For some odd reason I can’t stay off YouTube tonight. I found one thing, which led to another, and another and suddenly I had spent half an hour listening to Alanis doing a slow cover of her own first uber-pop song, a hilarious rap song about the oversexed Star Trek TNG crew, Evanescence, Linkin Park, and a few other things that I listened to half way.

And what I love about YouTube is that I can find almost every song I have ever listened to and loved at some point in my life. So here’s something new. On Fridays (assuming I remember!) I’m going to randomly go find a video for a song that I once loved and share it with you.

Here’s something not everyone knows about me, nor would they expect it looking at me now. Once upon a time I hung out with the goth crowd. I wore a lot of black: black lace, black PVC, black fishnets, and big, black Doc Martens. I also dyed my hair black, much to my mother’s horror. I hung out in goth clubs and played a live version of the role-playing game, “Vampire: The Masquerade” (Russian vampire named Katya Rozokov, Brujah, Sabbat, if you’re wondering. *cough*).

I slipped out of the goth phase as easily as I slipped in, painfully lightened and grew out the black hair, started wearing colors, and didn’t spend as much time dancing on speakers anymore. But I still loved the music.

Possibly my favorite goth song ever:

“Temple of Love” – Sisters of Mercy (there’s a way longer extended version here which is what they usually played but I picked the under-three-minute version. You’re welcome.)

And if I somehow found myself wandering aimlessly into a goth bar tomorrow and this song came on? I’d probably still dance on the speaker.

While I have generally enjoyed this summer with my kids (it would have been even better if I’d had less work and if the weather had had less rain), one thing that has been exhausting is the constant bickering. I realize it’s completely normal but normal doesn’t make something any less frustrating.

A great deal of my time is spent listening to stuff like this:

“I had that first!”
“No, I had it first!”
“No, I had it first!”
“No, I had it first!”
“No, I had it first!”
“No, I had it first!”
“No, I had it first!”
“MOMMY!”

At which point, I take whatever it is they both “had first” and put it away.

Other times I have listened to this:

“Stop hitting me!”
“Don’t spit on me!”
“Mommy, Breanna’s pulling my hair!”
“Mommy, Hayley frow this at me!”
“MOMMMMMMY!”

At which point I separate them until they calm the hell down.

And of course, I listen to this a lot:

THUMP!
CRASH!
BANG!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
SMASH!

And since the people downstairs also have to listen to it, I ask them, through clenched teeth, to please stop using the furniture as park equipment, and then if it’s not raining I take them outside to burn off some energy.

Then on occasion, I’ve heard this:

“Stop. Stop! STOP IT! Mommy! Breanna won’t stop smelling my bum!”

And really, I don’t even know what to do with that one.

I’m considering investing in a pair of high quality ear plugs.

I haven’t done this in ages but I’m trying to avoid that whole “what do you want for supper?” “I don’t know, what do YOU want for supper?” conversation. Here’s the basic idea for this week’s menu.

Monday: Super easy and very tasty Beef & Black Bean Burritos with salad
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Tournedos with corn on the cob and rice
Wednesday: Grilled burgers and salad
Thursday: Grilled Pork souvlaki with salad and/or corn on the cob
Friday: BBQ rotisserie chicken with fries, macaroni salad, and vegetables
Saturday: Still undecided
Sunday: Still undecided

Lots of grilling going on there. But it’s just so convenient.

What’s on your menu?

This weekend, Parent Bloggers Network asked if we were “that family”. You know the one. The family that invades your favorite restaurant only to end up with kids running and screaming through the dining room, snatching food off other people’s plates, tripping waiters, that sort of thing.

Well, the truth is, no. We’re not that family. But don’t hate me for that yet. First of all, we just don’t go out to eat that often anyway, and when we do, it’s usually McDonald’s or Burger King. The reason for that is less about the food than it is about the play area. When we go to eat there, it’s often directly related to too many days of rain and two kids who are desperate to rid themselves of pent-up energy. And when we leave, we do encounter a lot of resistance and whining, so there is that.

But even when we’ve gone to other restaurants now and then, the kids are pretty well-behaved. I think part of it is because they are in a situation that they don’t get too often so they’re busy being distracted by the hub-bub around them. I also try to never go to a restaurant without crayons and paper. Most family-friendly restaurants do have them, but I bring some just in case. Plus, they usually bring you all of three or four crayons and with more than one kid that’s just begging for a hissy fit as they fight over the one red crayon.

I might also bring a book or two, but generally they’ve always done pretty well with eating out on occasion. Breanna does have a tendency to want to get down so I might walk her to the bathroom with me to fulfill her need to move, and then we come back and she eats more.

Like I said though, if you are indeed the family that turns family dining into chaos, don’t envy me too much. Going out to eat is not a regular thing for us. If it was, the novelty would wear off fast and I’d be the mom hiding under the table.

And if you see me looking your way while your child screams and throws french fries, I’m not judging you. I’m merely feeling sympathy towards you and wishing that there was a tactful way for me to walk over and try to help because I do know the mortification of a publicly tantrumming child.

(And honestly, my kids are often better behaved when they’re out than at home for stuff like that. I promise you, it’s just as annoying to have a kid eat two bites, then get down and leave or have them drop their plate by accident all over the floor when they’re at home. Even more so, really, because it’s not like I can just leave!)

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.

At 3:50 a.m. on Sunday, most of Toronto was sleeping peacefully. At 3:55 a.m., people were woken abruptly by a massive explosion. Sunrise Propane in the North York area of Toronto had exploded, with massive fires and black clouds of thick smoke. It was a six-alarm call to fire departments. As far as I know, no one was seriously hurt, thank GOD, but many people in the surrounding area had to evacuate. At this time, a section of the 401, the busiest highway in Canada, has been shut down, open only to those leaving the area.

I first found out about it on Twitter (see? It is indeed good for something!) because Rannie of Photojunkie was covering the details. He was far enough to be safe but close enough to get some telling photos such as these two:

(both images copyright Rannie Turingan photojunkie.ca)

Check out the full entry for more photos, a video, and developing news.

I’m glad no one was hurt. That must have been terrifying.

I’m coming in a bit late on this, but I’m eager to participate nonetheless. Kristen has noticed that all around the blogosphere people are having a hard time. All you need to do is pull up to the gas pumps to know how hard wallets are being pinched lately.

So she’s proposed a project for the month of August. If you’re reading blogs from a feed reader, take a bit of time to click out and open up the actual blog itself. If the blogger is using any kind of ads on their site, clicking to the site will help boost that blogger’s earnings for the month. While you’re there, maybe click around. Hit up the archives and see if there’s an entry that you never read before and click on it to read something from the past.

If they’re not using ads, click over anyway and leave a comment or find the contact info to send an email. Even if it’s not helping their wallet, it will put a smile on their face (you know, assuming your commentary is nice. If it’s not nice, then please don’t bother!).

Comments are always nice anyway. I love comments. I can always use more of those because it helps to make you feel like you’re not sitting here blogging at yourself. And if you’re inflating someone’s ad earnings while you comment, that’s even better.

Screw the recession. Let’s blog it!

(If you want to take part, go check it out – there are prizes too!)

Can I complain about the weather for a second please? After all, I’m Canadian. If I don’t talk to someone about the weather at least five times per week, I’ll be kicked out and forced to live on some remote island in the Caspian sea or somethingm

This summer? It has sucked. You know how a lot of people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder in the winter because of the shortage of sunlight, cold, and all-around dreary weather? I wouldn’t say I suffer from it, so to speak, but I do start getting a bit down in the dumps by February and March, and I long for days of sunshine and temperatures that don’t include windchill factors.

But I’m starting to feel like I have S.A.D. this summer too. Because for the past three weeks, we’ve had one or two days without rain. Almost non-stop we’ve had craptacular weather. It doesn’t generally rain all day long but it rains early enough that it’s not good park weather, because who wants to sit in a soggy swing? And then it rains later in the day, ruining soccer games, outings to the pool, and playing in the courtyard with the family on the other side of our complex.

When it rains, especially in the evenings, it brings out hordes of mosquitoes which, naturally, is a truckload of fun. We look sadly out the sliding doors and watch the rain fall in the pool on our balcony (and hope it stops before it reaches critical mass which would require me to go out there and start bailing it out with my stock pot). I’d let the kids go in the pool while it’s raining if it was at least hot out, but the rain has made it damp (I wore SOCKS yesterday which is generally unheard of until September) which is not good swimming weather, and more often than not there are rumblings of thunder in the distance.

The other evening when I took the garbage out (in the rain), I noted that the grass is beautiful – so green and vibrant. By August it’s usually turning yellow. It’s nice that it looks so wonderful. It’s a shame that we can’t actually enjoy it. Kind of like my lovely little bistro table and chairs. They’re constantly soaked and I haven’t been able to use them nearly as often as I would have liked.

We’ve cherished the few beautiful days, going to the public pool or using the wading pool outside. I’m hoping for some more before school starts back up again. By this point the kids and I are getting a little sick of each other and it’s clearly a case of severe cabin fever. If we don’t get a break in the weather soon we may all go a little insane.

I’ve seen The Shining many times. I know what happens to people who are cooped up too long!

The forecast for the next five days? Showers and thunderstorms. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am.

The girl in the window, the story of a feral girl. Warning: I wouldn’t suggest reading this without a box of tissues because I sobbed hysterically throughout it. And if you’re a parent, be advised that you will have an overwhelming need to go hold your children, even if they’re sleeping, and you won’t be able to stop yourself.

Found via Dooce

I have to say that I kind of hate myself for saying this, but I love Paris Hilton this morning. If you haven’t already seen the John McCain ad that uses a flash of both Britney Spears and Paris Hilton (basically claiming Barack Obama is more of a celebrity than a leader), here it is:

Britney Spears refused to comment on it, but Paris Hilton was a bit ticked off. So, in retaliation she put together a spoof video.

See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.com

Paris Hilton actually made me laugh, and not AT her for a change. “See you at the debates, bitches!”

This makes me laugh. It’s funny because it’s true.