Summer Time And The Living's Easy!

Quick Update!

I finally have the knitting thing figured out! At least I have the basic knitting down, not so much the purling or the increasing or decreasing or color changing. So! Essentially I can make a scarf, as long as it's one color, and doesn't have any fancy design in it, I'm good to go.

Who wants a scarf?!

:P

So I have been trying to do more extracurricular activities, such as knitting, reading, scrap booking, blogging, or making hemp necklaces. So far so good. I'm half way threw a book I started last Wednesday and I brought my hemp and beads to work so that I can have time to make Bean a new necklace. The shell fell off the last one and then it broke shortly after. He definitely needs a new Momma-Made hemp necklace.

I can't wait for the summer! I think I have been feeling crappy lately cause of the crappy snow and cold weather. Well, there are a lot of reasons why I have been feeling crappy lately but I know that summer always makes me feel better. If I can go outside, sit in my grass, crank the reggae and have a beer while my cats play on the fence, it would sure put a dent in the crappy funk I often get stuck in. Best part about this summer is I will get to sit in the grass and listen to Bob Marley with my Lil Bean this summer. :D :D :D I wont let him drink tho... That's just crazy! Waste my beer!

And summer always brings great festivals and concerts! Last summer Mr. Sam and I went to the Canada Day Festival in Prince's Island Park.





Then in July I took the Bean to the Calgary Folk Music Festival.

We got to see Ani Difranco in the pouring rain.

We had fair warning that the rain was coming!

Now, Bean was born April 2nd and Ani played on July 27th. That means that Beany saw his first concert at 3 months 25 days old. We had an absolutely fabulous time dancing in the rain.

The funny thing about Ani Difranco is that twice I have seen her here in Calgary both times it started to rain just as she was coming on stage. The day would be nice, just a little overcast and not too hot and Ani hits the stage and down comes the rain. Itsy Bitsy Spider! But we were ready for it. I brought a big picinic blanket and a couple of baby blankets and put Bean in a really warm fleecy PJ onesie. The I carried him in the Snuggly on my chest and wrapped him in baby blankets and draped the picnic blanket of my shoulder so that he could just look up at my face and get fresh air. It was a good thing I was prepared because it really poured. We tucked all our stuff into the stroller and covered it with the stroller slicker (plastic cover). Then we snuck off, all bundled up, and made our way to the very front right near the stage. I danced and Bean snoozed and people smiled and chuckled and pointed when they saw us loving the music in the rain.

One of the most ingenious ideas we saw that day were the folks in the beer garden drinking UNDER their tables, trying to stay dry. :D

Ani was the last main stage act of the entire 4 day festival and after her set it was very dark. There were paper lantern totems set up in the park and a paper lantern light parade came out and wandered around the people like a colorful snake. It was absolutely beautiful and such a nice way to end the evening. Fortunately by then it had pretty much stopped raining. D picked us up at around 11 and what a wonderful adventure for the Lil Bean!

So needless to say, I am very sick of the snow and looking forward to the summer again. Calgary has a host of great summer events every year. Jazz fest, Expo Latino, Carifest (Caribean Fest) (actual site is currently down), Reggae fest, Shakespear in the park, Lilac fest, Salsa fest!

In fact here is a really good link to Events and festivals in Calgary for any of you who might be interested! This site lists pretty much every upcoming event from this weekend till the end of the year. It's my guide to living in Calgary basically. Ohhh Calgary Beerfest is in May! And YAY for The 2009 Calgary International Children's Festival! That's a huge 5 day event that's hosted in a few different locations around Calgary.

ALAS!!! SUMMER!!! COME TO ME SOON! I NEED THE SUN AND SALSA! THE REGGAE AND RUCKUS! THE BEER AND THE BBQ'S! THE HAMBURGERS AND HOT DOGS! THE KIDDIE POOLS AND KAOS!!!