Somehow I wound up stuck watching part of the political debate for Canada’s upcoming election in January. I watched it until I started dozing off, but one thing in particular made me laugh with a big snort out loud.

Of course the first question was regarding equal rights for gay marriages. The NDP, the Liberals, and the Bloc Quebecois are all for gay rights whereas Stephen Harper, the leader for the Conservatives tries to make it sound like he’s all for the individuals but that he doesn’t stand for gay marriage since it challenges what marriage really is.

ANYWAY. Gay marriage is already recognized under the Supreme court here in Canada. Harper was debating it anyway, but the three other party leaders mentioned that it’s taking a step backwards to worry about it because it’s already gone forward.

And then Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois elaborated on that by saying that he doesn’t see the need to be a society that must constantly re-visit an issue every six months when the issue has already been decided by a majority.

Which is pretty damn funny coming from a party that constantly tries to bring about a referendum to see whether Quebec should separate from Canada, despite the fact that a majority has always said no.

Pot, kettle, black!

(For what it’s worth, when election time rolls around, I think I’m going to flip the bird to the damn liberals since I’m fed up of their backpedalling and I’m voting NDP. They won’t win but the more NDP representatives we get, the better because they’re really the only ones I can stomach anymore.)

And that right there is possibly the most I have EVER written about politics on this website.

Hayley, while trying to play basketball with one of those mini-nets that hangs over your door:

“I tried to jump SO high that I went up, up to the sky and I fell down. I nearly broke my hard, bony bum!”

Earlier today:

Hayley: Mommy! Your stomach is so small now!
Sherry: That’s because Breanna’s not in there anymore.
Hayley: (poking) Yeah. But it’s REALLY spongy now.
Sherry: Well THANKS for noticing.
Hayley: You’re welcome.

I’ve seen a few pictures posted by online friends showing their child, horror-struck, with Santa. I’m a terrible person because I ALWAYS laugh. Then again, I laughed when Hayley did it at a year old too, back in 2003.

Ah, memories.

I seriously need to make this soon. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Hayley thinks the lights on our tree are a tad bright.

Breanna acting like a stoner, all giddy over the dots on her bouncy.

In lieu of content, a meme taken from Laura and typed up one-handed while nursing Breanna to sleep.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Please pass the egg nog, no need for a glass, I’ll just chug it straight from the carton.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I like both but we currently have white ones on our tree and I think it’s so pretty.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I used to have fake mistletoe but I can’t find it this year.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I was always a scrooge and refused to do it before December but I like doing it for Hayley now; we put the stuff up the first week that Breanna was home, so near the end of November.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Duh. Turkey of course. With stuffing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I have fond memories of actually singing in the choir (!) with my grandmother one year on Christmas eve at church.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Technically I let my mom know I knew the truth when I was 11 but I think I knew it a couple of years before that and was just in denial.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I never do but we get new pajamas for Hayley (and will do so for Bree too now) which get opened on the 24th before bed and then worn that night.

10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him? Whatever we have around; it was usually some of my mom’s cookies but we’re going to be home this year on our own so I’ll either have to bake some or Santa will be stuck with store bought.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I hate snow. Yes, I live in Canada, I do see the irony. It’s really pretty but it’s a pain in the ass and in the city/suburbs it’s pretty for ten minutes before all the traffic turns it to brown sludge.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but please give me men’s hockey skates because toe picks will cause me to land flat on my face.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I don’t think I have one absolute favorite over the rest but I do love the diamond earrings that George bought me about five years ago.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Making them fun and special for the kids.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pumpkin pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I really like the pajamas on Christmas eve tradition. I also like the Yule tradition we’ve had for a couple of years – since we can’t burn an actual Yule log without a fireplace, we get an ice cream log cake instead. 😛

17. What tops your tree? A kind of weird looking angel. I would love to get a pretty star.

18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Both!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Ironically, all my favorites are the really religious ones, but the top one on my list is “Mary Did You Know?” It’s so beautiful that it makes me wish I could truly believe.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Okay. I like some of the funky flavors like butterscotch and cherry.

If you want to do it, go ahead and leave a comment so I can read yours.

Sometimes you would swear Hayley doesn’t listen to a damn thing but in reality she hears everything we tell her and files it away for future reference. This morning she demonstrated the fact that she does in fact hear all our warnings about injury (which are discussed because of her desire to stand on things that are not meant for such a purpose, usually). She was trying to fix a decoration on top of the speaker in the living room and was reaching for it by standing on her dollhouse with one foot and her barn with the other, a precarious balancing act. So precarious that she knocked a decoration and candle holder to the floor because of her off-balance stance. I fixed it all up and got her out of that area.

Sherry: Don’t stand on your house or barn please – you could break them but even more important, you could fall and hurt yourself.
Hayley: Yes. And I will fall on the hard floor and smash my head and it will crack open and I’ll go to the hospital and sleep in the beds there and the doctor will have to sew me all up until I get better.
Sherry: Um, yeah. Something like that.

Glad she’s taking notes, I guess.

Today was an insane day. From 10 am onward, Breanna never slept for more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time; she never had her big 2-3 hour nap that she really needs. Sometimes it was because Hayley woke her up and other times it was because I would settle her down and she’d do that jerking arm startle reflex and wake herself up (no matter how I swaddle her, she ALWAYS gets one or both arms out; I need a straight jacket for her!). On top of that, she’s smack dab in the middle of a growth spurt which means that there is not enough breast milk in the entire free world that will satisfy her for long.

Meanwhile, Hayley was in three-year-old glory, being defiant (if I hear NO one more time…) and throwing fits. There was a great deal of screaming (her) and hollering (me). It went on, no joke, all day long from her wake-up at 7 until she finally gave in to sleep at a little before 9 tonight.

On top of that, my stomach was still hurting me. And so this is the kind of conversation you end up having under those circumstances.

Sherry: Ow. Ow, ow, OW. Maybe I have ovarian cancer.
George: Don’t say that, that’s not true.
Sherry: Maybe I do and I’m going to die.
Breanna: Waaaah! Waaaah! (“Give me milk!”)
Hayley: Shriek shriek grumble scream yell.
George: ……. You’re going to leave me with these two kids?
Sherry: Hell, yes! I’m SO going first. I win!

There is a case of 12 beers sitting in our kitchen, which his dad brought over for unknown reasons. I threatened to have the whole thing wiped out by the end of the night. The only reason George didn’t take it with him for safekeeping when he left after supper was because he knows that I won’t drink this early in the breastfeeding relationship. But ahh, the temptation.

I typed about half of it one-handed while feeding the bumblebree but there’s a new entry up now.

Hayley has gotten into the princess thing lately, with a particularly big affection for Cinderella. She got dressed up in her dress and “glass slippers” today and told me she was Cinderella. I then said that since she has hair the same color as Cinderella and Breanna has dark hair, that her sister should be Princess Jasmine.

I said no one has red hair so no one can be Ariel but I have brown hair so I’d be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She agreed and then asked, “who is Daddy?”

“Daddy? Well I’m Belle. I guess Daddy has to be Beast.”

It took her awhile to stop giggling.