Phew! Holidays OVER!

Maybe I'm just getting to be an old grouch, but while I love the month of December, the decorations and the spirit of the season, I have really started to loathe Christmas day! It's just SO much pressure! First you have to obsessively keep up the Santa myth. Then you have to make sure your children make a list of wishes, which they never can because they're so freaking spoiled rotten. Then you have to figure out what they want the MOST, battle the idiots in the malls to GET it...and then Santa gets the credit for it. And now that I have 2 kids, I have to make sure the gift count is similar, not to mention having to buy for my brother's 3 kids. In a year where Michael was out of work for 5 months...that was a little pressure-y for me. So I am glad to see the back of it. Yet sad to take down my Christmas tree. Irony.

Now onto 2010. It's gotta be better than 2009. Even just a little. My big plans for the year are to lose weight, have knee surgery, get a job, and run a 5k. Pretty much in that order. I'm so looking forward to getting a job! I am so sick of being broke and having to depend on my husband for money. It sucks far worse than anyone could ever tell you. So employment...after my knee is fixed and I've lost a few pounds. Anybody hiring?

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.