Happiness is…
Your kids having fun at a birthday party.
All the parents having fun together at the same party.
Laughing until you cry.
Vodka shots with your friends, even when you don’t even LIKE vodka.
Bringing home Bailey’s cheesecake.
Having your kids pass out within five minutes of hitting the pillow.
Happy Saturday eveyone!
For a non-parent, saying “Friday night at the movies” probably means going out to a theater, spending a fortune on tickets to a movie, spending even more on a boat-sized container of popcorn, and watching the latest blockbuster on a giant screen.
For me Friday night at the movies meant heading to Hayley’s school to volunteer for movie night. They were showing Up for the kids this evening and as a member of the PPO I said I’d come and help out. Although the movie started at 7 pm, I got there for 5 and spent about two hours popping popcorn. It reminded me of when I was 18 years old and working at a video store; I think I still smell like oil. It was fun though, and once it was all done we all sat around in the cafeteria chatting until the movie was over.
There were enough of us that clean-up took all of half an hour and I was out of there just before 9 pm. Unfortunately, Hayley didn’t get to enjoy it since she insisted that her throat was sore and she wasn’t feeling well this morning. She had the same cough we’ve all had so we let her stay home because there is one day in there where you just feel like crap. She felt great by this afternoon and really wanted to go but I told her that you can’t miss a day of school and then show up for movie night, so she had to stay home with George and Breanna. Oh well, there’s always next time!
I think I should go take my contacts out and wash my face really well because I have a feeling it can use it after all that corn popping.
Okay, so it’s not a turkey and it’s not homemade stuffing. There’s no cranberry sauce (tragedy!), no gravy, no pigeon peas & rice, and even worse there’s no pumpkin pie (*sob*).
Still, if you’re going to have a “Yanksgiving Dinner” because you just can’t take it anymore after hearing all your American friends cover their blogs and Twitter streams with turkey talk… well, it ain’t half bad. Especially when you consider it’s technically just a plain old Thursday up here.
I hope all of the people below our border had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
The joy of doing these challenges to post daily for a month is that it gets me back into the groove, I remember to write for myself and not just for my work blogs, and it give people more reading material.
Of course, the downside of doing these challenges to post daily for a month is that sometimes I find myself sitting here looking at a blank post screen and a flashing cursor wondering what the hell I’m going to write about.
Sometimes there’s just not really anything of importance to tell people. It’s not that my life is boring per se (though at times it can feel that way to me), but it doesn’t often step out of the ordinary. If, however, you’d like to know why I said no to having Hayley get the H1N1 vaccination through the school, you can go read the post I put up on Canada Moms Blog about it.
And that is pretty much that.
Ah yes, ’tis that time of year again. It’s that time where every single email and website (and now Twitter account) seems to be talking turkey and although we already had our Thanksgiving last month up here in Canuckistan, I want another one because the turkey conversations are making me crazy with hunger.
Besides, our Thanksgiving gathering was on the smaller side this year so we had chickens instead and it was GOOD because my mother-in-law doesn’t know how to cook anything that tastes anything less than delicious, but ohhh turkey. I’m looking forward to Christmas dinner, let’s put it that way!
Last year I had what was dubbed by someone out there in Internet-land as a “Yanksgiving dinner” and I think I just might have to do it again. Looking over my meal plan for the week we’re supposed to have chicken legs on Thursday but I think I’ll have to thaw out one of our whole chickens in the freezer and I’ll roast up one of those with some baked potatoes, stuffing, and vegetables.
Then I can stuff myself silly and moan about how full I am just like everyone South of the border.
Last night I watched the American Music Awards for the sole purpose of seeing Adam Lambert’s live performance. I was so let down. There’s been a lot of backlash about how explicit and “lewd” it was between the bondage dancers, the S&M implications (uhh, that’s no surprise, haven’t any of those people complaining heard the lyrics?), and the simulated guy-on-guy oral sex. I didn’t care much about that, it takes some serious effort to actually shock me. I did think that maybe the AMAs weren’t the place for it, it would have been better suited to a concert instead of prime time television, but eh.
What disappointed me was that he was so busy running around for the performance, playing the part, that his vocals fell by the wayside, and the fact that the sound mix sucked all night didn’t help him either. Anyone who never watched American Idol and was just hearing him perform for the first time would probably think that he can’t sing and that’s just not true. Adam’s a very talented singer and a stellar performer but neither of those were showcased last night. I hope his next live performance is better!
I have to say though, I got his album today and I’m loving it so far so there’s that!
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I knew that Monday would be in full form when I accidentally slept through three cycles of my alarm. It’s set for 6:15, I hit snooze and it goes off again at 6:24, then at 6:33. That last time I resign myself to getting up and starting the day (having a morning routine is rough when you’re a night owl!).
Today I didn’t really hear the first alarm go off. Part of me did since I reached over and smacked the snooze button but I was still in dreamland so it didn’t really register. When I heard it go off the second and third time I was off by one count so I went back to sleep before realizing I was supposed to be downstairs with the dog by then. Oops.
Luckily Hayley managed to get moving pretty quickly – something she’s not great at either on a Monday. We hurried along and she managed to be on time for school so there’s that at least.
George sent me back to bed for a bit since he knew I was really tired and that helped a bit too. The rest of the day went off relatively well so at least Monday only taunted me with that one mishap. I’ve had far worse Mondays than that.
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There was one very good thing about this particular Monday. I landed myself another writing job and will now be posting several times a week over at PhotoBlog. I only have one post up so far, but I’m very excited. I’m also looking forward to a very awesome-looking site redesign over there as well. I’m very thankful to Laura (are you still going by “Laura”? Have you come “out” with your real name yet? Hmm, nope, okay I’ll keep hush-hush then!) who suggested me to the editor when he mentioned he was looking for someone to take it over and start writing regularly.
Please go ahead and take a look at my first post, I’m always inexplicably nervous when I post somewhere new so if you’d be inclined to leave a comment or something, I’d be grateful!
What’s that? Eh? Oh, sorry. My tea and cake are calling to me and it would be rude to ignore them!
First of all, apropos of nothing, today I learned to be careful what you wish for. All day long Hayley and Breanna were arguing and fighting so I was thrilled when I finally convinced them to play with Breanna’s new dinosaur set from my sister. They divided the dinos between them, sat down… and proceeded to pretend that all six dinosaurs were arguing with each other. Sometimes you just can’t win.
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I have a habit, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. If it’s getting (or is already) dark out and I’m out walking with the dog I can not help but peek into people’s windows if their lights are on and their blinds or curtains are open. I mean I don’t go right up and cup my hands around my eyes, peering right through the glass. I also don’t stop on the sidewalk and stare in all creeptacular or anything.
However, I do glance in as I walk past. I can’t help it. I don’t know how NOT to do it. I also do it from the car, though it’s obviously harder to do from a moving vehicle. Stopped at a red light works better.
I need to point out I’m not trying to see any of the people who are inside the room. I’m just looking at the decor and the layout. This is especially true when I’m walking around our complex. We have multiple buildings that are all the same so I know which units are the same size and layout as ours so I like when I can get a quick glimpse of how someone else has set up and decorated the same living room that we have.
I swear, I’m not trying to be creepy and no one in my neighborhood will have a need to slap a restraining order on me. In all honesty, I’m just looking for ideas because I’m tired of my own living space!
Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this.
This is exactly the kind of weekend that I like – we had plans but weren’t overly busy so it was a laid-back enjoyable day today. Tomorrow promises to be much of the same.
This morning I woke up at 8 am and realized that everyone else was still sound asleep out in the living room. It was the first time that Breanna had made it through the whole night for a living room camp-out. She usually wakes up around 3 am wanting to know where I am. However this time I actually had a chance to marvel that it was morning and I had not been poked awake by a small child needing to pee and then I even fell back to sleep for awhile. That was awesome.
After lunch we drove out to see my parents for the afternoon and Breanna opened up the present that they got her. My family knows how much Breanna loves dinosaurs and got her this little guy. I sometimes really despise battery-operated toys because they’re usually obnoxiously loud and take away from the chance to use your imagination but there are some that I do like. I definitely like this one. He chews on your finger (or a toy spoon, bottle, etc) and “eats”, then makes little cooing baby dinosaur sounds. No overkill and it’s really cute; she loves it.
Hayley and Breanna spent most of the visit trying to convince my parents’ cat to come out to play but unlike the first two cats my mom and dad owned, this one isn’t used to kids at all so she’s just not very interested in seeing two overly enthusiastic children who try to chase her around with toys. Alas.
It wasn’t cold out today but it was chilly by the time the sun started going down so we had a simple comfort food supper of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. When I was a kid my mom sometimes made tuna or salmon sandwiches and a mix of tomato and celery soup on nights when my dad wasn’t going to be home for supper and I always loved soup and sandwiches as a comfort meal.
Tonight it’s all quiet. Both kids were tired because they didn’t go to sleep until well after ten last night. Meanwhile, George is out at a friend’s house so it’s just me (and the dog, but she’s not much for conversation). I’m taking advantage by watching a movie that I know doesn’t interest George in the least, a foreign film called Osama. It’s about a family in Afghanistan during the rise of the Taliban. The father dies and leaves behind a wife and 12-year-old daughter. Since the Taliban prohibits women from working the young girl cuts her hair short and disguises herself as a boy so that she can work to support herself and her mother.
As you may have noted in my reading material post, that’s the kind of movie that is right up my alley.
So on that note, I’m off to read subtitles and relax. Enjoy your Saturday!
(The pictures of Breanna on her birthday are over here. Unfortunately the quality is kind of ech because it was pouring rain outside, leaving practically no natural light to use. My external flash needs new batteries so I had to use the dreaded on-camera flash. Alas. But the subject matter makes them cute anyway!)
Four years ago today I went into a very fast, very short labour and in under four hours this little girl was born.
And somehow four years have passed and this morning when she woke me up to go pee and whispered that she didn’t want to go back to bed, I whispered back that it was okay because it was almost 9 am anyway and it was her birthday. She had forgotten about it despite being excited the night before. I reminded her that she’s four and she asked, “no more three?” No kiddo. No more three.
In four years she learned so much. She knows her numbers, her alphabet, countless songs, how to color inside the lines, how to play board games, and how to climb up everything at the park, among so many other things. She can turn on her (and Hayley’s) computer, log in, open Firefox, and navigate her way through the bookmarks of all their kid sites. Most recently she loves to help me make supper and has learned not only to assist me in adding ingredients and stirring them up, she can also crack her own eggs and scramble them at the stove (with direct supervision, obviously).
It’s hard to believe someone who couldn’t even hold up her own head this time four years can do so much now. Time flies.
She had a pretty good birthday. George and I gave her a Hungry Hungry Hippos game because she desperately wanted one, Hayley gave her a play tool set that she wanted, my sister sent a dinosaur playset (I’m not going to be surprised if she becomes a paleontologist one day), and she got a cute little outfit from George’s parents. We ordered pizza over there for supper and when we came home she had her birthday cake. Right now George and the kids are camping out in the living room after having had a movie night.
Tomorrow we’ll go see my parents and spend the afternoon over there and we’ll do her party in a couple of weeks since that will be the only time the majority of friends and family can make it.
I have many more pictures but my glass of wine and my book are calling. I’ll get to them while still trying to ponder how my little baby is a big four year old girl!
I went through a reading slump recently that was kind of driving me crazy. Really, it started in Halifax. I optimistically packed several books in my suitcase and then George and I ended up at a Chapters bookstore (oh Chapters, how I missed you) so I bought myself a copy of Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. What a crazy person I was.
There was no time for reading! Not really, anyway. I did manage to read a little here and there but I was too busy either trying to bang out all my work for the day as quickly as possible or else I was doing things like visiting Peggy’s Cove, wandering along the boardwalk in downtown Halifax, or you know, being my sister’s maid of honor. There wasn’t much left over for reading.
I think I read about 40 or 50 pages in the three weeks that I was there. Sad. Then when I got back home it took me forever to get through it which was a shame since it was actually a very enjoyable book. There was just so much going on when I got home that I couldn’t get into it until I hit the last third of the book, at which point I had trouble putting it down.
After I finally read the last page I then hemmed and hawed over what to read next, reading the first five or ten pages of different books before tossing them aside. I’m now currently reading Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts, a supernatural thriller – first in a trilogy – that I borrowed from my mother. The fact that my mother actually read a supernatural trilogy and enjoyed it is astounding to me because that’s not what I normally see her reading, but she did say it was good so I grabbed all three of them from her shelf.
I again had trouble getting into it even though I was intrigued. However, I’m now about a hundred pages from the end and I wish I had more hours in the day or needed less sleep or something so that I could just finish it. I’m eager to get started on the other two books.
I think part of my problem is that I’m missing my weakness. A couple of years ago I learned that I missed my calling and should have double-majored (or majored-minored, whatever) in Middle Eastern Studies and Women’s Studies. One of my favorite things to read is any book set in those two areas. It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction (such as my number one favorite book EVER, A Thousand Splendid Suns) or non-fiction (like Not Without My Daughter which I just re-read before starting my current book). If it takes place in a Middle Eastern country and features women as its main characters, I’m all over it.
I need to pick up a couple of those types of books I think. Then when I’m finished my demon-filled small town trilogy I’ll have something else waiting for me to fill the void.
What are you reading right now? What’s your favorite type of book to read?