Step-father

Today was a first - I took all three girls out by myself. Julie is suffering from a bit of a stomach flu and didn't feel like venturing out this morning. So I took the plunge - packed them all up and headed for Walmart. I escaped relatively unscathed, the girls were somewhat well behaved (I only had to threaten them once), and all in all, it was a success. Except that it started to rain quite hard while we were in the store, so we had to run for the car not really dressed for the rain. I don't like getting wet.

The weather got a bit better for a while after lunch, so I took to tackling the dandelions once again. It's amazing how many there are. Jorja and Ginny came out too to keep me company, and were playing there own little game. Well, Jorja was anyway. The two of them were princesses and I was the step-father. She told me exactly what my lines should be and how I should act. "Daddy, just say 'Get back in the house and do your chores!'" It made my part very easy. Eventually I asked her why I was the step-father. She replied, "Because you're mean." I think Disney needs to rethink their evil step-parent philosophy. Apparently all step-parents are getting a bad rap.

Later on today, we got quite a good thunderstorm complete with some hail. Seeing as how the girls have never seen hail before, I called them to the door to check it out. I've always enjoyed watching hail. They didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. They looked, said 'Oh yeah' and went back to what they were doing (Jorja was playing computer games, and Ginny just leaving a path of carnage in her wake).

I think my addiction to Glee is having some detrimental effects on the girls. I have to admit that I usually buy at least one song that they do every week. I've always kind of had a soft spot for Vanilla Ice, so I bought their version of 'Ice Ice Baby'. I know, it's not something I'm proud of. Anyway, the girls have kind of taken a liking to it and Ginny walks around singing it a lot. 'do-do-do-do-do-do-do, Vanilla Ice Ice Baby' What have I done?

I bought a rototiller off Kijiji today, so I'm quite excited to try it out. We're going to attempt a bit of a garden this year, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the rain stays away long enough tomorrow to get out there for a bit. And a friend of mine soldered my sprinkler pipe today, so we should be ready to go in the backyard.

Anyhow, I am up much to late after watching my PVRed CSI and The Mentalist. Time for bed. Later.

Parakeets

Let me start by saying we had internet troubles today. When I say troubles, I mean it didn't work. At all. I called Shaw, who we switched to last week, and they couldn't do anything over the phone. They have to send a technician out. It just so happens that one was already coming tomorrow. Our HD TV kind of sucks. The sales guy said it would be better than Sasktel, the installer said it would be better. It is no where near as good. It's all pixely and very disappointing. So I called about that this morning, and they said they would send someone out tomorrow - they probably need to boost the signal. Julie said she was surprised that I called, and I said I don't like my HD being messed with. I hope all this gets sorted out, because so far I'm regretting switching. They're coming between 9 and 12.

Tonight was the first soccer game, and I forgot the camera. I took Jorja by myself just because Ginny wasn't having a very good day, and we didn't want to try to contain her for the whole game. The team name is the Parkridge Parakeets. Really? Really? The parakeets? Could they have come up with a lamer animal. It didn't seem very intimidating playing the Caswell Cougars. I couldn't believe how much bigger Jorja looked than last year. Her shin pads actually fit. The shorts didn't come down past her knees. She looked pretty good. I won't go into all the details, but there were some tears, some coming and trying to sit on my lap saying she was tired, some saying I have to pee. If you remember my piano lesson post about how she doesn't like to try new things and not be good, it will make sense. Anyhow, I talked her into going back, and there was one brief shining moment when she actually kicked the ball. Twice. While on a breakaway. It went wide, but she actually ran and touched the ball. It's already better than last year. I guess we'll see what the rest of the season brings.

Anyhow, I've got to go watch Glee now, which we have PVRed. That's the one thing I am enjoying so far. Later.