Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Home Sweet Home...

Hello Friends,

So, I have been back home for a couple days and I wanted to share what I have been up to.

But first, take a look at this picture.


This is Louise Brooks she was a famous silent film actress from the 1920's and 1930's.

So, the flight back to Canada seemed to take forever. When I finally arrived in Seattle, it was beginning to snow. I knew I was close to home!

When I arrived home, Mackendra was very shy with me at first. She wouldn't even look at me. It made me a little sad. I knelt on the floor and open my arms and asked her to please come and kiss me. She hesitated, then flew into my arms, threw her little legs around me and held on as tight as she possibly could. And that made me happy.

It was a great homecoming. Not only was I back with my husband and kids, my Mom and Dad were down to watch my youngest sister, Erika, play her college basketball provincials. In fact, the final was that very night and I was able to watch her play. And even better...my other sister was one of the assistant coaches, so she was down as well!

This is Erika. She is a senior on her team and they were ranked second in the province and were playing in the finals. The winners would be going to Nationals over in Quebec.


This is the rest of her team. Our entire family was pumped! We were prepared for a great game, and I got to see my youngest sister play in a really important game. Check out Aislinn and Mackendra. They were so cute. I think there should have been a prize for "Best Fans", because they would have definitely won.


Aislinn had this funny thing she did. She howled whenever the other team was shooting foul shots. Erika's team is called the UNBC Timber Wolves. She stood near the baseline and crouched over and howled...very loudly. I just pretended that she wasn't my child. Oh, and Mackendra was pretty cute until we had to stand up for the Canadian National Anthem and she was chasing a couple boys up and down the bleachers. I just hid my face and Frank almost had steam coming out of his ears. When he caught Mackendra after the anthem was completed she didn't look very happy. Ahhhh....kids....they embarrass us now, but just wait until they bring home their first boyfriends (insert evil laugh here).

So, unfortnately, Aislinn's howl wasn't enough. The Timber Wolves lost, badly. It wasn't very fun for Erika or us. And just like that, another Johnson was finished their basketball career. I'm happy that I was there to see her last game though.

So, here is another thing that I did as soon as I got back. Most of you know what I'm talking about. I have dreaming about doing this for a long time. I would sit in Glenville, in my lonely little dorm room and fantasize about this.

No, get your minds out of the gutter. Feast your eyes on this...



And this...



And this...



Ohhhhhh! I was in heaven. The sashimi was TO DIE FOR!!!! I know some of you are skeptical, but I swear to you...it is the best food in the world. And look at the size of those pieces of fish! Amazing. I have eaten in many, many sushi places in my life and California Sushi (the name of the place we always eat at) has the best sashimi I have ever had. I have brought people to this restaurant and ruined them for life for other sushi restaurants. And they are but a five minute drive away from my house. Don't tell Frank, but I went to lunch there this afternoon, by myself. Mmmmmmmmmm. I think I will have to go one more time before I head back to my sushi-deprived college life. Sigh...

Oh, and here is something that might make you queasy, but I had to share it with you. This is another picture of feet. And these are not cute like Aislinn and my feet. This is my brother's foot. He sprained his ankle about a week ago.



Ewwwwww... (shudder). It looks like his foot is rotting. And take a look at his toes!


That is just not normal. Sorry. I think my blog should stop talking about feet.

And here is another picture of food.


Oh my goodness! Dim Sum...my second favorite food. And this was just the second day I was home. All that weight I lost at college....darn!

Oh, and there is big news in our family....



Yes! Mackendra lost her first tooth today. That is such a huge milestone. She is so excited about the toothfairy visiting her tonight. My baby is growing up. Double sigh...

And now the reason I showed you Louise Brooks...



What do you think? Most of you know about my last haircut (read "butcher"). So, Frank advised me to visit his hairdresser, Deni Laurent. I did. And I think this is a pretty cute look. He was quite horrified with what he had to work with, but I think he did ok. Let me know what you think.

Love Tanya

4 comments:

Mary Sue said...

AHHHH! I LOVE THE HAIR!

Your howling kids would fit in with Glenville's fan section...I would imagine that they would probably be the ones dancing with that crazy girl that was threatened by public safety....

You could record me playing "O Canada" on my saxophone, and make Mackendra stand at attention while listening to it...That might make her appreciate any legitimate performance of it. Then again, forcing a child into listening to me try to play the saxophone could get you arrested.

Ha...I remember Dad would always tell me that if I brought a boy home, he would get out his shotgun and clean it while they talked...He never did, but I still fear the embarrassment.

I can't decide what looks worse, the fish or your brother's foot. his foot looks broken, so I'll opt for the sushi.

Beware of placing yourself in the toothfairy position. My parents mistakenly placed $20 under my pillow on one occasion. Oddly enough, I only lost 4 or 5 teeth on my own, and the dentist had to pull my other baby teeth because my permanent teeth were growing in behind them. My teeth wouldn't fall out, despite my West Virginian citizenship! I suppose that the $20 makes up for the teeth that the dentist pulled and I didn't get anything for.

Anywho, hope you're having a lot of fun up there... only 1/2 a semester to go back at Glenville!

Purplestamper said...

LOVE your hair, love you and so happy to see you. Enjoy your brief time at home and with your girls. Soon you will be home for good. :-) Your daycare lady

Natasha said...

OKay, that cut looks just a little bit better than your Frodo cut - but I'm gonna miss you as a hobbit!!! LOL!!!
I'm SO jealous that you all got together, I wish that I was there...I miss you guys!! Mmmmm...sushi....dim sum....aaaaahhhh!!! Darren's foot definitely looks worse!! I didn't it was too bad until I scrolled down to the 2nd picture. His poor little bruised sausages for toes!! It totally looks painful!! What's with us Johnson's trying to play ball again and Darren almost breaks his ankle, I dislocate my finger, Erika sprains both her ankles AND dislocates her finger...you and Rachel better stay away from basketball...it's too dangerous now that we're old!!! LOL!!
Payton did the same thing to me when we left them up at Mom's that summer. But it took her WAY longer to warm up to me...it totally broke my heart, all I could think was that we were gone too long. She wouldn't look at me and actually ran away from me...I started to cry. But she got over it.
Anyway, I'm seriously so happy for you being home. I know you're having so much fun with your kiddos...and Frank will be home soon;)

Auria said...

I love it! So cute! Tell MacKendra congrats for us about her tooth? Do you want to get together for brunch before you leave? Call us.