Friday Fragments - Oh. Mah. Gawd edition

Welcome to another edition of Friday Fragments - please visit my friend, the lovely lady Mrs.4444.

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Holy comments, Batman!

I have been totally overwhelmed by the SITS experience, as I got about 164 comments on my main blog, and so many more on the actual posts that I shared. You know, the posts that I put up when I was still doing something called WRITING? There's a paucity of that these days.

I intend to get to each and every one of the bloggers' blogs who came by for my SITS feature. I know that I've always said this blog is more of a creative outlet for me than anything else, but there's no getting around that fact that I loves me some comments. I also try to comment back to whoever visits me on FF, but I'm doing a rather crap job of that these days too. We're getting there...

So why break with current tradition - instead of quality writing, I'll post a couple of random photos.

As promised, here's a photo of me in my dress for the holiday party.

It was taken at about 1:30 AM last Saturday, aren't you impressed? I mean, that I'm still standing, even if I have a stupid grin on my face. My feet were totally killing me, but you just gotta do what you gotta do in the name of fashion sometimes. That stupid grin is actually severe pain masked by liquid band-aid in the form of 6 gin and tonics and 4 glasses of wine with dinner. So yes, it is a miracle that I am still standing.

We had a great time at the holiday party -- once they started playing music from this decade. It was funny, during dinner they played some great tunes (eg. Rihanna, ColdPlay, Maroon 5, Timbaland, Justin T ...not all danceable stuff, but pretty good tunage)...and then when they opened up the dance floor they played Kool and the Gang, Bee Gees, Lady in Red ...OMG, it's like the DJ took a look at the crowd and figured we were too ancient to know any better, it was a total wedding crowd, right?

I had to go up and request a song eventually, which thank goodness they had. You know, my favourite dance tune of late ... You could tell at the end of the evening who had young kids - the ones sticking around, who only knew the songs BECAUSE we had kids.

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And here is a photo of the mug that my mother made me keep - it gives you a bit of a hint about where I was in Europe a couple of weeks ago.

A rather big hint, wouldn't you say?

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And it's a special day today.

We'll keep it low key, but it's the man's birthday!!! I still tell him he looks great for his age, as he really does. He's a little doughier than when we first met, oh, 23 years ago (gahhh!) but he was a skinny student back then.

The boy made a card for his Dad:


Probably the best card the Man has received in a long time!

I can't say enough about my husband. Sure, he forgets to take the recycling out sometimes, he never knows where his keys are, he looks at me in a daze sometimes when I'm chatting his ear off, he even humoured me once by coming up to the BodyJam class and at least looking like he would try it (but he took a look and figured he wouldn't be able to shake his white ass that low!) ...but he totally, totally gets me. He knows me, he's been my biggest supporter, never doubting my capability to do anything. He took a chance on me years ago, figuring that I would become a stronger woman - a stronger partner - when I wasn't even sure that I would be.

And the kids, they could NOT find a better father anywhere on this earth. That I am sure of.

So the girlie and I are taking the Man out for dinner tonight. I'll probably pick up the DVD "I Love You Man" (we both love Paul Rudd) and we (sans the girlie) will watch it before we pick up the boy from his first ever all-kids, no-people-over-the-age-of-13-allowed holiday party.

I love you, Man.

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Have a great weekend, all!

Saucy Secrets

Well today is THE day.

It's my SITS Featured Blogger day! Whoo-hoo-yahoo and all that stuff! Exciting times my friends. See that cute button on the side-bar? That's where you'll find tons, I mean tons of wonderful bloggers, who share the love by visiting and commenting on blogs that they discover by joining the Secret Is In The Sauce community.

Too bad it comes at a time when my time for blogging is at an all time low and I am often too tired to even yawn. I'll have to admit that lately I've resorted to posting pictures of my shoes and wardrobe again. You'll notice if you pop around a bit that I have somewhat of an addictive personality, especially when it comes to shoes and shopping.

But enough excuses in my pre-amble...

WELCOME to my blog.

I'm Karen, wife to one, mother of two, and as my tag line says, I'm living in the burbs and trying to stay urban. Which is kinda hard to do when you're driving around in a minivan - parking spots in the city are not exactly minivan friendly. And from the title of my blog, I do like to drink preferably alcohol, although lately it's mostly coffee to stay awake!

I started this blog on Mother's Day 2005, about 5 months into my maternity leave with baby #2. I was still pretty amazed that I was a mother of two, as we had a number of difficult years dealing with infertility. In actual fact, I had made the decision to be a SAHM for a bit, and subsequently decided to capture the time and life's precious moments via this thing called a blog. I didn't even know that you could share it - I just wanted to write for myself, so that one day I would have something to look back at and remember the little things that I knew I would forget. Little did I know how important this vehicle would become to me in a very short time.

And here we are coming up to 5 years later, and boy, oh boy have things changed. My kids are no longer babies. After doing the work-from-home thing for a couple of years, I took the huge leap back into the corporate working world. Yup, as of 8 weeks ago, I'm a career gal again. Finding the balance is tough and it will take me a little while yet to really get the hang of it.

This blog, and more importantly, the community that I found through my voice here, has helped me tremendously, especially this past year. 2009 has had to be my most difficult year to date. I lost my beloved father to cancer in January. I had some health issues (gall bladders and knee sprains will forever be associated with hitting my mid-40s) that made me fear that I would not be able keep up with my beloved hip-hop aerobics class. (But fear not, I have hit the Bodyjam classes again with a vengeance). And a highlight of my year was attending the ultimate blogger fest - I rocked BlogHer 2009 Chicago in July and would do it again in a heartbeat.

So let me take you on a tour of my more recent favourite posts. It's been hard to choose, as at last count I have about 629 in total...sheesh. I guess I like to write, eh?

First up, a post about the dynamics between my boy and girl... and how sibling love lasts a lifetime, as I've seen through my mother's eyes.

Next, a memorable afternoon at the ballet.

And then, a more recent post about getting back up and moving on ...

And finally, as added bonus, just so you don't think I always write like a Hallmark card, a little ditty about man boobs.

Thanks again for stopping by my little abode in the blog world. I hope you stick around for a while, and better yet, come back for more. I can't wait to read your comments and visit you right back.

Cheers!

Fragmented Friday or a post about nothing

Welcome to another edition of Friday Fragments - please visit my friend, the lovely lady Mrs.4444.

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I am so not ready for the all-Christmas music all the time radio. It's not even December yet, time is ticking so quickly already. I know I had a Santa sighting last week, but that was in Europe and they're ahead of us, right? Bah humbug.

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On my trip last week, I made an effort to pick up a little something for each kiddo, and a scarf for the man. ( If only we had the selection of men's clothing over here that you find just walking down the street in any major European city - for years the man had even stolen a cheap acrylic scarf that I had picked up for myself outside a metro station in Paris, uh, like over 10 years ago...). But I'd forgotten to get something for my Mom.

You know, the Mom who is always here whenever I need her to watch the kids, no questions asked, she's here in a heartbeat? Who also happens to be one of the most difficult people to shop for?

So at the airport, I popped into the duty-free and picked up a collection of tiny Estee Lauder perfume bottles. They were cute, I knew she wouldn't "love" them, but it was the thought. Oh, and I bought a souvenir coffee mug for her too.

When I got home and gave the kids their stuff - I handed her the package.

"Oh, I don't need this mug. I have no room in my cupboard. The last time you got me a mug, it crowded everything and another one came out and crashed and broke. You keep it!"

Okay. Now the perfume.

"I don't wear perfume. You shouldn't have! You know what I did with my old perfume? I use it to deodorize my toilet. Down it goes! You keep it!"

"Mom, why don't you just check them out, and keep the ones you want and I'll take the others, okay?"

"Oh, don't worry, I won't flush these down the toilet, I know they're expensive. Okay, I'll keep maybe a couple."

That's my mother.

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The other day hubs and I were talking about the latest headlines. Yeah, we're such a romantic couple that way, with our water cooler talk.

Hubs: "Oh my God, did you read about the woman who had her faced ripped off by a chimpanzee? She was interviewed on Oprah".

Oh yes, at the temple of "O".

Me: "Really? That's horrible. How did that happen?"

Hubs: "Well, apparently she was going to a friend's ..."

And while he was talking, I had this image in my mind of a woman, going to a friend's place, all dressed up ....don't ask me why, so I interrupted with:

"...at a friend's party??!"

Hubs just started laughing. "No, not at a party. What would make you think it was at a party? Her friend has a chimp as a pet or something."

And then we both cracked up at how ludicrous the situation would be with a chimp at a party.

Hubs: "Okay, note to file, no chimps allowed at our next party."

Yeah, we're slightly demented, me in particular.

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Speaking of parties, we're going to a holiday party tonight.

Good news: No chimps. But seriously, I tried on the party dress that I wore to my first ever company party, oh, about 20 years ago, just for the hell of it. I got the zipper up, and it fit.

Bad news: Not that I could move in it, and there were a few extra folds around the mid-section.

Solution: Get a dress WITH folds in it. Eureka! (I'll have a pic soon).

Also get shoes with bands to match. I'm afraid that I'll sprain my knee again, but they are pretty hot, aren't they?

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Speaking of hooker shoes, I was in WalMart last night to pick up some milk. After 9 PM. There were so many children out, I couldn't believe it. But one thing that I knew for sure upon passing the photo lab at the entrance - I don't need a blanket with my face on it.

Thanks Walmart, but no thanks.

Hope 4 Anissa

It was a lovely summer evening in the windy city. I couldn't believe that I was actually there, standing in the hotel lobby, waiting with a bunch of women I had never before met. Many of them knew each other, chattering away excitedly, talking about previous activities of the day, or the last blogging conference that they had attended. I however, didn't know a single one. The introvert in me wondered again, "What am I doing here?"

I then boarded the bus with the other bloghers, looking forward to what would be the first of many events of the evening. And this vivacious bundle of energy sat down in the seat just across from me. She had been moving from conversation to conversation, not missing a beat. I recognized her, as her blog was in some of the same circles as others that I frequented. It wasn't just any blog - she writes with passion and poignancy, with honesty and hilarity, and you would be guaranteed to be glued to your screen once you logged onto her site(s).

But I didn't know her, and we had never met. I was lucky that day.

"Hi, how ARE you?", she said to me with the wide smile on her face, in the most welcoming tone, as if we'd known each other forever and we had just had coffee a few days earlier.

I was great, especially after meeting the wonderful Anissa Mayhew.

(Sandy, me, Anissa, Jim)

Meeting and chatting with her for just a little bit at BlogHer was one of the highlights of the experience for me.

After Chicago, I kept up the conversations with her whenever I could, via her blog(s), twitter, always reading while stifling a giggle or grinning from ear to ear.

Now that my life has changed somewhat since that fairly carefree summer, I have to admit that I have been delinquent in the blogging aspect of my life. So imagine my shock when I read yesterday, that Anissa had a massive stroke last week and is now fighting to recover.

What???!!! After all that she and her family have already endured. She is only 35 years old!

This isn't right. So I'm posting for Anissa, for her family. I feel so helpless, and this seems so very little. But it is something. Go here for more info on how you can make a difference. (I'm losing my blogging chops as there's a beautiful button that I can't get to work on here...).

She is fighting, hard. And we're hoping for that miracle.

(for updates from her husband, check out her original blog)

Weekly Winners - Blondes, bikes and boots

Well, I'm back...and it was a great trip. What a lovely city. You can tell even with my less than amateur capabilities with my point and click. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

(TS-when are you coming to Canada?)

(Santa on a shopping break)

Casual, friendly people all dressed in the coolest hats, scarves and boots, glorious boots. Making their fashionable way about town on their ubiquitous bicycles.

Yes, customs officer, I did go for business.

But there's always, always time for shopping, and boots were indeed part of the purchase.

For more photo fun, check the home of Weekly Winners, chez Lotus.