Some days I will curse this

We have Signed the contract and Paid the deposit.

Deal closes in September.

Seems we are property owners in


SPAIN!!!!!!!

(Breathe in through the nose, and out through the mouth.)

Huh?

Sleep? What's that?

Blog? DO I have a blog? I thought I just had work and work and working on selling the house.

Life is progressing at a crazy pace....

More later.

For Beth and Beth

Went on another road trip...off to Kingston to meet the kids and their bud from the cottage...in light of the vast road trip and the Via rail strike, our friend decided to drive that far and meet us....

SO

We stopped and played mini-putt which was pretty cool, though honestly, 18 holes are too many....and then we went to......Bullwinkle BETH.....this one WAS for you, I actually totally went there for you......to Arbys for the very first time in my life and I had a cheddar bacon roast beef sandwich....and for Burkina BETH I had a Dr. Pepper!

Thinking of you ladies.....

The road trip was fine, though I hate driving....hate it.

Kids are washed up, laundry spinning, the dishes can wait till tomorrow thankyouverymuch, now to wait for the younger ones to crash and I'll walk the dog.....

OH, and I talked to Youngest about the camp debacle, she is annoyed with them and sad, but not crushed, and is pretty content to go to the previous camp....mature. I'm impressed.

Camp update.

The camp with that form I was talking about was the Toronto Raptors Basketball camp, so the coverage and use of the images etc etc etc. could have been extensive. I am told there would have been media there at the opening of camp, and the kids would have been in a photo shoot on both the Monday and the Friday. Uniforms provided, and they are required to change into them for the shoot.

I was given two choices when they finally responded after I sent a follow up e-mail. I could withdraw my child and they would refund my money, or they could attempt to run the process and keep her behind the cameras. I asked how much filming would be going on - virtually continuously - and how she would be able to participate meaningfully in the program. He didn't have an answer for that.

Can you just see how much fun that would have been for her? OK...Youngest's turn for the drill...cameras off...., OK youngest, you can't do this drill till everyone is finished, and you don't have a partner cause we can't film you! Oh, and don't speak while we are filming either.....

Seems to me that this is more of a marketing event than a camp. The form was certainly designed to protect the marketing rights of the organisation with no concern for the rights of the children.

Sad.

She won't be attending.

I haven't had a chance to tell her that. SO looking forward to that conversation.

Some folks have cojones

Get a load of a section of a parent release form I am supposed to sign for a camp for my kid.

It is to a prominent camp with large advertising campaigns.

(Adjusted slightly for brevity and legibility, bold is my own)

I, the parent, grant the camp permission to collect and utilise information on my child and to collect and use my child's name, voice, statements, photograph, image, likeness, actions at the program and biographical data in any live or recorded form (including but not limited to, any form of video display or other transmission or reproduction), in whole or in part, for promotional, commercial or any other purpose, in perpetuity worldwide on standard and non-standard television, home video, print, electronic and on line media (including, without limitation, the Internet) ...... I hereby give permission to (....)and their officers, directors, governors, owners and affiliates to collect and use (my child's) contact information inc name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.... blah blah blah.

Can you image?

These are kids??????

Just how stupid do they think we are? The stunning thing is that lots of people will sign this.

I sent an e-mail stating that I will never in any way sign, agree to or give permission for this section. I then asked if that will impact on my child's ability to participate in the program.

I've had no response.

tick tock tick tock

My computer is so slow, I am going to write at work tomorrow.

Hope you had a great day...mine was insane busy, but good. Signed the forms to get the house here on the market, talked to the man about a new offer on the house in Spain, and went out for dinner with my Mom...

SWEET!

and scary.

Cheers everyone!

O

So many Chuck stories, so little time!

Chuck the Barfing Dog Goes to Ottawa.

Thanks to the wonders of modern pharmecuticals, he didn't barf. He did have a LOVELY time running through the woods sniffing a million animal smells and discovering what chippies are.

He also slept in a tent.

He didn't think that was such a good idea. You see, here is my theory. He was abandoned and had to live on the street, so I figure he likes that roof, walls, house idea quite a bit. He got into the tent happily enough, but when I zipped it up? Whining and pushing against the walls. He whined for an hour and a half straight. Honestly.

Then he resigned himself to his fate in lowered and more vulnerable circumstances and went to sleep.

Can I add that sleeping with the dog is somewhat overrated.

BEDHOG!

Woke at 4 am with my legs bound in place.

Kick kick, flail flail!

He had a lovely morning running around sniffing at things, then he found a nice juicy cow pat; 10 minutes before we were to leave to drive back to TO.

Rolled in that sucker but good.

Got thrown in the lake.

Have I ever mentioned that he HATES water?

Not a happy puppy. Less happy as I went to throw him in the second time to rinse the soap off. Poor thing. Then we still had to rinse some more bubbles off with a bucket.

Gave him a gravol...man those things taste bad....and we drove and drove and drove home again.

The car smelled like wet dog the whole way home.


Think I'll be taking the train next week if I can work it out.

Poor pooch.

Eeeekkkk

Enmeshed in negotiating for the house in Spain!

At the same time, Chuck has his chin on my shoulder and is whining gently while wagging madly.

Cross your fingers for us, and I'll see what I can do about letting poor Chuck uncross his legs.

Road trip!

I AM CAUGHT UP!

I am finding the schedule here is a little restrictive...blogging at all? A challenge.

Reading blogs and finding out what all you lovely people are up to? Challenging too.

I have actually gotten through my reader, though I will admit to not having read every single one of your updates, though I have read the most recent. A girl can only do what a girl can do...human and all that.

Giant road trip this weekend, with the girls and Chuck the barfing dog and a complete stranger too boot....should be SO much fun. (um, maybe NOT) I love a good road trip, don't get me wrong, but this sounds like it is going to be a doosey...

Wish me luck.

7 to 8 hours in the car.

Have I ever mentioned that my kids HATE being in the car? Hate it.

Ho hum.

Last time we did this drive I ended up standing on the side of a road in rural Quebec screaming at eldest and threatening to make her walk the rest of the way. Her behaviour had not been exemplary either.

Oh the joys!

Advertising

On one of the radio stations here in TO, specifically on Virgin 99.9, I will name names, are running a new ad for an amusement park who I ethcially refuse to name.

It is disgusting.

The audio on the ad is a deep agressive man's voice, speaking to a woman as her rapist.

charming

The first time I listened to it I was so transfixed by horror that we listened right through. To my neverending delight I had eldest in the car with me. There was a pause after the ad ended, and we both voiced our stunned confusion and sheer vomitous repulsion at this ad.

She is even faster than me at turning off the station, and I have to confess, we won't be listening much longer if it goes on.

It is one of those moments that makes me lose faith in humanity. That an ad like that could be conceived, then approved, and made is simply terrifying. Can you imagine sitting around thinking up ideas and actualy having the nerve to say, "Hey, why don't we simulate a rape on air, that'll really bring them in!" And it got the go ahead!?!?!

That a radio station consented to run it and that they think it will sell.

There really are people out there who can at best be described as creepy. Worst? Don't want to go there.

God some people are repulsive.

Honestly repulsive.

May my kids never come across any of them.

Nobody's kids.

Wishful thinking. We already are coming across them every time that ad comes on.

Makes me want to spew.