Our little baby girl is here. And as we have a new family member, we have a new blog. Shanathalas is being retired and you can follow us at the Canaussie Family Adventures. See you there!

Well this is the post where I apologise for not posting in a while, but I won't because for a while there blogging was at the bottom of a long list of things I needed to get done. November at work was a nightmare. We were so busy, short half the team and I had to work so much overtime. It was a total lose/lose situation. While I might have been working ten hours a day, my boss made me feel I was slacking for not working 20. And then everyone telling me to take it easy cause I'm pregnant. So I had the double guilt of being both a bad employee and bad parent. Anyway, things settled down at work and now I'm on two weeks holidays over Christmas. This has literally been the snowiest Christmas on record for Vancouver. It was great for getting that Christmas feeling, but has made getting around difficult. It has warmed up a bit and a good portion has now melted, though it may snow again on Friday.

Anyway, on this last day of the year, I would like to reflect on 2008. Its been a great year for us both. The highlights:

• Making a baby! This would have to be the highlight of the year for us. The speed at which we went from deciding we would try to get pregnant to actually being pregnant was a shock, but we recognise how lucky we truly are. And while almost seven months of being nauseous, faint and exhausted have been tough, I am so happy to have this baby in my tum.
• Our Trip to Europe! After years of talking about it, we finally made it over there together. It was was a great adventure for us both and it was wonderful seeing both the awesome cultural stops and catching up with so many of our friends who now call Europe home. Looking back at our holiday photos fills us both with such wonderful memories.
• Visits. While we didn't get as many visitors in 2008 as we did in 2007, Jai's folks, Ross and Margot, visited us in September for a week on their way home to Oz from France. It was great to catch up after so long, and to have Vancouver give them some solid sunny weather to see how beautiful this city can be. Also, my cousin James from Sydney moved to Seattle in the spring and visited us a few times this year as well. It was great to catch up with my clever, card-shark of a cuz.
• New Bubs. Our friends Joe and Ellie had their first child, John, this year. And we currently know of five friends and family bubs due in 2009.
  

To my friends here in Vancouver; I feel lucky to have such great company. To my friends overseas; I miss you everyday, but am always thinking of you and value your friendship. I wish you all a very Happy New Year. May 2009 bring you all happiness. May we all get a more peaceful world, with less greed, hate, and madness.

Ever wondered how hard is it to get comfortable enough to sleep while pregnant? It's something like this:

Panda attacks man after he climbs into enclosure for a "cuddle"
Link courtesy BBC.

Malaysia's Muslims banned from Yoga
Link courtesy Sydney Morning Herald.

Redhead boy beaten on "Kick a Ginger Day".
Link courtesy of the Vancouver Province.

Stephen Fry once said, "Themes. What good are they?"

Well for me staring at a screen all day, themes are awesome. Especially in my email. Today google announced new design themes for Gmail. They're not available for all clients yet (myself included) but this preview looks pretty nifty.


LINK

While I do consider myself a connoisseur of Vampire Literature and Films, I am the first to admit that very few vampire films show originality and that the majority suck*. However, I was so very pleasantly surprised by the Swedish film Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In). Set in the bleakness of 80s socialist Sweden, the film tells the tale of a lonely, bullied, 12-year-old boy named Oskar who befriends a sickly-looking girl who, having recently moved into his dreary block of flats, only comes out at night.

The friendship between the two is both tender and disturbing. As people in the neighbourhood start to disappear, Oskar and the cutely-name Eli (perhaps a reference to the famous Elizabeth Bathory) grow closer together. She suggests Oskar fight back against the nasty bullies at school, and empowers the boy to embrace the violence he has only imaged so far.

Shot with tungsten-tinged film and using a very short depth-of-field photography style, the mood oozes off the screen and into your spine. A pre-pubescent love story mixed with terrifying horror, this film is one of the most original vampire tales in a long time.

4/5 Stars.

*Get it? Clever, eh?

Today my lunchtime knitting group went on a field trip to the yarn store to pick up supplies. I bought my first ever pattern, yarn, and circular needles. I figured with the baby coming I should make something for him/her. I spotted the perfect pattern; a little baby hat named "sprout". It looks just like May Gibb's Snugglepot and Cuddlepie characters.

This photo is how it's supposed to turn out. Check back in several months to see how a beginner knitter like me did. I've chosen a darker, more variegated green yarn, but hopefully it will still be recognisable.

I wonder if more posts like this will give the GenderAnalyzer a better hint that I'm a female?

And the world collectively sighs with relief...