Walk

Baby Steps. Learning to blog again.

Yes, I'm back from an over four month hiatus.

In that time, my incompetence as a mommy blogger has been evidenced by the following:

• Blogher ads officially requested that I remove their link. That's okay - I was making less than zero revenue;
• I didn't provide any witty anecdotes about a great family ski vacation in Tremblant (well, I didn't ski, but it was fun nonetheless)... no fun pics (including space age inflatable leg boots a la "Lost in Space" that encased my tired legs during a spa treatment), no oohing and ahhing about the private hot tub and the wonderful accommodations, the non-stop gondola rides with the girlie, the pride in seeing my boy survive a bloody ski-to-the lip incident only to pick up and continue another 3 hours of snowboarding...
• Also absent - posts about major life milestones for not just one -the horror- but both of my kids:

My girlie lost her first baby tooth .... and now she's on the verge of losing the second;

My boy turned eleven. He's a tween now, people, and overnight he began eating two dinners and sleeping in every morning;

• I didn't weigh in on any of the hot parenting topics such as the TigerMom/Fun Mom debate - itching, just itching to get in on it but alas, left it too late;
• I missed writing about the beautiful Royal Wedding:
• I didn't reminisce about how I woke up way early to watch the other fairytale Royal wedding as a teen.
• I did not dish about how gorgeous Kate is and how I wholly approve of pretty much all of her fashion choices,
• Didn't note that William is still handsome despite starting to look more like his father than his mother these days ...
• (when we get totally caught up later, you'll understand why I was other wise occupied during the Wedding Day);
• Both US and Canadian versions of So You Think You Can Dance have started and I've said big, fat, nada...
• I didn't mention with glowing pride that both kids got A+ grades on their report cards... (oh, I guess I just did)
• I haven't gone on and on and on about gorgeous, spouse-endorsed crush - he speaks French, Mon Dieu - Bradley the Coop
• We lost a household member (poor Goldie, RIP) but gained a couple new ones. Did. Not. Blog. About. It.

My bad. But here we are.

And what would a post from me be without the occasional musical reference?

I've rediscovered the Foo Fighters. Their performance on SNL around Easter time, sealed it - they need to be on our couples' concert list soon (this just in - found out that I'm traveling when they're playing the ACC in Toronto come August - not happy that the Man may be going without me * sob *).

Can't think of a cooler alt. Dad in their 40s than Dave Grohl.

Enjoy.

Late posting about Canada Day - eh?

I'm late to the party again. Better late than never, I suppose.

I realized that I didn't do my traditional Canada Day post. (Although traditionally, my Canada Day post only consisted of a pretty picture of the maple leaf flag, and a virtual Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian bloggy peeps.)

This year, though, the last 9 months, exactly, I haven't been been around these parts much. And as I've been taking a bit of my long weekend time to travel around twitterland, the blog world, the Facebook enterprise... it turns out I've been missing a lot. When I first started blogging there weren't that many Canadian bloggers, and many of my blog friends (and the pals I was so excited to meet at BlogHer 09) were non Canadian. How ironic, then, that there's now a plethora of Canadian bloggers - and they're reaching out! I managed to find them and squeak into the Canadian part-eh. If being Canadian means anything, it means loving a party.



I. AM. CANADIAN. I even worked at a brewery at one point, for crying out loud... and met my other half there, to boot. Can't get more romantic than that, love over a beer.

I look at my life, my family... at me. As a part of the first born generation of immigrant parents, I feel distinctly Canadian. I grew up trying to assimilate, to avoid most of what I thought were trappings of a Chinese background. But being in Canada, the culture, the Chinese traditions - had a place to thrive, despite my best efforts to avoid them. Osmosis, people. Only as I got older, became an adult, and met people (ie especially the husband) who appreciated the differences, could I myself appreciate the enriching experiences that my background could bring to being "Canadian" .

My kids' family tree is looking more like a forest, with roots dating to ancient China and France, Scotland, England, Germany... My boy has been watching the FIFA games and during England-Germany match, he figured - "Hey, I've got English and German roots, so whoever wins, I'm covered!"

We are Canadian. And damn proud of it.

So I'm off to check out other Canadian party bloggers now.

With beer in hand, of course.

Happy Belated Canada Day, folks.

Not really posting, just reliving...

Okay, so I've been travelling around the blog world trying to get caught up on what's goin' on with all my bloggy peeps. Unfortunately there just aren't enough hours in the day. I miss you all and find I'm going in circles, in various directions - so many places to go, people to "see". And I feel disconnected.

The one thing that I have made a conscious decision about, is BlogHer '10 which is taking place in NYC this August. I had such a great time in Chicago last year, meeting many of my blog friends, making new ones... I so wish I could do it again. But I'm finding that I just can't multi-task that into the cards. The big appeal for me before, other than meeting people and learning a bit more about blogging, was the "me" time. I suppose that nowadays I'm spending more time in hotel rooms without my kids than I can handle. (I say that as I tell my kids to give me just a half an hour of my own "sit down" time, but I think you know what I mean.) And let's be honest - I am nowhere near the level of blogging that I was at a year ago. Given the choice between an extra day and weekend with my family it was rather an easy decision.

I hear that there will be a Blissdom around these parts in the fall. That I might just have to have a look at.

This is the difficulty now that I'm a WOHM. I've decided not to blog about work and I have less time to blog to begin with. So although I have tons of blog fodder, it's got to stay in my head. Hmmmph.

So how to stay connected? Well, I've joined a book club with some of the mom friends I've made over the years of being at home. Yay for that. Now I just have to make the time to actually read the books!

The first one up - The Help by Kathryn Stockett (which I knew after a few pages, would probably be made into a movie. It's got Oprah written all over it). It arrived from Amazon yesterday and I'm already on page 85.

And since I can't stop reliving where I was a mere 10 days ago, here's my review of the resort on Tripadvisor.

Postcards from the minivan and other fragments

Why yes, I'm still here, and I present to you my first February Friday Fragments edition. Say that fast five times. Please do also visit my blog gal pal Mrs. 4444 at the home of Friday Fragments.

*****

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post. We did have a nice family get together - I can't say it's been exactly easy, but we are dealing. It's great to know that I have so many friends out there in the blogosphere - your support is a big part of my healing process.

*****

Do you know when you really start feeling old? It's when your 9 year old starts teasing you.

I've got a 9 year old going on 30.

I'll be the first to admit that I've got some issues once I'm behind the wheel. I've worked on it a lot over the years, and I actually consider myself a pretty good driver these days, a few four letter words notwithstanding. I'm not the most patient driver, to say the least. And often I'll forget that I've got minors with big ears in the back seat.

On one of my regular "why the heck am I always late even when I get started half an hour earlier" days of lessons and errands, I had the misfortune of being behind a car in the left lane, going at about 40 km/h in a 60 zone. I don't normally like to pass on the right, but this was getting a bit ridiculous, so I signalled to go to the right...only to have this car in front drift toward the right lane but not into it. Okay then, perfect, I could pass now. But wait, no, not just yet because this doofus has decided to drift back into the left lane. Straddling, I think is what you'd call it. Hmphhhhh!!!

"Pick a lane, any lane, and then get outta my life!" I muttered under my breath.

Eventually the driver did, but not until a couple of lights later when he made right turn. Geez. Finally.

While I breathed a sigh of relief, the boy behind me growled,

"GETOUTTAMAHLIFE, GETOUTTAMAHLIFE!!!!!!" with a giggle.

Great. Way to give your 9 year old a teenage primer.

*****

The other day as I was driving the kids (yes, again), I thought I'd make some conversation with the boy. (The girlie was sitting and humming along to the top 40 hits on the radio, not really in the mood to chat -unusual, yes, for a 5 year old).

" You've probably got the oldest mom of all your friends. I think a lot of them are just turning 40 this year, or a couple of years from now. What do you think of that?" I asked him.

He paused for a minute, and then said, "Think of it this way, Mom. It's good to have younger friends, because when you get old, they can take care of you!"

Good answer, but I had to clarify:

"Well, that's not exactly true. That's YOURS and your sister's job"

"Oh yeah you're right! Darn!"

*****

Have you seen Jersey Boys yet?

If not, you must. Just do it. Go.

This is coming from an alt-girl who used to dye her hair midnight blue and wear checkered skin tight leggings and Docs in university.

Yes, that was me hootin' and hollerin' during the standing ovation.

It's THAT good.

And I'm getting THAT old.

*****

I guess you've noticed that I haven't been around these parts very much lately. It's been hard to be as committed to this blog. The situation is so different for me now, with work travel not just for my husband but for me as well. Single parenting, to a certain extent. Some days I don't know if I'm coming or going. It's a good thing we already have our kids because with us two ships passing in the night as we have been for the past few weeks and for the foreseeable future ...well, it wouldn't be happening. Even if we were young enough to still contemplate it.

I've lost a bit of passion for this. It's not the same for me anymore. This time last year I was so looking forward to BlogHer Chicago, and after the fantastic July with my bloggy peeps, I was looking forward to summer 2010 in NYC with a major vengeance.

But today, I'm just not sure. I suppose it's because time with my family is so much more limited now. I no longer feel that I need the time for "just me"...although ironically I probably need it more than ever before. A girls' weekend (mind you with 1000 girlfriends) in Manhattan ... it is still attractive. That is, if there are any tickets left. Things that make you go "hmmm..."

Happy New Year Fragment Style

Welcome to my first edition of Friday Fragments of 2010. Please visit my blog gal pal Mrs. 4444 at the home of Friday Fragments.

*****

So how did your first week of 2010 go?

I've got a new mantra. Not that I'm big on resolutions. But I think my husband stumbled onto something. "The home should be our sanctuary" he says. So I am trying my hardest not to be a stressbag on such a regular basis. It's tough, let me tell you. But I'll give it the old college try (where the heck did that saying come from, anyway?). My attitude so far this year? If things in life get ridiculous, just laugh about it. No stress, life's too short.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Alcohol is certainly helping.

*****

I've been thinking about what to do with this blog. There's no doubt about it - it was my slowest blog year in a long time, and I'm so tired sometimes I can barely think let alone come up with a semi-coherent post. I can't and I won't blog about work, which is occupying so much of my thoughts and time. I feel a bit out of touch with the kids and the hubby for obvious reasons. I was pretty pumped about BlogHer 10 given my 09 experience, but things have changed. I've thought about shutting it all down.

But I got an e:mail out of the blue the other day. From my sister, who knows about my blog but doesn't have the time (nor the inclination, I thought) to read it very often. And she said she enjoyed getting caught up, that it really captured how the kids had grown, and that it made her miss Dad. Miss him in a good way. I know what she meant.

So I'll keep this going. Whether I manage to write daily, or barely a post a week, I don't think I can stop. It really is too precious.

*****

I caught a few of good movies over the holidays:

"Up in the Air" with George Clooney, doing the George Clooney thing - but the ladies in the movie stole the show. Great movie. Gives a whole new meaning to work travel - I could learn a thing or two.

"The Princess and the Frog" -in old school Disney animation which I thoroughly enjoyed, perhaps more than the girlie did. She wanted to leave after the first hour (nap time). I wouldn't let her. The message, the music - it was all wonderful.

"The Hangover" - which I finally rented. O.M.G. I LOVED it! The hubs saw it when it was out in theatres, and thought I'd like it (I tend to like guy-humour way too much for a 40-ish Mom, eg. "40 year old virgin, Superbad, Knocked Up, I Love You Man, Old School, Pineapple Express"-come to mind with a giggle).

And this guy ... sigh...

I think I'd mentioned before that the hubs looked like him about 15 years ago (ouch, I know)... but I think Bradley will do okay if he turns out looking like the hubs 15 years from now. Just sayin'.

And the boy was keeping the compliment wave going, telling his dad that he looked like he was this guy's brother...


Or uncle.

Now THAT's an ouch!

*****

Happy weekend all!

A Year in the Life of ...

So I stumbled on a wonderful idea by way of the brilliant Scary Mommy (who is not so scary in real life, in fact, she's a sweetheart)!

As we wind down the decade, why don't we look back at 2009, from my blog-eyed view? To say 2009 was a most eventful one, with the highest of highs, and the low, lowest of the lows would be a massive understatement. These aren't necessarily my best posts ever, but they do sum up the year for me.

Here we go:

January: Possibly the worst month of my life. Oh I know, a bit dramatic, but this was the month that I sprained my knee and had to do the helpless "damsel in distress thing" with ski patrol; suffered my second gall bladder attack (on purpose, because it was cheesecake and I deserved it because it had been such a shitty start to the year)...and lost my beloved Dad.

But at least I was able to pay tribute to him publicly without losing it: A Tribute to the most wonderful man.

February: Still in grief mode. But this is one of my favourite posts ever. It's why I'm here: Lucky.

March: I hit my 500th post this month. So I did the whole Q & A thing, which ate up several posts. I also participated in the ultimate blog party. "Everything you ever wanted to know about me" is another title for March 2009. However, I'll have to link to this post, because there are some awfully precious moments in life, and I'm so mature that way: AKA the converter.

April: My boy turned 9. And this post was my favourite of the month, because it just warms a mother's heart: Brothers and Sisters

May: Wow, this was the month of my bitch-rant! And I did get a whole lotta sympathy: Gimme Sympathy.

June: I came out to some Real Life friends about this ole' blog here...and also the answer to my May problems was starting to come to light. Coming out and the world not imploding; and the most important job.

July: Two syllables, one word. BlogHer. (Two days in the life, a few bottles at a time...) And here's further evidence:

(That's me with Courtney, Mrs. 4444 and Melissa)

I miss my party girls.

August: Thank goodness for my pal Mrs. 4444 and her Friday Fragments. The summer of my big life decisions was summed up on several Fridays. My anniversary was in there too, But here are my scattered thoughts which accurately describe my August, as I grappled with the whole SAHM versus Career Woman life shift - a pictorial as to why I suck as a crafty SAHM -see Barbie Exhibit A.

September: The leap back into the work force. Ready or not.

October: It was my birthday month. And I don't mind linking to pictures of me when I was much cuter: Birf-day girl.

November: I don't blog about the Man much, but sometimes I just have to. Especially my superior wife moments: We interrupt this blog post...

December: Well, after a rough year, I need a new one. This is a tired post, but the kids bring out the spirit of the holidays just when you need it. Elyse Mommy Da

*****

Wishing you all a fantastic, happy and healthy 2010!!!

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!

Missing You

This is tough, no doubt about it.

I do NOT know how you bloggers out there who work out of the home manage to keep up with the blogging like you do. No disrespect to the SAHM and WAHM sisters, because I've done that too. But this is so difficult to do, and despite the fact that I'm exhausted half the time to even put a coherent thought together (I called my son's lunch bag this morning the brown thing, the red thing, and it's uh BLUE!) there is still this unmet need to keep up with this blog.

This blog, this space, has been SO much of my life in the past 4 plus years. It's become a part of me. And I'm missing it. And even more so, missing you.

So that's what I've got today. I'm trying to get out and visit you when I can, I love it when you continue to visit me and comment, and encourage me as I deal with this major transition in my life (what a year it's been). I appreciate and love all of you blog pals.

And here, for my pleasure probably more than yours, a video of a remake of John Waite's huge 80's hit, given a country twist in a lovely duet with Alison Krause. He's looking older, but still, not too shabby.


(My heart still belongs to the original, the one where I imagined myself to be the cute Asian girl in the video and I initially fell in love with skinny, pale white guys. I'm lucky I found one (sans swinging one earring, mind you) and married him. )

Two Days in the Life: a few bottles at a time BlogHer 09 Part 2

(This post is dedicated to the many wonderful friends I finally met, and the amazing new friends that I made, at BlogHer '09. I will be shamelessly dropping blog names, because they all deserve the linky love and more. I am POSITIVE that I will forget someone that I met, please pardon my old age and forgive me if I missed you here!)

Prepare yourself, for you are about to be see some pictures of a very shiny, happy Karen MEG, likely leaning a little too much on alcoholic courage, to reach out and "touch" (in other words, grab for squishy hugs) virtual friends, who were previous-to-BlogHer-but-will-never-be-again, IRL "strangers". Having attended last year's BlogHer as a head-on-a-stick, I fully intended to enjoy this year's entire-body experience. This is the "fun" post.

It began Thursday afternoon with a BlogHer event in association with Estee Lauder, that I will post about later. It was a big deal as I got to hang out with some great bloggers, including Angella, Anissa, Ree, Renee, Tena among many others (okay, already getting scattered...)

Then came Thursday evening, as we waited outside for the People's Party. Running into Momo Fali and Piper - yippee! Finally squeezing Melissa, Kelly and Tara, Rachel and Donna... and hey look, there's Maggie Nap Warden, Melisa, Weaselmomma ... turning around and seeing Colleen (beautiful sass with glasses), oh and then the other beautiful Colleen ... (oh, I know I'm going back and forth with names/blognames, but my head is still spinning...) ... well hello Black Hockey Jesus, and I look over there and there's Sandy, and Don Mills Diva, and Mandy, and, and...

Well, then it got crowded so I headed over to Room 704 party with - look, it's JustMiss, Red Lotus Mama, my GAWD it's Maria, and lovely Mommy is Moody with their roomie and my new friend Nancy (where have you been all my blogging life?) ... and there's OHMommy grabbing me, with SmartAss Mom by her side...more craziness...to finally meet Lotus, Vdog, Mrs. Flinger...BusyDad, Mr. Lady ...

There was screaming, there was squeeing, there was streaking (yeah, the most calm streaker I've ever seen...). Okay, I'll shut up, here are pics...

Me and Donna

Beautiful Maria

Cynthia and Melissa



The beautiful Misses

The Fab Vdog, and me being drunk much?
Asian Invasion



Stark Raving Hot

Channelling 704

That was Thursday night. The conference hasn't even started.

*****

Friday morning I woke up with a big crease across my face, and I am still puzzled as to the origin of said crease, as I had been sleeping on one of the softest beds on the planet. A little too soft to be truly heavenly.

So I was on my best behaviour and didn't start any alcoholic imbibing until after 6 PM. And this time I did eat. It was kinda neat being checked in at registration by Avitable - a nice guy in real life, although he may not admit it. I met his partner in crime, the fab Miss Britt later too.

Karaoke, the Gecko, Mrs. Potato head, and more partying at the BlogHer Cocktail party with Haley-O, Kelly, Mandy, Colleen and Nancy, Courtney... and then headed over to the fantabulous Mamapop Sparklecorn Extravaganza... more dancing, more party pics...

Ignore my triple chin: focus on gorgeous Nic and Nancy



It's OHMommy and Me!



Me and BFF Melissa

Mommy Always Wins with Piper

Canadians RAWK (Mandy, Kelly, Haley)

Courtney, Anissa, Melissa

Girls with Glasses (Angie and Mishi- CUTE!)

*****

Saturday, last day of the conference, last night of parties. But what a night...

Who else did we see again? Bowlher... with my chicas Courtney, Melissa, Mrs. 4444... and hey, there's Renee, and got to chat with ScaryMommy...

Next up: cheezeburgher, cheezeburgher, we can haz cheezeburgher...

*****

Sunday morning, I finally got some quality time with Haley



and then Emma found me.

What a way to end it, with two local gals that are within reach of a post-BlogHer meetup.

Sweet.

It was a crazy, wild, thrilling weekend. If there was one thing that would have made it better, it would have been to spend more time with more friends. Hugs are not enough.

Will I do it again next year? Well, if I can recover in a year and my new BFF is there, you betcha for damn sure ...

Where oh where...

has my blogging mojo gone?

Isn't the timing perfect? I mean, I am literally days away from attending a major blogging conference, ready to drop my blogname, and hand out my url and fancy schmanzy minimoo Mommyblogger cards, to anyone who will look at me in Chicago... and I feel that I have nothing, nada, zero-point-zero, to blog about.

I suppose I do have an excuse, and it involves a couple of kids and a neglected husband. And some quality time with them. So this space has had to take second place.

Which is honestly where it should be, shouldn't it?

It's all about balance, and it feels about right.

Coming out and the world not imploding

So how many of you have told your "real life" friends and family about this interesting hobby called blogging?

I know I've blogged about this before, this strange "fear" I have of being found out as a blogger. It's a bizarre passive/aggressive relationship I have with the web. Hence my reluctance to get all "blogfaced" on my Facebook page as I started that with IRL contacts only. And geez, now there is Twitter. So all of a sudden I'm on this social-networking wave that I unknowingly surfed onto.

My immediate family know about this place, as do my sisters-in-law, a couple friends here and afar, and at least one parent in my kids' school crowd (you might remember her when she was in Norway). Strangely enough, though, only a couple of the people "in the know" actually follow my blog. Or perhaps not so strangely. They're probably just not interested.

Well I guess they just don't know how great it is over here, do they?

All kidding aside, I decided I would let some others in on my secret. To a select few, of course. To lift the weight of the heavy burden of this secret identity.

A couple of weeks ago I got together with a group of friends that I have known for over 10 years now. TEN years. I don't know how that flew by. We became close as we suffered through and survived three years of MBA classes while working full-time. I got pregnant and had baby number one during my last year, so they really carried me for a few months while I was in new mama territory. We got super close as they watched me nurse and type at the same time. How could we not stay in touch after bonding on that level? We still try to get together a couple of times a year, to get caught up.

We were reminiscing about the program, and one of them said, "Yeah, Karen, you were always so good at the writing thing. We would be looking for the right wording, you'd go type away on the laptop and come back with something just like that! "

And then my other classmate piped in, "You really should write a book, or do something with that!"

My other buddy, who also loves to write (and was critiqued by a prof, who said his writing was "breezy" like a magazine article, whatever that meant) is still hoping to write a book one day. He mentioned that he still keeps a small journal with him at all times, to capture snippets for this book.

I told him he should blog. Like I do.

And then I expected the earth to suck me in through the floor of the restaurant.

But it didn't happen. Then I went further.

"Yeah. I'm a blogger. And I'm actually going to a hold me while I get shit-faced drunk and party with my homies blogging convention in July."

The reaction around the table was bemused acknowledgement. Someone asked whether I'm on twitter. And of course I said yes. The others looked at me like I was from another planet.

And that was IT folks. They didn't ask me for my url, they didn't ask what I blog about ... nada.

To be honest, I was rather relieved. I guess I'm just one overly nosy person, because if someone told me they blogged, I'd be all over it.

But that's just me.

*****

Over coffee with another mom friend, who I have become quite close to this last year as their whole family was so supportive during that whole nightmare with Dad... I decided to spill it again. Can't shut me up once I'm on a roll, I guess.

We were talking about summer plans and I mentioned that I was going to Chicago with me, myself and I. She thought that was great, and asked what it was for.

So I told her... I'm a blogger. I said I blogged about my life, my kids, and not about her. She smiled, thought it was great. It hasn't come up again in conversation.

And again, that was it. I guess I just did blog about her. Oh well.

*****

So now I can just carry on. In fact, perhaps I'll REALLY let 'er rip now.

Friday Fragments: Don't you just love it edition...

Don't you just love it when...

- your daughter's best friend comes over for a playdate and somehow runs his face into the peeling trunk of your possibly diseased tree?

- your son grabs a door frame at school, splits his nail and thumb open (according to his telephone call and the explanation by his teacher), calls you 3 hours after it happens ... you call the doctor to make an appointment in case the boy develops gangrene, you bring the boy home, he passes out (in sleep); you wake him up and get to the doctor's office where he peels his bandage open and ... NOTHING? The doctor even takes out his ear-checker thing -a-ma-bob to magnify it and cannot find the wound. Guess the principal did a good job cleaning and sealing it. Nevertheless, the boy wants out of school for the rest of the year because he can no longer write. How convenient.

- you realize that you're behind on your kid's annual checkups so the boy has his since we're at the office... and it sinks in that your girlie will need a needle at hers. Oh fun.

- your daughter has a hissy fit at her best friend's house because he got TWO caterpillars and a cocoon while she only got one caterpillar and chrysalis. She doesn't understand that it's nicer that only one will die on our watch. Welcome to Catty II, to replace Catty I.

- you print out 200 photos from Costco because you save 5 cents each and it only covers six months worth of our happy, happy 2008; and then you realize that you don't have the photo albums to put them in... you do research to make a photobook for your husband's colleague as she's moving to Europe and you realize ... DAMN! You could be making photobooks with full commentary instead of kicking it old, old, old school.

- you need a new bathing suit and prepare to go bathing suit shopping ...and your son tells you that you should probably get back to the gym before, because apparently that's the natural order. Ouch, how'd I get such a smartie? So we're going to McDonald's for lunch instead.

- your head wants to go back to the gym, but your heart isn't into it, probably because it doesn't want to work.

- your husband is in Copenhagan for the week, his Blackberry and computer are not functioning, so even if he did have Skype it wouldn't have worked...and he only manages to call a couple of times the first of which we miss because I am screaming at the kids to quit fooling around and get into bed. But the first words he says when he connects are "I love you and miss you". Smart man.

Cannot wait for tomorrow at 5 PM.

Happy weekend, friends!

*****

For more fantastic fragments, visit the home of
Mrs. 4444 when you get a chance.

Mom Central comes to Canada, eh...

So here's some great news for Canadian moms. A great one-stop online resource known as "Mom Central" which has been available in the U.S. for a while now, has made its way here, the Great White North!

What is Mom Central, you ask? As founder Stacy DeBroff puts it, "I wanted to create a resource for busy Moms - a place where Moms can trust they'll find helpful information they need to make their lives easier."

And Mom Central does just that. The site is loaded with valuable tips and information on everything from toddler toys and baby-proofing to household finances and green living. It is indeed a place where you can spend either a few minutes for quick click information ... or several hours popping in and out of the various areas such as the forum and blogs. Although it is obviously geared to moms, it would be of interest to dads, grandparents, people who know kids, people who want to know kids, or want to know what it's like to have kids...well, you get it.

See for yourself at www.momcentral.com.

And here's the bonus ... the Mom Central Testing Panel! Canadian Moms now get to try out the latest and greatest products and services and let companies who care about our opinion, know what we really think.

Moms can get involved today by clicking here to register for the Canadian Mom Central Testing Panel. If you sign-up during the month of June, you'll be entered into the draw to win 1 of 5 awesome Canon PowerShot cameras.

Aren't they bea-yoo-ti-ful?



(Contest open to Canadian residents only. Runs June 1 - 30, 2009; draw takes place July 6, and winners will be notified by e:mail).

Bloghopping my Fragments

Welcome to another ho-hum week in Karenland, Friday Fragments-style (show some love to the Fab Mrs4444 when you get a chance):

Exciting news of the week, particularly for the blogger in me: A Bloghopping reunion!! Whoot!

It's been revived for tonight, by the awesomeness who is BusyDad Jim. I found some of my best blogging buddies through this parents/girls/boys/everyone weekend out, that was the brainchild of Jim, oh back in early 2008. We also had some fun on the now defunct cre8buzz social network. Oh the good old less than instantaneous pre-twitter days...

So if you're here from there...

welcome or welcome back! I'll be checkin' you out later, with drinks in hand. And a very special BIRTHDAY hop to my gal fellow Bhopper Secret Agent Mama. Raise a glass to this talented lady too, 'kay? And be forewarned that the following will meander, as I have saved a Pomtini especially for this occasion.

Fragment #1

Got my haircut this week by the woman who I thought I would never go back to. She first cut my boy's hair when he was 2 years old. He loved her; my daughter has loved her since her first cut at 18 months; and now my hubs also goes to her. But me? I've had this psychological wall in my brain that had "do not go to the same stylist as the kids" graffiti ed across it. Why? I do not know.

Oh wait, maybe because I tried her once when the girlie was 10 months old, and she looked at my stomach area and asked if baby #3 was along the way. Jokingly, of course, but I how could I possibly think that was funny? I seethed through the 2 hour experience of cut and colour. Hubs thought the hair was nice; I never went back for myself. Well, until yesterday.

I guess in 4 years I've finally gotten over it, and to be honest, she did do a great job. It's poofy again, but my hair's longer and thinner, so I can deal.

Fragment #2

I am in desperate need of a light fixture for our kitchen (can you believe it's almost been 2 years since we started the kitchen reno?), new set of furniture for the family room (couches have lost all spring and are now a cesspool of bacterial toxin due to rotting cheese string fibres, juice box drippings, cookie crumblings), and new window coverings to replace the blinds that have been hacked to death by light sabers gone wild.

We're hosting a potluck for my hub's department next weekend, so there's a sense of urgency. I think two years is a bit of a long wait for kitchen lighting. Better get cracking.

Fragment #3

We slept in today. Yay? Well, not really, when you're woken up by your 9 year old screaming:

"IT'S 8:20, IT'S 8:20 WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!!".

I got up and immediately sprung into action. I'm really fighting any inclination I might have to be remotely organized by refusing to make the boy's lunch the night before. As if the sandwich would be any fresher made 12 hours later just to be packed for another 5 hours...but I digress.

I asked the boy what time he got up.

"7:00 AM". WHAT?

So why didn't he wake us up earlier? Well, apparently it's not really his responsibility, he just happened to look and noticed the time, so we were lucky. Get with the program parents!!! (GRRRRRR......!!!)

Thank goodness the man had taken the day off, so he was there to help me get the girl ready. She did change outfits, but only one time due to the time constraints. Can you believe they still made it onto the bus at 8:35 AM?

Me neither.

Fragment#4

After the kids were on the bus, we parents scuttled around a bit, still recovering from the rude awakening. Sitting down for our coffee, the door bell rang and we saw a tall man through the translucent curtains by the door.

We hate door-to-door sales people. Especially before we've had our coffee. Most of the time they're unscrupulous energy supply sales people who just want to spy on our electrical bills. So Ian got up to go the door, muttering under his breath..."Wonder who this JACKASS is now..."

And opens the door to one of my old friends from high school who I haven't seen in a couple of years!! Turns out he was in the neighbourhood to visit a client and was early, wanted to stop by to say "Hi". Of course I made a mad dash up the stairs to get something on (over my Tshirt and sweats) and could overhear him laughing with the hubs about how he was sure he saw me just in that state back in good old Scarborough days.

Pleasant surprise, and he cracked up when we told him we thought he was just a regular jackass.

Fragment #5

Husband had day off + girlie wanted to go her friend's for a playdate after school = bonus child-free afternoon for the adults.

Hubs took me to lunch down in Liberty Village, a part of town going through some re- gentrification. Last time I was there was when I took the boy down for his TV show audition.

We had a great meal at the Brazen Head pub; which would have been perfect were it not for the overabundance of Irish tunes blasting through the airwaves throughout the entire meal. I like an occasional Irish jig or two, but having to constantly suppress the irrational urge to get up and kick up our heels every half second was getting a tad annoying. It's an Irish pub... we get it. Just throw in something from this century for good measure, will ya? (They did play a couple of U2, Cranberries and Pogues tunes, but only a smattering. Must drive the wait staff batty!).

Fragment #6

We saw some interesting car ornaments on the way downtown. Never seen a taxi lei'd before? We just did.

So I put my creative hat on and I think I might fashion my own lei made up of decapitated Power Ranger torsos, Batman heads and GI Joe limbs. I have a huge collection strewn all over the basement play area floor, that are just begging to be re-used. My Odyssey will look grand adorned with a superhero inspired garland, don't you think?

I know, I'm a sick, sick puppy.

*****

That's all folks. Have a wonderful weekend.

Playing with the cool kids

(After too many beers and mojito mixes on a Friday night...)

"So do you think we're cool?"

"What do you mean cool? As opposed to being geeks? "I freakin' love Celine Dion*" type geeks?"

"Yeah, like that. I mean, Grant and Sophie, I think they're cool. They've got great taste in music."

" They do like a lot of what we like. What is this, high school? And who's to say that we're not geeks anyway, who just happen to like cool music?"

"Yeah. We should have a party and play the 80's music trivia game that I played at my departmental get-together. I slaughtered everyone. We ARE geeks."

"We should do that. And you watch, I'll wipe you. I mean I'll swipe your ...I mean wipe your ... wait, scratch that ... KICK your ...ASS. You know what I mean."

(And that, folks, is how drunk, exhausted and geeky middle-aged parents of young children who live in the 'burbs talk. While wishing that they had the energy to be doing something fun as opposed to sinking further into their "coma couch" trying to keep their eyes open for the 11 o'clock news...)

*****

This time, I'm not a geek. Temporarily, anyway. The 'other' me is playing with the cool folks.

My first ever guest post, at the home of the cool and beautiful JustMiss.

Check it out.

(*And I know that Miss does love the occasional Celine tune; but trust me, she's still beyond kool.)

Weekly Winners: Portrait of a blogger as a diarist

In starting this 31DBBB exercise, in between the daily "I should be doing something more productive" brain twits, I've been thinking about what this blog is, what I want to do with it, and why I started it in the first place.

I started it because of my kids. This is something tangible, my virtual bottle of memories.

Eureka moment.

We had a lovely Easter dinner at my SIL's and my other SIL shared with us something so wonderful and amazing. Her father, who had passed 10 years ago, had actually kept a series of diaries. He wrote every single day from day one of his marriage to the day of his death. And now his children have his diaries, to look back at their own lives as seen through their Dad's eyes. Incredible.

And these are my kids through my eyes.

"Look Mommy, I'm so tall now" (me: *sob*)

Meet my doe-eyed personal trainer...

Okay, are we working or playing?

Cool bandit

Easter chickee has a drink

Too much Easter alcohol ;)

Egg dipping, or "Mom forces us to be crafty"

Like my egg?

Easter brights

HAPPY EASTER!

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to visit the home of Weekly Winners, chez Lotus.

Back to black

Along with other things recently, this blog has suffered somewhat. So I decided (and hopefully I won't regret) to do something about it. I joined Problogger's 31 days to build a better blog (31DBBB).

I've already missed some of the first assignments, including the following:
1/ SWOT analysis... on my blog? This is old school biz school. But I suppose I should take a stab at it, being a verified old skooler and all.
2/ Develop an "elevator pitch" for my blog. Marketing 101 again, I suppose. I think it will certainly come in handy at BlogHer '09, though. If people take pity and chat with me in the bar food line, I'll have something more interesting to throw at them. One would hope.

Both those items are now homework.

I'm rolling the next couple of assignments into one. Today we are putting together a list post and practicing promotion. I'm also going to give you some useful advice based on experience. Recent experience, trying to go back to my original *cough* hair colour.

So here we go ...

Ten things that you NEED to know before you colour your own hair.

(I did this, not only as my salute to frugality in honour of our recessionary times, but also because the last salon colour I got lasted about 4 days before grays started peeking out, and I don't have another two hours and $70 to waste again any time soon.)

1/ Pre-prep work: Do the allergy test. Just don't put it in a conspicuous spot where people will wonder if that's a honkin' new mole or you're just happy to see them.

2/ Prep work: Read the instructions from beginning to end, BEFORE you start. That way you won't miss the part about framing your face with face cream so you can clean off the " scream" effect more easily later.

3/ What to wear: Borrow an old shirt from the man. Just don't forget that there's a reason he wanted to chuck it, as it is HUGE and that drips that you don't wipe away immediately will end up giving you "dirt-neck". Ewww...

4/ Surround Sound: During the rinse cycle, don't have the TV on "Tyra" while they are discussing Facebook and Twitter addictions. Or at least turn the volume down so you don't know what you're missin' or what you should be dissin'. (Tyra? WTH?)

5/ The Area: Clear the decks. Give yourself ample room for splash and remove all possible targets within a 6 foot radius. And it's not a moshpit, so try to keep your head as still as possible when you're slathering. I forgot about my last foray into Jackson Pollock-ville.

6/ Pre-pre-prep work: Cut your hair to one inch length.

7/ How long? Regarding those "10 minutes to go" kits? Realize that 10 minutes only refers to the time that the colour should sit in the hair. But there's a dilemma. Do you time from the start, or when you've completed the whole head... because by the time you finish it could be closer to 20-30 minutes.

And then you're totally emo.

Make it easy on yourself. See #6.

8/Survival tip A: Keep the gloves on, or if possible, upgrade to longer elbow length versions. Black rivulets of hair dye cannot pass for cool henna tattoos. Cannot.

9/Survival tip B: If you wear specs like I do, put aluminum foil on the arms. You're not baking them, but they do actually save them from wrecking during the development time.

10/ Survival tip C: But don't wear your glasses while you're actually putting the colour in your tresses because it's difficult to work around the foil. And therein lies the problem, particularly if you're blind as a bat like I am. Just cross your fingers and be thankful that you can't see the back or the top of your head.

So that's the list!

And now, I will tweet this.

Mission accomplished. Next mission, a decent haircut.

Whaddya think?




(The boy thinks it looks awkward, as in "good black, in a totally emo kind of way, Mom". A good thing?)

Visiting the motherhood in 80 clicks

The whole time we were going through our infertility struggles, I remember sitting down at various points wondering what it was that drove me to want children so, so badly. It seemed almost obsessive, my drive to become a mother. Bringing me to the brink of insanity, sometimes, the frustration of it all. But I never found a good answer.

I was never one of those 'aw, coochie-coo' ing type of people growing up. Babies were cute, but I didn't necessarily need to have them in my arms. Admiring from afar was fine. Babysitting was a means to an end for me; I'm sure I corrupted many a youngster in my care with bad TV or inappropriate musical fare.

I suppose I'm a lot like my mother in that respect. While she loved and still loves each and every one of her own children and grandchildren, she's just pragmatic about all the rest. A labour and delivery nurse and trained midwife, she could lull a crying baby in half a second, but babies and kids were just part of work. Or in her words, just a lot of work.

Now that I've been a mom for almost NINE years (how in the world did THAT happen?), I can't say that my progeny will not be corrupted with bad reality TV or questionable selections from my iPod. Being a mom is not all about running through the fields and playing hide and seek amongst freshly laundered sheets, singing happy songs during circle time ... there are both good times and bad. But I wouldn't trade it for a second. Not a one.

So in celebration of all things good in the motherhood, I've decided to join the travelling caravan of blogging moms around the world, launched at Her Bad Mother. I share herewith, five things that I love about being a mother :

1/ I love that when I stroke my daughter's face, in awe of her white as snow, soft skin, her doe- eyes turn to me, she throws her little arms around my neck and she whispers "I love you mama" in my ear.

2/ I love that for every moment like this (and this is only 7 seconds, folks, I had to endure 10 minutes of contrived drama):


there are about five more like this:


3/ I love the squeals of wonder when they wake up Christmas morning to see that cookies left for Santa have been devoured and the stockings are stuffed with new little goodies.

4/ I love our good night kisses, the heart-felt "I love you too. See you in the morning"s. And how they usually pass out within three minutes.

5/ I love the Sunday morning snuggle in our king sized bed. We are sleepy, we are fuzzy, we are cozy. We are loved.

I sometimes wish that I could just stop time and capture these wonderful childhood moments in a bottle. That there were some way to savour them time and time again. I know things will change, the children will grow. I only hope that they will always know that the love that their mother holds for them knows no bounds.

*****

And now for the tour... I ask you to visit some other Canadian blogging moms: a new mom, blogging pal C of Random Thoughts & Musings at Manitoulin Island, and newer blogging friends at The Petite Gourmand and Blog like no one is reading.

A couple of moms from the US: Donna at Spuddy Buddy and Domestic Goddess in Training at Love, Laughs and Lice

And a couple of moms from overseas: Etc, Etc, Etc, the lovely Debbie from Japan and tiff and her beautiful family in Australia.

Enjoy.

Unfashionably Late for the Party...

You know back a little while ago when I said it was all about the quality of comments rather than the quantity? Well, I guess I sorta LIED. Where did all my bloggy peeps go? Last year this time I had double the number of visitors.

To be honest, though, I haven't been a good blog citizen either. I have been terrible at getting around to my favourite reads, let alone finding new ones. My reader has exploded ten times over. And I apologize for that...I think it will take a while for my former blogging ferocity to right itself again.

So what I must do is SCHMOOZE and thanks to 5 minutes for Mom, I have an opportunity! Let's do a bit of partying, and see if I can lure back some old friends while making a few new ones drunk...

Well, the digs haven't changed much since last year.

If you're new here, welcome, pull up a chair, or stand if you'd like, as I've got some awesome lounge/club music in the background... or if you're in a more laid back mood, let's listen to some Jason or Ray (blip and sip with me...)

We've got drinks...

Oops, wait a minute, since I had my gall bladder attack we should have low fat:

We've got appies...

We've got semi-naked guys wearing feathers...

Ahem.

So allow myself to re-introduce myself...

I'm Karen, a mom of 2 who lives in suburban Canada. I drive a tan bland minivan (as opposed to a lean, mean, driving machine... but then I never had one of those - and this goes to show, NEVER say never); my kids like soccer, I like my Tim's or Starbucks lattes, and I carry around a purse, but not so much Coach but more of the "one-of-a-kind made from scuba material" type pouch. I also like to use brackets and quotation marks unnecessarily.

I blog about my life, my kids, my husband when he's being good to me, my affair with the gym (Bodyjam, which I am missing with such a passion because I tried to do the good sport Mom thing and ended up with a sprained knee falling on a B.C. bunny hill), and other miscellaneous brain farts along the way. I work as a consultant when I'm not eating bonbons. I like shopping a bit too much, as you'll see from my Fashion Friday posts. And I love to blog.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to pop into a few of your sites in the next little while as the party winds itself down. If the gods are crazy, they will bestow upon me one of the following Blog Party gifts...

USC 45 — Pair of shoes from Eleven Collection Spring/Summer 09′
Provided by: Wishing Penny

USC 10 — The Big Combo Pack
Provided by: Mabel’s Labels

USC 47 — $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com by Shoshana of Just Say these Words
Provided by: Just Say these Words

Oh, and by the way I happen to be hosting my own giveaway, check this out... (limited to Canadians only, but once I get the ball rolling on the review gig, maybe I'll start getting international product too).

Happy blog party-hopping all...