Bling and Pop

So I didn’t exactly get to that second bottle of champagne the other day, which on one hand is obviously sad because I had really exciting stuff to say, but on the other hand was probably good because I had to drive home from Toronto later that day. Besides the obvious—slurring really good news—drinking and driving is just so freaking stupid it’s ridiculous.

Instead of being stupid I like to drink this when I drive.

But I digress…onto the bling and pop.

So here was the bling I couldn’t wait to tell you about!

That bling you see amidst the yellow flowers is a rock on my baby girl’s ring finger! The first thing I should tell you is that I received this picture via a little birdie: TWITTER. Yes, my little redbird “tweeted” her engagement. To which I “replied” PHONE HOME—just as the phone rang. At which point she told me about her new ring (pictured above, which I plucked off Twitter).

Here’s the happy couple: Amanda Michele Freaking Evans and her fiancé, Gary Dwayne Freaking Benton.

We couldn’t be happier for our baby girl and the luckiest guy on earth. And here’s the happy cork to prove it!

POP!

(In case you’re wondering, no. This is not one of those I Spy Challenges. It’s the champagne cork in the middle with the smiley face, silly;)

Anyway, so to sum up: Gary popped the question. Then he put that bling on her finger. Then she tweeted. Then she phoned home. Then that happy cork you see in the middle of that picture went pop and there was much cheer!

Which by my count, brings me up to #165 on my 1000 gifts. How happy am I to be here to have seen this day in my baby girl’s life! Who would’ve thunk it three years ago? Wow, my cup is freaking overflowing…

So if you were worried things might get a little boring around here at the Evanshire, never fear! There are wedding bells in the air, and they are set to go off June 10th. The day after Amanda and Gary graduate from UC. Yep, that was no typo. I did in fact say they are getting married the day after they graduate.

Here’s how Amanda explained it to us: “College diplomas? Check. Ok, now it’s time to get on with the rest of my life! So here comes the [Amanda Michele freaking] bride!”

That’s my baby girl:)

And this is one happy mum.

First Champagne Bottle of the Day

You’ve heard about Pinocchio, the Velveteen Rabbit, and probably even Bill… but once upon a time there was this book that I kept talking about writing (for like 9 months) and then went on and on about editing (for like 9 more months)… and well, this is where that champagne bottle comes in handy. And I’m not talking about smashing the bottle on my book like it’s some kind of a yacht.

1. It seems like a waste of champagne.
2. What if Nemo finds some of the broken glass and gets hurt?
3. It would get the pages of my book all wet.

What I’m talking about, rather, is that it’s five o’clock where I am because here I am, holding my very own real live book!

Yeah, I figure you just looked at your watch, not to mention the posting time on this post and then you re-read the title (which clearly foreshadows another bottle of champagne) and now you’re probably all worried about me putting an eye out with all those popping corks, and are most likely pulling out your cell phones to dial up the triple (burp) oops, I mean double A for me. But hold on just a second… I’m not as think as you drunk I am. And anyway, I do in fact have a valid poetic license to wield that five o’clock at whim.

With that said, it’s time to pop a cork, pour the bubbly and let it overflow a bit. Because SHAKEN NOT STIRRED… A CHEMO COCKTAIL is now a real live book! Here’s the birth announcement, I mean, when it was Facebook official:

At 12:34 on 11/11/11 I just pressed publish. Whoa. It’s on CreateSpace now; will take 5-7 days to show up on Amazon.com. How fun not to mention freaking poetic is that?! Take that, cancer. BAM

Fast forward three days, to somewhere around five o’clock on the 14th of November and here’s the Bar Mitzvah announcement when SHAKEN NOT STIRRED… A CHEMO COCKTAIL came of age and got listed on Amazon (AKA Nirvana):

Whoa…just whoa…Amafreakingzon!! Not gonna lie, I feel a little bit like Steve Martin’s character in The Jerk, when he finally made it into the phone book: “The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!” (Click here to see the classic scene.)

And yeah, that’s about pretty much how it went down at the Evanshire when I popped open this box:

Minus, of course, the sniper. Unless, of course, you’re also waving your poetic license around, in which case the sniper is obviously a metaphor for cancer and chemo. Which I think is pretty clever on your part. So well done!

And now that I’ve buttered you up, if you feel like ordering a copy of my book by click here. And just know this, every time somebody presses “Add to Cart” on Amazon, the proverbial champagne cork pops and the bubbles start overflowing. So thanks for that. It’s pretty freaking fabulous of you.

Cheers and love,

Joules