our new little one. I have two count downs on my whiteboard at work: one for baby, one for Christmas, since i'm not at work today: 2 months 27 days til baby's due date & 28 days til Christmas...YAY to both.

ciao

benjammin'

chillaxin' after a hard afternoon of worky work

blond ben

here's ben taking his break too from moving stuff to the garage and between rooms in the house. Derek and Shawn went to get the doghouse for Sparky from Leah's parents house and i was the boss lady for andrew and ben...poor guys.

apparently i'm a slave driver

derek and i enlisted some friends and brother andrew to help us out doing some rearranging of our house as we found out that Mark (housemate) most likely wont be back until MARCH...wow. anyway, andrew kept asking for his "15" so here he is taking a break
thanks for the help androoo

27 weeks Pregnant...13 to go!

things are going well. the baby is moving around alot and i'm really enjoying being pregnant. i think my excitement has increased now that i have entering the final trimester...wow, i can't believe its been six months already :)

i worked from home this afternoon and it went really well. Sparky played outside in the fenced yard (thanks to Derek for finishing the gate) and he seemed to really enjoy himself--chasing squirrels and when Westley came around they chased each other. it was really good to see him having such a fun time in the yard.

Derek and I went Christmas shopping tonight. I'm excited about going to Ontario and visiting family and friends. I sure hope it works out to see Michelle and her family when we're there.

peace

validation

sometimes its just nice to know that i belong somewhere, that the way i perceive society is common amongst my generation. i ran across this:

Baby Boomers believed in big dreams, reaching for the stars, personal freedom, "be all that you can be." Today's generation believes in small actions, getting your head out of the clouds, social obligation, "do your part."

A Baby Boomer anchored his or her identity in their career. The emerging generation sees his or her job only as a job.

Baby Boomers were diplomatic and sought the approval of others. The emerging generation feels it's more honest to be blunt, and they really don't care if you approve or not.

Boomers were driven, self-reliant and impressed by authority. Emergents are laid back, believe in working as a team, and have less confidence in "the boss."

Idealistic Boomers had an abundance mentality, believed in a better world, and were opulent in their spending. Emergents see scarcity, believe in doing what it takes to survive, and are more fiscally conservative.

Based solely on the core values of the emerging generation, here's what I believe we can expect to see beginning to happen during the next 3 to 4 years:

1. A decline among prestige brands such as Rolex, Harley-Davidson and Gucci.
2. The end of "upwardly mobile" as a slang expression.
3. A decline in the effectiveness of traditional advertising.
4. Comparison-shopping to be done increasingly online, though purchasing will remain in brick-and-mortar stores in many product categories.
5. An increase in volunteerism and donor support to socially responsible organizations.
6. An increase in the popularity of labor unions.
7. A decrease in the divorce rate as couples become increasingly committed to family unity and fall less under the spell of idealistic "true love." In other words, we're learning not to have unrealistic expectations of our mates. (Really? Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella were fairy tales…?)

Read Article: marketing in 2005 and beyond

it even ends on a cheery note.

3 months til Baby Salmon's Due Date!

Wow, only three months to go until February 24th, 2005. Thats pretty crazy in my opinion. I am definitely getting more and more excited about it.

Lots of people at work have been asking when i'm going on mat leave, but i don't know yet...i'm told i have to give one months notice, so i guess I'll wait until January to decide for sure.

Yesterday I was trying out a prenatal aerobics video...there were some moves that were supposed to be graceful ballerina moves but it reminded me of the dancing hippos from Fantasia...


anyway, i'm feeling alot better from my head cold today...i'd say i'm 90% better, I have a cough but my mind is fairly clear now.

ciao

today i changed my blog title

i changed my blog title and wanted to reference another one of Mike Knott's songs Super Girl

i'm not saying i'm super girl but i figure since i've been feeling sick (bad bad head/throat/chest cold) and that i've been struggling at having or keeping a good attitude that i would give myself a little help...i can be super duper and super fantastic!

peace
all i want is a little peace
for me and baby
i feel better having said that
i think i'm relatively good at keeping peace
internally
but sometimes i feel like i cant cope
i want to run away and not talk anymore
but today
peace

David & Joanna & ??

congratulations David you're gonna be a brother!

Brent & Kristin

brent & kristin enjoying a little Hayden at BenG's birthday party (27 years old) at the Hetzlers in Mission

andrew & s miles

here is andrew getting smiles out of miles soo cute

i feel like Turducken tonight!

Turducken: a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey

ohmigoodness thats craziness!

Here's a recipe for Turducken

Week 26 belly

my belly is getting bigger...week 26, 14 weeks to go! crazy...i know this picture doesn't really show my belly, but it is bigger. We had a doctor's appointment this week and i'm measuring 27 cm which is right on target...baby is about 2lbs now and just over 1 foot long. wow!

High Speed Internet & our Livingroom

on monday our good friend craig came by to wait for the shaw guy to come and install high speed internet. so on sunday night we moved the computer desk and set it up in living room. i think it looks so great with our new flooring (thanks again richard, guy, derek and bruce!).

Other corner of the livingroom

our cute chairs from mom roy

whistler rose is getting married!

congratulations to my whistler rose and her josh dykstra! i just got the exciting news that he proposed on thursday and she said yes :) way to go!

sorry this is such a lame picture, my final climbing trip to Smith Rock Oregon was back in May with rose and derek and sparky. apparently i dont have any good pics of you rose!

xoxo much love to you both

Why Rob is so Smart

My coworker Rob always seems to have some amazing new insight or some late breaking news item to talk about...at first, I felt so out of the loop...now, we've been working together for about two months I guess and finally, this week, he explained why he's so smart (my words, not his).

enjoy

TiVo hacks flourish

TiVo is such a cool idea, and there are many out there trying to make it cooler, I guess the hackers today will lead the way for the upgrades of tomorrow as usual.
TiVo hacks flourish | CNET News.com

OneLook Reverse Dictionary

This looks like it would really help writers who are having a hard time coming up with the right word. Enter a concept and it will give you several options of words.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary

Email Newsletter Saavy Presidential Candidates

i thought this was pretty interesting article where Jakob Nielsen released a pre-election analysis of the e-newsletters of the Presidential Candidates. read all about it

Salmon Baby Names

Since many people ask about what names we are thinking of for Baby Salmon, I thought I would devote a post to that specifically...

We are not going to share what name we decide until the little one is born, but we would LOVE to get your input of names that you think would be cool or go well with Salmon, so we can have more ideas.

Please suppress the urge to post such names as: Smoked, Fresh Water, King, etc. and give us some serious ideas, cuz we could use the help! Its HARD work coming up with a name that we both like.

So if you want to, please feel free to post a comment and let us know of some name ideas (I always found I had more name ideas before I actually had the need to have any...so since most of my ideas have not worked out (aka derek doesnt like them or they dont sound good with Salmon)...I would love the help).

Thank you for taking part in the brainstorming. :)
~~
Ok, several people have posted comments and asked a few questions, so i'll update this to address those:
1. Please dont give names that you want for yourself :)
2. Most names that start or end with the letter "S" probably wont work so that disqualifies alot.
3. We're open to any type of name: Biblical, Classic, Trendy, Uncommon, made-up ;0)
4. A fun game might be to take DEREK and AMANDA and try to come up with a made up name hee hee, you never know right?!

Sorry Everybody

here are some voluntary apology notes from a few US residents.
Sorry Everybody

Poppies and Remembrance Day

For the past 1.5 months I've been working closely with an American. Its been very fascinating to get his opinions on politics and our colloquialisms (like eh? and right?).

The other day I was wearing a Poppy and he asked "Why?" and I asked "Do you know what a Poppy is?" (in the hopefully gingerly way that I try to ask so he doesnt think i think he's stupid--because i definitely think he's smart) and he says "Ya, they make opium from them...why are you wearing that?" and i tried to explain the whole Flanders Field and Remembrance Day thing.

Here it is explained much better, from the Veterans Affairs website for Canada:

"Poppies are worn as the flower of remembrance, a reminder of the blood-red flower which still grows on the site of battles fought in France and Belgium. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, during the terrible bloodshed of the second battle of Ypres, in the spring of 1915, wrote of these flowers which lived on among the graves of dead soldiers."

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
(John McCrae, In Flanders Fields)
Read More on How we remember

The Veterans Affairs site also details A Day of Remembrance

I hope this helps explain Rob :)

Baby Room Items List

I decided to just start a list of everything we have coming our way or currently in our possession for the baby. I will keep this list updated for any interested parties (like grandparents ;) )

-bassinet (from Grandma Jen & Grandpa Richard)
-bouncing chair (ours)
-doorway jumper with tray (ours)
-lots of stuffed animals (ours)
-new flooring ;0) (from Grandma Jen & Grandpa Richard & us)
-baby bathtub (jackie)
-lots of newborn diapers (jackie)
-dresser (leah)
-change table (keith)
-infant car seat (keith)
-exer-saucer (keith)
-baby bath ring (keith)

Belly Button Pops!

Baby Salmon is 24 weeks today.

Derek caught me off guard with this pic tonight but it shows my belly and you can even see that my belly button has officially "popped." Not fully out, but definitely popped. For those of you who think its really early to have done that, a little factoid about me is that i had an outie until i was like 8 or 10 years old, so it has come back to visit!

Derek and I went on a tour of the Maternity ward tonight. It was very weird...i can't believe i'm having a baby! Derek thought it was exciting and I just thought "Wow, this is serious stuff...I have to deliver a baby here!"

The rooms are seriously enormous. There is a bathroom with a full tub and shower, TV and free telephone (local calls). One tiny bed for me to have my labor and delivery. There is a pull out couch for Derek to sleep on. I think our friends will have to bring lawn chairs and hang out AFTER the baby is born, there's seriously THAT much room! So friends, if you're out there somewhere and reading this, figure out a way to smuggle in some lawn chairs and you can come visit the new Salmon baby in comfort.
Its pretty cool, pending that all goes smoothly, they never take your baby out of the room until you leave with him/her.

Derek and I received an invitation to our first baby shower!! It will be held in North Augusta Ontario on December 26th, hosted by Derek's cousin Sharon and Aunt Judy. We went to Walmart and started a baby registry (its a brand new registry they just set up and you can use a scanner to pick all your items just like at Sears or The Bay). We need to go back and check out the strollers a bit more. We are also going to register at Sears because there is a crib there that is really nice that my friend Alex has.

Anyway, looking at all the baby stuff is exciting...wow what a day that will be when we bring the little one home and see how he/she adapts to the bassinet and us as parents! Yay! we're on our way.
peace

PST has been lowered to 7%

I didn't hear any radio ads, or see any bus signs or receive a package in the mail saying that PST has been lowered...it wasn't until I was trying to order something at work that I saw that the PST rate was wrong (7.5%) so I asked for a new Quote and found out that PST has been lowered.

This happened on October 21! Why didn't anyone tell me? I'm always the last to know these things :S although now maybe some of you will know b/c of me.

The day I spammed Orangejack

sooo...I was just trying to post an intelligent comment and blogger was acting a bit slow. I guess I clicked submit a few too many times. I lean over and say "Sorry Rob, I just totally spammed you." and he says, "I know, 13 times...oh wait, 14!"
My post, posted 4 times on his blog (orangejack) but he received 14 email notifications that there was a new post. Yikes! anyway, I publicly apologize for my impatience and trigger-happiness.
humbly yours, ajs

Halloween is weird

I've decided that I think Halloween is really weird.

I went over to Andrew and Heather's to hang out with Heather and Miles the ba-BEE while the guys blew up firecrackers. The guys scared off at least half of the total number of trick-or-treaters by blowing up firecrackers in the driveway, sewer and street. So the ones we did get were the bigger kids, wearing weird half-rocker, half-butterfly outfits.

They were all nice and polite and weren't all "oh no, i couldnt!" when i'd tell them to take a handful (I guess i was supposed to hand it to them). It felt like my first time ever handing out candy and the first one, I said "Happy Halloween" to as she walked away and she said the same back and then I thought...thats weird, I don't really want to wish her a Happy Halloween or get wished a Happy Halloween...Halloween is weird.

I'm not sure what I'll do when my kids are older, but from this perspective, walking around for one evening, for 30 minutes to get candy from strangers is pretty weird, but I guess its a safe way to reverse the teaching you've been giving your kid for years of: "Don't take candy from strangers" to "Don't take candy from strangers unless i'm standing at the end of the driveway or you're with a pack of friends."

Hey, is that bee pollenating those flowers?!

Here is little Miles the ba-bee on his final day in his costume (Sunday, October 31, 2004). I'm holding him up to those flowers and I think, deep down, he's really enjoying himself.

We made a quick stop for lunch and then headed over to see our friend's new adopted baby from Florida! Kalen arrived to Canada on Saturday night and he is really cute, 3 months old and our friends are all looking forward to play dates with him.

Kalen's grandma was also adopted and she wrote him a beautiful peom about "i dont know when you're coming or where you're coming from but i love you already." Congratulations on your new baby boy!

Alicia Mellenger on her way to becoming a Nylund

Uncle Richard walking Alicia Mellenger down the aisle on her wedding day. It was a beautifully decorated wedding which was not too Halloween-y as we thought it might be but the unity candle was inside a pumpkin that looked Tim Burton style with the stiched mouth. it was cute.

Salmon Family Ninjas

Derek and Amanda dressed up as Ninjas with Miles the Bee.

we were the only ones dressed up at the ceremony...the invitation said the wedding was at 3pm with reception to follow. It didn't give any times, so we didn't know there would be a break...there was a big break in fact. Dinner was served at 6pm.

Andrew and Heather were supposed to dress up with us, but decided to wait until the reception (but didn't actually tell us that ahead of time). So we were the ONLY ones at the wedding dressed up.

Apparently, someone asked the wedding party if we were muslim and sitting at the very back because of our religion. Oh dear! Anyway, I am pretty sure we will never be in that situation again, going to a Halloween Wedding, but if we ever are, we'll know not to dress up. grrr....

Heather calms the Bee

Heather managed to calm Miles down so that he spent a nice evening in his bee suit. Since this is the only Halloween it will ever fit him, he is going to have good wear out of it. Friday night, Saturday for a costume wedding and Sunday for church.

Uncle Derek and Miles "the Bee" Mellenger

Miles was pretty upset by the tag team effort by his dad and uncle to get him into this bee costume. But he sure looked cute!