Posts Tagged ‘just me’

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Where’s my applause

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

If you’ve ever flown on a plane you’ve probably encountered the weird applause phenomena. You know, when the plane lands at your destination and some passengers breakout into spontaneous and sometimes boisterous applause. I never understood that. Yes if the pilot had just flown through terrible weather conditions and we were all gripping our seats (or rosaries) praying for safe delivery, then sure, break out the applause.. That would be an incredible feat and deserves some recognition. But applause for doing his job? I’m sure he’s flown that route many times, maybe even more than once during the day of your flight.

If you’re going to applaud your airline pilot then why not your train engineer or bus driver or taxi driver. Some of the risks taxi drivers take to get you from point A to point B without killing either of your or getting ticketed deserve a round of applause (unless you’re another car or pedestrian, then he probably deserves the finger but that’s a different story).

Heck, while you’re at it, why not give me applause. Helping with a homework assignment and mediating a Lego fight while wielding a sharp knife for cutting dinner vegetables is pretty amazing if I say so myself.

I’m all for recognition of a job well done. I just wish those who did a well job actually received it.

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My husband is usually so polite

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

My husband is the type of guy who holds the door open for people at the mall or helps an elderly person up the stairs or lets someone with one item go in front of his two shopping carts full of stuff. He’s very polite, usually. But all this changes on New Years Day.

One of the first things we do as a family on New Years Day is visit my in-laws. When we arrive my husband dashes in front of everyone on the walkway to get to the door first. Not to open it for us, but to make sure he’s the first one through the door. It seems there’s a superstition my mother-in-law believes that the first person to cross her threshold, the first footer or ‘lucky bird’, can influence the entire next year. And if you want it to be a lucky year that person needs to be a dark haired man. A blond or red-haired person is bad luck and a woman? Well, let’s just say historically people were encouraged to deter woman from crossing the threshold first, even if it meant using a gun (I’m not kidding). Thank goodness my mother-in-law likes me.

So every New Year’s Day my husband is the first one invited into my house before anyone else. Thank goodness New Year’s is only one day. Are there any New Year superstitions you or your family believe in?

Only a dark haired man need to apply

Only a dark haired man need to apply

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5 Reasons to celebrate Christmas in Disney World

Monday, December 21st, 2009

disney-ornamentI love Christmas. I love that my kids have time off from school and my husband time off from work (notice how I don’t indicate my time off). I love having the excuse to have a drink and eat rich foods. I love hanging around doing nothing but eating and drinking and watching Christmas movies. I love that the season makes everyone, well most people, a little nicer. I love Christmas for all these reasons.

But I don’t think I need to have Christmas at home to experience all of this. This year I wish we weren’t having a standard Christmas with turkey and gift giving. And that has nothing to do with being so unprepared, well, maybe just a little. This year I wish the family was celebrating Christmas in Disney World.

Was that a gasp I heard? Are you shaking your head in dismay? Really the idea of having Christmas in Disney World isn’t as crazy sounding as you might thing. It’s not just a good idea, b ut a great idea and here are five reasons why:

No gift exchange. I haven’t really been in the gift giving/receiving/buying mood this year. I mean I don’t really need anything; the whole family doesn’t really NEED anything. Celebrating in Disney World would mean no gift exchange. I guess you could say the trip itself would be the gift. And really that’s all we would need, some time together as a family.

No chores. As the guest I wouldn’t have to clean the house in preparation for visitors or make the beds before watching tv or do the laundry to ensure I had clean towels. At Disney World they have someone who does all that for me. Plus I wouldn’t have to cook Christmas dinner. I’m sure in Disney World I could find  a restaurant serving Christmas dinner. Or I could choose to have something else, like Polynesian or German. And I wouldn’t have to wash the dishes after.

No long faces. Forget the unhelpful sales clerks and the grumpy last minute shoppers and the cranky, over tired kids. Instead take a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth! And it’s not just a slogan, most of the staff we’ve met are very pleasant and happy. They’re paid to be happy! A Christmas surrounded by happy, smiling faces (the staff and my family’s) is my kind of Christmas.

No visitors. That means no in-laws, no neighbours, no friends. Don’t get me wrong, I love these people, most of the time, but having them over usually means more work and more stress. Entertaining people, making sure they’re happy, avoiding arguments, can be a lot of work. And let’s not for get the preparation before people come over and the clean-up afterward. We wouldn’t know anyone at Disney World so there would be no worries about drop-in visitors.

No winter clothing. I always thought it’s just not Christmas without snow. But most years we don’t get snow for Christmas anyway. All we end up with is a cold, gray day and boots and puffy jackets and mittens and hats. And no one likes to wear them. A holiday gift would be no winter wear.

Yes, I can see it now, a big Christmas Party with fireworks, maybe a dip in the pool, some rides, eating out and lots of time with just the family. That sounds like my ideal Christmas. Hopefully I can convince my husband the same thing before next Christmas comes.

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Potty training does have its drawbacks

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

You may remember we’ve been going through potty training with my youngest. We bought her motivational underwear hoping to kick-start her enthusiasm. Then we stopped using pull-ups and dressed her in underwear for the daytime (pull-ups on at night).

As expected, we had a lot of accidents (and a lot of laundry). Then one day it just occurred to me that my daughter wasn’t having as many accidents as when we started and she was actually using the toilet. Sometimes she would tell me she had to go to the bathroom; sometimes I would just take her to the bathroom. But she was actually using the toilet at least for peeing, bowel movements are a whole other issue.

So you’re reading this thinking What’s the problem? I don’t see any drawbacks.

We had the Santa Claus parade come through town the beginning of the month and I knew finding a bathroom near the parade route would be next to impossible and the likelyhood of accidents was high so I had my daughter wear a pull-up. I told her it was just in case she had to go to the bathroom and we couldn’t get to one. So we’re sitting on the side of the road, the parade has just started and my daughter tells me she has to go pee. I explained that there wasn’t a bathroom and to just pee in her pull-up; that it was okay. She got upset and insisted she had to go to the bathroom. After about 5-minutes of whining she became distracted by the parade and we never heard about the bathroom again. When we got home I took the pull-up off and discovered she never went pee. She held out until we got home and she could go on the toilet.

It seems my daughter has developed an aversion to using her pull-up, which I guess is a good thing but can be somewhat inconvenient. On our recent plane ride from Florida, inconvenient became problematic. Using the same rationale as with the parade, I had my daughter wear pull-ups on the plane as well as in Disney World. She would go pee in the bathroom but since she has issues with having a bowel movement in the toilet (usually has an accident in her underwear) she never had a movement the whole time. Four days later, driving home from the airport, my daughter was so upset and complaining her tummy hurt. It wasn’t until I got her home and put on underwear that she went into hiding and … tada… a bowel movement.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad my daughter is preferring to use the toilet over her pull-up, most times. I guess during this interim training stage, where your child uses the bathroom almost as often as having accidents, I thought I could rely on pull-ups as a back-up plan. I guess I never realized how well she would be conditioned to not use her pull-up. Hopefully this interim stage in training will pass quickly and the pull-ups can be tossed out.

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Don’t make your problem my problem!

Friday, November 20th, 2009

I hate people who think just because they have an issue with something, you should to. You know the type. One such situation has been going on for a few days and it’s really got me irked; irked to the point that I’m writing this.

As you may know, my daughter is in Brownies, a division of Girl Guides for girls 7 and 8. She loves it. She loves her friends and the ladies her run the program and the ‘girlly’ stuff they do. One of my daughter’s friends moved from a different Brownie group, one that was more active, so she’s feeling a little restless in this group. Her family, specifically her dad, has decided to move her into Cubs, a division of Scouts for boys 7-9 I believe. Traditionally Cubs has been for boys but they have opened up enrollment because of girls who want to do the more active pursuits that Scout do.

Before you jump to conclusions, I have no problem girls belong to the Scouts program; actually one of my nieces, who is more like my son, belongs to a Cub group. And I have no problem that this dad (and his daughter has agreed so it’s not as if she’s being pushed into something she doesn’t want to do) has decided to more his daughter. The issue I have, what’s really boiling my blood, is his campaign to get other families in the Brownie group to move into Cubs. His daughter is currently the only girl in Cubs and he’s trying to recruit her some friends.

The ladies who run the Brownie group our older and not physically active, but they are amazing woman who give so much to the girls in their group. No they don’t go hiking on the weekends and when they camp they eat donuts, but my daughter loves them. Heck my whole family loves them. And here’s this dad making unkind remarks about these lovely ladies to persuade other parents to move their kids. Great example to set for your children: bully and spread rumors and say unkind things to get your way.

I think it’s great that he’s made this decision, a decision that I’m assuming as a family they thought it was a good fit for them, but don’t try to get everyone else to follow. Don’t make your problem my problem; be strong enough to stand by your own decisions, even if that means you are standing alone

I don’t take my daughter to Brownies, that’s something she does with her dad, so I hear these stories from my husband. The father in question is a little odd, lacking in social graces, and we’ve learned to deal with it, so my husband just ignores the whole scenario. It’s a good thing I don’t take my daughter to Brownies because I don’t think I could control my remarks.

Funny, I’m the reserved, turn the other cheek gal, usually talking my husband down from some outburst and now I’m in an outburst situation. I’d like to outburst right across his ass!

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Even I entered the Baking Challenge

Monday, November 16th, 2009


You may remember my post not too long ago about a Canadian Baking Challenge being hosted by Pillsbury. I love to bake though I’m not one at creating recipes, but with the chance to win Molly Maid cleaning (and other cool prizes) how could I pass it up.

Plus, could you imagine the chance to have Erica Ehm, who happens to be one of the judges, eating one of my creations. Hmm, well maybe that wouldn’t be so good. Oh well, what’s done is done.

So with my limited creative skills (at least in the baking department) I submitted my Crescent Moon Pizzas that my kids love and who’s a better judge of your cooking than your own kids [insert snicker here]. When you get a chance, hope over to the Baking Challenge website and give it vote. And if the recipe doesn’t appeal to you (there are quite a few good ones) well, give it a vote anyway. No, I’m kidding, sort of.

Crescent Moon Pizzas

Crescent Moon Pizzas

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Posted in food, fun stuff, just me | 2 Comments »

What’s a little lie between family

Friday, November 6th, 2009

We try to encourage our kids to be truthful. Evan when they’ve done something they know is wrong and have been caught we try not to overreact. I’d rather they feel comfortable enough to confess when caught versus keep something a secret. I think when kids start to lie it just becomes easier and easier and the lies get bigger and bigger.

But sometimes as a parent a lie comes in handy: No nana is sick today so we can’t go over to her house; broccoli is the super hero’s secret energy snack, shhhh; it’s the school policy that you can’t wear long underwear to school under your pants which are under your skirt.

And now a new lie has unfolded in our house, well, not really a lie, I just haven’t corrected my son on it. My son, like most boys his age, is up to a lot of sneaky tricks. I’ve often caught him jumping on furniture or climbing where he’s not suppose to be. And each time I catch him my son’s is surprised since usually I’m not right there when it happens. He has decided that mom’s have super powers (like God) that enable them to see their kids and what they are doing, no matter where they are. It is true, I can usually tell from the sound or in some cases lack of sound, that my son is up to no good on the second floor of the house.

So now that my son thinks I have this super power to catch him, he doesn’t pull his tricks as often as he use to. If a little white lie stops some of his behaviour, is that so wrong? Or maybe I really do have super powers, which means maybe it’s not a lie at all. Hmm, I think I’m going to go for the super power story.

Have you ever told a little white lie to your kids?

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Posted in just me, those darn kids | 1 Comment »

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of No TV

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

We gave up on TV years ago. Well, not TV specifically, we have one of those and a pretty large one at that. No, we gave up on cable/satellite.

This has been good.

The cost of cable service is expensive, even a basic package. And if I was paying for my cable I would feel the need to actually watch it, and a lot of it. So not having cable saves me both time and money.

This has been bad.

Since I don’t have cable I do miss out on some of the new shows, shows I’d actually like to watch. Or if I happen to pick-up a show on those wonderful rabbit ears, then I find I’m working my routine around the TV schedule. And you know who wins that, usually not me.

This has been ugly.

Sometimes I get so focused on trying to catch a show on TV (I mean we’re talking my one hour to escape) I tend to rush through everything before. Quick bath. Quick story. Quick song. And if the routine is pushing beyond the TV start time, it can get ugly.

My silver lining? You can now catch most shows online. It might not be the night everyone else is watching it, but at least I can still see it. And we still get to keep our TV for movie night.

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A Wii Success

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

activebadge30day_optimizedBeing a mom is crazy, but you know that. Finding time to do anything is difficult, especially exercise. But then I discovered EA Sports Active Personal Fitness Trainer for the Wii (checkout my review). With a little help from my youngest daughter, I just completed another 30 Day Challenge.

This would be my second challenge, but before starting this challenge I took some measurements, to see if the challenge is making an impact. And you know what? It is! I lost a whole two inches around my hips and an inch around my thighs. Now those  might not be big numbers, but to be honest I didn’t expect any changes.

Beyond the numbers I’ve noticed other changes. I’ve been drinking more water and snacking less at night. I’ve also noticed a better posture. You know those moments when you look in the mirror and suck your stomach in. Well, I’ve noticed I don’t have to suck my stomach in as much as I use to. That’s a good thing.

Now I’m looking forward to the next  release this November, with a new six-week challenge, new routines and exercises for that wonderful midsection. I might be able to fit in those board shorts next summer. Now that’s something worth celebrating.

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Posted in fun stuff, just me | 2 Comments »

They want to meet me?!

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m really not that cool. I know you’re surprised right. It’s true. Well, maybe you’re not all that surprised about my uncoolness confession. But somehow being here, behind my computer, writing my thoughts or commenting on someone’s blog, I feel like a different person. There are no awkward silences. No realisations that I don’t know what I’m talking about. I think that’s why I love blogging and working online. I love connecting with people, but at a distance. Not because I don’t like people, but because I’m an extreme introvert. When I was going to school I would give myself ulcers about having to make a presentation.

I’m married to an extrovert, which is both good and bad. Good because he gets me out meeting people but bad because I rely on him to start and maintain these conversation with strangers. My poor kids, wanting to me to set-up playdates for them. I’d get flashbacks of those high school presentations. I’d have to talk to some mom or dad and make arrangements. Thank goodness my two oldest take after their dad or they’d have no social life. I thought my youngest was more like me, quiet and reserved, but spending so much time with her older brother is starting to rub off.

So I’ve been pretty content sitting here behind my computer talking to you; reading your stories of adventure with a combined sence of jealousy and relief (wishing I could do some of those things but glad I don’t have to). But this Saturday will change all that.

You see, Racheal McCaig, Engergizer Mummy on the Yummy Mummy Club site, has written and directed and produced and is starting in a play this Saturday, Nursery School Musical. So on twitter a bunch of ladies in the city decided to get together to watch the play and show Racheal some support. Then dinner and drinks before the show were added as a way to meet-up. Well didn’t my virtual world personality take the lead and jump in with both feet, forgetting that the reality world me would have to follow through. So now this Saturday night I’m meeting up with some twenty plus ladies for dinner and a play. Some ladies I know from twitter, some I don’t know at all.

Here I am, approaching my fortieth birthday (this Sunday) and I feel like I’m back in high school. You know those feelings: will I have anything to say, will I feel like an outsider, will they like me. I know, kind of childish, but I can’t help it. In the summer I had a telephone conversation with Erica Ehm (from MuchMusic and the Yummy Mummy Club) and I thought I was going to pass out, and that was just talking on the phone. I guess I haven’t grown out of some of my anxieties. It would be easy to ‘call in sick’ and not go, but even with my fears I’m going to push myself to do this. I think because deep down I know these ladies are amazing and yes I would like to meet them. I’m sure everything will be fine and I’ll have a great time. Right?

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Posted in blogging, fun stuff, just me | 4 Comments »

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