Dinner with the Shooter's, new project and more travels

Another crazy busy work week has come and gone.
That's all I have to say about that.

Tonight however, Shaena had invited The Shooter's over for dinner. Jennifer and Chris are the parents of Phoebe, one of Ethan's many baby girlfriends over here and it was nice to finally meet one of these moms that Shaena is hanging out with in the weeks. (It was nice to meet Chris as well of course!) As per usual when we have people over for dinner, Shaena is on entertainment duty, I cook, and there is always some really good banter as well! Tonight the chef's special was fajitas with all the trimmings... except for fajita bread! Kind of important when making fajitas but unfortunately most of the bread was moldy as it turned out. Brand new from the store but still green with mold! I think Mrs. Harrison-Helin will have to write another letter!

What else is new then? Well, first of all, apologies for the lack of updates this week. We've had some feedback on the updating frequency from one of out more avid readers and will do our best to better ourselves. Sorry. ;)

One of the reasons why we haven't had a chance to update this page this week is because I have started looking at a side project that goes under the working title 'PeterHelin.com' and I am proud to say that I have now registered www.peterhelin.com which will be, if all goes well, my website for my own freelance web design business! I figured since I am getting requests for websites and am helping friends and bands out with various web projects, 'computer support' and other stuff, I mind as well take it a step further and offer my services as a business and maybe even make a few quid along the way. We'll see how it goes and more to follow on that of course.

This week some more traveling plans have been crystallized and it looks as if I will be spending a bit of time in airports in the month of June. Earlier this week I booked a quick work trip to Sweden in June before our holiday trip to Sweden, then we have our long awaited holidays to up north in Sweden coming up, and straight after our holidays I will be flying straight from Stockholm to Frankfurt, Germany for the second session of my leadership development course. Wiener Wurst and Weiss bier, here I come!

Ta Da! 10 months today-o!

Saturday fun with strawberries, soft play and our crazy crew

"After finishing my first breakfast; banana cereal that I like so much, I spent a good part of the early hours of the morning just looking out the window, people watching and contemplating over my life so far."

"When mommy woke up it was time for breakfast again. This time - fresh strawberries! I could not resist the sweet berries and crammed every bit of flavour out of every single one of them!"

"After breakfast we decided to head over to Monkey Bizness for a bit of fun in their soft play area and it sure was fun! They had a ball pool, slides, toys and everything!"

"When we were all exhausted from all the fun and games we headed over for coffee at Piers and Lesley's place and then out to lunch at Indigo Yard where we met up with Orlaith, Jen and Vicky."

"After lunch, daddy and Piers went back to Piers' for geek-time to try and fix Piers' computer and I went out with the ladies for some shopping. The day ended when Orlaith and I ran of into the sunset and never looked back!"

"Top of the morning to ye!"

"Whish" is how the week sounds!

It's hump-day and the week is whizzing by like a blur. So far this week, Ethan and I have been non stop. Monday was spent with a day off with GM Orlaith and a trip to ASDA (The UK Walmart) by bus. We got there and OMG what great sales!! We got 108 nappies for £10, 12 packs of wetwipes for £9 and a 1.6kg can of formula for £10! Funny how these type of sales excite me now?! Ha

While we were in the check out line a fight broke out! 2 couples were screaming, throwing punches and finally the two men ended up scuffling on the floor. Guess someone got the last box of 108 nappies?! I hear that ASDA is famous for this type of shenanigans which means I'm missing out shopping online! We should get out more often!!

Tuesday we had baby cinema. Before I start, whomever is a movie buff and attends the cinema regularly, don't waste your money on "Dear John". Worst movie ever. All the kids had it right when they ALL fell asleep! Baby cinema is great though...we take over the theatre, throw down a blanket, scatter toys and let the kids run rampant! They play movies for the moms so we don't completely fall out of adult life. Yesterday was a great socializing day as there were 7 of us and the kids are getting on great. It is so much fun seeing them interact.

Today is Gymbabes which is the smaller version of Tumbletots. It is a soft play that is meant to encourage the kids move and gain independence with a bit of peace of mind for parents as everything is baby-proofed! I've really been looking forward to this as I want to see what Ethan gets up to and how he gauges the place. He's going to be a tornado...I can see it already.

Tomorrow is a visit to a friends for baby date day and then Friday is international baby group...do we see a trend...baby, baby, baby! It really is nice though the amount of socializing that we have been able to do now since we've put our ear to the ground and found all these cool places to spend our time. We've really made some awesome friends too. Thanks guys!

Time to get the baby bag packed and out the door for a day of fun!

Look Who's Talking!

This weekend Ethan has spoken his first ever words and once he had uttered "Da da!" for the first time he couldn't seem to stop. So yesterday and today he has been crawling around the flat, and of course standing up wherever he can, whilst making his new 'clicking' sound and been repeating "Da da!" Another milestone conquered. What's next?

Ceilidh, Chop Chop and nasty Trojans

We love having our friends coming and going in our apartment, it keeps it ‘alive’ and we also think it’s great that our place is welcoming enough for people to just pop by from their way home from work, on their way to something else, or of course; to hang out with us.

This week has been a busy one for Shaena and Ethan, packed with baby activities and loads of people have passed through the revolving doors of the Harrison-Helin residence. A baby play date has been held, work has been carried out, and a few of our evenings have been dedicated to ‘extracurricular office management/recruitment for cleaners/computer support/hang out with friends for ad-hoc pizza night’. Does that sound like your everyday weeknight?

Last night the girls took Shaena out for a dinner and a Ceilidh (Scottish country dancing) to celebrate her birthday, as they have not had a chance to do that yet. Meanwhile, Ethan and I stayed at home and our buddy Piers came by with all his computer equipment so that we could clean it up and make it work a bit better. Before Piers came by, Ethan and I ventured across the street for a kebab (figured I deserved one) and Ethan charmed the pants of the otherwise very quiet Middle Eastern shop keeper.

Once my Doner kebab was prepared, we went back home and the girls were getting dolled up for the night whilst Ethan and I were having our dinners. A bit later when Piers came over, he had brought a menu from Chop Chop, the Chinese takeaway across the street with the award winning dumplings so that he could treat me to a bit of Chinese grub, and who am I to say no to this kind offer? With a belly that was already full of kebab meat, I dug into these Asian treats and man they were awesome!

While we were doing this, we were also working on sorting out Piers’ computer and at one point we found ourselves sitting with a huge computer screen in front of us, a laptop in each of our laps and mobile phones in our hands, texting our girlies. Kind of felt a bit like the flight deck of the Star Trek Enterprise there for a second. All of the sudden a bunch of nasty pop-ups started, well, popping up. We had been attacked by a Trojan virus! The virus continued to disable most of the applications on the computer and did not let us install new programs either, so Piers started panicking slightly. I got a hold of my friend Mona in Sweden who helped us over a Facebook chat conversation from a house party and after we had been bugging her for quite some time, she understandably commented: ”Peter, can this not wait until tomorrow? I am a little bit too drunk for this right now.” Well Mona, drunk or not, you sorted us out!

Here are some photos from last night for your enjoyment:
(Ethan wasn't too impressed with some of the girls antics, as you probably can tell!)

Ready...set...go!

Ethan photographed by Jen

Ethan is showing off his usual combo of Swedish, Canadian and American clothes adorable as always! Thank you Jen for snapping these lovely photos and for letting us steal them off you!

...and there's more where that came from!

Famous Dead Relatives

Grandma Michelle is currently doing research on the ancestry and heritage of the Fortin-clan in Canada on www.ancestry.com and sent us this list of famous dead people that were all related to the Fortin's by blood. It is really impressive to see how an web service like Ancestry can make information like this available to pretty much anyone! So, below you'll be surprised to read that Shaena is related to legends like Brando, James Dean, John Wayne and even Joan of Arc!

American Actor
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an Oscar-winning actor who appeared in many films including A Streetcar Named Desire, The Godfather, Julius Caesar, On the Waterfront, and Superman.
Relationship: 7th Cousin 6 times removed

American Actress and Comedian
Lucille Desiree Ball was the comedic star of the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy. Often called, "The Queen of Comedy," Ball has acted in Broadway productions, motion pictures, and TV shows.

American Actor
John Wayne, a western film icon, was named Marion Robert Morrison at birth. His parents later changed his name to Marion Michael Morrison. He starred in many different movies including True Grit, The Alamo, and The Green Berets.
Relationship: 5th Cousin 9 times removed

French Explorer
On his first voyage to try and find a western trade route to Asia, Jacques Cartier instead stumbled upon what is present day Quebec. He is the first known European to explore Canada. In total, Cartier made 3 voyages to explore and settle Canada.
Relationship: 18th Great Grandfather

American Actor
James Dean is perhaps best known for his starring roles in Rebel without a Cause, East of Eden, and Giant. His film career abruptly ended when Dean was killed in a car accident at the age of 24.
Relationship: 2nd Cousin 7 times removed

Former Prime Minister
Louis St. Laurent was the 12th Prime Minister of Canada. Remembered as shy, reserved, dignified, and grandfatherly, he demanded hard work of his staff and also of himself.
Relationship: 4th Cousin 3 times removed

Former Prime Minister
Henry Charles Wilfred Laurier was the 7th Prime Minister of Canada. Considered one of Canada's greatest statesmen, Laurier is known for his policies of conciliation and for nation building.
Relationship: 4th Cousin 3 times removed

Former Prime Minister
Pierre Elliot Trudeau held the position of Prime Minister of Canada longer than anyone since William Lion Mackenzie King in 1948. Trudeau's style and attitude as Prime Minister was all his own.
Relationship: 4th Cousin 4 times removed

Hockey Player
Hockey player Maurice "Rocket" Richard was the first to score 50 goals in one season, doing so in 50 games, and the first to score 500 goals in a career. He finished his career with 544 goals in the regular season, with 82 in the playoffs.

French Microbiologist and Chemist
Louis Pasteur is famous for "pasteurization," a means of preventing milk from going sour. He also invented the first vaccine for rabies.
Relationship: 2nd Cousin 13 times removed

French Military Hero
Joan of Arc became a military hero at the age of 17. She was burned at the stake for treason when she fell prisoner in England. She was only 19 when she died.
Relationship: Distant Great Grand Aunt

Meze, Brit-pop and Cramond

This weekend has been great! Last night Shaena and I went out on the town to celebrate her birthday. As you may have read earlier, my birthday present for Shaena this year was a date night with a dinner in a quaint little Turkish restaurant here in Edinburgh called the 'Empire Cafe'. It is a BYOB restaurant with the friendliest owner/waiter ever and we had their whole loft to ourselves. We both went for the 'Meze' option where we got to sample five different mediterranean specialities each. Let me tell you, the food was great! Humous, Moussaka, Köfte feta and olives coming out of our ears! The Turks sure can cook!

After dinner we made our way to the concert venue 'The Bongo Club' and bought ourselves a couple of drinks before the opening act, 'Married To The Sea' started playing. They were a quite a good brit-pop band from Liverpool and the venue definitely did them justice; the acoustics were great for such a small venue. After a fairly short set, the main act, 'The Bluetones' took to the stage and they really rocked the house! We had listened to a few of their songs on Youtube and they were equally good live as well. Brit-pop is easy listening and easy to stomp along to! We continued the night by making our way home with stops at a few waterholes. All in all a great night!

This afternoon Piers and Lesley picked us up and took us out to Cramond for a nice walk by the water. The weather here in Edinburgh has been great for the last couple of days and Ethan really seemed to enjoy our walk in the sun. He's been giggling and smiling all day today. But then again; he is giggling and smiling almost every day. He is such an awesome little boy!

Hurricane Ethan 9 months old

Our little buddy has reached the respectable age of 9 months and he is picking up speed fast! He is now standing up and is moving swiftly between furniture. If he'll find any loose items laying around, you can be sure he'll relocate them to the floor in an instant!

Sad eyes

Last night my Grandma Ebba in Sweden sadly passed away after a long and rich life of loving and caring for Grandpa Alf, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Grandma was always a very important part of our lives when we grew up and always had the biggest heart when it came to us grandkids. My heart is heavy right now but I smile when I think back at all our family holidays, Christmases, turkey dinners, crayfish parties and other traditional feasts that were had in their house and how she could cope so fantastically well with a madhouse of kids running around and sometimes way too many chefs in the kitchen! I also remember how it was always so important to Grandma that we kids got to do help out with some of the small chores that we enjoyed doing, year after year. Just to make us smile.

I for one used to enjoy helping out with making the little rose on top of the green marzipan ‘Princess cake’ when I was 5 or 6 years old and this was always something she made sure it ‘got assigned’ to me and no one else was allowed. As a thank you for helping out with making the rose, I also got first dibs on it when the cake was served.

I also used to enjoy running errands to their basement when everyone else was preparing dinner; specifically errands to their food storage room where they stored cookies, desserts, sweeties and pop. When asked if I could run down and grab a few bottles of pop for dinner, I would gladly accept and stay down there for a suspiciously long time. They also had an exercise bicycle down there and sometimes I would tell a fib and say that ”the reason it took so long was because I tried the exercise bicycle”, when in fact I had been sampling ‘vanilj drömmar kakor’, Swedish ‘dream cookies’. Grandma’s baking was just so irresistible!

We'll miss you Grandma! Say hi to Grandpa for us!

A lovely bunch of coconuts

How nice it is to catch up with the girlies here in the Burgh. It was decided whilst I was away that a swap your clothes night would take place tonight so I tagged along although I have no clothes to swap. I did come away with a nice pair of slippers and a top and skirt. The other gals went away with proper garbage bags full of garments and Mae even had a bag full of shoes to give to Annaliese!

When Ethan and I arrived back in to the welcome opened arms of Hubby/Daddy, it really was a feeling of home. I have never felt so homesick whilst traveling before and although we had a nice time away, I was secretly counting down the days (almost etching them into the walls) before we took off.

The great thing about the trip was spending time with family and friends and them getting their time with Ethan and me. We were sick for the first few days but it was nice that it was in waves so everyone was able to pitch in and empty a bucket or 2. (he he he)

Chicago was beautiful (as per Julia's photos) and had the opportunity to catch up with Kate whom we haven't seen since she left the Burgh in 08. We had "early bird" cocktails at the John Hancock building which I am excited to go and visit again with Peter the next time we're in town. Nini and I scoured the town looking for the famous "Garrett's" Popcorn and we left with the Chicago Mix which is Cheddar and Caramel mixed together. Actually it was quite delicious!

Green Bay/Appleton/Freedom was beautiful rolling hills with cows and cheese-makers everywhere! Pete and Ida live in Appleton whom Peter and I knew in Dublin and they were able to make it over for dinner one night too which was another pleasure to catch up!

Winnipeg was lovely too. Got to finally see High Speed Wobble play at Dylan's. They are a great band if you are ever in town or when they become super famous. I'm not biased because my best friend is the singer and guitarist...no. They really are good!

A fun few nights were had at my Moms. We went through old boxes of stuff to clear out and found fun old photos and letters. She is going to scan some so we can put them up. We also finally found the original VHS from Hollywood Goes Hockey that has a big permed hair Mom with HUGE 80's glasses in a funny checkered sweater giving an interview on public television! Oh, SO GREAT!

Funny enough, our flight home wasn't as smooth as we were anticipating. We had a run in with a Delta rep whom decided that customer service was not in his vocabulary for the day so after a night to recuperate at home, I wrote the best letter and Delta has offered $100 in compensation for their mistakes and utter rudeness! Way to go Letter writing!

Since we haven't had any blog updates in the last few days, I thought tonight might be a good night to get my husband all fired up. Usually when I blog he has an epiphany and decides to write a blog of his own...which I tease him on by stealing my Blog Thunder...let's see what happens.

A selection of Jules' many, many photos from the trip

Snow vs. Snow

Thought I'd share this picture with you. It was taken bt my brother John on Good Friday outside our mom's house in Piteå, Sweden. That's what I call snow! Here in Edinburgh, the city was almost in a state of panic when it started snowing one day last week; roads were closed, buses were delayed and flights got cancelled. All due to 1-2 inches of snow that was gone the next day! Thanks for the picture John!