Sync'ing my Blackberry with Thunderbird

I know there are others out there like me that curse and forswear using MS Outlook. I have used Thunderbird since it was still part of the old Netscape Navigator, however it doesn't sync with my blackberry. As much as I dislike my keyboard on my BB Pearl, I love having a blackberry. But, the lack of sync'ing with my computer made me determined to find a work around.

A few months ago, I managed to find how to sync my BB Calendar. I installed an add-on to my Thunderbird called Lightning. Lightning is the the add-on version of the Mozilla Sunbird calendar. Then, I set up a Google Calendar. I installed an add-on to Thunderbird, called Provider for Google Calendar, that would sync Lightning and Google. Lastly, I installed a Google mobile application on my blackberry from Google that would sync the Google Calendar to the blackberry one.

Lightning --> Google --> Blackberry

For the Blackberry Contacts and Tasks to sync with Thunderbird's Contacts and Tasks, I use a free program called Funambol. I registered with them and put in my Blackberry information. Then, I installed an add-on to Thunderbird that created a sync with Funambol.

Thunderbird --> Funambol --> Blackberry

Unfortunately, I have not discovered a sync for Blackberry's MemoPad. In it's place, I use a program called Upvise on my blackberry. It has a nice note feature as well as a Shopping list feature. It will sync with its website so I just created a quicklink on my desktop to the website.

A day of rugby

We had a wonderful day today. It started out this morning with the kids playing their regular game. However, the World Cup made an appearance and all the teams had their pictures taken with it. I managed to get a picture of it, too.



After the kids' games in the morning, we went home for a quick lunch before heading off to the "big game." This was the Canada vs. USA World Cup qualifier, game 2. Game one was held last weekend in North Carolina and Canada lost 12-6. Canada needed to win this game with a minimum of 7 points over USA today to qualify for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. They not only won today, they were great! The final score today was 41-18!

The whole family had a fantastic time. The weather was perfect and the crowds were really good.

During half-time, the kids' teams entertained the crowds with a little bit of their kind of rugby. The older kids were at the ends of the field but our crew were right in the middle. The footage is a bit shaky as I was in a really awkward position during filming and I was zoomed in as far as I could.

The first video is of Isabella's group of 4 & 5 year olds. The 2nd and 3rd videos are of the 6 & 7 year olds. In the second video, Joshua is kicking in the ball. In the third video, Katerina is kicking the ball.








Here are some pictures from the day:













James Pritchard


Justin Mensah-Coker


Chauncey O'Toole

Short hair

The girls got their hair cut short today. Katerina's hair was long enough that she was able to donate her hair to Locks of Love.




Isabella's hair was straightened with a flat iron so it could be cut properly. I've never seen my baby with straight hair before!