Scrolling Saturdays - My Pickle Story

As I'm just such an original, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and re-post a story from about two years ago as my contribution to the pickle story club :



... so the kids are having a great time in the bath, splashing, laughing, hahaha, chortle, chortle ... then G turns red, leans forward and L says:

" Is G having a POO?" ...so Mommy leans her forward a bit more and checks down there with her HAND and EEEEEEWWWWWWW!

Out with the kids, out with the toys, fun logging expedition for Mommy ensues. Kids finished the bath in parents' tub.

I think I should leave bath duties to Dad.

Who happens to be away again! G is now a busy, busy 14.5 month old toddler, who likes to climb and beat up on almost 6 year old L. I keep telling L to keep his face out of her way. He seems to like the abuse.

Settling in to the SAHM thing quite easily now. Regular playdates are de rigeur. The politics of playdates are the big issue now. How do you keep track of who you've had back, who you've got to invite, how to avoid the kids who aren't sweethearts but whose parents are?

I'm going to try to keep this daily blog up as my pseudo journal. I'm hoping I'll be able to look back and say - this is what I was doing when....

Read about a 41 year old woman who remembers everything to the day - her life keeps running like an ongoing movie. Don't know if I'd like that - there are some parts of my life (ie. junior high, early high school) which I would just as soon forget.

Went to the Comrags fashion show with my sister on Tuesday. Had dinner at San, cute little Korean place designed by sister's friend. So uber cool, so not me! I couldn't concentrate on the show, the models looked like they could be my daughters, and very bored. Kept focusing on the one girl's hair - I need a haircut so badly it's not funny. You know it's bad when your husband notices it needs a cut.

Well, must go, the fabulous miss G is wailing. That was my break!

*****


Happy Saturday to everyone, and happy Earth hour ... I'll be with you in the dark tonight.

Vaio-OUT!!!

Scrolling Saturdays

It's another snowstormy, cocooning day. And I have spent the majority of it in the kitchen, first pureeing cauliflower to put into scrambled eggs and banana bread (courtesy of Mrs. Seinfeld's controversial cookbook). Figures, the boy who eats everything loves it; the picky girl, nada. And just for the record, I am SO NOT Martha.

For today's Scrolling Saturday I thought I would go back to my archives and see what was happening around this time last year. And lo and behold, I was blogging away about hubs and his business travels ...again. Just what does he bring home to his fashion-obsessed wife from his trips?


The other day I said to Ian "Why do I feel like I'm always washing the dishes" to which he replied, "Maybe because you are." And I realized that yes, I do spend a lot of my day washing dishes. We do, of course, have a dishwasher, but I always feel the need to do a pre-wash before anything goes in, and of course, pots and pans always take up so much room and leave very little space for efficient dish stacking. And no, I cannot put that precious Zyliss Salad spinner in there either. Afraid of it melting. For some reason I hate washing that thing the most of all. Maybe it's all the nooks and crannies, and how it just never seems to dry...

There's a story to that Salad Spinner. It made its way into our household all the way from Barcelona, Spain. Yes, that's right, my husband found that lovely kitchen item during a business trip there over a year ago, bought it for the amazing deal of about 35 Euros (gasp!). Couldn't pack it so of course took it through customs, had to declare it ... his work buddies thought it was quite amusing, to say the least. I suppose I should be proud of my husband that he's so confident in his own skin (he may have been the first metrosexual in his day, but you'd never know it) that he could take all the barbs and the teasing about this kitchen gadget without a second thought. And that spinner does do wonders with our greens. Who would have thought Spain should be famous for their spinners?

Oh well, at least he got me a beautiful silk pashmina the last time he was in Italy. I guess there are some fringe benefits to his work travel, if not just to keep our kitchen well- equipped.

Scrolling Saturdays - Quality Me Time

This is my second edition of Scrolling Saturdays hosted by suchsimplepleasures & manners & moxie. This is what I'm doing when I really should be at the gym. But honestly, bacon and eggs and a stroll through memory lane sits a little better with me this morning. I bring you a glimpse of me trying to eke out some "quality me time", from a not great situation, and how things can go awry...

The hubster decided to bring out more of the Germanic genes from his little girl on Sunday, so after dinner he let her help him wipe down his car windows. I know from a reliable source and a study conducted with my former boss (n=2, so statistically sound results) that Germans have a thing about their cars and washing them. On a Sunday. All that was missing was sauerkraut.

But I shouldn't complain, as they eventually got around to my minivan. Ian pulled out the shop vac and started to attack my vehicle with a vengeance. I was in there re-installing the carseat that we'd taken to Vancouver. I couldn't stand the rough treatment so I decided to vacuum it myself, as little G climbed in to wipe down the dashboard dust with an even dirtier cloth. Both vehicles were in tip top shape, mine at least on the inside as we went in for the evening.

Yesterday was a nothing day; I decided to let L play with his friends while I puttered around the house a bit, did some vacuuming, finished up the laundry, dishes, surfed the net, blogged in between. I did have some stuff to get at Walmart, but it's so much easier to do without the kids that I decided to wait until after dinner to go out on my own.

As 9 PM rolls around I decide I better go out; hop in the van, turn ignition and NOTHING. Battery dead. As a doornail. I'm annoyed. Ian suggests that I call CAA in the morning and get them to charge it. I say, "no, I need my stuff tonight; besides, we can just charge it with your car". I didn't want to be stuck without a car (although technically I already had been, as the car's battery drained throughout the day). I took his car out for my errands, and when I got home, he hooked the cars up and left the van on the driveway running for me. I thought it was a good idea to take it out for a spin on the highway for a bit, to give the battery more of a charge. Ian suggested I pop by Tim's to get a coffee or tea, and have a leisurely drive. What a great idea!

So excited to have some time with me, myself and I, in the car, with some tunes.... hey, why is my Maroon 5 CD hanging out, and why won't it let me push it back in? What is this four letter word "CODE" flashing at me? I try to turn on the radio - also a no-go. Hurriedly I pull out the owners manual, look in the index and see "radio, anti-theft system". Turning to the page I read ..." state of the art anti-theft system ... blah, blah... should have received a card with the serial number of your radio and the 4-digit code, should your battery ever be disconnected from your radio, blah,blah... If you lose your card, just phone the dealer with the serial number of the radio and you can get your code..."

Oh, other four-letter word.

Couldn't find the card, don't know if we ever had one. It was Ian's company car so we bought it from the leasing company. Uh, and how are you supposed to get the serial number of the INSTALLED radio?!Fat chance of doing anything about it at night.

So for my troubles, I figured I deserved a chocolate-glazed donut along with my coffee. Driving along the highway with the lovely evening in front of my windshield, not a whisper other than the smooth hum of engine, I felt a zen-like quality permeating from within.

Well, thank goodness for Google. Turns out there are message boards galore and hundreds of other disgruntled Honda owners who've experienced the same problem. Advice and experiences ranged from "the dealer will take your radio out for $100, then they'll give you the code" to "check your ashtray, under the trunk, in the fuse box, glove compartment etc... ". Some people have been without a radio/ music for months (well, that's a bit much) but what a headache! I spent a good part of the evening doing my research, found the number and tried it this morning. Eureka, it worked! What a great criminal mind!

Pretty thoughtful of Honda to install such an effective anti-theft device for any owner who wants to steal their own sound system.

Well, I'm actually going out to dinner tonight with the hubs and another couple...sans kids! Whoot!!! So happy bloghoppin' to any of you popping around tonight.

Scrolling Saturday - PINK UFO Redux

I just found this wonderful blog event , Scrolling Saturday, that I must participate in. Saturdays tend to be so busy so it's a great time to look back at some of my older posts.

The following took place last summer during the pre-renovation panic phase of our year.


The Time: Saturday morning, post-post- winning soccer game (7-0); post- last-minute waterfight playdate for Liam; pre-swimming date at best friend's house.

The Background : We've just come to the realization that we booked the tile-guy for a job eight weeks from now, and we have not yet chosen a tile. We need almost 900 square feet. Could be an issue. Decide to pack all the stuff needed for the afternoon, and then the kids, to check out a couple of places only open until 4 PM.

The Place: In the minivan, on 16th avenue, en route to tile place.

The Conversation: Me (as I'm checking behind my shoulder for the pink life-saving electronic device housing the Backyardigans DVD; I don't see it) : "Oh, little girl's fallen asleep already, so I guess we don't need it"

DH: "Yeah, yeah, I brought it, it's somewhere, just don't know where I put it"

Me: "Good, if we take too long we're going to need it."

Sound effects: GALLOPING ON THE ROOF AND THEN A THUD.

Me: "What was that?"

DH: "Oh shit, that was the DVD player. I must have put it on the van when I was buckling her in."

L-ster: "Yeah, I saw the flash of pink. It bounced off the road and the car behind us hit it on the side. Cool!"

Me: "Great, the DVD rental is in there."

DH: "We'd better go back to get it, don't want to cause any accidents"

The Next Steps: DH drives around the block, parks, then hops out of the van and runs around the corner to get it.

Meanwhile, back in the van...

Me in frustration (warning, don't do this, as it's not nice to call people names, and kids have great memories): "Your Dad can be such a knob. Why put it on top where you can't see it? All he had to do was buckle your sister in while I had to pack everything and act as beast of burden with 5 bags to load up the van... blah, blah..."

L-ster: "Mom, are you ever going to forgive Dad?"

Me (after a brief pause): "Yeah, I guess I'll have to."

DH gets back in the van. "Were you guys laughing at me running?"

L-ster: "No, but Mom forgives you. Besides, she's put one of my mad science projects up there once."

The Lesson: I keep forgetting my kid's memory - I guess he's taken what's left of his parents' combined.

Wear a helmet if you're walking in my neighbourhood.