holy hell, batman

and I feel totally justified in using the batman line, because the boy is slightly obsessed with all things superhero. I just realized that there are only 6 days until Christmas. In 6 days, we'll be done with presents and almost eating a giant turkey with all the trimmings. Mmm, stuffing and gravy....

I'm basically done, I just have one more thing to get for the man. We realized today that we had forgotten about Santa bringing the wee lass a present, and had wrapped and placed under the tree all the non-Santa gifts. We will now have to either unwrap and set out on Christmas eve a gift that's already under there, or "borrow" a Santa gift from somebody else. See, Santa apparently doesn't wrap gifts, he just sets them out under the tree. That's how it was for the man, and it seems like less work for me, so I'm for it. He also brings stockings, and for me he would put them on the end of our beds. This helped to keep us in bed an extra 10 minutes in the morning, so I think I'll try that too. We've explained to the boy that since the girl is so little, she really doesn't need much, and also wasn't able to ask for anything, so Santa will just pick a couple of things that he thinks she'll like, and bring those. He'll get more for this year. I feel a little guilty about it, but she is not going to have any idea, and the things that we got for the boy at this age, we still have, so we just couldn't think of anything that was a "big" gift for her that a) she doesn't already have or b) somebody else hadn't already gotten her.

Ok. I should go hang out with my children now, and make supper and such! The girl just woke up, and the boy spent about half an hour while I sewed gifts playing on the Fisher Price website. It's linked over yonder now, and has loads of cute online games for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. For free, most importantly. He knows how to use the mouse now, so that's opened up a world of non-mom-led entertainment options!

ready?

not even a little. Well, ok, maybe a little, but definitely not entirely. I haven't even made my scotch cakes yet, although we did make some pretty fine gingerbread men last week. We've got the kid big presents taken care of, but might need a few last minute stocking stuffers. Not sure about a stocking for the wee girl, she's so little she won't notice, but the little boy might. We told him already that she won't get as many gifts from Santa as he will because she's to little and doesn't need as much, and she couldn't tell Santa what she wanted, so he'll just guess a couple of things. Dear husband has told me he'd like a book and a case of beer, so that's pretty helpful. Not really thoughtful gifts, so I'm trying to think of a couple of other things to get too.

I've made a couple of gifts for baby-friends / friends' babies. I'm at the point where I don't exchange gifts with friends so much anymore, but with their children. That's fine with me! I plan to make the baby girl a doll, since I can not find one that is soft bodied / headed and has a nice face. That might not make it for Christmas, we'll see.

The boy continues to astound me with his language and thinking. He's started saying his Rs properly, which is a pretty big step since his name HAS an R in it, and he can now say it the way we meant it to be said. Other little words have started to become clearer, where I'll just be like, hey, he just said "again" instead of "ah-den". Nice! We were driving the other day and a car passed us. He couldn't see the driver, so he said "Mom! There's no driver in that car!" I said wow but, I wonder how that works? He didn't say much for a second, and then said, "maybe it's a transformer?" I said, maybe bud, that would explain it!

We lost one of our cats, Mort, a couple of weeks ago. He's very missed, not least by George, who is SO LONELY he just wanders around and meows the entire time he's not sleeping. The other day he walked by the boy, who petted him and said, "it's ok George, you're sad. Morty is not here now."

Sweet boy.

Anyway, I'm going to go hang with the boy while the girl sleeps. We ALL slept ALL NIGHT last night, it was fantastic. I woke up to the wee girl chattering in her room, and when I looked at the time, (I had to check, cause it's so GD dark all the time) it was 7. Beautiful.

the mind of a 3.5 year old

I swear, if anyone actually understood how that works, they'd be a fricking billionaire. Cause mostly everyone is going to have to deal with a 3.5 year old at some point in their life, and it is not easy going, let me tell you. We just came from returning (tried to exchange for a bigger size, but there wasn't one) a snowsuit at Co Op. I'm not a member, so all I could do was the exchange, and I had told the boy that before going. We weren't buying any treats or toys, just looking for a snowsuit. He doesn't listen so well. Anyway, cut to him screaming like a crazy person because I can't / won't buy him a Batman toy and me trying to wrestle him and the wee girl (who is just staring at him, and at me, like, mom, wtf? and looking like she should start crying too out of moral support for the boy or because she's kind of scared) out of the store into the car, which involves first releasing his death grip on the mini shopping cart he's pushing around and then getting him into the car while holding the girl, which I had almost accomplished (I had just planned to stick him in the car and close the door, go around and buckle the girl in, and then come back and buckle him in) when one of the lovely ladies at Coop came out to help me, and held the girl for me while I wrestled with the boy who was fighting with his impressive, especially for a 3.5 year old, strength to prevent me from even sitting him in the seat, let alone buckle the straps.

Good times.

He fell asleep on the way home, exhausted from his tirade, so I did make good on my promise that he was going to his room until his father got home once we made it home, but it just didn't have the same impact since he was unconscious at the time, and will probably sleep until the man gets home anyway. I'm sure as shit not waking him up.

whaaaaaaat?

I'm teaching the boy to say that, cause it's funny.

I just had to tell you all about my having too much poop experience yesterday. We went to the park by my parents' house. Playground, I guess. Regardless, we went. I brought a towel because it had rained so the equipment was all wet. So, we get there, I dry off the swing and a slide, and I go up to the top of the bigger slide to dry it off (by which I mean put the towel down and make the boy slide down on it) and there is a big chunk of mud right where you would sit. I try to slide it off with my shoe and discover 2 things. 1 - it is really stuck on there. someone has squished it down to make it hard to clean. 2 - it is poo, not mud. So, now I'm having a whole range of emotions. I'm grossed out, because there is poo on my shoe. I'm angry and disgusted that someone would go to the effort of putting poo at the top of a children's slide. I'm annoyed because I can't in good conscience leave it here now that I've found it, both because the boy really wants to go down the big twisty slide, and because it's just going to be some other poor parent who comes across it and has to either a) clean it up or b) discover it too late on their kids pants and then in all liklihood have to throw away / burn those clothes, because it's one thing if your kid gets their own poo on them, but if it's *stranger* poo, that's just sick and nobody wants to deal with that. So I went to the car and got wipes and a little baggie to put the wipes in, and found a good stick to scrape off the majority of it. Totally disgusting. So then later, I'm at Sobey's waiting for my mom to come out, cause the little girl fell asleep in the car, and a bird craps on my windshield, bigtime. It went on the front windshield and my window. Scared me! And was gross. But then it started raining really hard, so that was ok.

That's my crappy day!

oh, right, the elections

We fared not well, I have to say. I can't blame people, I guess, for not voting Dion in, but it's just disappointing, to say the least, to have all that money gone for no reason. Maybe next time the NDP will win! Here's hoping.

At least the Americans finally figured out that things are just NOT working, and made a change for the better. I'm excited for that, and interested to see what happens from here.

for you, my one reader

there may be 2, or even 3, but I'd be surprised if there were more. What's new, you ask? Well, there's a reason I haven't been posting. Nothing's going on. I'm home with my lovely children, and we do not very exciting things. We play outside a lot, unless it rains for 5 days straight like it did last weekend (I wasn't sure we were going to survive that one, seriously), we go for bike rides and we get the mail and say hi to "the ladies" who have home daycares in my neighbourhood who are out walking their kids around. The little girl still (usually) has 2 pretty good naps a day, one mid morning and one mid afternoon. She's on to semi-real food, baby cereal, purees and whatnot. I get to start yogurt and more real food soon, so that should be fun. More fun than pureed squash and peas, I'll tell you that much. It's hard to feign enthusiasm for that kind of stuff, because it's disgusting. I've even made my own pureed veggies and beef, which the girl is *not* a fan of. The beef. She likes the veg, and I've discovered I can mix just about anything with sweet potato and it'll be ok. She's funny, if she doesn't like something she spits most of it out and makes a terrible face, but then looks at me like, come on, that's gross, what are you trying to do here? If she really does like something, she gets really excited and wiggles and her feet start going. Babies are so easy.

The little boy is doing well. Despite my best efforts to fatten him up (ok, not really, but I do wish he'd hit the 40lb mark soon) he is still like 36lbs and thus in a giant car seat. He's tall enough, but not heavy enough. This means that I have both giant car seats in my car, as the little girl is now too big for her infant seat. This isn't so bad, except that any time we have to go somewhere all together, we take my car. And if the man wants to go somewhere with just the boy, like skating on Sunday afternoons, then he either takes my car and I'm stuck home, or we (I) have to switch the seat to his car and then remember to switch it back before Monday morning when he leaves for work or I'm stuck home for the day. It's just not worth buying another car seat for the few months left until the boy is big enough for a booster, but it sure would be handy. Anyway. Other than that, he's mostly delightful, in his 3.5 year old way. He still loves to snuggle, loves to play and run around, watch movies, and dress up as Spiderman, Indy, Woody, or Superman. He'd be Batman too, but we don't have that costume yet, so he has to pretend a little harder for that one. He loves to love the little girl, and so wants her to just sit with him, watch a movie or whatever. She'll sit with him for a bit, cause she finds him entertaining for some reason, but she's not into tv (which isn't a bad thing, but the little boy has been from about birth, so it's different) and he doesn't understand why she doesn't want to watch Blues Clues or whatever with him. He cries way more than she does, she can go for days without crying at all. He is at that super fun age where he knows what he wants, and he wants it now, whether it be Halloween candy for breakfast or 11 stories at bedtime or to go see his friend next door at 6:30am or at bedtime. There is no logic or reasoning with a 3 year old, so it's largely frustrating for everyone involved at times.

I'm doing pretty well too, thanks for asking. I do enjoy being home, but I think I have to start getting out of the house by myself on more than a monthly basis. The man is still a bit wary of staying home with the 2 when they're awake, so that puts a crimp in my plans. I have one friend who's on leave, but we both have 2 kids, so we don't actually manage to cross paths very often. She's going back to work after Christmas, so I'll be on my own until summer when the rest of my teacher friends will be around. I've given very brief thought to going back early (if there were a job), but I think it would stress me out too much to be away from the 2 of them when the little girl is still so little. If a really good job came my way, I'd give it more serious thought, but for now there's nothing that tempting.

I've clearly been typing long enough, because I can hear the little girl on the monitor, muttering and rolling around. It's nice to not wake up crying, don't you think? She'll just babble and talk to herself for a while, and get gradually louder until someone goes up to get her.

GO VOTE, CANADA!

How to vote in the upcoming federal election. How to *register* to vote in the upcoming federal election.

Ok. If you haven't gotten your little beige and maroon card in the mail yet, or if it's not the right information, then here's what you need to do. It's not complicated, I promise. But you need to do it before next Tuesday (October 7) at 6pm. Especially if you're wanting to vote by mail or something else crazy. You can actually register and vote at the poll, but why not just go ahead and get the registration taken care of now, and then you're all set to go.

You can call from Canada or the US: 1-800-463-6868
You can call, even if you're in Mexico: 001-800-514-6868
You can call from other places, but it'll cost ya: 613-993-2975
You can call if you need a fancy TTY phone: 1-800-361-8935

You can write, but that will take a long time: 257 Slater St, Ottawa ON, K1A 0M6

You can fax, but I don't know what exactly you would send. Proof of your ID and address I imagine: 1-888-524-1444

There's more info on the website, but it does not appear that you can register online just yet.

I'm almost done here.

When you go vote, and you can still register then, remember, you will need to bring some ID with you. You have 3 options for this.

1) one original, government issued ID with your photo, name and address (drivers license)
2) two pieces of identification with your name and address on them (health card and power bill, for example)
3) you can swear on a stack of bibles and be witnessed by somebody who IS registered in the same polling division and who has proper ID with them. seriously, that's an option.

Ok? So, go register, go vote, if you need more info call one of the numbers or go to Elections Canada site and have a look around.

It'll only take a few minutes out of your day, and then you can carry on with your plans of going for ice cream, or coffee, or groceries, or whatever. Voting day is October 14. Do it. DO it.

And watch this video.

GO VOTE, AMERICA!

but first you have to register. Please, if you have a website, post this link. If you have friends, tell them to register. You tell 5 people, they each tell 5 people, you get the idea.

Just go to this website: www.maps.google.com/vote

As Sarah Silverman says on the ad, you can literally like, do it while you're pooping. If you have a laptop.

Also, you can tell them to watch this video.

That's it for now. I know it seems I'm more interested in the US elections than the Canadian, and I'm not, but there are a lot more people there than here, so I need to keep like, mentioning it. Now I'm going to find out how to get all signed up here in Canada, and post that info!

as much for me as you

I have added a link to the fall premieres on the sidebar over to the left there. It's important to me to know when my shows are on. I've also watched the first episode of True Blood, which airs Sundays at 9eastern, and is pretty sweet. It's on the movie network here, so you'll have to subscribe. You also get Californication and Dexter, so that alone makes it worth the extra $$.

scary!

I know, politics again! But please, read this if you're going to be voting in the US election, and bear in mind that John McCain is old and sickly.
clicky click!

my bad

I should have bolded Fringe in my list of premieres. I'm sorry. I'm more sorry if you missed it. It's on again Sunday at 8 eastern, on Fox, and you should definitely watch it. It seems to have all the good parts of a JJ Abrahms show, but without the "well since I missed the first episode, clearly I can never watch it" aspect.

I bet you thought we were about done with recalls

you were wrong.

Health Canada's recall site. Updated pretty well. I even found a toy that I have which is unsafe due to higher than acceptable levels of barium. Barium? Sure. I haven't opened it yet, thankfully, and have emailed the lovely folks at Alex toys to see what I should do with it. Hopefully they send me a pile of money for my troubles.

go alaska!

I mean, wait. What? I'm not that into politics really, even though it's hard to avoid with the 2-year long bombardment of ads and trash campaigns, but this latest move has me a bit baffled. So, let's choose someone who nobody has heard of to be the potential VP. We'll have people saying everything from "oh, she's great, so brave with her son who has Down syndrome!" (but of course, the wee boy is only 4 months, so I'm not sure there have been myriad issues she's had to brave her way through just yet...) and she's let us all know now that her 17-year old daughter is pregnant, for no reason other than to make people stop speculating that her baby son is actually her daughter's child. No, see, she's having her own! He's mine! Brilliant. I'll have to ask my cousin Kelly what she thinks, she lives in Alaska, maybe she can offer some insight. Not that it matters what we think, I suppose!

Just had to get that out.

bassinet recall!

I know you're not all parents, but I am, and this is my website. Simplicity has (begrudgingly, it seems) posted a recall on their bassinets. Not all of them, but they have issued at least 2 recalls because after the first one, another baby died in another model bassinet. I can't find one good site that explains it all, but the Elfe site has a notice (you sort of have to look, though) and if you google it you'll find lots of things.

My vote goes to if you have a Simplicity brand bassinet you return it and get your money back, and if you have a bassinet of a similar design you maybe stop using it. I checked mine, it's First Years, and I can't see how it would be a danger, but my little sweet pea sleeps in her crib now anyway. With airflow bumpers and no big blankets, toys, or pillows. I lay her down on her back but she rolls over, so I can't help that she sleeps on her tummy. My heart goes out to the poor families who lost children when they were trying to sleep their babies in (what should have been) the safest place possible.

remember the song "I kissed a girl"?

No, not that one. this one. It's so much better than the new one. Who are you trying to fool, Katy Perry? I'll admit, it's catchy, the new one, but the original is just better.

Lyrics, for those of you opposed to youtube.

I Kissed a Girl
Jill Sobule
(1995)

Genny came over and told me 'bout Fred
"He's such a hairy behemoth," she said
"Dumb as a box of hammers
But he's such a handsome guy."
And I opened up and told her 'bout Larry
And yesterday how he asked me to marry

I'm not giving him an answer yet
I think I can do better

So we laughed
Compared notes
We had a drink, we had a smoke
She took off her over coat
I kissed a girl

So she called home to say she'd be late
He said he'd worried but now he feels safe
"I'm glad you're with your girlfriend, tell her hi for me."
So I looked at you, you had guilt in your eyes
But it only lasted a little while
And then I felt your hand above my knee

And we laughed at the world
They can have their diamonds
And we'll have our pearls
I kissed a girl

I kissed a girl, her lips were sweet
She was just like kissing me
I kissed a girl, won't change the world
But I'm so glad I kissed a girl

And we laughed at the world
They can have their diamonds
And we'll have our pearls
I kissed a girl

For the first time
I kissed a girl
And I may do it again
I kissed a girl
I kissed a girl

I kissed a girl her lips were sweet
She was just like kissing me
But better

I kissed a girl
Won't change the world
But I'm so glad
I kissed a girl
For the first time
I kissed a girl

Fall 2008 Premieres!

For my seester. And I have to say, it was tricky to track down a list with all the networks and the times! Let's assume they're Eastern, since that seems to always be the case. So, add an hour or whatever, figure it out for yourselves. The CW has lots of shows, we'll get some of them I'm sure, but I don't know when. Sorry.

It's a long list. I was going to delete all the ones I don't give 2 hoots about, but I thought that might be thoughtless of me. I crossed some of the ones I'm opposed to instead. And bolded the ones I'm excited for. I have to say, I have not heard of most of the new shows. Am I out of the loop? Anyway. Here you go folks. Get out your dayplanners, and make plans accordingly.


Monday, August 25
9:00-10:00 PM - America's Toughest Jobs (series premiere) (NBC)
8:00-9:00 PM - Deal or No Deal (NBC)

Monday, September 1
8:00-10:00 PM - Prison Break (2-Hour Season Premiere) (Fox)
8:00-9:00 PM - Gossip Girl (The CW)
9:00-10:00 PM - One Tree Hill (The CW)
10:00-11:00 PM - Raising The Bar (TNT)

Tuesday, September 2
8:00-10:00 PM - 90210 (Two-Hour Premiere) (The CW)
10:00-11:00 PM - The Shield (FX)

Wednesday, September 3
8:00-10:00 PM - Bones (2-Hour Season Premiere) (Fox)
8:00-10:00 PM - America’s Next Top Model (Two-Hour Premiere) (The CW)
10:00 PM - Sons of Anarchy (FX)

Thursday, September 4
8:00-10:00 PM3 - The Moment of Truth (2-Hour Season Premiere) (Fox)

Friday, September 5
8:00-10:00 PM - Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? (2-Hour Season Premiere) (Fox)

Saturday, September 6
8:00-8:30 PM - COPS (Season Premiere) (Fox)
8:30-9:00 PM - COPS (Season Premiere) (Fox)
9:00-10:00 PM - America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back (Fox)

Sunday, September 7
10:00-10:30 PM Entourage

Monday, September 8
8:00-9:00 PM - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox)

Tuesday, September 9
8:00-10:00 PM - Fringe (2-Hour Series Premiere)(Fox)
9:00-10:00 PM - Privileged (series premiere) (The CW)

Wednesday, September 9
9:00-9:30 PM - ‘Til Death (Fox)
9:30-10:00 PM - Do Not Disturb (Fox) (Series Premiere)

Thursday, September 11
9:00-10:00 PM - Kitchen Nightmares (Fox)

Friday, September 12
9:00-10:00 PM - Don’t Forget The Lyrics! (Fox)

Saturday, September 13
11:00 PM-Midnight - MADtv (Season Premiere)
Midnight-12:30 AM - Talkshow With Spike Feresten (Fox)

Tuesday, September 16
8:00-10:00 PM - The Biggest Loser: Families (NBC)
8:00-9:00 PM - House (Fox)

Thursday, September 18
8:00-9:00 PM - Smallville (The CW)
8:00-9:00 PM - Survivor (CBS)
9:00-10:00 PM - Supernatural (The CW)
10:00-10:30 PM It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

Friday, September 19
10:00-11:00 PM - 20/20 (ABC)

Monday, September 22
8:00-10:00 PM - Dancing with the Stars (special two-hour performance show premiere) (ABC)
8:00-8:30 PM - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
8:30-9:00 PM - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
9:00-11:00 PM - Heroes (NBC)
9:00-9:30 PM - Two and a Half Men (CBS)
9:30-10:00 PM - Worst Week (series premiere) (CBS)
10:00-11:00 PM - CSI: Miami (CBS) (for Jenn. xox.
10:00-11:00 PM - Boston Legal (ABC)

Tuesday, September 23
8:00-9:00 PM - NCIS (CBS)
8:00-9:00 PM - Opportunity Knocks (series premiere) (ABC)
9:00-10:00 PM - The Mentalist (series premiere) (CBS)
9:00-11:00 PM - Dancing with the Stars (special performance show) (ABC)
10:00-11:00 PM - Without A Trace (CBS)
10:00-11:00 PM - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)

Wednesday, September 24
8:00-9:00 PM - Dancing with the Stars Results Show Special (special day and time) (ABC)
8:00-8:30 PM - The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
8:30-9:00 PM - Project Gary (series premiere) (CBS)
9:00-10:00 PM - Criminal Minds (CBS) (I used to really like it, but now it's like, how horrible and scary can we be? worse every week. not enjoyable anymore.)
9:00-11:00 p.m. David Blaine Special (ABC)
8:00-9:00 PM - Knight Rider (NBC)
10:00-11:00 PM - Lipstick Jungle (NBC)
10:00-11:00 PM - CSI: NY (CBS)

Thursday, September 25
8:00-9:00 PM - Ugly Betty (ABC)
8:00-9:00 PM - My Name Is Earl (NBC)
9:00-10:00 PM - The Office (NBC)
9:00-11:00 PM - Grey's Anatomy (special two-hour season premiere) (ABC)
10:00-11:00 PM - ER (NBC)

Friday, September 26
There's no new tv on, so you should take me out for some birthday drinks and cake or something. Whee, I'll be 29!

Saturday, September 27
8:00-9:00 PM Crimetime Saturday (CBS)
9:00-10:00 PM Crimetime Saturday (CBS)
10:00-11:00 PM - 48 Hours Mystery (CBS)

Sunday, September 28
7:00-9:00 PM - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)
7:00-8:00 PM - 60 Minutes (CBS)
8:00-8:30 PM - The Simpsons (Fox)
8:00-9:00 PM - The Amazing Race (CBS)
8:30-9:00 PM - King of the Hill (Fox)
9:00-10:00 PM - Cold Case (CBS)
9:00-10:00 PM - Desperate Housewives (ABC)
9:00-10:00 PM - Dexter (TMN / Showtime)
9:00-9:30 PM - Family Guy (Fox)
9:30-10:00 PM - American Dad (Fox)
10:00-11:00 PM - Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
10:00-11:00 PM - The Unit (CBS)

Monday, September 29
8:00-9:00 PM - Chuck (NBC)
10:00-11:00 PM - Life (NBC)

Tuesday, September 30
9:00-10:00 PM - Dancing with the Stars Result Show (regular day and time period premiere) (ABC) (seriously, how many times is this show ON??)

Wednesday, October 1
8:00-9:00 PM - Pushing Daisies (ABC)
9:00-10:00 PM - Private Practice (ABC)
10:00-11:00 PM - Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

Friday, October 3
8:00-9:00 PM - Wife Swap (ABC)
8:00-9:00 PM - Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
8:00-8:30 PM - Everybody Hates Chris (The CW)
8:30-9:00 PM - The Game (The CW)
9:00-10:00 PM - The Ex List (series premiere) (CBS)
10:00-11:00 PM - Numb3rs (CBS)
9:00-10:00 PM - Supernanny (ABC)

Sunday, October 5
7:00-8:00 PM - America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
8:00-9:00 PM - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (regular time period premiere) (ABC)

Monday, October 6
9:30-10:00 PM - Samantha Who? (ABC)

Thursday, October 9
8:30-9:00 PM - Kath & Kim (series premiere) (NBC)
9:00-10:00 PM - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)
10:00-11:00 PM - Eleventh Hour(series premiere) (CBS)
10:00-11:00 PM - Life on Mars (series premiere) (ABC)

Monday, October 13
10:00-11:00 PM - My Own Worst Enemy (series premiere) (NBC)

Tuesday, October 14
10:00-11:00 PM - Eli Stone (ABC)

Friday, October 17
8:00-10:00 PM - Crusoe (series premiere) (NBC)
10:00-11:00 PM - Crash (Starz)

Thursday, October 30
9:30-10:00 PM - 30 Rock (NBC)

nothing really

I'm not bragging, it's more of disbelief really, but the baby slept for 12.5 hours the other night. Madness! I still haven't been out without her for more than a few minutes, except for once when I took the boy down the street to play with a neighbour and my mom watched the baby. She's so unpredictable with eating, I can't really plan for it by leaving bottles. I may have to break down and try formula with her, or I may not get to leave the house alone for another 6 months or so. Which isn't cool, really.

We're all holding up pretty well here. I went with my mom, grannie, and the babe to Maine, and it was good. I spent most of my exemption on other people, but that was mostly cause I didn't really want to buy a bunch of clothes. I can wear all my regular clothes now, but some of them give me muffin top, which we all know is just not attractive. Bigger stuff doesn't fit right, and I don't really want to buy things to fit for what I hope will be a short time, so I just won't buy anything right now. I got new sunglasses for me and the man, and some clothes for the little ones. Whee!

This weekend is the long one, and we're heading to my parents' cottage. It's becoming a bit of a tradition, since it's nice there and the long weekend gives the man the extra day off to make it a more worthwhile trip. We went for our "honeymoon" and then again for our anniversary, and had been there before that. I go other times, and the man tries to, but the August long weekend we always make it. My sister and her husband will also be in attendance, and I'm betting there will be bbq-ing and ice cream making. I might bring my ice cream maker so that we can make more than one kind, because we can never agree which to make.

I've made lots, the latest is strawberry. MMMmmm. It has like 6C of strawberries in it, which was less once blendered with cream, but still has a very high berries-to-cream ratio, which is nice. I only put about half a cup of sugar in, and it's damn tasty. Orange sherbet is next on the list, and then I'd like to try coffee.

Exciting, I know! I'm going to go check on the boy, I think he may have fallen asleep. I wish! This only means though that the baby will wake up momentarily. The boy is upset because I won't let him play outside in the thunder. Sorry dude.

from Jenn

cause she's gearing up to traumatize her neice, who's coming to visit soon.
how to make your kids hate you, in 3 easy steps.

I'm still learning with this parenting thing, but mostly with the boy. The girl has overall been delightful, teaching me mostly that babies are all very different, and that it really is possible for a 6 week old to sleep through the night. CRAZY, I know.
The boy has taught me things like:
* always have extra clothes. not just for him, for you too. you just never know when you might need to go to the wading pool, and you are all gonna get wet.
* always have bandaids on hand.
* and snacks.
* never go through with your trip to superstore if your 3 year old falls asleep on the way there and you can't wake him up to get him into the cart. the cuteness of your 2 kids sleeping in the cart, your eldest leaning on the baby's carseat, oh how cute! will be far outweighed by the embarrassment of your eldest waking up in the checkout line, very sleepy and confused, and crying / screaming like you've told him you murdered cookie monster. not worth it.
* you shouldn't ever take your kids to McDonald's. If you do, don't tell them that a toy comes with the meal. Get the cookies, or hide the toy for later. Otherwise, every time you ask your child what s/he wants for lunch / supper / snack, s/he will likely answer "a toy from McDonald's".
* the sizing of children's clothing is no more standard than that of adult clothing. The boy has clothes that are 12-18 months (he, coincidentally, also had some of those that fit at birth...) and some that are size 6, all of which fit. He's 3.

I think that's it for now. He's napping, as is the wee lass, she's just nodded off in the sling that my super talented sister made for me. go check her out! The site is just starting out, so be patient. But if you want a baby holder, give her a shout. Anyway, I'm going to put the wee one in bed and try to catch a wink or two myself. Heading to Maine this weekend with my mom and grannie. Sadly, the aforementioned sister is unable to attend the festivities because she is a normal person and works, and can't take time off right now. We're going to bring her sweet presents though, hopefully.

moved

mostly. I mean, we're moved, obviously, but we're not like, unpacked or anything. Our room and the boy's room are fully put away, but the wee lass's room lacks some storage, so her clothes are mostly on the floor. Sad, I know. We're getting a new dresser for the boy, so she'll inherit the dresser that he has currently, which matches the crib anyway. The painting went well for their rooms, the boy's is a really nice blue, a bit darker than the other rooms, but it's good for him because it makes it darker at night for sleeping. Also, as I've said, should be calming and whatnot. The girl's room is a really nice bright springy green. I was a bit worried when it was going on, but it's settled into a lovely colour. It does glow a bit on the door and trim, but still nice. I need to find some nice fabric to make curtains out of. I'd like something pretty but not too frou-frou or grown up. Fabricville only has so much, so it's proving hard to find something nice that will coordinate with the room. She has started sleeping in the crib in her room, which was a bit of a change since she was in the bassinet in our room for the first 2 months of her life. It's not quite as easy at night, but she's only up once anyway (not bragging, still a bit in disbelief, honestly) so it's definitely manageable.

We have a basement now, so a lot of the packed boxes have gone there to live for a while. Most of the basement is finished, so the boxes are hanging out in the unfinished part with the cat stuff, tools, washer and dryer, and wooh, deep freeze! Sweet. We got our new furniture yesterday, and while I LOVE it, the man is like, "I thought we were getting a couch and a chair..." (which we did, but it's a chair and a half, which is a big chair, which I DID fully explain, but he's a man, and does not listen / pay attention / remember things that I say) so I don't know that he's thrilled, but oh well! We had planned to put the tv upstairs and have another smaller one downstairs for the boy and for movies and stuff, but I think for now we may just leave it downstairs. It's hot, man. And not in the basement, so we don't mind hanging out down there in the evenings.

I want to get some hanging baskets, to which the man has said I can hold off, because he doesn't want the porch overrun with flowers. I don't think 2 hanging baskets qualifies as overrun, but we'll see. I think it's like a rule that if you have a porch, you need hanging baskets. Right? For now I just got a planter for the steps and some pretty annuals, none of which I know the name of. That's a lie, there are snapdragons. I've always thought those were pretty fun.

I'm heading to Maine in a couple of weeks, ostensibly to visit my uncle who runs a restaurant down there in Boothbay Harbor, but really we'll be doing more shopping than visiting. Not cause we don't like him, just cause running a restaurant takes a lot of work, and he's not home much. Also for that reason, the boy will not be joining us, but spending the time with his other grandparents. They had planned to take him anyway, for their vacation, so it works out well. The girl will be joining us, since she's pretty dependent on me for food and such. She likes to sleep and cuddle, so I don't see it being a problem trucking her around to Freeport and stuff.

It's been wicked hot here the past few days. We've gone to the wading pool a few times, but have also been hiding out in the aforementioned basement to keep cool. Air conditioning is for suckers! We have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms, which helps a bit, but it works a lot better if we keep the windows open at night. This is kind of a problem too, because we don't live in the boonies anymore, so we have neighbours, and traffic and stuff, which make noise. It's an adjustment, for sure.

2 posts in one day? whaaaaa?

I know. I just had to update. We've packed up the movies and what I refer to as "the island of lost toys / appliances" which is all the little gadgety things that we use, but not all the time. Indoor grill, slow cooker, citrus juicer (I just bought that. I've made 2 lemon meringue pies, and it's a pain in the ass to juice those things by hand with my $1.97 plastic juicer. Also, as I mentioned, I plan to make lemon sherbet. That takes 8 lemons.), liquor cabinet, ice cream maker. You get the idea. I also packed up my cookbooks, which is a very full banker box which there is no hope of getting a top on, but I think they're wedged in tightly enough that they won't go anywhere in transit.

Tomorrow we meet with the lawyer to sign some stuff, and then the kids and I are driving to Moncton to pick out some furniture. The man's uncle is manager of a furniture store there, so we'll get a pretty good family discount. I'm excited; the only furniture we've had has been 2nd hand at best, and we haven't really gotten to pick it out. I'm dropping the boy off with my mother in law, and then meeting my mom and doing some furniture shopping. Then she's coming back here to help finish packing and then to paint the bedrooms on Friday and move and stuff. The boy's room will be blue (Behr's "little pond"), not because he's a boy, but because he likes blue. The girl will have a green (Behr's "cabbage green") room, because that's just a nice colour. It also works out that blue is a calming colour, and the green is a brighter colour, which should work well with their personalities. As much as I can tell what kind of personality my 2-month-old has.

Anyway, on to the 2 month old. Poor dear had her checkup and first needles today. I tell ya, there is little so terrible as holding your poor infant still while the nurse jabs 1, 2, 3 needles into her little chubby legs. The man refuses to go to these appointments, and with his distaste (cough, fear, cough) for needles, I doubt it would do anybody any good for him to go. But still. I went through this with the boy. 2, 4, 6, 12, and 18 months. Each with at least 2 needles. Good times. In better news though, she's growing lots. She's up to 12lbs 5oz, which seems pretty impressive, that's 4lbs in 2 months. However, the boy was at 13lbs13oz at 2 months, so I guess he's winning the race so far. The man is pretty sure it's because his head was so big, but I hope that wouldn't account for 1.5lbs...

Off to relax. It's hot here and I packed a box and had a girlie dr appt and a needle baby dr appt, and that is enough for one day. Oh, I did have lunch at Quiznos, one of those sammies...chicken bacon ranch. It was $2, and SUPER delish. Just right for a smallish lunch or solid snack.

That is all.

(insert witty title here)

Know what's worse than a newly potty trained 3 year old? A newly potty trained 3 year old with diarrhea!

That's all the detail you need about that. Suffice to say we'll be regressing to wearing diapers for at least today.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. We're going to tackle the kitchen tonight and some of the tv room. That room actually won't be too bad, it's mostly just the big furniture, but there are books and things to come off shelves because you just can't easily move a shelf full of books. I've packed up the upstairs as much as I can, all that's left to do is the boy's clothes, which will just be going in a large garbage bag or 2. The kitchen is going to be a pain in the ass, but I think that's just the way kitchens are. We may not have internet right away, they're sending us the self-install kit, so it might not arrive Friday. I hope it does though!

We're planning to paint the kids' rooms on Friday and move most of the boxes over. The man's plan / hope is to get the kitchen and shed moved, along with the giant hide-a-bed couch upstairs, on Friday. That will leave mostly just furniture for Saturday, when we've rented a truck. I've got all the utilities switched over, I cancelled my Primus account because we're going with Aliant, and I remembered that you need to cancel a month in advance. I did not know that you have to do the same thing with Bell, so those asshats are going to be charging me until July 20 for tv I won't be watching. We did (briefly) consider keeping them, they'll come do a new dish for free and stuff at your new house, but they're just SO GOSH DARN UNHELPFUL at all times, that I couldn't imagine staying with them. Rogers is no better, but at least my signal won't go out if it's humid, or windy, or just for fun.

In other news, I've been making ice cream. The favourite by most so far is mint chocolate chip. Not mint chip fudge; let's be clear. I've also made maple walnut, which is good if you like walnuts, which I don't. My favourite so far was chocolate with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, even though the fluff gets really hard in the freezer. We made some apple crisp, and I made a French vanilla to go with it, which is quite tasty. The difference, for those of you who care, is that French vanilla is a cooked custard base with eggs, where vanilla is just cream, sugar, and vanilla. My next one will be lemon sherbet. mmmm.

That's about it. Things with the wee ones are going pretty well other than the aforementioned stomach issues. The wee-est one was 2 months yesterday, and so has a checkup with NEEDLES today. Gross. The man has never experienced the giving needles to children part of parenting. He's a giant weiner when it comes to needles himself, so I really don't see that he'd be much help. Anyway, I'll dose her up with Advil before we go and nurse her right after, and hope for the best. She still sleeps a lot, but is (sort of, maybe?) getting into a bit of a routine. Evenings are the most unpredictable, she can eat constantly for like 3 hours, or eat a few times an then be down for the count at 8. This impedes my ability to like, leave the house unattended, but I'm ok with that for now. For now. lol. We have a wedding to go to in August, hopefully she'll be a bit more settled by then.

I have to go shower because I also have a checkup today, and I think it's kind of rude not to shower before you have to get all up close and personal with somebody, you know? The boy is watching Super Why, which I pretend is educational, so I don't mind him just sitting there while I play on the computer or shower. I *almost* got to have a nap yesterday, it was great. Almost.

we move in 16 days

and I have packed one entire closet. I'm not worried, but the way people are reacting when I tell them that, I feel like I should be. We have 2 weeks! My parents are going to come up for a couple of days before we move and help us finish up, so I think it should be ok. We'll see I guess! We've moved so many times, I just take for granted that it'll get done. We do have more stuff, but we'll have more help too, and we have 3 full days to get from here to there, and a truck rented, so there.

Friday the 27th we close on the new place, and we'll bring some things over, but mostly clean and paint the kids' rooms. They are pink and purple. Yipes. So, the little girl's room will be a nice green, and the boy's will be blue. Not because he's a boy, but because he likes blue. As far as I can tell...he is 3, after all. But whenever he gets to pick something, he picks blue. Like which is your favourite Ninja Turtle? Blue. Which disgusting rainbow coloured twizzler would you like to try first? Blue. Ok. I told him I'd let him pick the colour for his room, and he said, "I want red." I said, let me rephrase that. I'll present you with 2 blue paint chips, and you can pick which shade you'd like. He laughed and said "Red!"

Good times. It's not all fun and games though, life with a 3 year old. And a 7 week old. The 7 week old is remarkably wonderful, as is the 3 year old, really, the best he can be for a 3 year old. Baby girl sleeps a lot still, which was worrisome at first but now is just lovely. Unless gassy, she's a generally happy little person, which makes this whole thing much easier. The boy is also generally happy, but has meltdowns several times a day over anything from me not letting him have candy or a donut for breakfast (YES! Need candy!) to making him wear clothes to go play with the little girl down the road. (NO! Wanna be barenaked boy!)
We disagree, and the conversation progresses something like this:
Yes!
No!
You can't say no to me, I'm the mom.
Yes! I say no!
Fine then, I'm not taking you anywhere.
Yes! I wanna go anywhere!
You don't even make sense when you talk. Put on your underwear!
No! Don won unnerwear!!

and so on.

He also, thanks to my wonderful husband, has seen the movie Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story numerous times, and nearly caused a very embarrassing scene at Tingley's ice cream store when he saw Bruce Lee pushing his bicycle in the door. He's facing the door, I'm facing him. He's like, 'mom, Bruce Lee!" I said, what? "Bruce Lee, here!" I turned around, saw this like, 17 year old Asian kid, and am thinking...shit, what do I say to end this quickly and painlessly? So I say, no, buddy, it's probably not Bruce Lee (because he's dead, and would at least be old, but no need to scare the kid), because he doesn't live around here. It's probably just someone who looks like him. The boy seemed to accept this easily enough, but when the kid walked past us, the boy sort of looks sideways at him and says quietly, "Bruce Lee?" Fortunately, it sounds like "booce wee" and thus probably wouldn't get us fined for being racist or anything anyway, but man. Funny stuff. He also points out all kinds of other people he knows on the street, including pointing me out to me when we were driving the other day. I assume he means it's someone who looks like me, or whoever else, but he hasn't quite figured out how to put that into words yet. Or he just can't be bothered, which is much more likely.

Anyway. I'm freaking tired, and I packed a closet today, which was a lot more than it sounds, because it was one of our storage closets (we don't have a basement here) and there was a lot of shit in there. So, I'm going to bed.

several things.

First, I'm sorry, but I just don't get the big thing about Sex and the City. The show was entertaining enough, sure, but a movie? And a record-breaking movie at that? I don't get it.

I ordered a 10-pack of timbits yesterday, specified assorted, and got 13 chocolate ones. I appreciated the extras, for sure, but they were for the boy, and he doesn't like chocolate. (I know, what? but he's weird.) To me, it makes sense that if a person orders an assortment and you only have one flavour, you let them know before they pay for and drive off with a non-assortment. Luckily the boy was in a good mood, otherwise things could have gone downhill quickly. I ate them all, thanks for asking. They were delicious.

I also got myself an ice capp, because they're delicious. The boy got an oj. He wanted to try my ice capp, I said well, ok, but just a tiny sip. I was pretty sure he wouldn't like it. He loved it. I said ok, enough, give me back my drink bud. He handed me his oj. Nice try! So that plan backfired. I don't know if there's actual cappuccino in the drink, but it can't be good for small children regardless. I told him coffee makes people be short, and that's why I'm taller than his grandparents (my in-laws), because they are big coffee drinkers and I only have the odd hot chocolate or ice capp. Ha! That makes perfect sense to him, and me, really.

That's all for now.

history: made

but not by me, sadly.

still pretty cool though.

wow

I'm super glad that I live in this country, and not that one.

I got peed on twice today

and once not even by my own kid. I tell ya, this parenting thing is hard! We went to a friend's place to play on her ginormous castle playplace thing (seriously, it has a climbing wall, slide, swings, teeter totter, rope, ladder, and platform with a periscope and steering wheel), and she was making lunch for the bunch of us, so I took her little boy, 4 months, to change and get ready for a nap. He repaid this kindness by peeing on me. Frigging kid. It dried, so I was fine, but I later got milk and baby spitup on my shirt, and then my own dear baby's pee on me after her bath, which started well and went mostly with no tears, but then quickly deteriorated at the end and the poor thing needed to be fed before she would tolerate being diapered.

things are going pretty well all in all. We're in a bit of a cranky / gassy / growth spurty period, but the nights are still pretty good. Even though when she wakes up, it's sometimes for an hour or so, it's not more than twice a night, so I count myself lucky. The boy is a bit of a challenge, because he alternates between wanting to hold her constantly and wanting me to hold HIM when I'm feeding her and really can't hold him. When the baby is sleeping, he still likes me, but isn't really all that interested in cuddling. Again, frigging kid. I'm sure things will even out, the novelty of the baby will wear off and the boy will go back to doing his own thing most of the time. My sister is making me a sling, which will make it easier for me to tote the tiny girl around while doing stuff for my boy. I have a wrap for her too, but I have a hard time stuffing her in it without both of us ending up near tears.

It's getting late, and the little girl just went down to bed, where she normally would have about 2 hours ago. Gas, maybe, tough to say with a 3 week old what exactly is going on. My mom's up this week, which is great, cause she's very like me, and doesn't cater to the boy's every crazy whim, so when she does go, it won't be a big adjustment for us to get back to normal. The man is away for 3 days next week. I'm not sure if I'm going to stick around here or jump on the opportunity to debut Willow to my extended family and take a trip down to my parents' house. We'll see!

2 kids, holy bananas

I'll give the much quicker version here. Arrived at the hospital at 9pm on Tuesday, water broken at 11:50, baby at 12:16am Wednesday. Ridiculously quick at the end there, and thus painful, but we got a pretty cute baby out of the deal.



Willow Jenny
8lbs 5oz
20.5" long

We're all doing pretty well, considering. The boy is adjusting, but wants to either be held or be holding the baby at all times, which is challenging. The man is home all week to help ease the transition and hopefully we'll be able to get into some kind of routine by the end of it. Posts will obviously be even more sporadic than before.

Canada is banning BPA

Crazy. Good, but crazy. I like how at the end of the article they talk about how tin cans are way worse, especially when holding fatty or acidic things, which is basically everything I buy in cans, like tuna or tomatoes or pineapple...

Global Day for Darfur

Go see what you can do. I know, it's today. Better late than never, right?

done and done

work, that is. Also most other things. Well, that I can be done. I've applied for my mat leave benefits, which is a big thing that I don't remember doing last time, but I must have, cause if you don't, they don't pay you. You don't have to file weekly claims, which is nice, since you're pretty busy not sleeping and being spit up / pooped on, but you do have to open the initial claim. Luckily I ran into a friend of mine who's on mat leave now, and she told me to apply. Nice to have friends run into troubles before you, isn't it?

We're still selling our house, and still having showings. We have an offer, but it's conditional on them selling their house, and us getting something in writing from our neighbours, saying these people can use their land for crossing to the water and stuff. Our neighbours are like 60 and 100, and are not up for signing anything, so that's not going to happen. They definitely wouldn't have a problem with the use of their land, we run all over it all the time, but I'm not sure if that's good enough for these buyers. So, we continue to show! In the meantime, the 60 y/o neighbour taps the 100 y/o's maple trees and makes syrup, which we get a bottle of. Mmmm. I do hope we get something settled soon though, house showings with an infant and 3 year old (officially 3 on Wednesday, good grief) don't sound like fun to me at all.

Anyway. I'm as ready as I'm going to be. The only thing we don't have that we'll need right away for the wee lass is a name. We have one that we both like, but I'm not sure if that's THE name, or if we'll try to find something else. It's harder this time than for the boy, we had lots of names for him. Ah well. We'll figure it out!

The man had a manly weekend of playing hockey with his man friends, but also had a cold and so now feels like a giant pile of ass. I had a lovely weekend of doing not a whole lot, and feel pretty good. Still a bit tired, but that's to be expected. I did get to have 2 good, uninterrupted by anyone else sleeps, which was nice. I picked up a couple of last-minute baby things, a bassinet and some wipes, wooh! and painted my toenails. No easy feat, let me tell you. Looks pretty good though.

Now, I'm going to see what the wee lad is up to. Other than being bad. He claimed he needed a nap, but he was just kidding. He's playing in his room though, which is nice. As opposed to being down here and yelling at me because he 'needs somefing'. Like cheesey ritz crackers for breakfast. I get to be the meanie and say no, not really a great breakfast choice buddy.

more good news!

And it's even better, because he's Canadian. He's no Brandon Walsh though...and hopefully he's not the cutest guy. I suppose I'm too old to be finding these guys attractive though, legally. haha. Although, as in Smallville, Tom Welling is 31, and is now, maybe out of high school? On the show, I mean.

well thank GOD

the rumours were true!

NKOTB *will* be appearing, together, on the Today Show, on Friday. I sadly will be at work, but hopefully we can timeshift or youtube it or something!

But wait. Does this mean I was only 8, or 9, when Hangin' Tough came out? That's pretty crazy. I felt so much more mature when I was lusting after...Jonathan...yipes. I guess I wasn't a huge fan in grade 4, more in grade 6. I missed out on some great early stuff, I'm sure.

update?

I'll use the term loosely. I have about 9 more days of school. 8, I suppose, because one of my 9 is an appointment, but I might try to just skip out early rather than missing the whole day. I'm also supposed to go to a SmartBoard training session this Friday, because I rule and I applied for and got one for my resource room. The very same resource room I'll be vacating in 9 days. Yes, that's right. If you don't know what a SmartBoard is, clickez-ici. They're super cool, and I'm super excited to be getting one, even though I will not see it before I go. I picked out the spot, that counts for something, right? I'm really hopeful it'll earn me serious brownie points when it comes to me going back to work time. There actually should be a few openings the fall after my mat leave ends, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. But anyway, the point of this story was that I'm not sure if I should bother going to the training on Friday, since a) I already have a decent handle on how to use the board and b) I'm leaving. I'll ask my tech guy what he thinks maybe. I don't think we can send my replacement, but it would be a day she could come in and pretend to be me, which is good. Teachers are actually trying to get me to set up groups to work with and start, and I'm like, why don't I get names and then my supply can start, rather than me working with them 3 times and then leaving? Really, as a rule, as little change and interruption as possible works best for the kids I work with.

I should have another baby in about a month, which is weird. I have a LOT of stuff to do before that happens, like figure out where the baby will sleep. I said that a while ago, but we still haven't really figured it out. I'm thinking a bassinette, but they're pretty pricey, and are used for such a short time. We have a playpen, which serves the same purpose, but is quite large, and we really don't have room for that in our bedroom. My friends hosted a shower for me on the weekend, which was lovely. I got many adorable things, none of which were vomitingly girly, but all of which were lovely. We also played a madlibs game which was pretty fun, and overall not very dirty. Surprisingly. I went from gorging myself on food there to my sister's stagette, and continued to eat there. There are 2 of me, so it's fair, I think. I also had 2 super delish smoothies which I found out later were more milkshakes than anything else, so that went well with the peanut butter cup blizzard cake I had at my shower. I get to have a work shower too, or the people at work are having a shower for me (and another pregnant lady) too, so that should be a good time. I don't feel bad either. Etiquette states that "traditionally" (pfft) only first babies get showered, but I think that's silly. I think the subsequent ones are less about pressies and more about having a party because you should celebrate babies, but I think you should totally have one for each baby. Also, with the whole bedrest and garbage and pain in the ass stuff last time, I didn't even get to have a shower with either my co-workers or friends, so really I'm just catching up. I'm hoping for good food on Wednesday too. Maybe some new facecloths. No receiving blankets, we have like 8 billion of those, and I have fabric to make more.

Alright. The boy, he naps. I am clean, and will now go vegetate on the couch until he wakes up. My mom is visiting, and we're both sick with gross coughing, head full of garbage colds, so I think she'll be ok with that plan.

in search of...

a chocolate bar. Now, there are good chocolate bars out there, especially of the mint variety. But I'm thinking of a specific one. It's in a green wrapper, it's just a regular size and shape chocolate bar, mint flavoured, not filled. It's not Laura Secord or After 8, and it's not like, mint flavoured something...areo or dairymilk or whatever. I thought it was called a Royale bar, but Google can't find anything about that. And when GOOGLE can't find it, I question myself.

Any help?

The Atlantic seal hunt – FAQs

some things I didn't know. They're still not really clear on the *why* of the hunt though, which would be pretty useful, I think.


From Megan's post. She comments on the whole thing quite nicely.

mmm, new job opportunity!

who says teachers don't make good money? I'm going to go work there.

in like a lion

apparently it's supposed to snow or precipitate in one form or another every day this week. which is fine for rain and plus 7 on Tuesday, but not so great for 20cm of snow on Wednesday, when I had planned to go visit my parents with the wee lad. So, now the wee lad is going to the outlaws for tomorrow, I'm going to have a free day and maybe get an oil change, and try to change my doctor's appointment that's Tuesday at 2:15 to sometime earlier that day so I can leave here earlier and get to the 'rents house earlier. See?

anyway.

I'm on March break, clearly, hence the travel plans. The man and I were supposed to go out to my sister's place for fondue and ... adult company last night, so the mother-in-law came up, and then we had this GIANT SNOWSTORM yesterday and last night, so we all were stuck here. I'm all for family time, but dates are pretty nice too.

We watched the first episode of Dexter a couple of weeks ago. It was super fantastic. So, I think on Tuesday, the man comes home with the complete first season on dvd. And we watched the whole thing by the time the following Sunday came along. Which was great, the show rules, and it would have sucked to only be able to watch one, massively edited for public tv consumption episode per week. But now we're done, and I have no idea when season 2 comes out, but it's not out now, which is sad. I love Dexter too, even though he's a serial killer. I don't even care. I mean, look, can you blame me? Awesome.

Anyway. So we're back to watching the ones on Sunday nights, which is better than nothing, but not really that good, relative to new, unedited episodes.

I have to do my taxes and get a snack. Later skaters.

How to Not Be Annoying

It's nice they have useful articles.

I'm going to barf

really though. I accidentally watched the video of these poor cows.

Largest Beef Recall Issued

baby when the lights...go out....

it gets effing cold, that's what. We lost our power, after several taunting flickers, at about 9pm on Wednesday. It did not come back on until about...I have no idea, but really early Friday morning. That's a long time when all your heat is baseboard. Or candle, but they're not really efficient for heating, let's face it. So, we spent Wednesday night there, and it was ok, but chilly by morning. The boy woke up only once, about 6:30, and was sad to find his room dark, so the man went to settle him back in, and all was well for another half an hour. I have since remembered (since the only other time I think of it is when the power is out, invariably at night) to go get the boy one of those fake battery powered candle things. I got him a Glade scented one, because I couldn't find anything else. So, next nighttime power outage, the boy's room will be acceptably lit and smell like clean linen. Win - win.

I was lucky in a way, to not have work. We'd had a snow day Wednesday (and ice / rain day, hence the power outages hitting 11000-ish people) and so I had been lazy and just hung out at home and not showered. We had also had a snow day Monday, and a PD day on Tuesday (that was supposed to be Monday but got postponed) so I was only at school one day this week. But yes, I was dirty, and would not have liked to go to school without showering for 2 days. My school ended up being closed because it had no power also, but the rest of my district was open. Suckas! All the schools in town were closed due to horrible driving. So, the boy and I stuck around for a bit, but it was cold and we couldn't watch movies or anything, so we headed into my sister's house. She had lost power, but had gotten it back. We also visited some kitties for a friend of mine who is in Florida. I sent her hate e-mail already, no worries there. So, we kitty visited, then the boy crashed for over 2 hours at my sister's place while I played on the interweb and watched "Kicking it Old School", which was both funny and really, really terrible. David Hasselhoff was in it, so that's pretty fun.

Anyway, come suppertime Thursday and I'm still dirty and the house is still dark and cold. We had a few options to stay in town, but it would have been a gross and long drive to work and to the sitter from anywhere but our house, so the man booked us a room at the Holiday Inn, which is about 10 minutes from our house. They gave us a super deal, and we got to go swimming, and be warm. It was Valentine's Day too, but I assure you there was no romance. The boy has a cold, and cold medicine does not work, especially cough medicine. So, after turning out all the lights except for the night light (not that we remembered to bring one, there was one in the hotel room bathroom), and the tv, and "pretending" to all go to sleep so he would, because he's used to going to sleep on his own in his own room, not in a tv room with us in the next bed...cut to me waking up at 10:24, which for those of you who know, is halfway through Lost, and saying "eff this" and brushing my teeth and getting back in bed. Then, about every 40 minutes, the boy would wake up, coughing or snorking or something. "Where's my water? Where did my water go? Mum! My water?" He'd be fully awake, we'd find what he needed (we didn't have the wall and his bedrail to keep things contained, so they kept moving / falling on the floor) and go back to sleep within SECONDS. Which sounds nice, but most adults, myself and the man included, do not have this ability. So we'd be just dozing off again, having acclimated to the noisy, NOISY sleeper that is our son, even when he's not snorkly, and he'd wake up again. Lather, rinse, repeat, until 6:30 when my cell phone alarm woke me up. Awesome.

The man brought the boy to the sitter and checked on the house, which was powered and warm again. I got to work a little late, but so did 2 other cars of teachers, so I was fine. I warned everyone not to look at me sideways or I would cry, and very nearly did, I was just so tired. It was Friday though, so things went pretty ok. And then it was the weekend, so we're good. I'm still tired though, and will likely head to bed soon. We're actually at the in-laws' house, it's my mother in law's 50th bday party. We were there until too late, and then brought the boy home to bed, and everyone's gone back to par-tay except me. I'm super ok with that though.
I think that's it. This is frigging long. I'm 3/4 done with cooking the baby, most of the time I wonder what the DEUCE is going on in there, but that's all good, so yay I guess. 8 more weeks of work, then another couple, and then (god willing) a baby. I really, really don't want to go over. I would like to go at least until my last day of work though, if we could somehow arrange that.

BUBLE

I dare you to find someone who went to the Michael Buble concert and did not find it absolutely entertaining. I bet even the 4 guys in the front row who Michael bought beer for and kept trying to include in the show but who every time they showed on the big screens were just sitting there, arms folded, expressionless...I bet even they had fun, on the inside. At the very least they got 2 free beer each, which is more than most guys can say about being dragged to a concert (we assume) by their wives. He also took time to sign autographs and get photos done (which quickly got out of hand, so he went back on stage) and sent the hoochies in their tube tops back to their seats. It was AWESOME. He was like, I'm sorry, but I feel like a huge dork right now. I am not a backstreet boy, and I don't want to be one. Please go back to your seats. And everyone applauded. He said, I don't want to be a jerk, but aren't you all glad they went back to their seats? yes, yes we are. It's NOT that kind of show, sit the hell down you hooches.

Even the opening act, Naturally 7, was amazing. I'm hesitant to buy the cd, just because I think a lot of the fun was in actually seeing them perform their songs. You've probably heard their one song, it's a remake of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight". It's really cool, but even cooler when you realise that they don't use any instruments. At all. It's just them, making like, drum, and bass, and guitar noises with their mouths. My sister and I tried to record some to share with you, but the cell phone voice recorders, they're just not that stellar, and it was just loud and terrible on playback.

(sidebar: I've ordered but am still waiting for the usb connector for my phone, which I hope will facilitate my making free ringtones and putting them on my phone)

Anyway. If Buble came back tomorrow, I'd go. I'd be broke quickly if I did that often, but it was a great show. I also got 2 pretty scarves at Old Navy, so all in all it was a good weekend. Nice dinner at Bogarts, time with my sister, quality time for the man and the boy together, it was a win, win, win. Which is good, because this weekend and next are committed to the man's family in their hometown, and I can only take so much of that. Truly, lovely people, but not my people, despite the fact that we've been in each others' lives for...8 years now. That's a long time. I went to ladies night last night there, and I did win a $25 gas card, so that made up for the fact that I couldn't drink. Sort of.

because I hate paying for stuff, that's why.

I'm looking for some free ringtones. I just got this sweet phone last month, and it came with a really, really sad selection of ringtones. No Mexican Hat Dance, nothing. I know I can download them on the Telus site for like $2, but isn't free better than $2? I think so.

Let me know if you know of any non-spammy free places to download, or some super clever way to make them myself, or something. I also found out I have unlimited web browsing at 100 selected sites, but I'm not sure how it works, or what those sites are. I must look into that.

Also tonight, I found out that deer eat bird seed. I suppose this time of year they'll eat just about anything, but I was still quite startled when I went to see where the deer was that the boy was saying 'hi' to, thinking out in the yard somewhere, and it was AT MY DOOR. I have the bird feeder about 5 feet from our back door, because that way I can watch the birdies when they eat. So, Mr (or Miss, I have no idea which) deer was just hanging out, checking out the boy and eating the bird seed. The boy then banged on the door and scared the deer a bit, but s/he came back after a second. Pretty neat.

edit: I have downloaded a program called Bitpim, and it promises to solve all my problems. It can edit songs into the proper length and bitrate to be manageable ringtones, and can put them on your phone. Sadly, you need a usb cable for that to work, and I don't have one. Happily, I ordered one off eBay for $0.98, and it is on its way to me as we speak. Or type. Or read. Whatever. Anyway, I have the memory card, so that's not a problem. If you have a memory card and a cable, I'd recommend getting this program. Let me know how it works!

yum yum yum yum yum, delicioso!

Those of you who are (un)fortunate enough to get to watch Dora will surely appreciate my little joke there. The rest of you, well, count yourselves lucky. The man and I made a super meal tonight, inspired by a show on Food network last night. Tyler's Ultimate, that guy rules. He does not care a whit for whether his recipes are diet friendly, he uses butter, oil, sugar, all of the above. But man, it's good.

We made BBQ chicken and the spicy coleslaw that's linked at the bottom of the page. We did not make the cornbread, but it looked really good too. How can you not love a guy who cooks bacon to crumble and put in his cornbread, and then rather than draining / wasting that grease, leaves the whole mess of it in there and just pours the batter right on top and bakes it in the pan in the oven. Why grease a pan? Anyway. It was really good. I recommend (as did other people who reviewed the bbq chicken) to let the sauce sit (on low, no bubbling needed) for more than 20 minutes; ours probably sat for almost an hour and then we just left it on the burner with the heat off until we ate it. It just kept getting better. Also, in his book, he puts 1C of peach preserves (jam) in it, which we were kind of like, hmm, but we doubled the recipe, bottled half and then put the jam in half, and it wasn't peachy at all, but quite good, just a bit sweeter. The coleslaw is a bit spicy, (smoked, dried jalapeno peppers will do that) so if you're like me and are a medium salsa, moderately spicy (get it? that's where the name comes from..) kind of gal, definitely don't put more than is called for, and perhaps even a bit less. We also cheated, as he did on the show, and used the pre-shredded coleslaw mix.

That's my public service for today. Go make some stuff. Makes a few dishes, but it's worth it. It also saved me from having to watch football all day, which was nice. Also we made lots, so I get lunch for 2 days, the man gets it for one. He has restaurants and stuff nearby, so I get dibs on leftovers. Plus, I'm growing a person, so that helps in the argument. Things are going well in that area, as far as I can tell. There's definitely a baby in there, definitely likes to deliver swift kicks to the lower extremities and occasionally park a foot or something in my ribcage. Definitely in like 3 months we'll be awfully close to meeting her, if we haven't already. I'm hoping very much to not go over, but also to get to work until my planned last day of April 4. That early off bedrest thing last time was lame.

I have pants to hem, and pictures to download, so I'm out of here.

money back, thanks

We did return the coffee maker. It took some convincing, they really didn't want to give me anything, and then they were going to stick me with store credit. I said um, wtf exactly shall I do with a big store credit at Home fricking Hardware? Nothing useful, that's for sure. They also took some time to understand that I did not want another coffee maker, that I had had to buy another coffee maker over the holidays, so it would be pointless for them to try to replace this stupid, missing parts one.

I also returned (exchanged) a shirt with no tags or receipt for the man. I'm good, I tell you! It was tagged / sized wrong, so they really weren't too picky about it. It hadn't been worn, obviously, which helped. I finally got around to putting away my Christmas decorations today. The in-laws are coming up, so everything has to be, you know, in its place. My sister and I are heading to Hali again, it's my Grannie's 80th birthday party. My sister's man is going away with a friend, and mine is staying here with the boy, since they've been traveling every weekend for a month now. I took last weekend off, so it's all good.

I bought 2 non-maternity shirts at the mall this weekend. One of them I wore today, it's just a long-sleeved hooded t-shirt, but is very low cut and requires a cami under it. It's cute though, looks like a maternity top. The other one is just a t-shirt. It's an XL, but is from Bluenotes, so isn't really very big. It's navy and says "I (heart) Fries." I'm super excited. I'm wearing it for casual day tomorrow.

so, I lied.

Add that to my list of resolutions. I actually don't make resolutions. I don't really see the point. If you're doing something terrible, stop now. If you're not doing something that you know you should be doing, do it now. There's nothing magical about Jan 1 that makes it happen, as far as I can tell. Plus, I'm perfect already. HAHA.

The holidays were good to me and the fam. We had nice visits with the inlaws and my parents, got to see pretty much everyone except my soon-to-be brother-in-law, who had to work Thursday. No fun. I had picked up the gift from my sister and I to my dad, which was a sweet coffee / espresso / steamer maker thing. Sadly, it was missing the espresso pot and the steamer attachment. So, I have to take that back. Pretty effing annoying though, I have to say. So that gift was a no-go. I got them another, nice but ordinary coffee maker, and will go tear some strips off the lovely folks at Home Hardware. My sister has graciously offered to help me in this endeavor. Don't screw with us, we'll getcha.

Went shopping a couple of times in Halifax, but didn't buy much. Some cute little cookie cutters in holiday shapes and a maple leaf, and a big dinosaur that could be fun for the boy for birthday parties and stuff. Tried to buy some long sleeved t-shirts to cover the expanding mid-section, at Old Navy, but the line was just too long to wait for $9 shirts. I got a Gap giftcard, but there are no maternity clothes at Gap Hali or Moncton, so I'll be saving that for apres bebe. I even tried ordering things online, but gap.com does not ship or bill internationally. Jerks. I had a whole order done up! My friend suggested a day-trip somewhere, but I think Bangor would be the closest place, and that's a bit much with the boy in tow. I may be on my own Saturday, so we'll see. We stole the in-laws' car to go to Hali, since it is diesel and nicer than our car, so we have to return that. I'm pretty sure it was all a scam on their part to get to see the boy again, but whatever. It was worth it. We would never have fit all his stuff in one car anyway. He got a lot, but moreso the giantness of a few presents really would have made that impossible. Very cool stuff, but like a big Little People Castle playset (with bonus parts, princess and unicorns, sweet!), a Jungle playset thing, and the ride-on toy. The man and I did well for ourselves too, new clothes, boots for me, new cookbooks for me and the boy (well, both for me but one for cooking sneakily healthy things for him), the complete box set of My So-Called Life, 2 new travel mugs which I am keeping, one for school and one for purse, the list goes on. Sweet cash money for date nights, or a new pair of shoes, whichever opportunity presents itself first. A little gadget to roll up the rim when the time comes. Made in Canada, naturally. A Flip Ultra video camera, roughly the size of a deck of cards, takes an hour of full-screen worthy video. All I have so far is the boy "skating" and playing hockey, but just you wait!

Anyway. It snowed A LOT here in the past few days. Including, but not limited to, our attic. Sweet. The man is cleaning that out. It took him about 4 hours to do the driveway this morning, which usually takes less than 1. This being pregnant thing rules, as far as getting out of manual labour. Supper and dishes are up to me, clearly. I should probably get clean / dressed etc. We'll see.

OH. But I have to tell you. I was shopping with my mom, at Banana Republic no less. She had some things to exchange for sizes. This woman came in, and she was not wearing pants. For real. She was wearing a shirt, and maybe a vest, and tights, and socks and boots. Not leggings, but tights. Sort of lacey, patterney, thick cotton tights. But definitely not the kind of thing you're meant to wear by themselves. Definitely the kind of thing you wear when you're a kid under your skirt. It was really odd. And she was not a model. She was about 40 and had a big old ass that was not flattered by these tights. I just was baffled. Have you seen this? Is it some kind of trend that I will definitely not be participating in? Was this woman crazy? I also had a crazy old man experience. I was in line at McD's, and this man was standing like, on me. Behind me, but touching me. It was creepy. I kept moving, and he did too, and he was mumbling to himself. I finally just went and stood about 4 feet over from the cash register to place my order, and waited there. I guess he was excited about the fresh nuggets and fries too. Crazy Haligonians!