just a quickie...

I rushed Grace through her bath tonight due to my inevitable case of Sens Fever. She was quite indignant about being hurried, and said: "Now my hair is going to have knots, you forgot to put the air conditioning in" - how hard was it to keep a straight face with that one!

Who knew we were raising a 'lil French Canadian!

Soapbox....

I work outside of the home. I really like to work, I find it incredibly rewarding, most of the time. I work a four day week, and save Fridays to hang out with the girls. This seems to work for everyone. At then end of the year for both of my maternity leaves I was antsy, bored, a little cranky and I knew that even though our little family could survive on Jo's income, I could not survive being a stay-at-home Mom. I know people have strong opinions on this issue. My opinion is that you do what works for you and your loved ones.

Last week my colleague and I organized art work shops at Grace's school for Education Week. We did Grace's class (JK) and a grade 2 class. It was great, the kids loved, I loved it, and we will be displaying their hard work next week at an art exhibit. Yay us!

Here comes the rant.

One of the volunteer parents asked me if I worked outside of the home. I told her I did. She then said "It must be so hard for you to relate to chidren". Huh? I told her not really, I have two of my own. She then said "Oh, but still, it's different". O-kay. I went on my merry way to work with the kids. I then noticed this same woman with a little girl who was crying. She was crying because she didn't like how her art work was turning out. Turns out this little girl is the snarley woman's daughter. The picture was fine; I pointed out all the lovely things about and tried to cheer her up. The woman then seethed/snarled at me (in front of her daugher) that this was bound to happen - a child in tears because it wasn't an appropriate work shop to run for the children of this age. I'm pretty sure she then went to the bathroom, pooped, and it came out smelling like roses.

Y'know what, only one kid ended up in tears, all the other kids seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves.

Women like her once had the power to make me feel guilty for my decision to work outside of the home, but no more - I just wish women could chill on each other a little bit instead of being such bitches to each other. It doesn't get us anywhere.

Bad day at work.....this is what I feel like doing tonight (the dancing part!)

NOBODY can say M*ther F*cker like Samuel L Jackson!

Would you touch this man’s art?

Me neither. But Edie had no problem touching, picking at and pretty much trying to alter a massive Jean-Paul Riopelle hanging at the National Gallery of Canada. Jo and I brought the girls to the Ron Mueck exhibit on Sunday and Edie apparently thought the items at the gallery were meant to be interactive. Luckily, security didn’t spot her fondling the piece of art and we made our escape, and Edie has a chunk of a famous piece of art work under her finger nails.

I’m going to be a little bit embarrassed picking up the kids today – they are so freaking filthy it’s not even funny. With the high winds yesterday and hours spend at the park, they looked like little sand people. Yesterday afternoon, I was sort of chill with them and let them roll around the sand as much as they wanted, figuring that I’d just throw them in the bath before bed. Well, adventure of all adventures, the power went out! Yippee! Candles were lit, walks outside in the wind were taken, but no bath was to be had. Oh well, you know what they say, a speck of dirt…..

Edie made her first complete sentence last night, it went something like this: “CC (Gracie) hit me.” Look out Grace, the witness can talk now….

I Heart Stay at Home Mom’s

Thursday night I got sick. Sore throat, fever, chills – the whole she-bang. I don’t work on Fridays, Friday is my stay at home day to hang out with the girls (well, actually, usually just Edie – most Fridays Grace chooses to go to her day care). Friday morning I felt like crap. I could have send Edie to day care and nursed my cold, but I hate to sacrifice that special time.
That got me thinking. Stay at home mom’s don’t have the option to a) send their kids to day-care if they want or b) go to the office because often it is less intense there than it is to stay at home. Friday was hard, I really just wanted to curl up and die, but Edie just didn’t get that and wasn’t terribly sympathetic to my complaints.
I got through the day, but it really makes me admire my stay at home sisters who have to keep it together for their little ones on those not so great days. And to be honest, next time I feel that lousy, I will most likely take the day care option and curl up on the couch with a movie and feel sorry for myself solo.

Memo to Edie’s tooth

It’s time we had a talk. Everyone says my obsession with you is a little crazy, but I just don’t understand why you won’t come out and meet us. Edie could use your help when trying to chew her food. I know you are there. I see you when I make Edie open her mouth so I can monitor your progression; I feel you when I stick my finger in Edie’s mouth and probe for your whereabouts; I have been hearing you when Edie has been crying out at 2:00 in the morning due to the discomfort you cause. I taste you – actually, no I don’t, that’s just gross.

Anyways Tooth, you have been threatening to come out since December, you keep teasing us with your trips to the surface of Edie’s gum line, only to retreat just when we think are finally going to come out. Edie should have a full grill by now and focusing on being the best damn two year old around instead of waiting around for you. C’mon Tooth, you’re going to fall out in a couple years anyhow, why not make the most of your time in Edie’s mouth? A lot of your other friends have already come out, and I think they are having a good time! The central incisors are firmly planted, the molars have already beat you out, your twin on the left joined us a long time ago, so why oh why do you insist on dragging this out? Are you scared? Don’t be! Just because sand and my very expensive face cream are just two of the unusual things that Edie puts in her mouth, we always brush your friends at the end of the day to get rid of anything that might compromise their whiteness.

Edie’s Grandfather (a retired dentist) tells me to chillax (my word, not his). I guess I should, but in my world everything has a place, and Tooth, you’re just not following the rules!

Mundane…..


Something very sad is happening on my calendar – it is filling up quickly, but look at what it is filling up with:

-Party lite party
-Cooking party
-fund raiser for a friends kids’ nursery school
-volunteer day at Grace’s school
-sign grace up for soccer

Christ, I sound like a 34 year old mini-van driving suburban house wife! Oh, wait, that’s exactly what I am.

Not much going on over at meanoldmommy’s house…I guess we are all suffering from the lack of sunshine, it’s getting kind of creepy (anyone seen Children of Men?)
I don’t have much to say. Kids haven’t done anything extra-cute or extra-naughty in a while; Jo hasn’t done anything extra-cute or anything extra-naughty in a few days (heh heh) . I guess it’s nice to have a few quiet days after my drunk as a skunk night out last week.


Here, read these, they are much more interesting and/or funny than I am right now:

www.socialitelife.com GOSSIP!

http://truemomconfessions.blogspot.com/ ahhh, other mom’s who think it’s okay to not share their candy with their kids

http://truehusbandconfessions.blogspot.com/ could make you a little paranoid

http://truewifeconfessions.blogspot.com/ could make you a little sad

I’m in a fan-freaking-tastic mood this morning. Let me give credit where credit is due:

• Thank you Elvis Presley for my great mood this morning as I listened to him on my MP3 this morning
• Thank you Rochelle for my great haircut (STRANGERS are giving me compliments on my bangs – who knew!?)
• Thank you sun for finally shining and injecting a little vitamin D into my life
• Shout out to Edie and Grace for not waking up once in the night
• Another shout out to Jo for not snoring last night
• Thank you to the weird homeopath guy at the health food store yesterday who looked into my eyes and told me what ails me (no, seriously, this guy was good – just by looking at my eyes he know that I had trouble with my kidneys 10-12 years ago….) and for telling me what to do about it
• Thanks to Grace’s day care for discovering that Grace will eat her cheese sandwich if they microwave it
• Thanks to Edie’s care giver for buying her a backpack filled with fake lipstick, nail polish, a cell phone, sunglasses and keys – there is nothing cuter than watching Edie being a Ms. Thing and using all these accoutrements
• Thank you YouTube for this (and to Spankygirl for bringing my attention to it)
• Thank you Heather O’Neill for writing Lullabies for Little Criminals – it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time
• Thank you Larry Birkhead for being DanniLynn’s father instead of Howard K Stern. Don’t turn out to be a dick.

Barrymore's makes a damn good Whiskey Sour. Too good.

While some people went to Mass to celebrate this thing called Easter, I went to Barrymore's for Eighties Night. Oh ma Gawd, it was so much fun. From 9:00 till 2:30, I danced up a storm with my peeps, feeling all girly-girly and hyper whenever a great song came on. I lost my voice from too much yelling (Oh my God I love this song!); I pickled my innards with too many Zambuka shots and Whiskey Sours, I feel like I did a kajillion leg presses from all the dancing I did; I smoked one too many cigarettes, 2 to be exact (we'll see how the run goes today with a little added gunk coating my lungs); I'm sure I embarrassed myself to no end by shaking my junk to "I like big butts"; I arrived in a minivan and left in a cab; I went to bed 5 1/2 hours past my bedtime and slept in two hours later than I normally get up.

I have to do this more often.....

Didn't Charles Manson start off by killing insects?

A double post today, this was just too funny/weird not to write about. I took the girls out for a walk tonight and Grace wouldn't wear a hat. No biggie, but here is the conversation, pretty much word for word:

G: you know why i don't want to wear a hat mommy?
me: No sweetie, why?
G: because i want a butterfly to land on my head
me: oh, how lovely! then it would be like a butterfly barrette!
G: yeah, and then we could kill it with this stick (points to stick in hand), get some glue and glue it on to one of your bobby-pins!

Not too sure what to say about this one.

Don't envy me and my movie star life....

You want to know what I did yesterday? I did laundry and for extra points I put the laundry away; I mopped the floor of the entire house; I put away winter jackets and boots; I went out for lunch by myself and read my book and I got a snazzy new hair cut. All of these accomplishments excited me to no end. How sad is that. I remember when fast cars and Mike Ness used to make my stomach go a-flutter. And now the thought of eight hours sleep and clean sheets is enough to make me hyperventilate.

Oh well, at least I haven't completely given up on life and bought my self a pair of these (Thanks to Carmenfor bringing my attention to this hilarious SNL clip!)

Have a great long weekend - don't eat all of your kids' Easter Candy (I already have to replace what I originally bought the girls!)

Little Napolean

She's all of three feet tall, but Edie somehow managed to kick Jo out of bed at three o'clock this morning. We have a king sized bed, but apparently Edie feels it just isn't big enough for the three of us. When the alarm went off this morning, I found poor Jo stretched out on the couch - actually he looked pretty comfortable out there. Do you ever feel like it will never end, this not so fun game of musical beds? Edie's under the weather with a cold, but as soon as the nose is running clear, I see some crying in the future so Jo and I can reclaim our bed.

Grace has been doing much better, only yelling out once in the middle of the night for someone to turn her light on. She's come a long way (I wonder if the bribes did it for her?) I just bought her the game "Operation" as a special gift for doing so well at night. I think I'm just as excited as her to play it!

And now for something completely different, check this out! Made me giggle...

Uh-oh…....

Yesterday Grace was full of sass. She was sent to her room a few times, stuck her tongue out at me, hit her sister and talked back to her father. Tsk tsk tsk I said to Jo…just where is this coming from?
A little trip down memory lame quickly humbled me. Guess which one is me at thirteen years old?
I PRAY that Grace is getting it all out her system now so we don’t have to deal with a mini-me when she’s a teenager….

Checking out buds on trees and wearing a raincoat for the first times this year, the girls are ready to say good-bye to Old Man Winter (I would've kicked him out a long time ago!)

Rant

Last night Jo suggested we go out for dinner – yippee! I’m all for not having to cook. We loaded the mini-van with protesting kids (they wanted to stay home, maybe for some more of my hallucination-causing cooking?) and headed off to Licks, a family friendly restaurant (it’s kind of a goofy place, but the burgers are good and the kids can run around without causing a lawsuit against us). Anyhoooo, the only other family there happened to be Grace’s former “care”giver (dum dum dummmmmm!) Now, this “care”giver looked after Ms. Grace for under a year. It was during this time that Grace was going through her hitting phase and general two-year old mini-terrorist phase. Being a first time parent and not having any experience with kids whatsoever, I didn’t know that this was perfectly normal behaviour in two year olds. This “care”giver told Jo and I that Grace was abnormally aggressive, not capable of socialization and a general terror. She placed Grace on probation more than once. She had me convinced that Grace would become a danger to society. I also later learned that she used less than desirable time-out techniques on Gracie (my heart bleeds when I think about this). Jo had it after a particularly unpleasant exchange with the “care”giver and we found a new daycare for Grace that day in which she thrived. We also learned that, hey, two year olds hit and say no a lot, and that’s okay! I also developed a stomach burning hatred for this former “care”giver who I really feel caused a lot of stress between Grace and I for those few months.
Back to the restaurant. I’ve been into karma lately and thought I would be civil to this woman and her family, and besides, we were the only ones in the restaurant so it would have been weird if we didn’t acknowledge each other. I said hi, made pleasantries, cooed over her kids (who are not endearing at all) and went back to our table. Her husband never looked up from his meal to acknowledge me, and they slunked out of the restaurant without saying bye. This kind of cowardly behaviour really crawls up my ass. Get over yourself bitch and grab a pair. You screwed us, remember? You made me question my daughter, myself as a mother, my choice to return to work, you even made me question whether or not I should have another child, because I couldn’t bear the thought of having another “bad seed”. Fuck you. If I can put it all aside and say hello, hug your child and smile at you, you can at least not sneak out of the restaurant without acknowledging my family.
When Jo and I asked Grace if she remembered who that lady was, she said no. Thank you Jesus. At least she can close that chapter of her life. Wish I could do the same.

What does it all mean?

• Last night I dreamt that Edie was the size of a PollyPocket doll and I carried her around in the cuff of my jeans. She had very fluffy hair and had jeans and a hot pink vest on. I was participating in frosh week activities and panicked when she fell out my jeans, I couldn’t find her anywhere and started to freak out. Eventually I saw her tiny little self running around in a field and I scooped her up and put her back in the cuff of my jeans.
• Edie had a little nightmare about ice cream. Not sure what was going on in her noggin, but she kept moaning “ice cream ice cream ice cream” in her sleep. A little back rub put her back into la-la land, but she made me want ice cream too!
• Grace had a bigger nightmare – she couldn’t tell me what it was about because it was “too scary to tell”. Poor girl. I remember having nightmares that were too scary to talk about when I was little.

I’ll have to check with Jo to see if he had a weird dream or not. I wonder if it’s my cooking that’s causing all this?

We’ve been having way too many threesomes lately!
Got your attention? Good! Now get your mind out of the gutter because I’m taking about our 2 year old.
Miss Edie has been inviting herself into our bed almost every night now since the operation. The doctor has assured us that she is fine and perfectly healthy in every way. Judging from the way my back feels, I think she has gotten quite used to being attached to one of us constantly (god forbid her Robbie’s should touch the ground!) Well, I think we’ve had it. I don’t mind so much (I get her sweet smelling head on my shoulder) but Jo is getting a little fed up with having her foot up his nostril. Last night we made a decision to put an end to her invading our precious alone time together. We resolved to let her cry (I’m not gonna say for how long – I don’t web-nasties to harass me). Once she finally settled, we didn’t hear another peep from her and I had to wake her at 7:30 this morning. Good, right? Well, just because the stars can never completely be aligned, guess who hollered out at 4:30 this morning? You got it, Miss. Grace did. She first hollered for me, and upon stumbling bleary eyed into her room, she requested that I fetch Jo to comfort her from her night- mare. Uhhh, sure. Why the hell didn’t she call out for him in the first place? Perhaps she was worried that she might hurt my feelings.
We’ll see what tonight brings!

The Soul of a Tortured Artist

So the other day I’m making dinner and Grace is planted in front of me at the bar busy doing her art. Being the supportive, encouraging mother I am, my enthusiasm bubbles over for anything my children produce. This time being no exception, I threw out an “Oh Grace, what a wonderful rocket ship!” After a very stony silence, Grace informed me that it was a Christmas tree, not a rocket ship and said, I quote, “You just don’t understand my art, Mommy”. She then silently descended from her perch, took her drawing, and retired to her room. Wow. I wonder what adolescence will bring.

what strep throat will do to a five year old on a beautiful saturday afternoon
poor gracie, we had no idea. what a trooper.

Edie Before and After
It doesn't look too dramatic here, but there is a difference. Plus, once the blood goes away, I'm sure the difference will be even more obvious.
They almost didn't do the operation due to Edie's cold (number kajillion of the winter). I think they could sense our despair of having fasted this poor two year old all night and morning, getting her all prepped and ready for action. Also, the amount of psychological prepping Jo and I had to due was pretty intense as well. In the end, they felt the gain out weighed the risk, so they went ahead. I had been so strong up until that moment they took her away. Seeing her in the nurses arms, with her own arms outstretched to me, crying, screaming Mommy! Mommy! made me pretty much lose my bones and melt into a puddle on the floor. Luckily, big strong Jo was there to pick up my sorry self and get me out of ear shot. Thank god one of us is strong in these situations.
Edie did remarkably well, and what I will remember forever from that day is when she was brought out crying from the operation. As soon as she was in my arms, she immediately grew quiet and went back to sleep. It was a very profound moment for me, that I could comfort her that way. Sniff.

EDIE'S OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS! THANKS FOR THE CALLS AND EMAILS....YIPPEE!
Details to follow later....

Husband Seeks to Divorce Wife Due to her Ridiculous Library Fines

Well, he’s not going to leave me but he’s not happy with me. I got all excited last summer with the whole concept of going to the library, taking out a kajillion books and DVD’s, for absolutely FREE! I sort of forgot along the way that you have to return these items, and what I really didn’t know is that you have to pay $1.00 for every day a DVD is late being returned. The outcome? A $130.00 fine from the Ottawa Public Library, who have turned my case over to a collection agency. Sheesh, I think that’s a little hardcore considering I was late returning a few Baby Einstein videos and Dr. Seuss books. I guess baby’s not buyin’ any new boots any time soon.

I had Edie in for her pre-op appointment yesterday and it’s all a go for her operation tomorrow. I’m a little concerned about how she will deal with it. Last night she looked at a little cut on her finger (a week-old wound) and burst into tears crying “waaa!!! Bo-Bo!” How is she going to deal with her eyeballs being operated on???

Grace is showing signs of jealousy, I guess by all the concern people are showing over Edie’s operation. Yesterday at the Dr.’s office she insisted on also being weighed and having her chest listened to, eyes and ears looked at. She claimed that she was “sicker” than Edie and even wanted to get a needle. Weird. (And no, the doctor didn’t give her the luxury of an unnecessary needle).

If you want to send donations to my library fine fund, you know where to contact me :)

Giant baby head….

I have pretty much the coolest job ever. I was encouraged (told to) go see the Ron Mueck exhibit at the National Gallery
If you are in Ottawa, you should go check this out. His models are so real it is unsettling. The one thing that made me sort of laugh inside though is that, like I mentioned, everything is very real looking, from the wrinkles to the pubic hair to the toe nails of the subjects. Then you get to the woman who has just given birth and her new baby is lying on her stomach, umbilical cord still attached. Even this artist who focuses so intently on making the subjects realistic feels the need to sanitize the whole notion of childbirth. It’s not clean and pristine, it can be downright messy and kind of gross. While the birth of my two girls was a beautiful thing, I would never consider the birth of other people’s babies to be.

Okay, enough with the soap box. Here are the things I hope to accomplish this weekend, stay tuned next week to see if it gets done:

1) Clean out the medicine cupboard (when Grace required cough suppressant at 3:00 a.m. last week, I was less than thrilled with myself when I discovered I had put an empty bottle back in the cupboard – WHY do I these things!)
2) Get Edie to nap (please God, please let her nap!)
3) Round up some new slow cooker recipes (everything is starting to tase like tomatoes and oregano).
4) Go for a run. I only got out once this week and I feel pasty, pudgy and low on energy.
5) Clean out my closet (gotta make room for the all the spring stuff I’m itching to buy!)
6) Build a snow-fort (hopefully the girls will help!)
7) Make some time and call my best girlfriends who are unfairly scattered around North America.


We’ll see, we’ll see.

Other odds and ends:

My father-in-law has parked his Mercedes in our driveway. I’m acting very aloof about it and letting the neighbours speculate. Hee hee.

Grace has two birthday parties this weekend, Edie has one. My God, even Edie has more social action than I do and she’s only 2!

Jonas has his second last hockey game of the season tomorrow….yippee! I get my husband back!

Edie was scheduled to have her operation back in January, but because of a nasty cold, it had to be delayed (for the record, Edie has been on and off sick since October 21st). I have to admit I was a little bit relieved when it was cancelled as I’m no fan of my baby being put under and operated on. The date was moved to March 7, and that’s next week! I brought her to the doctor yesterday to get her checked out due to yet another nasty cold, and the good doctor wants to see her again next Monday to give her a pre-operation go-over.
I’m nervous. I have a feeling the operation is going to happen. I feel nervous because I like user manuals, instruction booklets and step-by-step guidelines for things, and after Edie’s operation she’ll just get sent home with us, same day, with whatever instructions from the doctor we have retained in our grey matter (I’m not so good at retaining information – especially important information. Now ask me any celebrity related question and for some reason I can retain this and can spew out facts and figures).
I have a few other blogs I’m faithful to, and take great comfort in knowing that there are other moms who know what’s it’s like to have to bring their child to the hospital; Chantal over at http://www.breadcrumbsinthebutter.typepad.com went through hell with her son and a rare illness and http://www.mamatulip.com/will be visiting the hospital soon with her little one soon. I don’t know these people, but reading about their experiences helps me a lot.

Enough about that.

Grandad came over last night and babysat while Jo and I wined and dined. We needed that. Did you know at the Keg you can have your glass of wine “Keg-sized”? I guess this is the classy version of “super-sizing” something. Yum! Both kids slept through the night (hollah!) but it was still painful to get up at 6 a.m. We have our alarm set to a radio station, like many others do I’m sure. So, I’m wondering what the song programmers are thinking when they play songs like Avalon by Roxy Music http://www.mp3.com/albums/13741/summary.html?from=88575 Is this going to make me jump out bed and get going in the morning??? No, it’s going to make me feel all warm and fuzzy and fall right back to sleep, like I did this morning.

I catch my bus to get to work for 7:00. I have a few reasons for doing this. The bus is crowd-free at this hour in the morning and the bus driver is friendly (he stops for me when he sees me running down the street. I get downtown in 15 minutes because there is no traffic and the bus just zooms along. Getting to work this early means I get to leave work at 3:00, giving me extra time at home to work out, get dinner ready and pick the kids up early so I have some quality time with them before shipping them off to bed.
This morning, Edie and Grace were early birds and were both awake before I had to leave the house. They both seemed happy and surprised to see me. They were both so fluffy and sweet. When I walked out the door there were tears (Edie) and quiet sadness (please don’t go Mommy) from Grace. It was then I realized that there is another reason I get up so goddamned early every morning….it’s so I don’t have deal with the guilt of leaving my family every morning.
Sigh.

I have a two year old.

Edie the Bikini is two years old today. She came into the world easily and adapted to her surroundings easily. She rarely woke her daddy or me in the middle of night – in fact we had to wake her for her evening feedings. She is so different from her sister – quick to smile, but also quick to cry. When in the safety of our arms, she greets strangers with a great big HI! and looks a little perplexed when the greeting is not returned. Most of the time though, her sunny disposition is hard to resist, and for the most part she gets an enthusiastic Hi! back.
And now she is two, and now she tests us, and she sometimes annoys us and she sometimes tortures her big sister. This is her right as a two year old. Why would anyone expect anything else from her?
All I know, is at the end of the day, when I get that big (sometimes snotty) kiss goodnight, it still melts my heart.

I have a five year old.

Ms. Grace is five. She's half a decade old. I'm glad she woke up early this morning so I could see her before I headed off to work. I'm glad her daddy emailed me to report that she was tickled when everyone rushed to wish her a happy birthday at her daycare - apparently she was absolutely bursting with pride. I'm glad this very non-domestic mommy took time to make and frost cupcakes last night to share with her kindergarten class. I'm glad I have a husband who saw the importance of driving the cupcakes over to her school to ensure that they got there safely. I'm glad that I'm just as excited as she is to open her gifts tonight. I'm glad that after struggling with post partum depression I can finally feel the joy, pride, optimism that a mommy should feel on her child's birthday.

I'm glad I get to do it all over again tomorrow when Edie turns 2.

High’s and Low’s

High: Went to a movie Saturday night, it was Music and Lyrics. The opening credits are worth the price of admission alone. Lots of laughing out loud.

Low: Upon getting ready to go to the movie, I sprinkled baby powder in my hair to absorb the grease – couldn’t remember last time I washed my hair.

High: Brought both girls to Cosmic Adventures on Sunday for a birthday party and they both had tons of fun.

Low: Edie screamed all the way home. The really bad part is she was screaming bo-bo, which means she was hurting somewhere and nothing I did made it better.

High: Had all the grandparents and Auntie over for a birthday dinner for the girls last night and fun was had by all.

Low(s): 1 new noisy toy; Grace crumbling in tears at bedtime because she wanted to her new puzzle one more time and we said no; Edie’s little tantrums at the dinner table because she didn’t want to sit in her high chair; the fact that we are doing all this all over again when we have Grace’s birthday party with her friends next weekend (actually, this isn’t a low, I kind of get excited too).

High: New, high thread count sheets, pillow cases and duvet cover.

Low: Edie waking up every night at 2 a.m.

High: Putting in couch time to catch up on PVR’d Gray’s Anatomy, the Office and Lost

Low, very low: Gray’s Anatomy didn’t record properly so I couldn’t watch part II!! GACK!

Hope everyone else had a good weekend!

So why do you do it then?

Have you ever noticed that kids can be so smart, but also a little thick at the same time? Case in point, we have these chairs at home that are high up and have bars on the back of them. I lifted Edie up on to me last night so she could see what was going on in the kitchen. Edie then turned herself around in one; promptly got her leg wedged in the bars and couldn’t get it out. Crying ensued, said leg was rescued, tears were dried, the world was once more a happy place. Until she put the same leg, through the same bar, and got stuck again, and again, and again. Look, I know that kids learn via repetition, but come on, how many times do you have to hurt yourself before you get it? After rescue kajillion, my patience was wearing thin and I was no longer a sympathetic Mommy with tissues to dry up the tears. That’s when my wise almost five year old very calmly suggested I take Edie down from the high up chair so she doesn’t keep getting her leg stuck.

Oh. Right. The lovely thing about Grace is that she didn’t say it with even a note of condescension.

Oh my god, this is hilarious. If you have a blog, use this translator
http://www.gizoogle.com/, if you don’t check out my blog translated….

http://sites.gizoogle.com/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmeanoldmommy.blogspot.com%2F

Super-DUPER funny!

Thanks to Christopher for passing it on!

Am I middle aged????

Gasp, I just found out now, a minute ago, that the Grammy's were on last night. I used to be on top of this stuff, watch it, talk about it the next day. I had no idea they were on last night ! Oh man, I feel so out of it.

Same make, different model

When we had Edie, I just assumed that raising her be the exact same as raising Grace. I quickly learned that this wasn’t case. Edie never fell asleep in the car (Grace’s chin was always touching her belly in the car); Gracie was a somewhat difficult baby, Edie was easy-peasy. Grace bounced back after a fall. Edie needs several day to recover; Grace would laugh in the face of a stern voice, Edie crumbles to her knees, begging forgiveness for any wrong doing. Grace potty trained at 2 years and 3 months old with 1 accident. Edie has other plans. Edie is just shy of turning two and she wants it bad. She wants others around her to rush her to the potty the minute she says “pee!” She wants a high five every time she gets it right. Sounds great, right? Problem is I’m not ready for this. Diapers are easy, let them get filled up, change them now and then, and you’re good. Toddlers with no diapers is not easy. You are running to the bathroom constantly and doling out stickers for jobs well done (I’ll add here that Edie also sees to it that I get a sticker for a “job well done”). What I’m saying here folks is that I’m lazy and I want to wait until it is pretty and warm outside so we can have our first trial and errors under Mother Nature’s watchful eye and not on our family room carpet. I have a feeling I won’t be asked to write any parenting books in the near future!

wow. i just looked at my calendar and it is FULL. for a brief moment, i felt proud of myself, happy that we are so popular and socially engaged. then i took a closer look. this weekend holds family fun day at the school and a birthday party at Midway (Hollah!) next weekend holds, wait for it, not one, but three birthday parties (all for the five and under crowd). how to pick, how to pick. and the following weekend we celebrate both of our girls' birthdays at Cosmic Adventure/grandma's house, our house, etc. Not one flippin' thing on the calendar is something for me and Jo to do jointly, and not one thing is on the calendar for me to do solo (no, I'm not going to count my appointment with my gynie as an outing!) Somebody, invite me out!

Wait, Feb. 16, i do have an inivitation to meet other women who bitch about their life in their blog! i think i invited myself, does that count?

thank god for t.v.....












i don't know how single parents do it. i got hit HARD this past weekend with the flu, or a really bad cold. swollen glands, stiff neck, painful joints. i literally couldn't get out of bed on both sunday and this morning. jo had to do it all. what do people do who don't have a partner to share in "sickness and in health?" there is no way i could have cared for the girls on my own this weekend. scary eh? this illness has definitely made me think about my sisters who are doin' it on there own.

other than that little cheery note, our family has been kicking butt in the fun department...ummm, can you say tobogganing at mooney's bay? this is so much fun! and free! try it, but just look out for the family with snotty noses cruising out control down the hill....i guess we will tackle winterlude this weekend, assuming all antibiotics have kicked in done their job. it's wierd, i feel like it's a personal failure when i or my kids need antibiotics. i like to think we are above all that, super-hero healthy. oh well, i guess we will have to excel in other areas (i wish i could be proud of the number of times a day i wipe snot from my kids' noses - but it's just not the same)

i watched a great movie on my sick bed today - american dreamz http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465142/. clever and funny. it must have flown under the radar as i didn't hear about it when it was out.

*this rambling blog entry is courtesy of extra strengh tylenol and lack of nourishment as it hurts to swallow)

Nobody told me there’d be days like these….
Last night I was tired. Jo went out to play hockey and I looked forward to getting the girls to bed and enjoying a little couch time. Grace complained a little that her tummy was aching – I chalked it up to her delaying bedtime. I rubbed her tummy until she was asleep (8:30). I then busied myself with making everyone’s lunches for the next day and tidying up the kitchen. (9:00). I longingly looked at the couch, but also thought of the laundry piling up. I threw in a quick wash and grabbed the items from the dryer, items now permanently wrinkled from sitting there for days. (9:30). Again, I gazed wistfully at the couch, but as I walked towards it, I impaled my foot on a piece of princess lego. With a quick scan, I realized there were toys everywhere, so I did a quick tidy up. (10:00) Finally couch, you are mine, I thought to myself. I poured myself a glass of wine, doled out some Doritos Cool Ranch chips in a bowl (well, I wish I was that civilized – I actually grabbed the whole bag) and plunked myself on the couch and readied myself for a PVR’d episode of Trailer Park Boys. That’s when the retching began. From Grace’s room came the most god awful, “exorcize this demon from my body “ sound. It was my darling girl throwing up everything she has eaten in her entire life. Now, for you seasoned parents, you may think this is no big deal, for me, it was freak out time. For Grace, it was freak out time. You see, in all of Grace’s almost 5 years, she has never, not once, thrown up. She was terrified about what was going on with her body (and I don’t blame her, it didn’t look or smell pretty!) She must have puked on every single item on her bed - this includes a family of stuffed animals, each equally important roles. This includes my bean bag that I heat up in the microwave for my achey muscles (grrrr). This includes her sheets, her duvet, her pillow, her mattress, her pyjamas, her hair, her slippers, the clothes I laid out for her to wear today and a library book. My god, have you ever been so overwhelmed you just don’t know where to begin? In the end, every thing was okay and Grace got over the trauma. Our family now has an “official” barf bowl (did your family have one of these when you were growing up?) and Grace is sort of proud of being in the Barf Club. I could hear her telling her friends about it at school this morning.

All I can say is thank God for Febreeze. Would it be wrong to snort it? I can’t seem to get the smell out of my nose.

This is the story of the Barbapappas…..

Do you remember this show? I didn’t have cable as a kid and I had two significantly older siblings who monopolized the T.V. with “boring” fare. Therefore any T.V. time I did have I absolutely cherished. Shows that stand out in my memory are: G-Force, Simon and the Land of Chalk Drawings, Read-Along, Sesame Street (duh), Smurfs, Barbapappas and The Wondeful World of Disney on Sunday nights (“Mom, can I please be excused to go watch Disney!?). I watched these shows on a tiny little television that you had to (gasp) stand up to change the channel. Okay. I sound like an old fuddy duddy, right? (Back in my day….)

I know history repeats itself, and it makes me laugh to think about what Grace and Edie are going to tell their children one day. Are they going impress their youngsters with stories of their hardships during their youth? I can just imagine Grace saying “You have it so good. When I was growing up, we only five channels dedicated to kids shows, and we had to watch it on a 50” plasma!” Or Edie complaining “Huh, back in my day, the potty training seats only played one song when we tinkled….”

Visions of greatness…

Grace got a stripe last week at karate. Grace got ANOTHER strip this past Friday at karate. This is unheard of. This is exceptional. Children just do not get stripes two classes back to back. Grace is above average, she will be a champion black belt and break records. Okay, okay, I am prone to exaggeration, but I am very proud of her, she is doing so well in her classes. Even Edie has joined in the fun, demanding to wear Grace’s old belt wrapped around her tummy a zillion times and raising her arms in a karate pose. Love it.

This weekend found us dong the following:

Saturday Jo and I roped in the ‘rentals to babysit in the afternoon so we could go shopping….fun!

Saturday night we had dinner with two super-fun couples….lots of belly laughs (who knew trading post-partum depression stories could be so funny!) Edie quickly put a halt on all fun being had – the babysitter called all panicky because Edie was beside herself crying Mommy Mommy over and over again. When we got home, Edie, indignantly planted herself in our bed (how dare we go out, tsk tsk).

Sunday was mellow. Jo took Grace swimming, I napped with Edie (30lb hot water bottle). Jo had some football friends over (something about an important game – this decides who goes to the SuperBowl bleah bleah bleah). I snuck out with a friend to go see Children of Men. I don’t have the words or time to describe this film right now. I did like it though, a lot.

Gotta love swimming. The house was quiet at exactly 8:15. It got loud again at 1:30 a.m. with Edie crying (screaming?) I’ll save that story for another time.

I’ve been slacking big time, sorry to those of you who check in regularly. What happened to me? I think Christmas and New Years just exhausted me – we had fun, lots of fun, but I burned out. I think I’m back in the game now.

Edie was supposed to have her operation today, but lo and behold, she woke up with the snottiest nose EVER on Friday, and the cold has been working its way down to her chest ever since. She spent the night (quite righteously) between Jonas and me. How can a 23 month old make a king sized bed feel like a twin? She managed to send Jo and me both to our respective corners while she ensured comfort for herself. Anyhoooo, the docs won’t touch her with any kind of illness, so the operation is called of for now. I’m a little relieved, I’m not in a hurry to get it done, I know it has to be done, but the delay buys me a little more time to deal with it.

I took Grace and her friend to feed the ducks on Saturday. We all had a little lesson in compassion and how Mother Nature can be a bitch. There was a duck the girls quickly named “Broken Beak” as half of his top beak was broken off. This duck was in rough shape, every time he managed to get some bread we were feeding the ducks, another duck would come along and grab in out of his mouth before he could swallow in (meanies!) The girls proclaimed this as being “NOT FAIR!” and managed to scare away the other ducks and focus on just feeding Broken Beak. I was proud of them. They also want to go back next week and feed Broken Beak again…..I’ll bring them, but Mother Nature might take care of Broken Beak in her own way….try explaining that to a couple of almost 5 year olds in love with a duck.

If anyone knows what “VEEE! VEEEEE!” means, please let me know. Edie is trying to communicate something of obvious importance to us, and we just aren’t getting it. It’s like she has the answer to the meaning of life, but a cruel joke is stopping her from telling us about it.

I was very social last week. Check it out:

-Wednesday, went out with a girlfriend for coffee and a movie (we saw Rocky Balboa…so fricking good)

-Friday night, went out with two girl friends for a movie and drinks (saw Pursuit of Happyness, it was okay. Willl Smith is cheesy though).

-Saturday night, my folks came over to look after the girls while Jo and I went our for dinner with good friends of ours. This was super-fun. One thing I don’t get though. My dinner sucked, I only ate an eighth of it, I told the waitress it sucked, she looked concerned and said she would see what she could do. When the bill came, she said she didn’t charge me for dessert. Huh? I liked the dessert. It was the main course I had issues with. Weird.

Okay. I feel unloaded now.

To sleep, perchance to dream…..

Poor Grace is suddenly terrified of her own shadow (literally). She cannot go anywhere in our house alone (even if it to her own room to get a toy); going to bed is quite stressful for her, and she has consistently been up between 1:30 and 2:30 in the morning all freaked out about something. At this point, I try to coax her back to sleep, but more often than not I shake a sleepy Jonas and send him in to lie down with her. It’s a tough phase, and I can totally sympathize. I’m not the best sleeper myself, often waking in the middle of the night with racing thoughts, but it is so frustrating when I have settled in zzzzzzzzzzzzzz land and am then jolted awake by Grace’s little cries for help. I know it is just a phase, but I am so freaking tired.
While I’m at it, I might as well continue complaining. I am now sick for what I think is the fourth time in 2 months – sore throat, achey muscles, tired/tired/tired and sniffles. What is going on? When God was handing out immune systems, did he forget to give me one? I forget how it feels to be rested and healthy.
Okay, okay. Something positive. Today I am wearing my new skirt from the Gap (scored for $12.99) and my rocking Bad Luck cardigan that Jonas bought me for Xmas . At least I look like a bad ass in my pitiful state (maybe it will distract from the bags under my eyes).

One step forward, three steps back…We had been having a really good streak, a solid week of good behaviour, with an occasion 4 year old moment, but nothing notable. Then it hit the fan.

Grace had a very naughty night last night. I’m growing pretty immune to her declarations that she wants a new Mommy, that prefers friend x’s Mommy over me. But she is now getting more creative with her barbs. She expressed to Jonas that she was going to throw a toy at him so hard that he would go hospital and then he wouldn’t be able to be the boss of her anymore. She lost her t.v. privileges first, then her book at bedtime, and she then lost her favourite thing, which is when Jo or I tell her a story about when we were little. For the first time in her almost five years, she went to bed with nothing, not even a cuddle. I did throw out a “love you” just so she didn’t feel totally stripped. Some days are just so damn hard.

Smackdown!

So, Edie has started hitting. It’s not quite as hard as Grace used to hit, and I guess now that I’m a little bit more seasoned in the parenting department, it’s not as shocking as I used to find it. I remember losing sleep over Gracie’s hitting habits, thinking that hitting was the blueprint for a life of crime; that surely no good could come from a child who dared raise their hand in an act of violence. Now I have a little bit more perspective on the issue. Two months shy of being 2 years old, Edie has a very limited vocabulary (no, shoe, yeah, baba, doh-doh and bum being her favourites). Rather than being able to express herself in a civilized manner (“Actually, mother, father, I would rather not dine in my high chair tonight, I am feeling a little under the weather and would just like to relax on the couch with a bottle and Baby Einstein”), Edie raises her little hand and gives us an oh so gentle smack to let us know she is not happy.

What amazes me the most is Grace’s reaction to be on the receiving end of the smack. Being a physical person and reformed hitter, I thought for sure Grace would just hit back, but she takes it, doesn’t even flinch. She’s not happy about it and certainly thinks Edie should be timed out, but that is the extent of her outrage. I’m pretty proud of her for her restraint.

Help me Mall Santa!

So, Grace is very calm about Christmas this year. Grace knows that Santa is going to get her what she wants, and it is very big. Grace doesn’t need to tell Mommy or Daddy what it is she wants, because she already told Santa. Grace doesn’t need to write a letter to Santa because, well, she already told him when she was at the mall with her Grandmother, so why would she need to tell him again? Best part? Santa PROMISED that the big gift would be under the tree. Also, there’s a new rule, you can’t tell anybody what you ask Santa for, because then you might not get it (“it’s just like making a wish Mommy!) So. Do I go back to the mall, describe my little girl to him (“you MUST remember, she sat on your lap, she 4 years old, light brown hair, cut into a bob, pink Barbie boot, you must remember! How many girls look like that? What did she ask for dammit!!!)
I have a feeling there may be some s’plaining to do on Christmas day……

Ahhhh-choo!…

Our house should be quarantined. There is no guarantee that if you enter our home, that you will leave without being afflicted by some medical atrocity (well, okay, it’s the common cold, but it really sucks!) Edie and I are in this mother-daughter dance of pass the ickiest germs to each other. She had it four weeks ago, then I caught it, then I caught it again, and yesterday, Edie succumbed once again, this time with special effects (snot spray anyone?) Well played, Edie, well played. Not sure how Grace and Jonas are being spared, Grace probably makes sport of dodging airborne germs matrix-style.

*There one nice thing about Edie being sick: when she needs some comfort at night, she curls right up into a fetal position in your arms like a little hot water bottle - feels like she's a teeny little baby once again, and not a (gasp) almost two year old.

Playing with Fire, I Mean Water

Items upstairs:

-musical Winnie the Pooh wagon with blocks
-shopping cart filled with fake food
-LittleTykes pic-nic table with a box of colouring books and crayons at your disposal
-a kajillion puzzles
-a bazillion books
-umpteen toys that flash, ring bells and whistle
-T.V., with a Mommy and Daddy who are usually willing to put it on TreeHouse
-art easle with chalk board

......the list goes on, you get the idea.

What do Grace and Edie want to do the most? Well, it’s a toss up between playing in the kitchen sink and playing in fridge, RIGHT WHEN I WANT TO MAKE DINNER! Grace I can easily reason with and coax into another activity. Edie on the other hand, with her new discovery of her MiniGo supplier and our water source, is much more difficult to navigate out of the way without a blood curdling scream. I don’t know what frustrates me more, a screaming toddler or perpetually wet socks from her playing in the sink.

Is it okay to win?
Last night Grace and I played Snakes and Ladders before bedtime. We have been doing this quite a bit lately, and trying to teach her the virtues of playing by the rules and not cheating. As luck would have it, she has been winning every time. Last night, her lucky winning streak came to an end, and I won. I really didn’t want to, but I figured it was a life lesson, and I should go ahead and take the win. I really wasn’t prepared for how upset she became. She wasn’t angry and she didn’t throw a temper tantrum, she just sobbed. She was crushed. It gave me real insight into our little girl, her competitiveness and her desire to be the very best. I’m glad she wants to be the best, I think this will bode well for her later on in life, we just need to teach her that it is perfectly fine to be the best that she can be and to be okay with that.
That little life lesson made my heart ache.

Wow, it’s getting harder and harder to find the time to write in this thing. I feel like I’m filled with enough clever little stories to write here everyday, but alas, i never get around to it.
Okay, enough about me, more about the family. A check list of this weekends activities:

1) Friends drove Grace to karate in the a.m., yippee! Jo and I were able to drink coffee and read the paper in relaxo-time (Edie was trucking around somewhere, but she’s pretty happy doing just that without much interference on our part).
2) I did my kick boxing class for the first time in two weeks! Felt great! It’s really starting to irk me how the instructor flirts with all the cute girls though. It’s just so…..obvious.
3) During Edie’s nap (went down on the attempt #2) Jonas put up the xmas lights (only a small amount of blood shed). Grace karate kicked down our scarecrow…good-bye Fall, hello Winter!)
4) Paid $15 to go the Museum of Nature, where we only explored the first floor dinosaur exhibit. Spent another $15 in the gift shop on a bouncy ball (lost) and magnet (confiscated).
5) Watched a disturbing movie “The Shape of Things”….good, but icky.
6) Went to Mom and Dad’s for Jo’s birthday breakfast. Jo and Grace then went swimming, Edie and I napped at their house. Cosy.
7) Little hang time with Edie the Bikini, who kills me with her funny ways (I wish I had a video of her dancing, the only way to describe it is….earnest).
8) Grey Cup/football on the new plasma for Jo, girls take refuge in our bedroom and watch Shrek (well, sort of watched it…I think there was five minutes of calm, the rest of the time was spent tickling, breaking up fights, me trying to control the crumb crisis occurring in our bed).
9) Spontaneous walk where Grace kept squishing my shadow. Hmmm, pent up resentment towards Mommy?
10) Ridiculously chaotic dinner (“Grace, ON YOUR BUM! Why isn’t Edie eating anything! Grace, I’m counting, 1-2- that’s your last warning! Edie, keep the chicken IN your mouth! Grace, sit back down…Jonas, pour me a glass of wine……”
11) 8:30, peace and quiet. Good night.

and on the 50th day she posted pictures...

This is my 50th post! Who knew I had so much to ramble on about! Total cop-out today, too lazy to write, so enjoy our Hallowe'en pictures and revel in the girls' cuteness (Jonas wouldn't let me snap him in his costume!)

She was a dancing queen...I was starting to worry about myself and my inability to have fun. It seems that even on nights when we have a babysitter, I can’t completely relax because I’m constantly thinking about functioning the next day. One more glass of wine could equal a hangover, and it’s not much fun parenting with a head ache. One more hour out means I’m not getting enough rest, and I suck at life when I’m not rested. Well, I proved to myself this weekend that I can still have fun and relax – I just need to remove myself from home and my children in order to do so.
On Saturday morning, Jonas drove Terrie, Maureen and me to the train station so we could catch our ride to Montreal. We arrived at noon, scarfed down smoked meat sandwiches and promptly started spending money. We shopped like pro’s, and we shopped well together. Nobody shadowed anybody, we were all happy to split up and meet later.
Four hours later we hit the hotel and Maureen had the foresight to pack some wine. Getting hungry, we got ourselves all gussied up (I dusted off the knee-high leapord skin boots for this night) and head on out for a night out on the town. Gotta love Montreal for it’s bring your own bottle restaurants. Once again, Maureen was smart enough to suggest that two bottles would be better than one. Dinner was okay, conversation was great. And, lo and behold, it was 11 o’clock and I wasn’t even tired. We were ready for some dancing (we had done some research and located some 80’s music clubs). We went here: http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/montreal/a-gogo-lounge-montreal.htm
and here http://www.clubsmontreal.com/en/electricavenue/home.html
There is something about hearing New Order and old Billy Idol that makes me positively giddy!
We danced up a storm and didn't put our heads to pillow until about 4:30 a.m. Not bad for a couple of old girls.
We were a little slow moving the next morning, and we all crashed hard on the train ride home, but my faith in myself has been renewed, I’m not dead yet and I can get still get a groove on. (And my leopard skin

Random musings on birthday parties

I just had a weird little childhood memory. I was thinking about Grace’s birthday and what we might do for her (she wants Cosmic Adventure for the 3rd year in a row with everyone in the world invited, literally). I then started thinking about my own birthday parties and the effort my parents made to make them special. Three really stand out in my mind, and I can’t remember how old I was for them.

1) My birthday is December 21st, so my birthdays were usually winter themed. One party that I remember so clearly involved a sleigh ride late afternoon. I get so warm and fuzzy thinking about that day: I remember being bundled up, my favourite peeps around me, big fat snowflakes falling and hot chocolate warming my hands. What I also remember not so fondly is one little girl who always like to be the centre attention who whined and complained so much about the cold that the ride was cut short and we all schlepped home. (Whenever I see or hear about that girl, this is all I can think about).

2) Another party I remember involved making gingerbread houses. My Mom, (better referred to as The Saint in this story) hand made a dozen or so individual molds for gingerbread houses so me and my friends could build our own little candy shacks. I remember everyone was thrilled and the project occupied the entire party time. Best thing was, my Mom didn’t have to deal with the nuclear-sugar-effects-on-young-girls syndrome as she encouraged everyone to bring home and show off their houses to their parents. What a great idea, and sadly, I can honestly say, I don’t think I could or would go through this effort for my own girls. Why bake when you can buy, I say.

3) The next party I remember took place when I was a bit older, old enough to watch a PG-13 movie (these rules were strictly enforced in my house - my brother and sister will laugh when they read this). Our family was one of the first to own a VCR (Betamax, thank you very much) and my folks tracked down Raiders of the Last Ark for our viewing pleasure. Well, Harrison Ford (dreamy back then) and a decapitation were the bees knees for the pre-pubescent audience in our family room that winter afternoon, and I’ll never forget the cool factor I was feeling that day.*

I have other odd little memories, like birthday parties in the caboose at McDonald’s, playing Atari and Donkey Kong and having séances and playing ouiji board in friends’ basements.

*Addendum: the cool factor was quickly stripped from me when my parents picked me up early from a friends’ birthday party. My folks had found out that the party girl had rented Porky’s for us to watch, and this was not PG-13 material. I was allowed to stay for gift opening and cake eating and then dragged home. It was stripped from me once again when at another birthday party, the rented movie was Purple Rain. I was allowed to stay this time, but with strict orders from my parents that Jen’s mom fast forward through the naughty bits. Jen’s mom, who was the “cool mom” even sold me out to the party girls so she wouldn’t look bad. Ouch.

It was super-cute up until the moment we tried to take the beer away.....

This PVR you speak of…..
Thank god winter is coming, because I’m going to be spending a lot of time inside. Jonas came home yesterday with the world’s best invention. The PVR. If I win the lottery, I’m going to buy everyone I love, a PVR. Last night I saw my future spread out before me: America’s Top Model, Trailer Park Boys, Miami Ink, Grey’s Anatomy, the Office, Ugly Betty. I even see Grace’s future mapped out: Caillou, SpongeBob, Arthur and Little Bear. Even little Edie, for when she is ready, Boobah (or whatever they are called) are all cued and ready to be viewed.
Unfortunately, Jonas has a different vision. He also ordered some super-sport package that lets him view football games in Croatia, and during the commercial breaks, he exclaimed that he can watch his PVR’d Prison Break (naw, no un-diagnosed ADD in our family!)
We are all pretty excited, but be prepared for some battle lines to be drawn as we all battle for position in front of the idiot box……

Here’s our little Patchie. She is so cute when it is time to put on her patch. She is very stoic about the whole process. She lies down where we ask her too, sometimes she even points to her eye, as if to let us know which eye it is to be covered (in case we have forgotten) and then lies perfectly still while we patch her. Sometimes she even takes the wrapper of the patch and puts in the garbage for us.
I still don’t know much more information about the operation, but it is slated for January, she goes under general anaesthetic for it, and the doc said she will be running around that afternoon. Sometimes I wish the Internet didn’t exist. I was researching strabismus on the web and of course found the one page that includes case studies of infants being left blind after such operations which promptly put my stomach in knots….(there were also hundreds of pages assuring worry-warts that it is a very common procedure with very little to no risk at all).

Missing summer already!
I think reality just set in today that summer is really really really over. I’m doing crazy things like having Jo install a play structure inside the house in anticipation of lots of indoor play. As long as I can remember, I get antsy this time of year. Lack of sunshine, shorter days and the c-c-c-c-cold kind of freak me out. I also think it was this time of year when my post-partum with Grace really took hold of me. I think it will be okay this year though, simply because we are too busy to think about the long stretch of winter ahead of us.
Okay, Grace is in Jr. Kindergarten, and I swear, everyday she comes home with some kind of “homework” for parents from her teacher, is this normal? I feel like ½ an hour of my precious evening is spent filling out forms. What’s going to happen when she and Edie are both in school?
Grace wrote me her first note yesterday. It said “Karen”, then there was a picture of an eyeball, a heart and a letter U. Get it? She wrote “Karen I love You” and then she wrote her name with x’s and o’s. (Not sure why she called me Karen instead of Mommy). That little note makes up for all her comments and her not wanting me to be her Mommy as of late!

The Idiot's Guide to Being a Meanie

Guess what the miserable previous owners of our house did this time! To take the chill out of the house yesterday we decided it was high time to turn on the furnace. With much fiddling and cursing, we couldn’t get it to work. Frank, the fellow who was cleaning out our ducts checked things out for us and announced that the motherf*&?s left us with an empty oil tank AND IT WAS IN OUR CONTRACT THAT THEY WOULD LEAVE A FULL ONE. Can you believe these people? I hope karma comes and kicks them in the ass. They screwed us on our pool, they left the house in a disgusting state, and now they are probably giggling over our lack of heat. Evil. And you should have seen what came out the duct work – I could have built a new dog with all the fur that got sucked out. The scary part is, these dirty evil people are in the medical profession. Scarier yet, they have procreated and are teaching their evil ways to their two little spawns. I think we will dress up as them for Hallowe'en.
Well, at least Grace is getting a good lesson in life with regards to how Jo and I feel about and liars and cheats.
I wish I had happy news, I wish I could say I slept through the night last night….I wish I could say the snot in Edie’s nose has disappeared (instead it has multiplied and taken over Grace’s nose too).
Oh, I know. I bought a pair of kick-ass stacked brown suede mary-jane’s on the weekend – I look like the vamp-y archivist who lives within me. I need to bring her out more often.

What's wrong with your face
This is a question Grace has asked me a little too often as of late. The face she is referring to is the look I get when I am angry, perplexed, thinking, confused. This is the facial expression that will send me for early Botox treatments to correct. I am working on it, I really am. But Grace thinks my non-angry face is a goofy face - I just can't win. I've been practicingtising new faces in the mirror, trying to find one that looks pleasant, serene and calm. Most of these faces make me look heavily medicated, and you know what? These days I am mostly angry, perplexed, confused and thinking.
Why am I angry? Ever had a four and a half year old who questions your authority at every opportunity?
Why am I perplexed? Every had a kid who used to go to sleep and stay asleep for the night, only to one day decide to fight bedtime, naps and sleeping through the night?
Why am I confused? Ever done a complete grocery shop only to return home and not have anything to make for dinner?
Why am I thinking all the time? Wouldn't you stay inside your own head for fear of saying something you might regret later?

Awww, why am I complaining so much. Life could be much, much worse. I'm just feeling the ill-effects of sleep deprivation. Edie has consistently woken me up every night for the past week with her cold, I hope it passes soon, for her and my sake.

Add another furrow to my brow: Edie needs an operation in January, and she is going to be put under for it. Don't like this, not one bit. It's one thing to see your little angel sleeping on her own terms, but I imagine it is quite another to see her in a forced, unnatural sleep. This will be discussed later when I wrap my head around it a little more.