Kathy's Diary: Nov. 24 – 30

This week was much more relaxing although it was still pretty action packed. The days went by quickly as we dealt with the flu, hockey practice and parent teacher interviews.

Haley wasn't feeling good on Monday after school and she stayed home with Tim on Tuesday – pretty soon she was throwing up and then Tim got the call from school to go and pick up Spencer by the middle of the afternoon Tate had succumbed too! They were all looking pretty washed out by the time I got home. Tim missed work all day so he bolted the moment I got home and we basically passed off the barf bucket as Tate was in the throes of vomiting. Needless to say we didn't go to Brownies and Haley reluctantly gave up her piano lessons for the night. By the early evening it was all over and the kids settled down to sleep. Since it was Wednesday the next day, I went for an early morning workout and was home by 8:30 so that Tim could go to work. The kids were going to stay home with me today since it was my day off. But Haley was doing cartwheels in the lving room and Spencer was quite lively. So I decided to bring them to school half way through the day because Spencer was star of the week – he didn't want to miss it! We brought – Crush – our fish for show and tell. Tate and I left the other two at school and went back home. After lunch Tate was feeling better and so I dropped him off at school to do a special project that his class was doing. The kids came home that night and were very hungry. We spent a quiet night at home and everyone just felt fine!

On Thursday it was parent-teacher interviews after school and I was just running from one interview to the next. I caught about 35 students and their parents in total over the night and following day of interviews. Thursday night Tim took the kids to their school dance and I joined them for the last hour. Since he had work to do Tim headed back home and I finished off the dance. The kids were pretty wired but were having a blast with their friends. It was nice to be able to connect with some of the parents that night for me too! Friday the kids had a PD day so I brought them to school with me. Since I had parent teacher interviews I was able to keep in contact with them and bring them into the computer lab when I was in neighbouring classes. I was apprehensive because I was unsure as to how they would behave but they amazed me and were absolutely wonderful all day. Diddy's daughter Winnie had a PD day too so she hung out with the kids in the portable while I finished my last couple interviews and they played games and drew on the boards. I was so proud of them. At the end of the day they got to pick the drink of their choice and all opted for McDonalds shakes. We were at the mall so we went and did some Christmas shopping and then it was time for hockey. Tim took the boys and Haley and I went shopping. I wanted to go pick up some gifts for my Canadian Living team to say thanks. The photoshoot was the next day and the final piece of the February issue was to be completed.

I found some nice candles for Shannon and Nicole, glasses for Michele the photographer, and a martini set for Jerome. Then Haley and I went to Zellers and bought some Christmas decorations. Of course we didn't need little light up houses but decided to get some for the boys and Haley. They loved it as they set up the little village and enjoy re-arranging all of the little people.

On Saturday we got up and I headed downtown to the Bay to pick up the day's wardrobe. Tim came down a half hour later with the kids to pick out his tux. It was a little nutty because we had to go to about 5 different departments and Verty, the Bay contact had forgot to pre-arrange the tuxedo so Tim ended up waiting for an hour to get some pants and of course I had long left for Jerome's hair salon and the kids were wrestling in the men's department of the Bay – Tim was mortified. He got them settle back at home and then in the late afternoon picked up Linda to babysit. He met us at the Palliser Hotel for the photoshoot. Of course I had been in hair and makeup for 3 and a half hours. My hair is really short now and looks cute. Michele was all set up and ready to go so we got right to it. Tim and I were giggling about it – so we hope the picture look good! Then he left and I went back to the studio to get my individual picture done. Jerome came to both shoots – I swear he is the sweetest man. Anyways of course in all the test shoots my boobs looked really saggy and my arms really huge – so I had to put my bra on under the built in one in the dress and put my hands on my hips so that my “grand canyon sized “ arm pits looked okay. Michael the art director wanted a big “wow – ta da” kind of shot. So I was trying to do that looking as natural as possible with my hands on my hips, chest up, hips twisted, and smile without crinkling my forehead. I kept thinking – man – real life models got it hard! Anyways hopefully Michele got a shot she could use! It was really fun. I got home at 7 pm after being gone since mid-morning and visited with Linda and the kids. Tim came home from a coaches meeting (at a pub!) and then we headed off to a Christmas party.

Our friends Perry and Louise have this amazing home (aka mansion) out in Springbank which was just breathtaking. It was a beautifully decorated new home and the party was catered too! It was pretty incredible. We got re-acquainted with several old friends and had a really good time. On Sunday morning we took the boys to hockey and then I went for a run with Diddy. After that I dropped all of the clothes back off at the Bay and then came home. The boys were invited to a friends house for a play day in the afternoon and Haley invited Taylor over. We ended up baking Christmas cookies and making snowmen. It was fun and by the time the boys got home it was time to decorate their cookies. I made a yummy roast beef dinner and we had a nice family night. I crashed while Tim was reading the kids their bed time story and then stayed up watching “Dr. Suess” on biography till midnight!