I Love My Wife.

NOTE: It is in no way meant for this blog to offend others.  I am not writing this as an opinion on religion but rather telling the story of how I met my wife.  If you find this offensive, I did not mean it to be, just in respect to the story I did not want to omit anything.

It’s no big secret that I absolutely love the movie “You’ve Got Mail”.   I think it’s one of the most romantic movies going, call me a sissy, I don’t care.  One of the things I love about this story is the great meeting of two people who hate each other at first and then fall in love.  Just imagine them telling others how they came to be together.  I think it’s funny how we look at “Movie or TV Couples” and we figure they’d never fight or fall out of love.  Of course, this is bush-wah.  Like every other couple in history, things get into a routine and they’d forget just as easily as we “Real” folk do.  But, I think it’s important to not get caught up in the day to day, to not forget how you met that person sitting across from you at the table.  Fact is, some time ago, you couldn’t think of anyone else BUT them.  Literally, you’d wake up thinking of them and fall asleep counting the minutes until you got to see them again.  At least that’s how it was for me and my wife Katie.

This begins a long before I had really ever met Kate, it starts in my bedroom when I was fifteen or sixteen and really, really lonely.  Highschool was full of really cool girls, but I lacked the social skills and self confidence to really pursue any of them.  Instead of trying to win over a girl, I just “Butched Up” and acted like your chauvinistic idiot who put down girls and told dirty jokes and acted like someone who I was not. One night, I was laying in bed and talking to my dad about my loneliness and I remember him telling me, “Keith, pray for a girl, be specific, the Lord loves you so don’t be afraid to ask”. Okay, so I did. I remember being specific, I wanted a girl who didn’t smoke or drink, didn’t curse, loved God and who had green eyes. I really like green eyes. Well, I said that prayer and forgot about it.

Years passed and it had been a month since I broke up with a girl and things couldn’t be better!  I was working all the time, making great money, playing video games in my boxers, basically bachelor glory until one fateful Sunday morning.  The Camp Administrator for Strasbourg Bible Camp was speaking at my church and started his sermon with news of how camp was running so far that summer.  I remember him looking directly at me when stating that they needed more male counselors and I remember my annoyance with this.

“You should go to camp” a voice said in my head. Now I was really perturbed, not only was I getting looked at by this guy but now my own conscience was against me!  This continued for the next thirty minutes.  Every time I had fought off the lousy voice and started to relax, BAM! There it was again! “You should go to camp”

“FINE!!” I thought, “Fine, I’ll go!!” I went to Rob, the Administrator, and without waiting for his pleasantries I barked out “Rob, you’ve got one week!”

“Well, Keith we could really use you for two.” Rob replied graciously to my absolute rudeness.

“You’ve got one week” I said and that was that.

Rob said that it was better than nothing and I was now heading to camp.  As I pulled into camp later week I remember the first person to meet me at the gates was Katie Middleton, a girl I had known from camp and as it turns out, was one of my ex-girlfriend’s close friends.  We sat and talked that whole first day out on the patio and just caught up. When we finally finished our conversation I thought to myself that Katie is really cool.

Over the next week we hung out pretty much every moment that we weren’t asleep.  I remember positioning myself in the dining room so I could look at her and waiting until the absolute last minute to say good night as the boys and girls wings were separated.  As much fun as I had, I couldn’t escape the heat and I’m a big dude so I was pretty much a sweaty mess the whole time. I was embarrassed about how I looked with my shirt off especially infront of this new girl, so I didn’t cool off in the lake. It wasn’t too long before Kate figured this out  and she finally took me aside and told me that she didn’t care about that and she wanted me to swim with her. I felt this burden fall off my back and was the first one in! That first week turned into 2 weeks and wouldn’t you know, I ended up staying the entire summer.

Kate and I had fallen in love and it was pretty apparent to everyone else, including Rob who had taken a somewhat protector role of Kate. He actually sat me down at one point and asked me what my intentions were! He was concerned because Kate had a special bond with him and he knew about my past relationship, especially that it ended a month earlier. The general census was that Kate was a rebound but I assured him that I had true feelings for her and that I wasn’t just trying to band-aid a hurt. I felt like I finally had what I had always wanted. Real love from someone truly special. And then the hammer dropped to finish me off. Kate and I were sitting in the commons-room talking when I interrupted her “Do you have green eyes?!?” I asked.

“Yeah, you’re only seeing this now?” She replied.

I remember smiling ear to ear and telling her that I really liked her eyes and then told her the story of my prayer.  At this point I’ve probably bored you enough but by the time the summer was over we had our wedding (Which actually took place at the camp) planned and I was done with the bachelor life forever. I’ve got so many great memories of that summer. Holding hands under the water, our first kiss in the kitchen, making kids go for walks with us so we weren’t negligent staff, paying a kid to get out of the front seat so she could sit next to me and the list goes on. Three months after summer ended I moved to Regina to be with Katie and that was it for me.

This August will be Katie’s and my ten year anniversary and I’m more in love with her now then I was at the end of the best summer of my life.

 

KeithAndrade1@gmail.com

Memoirs Of A Consigliere.

Business

People laugh when I tell them what my title is at  work.  In case you missed it, I am Consigliere to Jackson Middleton or @KiltedBroker , in Regina.  Most people probably think I’ve watched the Godfather too many times and want to sound tougher than I am.  But the definition of Consigliere is “Counsellor” or “Advisor”, and that really is the best description to what I do.  Of course Jackson is not a mobster and I don’t advise on whom to “Whack”, but we do discuss matters of great importance to our business and over the past 4 years I have earned his ear, and that is no small privilege.

1. You Can Say A Thousand Words By Shutting Up – My advice has not always been something that was valued by Jackson.  When I first started doing business with him, I felt as though my voice must be recognized because I was part of a team.  Unfortunately, my vanity was one of the reasons that I would be ignored.  I felt that in order to prove an asset to the company, I had to have an opinion on every idea that was discussed, whether or not I was asked.  I soon learned from him that my opinion had become worth very little as I never had anything to say of value, I spoke to hear my own voice.

LESSON Speak when spoken to.  Think before you speak.  Sometimes not saying anything at all is louder than yelling.

LESSON LEARNED – Months later Jackson asked my opinion on a potential business partner to which I replied with only silence.  He agreed with my evaluation and we scratched that potential relationship.

Over the past 4 years I have earned his ear, and that is no small privilege.

2. Tunnel Vision Will Get You Hit By A Train.  This experience ties into the previous one.  Jackson and I would be in a meeting and he would present a strategy for our business and right away I would find something wrong with it.  Not because I loved shooting down his ideas, I just felt the responsibility to point out issues even if they were of littlest detail.  In all fairness  to myself, I am a pessimist by nature so naturally, I feel most comfortable highlighting the bad in any situation.  Again, it wasn’t until I got frustrated with him blowing my opinion in meetings that I finally asked him about it.  He told me that when an idea is the size of an aircraft carrier, not to focus on the loose door handle.  We can deal with situations as they come about but until then, be excited about the idea!

LESSON Instead of relying on the “What if…?” start using “And then we can…!” to build onto the idea.  Negativity for the sake of being negative is a waste of time, be realistic, if there is a real problem address it, but if not, grow the positive. 

LESSON LEARNED Since I’ve learned this, every time I am in a meeting with Jackson I always remember those 4 words “And then we can…” and whether or not my idea is accepted, I know that I have been listened to and respected and to me that is of the utmost importance.

3. Three can keep a secret if two are dead.  The most expensive commodity in the world is trust.  It takes years to establish, you can lose it in an instance, and once gone it’s almost impossible to reacquire. Many times after Jackson and I solve a problem, I’ll ask permission to discuss it with my wife, and only her, as she’s MY Consigliere.  See, the problem is,  I know a guy who has a big mouth and that mouth has gotten him into and will continue to get him into all sorts of trouble. By shooting your mouth off, you eventually get excused from important sit-downs or you wind up missing.

LESSON What is said amongst others should always be kept between those who discussed it.

LESSON LEARNED I learned this one early. I don’t take it lightly. I value Jackson’s respect too much to repeat what’s between him and I.

So how do I wrap this up?  How do I close this post with a thought? I guess it’s to say, I don’t care. When people ask me what I do, I tell them and if they make a joke or roll their eyes, I don’t care. I have earned this trusted position, and I value it too much. People don’t have to get it, YOU don’t even have to get it, what’s important is that I get it.

I’m the guy behind the guy you need to know.

Warning: Be Careful Who You Vouch For.

“Look, I vouch for him, I could wind up dead.” – Donnie Brasco

Do you throw around your “Vouch”?  Do you endorse others to your “Circle” too candidly?  In the past I know I sure have.

In the 1970’s, Joseph Pistone was an FBI agent that went undercover into the local mafia as “Donnie Brasco” and was vouched for by lower level mobster, Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero.  When Pistone’s true identity was discovered, Ruggiero knew that he would die for his endorsement of Brasco.  Those were the rules and Benjamin walked to his death aware of what was about to happen.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of my boss’s SUV when a certain Tweep (Guy on Twitter) came to conversation.  I was asked what I thought of this guy and without hesitation I said he was a “Cool Guy”, I had vouched.

“Really? He’s a good guy?” Jackson, my boss, asked, pushing it a little further.

In a split second, I re-evaluated the quality of the person in question and found it lacking.

“No, he’s actually a tool” I claimed after realizing that I would end up being judged by my claim of “Cool Guy”.  From then on any time this gentleman used any colourful language or talked about something inappropriate and Jackson saw it, it would be on my head.  I had vouched for him and by doing so, I had said, “This guy is solid and I support what he stands for”.

About ten seconds after I had changed my evaluation of the guy, my boss stated that I throw around the term “Cool Guy” far too easily and I need to protect my approval more carefully.  The weight of his statement lasted with me for quite some time, it was a rebuke that I respected and learned from.  From then on, I didn’t shoot my mouth off when giving my opinion on someone, it wasn’t their reputation at stake but mine.

Vouch for the wrong guy and you could wind up wearing concrete doc martens.

By Keith D Andrade

High School Memories Episode IV – The Universe Strikes Back

As I re-read my last post High School Memories I can’t but feel obligated to share with you, dear reader of my misery, that I do believe what goes around, comes around.

Soon after moving to Regina, I found myself back inside the neutral painted hallways once more but only on the other side of the battle.  Yes, somehow due to no skill-set of my own I became a Special Education Assistant.

Can you imagine me, a guy who cruised through high school on a wave of 50%’s and sugar rushes now teaching the next generation?  Amazing how this came back on me.  All the crap I had pulled was now being dumped on my plate.  Sass Mouth answers?  You bet.  Lazy kids?  Oh yes!  It was pretty awesome because when pulling kids aside, I could relate to the boredom and lack of excitement but now it was MY JOB to get them excited to be sitting in a desk for 6 hours a day.  I didn’t do so well because man, they knew I was lying through my teeth.

There are so many memories from my life as a T.A. I’d like to share just a few with you.

1. Falling asleep while listening to a grade six teacher talk about nothing.

I guess technically speaking, I didn’t fall asleep.  You know that point where your brain just shuts off and you’re breathing but that’s about it?  Well I guess while I was cruising through a lecture on BEDMAS my brain thought it appropriate to clear my throat for me.  Not just clear it though mind you, Hock a lougie clear it.  You know that nasty nasally sound right before someone spits?  Yep, I pulled that beauty and didn’t even realize it.  Moments after my un-lodging of phlegm I sat up and looked for the nasty perpetrator not knowing I had just taken away a little bit of every grade 6 kid’s innocence.

2. The Funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, not for me but for others, I have a total lack of compassion when people get hurt in a funny way.  Falls, groin shots, slips, it doesn’t matter…that’s good comedy.  One day while working in a grade 6 class we were playing dodge ball.  Now this was not so much of a oddity due to the fact that this teacher could’ve been the laziest teacher ever when it came to gym.  For 6 months all we did was play dodge ball. I was allowed to play but that came to a screeching halt when I laughed at a kid for knocking off his glasses.  So from the sidelines I watched.  Now I’m sure at some point in a formal education courses future Teachers are told not to laugh at kid’s injuries but since I never went, could I really be held responsible?  Anyway, we were playing another game of Dodgeball, I was watching from my corner, and the game was picking up intensity.  As I stood beside the teacher pretending to listen, a rather “Husky” fellow ran up to us and started to whine.  Now this kid was a good kid, soft hearted kind of guy but he loved to whine.  We’ll call him Mark.

“Mrs. *******, no one’s giving me a ball” Mark sobbed out as he approached us.  Before the thought “That’s cause you suck” was finished going through my mind a ball collided with his face at Mach 3.  AWESOME!!!!  Before 1 single belly laugh could make it out of my mouth, Mark, who was holding his face squealing took another one in the junk at Mach 4!  So within 3 seconds this kid took a ball to the face and the groin.  It is custom in our society to consider it rude to laugh at someone’s misfortune ALSO it is rude to point at someone.  Both these rules of society were completely ignored by a grown man, pointing and laughing, screaming “THAT WAS AWESOME!!” at a 11 year old clutching his face and cahonas.  Mrs. ******* was less than impressed.

3. Planting the S.B.V

Now I warn you this moment was at my very lowest.  I’m sure anybody reading this next part who knew me in High School would be thinking “Aaannnddd he hasn’t changed.”

We were in art class and I had a rumbling tummy.  You know when you have to “Pass wind” but of course you can’t!  Not here!  This is the last place that a human being should “Make a stink” well that would have been this classroom.  The prissiest girls I have ever seen were all sitting at one table and discussing how awesome each others pictures looked.  I, who was passing by, had just eaten a most rotten meal of chili and cabbage and was looking for a little payback for a year’s worth of gnarly.  I pretended to be interested in the vase drawings these girls were doing and dropped my deadly payload.  Now, the secret to “Planting” is the release and move.  You got to get out of there fast but not TOO fast, look calm but not TOO calm.  You get the drift and coincidentally so did those girls.  I was half way around the room by the time I heard the first one gag.  Then the next one.  Then the next one.  Beautiful.  It was the perfect revenge.  While they were over exaggerating about one little fart and who did it, I was already on to the a different group of kids giving my suggestions about how to shade Scooby’s eyes.  Two lessons to be learned here.

1. No one ever suspects a teacher.

2. Apparently, I will never truly grow up.

There are many other things that I could write but honestly I’ve tried to forget that whole nasty time of my life, so I’m out!

High School Memories

The Man. The Myth. The Doofus.

Why is being a Teenager such a crappy time in our lives?  Some people answer back “What do you mean?  High-School was awesome!  I loved being a teen!” These tend to be the people that

1. Either are still re-living the good ole’ days and are pumping gas in their football jacket

OR

2. They were the most “Popular” but never realized everyone hated them.

But for most of the regular kids who are between 14 – 17 that march the halls of a penitentiary.  “Teens” is just a phase of life we’d rather forget.

For me, being a teen was a drag.  First dealing with the new body you’ve just been dumped into.  Puberty for a guy is just as lousy as for a girl.  Your voice ultimately sounds like Scooby Doo’s pal Shaggy and you have no control over body functions.

It’s funny the things you tend to block out of your memory from when you were a teenager.  Singing “With or without you” at a banquet hall in front of 100’s of people to a chick who didn’t care? Yeah, that was awesome.

– What To Wear –

When you’re a teenager what you wear is who you are.  It’s how you want the world to think of you.  Some of us were better than others.  I for example, have worn, strutted, and shone in these items.

– I had a black leather wallet on a 3 foot dog chain (the guy I bought it from was convinced I was gay, I’m not sure why).

– I had a marine hair-cut, this is not such a bad look but when you mix it with a “Army” vest that turns out to be a shabby fishing vest, not even a cool shaved head can save the day.  Countless pairs of Combat pants, even though they were cammo and meant to “Blend”, I always seemed to be seen right away to all the loud mouths.

– I found a t-shirt with “Estrogen Overload” on it with a cartoon woman freaking out.  As I thought this was awesome I wore it many times with my black combat boots and hunting jacket.

– High School –

Wow, most of the time as I said earlier, this was the crappiest time ever.  For me High School was a skid-mark in the shorts of life.  I pretty much gave up on academics in the first month.  50% would be the target and often I missed even that.  If I had a moment of glory in High School it would have to be passing Computer Drafting 20.  Instead of struggling with figuring out how to draw on the computer I quickly changed the “drawing” to pretend gunfights in the class aisles.  Even the teacher watched to see who won.  The last day of Grade 10, Mr. Forsythe took me and my best friend aside and said “Keith, you have a 35% in my class.  But I’ll give you a 50% if you promise NEVER to take my class again!”

“Deal!” was out of my mouth before he finished the sentence.  When my buddy asked if the same applied to him who had also failed…Forsythe said No.  Travis was less than pleased.

– Cruising the Chicas –

Now this may blown some of your minds, but, I was not as smooth with the ladies as I am now.  No, no, I can admit it.  My real time to shine was after high school due to the fact of what I learned in those beige coloured walls.

1. Getting slapped by a girl in front of your friends, not cool.  Most guys would rather get punched in the head than a slap from a girl. It’s not the pain as much the sheer humiliation and the fact that she had to reach up to do it.  This made me look even cooler.

2. When asking out a girl that you’ve liked for 5 years prior…it’s best not to fart in front of her 10 minutes prior to popping the question.  Yes, I was a classy guy all around, and yes, she said “No”.  Once again, awesome.

Yessir, High School was definitely fabulous for this author.  I hope that your experience was not as much humiliation as mine was.

Psst…Hey You, Talking During The Movie…SHUT UP!

You know, the universe holds all sorts of mysteries.  What really happens in the Bermuda Triangle?  Where is Jimmy Hoffa?  Who made Steve Guttenberg a star?  These are all questions that have no known answer.  The one that absolutely kills me, that I can’t let go of is, why do people feel that it is okay to talk during a movie?  Am I the only one who hates this MORE than egg salad?

The other day Kate and I went to The Dark Knight Rises and I was so excited!  We hadn’t been to a movie for a couple of months and it was her birthday so I pre-bought tickets.  We of course always get stuck beside some moron who gabs the whole movie so this time we were doing it right.  We were going to the Imax! Guaranteed bleeding ears loud.  There was NO way I’d be able to hear anything for a week let alone some person dictating what was happening during the film.

Wrong.

Sure enough, once again, the people behind us talked the entire film.  Oh, and kicked my seat as well.  At one point I actually turned around and politely said “Can I get you guys to stop talking?” that’s verbatim.  What I wanted to say was “Hey, how’s about I drag you all out of this theatre and huck you into traffic?”.  But I tried to be polite.  Sure enough they stopped talking for around 30 minutes and then out came the double hinged jaw again.

I was too mad to think so I played it safe and kept my mouth shut.  It’s safe to say my evening was torched and now I have to wait until the blu-ray release because if this happened again I’m pretty sure I’d launch into space.

So let me ask you again.  WHY ARE YOU TALKING DURING MY MOVIE?!?!?

A week later:

After some self reflection, I realize now that this is not the other person’s problem, It’s mine.  I let go of control and acted less than cordial to complete strangers.  Not cool.  From now on if this happens again, I’ll either talk to an usher or ask for my money back.  Losing my temper not only wrecked the experience for me but also for my wife.  And that is true foolishness.

Hopefully, you are more in check than I was.  And stay to the back aisle in theatres.

This Time It’s Personal.

This last weekend Kate and I decided to go to another local business and rekindle our search for our son’s ever elusive shoes.  We went to a little store in the South End of Regina and our already good day got better.

We walked in the door of the Kids Trading Company and were greeted right away by two smiling ladies.  Kate explained how our son has really thick feet and how we can’t find anything that fits him properly.  The associate repeated the issue to my wife to make sure that she understood and then measured Ollie’s feet.  She then went to the discount table to see if they had any shoes that could help us AND save us some money.  Unfortunately they didn’t have any discounted but she found a pair and helped Kate put them on our son.  I was pretty stoked to see my wife and son receiving the help they needed.  

Oliver took to his new shoes quickly and started darting around the store happily.  It was done, their service and my little man’s laps meant I was a paying customer.  After deciding to buy the shoes we walked around the store and made small talk with the associates.  Kate then found a really cool little hat that we bought as well and we were set.

After we had left, Kate and I were driving around Regina and she explained how happy she was that we found Oliver a good pair of awesome little runners.  What kind of took me back was when she said that one of the biggest reasons she bought them without trying anywhere else (it was only our second attempt) was how well we were treated.  We both left that store feeling impressed and how we will shop there from now on.  We had a great time at the Kids Trading Company and highly recommend it to anyone.  Great service from a friendly, knowledgeable staff.

How To Do Well In Business Meetings…Even If You’re Me.

Business meetings.  Even writing those words makes me cringe.  Not that I don’t enjoy them, it’s just, I usually turn into a socially awkward knob and would love to help you avoid repeating my mistakes.

1.  Don’t Chew Gum – Yeah, I’ve gone to meetings with a wad of “Big League Chew” taking up real-estate in my cheek.  Nothing says professional like chewing on a piece of rubber when trying to convince another person to trust you.  What’s worse then this of course, is the realization that you’re chewing gum and then deciding how to dispose discreetly.  You can’t just swallow your gum, I mean what, don’t you know that gum sticks to your ribs for 7 years?!?  And nothing looks smoother than a doofus trying to work down a 2 hour-chewed piece of hubba-bubba.  Always go with breath mints before-hand and drink water during.  You’ll be set.

2.  Don’t Forget To Bring Something – Not a bad rule of thumb.  I like the idea of learning ahead what the other person’s favourite drink is and then bringing them one.  I know that a certain Realtor in Regina likes candy so I drop by a bag of sour-patch kids or Starbursts.  It just shows you pay attention.  This does have a backhand though, if you’re not sure or just plain don’t know, play it safe and go empty handed.  I once walked into a meeting  and thumped a 5lb bag of brownies on the guy’s desk.  He didn’t ask for a Costco portion of brownies but I just assumed that everyone loves them!  There was an awkward feeling in the room and those two bite brownies stared at me the WHOLE 30 minutes I was there.  To this day?  We don’t speak of it.

3.  Don’t Stress – Almost every business meeting I’ve gone to, I’ve gone with butterflies napalming my stomach.  When you appear nervous, you appear unsure about how awesome you are.  Plus, if you’re nervous, you’re probably more likely to dump a full 16 oz of coffee all over your lap, trust me on this one.

This next one, I didn’t do, I just was blown away when it happened.

4. Don’t Talk Negatively About Your Spouse –  In fact, don’t say that crap to anyone let alone a complete stranger.  Within 5 minutes of a meeting, a guy actually insulted his wife.  And I don’t mean like, “Man this meal looks 10 times better than my lady would make” but completely trashed his wife with a crack about her weight.  Call me old-fashioned, but I was done.  It didn’t matter what came out of this guy’s mouth after that point, I was not taking this guy seriously.  If you would insult the one person who should be the most important in your life to a complete stranger, your integrity and honour have been exposed as lacking.

Well, there’s 4 observations to how to do well in a business meeting…even if you’re like me.

Have an awesome day!

Paid To Ignore

So yesterday I’m looking at baby shoes for my one year old son at a locally owned Regina business Crocus & Ivy.  My wife and I usually can’t make it there with my kid in tow so when we went yesterday, we were pretty pumped.  We get in there and head straight to the shoes as I had a Tweet-up to attend and didn’t want to be distracted by the 5 foot Elmo.  Kate put our son down and started grabbing shoes for him to try on.  We’ve now been in an empty store with 3 ladies working for 5 minutes and  no one has acknowledged us.  As we try on more and more shoes I figure someone will see obviously we’re not here to browse but no one comes!  Oh, did I mention the shoes are seventy five dollars!  Shoes, for my one year old son, are seventy five freaking dollars and NOBODY IS HELPING ME THROW MY MONEY AT THEM!  Yes, I felt the need to yell that at you.

After we give up on the shoes, 15 minutes, we move onto clothes ,another 5 minutes, and I find myself considering spending twenty five dollars on a tie.  A tie!  A thin, flimsy piece of cloth that Oliver will wear once but still, it’s cool and I want him to look cute for our upcoming family photos.  Still nothing.  Now, I’m six foot four and around three hundred and fifteen so I don’t really blend amongst Osh Gosh B’Gosh overalls.  They know I’m here.  After being in the store for more then twenty minutes I tell Katie, my wife, we’re leaving and still no acknowledgement as we head out the store.

I can’t refute the fact that Crocus & Ivy has really nice quality children’s clothes and toys, it’s a really nice store.  In all honesty though, I’ve yet to been given such a great argument to take my family to the big store where everyone wears blue vests and someone’s always around…Most of the time :0)

Regina’s Best Kept Secret for Mommies…And Daddies.

For my wife Katie and I, having our son required a huge change in our lifestyle. One of the many changes we have had to adapt to is going to movies frequently.  Kate and I have always loved going to the theatre, regardless of what was  playing, as a way to slow down, share popcorn and enjoy some time with eachother.  Funny that you can be in a gigantic room full of strangers and feel peaceful with your wife beside you.  Well, since becoming parents we have had little time to go out together and that’s perfectly okay, but we just miss that little piece of our “Pre-Kid Life”.

Oliver was around 6 months old and I was at a tweet-up, a twitter function, and met Judy Regan. Turned out she was the owner of Movies for Mommies in Regina and invited us to come, so we did! It’s not that we had never heard of Movies for Mommies before but it just never sank in that one day Kate would in fact BE a mommy! That next Thursday we went down to Rainbow Cinemas, Ollie in hand, excited to see Twilight. I didn’t even care that I was about to see a pre-teen chick-flick with Kate, I was just so amped that I was going to a movie again with my family.

We were greeted outside the cinema by Judy who had a table of free samples of lotions and products for babies and mothers alike. She welcomed us, offered her samples and told us that there was a change table at the back of the cinema. Fantastic. What really sold me was the fact that everyone else there had a little child with them so if Ollie started crying it was no big deal. Likewise if another baby got upset it didn’t matter, we were all there just to enjoy the time together. The atmosphere was totally family friendly, lowered lights and softer volume allowed a really peaceful experience.

I’m happy to report that I indeed did make it through Twilight and really enjoyed the time with my son and wife.  At the end of the film, Judy had a prize give-away and took care of the clean up.  All in all, I couldn’t recommend Movies for Mommies more. What a great experience! I think the most fun I had was holding my son on my lap while Kate held my arm as we watched Jacob fight with Edward. Good times.

Thanks so much for the great time Judy!

To follow Movies for Mommies online, Their Twitter handle is @MFMRegina and Facebook wall is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Movies-for-Mommies-Regina/191952120837057