Adventures in a black maple box

And the survey says...

2007-06-05T20:59:00.001-04:00

Who are these people who get surveyed for the answers in Family Feud?? So many shows, with 100 people surveyed every time. Have you ever known anyone to be surveyed? Or is it the same group every time?? I want to know. In fact, I think I'd like to be surveyed. At what other time would you be asked "On average, how long does a celebrity wedding last?" and "What is the most important thing needed to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey" in the same survey?

So cool.

Dress warm, it's cold inside.

2007-05-28T13:09:00.000-04:00

It's an annual tradition. Just about this time every year I have to complain about it. So bear with me would ya? The warm weather has initiated the mass uncovering of air conditioners nationwide. Of course, it's a necessity on the days that reach in the high twenties or unbearable thirties. What I have a beef with is the temperature people set their ACs to, particularly malls, restaurants, and my work.

In the winter we set our household to 22.7 celsius (73 F). That's the room temperature I feel comfortable at...when wearing a sweater, long pants, and fuzzy socks. In the summer, we'll set our room temperature to around 24-25 celsius (76-77F) because this is the temperature I'm comfortable when wearing a tank, shorts (and the like) and bare feet. Am I the only one who finds this logical? Apparently, since I have to pretty much bring a change of clothes everywhere in the summer. With air conditioners blazing, indoor areas other than my house feel absolutely FREEZING to me and I'm stuck wearing my sweater and having my toes chilled to the bone (unfortunately I don't have much toe fat to insulate them...wait, maybe that makes me fortunate...I'm not sure yet). By the time we are done with winter, the last thing I want is to wear warm clothes, and if I have to put another sock on I'm going to self-appoint myself leader of the coalition against air conditioners. It just seems ridiculous to me that people go so crazy, setting their temps lower than what I keep my house at in the winter. Yes, granted, that first initial wall of cold you hit when you enter somewhere on a hot day gives a euphoric feeling, but every breathe I take brings me one step closer to a brain freeze.

Excuse me while I step outside to bring my toes back to flesh tone... That is all.

IF you want his body, AND you think he's sexy, come on ladies, let him know!

2007-05-24T08:42:00.001-04:00

So...enough time has now passed that I can calmly recall the event that took place the evening of Tuesday, May 15 2007. Dressed in our 'concert best', my mom and I headed out to dinner at Tru, a nice downtown restaurant located kitty-corner to the venue we were soon heading too. We threw all caution to the wind and dined on a feast of garlic-infested pasta and caesar salad. Admittedly, I gave a brief consideration for the poor folks that might be sitting near me, but it was like I said...brief. And it was good. Damn good.

The threat of a large thunderstorm which reared its ugly head while we ate dinner, causing the lights to briefly flicker, was not enough to keep my mom from heading outside with an umbrella to cross the road to get to the JLC. Did you fall off your chair yet? Maybe I'm not properly conveying to you what a HUGE deal that is for her. Whenever my Mom merely hears thunder she gets that Haley Joel Osment look on her face when he whispers "I see dead people" in the Sixth Sense. It was a proud moment.

Okay, so getting to the good stuff. If you don't live under a rock or if you at the very least read my blog, then you can figure out from the title that we went to see Rod Stewart. And you know what? It was a great show. The musicians who performed with him were no less than amazing and were featured with huge solos while Rod went below the stage to make one of his million outfit changes. I haven't yet decided whether he does this for visual appeal for his audience, because he's really sweaty, or if it's just the easiest excuse for him to take a break...you know, given his age and all... I just kind of wish someone would have warned me about all of his bum-shaking tendencies. On second thought, I'm glad nobody told me because it made it that much more entertaining. Surprisingly though, the continuous hip shakes and close up of buttocks on jumbo-tron was not enough to elicit any panties onto the stage. My mom and I had bets on this (with no actual reward on the line). I thought for sure there had to be at least one set of underwear that made it on stage. But my mom had it right, no undies. And her reasoning was probably right too. Not many women in that audience wore the sexy thong-type anymore. Maybe they realized that Rod wouldn't go crazy for a heaping pile of full-size skin-toned ladies bloomers on the stage. Oh, but what a freakin' funny visual!!!! Thanks Mom!

In short, a good time was had by all. Well maybe not by the person beside me. When Steve came into the bedroom the next morning to bring me a coffee, he made it very clear that the room smelled like we had just plugged in a glade air freshener...garlic scent.

The Horribleness

2007-05-18T09:21:00.000-04:00

Don't knock my title, because I know I speak English real good...

I'm referring to my posting frequency, but I think that's all about to change. This summer I will be a lady of leisure* for two days a week.

*Leisure= housecleaning, cooking, laundry, gardening

More on this later (with an update of some kind I'll try to throw in)...I'm at work right now, what do you expect??!

This was our day

2007-03-25T20:30:00.000-04:00

Since Gord had such an exciting Saturday, with his performance and all, we decided to have a fun Sunday at home. Gord was in the best mood this weekend and I just wanted to capture what I could in pictures. Because of the way they load, the pictures aren't in sequential order, but you get the idea.

Where is Gordon?

So ticklish!

On the way to the slide.

I think he's going the wrong way.

Hello in there!

A leisurely ride in the wagon from Gran.

Here I am with my 25 cent cup of lemonade. Not too much inflation if you ask me! Three cute neighborhood girls had a lemonade stand in their driveway. Couldn't resist supporting a local merchant.

Had to post it.

Thought he could sneak into the passenger seat for a change. No luck silly Gordon!

Almost home.

Loves the swing.

He always falls flat on his back coming down the slide. Maybe he'll be a good luger (the winter sport. I dictionary.com'd it.)

This was our day Part 2

2007-03-25T19:53:00.000-04:00

He almost looks cross-eyed in this one don't ya think?

Loved this goofy face.

Oh ya, this is the new colour of our living room for those who haven't seen it...which is pretty much everyone.

I call this the Trump line of baby toupees. (Note: I didn't think toupee was spelled correctly but I dictionary.com'd it, and it is. So don't think I'm stupid.)

A great strummer already.

Look at the form! He's a natural!

It's a bird! It's a plane!

So funny.

No, it was just a bag!

If you were to take an exam on "Gordon", you should probably study this:

2007-03-20T19:50:00.000-04:00

Physical data:

- weighs 23 lbs 12 oz.
- head to heel length of 32 in.
- about 10 teeth (it seems to be increasing daily...)

Favourite hobbies:

- running all over
- getting chased
- being tickled
- singing "eee-i-eee-i-ooooooooooooooo" at random times of the day
- watching Rogers-on-demand baby videos
- reading "Hoot hoot", the book that will teach your infant all about the birds and the bees (thanks you-know-who!).
- talking. The daycare teachers always comment how much he babbles (in a way that makes me feel likes it's abnormally lots...)
- playing "peek-a-boo" (with fingers on one hand completely spread to expose an eye...that he thinks we can't see)
- climbing, oh god, the climbing

Things that raise his cuteness factor:

- the way he picks out a new stuffed animal friend from his bookcase every morning or awakening from nap
- the big hugs, cuddles and kisses to the stuffed animals
- the big open-mouthed kisses to mom and dad
- the way he's started to say "mum" (no mummy)
- how he'll grab his "Gordon's day" paper after daycare, stare at it intently and begin jibber-jabbering as if he's reading right off the paper.
- chasing the Dude and laughing at him whenever he gets within reach. And also the way he pets him so gently.

New tricks:

- walking around drinking his sippy cup with no hands and his head thrown completely back like he's balancing something on his forehead
- diving into the ball tent
- sticking out his tongue and pointing to it when you ask him where his tongue is

Vocabulary: (other than the ones previously mentioned)

- car, baby, moo, teeth (sounds like "heesh"), kitty, puppy, Maya (the cute girl at daycare!), ta ta (this is his newest one and says it after we tell him it to stop touching something. He mocks us already! Great!)

Study hard, you may have a pop-quiz someday.

I want Radiohead while I pick out my red pepper

2007-03-18T19:11:00.000-04:00

Do you remember tagging along with your parents while they did the grocery shopping? Then you must surely remember the horrible music "of the day" that was always playing over the store stereo system. It was music that appealed to people our parent's age, that was supposed to make them "bee-bop" while they shopped, make them more happy so they would buy more. Admittedly, a clever marketing ploy. Children like me hated this music of course because it just...well...how do I say it...wasn't our taste. I craved the day when I had children and was grocery shopping to all of my faves.

Well, what's up with the grocery stores I shop in??!! I went for my weekly trip and had to put up with music from the cheesy "easy-rock" genre. The music hasn't changed in 20 YEARS!!!! What's wrong with these people??! The music co-ordinator is probably still running the same mixed tape their high-school girlfriend made them back in the day. Someone needs to tell them that feeling like I have to vomit won't make me buy more food.

Enough said.

Just so ya know...

2007-03-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

Steve went out tonight, and while he was gone I put the computer in my lap, put on my favourite shows, and wrote a big post. Oh wait, I forgot to mention the most important part, I switched to the new blogger. And do you know how they welcomed me to their new blogger world? By ERASING MY WHOLE POST!!!!!!! I am sooooooooo upset. And sorry, that you checked this page and are greeted by this super lame post instead of the super cool one that I wrote (ya, I can say that cause you'll never get to read it).

This thing has it out for me. Even as I wrote this, a whole paragraph got highlighted and deleted. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! Why is this happening to me??!

Hope you're all having a better blogging night than I am.

Going to post some Gord pics soon. (my lame attempt to lure you back again...in less than a month).

"Why are you pants?"

2007-02-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

So the question has recently been raised as to the meaning behind the blogger profile pic. Come on, there has got to be someone who knows me who understands what this means?!

*Hint*: I'm a really big nerd. I'm warning you, I mean really big.

Anyway, I did something today that I never, ever, ever, thought I'd ever do in my life. EVER! I bought tickets to a Rod Stewart concert... (head hanging shamefully). And it's not like I just bought them off some guy for two bucks who was desperate for some cash...oh no...I literally set up the laptop half-hour early, put Gord down for a nap strategically timed so as to not have any disturbances when the tickets became available for sale at 10am, repetatedly refreshed the page every two seconds starting at 9:55am and pounced for the best seats as soon as I was able to purchase. The night before I even navigated through the ticket purchasing process which almost accidentally left me with two tickets for The Rankin Family tomorrow night. Yikes! But at the end of it I ended up getting GREAT seats for the big Rod Stewart fan...Steve.

HA! Just joking, it was really for my mom. Knowing what a huge fan she is of the guy and that she would probably not get tons of opportunities like this to see him, I convinced her to come to London, have a visit with Gord and get in a good show all at once. After much arm twisting she agreed and then it was all up to me to make sure I came through and got her the good seats I promised. Even though I'm not a "fan", I still grew up listening to the music and know a lot of the lyrics anyway. And he's a big time star so it's sure to be a good show. I think it'll just be great to attend a concert with my mom too, the only other time we did, I was 13 and we were in Ottawa, outside in the pouring rain and a thunderstorm (which might I add my mom is deathly afraid of) and we were watching five little ant-sized specs who were known as New Kids On The Block. It's about time I returned the favour for that one don't ya think?!

Anyway, that was the big news of the day for me. But in other concert news, we are heading out to see The Tragically Hip on Monday night. I'm so pumped and if they don't play At The Hundredth Meridian I'm going to change Gord's name to Bob.

Some people on my street still have their Christmas lights up

2007-01-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

And they need to move on. Speaking of moving on, here is a post from me. (Did you know I'm a segue artist?).

So...happy New Year? It's been a while. As you've already seen on Steve's blog (the bastard, he always beats me to the punch), Gordon is WALKING! Full-fledged walking. He's into everything these days and tests our limits (and patience) as to what he is allowed to get away with. He's becoming such a big boy and it's amazing how fast he's growing. This weekend we plan to give him his very first haircut. A momentous occasion, but I'm a little nervous given my history with nail clippers... We considered using the clippers on him but the thing is so dang loud we figure it might instill a life-long fear of haircuts and we'll end up with a son lost under a mountain of hair.

Gord also talks a lot more these days. I'll give you a quick break-down of his vocabulary:

"bub-ba" (where the "ba" is high-pitched) = bottle
"ba ba" = ba ba black sheep
"baby" = baby
"dad-di" = guess who?
"bam-pa" = grandpa
"bye" = bye
"cah" = car

He's just cute. What more can I say?

So...I don't really think I should recap Christmas since it happened a month ago, but I will say that the gift buying for Steve was a bust again and he brought back the main gift I got him and put it towards a nice guitar (acoustic with electric plug in). This actually works out well for me in the end because now we have two guitars in the house and Steve's long-time goal of teaching me to play the guitar is becoming more of a reality since it's a lot easier to learn with both of us playing. I've learned several more chords (in addition to the measly three I had mastered years back) and have learned some basic strumming technique. I need tons of practice but it's fun. Hey Ann, how are those guitar lessons coming? Hopefully we can jam together next time we hook up huh?

Another hobby I took up on the holidays was crocheting. My mom taught me how when I was in Sudbury and it's really pretty cool. The main reason I wanted to learn was so I could make baby blankets for all of the kiddies that I hope friends and family will be having in the near future. I have yet to make one so I kinda pity the baby who gets my first attempt and weaving yarn into something snuggle-worthy.

Anyway, I don't want to leave this post without making some type of comment on the president's state of the union address last night. Was I the only one who heard the line that went something like this:

"We have to uphold our melting pot values and welcome and assimilate all newcomers".

...

Did the Bush speech writer miss every episode of Star Trek that featured the "Borg" who "assimilated" every civilization they encountered and turned them into obedient "drones". I just kinda laughed at the comment because to me it didn't sound like a positive statement in the least. I still remember in elementary school learning the difference between Canada's "cultural mosaic" and America's "melting pot". I always thought our system sounded so much more pleasant, where people from other parts of the world could come to Canada and still retain the values and cultures that made them who they are as opposed to being "assimilated" and losing all of their original identity. Okay, I just made a reference to star trek and that's both sad and wrong.

Goodnight all. Don't be a stranger now, ya hear?

Like, what comes after lather?

2006-12-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

A paper was posted on the wall in a washroom. It was a six-step instruction guide, complete with pictures, on how to wash your hands.

Step 1: Turn on tap.
Step 2: Wet hands.
Step 3: Apply soap.
Step 4: Lather.
Step 5: Rinse hands.
Step 6: Air dry.

Now I must ask you the question. In what kind of building was this sign posted?

a) an elementary school
b) a psychiatric hospital
c) a prison
d) a university science building

If you answered "D", you should let me in on something, because the last time I checked, if you're in university you should have already aquired the basic skills of hand-washing in one of your previous 14-15 years of school.

I was stunned to walk into a washroom on campus and see this "Hand washing procedures" poster on the wall. Here I was, in a building swarming with students studing for their exams that would bring them one step closer to fulfilling their dreams of becoming doctors, dentists, engineers, and researchers among other professions, and the washroom they use had to post a sign on how to wash your hands in a picture-book style way. I literally stopped and stared at it for a few moments, dumbfounded to be honest.

Suddenly my degree doesn't seem so special anymore... Ho hum.

Thank you Pier 1 credit card!

2006-12-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

For being sturdy enough to scrape my windshield so I could get home from work. You really came through!

But unfortunately I will not be using you anymore since I went and bought a "real" scraper. Sorry, I know that hurt. And no, you can't coax me into using you over this Christmas shopping season either, I already gave my word to VISA.

"Turn or burn"

2006-12-10T20:10:00.000-05:00

That was written for a church sign I saw on the way home from my brother and sis-in-law's today.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!

Happy 1st Birthday To My Beautiful Boy Gordon

2006-12-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

Wow. He's one year old and I can't believe it. The year went by so slow at times (mostly in the first couple months when every night was like a new day) and yet so fast, especially over the last few months. I wish I could convey to you all of the most wonderful moments I've had with Gordon over the past year, but there are too many and most of them can't be put into words, for they've left a very special kind of impression on my heart. And now here we are, on a very momentous day in his life. To be technically correct, he's celebrating his second birthday, for a year ago was the first true birth day. But we decided not to get technical and had a blast celebrating his "first" birthday.

The day was full of family, friends, food, cake, balloons, streamers, and of course, presents! Gord was so full of excitement that he had a hard time napping today, which left him a little cranky at times, but he was easily distracted by everything going on around him. We were lucky enough to have my brother and sis-in-law come to visit with my beautiful baby niece Alex and it was fun seeing Gord trying to pet her head while I cautiously repeated "gentle, gentle". So cute. I guess the best way to get the picture of the day across is to do just that, post the pictures.

Happy birthday Gordon! Mommy loves you so much!

It almost turned me into an anti-dentite

2006-11-20T19:47:00.000-05:00

So I went to the dentist today. I'm embarrassed to say that it was the first time in 2-3 years, but this was ONLY because I wasn't covered under any insurance for a while. So now that I'm covered again, I went. See the logic in this? Do ya? Should I explain it further?

Well, I know I hadn't been in a while, but I didn't realize that techniques could change so quickly in the field of dentistry. The cleaning with the hygenist was fairly routine. She poked, she probed, she alternated at squirting water and air in my mouth, she scraped, she suctioned spit, she polished, she wiped blood, she flossed, she carefully maneuvered a sharp metal hook and funny round mirror in my mouth at the same time, and perhaps the most important of all traits for a dental hygenist...she talked in a happy, sweet, and soft voice.

Since it was my first time at this dentist, I got the full package complete with mouth x-rays AND one full-head x-ray.

*Aside: I still wonder to this day how it is safe to be giving my head an x-ray yet I have to wear a lead apron that only covers one side of my body. I know there is some completely reasonable scientific explanation, but I don't know it!

Then of course the dentist came in. Super nice guy. But I've never had a dentist rhyme off so much dental jargon in my life! "Engrained biflex on the anterior 2-1, 3-3, and 1-4...no wait, 1-3"* This was slightly disconcerting as I would hope he'd know his teeth numbers down cold by now. I don't think you'd ever find a surgeon in an operating room saying "Okay, let's proceed with removal of the left kidney...no wait, the right one". Don't worry, I'm fairly confident he really does know his stuff. The way he was talking was complete "geek speak" for dentists.

He examined my mouth and teeth, which was completely normal in my opinion. But then came the unusual part. He grabbed my tongue and pulled it out of my mouth and moved it around. I was so stunned and couldn't help but laugh out loud at this. I mean, this guy was grabbing my tongue!! Weird! I think when I laughed he felt obligated to explain that he was just checking for some unusual growths and not just trying to see how far out my tongue reaches. I'm sure I didn't seem tooooooooo immature. Sheesh. He then proceeded to grab my lips and stretch them in all directions. But the strangeness ended shortly thereafter and the rest of the visit went as expected.

Anyway, that was my crazy experience for the day. And you know what else?...NO cavities! Yay!

*I couldn't remember the real words, so I made up what I could. I try.

I'm a human kleenex

2006-11-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

Gord woke up this morning quite congested and with a flowing nose. It became quite mucousy and I've had to follow him around with kleenex for much of the day. I actually currently have one of those travel kleenex packs sitting in my hoodie front pouch. Gord doesn't like getting his nose wiped by me much and when I'm holding him and he sees the white paper coming towards him he quickly buries his head on my shoulder and wipes from side to side. Nice. My sweater has dry crusty Gord snot lines on it. Nothing feels sexier. Psh.

And don't even mention how I missed my first November blog yesterday. I've already mentally tongue-lashed myself about it. But I'm moving on.

It's Friday night, and Steve and I have just finished watching the complete series of "We Suck Videos". I wish everyone could be priveledged enough to be entertained by a group of awkward and gangly teen boys performing self-written SNL-like skits. Such a kick I tell you! I LMAO every time (I've never used this acronym before and I've always wanted to). Oh, Steve's back with Doritos and V8, another quality dinner...(sorry Mom).

Have a great Saturday all.

Sleepy post

2006-11-16T21:58:00.000-05:00

Another day, another dollar. Tomorrow's Friday, HOORAY! Got any fun plans for the weekend?

I'm falling asleep as I write this... this nightime blogging has got to stop.

Number seventy-something

2006-11-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but it is just too late to write a post (you know, 9:30). Off to bed we are. But, on Steve's recommendation I will leave you with this:

- Gord was just so crazy with his standing/walking practice tonight. He took a couple of big tumbles that required some consoling. At one point in the evening as Steve was giving him his bottle, he became whiny and had a frightened look on his face and climbed up on his shoulder and hugged him tight. It was unlike him to behave like that for no reason. Cute but sad all at the same time.

- We had a blast playing with Gord on the living room floor tonight. He was having fun with a few of his toys and then we put an old ice cream container on his head (just the right size so that it fit nicely like a hat). He would squint as we put it on and then stay super still until he decided to try and pull it off. When he would go for it, Steve and I would rev up in excitement and then when he finally pulled it off we would erupt in cheers and Gord would smile triumphantly and squeal for more. It was just so fun and I was laughing so hard tears were coming down my face.

Have a great night everyone!

How could I forget?

2006-11-14T20:45:00.000-05:00

Gord had a big "moment" yesterday. He was standing behind the couch, clutching to the top, arms reaching up high, when I noticed his hands begin to look like they were letting go. I prepped to catch him in case he fell but his hands quickly grabbed back on.

"Hmmm, that looked like he was doing it on purpose. I wonder if he's trying to see if he can let go and not fall".

And sure enough, he got the courage (and stability) again and he let go. Now don't get too crazy all you people out there. He only stood on his own for about 2 seconds before he got back to the floor. We began clapping and he laughed and looked so proud of himself.

He's getting close folks, he's getting close. One of these days my blog title is going to be: HE CAN WALK!

Watch for it!

Not a great highlight

2006-11-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

When I look back on my day, what I remember most about it is when I walked to the ground floor in my work building to grab a coffee from Tim Horton's. The place is always crowded with herds of undergraduates, all the tables full, pilling milling around. As I went to enter the back of the line, I couldn't help but feel my face catch on some type of fresh spider web as if I was crossing some sort of twisted finish line. I immediately started pulling randomly at my face, trying to get it off, but I could feel it move on my hair and I was getting increasingly agitated especially since I feared that the spider that had laid such a fresh web might have somehow been relocated to my head. As I grabbed at my head as if it were a tree that I was picking apples from trying to pull out any remnants of a web, I suddenly became aware of all the people around me. They would have no idea of what I had just encountered and probably made some premature conclusion that I just hadn't taken my proper medication this morning. But as I stood in line I couldn't help but notice the girl infront of me discreetly pulling at her hair. Another web destroyer...that spider must've been pissed.

Finger pointing & getting in the mood (not that kind you sick pervert)

2006-11-12T20:50:00.000-05:00

He stole my blog post. So I can't exactly write about the exact same events that took place yesterday. Which is just as well I suppose, since I meant to blog in the earlier hours of the day but have had to put it off until now when I'm a little less likely to have an energetic mind. It doesn't help that I have someone massaging my feet as I write and have just finished off a frosty glass filled with a vanilla ice cream coke float. YUM!

On another note, does anyone else out there have those people in their neighborhood who have gotten in the festive mood a little early? There's always some of them in every community. You know the ones, the day after Halloween they're pulling out their Santa socks and egg nog decanters (okay, to be honest I'm not even sure if there is really such a thing, but I'm sure if there is that these people have one). We have a few eager beavers on our street this year. I've seen two houses with their Christmas lights not only strung up but turned on at night. I have to admit, we even hung our outdoor lights up last weekend but we refuse to turn them on until the first of December and Steve wanted to get it done at a time when he wouldn't have to worry about having one of his digits succumb to the treacherous cold wind. I know someone who always decorates her whole house with her family on Remembrance Day. I can't imagine having our house fully decorated yet. We decorated unusually early last year (in November) but it was for good reason (Gord) and it was a good thing otherwise we wouldn't have had the chance. I think we might start making it a tradition to decorate on Gord's birthday or possibly the day before. I think it would be something exciting for him to look forward to for his birthday as he grows up and it is the perfect time to do it at the beginning of December. Of course we'll have a regular party for him (I heard all you negative birthday/Christmas combo people gasping out there), but it would just be something extra fun.

I don't know about everyone else out there but I'm anxious to get in the Christmas spirit. Looking forward to some holiday music, shopping and of course the festive rum and egg nog that I had to miss out on last year!

Citrus sillyness

2006-11-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

After a day of healthy eating (Omlettes, A&W burger, coffee), we have just finished dining on a wonderful meal of sliced oranges (Steve was a humongous pig and had sliced apples too). But for some reason, one of us couldn't stop belching. I won't give away who that 'one of us' is, but let's just say I'm glad that Steve doesn't eat oranges in public very often.

Funny thing huh? Who would've thought oranges would be able to induce this humourous effect. Childish to laugh at it, maybe, but I couldn't help myself.

Don't want to spend too much time writing a post right now, so I'll try to remind myself to write about Gord's exciting day today. Mwah-ha-ha, stay tuned.

On the big screen a tooth is probably the size of your TV at home

2006-11-10T19:39:00.000-05:00

So just as mentioned previously, Steve and I went on our second Friday afternoon date to the movies. It was also a nice start to the day when we left the house together in one car, dropped Gord off at daycare, and then went to campus together, where Steve was working for the morning. ...I'm adding way too much detail than I need to here. The point is, we went and saw "Stranger Than Fiction" with Will Farrell playing the lead in this comedy with emotional undertones.

The verdict you ask? In short, it was good. I really enjoyed it and with Will Farrell, any comedic points are not lost. He was fantastic. Although, I have to admit that I couldn't help but notice (with the big screen and all) that Will Farrell has very crooked bottom teeth. As I watched the movie I couldn't help but ponder 'Why does a guy who is obviously loaded with cash not use it to fix something like his crooked, slightly yellow teeth? Especially in the appearance-obsessed movie industry.' I would even wager that the whole process wouldn't be that long or expensive (relatively speaking of course). But then I thought, wow, you have to give a guy like that credit. He's not going to go to all kinds of lengths, extreme or not, to improve his appearance just because he has money. And I think we all remember his hairy chest and belly rolls from his many previous rolls (so many to choose from, he always seems to take off his shirt in movies). But then I thought, well, what if it's more of a career choice to not make these esthetic improvements. I mean, it kinda makes him easier to relate to that way right? A normal guy, crooked teeth, hairy chest, untoned abs. Just like a lot of regular Joes out there (not to insult anybody named Joe out there). Maybe it helps him to get cast in certain rolls. If he was super-beautiful and fit he'd have to compete with all of those sex-symbol actors (*cough* Jake Gyllenhaal*). Either way, I'm still going to give him credit. Will Farrell seems like he would be a genuine down-to-earth kinda guy and DAMN he's funny!

*Coincidentally, Jake's sister Maggie stars alongside Will in this movie.

You should never spend more time thinking of a title than it takes to write a post

2006-11-09T20:36:00.000-05:00

So what's going on with yours truly tonight? Watching some more T.V. and am going to have some tea. I'm determined to have tea because I couldn't have any last night after realizing we had no milk or cream in the house (besides flavoured cream which just does not get along well with Mr. Tea. Ha! Mr. Tea, get it?? Tea? as in 'T'? Mr. T?? Come on folks! ugh, I'm tired).

Due to some extra hours put in at work throughout the week I'm taking the afternoon off tomorrow and going on a date with my hubby. We're going to hopefully grab some lunch and then a movie, all while the cute little boy is having a blast at daycare. Which means that we can go out and have a good time without worrying about him at all and then still being able to pick him up and have some fun quality time afterwards.

Oh, and before I go I have to tell you that we got Gord's picture proofs from his first ever picture day. There are four shots of him sitting with a teddy bear and the series of pics actually looks like it tells a story. As Steve would narrate it:

1. "What am I doing here?" Indifferent look.
2. "Hmm...what's going on?" Bottom lip tucked in.
3. "This sucks." Bottom lip pulled in and frowning.
4. "Wwwhaaa?" Just goofy.

Okay, so it's not a great story but what do you people want from me?

We are definately getting some to hand out to the fam like the proud parents we are. And yes, we will be sure to post them. Maybe I'll scan the proofs.

Whoa, my one-liner post turned into a many-liner. Till next time!

My first cop-out post for the month

2006-11-08T19:38:00.000-05:00

You couldn't really expect me to keep up with making lengthy daily posts after weeks of slacking could you? So welcome to my first cop-out post. It's been a long day and soon my two favourite shows are on: Lost and America's Next Top Model (stop laughing as if I haven't mentioned this before). Some tea and popcorn are on my t.v. viewing menu tonight and I'm very excited about it.

But I'd hate to leave you without at least a few interesting pieces of information so here ya go:

-Gord has actually started clapping (he was doing it tonight at his favourite musical cartoon on t.v....yes, we are a lazy, tv-watching family okay?) I got it on video

-Now that his two top 'fang' teeth have sprouted, his two front teeth are trying to come in now. Can't see them yet, but there are some big bulging gums right now and he's biting like crazy. Oh, did I mention I decided we are weaning him now?? What a coincidence! (really though, it kind of is...he seems to love his bottle and does better at it than nursing now anyway.)

I know I said a "few" pieces of information, but sorry, that's all I got. Gord's a stirring right now, gotta run. I'm lying, Steve's running. But I'm signing off anyway. Have a good one all.

The weird thing that happened today and an etiquette lesson

2006-11-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

As I proceed with this post, I’m going to assume you’ve already read this.

While I still can’t help but blush at the fact that my husband thinks I have a nice butt, I’m not really sure about how I’m supposed to feel that he can be standing 2cm directly behind me, so close that I’m sure he could smell the body wash I use, and not even realize that it’s me. Wow, I must really blend into the crowd. Except there were no crowds. And I was talking with only one other person. A man. Meaning I was the only female being in sight. Eleven years together, four of them married, and he doesn’t even know when I’m standing directly in front of him…literally. I’ll forgive him I guess. At least I can rest assured knowing he’ll never accidentally grab someone’s ass thinking it’s me.

On a totally unrelated topic, I have a bit of a beef with people who do not understand proper sidewalk etiquette. On my way to my car from my work building I was walking down the right hand of the sidewalk. To paint a picture, it’s raining. Not hard, but enough so that one in every three people is carrying an umbrella. Unfortunately I’m not one of them. Being a university campus, there are always hoards of people walking the sidewalks at any given time. People in pairs and often groups of three walk side-by-side together on the sidewalk so as to keep up some mindless chit-chat as they make their way to their next class. That’s totally fine by me. EXCEPT, if you are going to walk side-by-side in groups of three or more so that you are taking up the entire width of the sidewalk and are about to encounter someone (aka ME) coming in the other direction, the only non-neanderthal thing to do is to have the one person on the end slow and take position behind the other two to let that person pass. It is NOT acceptable to assume that the group of you have the right to engage in an impromptu game of Red-Rover. ESPECIALLY when the one on the end is holding an open umbrella, which is just going to throw the unsuspecting pedestrian (aka ME) even closer to the ditch. Ugh, ignorance. You see, contrary to popular belief ignorance is not bliss, it’s something that makes me want to bonk you over the head with a frying pan.

SIgh

2006-11-06T19:39:00.000-05:00

Just one of those days, ya know? Busy, busy, busy at work and the list of things to do continues to grow. (Dad, I hope you are able to at least smile at this, since it used to be the statement of your life and know you never have to worry about that work crap again!).

And I really hate ending the work day on a bad note. I've been trying to get something to work properly and after a day of going through the processes involved, at the end of the day I realize I still haven't got the outcome I wanted. Bummer.

Ah well. Can't win 'em all right? What was nice was coming home to a smily boy and husband and we played and walked around together. Sometimes when I'm holding Gord on his hips (me on the floor and him standing), I count to three and let go to give him a sense of standing on his own. He used to immediately sway and stumble the moment my hands left his body. But tonight when I did it I was surprised to see that he could hold his balance on his own for a couple of seconds before he started to tumble. He's getting so strong. And heavy. Although I must say he's a little lighter than I expected. Using our scale at home I've estimated that he is about 21 pounds. I definately get a workout carrying him around so much. I actually have bicep bumps for the first time in my life! (How do I know this you ask? Because I flexed in the mirror...that's right dammit! I flexed at myself! Don't even try to tell me that you've never done this before. Especially all you men out there, you're the worst for it!!)

Well, now we're doing some relaxing with some good wine (thanks to sis Kim for getting us onto the Valpolicella). Hope you all had a good Monday.

My weird breakfast

2006-11-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

I distinctly remember a time when I was younger, watching my brother mix together various dinner items left on his plate and being somewhat revolted as I watched it enter his mouth. "How can you eat all that together?" I would ask. And his response was a cool, "Well, it's all going to the same place anyway". Hmmm, he did have a point, although certain foods just didn't seem like they should be tasted together at the same time. But having said that, I do have to give him credit for trying the Dorito and Chef Boyardee ravioli combination. Genius!

Unlike others, I have been known to, on occasion *wink*, visit the local golden arches. On one of our last visits, we acquired a couple of coupons for free McGriddles. Have you heard of these? I had, but did not really know what they were exactly.

WELL! This morning we decided to take a leisurely Sunday drive with some coffees and swung through the McDonald's to redeem our coupons. If you don't already know, a McGriddle is made as follows:

-egg
-cheese
-choice of bacon or sausage
(so far sounding like a traditional Egg McMuffin right?)
-pancake bun infused with maple syrup??!

Yup. Granted, they are all breakfast items. I've many a time had pancakes bacon and eggs. But all together?...in the same bite? Weird. Luckily I was in the mood to experiment. And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised. The maple syrup pockets in the pancake bun were odd but sweet and good. I'd never thought cheese and pancakes would go together (ontop of egg and bacon as well). But really, come on now, it was all going to the same place anyway.

A little birthday jab

2006-11-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Mommy today! She is spending the day out shopping with some friends. Which of course means that she is going to spend tomorrow returning everything she bought.

BA-doom-CHING!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Moments away from bed... where are YOU tonight?

2006-11-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

Steve and I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. He gently shook me awake and said, "Let's go to bed".

"NOOOOOOOOO!", I exclaimed in a groggy tone, rubbing my eyes as exaggerated as Gord does when he hasn't slept in 5 hours. "I must...write...in...blog first." It was then that I dragged myself over to the computer, unplugged the power cord and began carrying the laptop back to the couch. Unknown to me, the mouse was still plugged in and as I turned to walk away it came crashing to the floor. Steve gave me that look that screams "Kimberly Dawn!", but I think I have a case for claiming I was sleep walking.

So now I sit here writing that ever-important blog post, but realizing that I have nothing spectacular to say. Not too much going on here for the weekend. The cold I got from Gordon is going from bad to worse. If I keep up with the trend of the last few hours, I'm going to have to climb my way out of a mountain of soggy Kleenex in the morning. Sorry, that was disgusting. But true! It sucks when you have to walk around with a grocery bag as your sidekick.

Anyway, knowing Steve is snug in bed by now is making me jealous, so off I go. Till tomorrow.

Is it just me...

2006-11-02T21:32:00.000-05:00

Or does anyone else think that Steve is already going to blow his "one-post-a-day-for-a-month" on day 2? It's 9:30, he's out at a bar, and I know he's tired so blogging is going to be the last thing on his mind when he comes home. Oh, our dear Stevie-blogger...should we hold an online intervention??

October flashback

2006-11-02T20:38:00.000-05:00

I would be cheating if I didn't at least add something to this post because technically, the pictures belong to yesterday's post. I hope you enjoy the pics, and I forgot to mention one funny tidbit yesterday. Well, as I already mentioned Gord had his "picture day" at daycare yesterday but wouldn't you know it, he wakes up in the morning with a HUGE pimple in the middle of his chin. Red and white t'boot. If you look in the picture where he is wearing the white Halloween sleeper you can see it. We wondered if he was nervous about going to see his peers with the obvious third eye on his chin. Poor guy.

Well, there's really not too much exciting enough to report on here tonight. I'm just vegging on the couch while Steve is out catching a band play (he knows one of the members). Think I'm going to all it an early one tonight (as per usual *sigh*). Have a great one all!

Alien underpants...if only this was that interesting

2006-11-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

It's November 1st. I've made it in under the wire with only 3 1/2 hours to go before my plan of posting every day in the month of November went flying out the window. Mel informed me that November is the International blogging month, or something of the sort, during which all bloggers should blog every day of month. We vowed to be each other's support group during this time, and while I'm not delusional and realize that I will more than likely fail miserably, I will still try. Even if it's a measly one-liner.

So onwards with the post. October was a busy month. Babies (my beautiful neice Alexandra), weddings (Steve's cousin), family visits, and yummy and scary holidays, we really had a great time. Unfortunately it was also the month that Gord got his first sickness, a cold. And he just so happened to catch it the night that Steve left for Florida for four days. He's still getting over it, but doing alright. He's pleasant during the day and phleghmy at night. Today was so cute, Gord had "picture day" at daycare. They actually get a professional photographer to do a group shot and then individual pics. But we were told that he had his soother in his mouth during his pictures. Ah well, what can you expect?

I could ramble on forever about all of the things that have been going on with little Gordon, but that would be boring for you so I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.

...

...

...

Grrrr......... After several attempts, I can't get the pictures to load. Kim is upset. So, in an effort to make sure this post occurs before the 1st of November is over, it will be without pictures for the time being. But I will post them soon.

Don't hate me because I watch The Bachelor...hate me because I love it.

2006-10-03T12:29:00.000-04:00

My first post at work. Scandalous. I kinda feel like my brother, except it's not as scandalous because I'm using my lunch 1/2-hour to do it.

Back to the topic at hand:

equals...

THE BACHELOR

Come on, don't snicker at me. You know you're a secret addict too. All those men out there, you know who you are. When your friends/girlfriend/family leaves the room you change the channel to catch a few stolen moments of it before you change it back to the WWF wrestling show which you would rather not be watching.

I think I've watched every season, including The Bachelorette versions. I can't really put my finger on what it is about the show that appeals to me. A bunch of single women vying for the attention of one lucky bachelor? Crazy. It doesn't help that this season they are swooning over an Italian prince and think they are all about to become princesses (like they aren't already, if you know what I mean), ready to fulfill "every girl's fairy-tale dream". Gag me, with a spoon if you will. But I'm glued nonetheless. I think it's partially that I know there will be a few "crazies " thrown into the mix, with hilarious results (that one's for you Stevie!)

I somehow convince Steve to watch it with me, but I don't really think I'm convincing him (see above). This year, when I saw the first preview commercial to "The Bachelor: Rome", I said to Steve: "This will give us the perfect opportunity to scope out the scenery in Rome". Because you see, we are trying to plan a European vacation in the next couple years with Rome as Stop #1. So it was the perfect excuse. And it worked. We watched the 2-hour premier last night.

But I have to say, at the end of it I was pleasantly surprised. Out of the 27 beauties to choose from, he chose the more "average" looking women who were sweet, and down to earth. For the most part. There was that one "Socialite" of the bunch. A rich girl with no job other than to socialize apparantly, who told the prince that he should feel flattered because she flew in Coach for the first time ever to meet him. OUTRAGEOUS! Someone kiss that girl's feet! Steve then brought up an interesting point. Why if you are rich with no job you are deemed a socialite, but if you are anybody else you are slapped with the title 'unemployed'? Whuuuh whuuuuh.

But, it was nice. The drunk girl...gone. The Italian "dancer"...gone. Someone, kiss that man's feet!

Sorry, it's all out of my system now.

You know you've lost your last piece of youth when...

2006-09-23T19:51:00.000-04:00

You think to yourself while washing dishes: "Ya know, I should try making a meatloaf for dinner some night..."

??? Who am I?

News on the Gord front

2006-09-16T19:54:00.000-04:00

It has been awhile since I have updated all who are interested on the latest happenings and shinanigans with Gord.

Gord is now two full weeks into daycare and he has adjusted to it really nicely. The three women who work in the infant room are angels and I love them so much already. One in particular seems to have really taken to Gord, and when I come to pick him up I often find him in her lap. It makes me very comforted knowing he is so well taken care of during the day. They are truly amazing with him and he is always happy to see their faces in the morning. There was only one day so far when he cried as I left after dropping him off and it tore my heart out. But on the other hand it feels so amazing when I come to pick him up and he erupts in a fit of giggles and smiles and reaches out for me. Melts the heart I tell ya!

Daycare is going to be a good experience for him I think. The other babies in the room are so cute, all but one are older than Gord. Most can crawl or walk all over the place, so Gord just kind of sits there while the others come up to him. It will be so fun when Gord is mobile, to be able to see what kind of personality he has, whether he plays by himself off to the side or runs around chasing the other babies.

One thing that has shocked me is that Gord has actually taken to drinking formula during the day! He has had up to 9 oz of it so far in one day at daycare. Blew me away. Maybe not the most interesting news in your eyes, but I was flabbergasted.

Now, here is a great piece of news for you: GORD CUT HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!! It is so cute, a little white tooth sticking out on the bottom. It isn't out far yet, but by golly, it's there! And let's just say that tonight I got my first taste of why women give up breastfeeding after their baby cuts teeth. Ouch.

Bad piece of news: Gord has his first fever. :( It started on Thursday off and on. We think it's a teething fever since he doesn't seem sick otherwise. But if it goes on much longer, the doc is getting called in.

Best piece of news: Gord sleeps through the night!!!! That's right! I can now go to bed and not have to get out of it until Gord wakes up at 630-7 in the morning. HOORAY! We attribute this great triumph to three important factors:

1. At Gord's last doc check-up a couple of weeks back, the doc scolded us for giving into Gord's night wakings and feeding him. We knew we were going to quit it soon, but the doc gave us that extra push we needed and we cut him off cold turkey that night.

2. We put the softest blanket in the world that Gord got for Christmas from my uncle and aunt in the crib with him to snuggle with. He loves to bring it up and hold it by his cheek. Too cute.

3. Since many times Gord can be put back to sleep by giving him the soother that he threw to the other end of the crib, we kept the soother clip on him at night. He can now find his soother and put it back in himself.

Two nights after introducing these strategies...sleeping through the night. Well, to be honest, we hear him sometimes wake up and stir in the night, not crying, but he quickly puts himself back to sleep. I can't tell you how heavenly it feels to get more than 4 hours of consecutive sleep after 9 months!!!!

Well, did you get your fix of Gord news? I hope so. And watch out, cause mine's next! Mwah-hah-hah!

...as a cucumber

2006-09-11T20:16:00.000-04:00

Setting the scene: Steve and I both have laptops in our laps in the living room.

Me: "Steve, can you send me that file that I saved on your computer?"

Steve: "Sure, let's turn the computer around and hook up through infrared."

Me: "Okay."

Computers are turned and icon shows up on mine.

Steve: "There it is." Clicks on icon and a window pops up on my laptop. "Hmm...'click on the files you want to send through wireless...' Now, I don't want to send, I want to receive files". Looks back to his computer. "Now how do I send a file...hmmm..." Chin scratching. "Is the icon still there?"

Me: "Nope". Steve moves computer. "Oh wait, there it is."

Steve: "Hmmm..."

Me: "You know, it would just be much faster if you emailed it to me."

Steve: "Well, I was just trying to be cool okay? Infrared!"

Funny things you can do with a baby

2006-09-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

Every morning after Gord wakes up, one of us usually grabs him and brings him into our bed to play for a few minutes since we are usually too tired to haul our sorry asses out of bed for the day. Gord finds our room pretty boring and usually doesn't tolerate this for very long, much to our dismay.

Most times I feed Gord right in bed before heading downstairs. This morning I did just that and to make Gord a little more comfortable, I propped Steve's pillow underneath his body. As I flipped Gord to the other side, I smelt a foul odour and knew right away his intestines were no longer sleeping. A few short minutes later he was done and Steve grabbed his pillow and brought it close to his nose. A look of disgust emerged and then the pillow was shoved into my face accompanied by: "Smell this!"

Wow. Who knew a pillow could harbour such a vile stench. I mean, nothing had actually come OUT of the diaper. But I chuckled because it wasn't my pillow. When making the bed this morning, I left off the "pretty" pillows so that it could air out for the day. But I later thought, 'what a great prank to play on your spouse...rub smelly baby on pillow and brace yourself for hilarity'. I'm keeping this one in my back pocket.

Another great experience at Wal-Mart

2006-08-22T10:02:00.000-04:00

My mom and I were shopping in Wal-Mart yesterday and I was searching for a large wicker basket. I found some small ones but could not locate any that were the size I needed. I finally gave up and we headed to the check-out with our cart full of assorted items. The girl working the cash was young, probably around 20, give or take a year or two. As she began to scan our items, she looked up at me and said "Did you find everything okay today?" A required question by all Wal-Mart cashiers. I pounced on the opportunity.

"Well actually, no I didn't."

Cashier: "..."

"I was looking for a large wicker basket"

Cashier: (cocking head to the side with a perplexed look on face) "What's a wicker basket?"

Not knowing how to answer this question: "It's a...basket...made of wicker."

Cashier: "..." Looks as if her brain has just blown a fuse.

"It's a basket...looks woven..." I don't really know where to go from here. If she doesn't know what a wicker basket is, I don't think a long-winded description is going to help much.

Cashier: (in Bill Lumbergh style) "Um, yaaa...I don't think we have those".

Me: "..."

So that was it. She didn't call anybody to help me out. She didn't even know that in fact they DO sell wicker baskets. I ask, what is the point of asking this question if they really don't care what the answer is?

EVENT #2

Enter washroom to change Gord's bum. The change table is located just outside the wheelchair accessible washroom. Someone is in this stall and as we stroll up to the change table the only thing to be heard was this:

"Oh great!" Shuffle shuffle. "This is terrible! Just terrible!" Groans. "Jesus. This is just great". Shuffle shuffle. And so on.

My mom and I exchanged fearful looks. A woman finally emerged from the washroom. Acted normal. Walked up to the sink, applied some lipstick and talked to Gord. All I kept thinking was, "please don't come near him or think of touching him". I don't know what I expected to see when the woman came out, but I didn't think it would be pretty.

Just a weird experience. Very, very weird.

The next adventure

2006-08-11T09:41:00.000-04:00

Some of you don't know that while I was on vacation in Florida I applied for a job at the University of Western Ontario (the only place I've been associated with both in school and work for the past eight years). I got a call while in Florida to go for an interview so the day after I came back, while still recovering from an exhausting trip back home, I braved an hour-and-a-half interview. I got the call yesterday to tell me that they were offering me the job. Hmmm...what to do... I was reminded about my brother's blog post where he relived all of the different paths he had chosen to take in his life and wondered where he might be had he opted for another route.

Here was my fork in the road. On the one side, a journey into a new job. Putting Gord into daycare and giving up my role as the stay-at-home mom. It would bring me into a larger social circle again that wouldn't involve speaking at an octave higher than I was ever meant to, and back to an environment I've always loved being in. On the other side, I would stay at home with Gord, run out of EI and fall into a pit of poverty. We would resort to finding crumbs in Gord's highchair for food and playing with Gord's toys for entertainment (oh wait, we already do that).
So after much deliberation, I accepted the position.

In all seriousness folks, I'm totally excited to start my new job. I start at the end of the month (on the 28th) and am working as a lab technician for two third-year laboratory courses. An added perk is that Steve and I will be able to have lunch and/or coffee breaks together very often given his frequent campus visits. Yay! It has all been very sudden and a little stressful when I think of all the things to do. The biggest concern of course is Gordon. We have to get him into daycare asap. He is second on the list at one of them and we have to go for a tour there next week. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

I was sitting in bed last night thinking of the first day I would have to bring him to daycare and how horrible it is going to be to walk out the door seeing him being taken care of by strangers. It made me very emotional and I started to tear up. And that's just at the thought! Those workers are going to have to pry my fingers from the door I think. I'll have to go armed with a box of Kleenex, that's one thing I know for sure.

So yup, that's my big news.

It was only a dream

2006-08-09T10:19:00.000-04:00

I remember a lot of my dreams. More often than not, I wake up in the morning and begin to think about all of the strange things I dreamt that night. And there's usually multiple dreams to remember. When I was a teenager, my dreams were often scary, usually featuring some evil paranormal being of some kind, my house being haunted etc. It was so bad that Steve, who was my boyfriend at the time, bought me a dreamcatcher to hang in my window (I still consider it to be one of the sweetest gifts he's ever given to me).

I used to have a lot of dreams where I was being chased as well. You know the kind; someone in fast pursuit behind you, yet you can only move as if you're running submerged in a body of water. I always really hated those ones. And the weirdest types of dreams are the lucid dreams, when you know that you are dreaming and have a certain kind of control over what happens. I have these a lot too. A couple of weeks ago Steve and I were having a discussion about lucid dreams and how to tell whether you are having one or not (cause you know how sometimes you're thinking 'this feels like a dream, but I don't wanna do anything crazy cause what if it's not?!' He told me he had heard of a trick that you should look at the time on a clock. If you look away and then look back and the time is different, then you know you are dreaming. Well ever since he's told me that, I have used the technique TWICE in my dreams and it has worked. Just the other night I was in a dream and thought 'this doesn't quite feel like reality, I think I might be dreaming' (which is such a weird sensation when you think about it). So, I scoped out a clock, checked the time, looked away, looked back, and sure enough the clock had a different time! I knew I was dreaming. Cool.

But let's really get to the meaning of this post: I had horrible dreams last night. Not of the lucid kind. In the first part of the dream there were tornados. Lots of them. Huge. And huger. I've always been in awe of footage of tornados and such, but I've had so many dreams of tornados coming towards me, often times there's multiple tornados, in one dream there were about twenty at once. In this dream they started out small as I tried to take pictures of them with my camera as they harmlessly swirled about us. But then they got larger, and larger...and larger. It became nightmarish as I looked out the window to the hotel room Steve and I were staying in and realized there was one coming straight for us. I yelled at Steve to grab Gord from his crib where he was sleeping (because he was pale and ill) so that we could scurry to the basement of the hotel for safe cover. But the nightmare became dreadful when we realized he wasn't there. We didn't know where Gord was. Panic took over. We tried to think of where he could be, who he might be with. We remembered we had some lady from the hotel staying with us to help us take care of him (?) and she was nowhere in sight. We realized that she had kidnapped him. Not knowing it was a dream, my emotions went through something I feel would be similar to how it would feel in reality. I was doubled over in pain, sobbing uncontrollably with Steve at my side. I remember the physical feeling of emotional pain. It was more than horrible. When I finally woke up, it took a moment to realize where I was and that what I had experienced was only a dream. Relief. And when I think back to the events now I wonder how I ever thought it could have been real: Tenth tornado of the day works its way straight toward hotel room where Gord was kidnapped by strange lady hired from hotel to help out.

Dreams are so unbelievable.

*Afterthought: I`m remembering that yesterday when I was at the mall with Gord, I paused at Carlton cards to look at a calendar called Forces of Nature simply because it featured cool pictures of tornados on them. Funny what your subconscious remembers.

The last supper

2006-08-06T22:51:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, you won't find any religiously-charged ramblings here. I'm merely referring to the dinner we had at our friend Laura's new house, to bid farewell to our friend Melinda who will soon reside on the other side of the Atlantic, in a quaint little city called London. The three couples dined on a delicious pasta meal complete with salad and fresh-baked bread. Gord was pleasant throughout the whole thing and allowed me to finish my meal without removing my butt from my seat.

After the little one was in bed, we played some television trivia while sipping on wine (or beer in a couple of the men's cases), and following that Laura decided to put on a movie called "The diary of a mad black woman". This has got to be one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen...in terms of style that is. It quickly became dubbed a "comedrama" amongst the group; a serious drama with ridiculously funny scenes intermixed. One guy ends up playing three characters in the movie, one of which is an old black woman who is at the epicenter of hilarity. I think the funniest thing I took away from the movie was her calling the police the "po-po". "Call the po-po, ho!" Aaaah, soooooo funny. I would recommend it if you're in the mood for something different.

After the movie, the three of us ladies ended up doing what we always end up doing when we're together and have consumed a modest amount of alcohol...we reminisced. About our high school years of course, the time where we met, became as close as sisters, and shared the times in our lives that shaped us into the people we are today. I can't relive a great memory from high school without these woman in it. And now one of us is making a big change that will send her further than she's ever been. And I want to wish her luck and all the best in this life-altering experience. She will be greatly missed. But like I already told her, I'm looking forward to sharing some tea and crumpets with her on my first trip to Europe.

But I can't let her, of all people, leave without making at least ONE reference to 'Friends'. Mel, you remember that episode where the friend comes back from living in Europe and suddenly has an accent? If you become her, I'll slap you silly! Never let go of that sexy Canadian accent! ;)

Love ya man, and good luck!

From point B to point A - Florida part 13 (to go chronologically, scroll down to part 1 and work up)

2006-08-05T09:13:00.000-04:00

Gord's tiring morning on the beach - Florida part 12

2006-08-05T09:08:00.000-04:00

Dinner on the water - Florida part 11

2006-08-05T09:05:00.000-04:00

Some more misc. - Florida part 10

2006-08-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Fun, boats, and sand - Florida part 9

2006-08-05T08:53:00.000-04:00

Misc. - Florida part 8

2006-08-05T08:49:00.000-04:00

Around the house - Florida part 7

2006-08-05T08:10:00.000-04:00

Morning walk on the beach - Florida part 6

2006-08-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

Corona lunch - Florida part 5

2006-08-05T08:01:00.000-04:00

Goofin' around - Florida part 4

2006-08-05T07:56:00.000-04:00

To the beach! - Florida part 3

2006-08-05T07:52:00.000-04:00

First days - Florida part 2

2006-08-05T07:48:00.000-04:00

From point A to point B - Florida pics part 1

2006-08-05T07:40:00.000-04:00

Holiday highlights for y'all

2006-08-01T20:10:00.000-04:00

Some thoughts and moments I'd like to share about our trip to Destin Florida:

it was freakin' hot! Mid-forties with the humidity every day. Thought we were going to come back to the "hot" high-twenties and wear sweaters while everyone else complained about the heat, but nooooooo. We come back to a heat wave that feels just as hot.

being a true Northern Ontarian, I of course expected to see a raccoon when coming up to some road-kill. But it was an armadillo. Weird.

we ate at lots of great restaurants, one of which featured a bunch of live alligators outside in the front. But by far the best place we found to eat was a place called the Donut Hole. Just as the name implies, they sell an assortment of fresh, delicious donuts at the counter...along with amazing looking pastries, baked goods, and they also offer all kinds of pies that you can buy to take home. We got a key-lime pie and let me just say in the words of Homer J. "Mmmmmmm, pie". But that's not all. This place is a sit-down restaurant that offers the BEST breakfast foods all day long. They also have a lunch and dinner menu which we never did take advantage of because the breakfast was so darned good!

when I got to get ice cream, it was pure heaven. There were a couple of great places we found. The first time, Steve and I stopped at a place called Bruster's where you order at a walk-up window. I made the mistake of ordering a two-scoop cone in the middle of a scorching hot day. By the time I got to the car, the ice cream was literally running down my arm. It was out of control and I had to dump it upside-down in the plastic cup the guy gave me (he must've seen this happen a million times).

the city of Destin is very family friendly, there were kids and babies everywhere vacationing with tons to do for everyone. One night Steve and I went out to this fun little park. They had bungee jumping, those swing launch things, and an amazingly large go-kart track. So the competitive side of us brought us to the go-karts. It was soooooo much fun and I felt like a superstar driver as I swiftly avoided a three car pile-up that happened right in front of me. Who won the race you ask? It didn't end up being much of a race after I let Steve catch up to me so we could ride side-by-side with each other. He took advantage of me being nice and took the lead at that point. I enjoyed watching him ride in front of me so I decided not to pass him. ;)

the Southern accent really grew on me. I thought I would find it annoying after a while but I actually found myself thinking it was quite endearing. Not to mention that every guy talking would remind me of Matthew McConaughey. Unfortunately not in looks, so I would just close my eyes most of the time.

just my luck, the day I got down there I came down with a case of strep throat. I decided to go to a doctor's office and called our insurance company before I went so I could have all the required information to give to the office. Shortly after filling in all of our information, a woman called me into the back to "discuss" something with me. With Steve still in the waiting room she began to tell me that 95% of offices wouldn't accept Canadian insurance for two reasons: 1. because they don't pay , and 2. if they do pay (and doesn't this then negate point one??) it takes an extremely long time to get any money. She proceeded to tell me that she was willing (bless her soul!) to let me pay $85 in cash for the $130 office visit and she would give me a receipt for $130 that I could claim with my insurance. I pointed out that she already says they don't pay, and she said she was sure they would pay me. She brought Steve into the room and repeated the whole schpeel to him and he said that we would just find somewhere else that would take our insurance. After this, she asked me what was wrong and then went to "speak with the doctor". When she came back she asked to look at my insurance card again and then in true hero-style said: "you know what? I'm the office manager here and I can decide who we can take. Go have a seat! We are going to see you!". Um, ya, thanks...for not scamming me and my Canadian insurance company I guess. Sheesh. Got my meds and left without paying a cent.

Gord got to stick his feet in the ocean for the first time and it was really cute.

There's my update for now. I'm going to post pics of all the events very soon. :)

I'm leaving on a jet plane....man, that's a cheesy title

2006-07-15T20:15:00.000-04:00

But regardless, it's true. Well I don't know if it's classified as a "jet plane" per se, but it's a plane of sorts, and I'm leaving on it. Tomorrow we begin the big journey down to the sunny south. After a dinner stop in Windsor to spend some time with Mel and Jeremy before their big trip on a jet plane, we are going to cross the border and stay in a Best Western hotel near the airport in Detroit.

Ah, just saying the words "airport in Detroit" brings back some funny memories of a trip I once took with my friend Julie (mom to the adorable Celia). We were heading down to New Orleans for a conference and had to fly out of Detriot. With Steve as our chauffeur, we entered Detroit a couple of hours before our flight was to leave and we whipped out our car map of Detroit to search for the airport. Since Steve was driving and Julie was in the back, I took control of the navigations. If you know me at all, I was already getting antsy at this point. I mean, you are supposed to be at the airport a couple of hours before hand, and we were only looking for the airport on a map since none of us knew where the hell we were going. Scanning over the map, I located the airport in the center and began directing Steve towards our destination. The roads leading up to the airport were not very busy and as we neared, our surroundings seemed to get...how do I say it...gloomier. The buildings were run down with broken windows boarded up, and even the sky seemed a little cloudier (well, maybe I'm making that part up). Steve slowed down as we passed the front of the airport, which was surrounded by a wire fence that you would expect to find around an adolecent detention centre. We peered out the windows of the car in astonishment.

"This can't be it...can it?" we all wondered.

The planes and helicopters that were in the large lot were anything but safe looking (at least for any trip of significant distance). Kind of like a graveyard of airplanes. I'm sure the years since the incident have painted them a rustier colour in my mind than they actually were. I was getting a little nervous at this point. There was no way I wanted to fly out of an airport that looked like this. The airport looked dead. Like a plane hadn't flown out of it in seven years. How could Detroit have such a horrible airport? Even the neighbourhood we were in seemed a little less than inviting if you know what I mean. We noticed two men working at the entrance to the airport and sweet ol' Julie decided to be the one to get out of the car, approach the men, and ask them if we were in the right place. No paper-rock-scissors even necessary, what a champ! After a short chat, Julie re-entered the back seat and shut the door. She then relayed the conversation that she had with the two men.

In so many words:
"We are at the wrong airport. This is Detroit City Airport and we want to go to Detroit Metro Airport. They also said that on our way out of this neighbourhood, even if we were to get a flat tire, to not get out and just keep on going through..fast."

Comforting. Very, very, comforting. Especially because we had just stopped at a McDonald's in the area just minutes before to get directions to the airport.

While I was frantic because we had wasted all this time searching for the wrong airport and needed to bust our butts to get to the other end of the city in time, I was quite relieved that the machinery taking me 25000 ft. in the air would not be leaving from this dirt hole.

It is funny to look back on, like now. So if any of you are in the same predicament, three words: Detroit Metro Airport. I still tend to wonder what people are flying out of the Detroit City airport though...

So back to the present. We take off on Monday morning at 9 am. I'm very anxious about Gord's first out-of-country trip, and a little worried about what he's going to be like during the flight. I'll definately let you know how it goes. Hope all are having a great weekend!

Oh. Ma. God. I just peed my pants

2006-07-14T08:49:00.000-04:00

A little something for the men out there...

Why my esthetician isn't a travel agent

2006-07-13T21:05:00.000-04:00

1. She thinks Brazil is in Europe

2. She pronounces Afghanistan as "Afganisvan" (several times)

2b. She thinks there are pyramids in "Afganisvan"

This was discovered while having a discussion with the young woman (early twenties) who was doing my manicure and pedicure about the different places she wanted to travel.

On another note, don't you think it's kind of ridiculous that if you are going for a manicure and pedicure and there is a large selection of CDs, that the person doing the manicure/pedicure picks out what she wants to listen to instead of asking the client?

PREPOSTEROUS!

For anyone who cares

2006-07-12T11:59:00.000-04:00

Gord slept in till 8:30 am this morning. Ya, you read it right.

Beautiful, beautiful sleep for me.

...if only it was an uninterupted sleep, but crap, WHO CARES? I got to sleep in!

Northern review

2006-07-10T20:43:00.000-04:00

First things first, I have to address the few things that I saw that bothered me on our drive up to Sudbury:

a) if you have a convertible car and decide that it is nice enough outside to drive with the top down, then for the love of god do not, I repeat, do not have the windows rolled up. It looks ridiculous.

b) to the lady who decided to take it upon herself to kill two birds with one stone and clean her ear via pinky finger while driving to her destination (and inspecting it afterwards)...Newsflash!, you have windows in your car and they are NOT tinted! gross.

c) if they can come up with an automatic marshallow roaster (see previous post), why can't they come up with something to rotate the 'stop'/'slow' construction signs that those workers have to flip every thirty seconds. I mean seriously, how can someone not have come up with this already? Am I alone here? Even convenience stores have those fast rotating signs that say 'ice'/'sold here'. Can some brilliant mind not elaborate on this so that some poor dude doesn't have to bake in the sun for 8 hours straight?!

Breathe in...breathe out. There, I'm done. Now I'd like to discuss the weekend.

In as short as I could possibly be: fun. We spent some great time at Dave and Tam's place and Gord got stuck in a sudden rainshower for the first time on a walk and was soaked. Unfortunately we didn't get pics, but believe you me when I tell ya it was cute. At Grandpa and Granny's place we spent the day in the sun, eating, swimming, eating, hot tubbing (wine included).

At Gran's place we went for a long walk to get some ice cream, had a BBQ, and got into a competitive game of Scrabble (as promised). Steve didn't fare out so well, he doesn't like Scrabble when playing with a rule-stickler like my Mom, but did try to get away with words like 'sawd'. Used in a sentence, "Billy sawd Marianne pick up her book" or "I sawd through a piece of wood".
Another highlight of the trip was that Gord also got to visit with both of his Great-Grandmas.

On the way home from Sudbury we had to make a pit-stop at the French River trading post. For those unfamiliar, great fudge, great ice cream, two bumbling mascots (Hungry Bear & Blueberry Hound), and one 'can't-get-this-song-out-of-my-head jingle. Well, as we walked up to the building, who came out but the Hungry Bear himself. He waddled over to his post and Steve brought Gord up to meet him. Gord smiled as the Hungry Bear put on a little song and dance. It was utterly adorable but I felt sorry for the person wearing the heavy costume because we kept him there amusing Gord for quite some time and I'm sure he was wondering when we were going to get enough and leave already. Again, no pictures of the event but it was great.

So thanks to all for an AMAZING time up North. And now to conquer our next target: Florida. Hope you're ready down there!

You've got to be kidding me

2006-07-04T08:33:00.000-04:00

Why do they make so many products to help lazy people be more lazy? Today on The Early Show they were featuring some "hot new" grilling tools. Among them, they revealed an automated rotating marshmallow roaster. So basically, someone would stick their marshmallows on the three skewers, push the 'on' button and watch in lazy wonder as the magical rotator turns their marshmallows for them.

???!!!

If you are a lazy enough person that you would spend even two cents on this product, then you don't deserve to eat smores in the first place.

I was going to make a link to this product but then thought better of it. I mean, it would only make less work for anyone looking to buy it.

If you know of other lazy products out there, I wanna hear about 'em!

The joke I made up that made Steve laugh hard

2006-07-03T15:40:00.000-04:00

Are you ready for this? ...

"Why did the man get his big toe cut off?"

"Why?"

"Because he accidentally put it in a toe slicer."

Ba-doom-CHING!

Contributing everything I can to making people laugh...one great joke at a time.

Look out world, here we come!

2006-07-01T12:40:00.000-04:00

The month of July has suddenly become a big holiday month for our family this year (It's so weird that when I say 'family' now, I'm referring to Steve, Gord, and I. INSANE!). On Wednesday of this coming week we will begin our travels, leaving London to head up to Barrie (or Innisfil to be exact) to visit my bro and sis-in-law (and unborn baby....and Rudy I guess....and Logan too.) We've been wanting to visit them for quite some time and the perk of staying there is that it breaks up the car ride to Sudbury. So on Thursday the whole gang (minus Logan) will be heading up North to Sudbury. Gordie has been looking forward to seeing all of his family again, and well, we have too I suppose. We're really looking forward to some fun family BBQ's, time in the pool, some catching up, and maybe a competitive game of scrabble. We can't wait to see you all!!!!

On Sunday, we'll be heading back to Dave and Tam's for the night in Innisfil and then leaving on Monday to come back to London. But if you think that the holiday hoopla ends there...THINK AGAIN! On July 17th, the three of us are driving across the border to Detroit International airport to board a flight to FLORIDA! For those who aren't in the know, Steve's parents now live in Florida (in a city called Destin, which is on the Gulf coast on the panhandle). They are in a nice resort area near the ocean so we figure it's not only a good time to go spend time with them, but it's also a great opportunity for us to take a family vacation (baby sitters readily on hand in sunny Florida?...um, he-llo!). I'm trying to convince Steve to take me out for dinner and dancing while we're down there since we can't be too embarrassed since we don't know anybody and he can also cross off another item on his 101 list. We'll be staying in Florida for two weeks, getting back on the last day of July.

So there you have it. I'm counting on some blog-worthy events happening along the way, whether it be of a heated scrabble game, a drunken family member and the pool, or the disgruntled man lucky enough to sit beside Gord on the plane. Many posts to come I'm sure... ;)

If you slept last night...I hate you.

2006-06-30T06:42:00.000-04:00

Kim sleepy. Gord up lots last night. If you talk to me and I'm incomprehensible...please be gentle.

A plea to all blog readers

2006-06-28T19:54:00.000-04:00

I desperately need your help... ALL of you...for I am married to a procrastinator.

Do you not wonder why I blog so infrequently these days? Do you remember my complaining about how I have to use Steve's computer when he's not using it (which is not that often) until our laptop is fixed? Do you remember how Steve made that 101 list back in February and under Misc Task there was:#73. Bring my laptop in for repair Â before the warranty expires (November 2006)? Well, he's encroaching on the deadline and I'm getting worried...and a little teeny weeny bit frustrated.

So this is what I ask of you: harassment. Send him a comment on his blog. Let him know this is absolutely unacceptable. I want him to feel as if he has a swarm of Northern Ontario mosquitoes (because they don't get worse than that) hovering around his head.

You know what the worst part is though? Whenever Steve decides to actually bring the computer in for fixing, it's going to be about 2 months (!!!!) before it gets fixed. Ho-hum. Yes, I coulddefinitelyy bring the stupid thing in myself, but it's all about the principle now. And of course he doesn't feel the urgency since he has a completely functional laptop all to himself. He's plain and simple just a procrastinator (a self-proclaimed one at that). I'm not exactly going to blow his mind by calling him one. If any of you out there feel like aiding me in my cause, I would soooooooo greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for the ear all!

Anything for a friend

2006-06-27T20:54:00.000-04:00

Today Steve had to go to Windsor for work and I felt like helping a friend out. You see, Mel has recently made her 100th blog post where she made a bunch of top ten lists. Item #5 on list #8: Actually have some friends visit us in Windsor. Cross it off Mel, cause I finally did it!!!!

Unfortunately for me, (and you), I have no pictures to prove the event actually took place because I forgot that I had my camera in my diaper bag. We had a great time even though it was a short visit and the best part was that Gord slept the whole ride both ways. SCORE!

Anyway Mel, now that I've started you off, I expect you to finish it up!

Hey, he stole my thunder!

2006-06-24T07:17:00.000-04:00

I would love to be posting right now about our amazing visit with our friends and their adorable daughter Celia, but why would you stay to read it when it's been done already? But I still feel the irresistable urge to post a picture of the cutest little girl who stole Gordie's heart (and ours too we must admit). It was truly amazing to see Gord interact with another monkey his own size (or nearly - she is 1 1/2 months his senior). Celia definately has her own personality which shone through on the visit, the excited panting, tongue curling, and the ever-so-sweet "aren't I cute?" pose with her head resting on the Jumperoo.

Not only was it great to finally meet Celia, but I really had a great time catching up with my friend, and sharing all kinds of baby stories and getting much-appreciated baby advice. I learned all about the "Happy Baby Food Grinder" and have since switched to a new brand of diapers which work just as well but are HALF THE PRICE as the ones we were using. Thanks Julie!

Today, I'm sitting with my morning meal of coffee and chocolate marble coffee cake. The reason for the cake is to see if the sugar will help to wake me up since my coffee's a decaf. And of course Gord is right nearby, entranced by the cartoons on T.V. He's definately going to be one of those Saturday morning cartoon kids. We have no real plans for the day other than to babysit our nephew tonight. It is a beautiful day though so I think we'll go out and do something at least. If it's exciting enough you might hear about it later.

Well, that's it for me right now folks. Have a good one.

Let's hear it for the boys

2006-06-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

Well, it's 10:17 AT NIGHT and I'm still up and able to write a post, let's "hear it for me" first, yay! I've got a chilled beer beside me and am watching game six of the Stanley cup. I'm not a big hockey fan in the least (despite my being Canadian and all eh) but when it comes to the Stanley cup and there's a Canadian team in it, there's just no choice in the matter. Especially since Steve wouldn't miss it for the world.

So, in recent Gordon news...for a baby who hates to be on his belly, he sure wants to be on it a lot lately. Especially at sleep times. It started earlier this week when he started showing a strong interest in sleeping on his side. We would put him down on his back and tuck him in as usual, but then he would begin resisting and arching his back until we conceded and left him to sleep on his side. And he looked so cute. Then the other night after putting him to bed (soon after going on his side) he woke up an hour or two later crying and when we went to check on him, we found him on his belly holding his head up high. Roll over, try again. Some time later he awoke again on his belly crying. And now, it seems he will only sleep on his belly. But I think he's still kind of getting used to it because he wakes up now in the late evening (when he has been not doing that for a while) and we have to go in and give him his soother after which point he falls directly back into a deep sleep. Even though I had some reservations about the belly sleeping, I know he can roll back over or cry if he wants to be moved and man, he just looks so darned cute sleeping like that!

In an hour and a half it will officially be Father's Day and I would like to wish my Dad a VERY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!! But it is an extra special Father's Day this year because it is Steve's FIRST Father's Day, and I want to wish him a VERY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !!!! We have no big plans for tomorrow, but Steve will get the opportunity to sleep in and enjoy the luxury of awaking to a hot cup of coffee in bed (no I won't pour it in the bed, it will be in a mug you silly, silly people!) You'll have to keep posted to Steve's blog to see what Gordie bought him when we were at the mall. And maybe I got him a little something too...

Steve, you're such a great Dad, and I hope you have a wonderful first Father's Day. I asked Gordon the other day how much he loves you and he told me " THIS much"...

Here's some pics of Steve being a Dad.

(that one's just cause I love you)

Wherever you go, I will follow

2006-06-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

Steve and I were out on one of our frequent city driving excursions when we came to an intersection and wondered where to go next. It was then that I remembered one of Steve's tales from high school, where he and a friend were driving in Sudbury and decided to choose a car on the road and follow them to their destination. I always thought that this was such an interesting activity. I mean, there are SO many cars on the road at any given point in time...all of them heading to thier own end point, whether it be work, home, or just running errands. Where is everyone going?! Sometimes I'd love to know.

So on this particular day, I reminded Steve of his past adventure and wondered if he was up for some undercover fun. Lucky for me, he was. We spotted a nice looking car next to us in the left lane, driven by a middle-aged man in a business suit, sporting a Jean-Luc Picard hairstyle (comparison courtesy of Steve). Ah, likely heading home from a hard day's work. We figured he may be heading to his beautiful, vast, executive state home (it's all in the imagination folks) so he became the subject of our interest. Our lane merged before we could get behind him so we had to follow from infront...a little tricky to do, but is less likely that your cover will be blown (not that we were actually concerned about this of course...). Since Steve had to keep his eyes on the road, I decided to be the "signal light watcher" in the sideview mirror in order to anticipate his next move. As we approached an intersection I watched for the blinking light in the mirror.

"He's not turning" I said to Steve.

As we began to pass through the intersection, the guy puts on his signal light as he begins to turn right.

"Hey! He's turning!" I exclaim to Steve. "He's a 'late signaler'!"

We turned down the next street and finally made it onto the street the guy had turned down in hopes of catching him, but not before enough time had passed for him to gain a large lead. It was hopeless to try to track him down now. I was so dissappointed. All of this time spent following this guy to see where he was going and now I WOULD NEVER KNOW! Something that would haunt me to the grave I'm sure... As we were driving back down the street, back towards where the separation had occured, Steve saw it. The unoccupied car was parked on the side of the road in front of a chinese restaurant. That's it! He was going to dinner! Whether it was with his wife, brother, friend, or mistress, I didn't care! I was just so happy that I was able to see where he was going. A big sigh of relief and we were back on our own way.

I encourage everyone to try this out at some point. It makes you look at everyone on the road in a new light, and who knows where you'll end up!

Splish splash

2006-06-08T07:59:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the concern over my mysterious sickness. Like I said I would do, I took advantage of Gord's appointment and got myself some antibiotics. I'm feeling much better.

Gord weighed in at a hefty 16 lbs 3 oz and is 27 inches tall. Doc said he looked really great and was on par with his "tripoding" skills while attempting to sit upright by himself. He only cried for a few seconds while the shots went in before I distracted him with his 'Whoozit'.

Yesterday was another 'Gord first'. He went swimming with his buddy Addis at the Aquatic centre sporting his most handsome yellow swimming trunks. As I decended into the water with Gord, I was a little uncertain how it was going to play out since I knew he was pretty tired and probably getting hungry, and the water was feeling a little less than warm (compared to the hot sticky weather we had just left outdoors). But in he went and to my surprise he didn't seem to mind the temperature. He seemed pretty indifferent to the whole thing, neither smiling nor crying. I bounced him up and down on my knee, floated him on his belly, splashed, and even zoomed him around the pool on the surface of the water, but no squeals of delight were heard. He was just in his Serious Gord mood. But I could tell he liked it because he just seemed to take it all in quietly, just staring at everything around him. Us moms had a great time too, and felt pretty exhausted as we drove home (who thought you could get tired by staying in the shallow end of the pool!).

Come to think of it, there were two 'firsts' yesterday. He also ate vegetables for the first time. He had some squash. And he liked it! Hooray! I hope that lasts.

Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled to Dave and Tam's sites today, SO excited to find out about the ultrasound!

Uncomfortable in London

2006-06-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

I seem to be fighting some wretched illness, which is resulting in my left lymph node to swell up to the size of a tennis ball (or so it would seem). The tender area has a strong pulse of its own and throbs intensely. It seems to be connected to my inner ear since when I tap on it (and don't ask me why I do that because it hurts like hell when I do), it can be heard echoing loudly in my ear. And let's not even discuss swallowing food...well, on second thought, lets discuss it because it adds to my story...the swallowing is insanely painful. So that is the state I am in right now as I prepare to watch the finale of the Apprentice and I'm hoping the two Tylenol I just took will come to my rescue shortly. Gord has his six month doctors appointment tomorrow so I'm going to take advantage of the situation and ask her about it while I'm there.

So ya, the needles are coming to get Gord tomorrow. As well as a big weigh-in and height check. Although, I took him about a two weeks ago to get weighed at a baby clinic and he came in at 16 lb 2 oz and 26 inches long. This length means that he's into the bigger carseat and out of his convenient one that easily snaps in the stroller.

*Aside* - Gord is currently in bed but not asleep yet and is pounding his legs (as if in defiance) on his mattress. It just sounds so funny! It always looks cute when you catch him doing it because he slowly raises his legs high up in the air and then forcefully smashes them down. I always wonder what he's thinking when he does that.

We took Gord on June 3rd to get portraits done at Sears (courtesy of the gift certificate from Uncle Dave and Auntie Tammy from Christmas). Steve prepared me earlier by saying "Now let's not care if he doesn't smile at all, because that's just what he's like and it would capture who he really is" (in so many words). I agreed. We got all prettied up and when we got there we were quickly taken in (which was good because Gord was in good spirits after just waking up from a nap). We decided to do the family pose first, Steve in the back, me laying in front of him and holding Gord infront of me. *Snap* Gord-deadpan face. Next family pose with a more close-in head shot of the three of us...*Snap* Gord-deadpan face. Now just Gord shots. She put him in a cute white wicker chair and gave him an adorable teddy bear. In walked the "kid pro" and got in Gord's face...*Snap* Gord with a HUGE smile. Next photo with him propped up on his belly went much the same way, I was SO happy. He looked absolutely adorable and I can't wait to get all the pictures. I'll definitely post them once I have them.

Other than that, not too much else to discuss. Still plan on taking Gord swimming this week with a friend of mine and her little guy. I'll also post pics of that one. Hope all is well with everyone else. Till later...

Warning: You might be reading a blog post

2006-05-31T13:38:00.000-04:00

I was in a drug store the other day (don't worry Mom, it was the "good" kind of drug store), and I had some time to kill while I awaited a prescription refill. I love to peruse the drug store, they have so many fascinating products!

Well, I just happen to come across the sunscreen aisle and saw a bottle called "BabyFaces". What caught my eye about it was the fact that it was a spray bottle. 'How ingenious' I thought, an easy way to apply sunscreen to a baby. I picked up the bottle and read the back. Under directions, it said "Do not spray directly on face". I thought about this a minute and thought it somewhat unusual that a spray bottle of sunscreen called Baby FACES could not be used on the face. I understand the logic, but just saw some irony in the whole thing.

Anyway, the point is that it reminded me of the time I bought a big-ass bulk bag of BBQ peanuts. I don't really know why I bought it since it was the biggest bag of peanuts I'd ever seen (Dad, you would have become dehydrated from drooling if you saw it), but you kind of get sucked in to buying products like that if you have a membership at Costco or Sam's Club, which I did at the time. One day after getting some peanuts, I flipped over the bag to do some reading while I snacked away. And there it was...the funniest thing I had ever seen written on a product:

CAUTION: May contain nuts.

MAY contain nuts? MAY CONTAIN NUTS?! If it wasn't nuts in there, then what exactly was I eating? You've GOT to be kidding me! What brainiac thought it necessary to include this warning on a 20 lb bag of NUTS?! All I've got to say is, I pity the person with a nut allergy who needed to read that warning before deciding whether to buy it.

Has anyone seen my pocket protector?

2006-05-28T19:48:00.000-04:00

So if you've read Steve's most recent blog post (which probably left you with a feeling equivalent to finding your pet fish 'Wiggles' floating belly-up in the tank), you know that I went to a bridal shower for a friend of mine today. I could go into how the whole thing was cut short, but that's not what I want to discuss here. Instead, I'd rather talk about what a moron I think I am sometimes.

To start, let me just say that I didn't know anybody at the shower other than the bride-to-be. It wasn't long after I arrived though, that the "shower games" began. The second game we played dealt with catchy commercial phrases. Basically, we were each individually handed a piece of paper with about 20 slogans on them and you had to name what product each phrase was associated with (or fill in a blank). For example: "Eat the red ones last" is courtesy of Smarties, and "Silly rabbit, ____ is for kids" would be Trix. During the course of the game, people began chatting with eachother about the questions and as is always inevitable at these shower games, were looking to their neighbours for help with answers. What is wrong with this? NOTHING! Yet my first thought was 'Oh man, I hope nobody asks me', and 'what do I say if I'm asked?'. Laugh now. Can you believe it? IT'S A FREAKING SHOWER GAME, I'M SUCH A LOSER!!!! It's not that I cared about winning the game, I just thought that it felt so wrong if we were to cheat. Of course, I convinced myself moments after that it is alright to cheat in such an innocent situation, and began to divulge my answers with those nearby. I think the anti-cheating philosophy that I held so valuable in school (because I think cheating yourself or others out of a true education is such a disservice to society) is still deeply ingrained in my mind. Gotta learn when it's okay to let that go. It was on the ride home that I actually thought about it and had a good laugh at myself. Which I needed, since I had to leave before the food came out...grrrrr.... ;)

Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?

2006-05-24T08:39:00.000-04:00

For the record, I wasn't whining and if I didn't get to stake claim about writing about it my next post was going to center on the strange "crop circle-like" marks left on my impressionable skin from Steve's laptop. Thank me now for winning that argument. Although I have to admit that it has taken me longer than anticipated to recount the tale. I apologize to all those who have grown impatient with me...you know who you are *wink*.

So, on Monday Gord experienced for the first time what my world mostly revolves around (or did before Gord came along)...SOLID FOOD! About a week prior I had purchased the necessities required for this special event: a box of rice cereal and some cute Gerber spoons. I already had a John Deere dinner set including bowl that was given to us as a gift. Steve and I had been pretty set on waiting the full six months, which is only next week, but for some reason we just decided that Monday would be the day. I think it was a combination of having the supplies on hand, knowing we were SO close to him being six months anyway, and a slight hope that a spoonful of liquid cereal would magically act as a baby sedative, allowing him to get a full 8 hours of sleep (of course if this happened we would not allow him to operate any heavy machinery). So in the late afternoon I mixed up a spoonfull of cereal with some breastmilk. After mixing it in, it was really runny and pretty much like a milky soup. I don't know why, but I expected the rice cereal to be flaky or something, maybe with raisins and nut clusters, something that would go good with milk. But I was suprised that it was just a plain white powder. Solid food...kind of a misnomer for this stuff if you ask me.

We got Gord set up in his high chair and brought over the goods. I offered Steve the honour of being able to offer Gord his first bite of solid food since I had been the one feeding him since he was born. But he declined so I could take that pleasure and got set up with the camera. Up came the spoon and to his mouth and......he slurped it up great! More and more spoonfulls also went down, his throat and his chin. Every time I would get a new spoonfull, his head would raise and his mouth would open like a little bird. It was so cute! He stopped eating after a short time and we classified the event as a success. We think he burped most of it up shortly afterwards, but that's okay. We gave him some more yesterday but this time we made it with formula and also made it a little thicker. He ate it, but didn't seem as pleased with it as the day before. We're atributing this to the fact that it was made with formula which isn't as sweet (Steve also thought it didn't taste as good ;) )

So goes the story of Gord and his first bites of "solid food". But so far, no miracle cure for the sleeping. We didn't really think it would though. But the adventures with all the food to come is very exciting to me. I'm glad I have my rusty trusty instruction book to help me figure out what to do. Without it Gord might have started with my all-time favourite, steak and perogies! Soon Gordie-pie, soon.

Sound check in isle seven...

2006-05-18T20:41:00.000-04:00

Well, I'll try not to bore you while catching you up at the same time. It kinda sucks that Steve beat me to the blogging because now I just have to reiterate a few things (in my superior perspective of course!).

Sunday. Mother's Day. My first one. And it couldn't have went better. I awoke to a drooling baby hovering over me. Don't worry, it was MY baby. I got to sleep in till 7:30 and Steve brought up Gord and a hot cup of decaf coffee to wake me up. Good way to start the day. My mom came in by bus on Friday night so it was nice to be able to wish her a happy mother's day in person for a change. I also got some awesome mother's day gifts from Gord and Steve. Gord got me a really cute "mom" picture frame with a picture of me holding Gordie in the hospital shortly after he was born. It brought back so many emotions of that day. And Steve got me some pajamas and bakingware that I had been wanting. My first mission with the springform pan (which was one of the items): dark and white chocolate marble cheesecake with chocholate oat and hazelnut crust.

Sunday was also a big day because it was Gord's christening. Dave and Tam (the Godparents) arrived in the early afternoon. I know there are already pictures posted of this event but I have to post some of my own! There were five babies getting christened in a non-mass ceremony. The priest began the service by stating that you shouldn't get upset if your baby starts screaming because he can talk much louder than they can scream. This somehow put me at ease since Gord was due for a nap and was becoming increasingly agitated. But in just moments he fell asleep. All five babies were baptised without so much as a peep from any of them. The priest couldn't recount a more peaceful baptism ceremony, stating that there is usually one "reluctant christian" who voices their opinion loudly. This comment made me chuckle. I could just picture the inner voice of this "reluctant christian" baby as its scalp gets moistened..."NO! For the love of god, NO!" (no pun intended...well, yes, totally intended). We had the family and friends back to our place for some finger food and BBQ chicken. It was a great day.

My mom stayed until this morning to get her Gord fix. We went shopping a couple of times, but mostly stayed around the house. She was able to watch Gord while Steve and I went out for our first dinner date since January. It wasn't a long date by any means, but it was nice nonetheless. We had a romantic dinner at one of our favourite nice restaurants 'Copperfields', and we even wore perfume and cologne...how special!

Now that we are all caught up, I can fill you in on a little bit of today's events. I decided to go grocery shopping for some of the ingredients for my cheesecake. Gord loves to be in the grocery store, he is so good and just stares at all of the things in the isles. Today, he decided that the big store would be a good place to excercise his vocal chords. He wasn't crying...just talking...loudly. I could here his voice echoing off the walls. One woman even commented "quite a big voice for such a little guy". I responded "I know, I think I'm going to be in for it". Her response: laughter, as if she knew exactly what I would be in for and was glad it wasn't her. But I couldn't help it, I thought it was cute.

As I wheel Gord through the grocery store, I usually give him a running commentary of what I'm doing or where we're going. Usually there aren't many people in the isles as I'm doing this. But I've become so accustomed to it, that I didn't seem to notice the many people standing around the dairy section as we picked up some cream. Somewhere in the middle of me telling him what we had gotten already and what we needed from the list, I became suddenly aware of the people standing around me in silence, listening to my every word. I have to admit, I was a little embarrased. Almost as much as the time I walked around the whole grocery store in a great mood drinking a cafe mocha, only to get back to the car, look in the rearview mirror at myself and realize that I had chocolate remnants in the corner of my mouth. D'oh!

Another thing that comes to mind that I want to share, is Gord's new interest in the Dude. They are slowly becoming friends. Gord got to pet him for the first time the other day (surprisingly the Dude didn't bolt). Once Gord's hand touched his fur, he gave the hugest smile! The next time he put his hands deep in the fur and then clenched his fist so he could grab it (I know, I know, this is going to pose a problem sometime soon). Everytime the Dude comes around, Gord just stares at him and watches where he goes...waiting to get that next touch. I think it's so cute but I'm very careful that the Dude doesn't pull any funny business. Personally, I think he's just as interested, getting a good sniff of Gord's head whenever possible. I think they're going to be great friends soon and as you can see, Gord is going to have a new mode of transportation before he can walk ;)

Anyway, that's about all I got. Hope everyone's got a good long weekend in store for them.

2006-05-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

I'm worse than The Dude...

Steve and his sis left last night at around 5:30ish to head to the Pearl Jam concert in T.O. I had two boys to look after, Gord (duh!) and Rielly my nephew who's 6. He's always a ball of energy, but fun to have around, and a really great kid. And the nice part is, he goes to bed really early. So by 7:40 I had both boys tucked into bed (well, one a crib actually) and I had the house and evening to myself. Yee-haw!

I did the usual internet thing, catching up on blogs etc., but I was really anxious for the exciting night of T.V. that awaited me: America's Next Top Model followed by a new episode of LOST. By the time LOST started it was getting late by my new standards (9pm)...it was obviously dark outside and the house was quiet. For those of you that are LOST fans, you know just how suspenseful it has been getting. The title music is erie in itself! Halfway through the episode I came to a conclusion: LOST is scary. At least it is to watch alone at night. With all the crazy new developments in the show, I was on edge. I actually thought to myself "how scary does a show have to be before it's too scary to put on T.V.?". I mean, I can normally watch some scary stuff, but forget it if I'm by myself. I still remember living back at home in Sudbury and if I was ever at home alone at night and decided I wanted to watch Unsolved Mysteries (a show I used to love), by the end of the show I would be paralyzed on the couch afraid to even look up the stairs for fear a crazy madman would be standing at the top. And come on, Robert Stack's voice alone was enough to send chills up the spine! Anyway, I enjoyed the show as always but was a little jittery when it ended. When I went to bed I actually was wide awake for awhile and thought I kept hearing things on our deck in the backyard. I'm embarrassed to say I was planning my escape with Gord and Rielly if someone actually started to break in! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH ME?! All over LOST...it's not even scary...really.

Make fun of me if you must.

2006-05-07T18:43:00.000-04:00

The moment every mother doesn't wait for...and other info

Let me set the stage. It was a sunny and warm Sunday, early evening, and after a wonderful day out in London at the mall, out to lunch, followed by a relaxing car ride sipping iced cappacinos while Gord napped in the back, we were at home and preparing to start Gord's naptime routine. Other than his one long nap in the car, he didn't nap very well today and was getting sleepy quite early. It was 5:45 and upstairs we went to begin it all. I'm sure Steve's mentioned it before: the feed, the bath, the massage and dress, and the bedtime.

We noticed while he ate that some of his nails were getting long. So Steve thought we could try to cut them in the bath while he was more relaxed and his nails were soft. Okay. So in his bath he went (Gord that is, in case you're not following very well) and happy as a clam he was. Steve ran down and got the nail clippers and then started to clip his toe nails while I washed him down (Again, Gord that is). Steve started complaining that it was hard to do it and he wasn't in a good position. So of course, I step up to the plate and tell him to hand me the clippers. After all, I have become really great at clipping his nails (however, I must mention that I have never done it in the bath. This is a really important point to make right now). I start with his fingernails and see what Steve is talking about. When the nails are wet, the ends lose their nice distinguishable white colour making it harder to see where to cut them. I know you already know where this is going. I slide the clippers into position on his left thumb nail and press down. I immediately realize that the consistency of what is being cut is not that of a fingernail. Crying commences. Gord confirms what I already know...I've cut his skin. His sob breaks my heart. The moment every mother DOESN'T wait for: when they unintentionally inflict pain on their child. Needless to say I feel like poo. I try to make myself feel better by recalling the other moms in my moms group recount similar tales. But it doesn't really help. And after Steve makes sure I'm not totally destroyed, he starts with his usual therapy tactics...ridicule.

The moral of the story: Don't cut a baby's nails in the bath. Nuff said.

Onto other news: I'll try to make these brief clipits. (Is clipits a word? If not, then COOL, I made up a new word!)

Gord cute: The other day I went into Gord's room to get him after his nap. I walked in and realized it felt a little cold. I looked into Gord's crib and watched him smile. Then as I was holding his hands he did the CUTEST thing. He literally went "brrrrr" while his whole body shuddered! I mean it, he made the "brrrrrr" sound. So cute.

Gord frustrating: So now Gord can also roll from his back to his tummy. But he has forgotton how to roll from his tummy to his back unfortunately. So now he just rolls to his tummy and starts crying until we roll him back, after which he proceeds to roll back onto his tummy. And on and on it goes. It'll be nice when he can do both all by himself but then I'm told they'll make it across a room in a matter of seconds!

Gord sick??: (this one not for those with weak stomachs or who hate talk of poo) Tonight I changed Gord's diaper and noticed a couple little streaks of blood in the poo. We immediately googled this and looked it up in our book, and it seems that it is likely due to an "anal fissure" that may be caused from straining. He was grunting a lot before his 'movement' so maybe that's it. Regardless, the doctor is being called tomorrow just to be sure. I'll let you know what she says. Steve of course took pictures of the diaper in question, but don't worry, I won't subject you to this like Steve would.

Gord owes me!: As you may have read, Steve won Pearl Jam tickets for this coming Wednesday's show in T.O. Would love to go (OF COURSE!) but there's this little interfering factor named Gord. Gord has taken to chewing his bottles instead of drinking from them and also had a bad screaming bout last time we left him after he went to bed. SO, this means I (the milk machine) has to be on hand (or at least nearby) in case of such incident. While I am sad not to see Pearl Jam, I know that if I went I would just be stressed out about him the whole time anyway and I just wouldn't end up having a great time. I'll be much happier sitting here watching my America's Next Top Model and knowing my little Gordikins is sleeping tightly upstairs (that one's for you Lyndsay! ;) ).

Back to the basics: Got fed up with my roots and went back to a darker shade of hair. Was going for kind of a rich brown but it came out looking dark with a tad of red. Which is okay by me because I like having red in my hair anyway. I'll post a pic as soon as I get one.

I'm spent. That is a long enough one for you guys I guess. Off to make the most of my evening and wallow in my misery. A nice big bag of Doritos should do the trick.

2006-04-28T21:09:00.000-04:00

Sorry

Cause this is not going to be a long post nor an interesting one. I'm at home...can't really say I'm alone since Gord is in his room sleeping and the Dude is purring on my hip with chin on arm, but Steve isn't here. He's gone out for a bachelor party-type evening. Well, let me clear that up because by that it sounds like he's at the rippers. He had to miss his friends bachelor party last weekend so tonight he is going out with him and a few others who also missed the festivities, to play some pool and do some drinking.

Steve said he wouldn't be drinking tonight but brought the Focus instead of the Impala in the unlikely event he had to cab it home at leave the car at the bar. Hmmm, I know what that means. I'm going to hear him wretching at 4 in the morning. Hee hee, just kidding, sorry for the visual. However, given that Steve has had the fortunate opportunity to sleep in from time to time (since he works from home some days), we made an agreement that it would only be fair if I got to sleep in tomorrow (because I drool worse than Gord when I see Steve slumbering in bed). I told him as he left to keep in mind that he has to get up bright and early with Gordie and allow me to sleep in. I don't want to take any chances with sorry excuses being thrown around. No, no. I've been looking forward to this one and I won't let my chance slip away. I just know though that come tomorrow morning, Steve will happily get up and take Gord downstairs, but then the worst thing is going to happen. Murphy (you know, that guy who wrote all those silly laws) is going to prevent me from falling back to sleep. I already know this is going to happen. Ah well. Being in bed will be nice enough I guess.

Well, this post has gotten longer than I expected. I'm not too interested in the t.v. and will probably head off to bed soon. My gosh, the froshies at the university haven't even started pre-drinking for their night at the bars yet. You know you're old when...

Have a good one all.

2006-04-24T20:11:00.000-04:00

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I was just a little girl when I laid my eyes on him for the first time. I think it was a combination of his good looks, the navy uniform he was wearing and all of the fighter jet action that stole my heart. I distinctly remember being at my Dad's house and looking forward to watching Top Gun...for the gazillionth time. Top Gun has been my favourite movie ever since, I have watched it soooooo many times that I have most of the script memorized, from "Good morning Scott" to "It's looking good so far". Tom Cruise became the star I pined for (with a bit of room saved for Joey-Joe from New Kids of course!). I thought he was irresistably handsome, nice, and down to earth. I anticipated every new movie release and bought many of the ones he starred in and watched them repeatedly and whenever I needed a "Tom fix".

Needless to say, the events in the passed year involving "TomKat", "TomKitten", and his newly exposed couch hopping hobby, have left me speechless. I feel like I wasted so much time swooning over this closet lunatic. MI-3 is about to be released, and while I really look forward to seeing it, I just don't have the same gusto for it as I normally would have. *Sigh*. What a letdown. MY WHOLE LIFE PEOPLE!!!! Ugh. I'm gonna need a new fixation, one that won't disappoint me in this way. Any suggestions?

As for Steve, he couldn't be happier...

2006-04-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

The flower chronicles and…HE DID IT, 3 TIMES!!!!

Well, let’s start with the most exciting news: Gord rolled over for the first time today! It was so amazing being witness to this grand baby feat. I put him on his playmat for some usual tummy time, which I thought would end like normal in a total of one minute after he got tired and frustrated. But much to my surprise he was enjoying his tummy time. And even more, he was much better at it today. He held his head extremely high while the drool rolled down his chin onto the fuzzy blanket, and he was pushing up with his arms instead of his chest like he usually does. I put his wrist rattle just out of reach so it would keep him interested. I guess he really wanted it because with a push with his arm he rolled onto his side (this was so cute cause for a few seconds he was just stuck there on his side), but his weight soon did the rest of the work and he swiftly rolled onto his back toward the rattle. I was soooooooo excited! Of course, Serious Gord was his usual self and had no fantastic expression on his face that would give any clue to the incredible act he had just accomplished for the first time. So I got excited for him. A little while later I put him back on his tummy and low and behold he did it again! And of course when Steve got home he wanted to see the little man in action so we put him on his tummy and he immediately rolled, as if he had been doing it his whole life, what a pro! ;) We tried for a fourth time tonight but as much as he tried he couldn’t do it. That or he was sick of us putting him on his tummy and was on to the fact that we were doing it to see him roll over. Either way, we are very happy for him and the date is marked it my baby book.

As for the flower chronicles, I have good news and bad news. Not so much bad news as annoying news because, well, you’ll see.

The good news: After the frantic worry that my hard work was a real waste due to the early bloom and horrible environmental conditions which followed, THE FLOWERS HAVE BLOOMED! And they actually look pretty beautiful. I couldn’t be happier about this…well wait, yes I could because of the annoying part: the flowers are MINI !!! Last fall I bought two big mixed packages of spring bulbs. They contained tulips, daffodils and some purple flower I can’t remember the name of (you can see them in the pics). But I must have forgotten to read the small print on the box (which I can only assume was there for legal reasons…because people like me would love to sue due to the deception), the print which stated that the flowers in the box were mini versions of what was shown on the box. Tulips and daffodils in my mind should get to a full height of about a foot. As you can see in my pics (in which I cleverly use my hand as a scale reference…ah Kim, you brilliant girl you…) the flowers are about 6 inches tall. Ho-hum. I was disappointed at first to say the least. The tulips when open during the day don’t even look like tulips. But ya know what, I guess it’s okay. All I wanted was for the flowers to bloom and they did. And they actually look really pretty. And I think the tulips I planted in the front by the road are going to be the real deal…I’ll keep you posted to this page-turner of a story (please note sarcasm).

So, I’ve had the opportunity to make this post while sitting outside in the setting sun. It is a gorgeous evening and I hope you are all enjoying it as well. I wish there was some device where I could instantly find out what everyone I know is doing at the same moment as me…oh wait, that’s called a phone…but ya know what I mean, without actually disrupting what they’re doing. Okay, I’m weird I know. Anyway, hope you’re all having fun. I’m gonna go enjoy the rest of my evening, watch America’s Next Top Model and have some strawberry shortcake. Mmmmmmm…..

2006-04-13T11:42:00.000-04:00

You can't know the sweet without the sour

I came down with a cold this past weekend. Thought it was allergies at first, but nope, it was a cold. I'm okay now of course, luckily for me it didn't last long. I attribute this to the gallons of water and daily vitamins I take. Ever since I was pregnant I really have never been healthier and hardly ever get sick, so I was kind of surprised and disappointed when I came down with this cold. I guess I'm human after all, ho-hum... To BRIEFLY bring up breastfeeding again, the one thing that does suck about it is that if you do get sick, there's really nothing you can take for it...no nasal decongestants anyway, which is what you usually end up needing the most...grrr...there, that's the end of that.

Steve has mentioned about the recent Gord shenanigans, his refusal to go down in his crib to nap, and how when he finally did fall asleep, it would only be for forty minutes. These few days were hell, and it was such an unusual change in his behavior. It's funny though, it coincided with his discovery of new voice noises and squeals, which are just the cutest! Well, I gotta say, the last few days have been getting MUCH better. He goes for naps with little to no fuss, and for the past two days has had at least one of the naps in the day lasting 2 1/2 hours. The one yesterday I actually had to wake him up from because it was going to interfere with his next nap of the day. A couple of nights ago he even graced us with an 8 1/2 hour stretch and then woke up for the day at 7:30...beautiful! But last night we had some company over to play poker (Steve's sis and her boyfriend). I cleaned up the first game, and Steve the second...it was fun! ;) Gord, like we've mentioned before, somehow KNOWS when we are having fun. It was about 10pm (Gord was in bed since 7:30) and I was sipping on a delicious chocolate martini Steve made when I heard the stirring noises through the monitor that send immediate shock waves down my spine. I had to feed him... and then again at 12... and then again at 3... and then again at 5... and then he was up for the day at 7:30 today. Who wants to guess if I'm tired? anyone?...anyone?...

But this is all normal baby behavior and I have to remind myself of that sometimes so I don't really worry or stress about it too much. He's such a good baby, I know we have it good. And he is just so darn CUTE all the time! I'll try to get some more pics up real soon (Steve is still "working"* on the computer).

*Note: "working" means that the computer is still sitting on the desk upstairs with a bunch of stuff connected to it, collecting dust, and waiting for a magical computer fairy to come in and wave her wand to fix it.

It's a beautiful day outside and I still got some naptime left to myself. Ciao.

2006-04-06T10:25:00.000-04:00

Being on the downslope

If I were a senior living in London, I'd be a little perturbed. As Steve and I were driving around the city in one of our long car rides with Gord, we passed by a senior's centre. In the front of the building they have one of those signs where each little black letter is posted individually...you know, the kind that little hooligans love to go and change into obscene words in the middle of the night (eg. A fish market that has a sign reading "We have fresh bass here" suddenly becomes "We have fresh ass here" by morning...you get the idea) . This is what was posted on the sign:

"Get your affairs in order seminar April 27"

I mean how depressing! The sign might as well have read: "PREPARE TO DIE seminar April 27". At least then it probably would have caught more senior's attention. I just couldn't help but kind of be shocked by it. I mean yes, of course it is something the elders of our society need to think about, but it just sounded so blunt. Like, hey geezers, get everything ready now cause you might bite the biscuit tomorrow. Just a little too much of a downer for my liking. Maybe it's just me.

2006-04-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

A case of infant bullemia

Okay, so I took a little hiatus. I knew it would happen at some point and I apologize for not posting in so long. Since our laptop has been "out of order", I have to now snag Steve's work one when he is momentarily away (like right now since he's in the shower).

Right to my headline (since I'm sure you're all confused), I have a concern that Gord has infant bullemia. Of course I'm joking, but if there WAS such thing as infant bullemia, I'd be starting to be concerned that Gord has it and re-thinking all the references we make to his "chubby" cheeks and thighs... Gordie-pie (my favourite nickname for him followed by Gordie-poops), has taken to chewing on his hands obsessively, to the point where we think he might be teething (given the accompanying drool and crankiness). He sometimes seems to get his whole fist in (no joke) and I've sometimes actually considered that maybe he could go on the Letterman show in the "Stupid human tricks" segment one day. But as he is growing bigger and bigger by day, his hands are following suit, naturally. His fingers are getting looooooong. Do you see what I'm getting at? When he sticks his fingers in his mouth now, the fingers reach so far back that it stimulates the gag reflex and it literally looks like he's doing a dry-heave. A couple of times, including early this morning on the change table, he has induced vomiting after eating because of this action. Aye-aye-aye!

In other news, (and I have to make this brief because Steve is out of the shower), I had a great birthday. I got my first "mommy" card from Gord and it brought tears to my eyes. I have it on the fridge now and I'll NEVER throw it out. Thanks to all who were there and all the birthday wishes! Well, unfortunately I do have to go but I'll try to post more updates soon. I'm sorry I haven't commented on anyone's blog lately, I haven't read them in days and am going to make a great effort to do some catching up tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have all been up to. Well so long for now folks!

2006-03-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

But I won't wear the shoulderpads

I have now been off of work for just shy of four months. What I really loved most about my job (besides chatting with all of the wonderful people I worked with), was being involved in research and performing all of the experiments that came with it. So I decided it was just about time that I perform some type of experiment since I had the itch. Of course, my experiment wouldn't belong to the 'genetics' category per se (even though I classify Gord as my biggest genetic experiment ever), but it would still be something to keep those scientific wheels a turnin'! What was my experiment you ask?...

Observation: Blonde women enjoy being blonde. So much so that many non-blondes become blondes to see what all the hype is about.

Question: Do blondes enjoy being blonde because the old saying "blondes have more fun" is true?

Hypothesis: Blondes have more fun

Materials: A whole heck of a lot of hair lightener, and one talkative hairdresser.

Method: SEVEN HOURS in the salon with one feeding session for Gord in the waxing room (my poor honey). Three hair lightening sessions followed by toner. Multiple washes, dries, and a brief hair trim (due to time limitations...um, I was there for SEVEN HOURS!!!!)

Results: I become blonde (see figure 1- which will be posted later today) and do not have more fun.

Discussion: So, becoming a blonde was a success, but as you can see it didn't come without its share of inconveniences. I call my hair-dresser the "Mel" of hairdressers (sorry Mel, please don't come after me for that one...I wuv you...) because she originally told me it would be three hours, then as time went on, said it would be 2 more hours, and then two hours later only ONE more hour, etc etc. until seven hours had elapsed and I ran out the door with my haircut not even finished. We won't even discuss the price here. It would hurt too much.

So life as a blonde has been going on for a few weeks now I guess. I like being blonde (a true blonde for the first time in my life since my youth), I like hair change. But why have I not had more fun you ask? Well, because of several reasons:

1. I have yet to be hit on by mass amounts of men (but maybe they just saw my wedding ring, hmmmmm?...)
2. I still don't look any better in a bikini.
3. I can't stay up any later than normal (ie 9pm)
4. My scalp has become so dry from the chemical treatment that I've seen some...brace yourselves...DANDRUFF!
5. My roots have already started growing in exposing me for the blonde fraud I am.
6. I am now susceptible to all those corny blonde jokes.

Final conclusion: Blondes like being blonde not because they have more fun but because they don't want to spend seven hours with chemicals on their heads and end up with dandruff. They'd rather spend their time washing cars in bikinis while drinking a Bud Light. So who are the dumb ones really?...

2006-03-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

Mr. Sun, I love you!

Wow, what an incredible day! It's nearly 10 degrees above zero outside (by that I really mean it's 9 degrees but it just sounds hotter to say 'nearly 10 degrees'). Gord and I just got back from a marathon walk around the neighbourhood. I wish I could say he enjoyed it as much as I did, but he was his usual self and slept the whole time, minus the first 2 minutes. Anytime he's in motion, even if it's right after he's napped, he decides it's a great time for some more shut-eye. I swear, he's going to be one of those kids that the school bus driver is going to get out of their seats for in order to wake them up to get off the bus. When we pulled up in the driveway at the end of our walk I parked him near the door, I went in and grabbed the laptop and camera and brought it outside in hopes that I could write this post in the sun while getting some extra fresh air. After I snapped a few shots though, my plan was foiled because Gordo woke up (of course! he wasn't moving! see...?) I did manage to grab a few pics of the flowers I told you about. On days like this I have hope they'll see a day of bloom, but it'll probably just snow tomorrow or something.

We also had a pretty good Sunday. Steve was back at home, it was another beautiful day and we decided to pack up and go out to Springbank park for a walk. It was such a great sight. There were people walking with babies, children, and dogs, people playing frisbee and kids and adults alike playing in the park on the swings. We had a great time and then went for a long drive around the city (one of our favourite activities) and then to lunch at a nice burger joint (no not McD's!). When Gord went to bed, Steve and I split the remainder of our Bailey's and vegged out on the couch and watched some TV. It was nice.

I feel like I have a lot of energy right now and feel like I've accomplished quite a bit today. I managed to do the dishes, put on and empty the dishwasher, do some laundry, clean our bedroom bathroom toilet (nice huh?!) and then I accomplished the mother of all tasks that I have been putting off for YEARS (quite literally actually...): I sorted and organized our box of files and all the huge pile of loose paper that was sitting ontop of it!. YAY! All this ontop of the marathon walk and writing this blog. And it's only 3pm. I am rocking today if I do say so.

Well, with that I should go since Gord's dragonfly is no longer keeping him very amused. But before I go, (don't worry, I'm soothing him before writing more!) I want to share with you something I remembered today that I thought was quite funny. The last time we were at Wal-Mart and standing in the customer service line, I happened to look at the bin of items on the counter of things that people had returned. One of the items was a first response pregnancy test. Does this not strike you as odd? I could just picture some moron walking up with it and saying "Ya know, I think I'd like to return this pregnancy test, cause I think it's broken". I mean, why would you buy a pregancy test and need to return it? I would've loved to be there for that one. Anyway, hope you got a kick out of it, cause I know I did. (sorry if I've offended anyone who has ever returned one... ;) )

2006-03-25T11:51:00.000-05:00

Itsy bitsy spider...

is not a song I was singing to Gord. I am completely wigged out right now (is that even the right term?!). While watching the Truman show on TV and playing with Gord on his playmat on the floor, I saw a disgustingly big, biege spider crawl up the wall behind the TV and rest itself in the crook between wall and ceiling. If you know me at all, you know about my immense fear of the insects. My first reaction was to call Steve, but he's not here (and let's face it, he's no better than me in these situations...just kidding honey... *wink* to the rest of you ;) ). My second thought was to leave it alone and pretend I didn't see it. But then I thought about poor Gord on the floor and how afraid I would be of a spider setting up shop in his ear or something. That thought sent chills up and down my spine so I went for the ultimate spider-mashing weapon...the papertowel roll 3000. I stood on the coffee table and made my first attempt. It started crawling away and I quickly made my second attempt (during which time I think there was a high-pitched girlish squeal). My second attempt caused the spider (still living I'm assuming) to fall behind the entertainment unit. Now it is hiding in the darkness...under the unit, beside the unit, on the unit...who knows now! I have been feverishly scanning all surfaces for the last 25 minutes, but to no avail. No spider in sight. GREAT! Now I have to live in fear that this spider is going to present itself at some unsuspecting moment on one of us or in some food I'm about to eat. Ech! And until that moment I will always have one eye on the floor, wall, and anywhere I'm about to sit. Damn you, beige spider! My only hope now is that the Dude will behave like the cat he is and hunt that spider down.

2006-03-25T08:18:00.000-05:00

A blog during naptime

Yup, I write this blog while Gord is down for his morning nap. It's 8:16 AM. Can you imagine taking a NAP at 8:16 am? He was up for the day at 6:30. I feel like I could use a morning nap. Don't feel too sorry for me yet, I went to bed at 9 pm last night. But that 9 1/2 hours was not without it's interuptions of course (which I knew would be the case, hence the 9 pm bedtime). He was up at 11 pm and 3:30 am. Not too shabby, but usually when he goes to bed at 7:30 pm he wakes up for the first time between 1-3am. Oh well. Folks, just to elaborate, the excitement of my Friday night was chalked up to a BIG bowlful of mint chocolate ice cream while watching "What not to underwear" and scoping out blog updates. Yee-haw! I challenge you to beat my Friday fun!

In other news, I've been living as a single mom since Thursday afternoon. No, me and Steve are not on the splits, rather he has had to attend a two-day business meeting thing. This includes a stay in a hotel room that he calls equivalent to a nice bachelor pad, paid dinners at fancy up-scale restaurants, social time which includes drinks and poker play till the wee hours of the morning, topped by a quiet and uninterrupted sleep (emphasis on the word quiet...and uninterrupted...and sleep) ;) Ha. He has it sooooooo rough. No doubt he will come home "exhausted" though. But keep in mind, he was warned. I made him read the fine print before he left. If he chose to stay up late and drink, he was foregoing any possibility to claim that he was too tired or run down to perform any nightly duties upon his return. He verbally signed on the dotted line, so I'm not worried. In all seriousness, I know he works very hard and is also very anxious to come home and spend time with Gordo. I am also looking forward to having him back in the house. There are a lot of one-way conversations going on over here right now and they mainly revolve around diaper talk, tickles, and barn animal noises. Thank god nobody is here to witness that.

Well that's all for me folks. For now anyway. It's only 8:30 so I still have a whole day to post some more. Just me and the boy for the day. It's going to be (in Janice's voice) "Gordie and mommy's day! of! fun!" Later folks.

2006-03-24T11:37:00.000-05:00

For the kids...

If you read Steve's blog, you know all about his recent campaign to raise some money for the Children's Health foundation. He requested that everyone who has a blog should make a post to promote this cause. And so, here is my effort. I am so proud of Steve and the great thing he has done. I know a lot of items on his 101 list are aimed at bettering himself and doing great things for others. I share his enthusiasm for donating to this charity because as he has already mentioned, there are people we know who have had the unfortunate oppotunity to make use of their services. This is my plea to all those who may come across my blog who do not already read Steve's, to consider donating any amount of money, however small, to the Children's Health Foundation. Because there is no better cause in the world than taking care of our beautiful children.

2006-03-23T09:21:00.000-05:00

If you're uncomfortable with words beginning with "breast", read no further!

I have one of those 'Mom' posts to make today. Mainly to vent off some frustration at the fact that babies will do whatever it takes to keep you on your toes. Before I had Gord, I was adamant on breastfeeding. I even went to a breastfeeding class (which I dragged Steve to, tee hee! - Oh, don't think I'm mean, 90% of the women there dragged their men in as well). In the class the instructors warned that breastfeeding can be challenging in the beginning so I tried to mentally prepare myself. When Gord came and I started breastfeeding I suddenly realized what they meant. Your milk doesn't come in right away, the latch isn't perfect yet, your baby is losing weight and there is an immense pressure to put weight on. You supplement with formula but try to establish your milk supply at the same time. You've never breastfed before so you never know how much your baby is getting and when the baby cries you are always wondering if it's due to hunger. For me, I had (and still do sometimes) have this mental problem thinking that Gord is always hungry and isn't getting enough to eat, even though the numbers on the scale and the rolls on his thighs tell me otherwise. I remember one night in particular being on the verge of breakdown, Gord crying, trying to breastfeed, not knowing if it was working...Even though I wanted to breastfeed I considered giving up at that moment and filling up some bottles with formula. But for some reason I kept going and the rest is history. Needless to say, breastfeeding has become very easy and convenient and I know it is doing great for Gord.

So why do I need to vent now you wonder? Well, in order to keep Gord familiar with a bottle, I have kept a bottle of breastmilk handy to give to him every so often. This is critical since it allows us to leave Gord for a short time with a babysitter over a feeding. For some reason over the last week or so, Gord has been particular with when he chooses to take a bottle. For instance, yesterday I had a gloriously full bottle of breastmilk available to give him, but for some reason when Steve tried to feed it to him he just would not have it! He wailed and wailed but would not give in. So, I had to do the easy thing...breastfeed. See what I'm getting at here? Who would've thought in the beginning that breastfeeding would become the easy solution and bottlefeeding would be the new challenge. Just when you think you've mastered one thing I tell ya...gotta love those curve balls. So down the drain went the bottle of milk, which also bothers me because to me breastmilk is equivalent to liquid gold and it means I have to try to find a way to get a new bottle's worth without affecting the supply for Gord. Whew. Anyway, I really shouldn't complain because really I got want I wanted in the end, and I really am happy for it. Sorry for all the breastfeeding talk. I'll get it all out on this post so that I'll never have to post about it again. Breasfeeding, breastfeeding, breastfeeding...there, I feel better now.

2006-03-22T12:39:00.000-05:00

They got my goat again!!!!

I apologize that 66% of my posts so far deal with Wal-Mart, but something has got to be said!

One of our purchases at Wal-Mart the other day was for a small press-on light to put near Gord's change table so as to give us a bit more viewing ability while changing his diaper in the middle of the night (nothing worse than getting yellow mush on your fingers and accidentally smearing it on everything you touch ya know?...WHAT?!) So we select one of the billion packages that they have on the shelves. I just couldn't wait for that night to use it (yes, having a light to put on while changing a diaper is an exciting thing in this household these days *sigh*). But when we put in the batteries and tried it out...you got it, no go! I tried many times to figure it out but to no avail. It appears that there is a piece missing. AAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Wal-Mart, you've done it again! It irks me so much when I'm unlucky enough to pick the one package that isn't going to work. Soooooooooo, back to Wal-Mart again tonight. Hmph. My roll-up-the-rim coffee better pay off on the ride over there or someone's going to be cur-ank-eee waiting in line at customer service.

2006-03-21T08:50:00.000-05:00

Is there anybody home up there?!

No, contrary to how it sounds, I'm not contemplating whether there is a "Big Guy" watching over us. Rather, it's a question aimed at all those who sit way up the corporate ladder at one of the major department stores in this country: Wal-Mart! Why you ask? Because I've got a bone to pick with someone.

It was a wonderful afternoon yesterday. Steve came home from work and we decided to load up the little guy and take him out for a trip since we needed some household essentials. And when I need to buy those essentials, I always go to Wal-Mart because I love it and the prices are always great. We got some Tim's for the ride over and then began our shopping. We were having a blast and when we had picked up everything on the list I suggested we head over to the baby section because Gord is a growing boy and all of his diaper shirts were getting too small. I don't know what it is about the baby section, it makes me so happy to walk through it. I guess it's because it's a whole section of Wal-Mart that I had never even knew existed before I had Gord and now suddenly it's like I have a golden pass to get in and shop. So needless to say I was in a great mood. I walked over to the wall full of packages of diaper shirts. I picked up one of the packages and looked at the size information on the back. Because for those of you who have kids, you know that their age doesn't always coincide with the 'age size' of baby clothes. So, on the back of the diaper shirt package was this:

3 M : up to 10 lbs
6M : 10-14 lbs
9M : 14-18 lbs
12M : 18-22 lbs

With Gord being over 13 lbs already (at 3 1/2 months), I decided that I would get him the 9 month size shirts (especially since he has some 6 month sizes and they seem somewhat too small). So began the search. I was rooting through package after package on the wall looking for the 9M size. Tons of the other sizes but for some reason no 9 month, they were all out, in all the different makes and styles!! I couldn't believe my luck. While I was still searching, Steve says to me "there are no 9 month sizes. The stickers on the price labels jump from 6 months right to 9 months". "That can't be" I reply, that wouldn't make sense. A saleswoman came by and so I asked her if they had any of the 9 month size. She replied: (and yes this deserves it's own line)

"No, for some reason a couple of years ago they stopped carrying the 9 month size".

SAY WHA???!!!

I then proceeded to walk through the isles in a kind of daze, trying to figure out how any of this made ANY sense. Why, oh why, would they choose not to carry a whole size of baby clothes?! I could almost understand if they were short on shelf space and could only carry 3 of the sizes, but even then, it would make sense not to carry the 3 month size since some babies are born over this size. But EVERY baby will eventually hit the 9 month size! I just don't get it. What moron is running the show over there at Wal-Mart? Can you imagine going to your favourite clothing store and realizing they decided not to carry size medium anymore, just XS, S, L, and XL? Wouldn't you question the education level of the store owner and be really mad all at the same time cause you couldn't buy any clothes if you were size medium? If someone can please help me to understand this, please do. My brain is hurting and needs some relief!

UGH!

So, no diaper shirts yet, but my baby business is going elsewhere. I shake my fist at you Wal-Mart!

2006-03-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

Tasting metal

Wow, so I actually bit the bullet. Steve will be so proud of me. I've also come to the conclusion that one cannot properly start a blog without the first post announcing "world, I've started a blog". Otherwise, chaos might ensue.

Tricky thing, what to make of this first blog post... I suppose I could end it here and be done with it and quickly make many posts until it is buried in the depths of the archives and soon forgotten. But, I love a good challenge my friends! You WILL read on!

It's the perfect day to start this blog after much procrastination (is it really procrastination when you just want to spend your five free mintues a day zoning out on the couch in front of The View? Okay, I'm lying, I usually watch the whole show and throw Gordie his butterfly toy if need be. Those ladies are hee-larious!). Spring has commenced (or it will as of 1:36 this afternoon) and the sun is shining away. I don't really know how warm it is outside but I'm hoping that it's warm enough to allow for my spring flowers to continue (yes, I said CONTINUE) sprouting from the ground. For those of you who haven't already heard, I'm very bitter about this. In October, at about 7 months pregnant, I was down on hands and knees in my garden planting some 180 spring flower bulbs (no, that number is not a misprint). Folks, it took me hours but I was very determined to have an enormous and breathtaking display of flowers come up for the first time at our house this spring. To be honest, I wanted to be the talk of the neighbourhood. As I was planting I could just hear them all in my head "wow, that woman is a marvel with a spade!...Just look at the delicate placement...Who did she hire, it could NOT have been her alone!" However, my bubble has busted. With the mild winter and recent freeze-thaws, the flowers began to appear, much to my chagrin. I don't know much about flowers but I figure sprouting so early and being snowed on cannot be good. Meh, whatcha gonna do I guess. Time will tell whether they bloom or not. I'm sure I'll be keeping you posted on this topic since it has for some reason affected me so much. Everytime, I go outside and see the little green pieces sticking out of the ground, my blood boils. They mock me.

So it's already well-known that I'm 3 1/2 months into my new job...as a mom. It has already proven to be the most rewarding and challenging job ever. Gordon is the sweetest little baby ever but he is also the reason why I thought 'adventures' was a suitable word to include in this blog title. Because there are many adventures to be had indeed. Steve does a great job of documenting his life and trials, but I'm sure the mom point of view has its share of discrepencies. We will see what the blog future brings.

With that, I will leave you first post.

May the adventures begin.