I feel so young!

Today, my husband made me young again. By having a birthday. Now, for the next 7 months we will be the same age. I feel that I am still wiser (and therefore always right) than he is, but at least we're the same age numerically...if not in maturity. Haha!

It's been a crazy busy week getting ready for Max's birthday party on Saturday and our trip to Mexico next week...but I can't let his birthday go by without celebrating. I asked Tyler on the weekend what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He said, "Well, what I really want is Chicken Broccoli Casserole. But I don't want to fight with a screaming and crying 5-year-old on my birthday." (As you can guess, Chicken Broccoli Casserole is not Max's favourite meal). So we decided on inviting some friends over and having a BBQ. Chicken, caesar salad (extra caesar-y as per Tyler's request), corn, and rice. The kids had already secretly suggested that we make him Rice Krispie Squares, so that was in the plan, but then he tells me he wants a pie. Plus, we were going to do juice to drink, but then he tells me he wants a smoothie. Seriously, who's birthday does he think it is?! Oh, right.

So my wheels started turning. It was a lot to do in one day (when you add a doctor's appointment, dollar store, fabric store and birthday party prep stuff to it). I decided to make a lemon-merengue pie from scratch...which I've never done before. And to appease his first choice of dinner, I made some chicken broccoli casserole on Monday night to take as a freezer meal to one of my visiting teaching ladies the next day, and made a lunch-sized portion for Tyler to take with him to work. Plus, I bought a bottle of smoothie to add to his lunch. Check. Check.

Made a pie. Was nervous about it. It turned out pretty good.

The best item on the menu? Homemade ginger ale. Seriously, I may be addicted after just one sip. I made a ginger syrup the night before and added it to some club soda. It was amazing! I wish I had made more syrup!

Our friends met us at the park for a bit and then came home to play and have dinner. It's only March 20th, but we have had some crazy heat-wave here in Kingston. We dragged out the patio furniture and ate el-fresca. Wearing shorts! Bet you can't say you've ever done that on March 20th before!

We finished the evening with our pie and rice krispie squares and presents.

Lucy, Max and Logan bought dad a new razor/beard trimmer called the i-stubble. I bought him a new case for his iPhone since his broke (it looks like distressed leather. very cool). And little Cooper brought Tyler some Big League Chew and some Tootsie Rolls. Plus he picked out a Diego Card. He was so proud of his gift. The kids lined up to give Tyler a birthday hug and Cooper got right in there...so excited to get a hug too.

Doctor Tyler

I was FINALLY able to get pictures from Tyler's graduation. So here they come!

It was a totally awesome, highly anticipated day. We wore our finest doo-dads and got ready to clap and cheer for good-ol-dad. I asked Max what he was going to say when they called Dad's name, and he said, "I will yell, 'yay dad!'

We had a really good crowd there too, so it wasn't difficult for us to make a LOT of embarrassing noise when it was Tyler's turn.






As he walked across the stage, each person that greeted him asked if he had a lot of family in the audience...it was pretty obvious.


There was so much build up and anticipation (hello...10 years!) that I have to admit I was a bit teary and my "Yays!" were a little choked.

Tyler was fortunate to have his Supervisor, Gordon Fick as part of the procession, so they shared a hug on stage. It's pretty awesome to go to a graduation for a PhD recipient. They get to go first, there's a lot of pomp, and they get to wear super goofy clothes.










Everyone took a turn wearing Tyler's hat for a picture. (Except Lucy, she was too shy).


Then it was off to Tony Roma's for a huge dinner celebration. 30 guests. We pigged out on all-you-can-eat Ribs...which Lucy especially enjoys!

Hallelujah!!

Tyler successfully defended his PhD on Monday. There was a bunch of crazy anxiety on Sunday evening (on both our parts), but we were fortuitous to be involved in an Easter Fireside and were able to distract ourselves sufficiently with that. Lucy and I sang 'I'm trying to be like Jesus' with some other primary-aged girls and their moms and she did fantastic. She had planned what to wear for her big night for weeks. Tyler's dad and mom and Sarah and Tyson came down to our place afterward to give Tyler a blessing.
Major praying happened ALL day Monday. And this text message was sent:

GOOD LUCK DAD! We LOVE YOU!


He defended from 1:15 to 4:00, but we didn't hear from him until 5! AND I got to dress up and go out for a celebration dinner after at Namskar, an Indian restaurant across from Peter's. Seriously yummy food.

Now he is in revision mode. He has to be done by the 29th if he wants to convocate in June instead of November. Obviously since we are moving in July, we would prefer him to convocate in June. So he is back to working 14 hours a day. Feels familiar. And my motivation to cook and clean goes WAY down. Not so helpful when you're trying to get a house ready for moving.

Speaking of which, our house in Cochrane sold on Tuesday and our house in Kinston went final on Wednesday!

Plus my brother's wife is in labour today.

It's a pretty grand week!

Doctor Sexy

As I was going through some of the papers Tyler has been stashing on top of our piano, I came across this article. I am surprised he hadn't showed it to me himself:

The next sexy job? Statistician (no, really)

At Harvard University, Carrie Grimes majored in anthropology and archaeology, studying Mayan settlment patterns by mapping where artifacts were found. But she was drawn to what she calls 'all of the computer and math stuff' that was part of the job.Now Ms. Grimes does a different kind of digging. She works at Google, where she uses statistical analysis of mounds of data to come up with ways to improve its search engine.
Ms. Grimes is an Internet-age statistician, one of many who are changing the image of the profession as a place for dronish number nerds. They are finding themselves increasingly in demand - and even cool.
'I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,' said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. 'And I'm not kidding.'
The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 (U.S.) at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate, is a byproduct of the recent explosion of digital data. In field after field, computing and the Web are creating new realms of data to explore - sensor signals, surveillance tapes, social network chatter, public records and more. Yet data is merely the raw material of knowledge.
'We're rapidly entering a world where everything can be monitored and measure.' said Erik BrynJolfsson, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Digital Business. 'but the big problem is going to be the ability of humans to use, analyze and make sense of the data,' he said.
The new statistican breed tackles that problem. They use powerful computers and sophisticated mathematical models to hunt for meaningful patterns and insights in vast troves of data. The applications are as diverse as improving Internet search and online advertising, culling gene sequencing information for cancer research and analyzing sensor location data to optimize the handling of food shipments.
Statisticians are only a small part of an array of experts using modern statistical techniques for data analysis. Computing and numerical skills matter far more than degrees. So the new data sleuths come from backgrounds such as economics, computer science and mathematics.
- New York Times News Service

I've always thought his brain was sexy...now the world is starting to agree.

This Just In - Breaking News in Cochrane

Young Men's leader and Father of 3 spotted talking on his cell phone at High School Football game. Spectators say he seemed well involved in the game and talking animatedly, While this said father was out enjoying football and conversing with who-knows-who, his children were left to play well-organized primary activity games at the church where they ate lots of candy and had a great time. The father even brought the kids back to the game when their activity was done, so they could enjoy some time outside and running in the school field with a close friend. What is this world coming to, when such a man exists and does such things SO publicly? Supporting his young men, playing with his kids, and talking with his wife on the phone to organize lunch. This is one reporter who is going home and re-examining her life.

Tyler went to watch one of his Young Men play football the other day while the kids were at their Primary Party. He stood on the sidelines, like a good supportive Young Men's president, and watched the plays closely...little did he know that someone was watching him too...we got lots of calls from random people talking about how Tyler was on the front page of the paper. For what? we could not imagine...cell phone talking at football games I guess. It's breaking news in Cochrane.

Tyler also commented that he played for this same team in high-school for 3 years and never made the front page.

Enjoy The Show

It's become a bit of a tradition in our family to do weird and goofy things at people's weddings to embarrass ourselves or the couple that's getting married. So Sarah's wedding couldn't be any different. We hemmed and hawed over what to do that would be funny and yet perfectly suited to Sarah. Sarah and her sister Janeen belong to a trio that sing at various events around Cochrane and Calgary. They do a lot of Andrews Sisters music and have choreographed a few 'steps' to go with their singing. Tyler and Jason love to hear their sisters sing, but being brothers, they also like to tease them. Tyler said one day, 'we need to come up with a way to tease Sarah about singing, that doesn't push it too much, so she doesn't think we don't actually like her singing...because we really do.' And then an idea was born. Sarah's favorite movie is "White Christmas" and because she loves to sing so much with her sister Janeen...we though it only appropriate for Jason and Tyler to dress ridiculously and recreate the scene where Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye impersonate the female counterparts in the movie and sing a song called, 'Sisters'.

And, being the wife, I get the pleasure of laughing hysterically while watching these two rehearse.
When it came time to put on the show, the entire Williamson family was in stitches watching these two goof-balls.

I think the Merrill family was wondering what they had gotten themselves into! The best part was the fact that we were able to keep it a secret from everyone, so Sarah and her parent's reactions were the best! Lucy and Max were aware of the practicing so we kept having to remind them to keep it under wraps. At one point, Max was caught walking up to Grandma's house singing, "Heaven, help the mister, who comes between me and my sister!" until Auntie Janeen quieted him down and reminded him it was a secret.
So awesome.

A Man's Saturday

Today, Tyler referred to his day as a perfect 'man' day. He woke up early (8:30am - that's early in our house) to meet up with Guy Elford for a little helicopter flying lesson. Guy has been kind enough to offer to teach Tyler how to fly, and today was day one. A sort of trial run to see if he was interested. The kids and I lazed around for a quiet saturday morning until we heard the buzz of the helicopter engine. Max and I were laying in my bed talking; Lucy and Logan were both asleep. I grabbed Max quickly and said, "Max! Come quick! Dad's in a helicopter!" So we raced outside to meet up with Papa who had also heard the engine. Max watched the helicopter circle our house a few times and then looked at me with his sad face and said, "Dad is going where I want to be." I ran in and woke up Lucy and took her outside as well. They landed the helicopter in the field so the kids would have the opportunity to take a closer look. Both of them held back pretty good until the engine was turned off - after that, Lucy was still timid but Max was all for it. He loved sitting in the cockpit and pretending to fly.The kid's went up to Grandma's to have breakfast and hang out - because that's way more fun than our house - and headed back home to feed Logan and have a shower in my own bathroom. Whoo-hoo. What a luxury. Then it was off wedding dress shopping with Sarah - which Tyler joined us for, because all the kids wanted to come, and he was kind enough to realize that would be a lot for me to handle on my own. Not so manly, but definitely respectable. He finished off the day shooting coyotes with some friends and watching a movie with the kids. When he got home from shooting, all he could say was, "This is my kind of Saturday."