Halloween

Another Halloween over with. It was subdued this year more than other years, I think. It gets me down a bit, how many people in our neighbourhood leave their houses dark. I mean, it makes no sense to me: you live in a neighbourhood with lots of little kids; would it kill you to buy $30 worth of candy and answer the door to a few dozen excited little kids? Is oooh-ing and awwww-ing over some cute little cuties such a difficult thing to do?

When I was a little girl, man, we used to fly through this neighbourhood, and there were very VERY few houses that were dark. Like, you knew who they were, and you secretly hated them all year long. But now, there are huge stretches of people who leave their lights out. We put up lights, a huge blow up ghost, speakers playing scary music, pumpkins...you name it! But the houses on either side AND directly across the street are dark. It's disheartening.

This year, because of the ongoing drama of my knee, I didn't GO trick-or-treating...I stayed home and shelled out. Michael got to go with the big gang. Aaaaaaaaaand...he lost Brian and the rest of the gang within I'd say the first 5 minutes out in the world. I look up the street and see he and Graeme strolling back towards the house, sans Brian. "I lost them!" he says to me. I freak out (because of course, my mother radar, even though I was pretty sure Brian was safely with the other mommies, was going into full-tilt-lost-kid-panic-mode) and start calling to find out if they have Brian, which they do. Then I yell at Michael and tell him where he can catch up with them. 8 years of doing this, I've never lost my kid. First year out, Michael loses the kid. Sheesh!

Still, the boys had a great night. Apparently Graeme was a trooper (gotta be hard being 3, keeping up with 7-9 year olds!) and they got the mother load of candy. Nothing like what I used to haul in back in the good old days, but not bad. And on that note, OMG the chocolate bars are SO small now!!! I mean really!!!! The Mr. Big bar...honestly...there is a marketing opportunity extrordanaire right there...make your bar BIGGER than the rest of the Halloween bars. But nope. It might even be smaller! The winner of the "Oh-My-God-That's-Not-Even-A-Mouthful" Award (this award is for CANDY! Mind out of the gutter) goes to the Caramilk bar. They used to have 2 sections, and this year, it has shrunk to only one. Smaller than the size of a chocolate at Christmastime. Shocking. So there's my fat-girl rant.

Now...on to Christmas!

My baby is 3!!

When did this happen?? How can I have a 3 year old...I only had him 5 minutes ago! He has passed the INCREDIBLY, UNSPEAKABLY terrible twos...and now he's into the "improving slightly" threes. Graeme, in personality, takes much more after me than he does his dad. He's very outgoing, rather bad-tempered, hilarious, and he swears like a sailor. Well, not quite, but he does come out with some pretty good ones. He often calls his brother a "c-word"...which means crap, not the OTHER c-word, chill out. He has also invented his own personal swear: he likes to call Brian a big "graybee"...whatever that is. But it's a bad one.

When Graeme is charming, he is adorable. He's irresistible! And because of the charm, he gets away with the other stuff. When Graeme is happy, everybody is happy. And if Graeme loves you, he loves the c-word out of you! I really like this kid...I think he's going to be good people.

Yesterday we had the family over for cake. Cathie and I combined our efforts and made a Mike Wazowski cake, and man did it turn out GREAT! Totally worth the effort when I saw the smile on Graeme's face! He was over the moon about it, and his first comment was "I'm gonna EAT him!" Which we did! He was yummy!

Happy Birthday, my baby clam!

Potty Training

This week, I decided that it's time to potty train Graeme. He's past 2 & 1/2 and he's a smart little cookie, so I figured he could handle it...and I'm right. Now, he has yet to do a poo in the potty, but since he finally let go in the potty the other day, he's been accident free and he's loving going in the potty like mommy and daddy and Brian and Parker and Davis and Gramma and Poppa and everybody else he can think of! It's cute to hear him rhyme them off while he goes pee. And he's now discovered that he gets a chocolate for every pee in the potty....which is kind of working against us, since now whenever he decides he wants chocolate, magically, he has to pee. Now I have to be the pee pee monitor, to make sure that actual pee has hit the potty, and he's not just faking me out for chocolate. So I told him no more chocolate for pees. Now the chocolate is for a poo. Hope the poo part goes as smoothly as the pee part did. So to speak. Yuck.

Anyway...I'm really proud of my little man. Both my guys potty trained really fast! I totally think it's because I waited until they were past 2 & 1/2 and by this age, they really get it. Any sooner, seems like it's just aggravation, which is no fun for anybody!

Oh...Happy Canada Day!

My Piano Man

Yesterday was the Laurier Idol show at Bri's school. Lots of little girls getting up on stage and dancing. And my brave little kid, who didn't do a piano recital this year, got up in front of the whole school, and played Sonatina on the piano. I was so nervous for him, but he seemed cool as a cucumber! Played the whole thing perfectly! And even Poppa showed up and sat in the sweltering gym to see him play! I have to say...I don't think I could have done that at his age. I was in the school plays and in choir and stuff, but getting up, all by myself like that...I was pretty insanely proud of him!

Fun Land!!!

That's what Graeme was calling Wonderland today. Clearly he is adorable and hilarious like his darling mother. Today was the third annual "take the kids out of school and go to Wonderland before school is out and the crowds hit" trip. This year, it wasn't as hot as previous years, but it was totally packed. And being as I have the bum knee and all, I am delighted to report that I decided against the wheelchair (horror!) and walked the park! Now, there was lots of sitting and resting, and I am sore now, but I did manage it, and I am pretty pleased with myself.

Brian was a little sad to still be purple. And unless he has some HUGE growth spurt before next summer, he's going to be purple next year too...which sucks because he really wants to ride the scary rides. Ah well...you can't do anything about that stuff, and since I don't do the rides, i'm sure Michael will be just as glad to wait another summer.

Something fun...ran into Nikki at the park! I love when I'm out and about and I run into someone beloved! She was with Amy and Sanja...both Facebook friends, and all the kids. It was pretty cool!

What amazed me today was the amount of scantily-clad-yet-extremely-chubby-and-bouncy young girls! When I was in high school, I was one of very few fat girls. Now, it seems like fat is WAY the norm, and man, these fatties are out there showing off the goods! They care not for support garments or gunts...they are OUT THERE! And frankly...I don't think I care for it. I mean, I am ALL for fat acceptance, but you know...just because you CAN cram your ass into it, doesn't mean you SHOULD. I mean, it's more that i'm thinking of others...i would rather leave a little something to the imagination...wrap the gift, ladies.

All in all, a very busy but very fun day!

All Uncovered

Last night was the Watchmen show in Burlington. We arrived WAYYYYYY too early! Like hilariously early, it turns out. There were 3 opening acts, all of them were good, but still, the Watchmen didn't take the stage until after midnight and only played an hour and a half. The sound was a little crappy. But it was great to see them, and they played a new song: "Trampoline" which was pretty good...had a little country feel to it, but still rock-y and good. They opened with "I'm Blind" which is always awesome live, and they played "Middle East" which might be my favourite song of theirs.

As always, it was good to spend time with Steve. He and I are always so in synch when it comes to what the idiots around us are doing. And I know that at any point in the show, I can look at him, and he and I are thinking pretty much the same thing. It's nice to have an in synch fellow conert goer. Michael went off by himself right in the front to see the band better...didn't see him until it was all over. What I'd like to know is, why is everybody so freaking tall?? And why does nobody take pity on the short girl?? The super tall freaky and incredibly ugly chick standing in front of me had her camera out...she probably took 20 pictures of each song, PLUS video. It was irritating the hell out of me! I felt like slapping her in the back of the head and telling her "I think you've fucking CAPTURED the moment!"

Anyway...nice to see that the boys still have it. I am grateful for every chance I get to see them live.

well THAT didn't last long!

How do the South Beach people DO it?? Not eating carbs is horrible! Carbs are so awesome! I mean I could really write volumes about the delights of the carbohydrate! You know what occurred to me in the throes of the high protein diet? A lot of protein comes from dead animals. And after eating more than usual of the dead animal fare, I started feeling kinda bad about it. And also, a little gross. A nice stick of crusty french bread never hurt anybody, you know?

On another note, my Brian was student of the month for May! Who would have ever thought that something like that would mean so much to me? Not me, that's for sure! I hope I'm not becoming one of those super-competitive parents! They suck! But it's so clearly awesome when your kid is awesome! Good lord...someone lock me up!

my brian

I went tonight with Brian to his piano lesson. Usually daddy does the piano lessons, and I do swimming lessons, but I haven't seen him play in a long time, so I went. I was so impressed! I had no idea how good he's getting! He was so focused, and knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing, and he reads music really well! When I found his piano teacher when he was 4, this was exactly what I was hoping for...and watching him tonight made me so proud of him! My kid rocks!

Eating Low Carb

So...while I have the cholesterol of a 12 year old, my sugar is slightly elevated...not unusual for someone who is fat, because fat is insulin resistant...however, it worries me a bit, because I would really hate for "slightly elevated" in my 30's to become type 2 diabetes in my 40's or 50's. So...I'm looking at the whole low carb craze.

Just looking at my diet, i'm obviously not all that careful about my sugar intake. And of course, i'm a HUGE fan of bread in all its forms...aren't we all? So now, I'm going to have to really think about it. Like one of my favourite things to drink is Nestea iced tea...guess that's out. Today, it is replaced by Perrier with a hint of lime. But as for the eating...well that scares the crap out of me. Since the visit to the Dr. yesterday, I really haven't eaten a whole lot. I'm thinking about it so much that i'm almost afraid to put anything in my mouth. Now, my Dr., he said that because my cholesterol is so good, just eat meat. Um...barf! I just sent Michael to the grocery store with a long list of veggies to get, you know...to throw in there with the meat. I mean, I loves me some bacon, but I'm going to get pretty sick of it if my diet is heavy on the protien. On the plus side, i'm looking at sugars in all their formations like they are poison to my body now. How long that will last, i really don't know. I will say this though...the other day I ate a piece of cake at a birthday party, and it made me feel all weird, and i know it's because i was over sugared. You aren't supposed to feel like that, I'm pretty sure.

All in all, it's one more thing to give me stress. Right now, seriously, something has GOT to give. Because I'm a little afraid of the meltdown that's coming. I'm looking for diversions, but they are hard to find, and occasionally, stressful in and of themselves. Sometimes, being a grown up just SUCKS!

ow ow fuckety ow!

Got back from the Dr. a little while ago. He's making an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon about the giant chunks of bone floating around in my knee. Ug. The good news is that, for a fatty, my blood tests are fantastic! Cholesterol level of a 12 year old. Yeah, you can touch me, i'm real...

The Fairy Tale Ball

Today was the culmination of the Fairy Tale Extravaganza at school. Which, of course, means that all the mommies (not the daddies though...very rarely the daddies) whip out their costumes (aka: Princess dresses, and you would be amazed how many mommies have them!) and sashay to the school (it is impossible not to sashay when wearing a gown, I assure you) to partake in the Fairy Tale Ball. The theme this year was "Magic", so in addition to the usual bevvy of princes and princesses, there were a rather large population of wizards and witches, as well as magicians. Pretty cool stuff! We danced the Tooty-Ta (always a favourite!) and the Dragon Stomp, which was a new one for me. A good time was had by all, as always.

Note: My Princess dress definitely needs washing!

My little runner

Today was the day of Brian's first cross country meet! I was so thrilled that he made the team (some of his close friends didn't!), and the meet was today after not a whole lot of training. I was nervous for him, because I didn't really know what to expect, and he was a little nervous too. I warned him about the group start, telling him to get away from the other kids, and just pace himself...and that was pretty much all the advice I could give him.

So we arrived, and there he was, looking so adorable in his school jersey. There were 27 schools at the meet, grades 3, 4, 5 and 6...so tons of excited, jacked up kids running all over the place. I'm glad he was in grade 3...I didn't have to wait too long to watch him run. His start was somewhere in the middle of the pack, and as the kids were coming around the first stretch, the track, some of them were walking already, but not my puddin'. He was just running along, pacing himself perfectly, looking like all of this was no big deal. They ran off, into the forest, and we walked down to where we would eventually be able to see them emerging. And when I saw him come out of the forest, my heart nearly burst with pride! He looked so athletic and so competent, running along the path...toward the big hill! The final leg of the race took them up a big hill, across a bridge, and then down the grass to the finish where we were waiting, cheering for him!

He sprinted to the finish line, 60th out of 91 kids who ran, but second place out of the 6 who ran from his school. I was so proud of him! What a kid! And he had so much fun doing it! I couldn't believe how much stamina he had...he looked like he could have run a lot more than he did! Who would have thought that I would have an athletic kid? Yay!!

Going a little crazy, maybe?

I am really not sure how much more I can take. I think I might be as stressed as I've ever been in my whole life. I'm falling apart here...

...and the air conditioning goes on...

Yep...it's only April...theoretically could still have a big snowstorm, and I have boys who I kicked outside to play (a la my own upbringing) begging to come back in because it's too hot out there! Which, of course, I already know, since I am smart enough to stay inside where it's cool and there are no UV rays threatening to prematurely age me!

I understand that there are people, lots and lots of them, who have spent the whole winter inside waiting for this day, where it is sunny and hot and they can just soak it in; I however, am not one of them. I am an inside person. I just am. I enjoy temperatures that can be controlled. Sweating is not something that I enjoy in any way (well...maybe in one way but that's it!) So I think I will let all you outdoors people do...that. I am going to sit here, maybe watch a little TV, and enjoy the cool.

The "Super"store??????

Super my BUTT!! I went to the Superstore today, and what a nightmare. The store looked like a bomb hit it, and it was out of EVERYTHING! I was mildly annoyed, as i wheeled up and down the aisles, at how many things were out of stock. I realize it's easter Monday, but seriously, the store looked like it had been ransacked by hurricane Katrina crowds! Which I might understand if I had shown up first thing in the morning, but I was there at around 6pm, so they had all day to stock shelves...as I say, mildly annoyed.

So I go to the cash registers, and see every single one of them lined up. That's pretty usual, so I get in a lineup and proceed to flip through a magazine with Jason Segel, Paul Rudd and the gang on the front. I had time to read the entire article before it occurred to me that the line was NOT moving. I looked at the cashier and she is just standing there, apparently awaiting some price confirmation about a set of pots and pans. With my annoyance growing, I began wondering if I should just find another line. Eventually, I decide that's the best thing to do, and I get into another line. I manage to unload about half my groceries onto the conveyor belt when I notice that this line has stopped as well. Some problem with the price of a jar of Nutella and also, a travel mug. So now, not only have I waited in line for close to 1/2 an hour, but I'm really annoyed because the grocery store is empty, and what little they do have isn't even priced correctly, and clearly the woman in front of me is desperate to own this travel mug. So I say to the cashier, "what the hell is going on here...the store looks like a bomb hit it...nobody knows the prices of anything...where is everybody?? Where is a manager...I want to speak to a manager." She looks at me like I'm green, and then she tells me that I can go to customer service if I want to talk to a manager. That is when I lose it. I tell her that no, I've waited in line for 1/2 an hour in this stupid store, and I am NOT waiting in line for a manager so I can complain...bring on here...FIND ONE AND BRING HIM HERE TO ME. So she stands there for a minute, then turns to what is clearly another cashier and, in whatever language they both seem to speak (not english) and it appears she tells her to come deal with me. Over she comes and I say to her "are you the manager?" and she says "yes" and I say "you are the MANAGER of this store? If I call this store and ask to speak to the store manager, it's you that's going to pick up the phone, is that right?" and she says "no", so I say "WELL YOU GO AND GET ME THE MANAGER!" After more irritated rigamarole (I'm still standing in line though), some young dude comes bopping down, declaring himself to be the Grocery Manager. At this point, I'm just ready to kill everyone, so I tell him what my problems are, and he stands there and nods sympathetically...and then says "well you know...it's easter weekend...we were closed yesterday and we were really busy on Saturday" and my head just explodes. I'm like yeah, i'm aware of what weekend it was; were YOU guys aware of what weekend it was?? Because your store certainly wasn't stocked adequately for it! Oh and also, asshat, easter weekend is OVER, and you've had all night and day to get things ship shape again. Dude is just nodding, saying "i totally understand what you're saying...I totally hear you..." ARG!!! Clearly you DON'T, you fucking halfwit. So I bitched my face off, and you know what's going to happen? Exactly nothing. I effing hate that store...I swear, I'm stopping shopping there.

Also...i wish more people just spoke english better. *sigh*