Friday's List of Ten X

Ten reasons clothes shopping (for me) with the boys turned out much better than I expected:

10. In and out of the Jeep X 6, in and out of the stroller X 6, no tears!

9. Two words: store toys! I had stuff for both boys to keep them happy, but everyone knows that other people's stuff is way more fun than yours. And Owen was persuaded to put everything back and leave when it was time to go with the vague promise that "the toys will be here when we come again".

8. Store was almost empty, in spite of it being half-past lunchtime on a Friday. (Yeah, I had planned to be there when the store opened. Boys did NOT have a good morning.) I could take over three changerooms, and no one was inconvenienced. (1 for the stroller, 1 for the boys to play in, and 1 to actually change in.)

7. Charming, charmimg boys, a.m. antics to the contrary! Manners and conversation from Owen, invitations to the sales girls "Would you like to play cars with me?". "Hi!" with a smile and a wave for everyone from Jake, and adorable brother-interaction to boot. Jake crawling after Owen, Owen deciding Jake needed a different toy and getting it for him. Those two flirted their way through that store on teeth and charm.

6. Stand-alone stores (I went to Tall Girl, more about that in a minute) are a lot more kid-friendly than stores in the mall, or giant -Mart stores. Small stores meaning never losing sight of exploring boys when they are encouraged by staff to drive their cars out of the changeroom.

5. I actually found a great outfit to wear to Grace's baptism (they made me an offer I couldn't refuse - I'm her Godmother). I would post pics from the online catalogue, but I really hate it in the catalogue. And the one I thought I liked online looked terrible in person. Which just goes to show, I should browse and try on different things in stores more often, rather than my usual MO of running into the GAP, cornering a salesperson and saying "I need jeans, size 10, 36 inseam. With a fit I can wear to the office. Meet me in the changeroom." It's a summer suit, with short sleeves on the jacket, in light grey with a white pinstripe. And I got a turquoise sleeveless shirt to wear with. Snazzy, and office friendly! I am over the guilt of paying specialty store prices - even Stacy and Clinton would rave about the fit.

4. Tall Girl finally has a rewards program! Once you make $500 worth of purchases (um, not difficult, I'm halway there on the one outfit, ouch!) you get 25% off one item. As reward programs go, it's not yje most exciting, but considering how pricey their stuff is, any money saved is good news.

3. I discovered that I am back to my pre-pregnancy size, the aforementioned 10. Maybe if I got serious about eating well and ran not just because I have an event coming up, I could get down to an 8. But at 6 feet 1 inches and a mom of two, I am quite pleased with being a 10.

2. Mall tailor took pity on me and did my hems while I waited, when others were being told they could pick up their pants tomorrow afternoon. Score one for "it never hurts to ask...really politely!" And they didn't charge me any extra. I took Owen to the potty, picked up a few more odds n ends, and voila, pants! Pants that actually got taken up (even with heels, TG pants are tres longue) rather than let out and a false hem put on, something I have been known to do to spare myself those TG prices.

1. Both boys fell asleep in the Jeep on the way home, and stayed asleep for the house-transfer. Which means that after a very pleasant afternoon out, I still got to enjoy some quiet time to get stuff done around the house. I thought for sure I was looking down the barrel of missed naps and cranky p.m. boys as well, but fate smiled on this well-dressed mama.

Me Time

You know you're looking forward to going back to work when a trip to the dentist makes you happy for the "me time". I had a dentist appointment on Monday. I don't mind the dentist - at 32 years old, I had never had a cavity, so I really have very little interaction with my dentist. I spend most of my time with the dental hygienist, who cleans my teeth every 9 months and lectures me about the importance of flossing. (Foreshadowing!)

But this time, they took some x-rays, and lo and behold, a cavity. My first one. And it's between my teeth - somewhere that could have been prevented by flossing. So I got to go back today and have it filled. You know what? The way the boys have been this week (little one having sleep issues, big one having iron ears and pushing issues), I think that I will look back on it as the highlight of my week. I got to relax in the chair, with my thoughts to myself, for 50 minutes. It was more pleasant than the scraping/cleaning, because I was numb. I felt nothing but some slight pressure, and even the whine of the drill is not all that bad. Worst part? The smell. Dental stuff smells yucky.

Having said that, I will definitely be picking up the flossing in the future. Because hey, in less than 2 months I'll be back to work, and get to have "me time" without the downside of speaking like Chretien all afternoon.

(Also, I have good dental coverage through work, so all this was free, which is why I can be so blase about it.)

Whew, Something Stinks!

...And it's not just the baby lying passed out in my lap, although said small fry could definitely use a diaper change. What with all the solids in his diet these days, phew!

What I am actually referring to is J0n & K@te + 8 - nope, don't want to add to the Google hits for the show. I had never seen this show before last night. I had no desire at all to watch any of the "family-oriented" shows on TLC (why do they always go overboard? A few years ago, all you could see on that channel was Trading Spaces, and the sob fest where hot guy Ty builds people a new house. (Forget what it's called.) Now it's all about families: the Duggar$, the Roloff$, and the Go$$elin$. And women who didn't know they were pregnant.)

Anyway, all the media hype made me curious, especially since I love my TV with a nice side of snark (see TWOP, in the sidebar over there.) Apparently, I've been missing out on some snarkTASTIC programming over at The Loot Channel! She got a tummy tuck? He got HAIR PLUGS??? Are you freaking kidding me? That's awesomely snarkworthy! I got all caught up over at this site, and couldn't wait to snark it up last night. (I'll say it again: SNARK!!)

Obviously these two are having issues. I almost cried when the one sextuplet was chatting with her dad, and told him, "I don't want you to go away anymore, Daddy". But the birthday six and their older sisters were hardly featured at all! It was all about mom! And WHAT a mom! Heh. Break out the schadenfreude, and if you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me! It must KILL her that she has second billing to her husband in the title of the show. This is one weird lady. And yeah, I love me some "unscripted" "reality" TV:

Mom to kid with silly string: Hey, shoot it at the camera!

Kid: (gets right up to camera and shoots silly string, but is so close, you don't get the "string" effect.)

Mom: No! Not like that! Let me do it! (Poses saucily in front of camera and lets fly with the string).

Completely spontaneous hijinks!

Now, not having seen any other episodes, I don't have anything to compare it to, but it seemed to me like there wasn't much focus on the kids. Has it always been like this? It seemed to be the K8 show, and it also seemed like K8 was acting a lot of the time. Like she thought, THIS is how a cool, loving mom acts at her kids' party and was doing her best to play the part. Why do I think this? Because she's not a very good actor! It was like watching bad theatre. Not to say that she doesn't love her kids, I'm sure she does, but she just seemed "on" for the cameras. Did the show always focus on the J&K part, seeing how a +8 affects a relationship? Because I don't see how that formula can work anymore given the current temperature of things on that interview couch. And if the premise of the show was to focus on the kids, well, someone missed the boat on this ep for sure!

And WTF is up with her hair??? I had heard it referred to as a "reverse mullet", but it was hard to see the full effect on the tabloid covers in the checkout lane. I was picturing it as a kind of longer-in-front bob, a la Posh Spice, but suspected there had to be more to it than that. It's as if her stylist thought, shorter-in-the-back good, number-three-clippers-in-the-back better! Holy Hannah! And the long, front portion looks almost Trumpian in its magnitude! Not that I have the most stylin' do (I tend to throw it in a pony or hide it under a bandana a lot) but I'm not putting myself out there for people to see.

I didn't really see enough of hubby to form much of an opinion. Other than thinking he seemed quite genuine in the aforementioned scene with his daughter, I was really just distracted by his bald spot whenever he was on screen. Did his TLC-funded hair plugs not take? Or, since he can't be much past 30, is it that has he lost MORE hair and needs a touch-up? Inquiring minds want to know!

The kids are all adorable. You won't catch me snarking on them, because a) they're kids, and b), they aren't the ones who signed up to be beamed into my living room. Although the girl who got up and ran away the instant the "happy family birthday photo" was snapped? Awesome! I really hope that somewhere, some lawyers are making sure that an awful lot of $$$ is being set aside for those kids. Accoeding to the Washington Post, mom and dad are getting $25,000-$75,000 per episode, in addition to all the loot.

Now that I've seen the show once, I'll probably be content to get my snark off the web. I can get all the horribleness that is J&K without the distraction of having to feel sorry for +8 (or the added distraction of K8's horrible acting. Give that girl a Razzie already!) Poor kiddos. Although if J0n goes in for a plugectomy sequel, I don't know that I could stay away.

Stop, Drop and Roll

Today we finally purchased a fire pit for the backyard. Technically, I guess it's more of a "fire table", since it sits up on the deck, but to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to. It's round and has about a 6 inch ledge all the way around - wide enough to sit a drink on, if you really wanted your beer nice and toasty warm. It's less than 3 feet across, so not too large, but perfect for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, which is what we did. (Aside: two years ago, for Owen's second Christmas, we bought a small, potted evergreen, thinking we wouldn't have to worry about him pulling it over on himself, and then we could plant it in the yard to keep. It never made it into the ground, and it never even made it out of the backyard - it died a slow death, over in the composting corner. Fast forward two years and we have most excellent, well seasoned firewood for our first ever fire! Waste not, want not!)

It was all we could do to keep Jake from crawling over and pulling himself up using the ledge, since Mr. I-Love-To-Cruise-The-Furniture couldn't understand why this particularly interesting piece of backyard decor was off limits. But Owen was really, really good. Always gave it a wide berth when he was walking by, and never once tried to reach over and touch, etc.

I'm putting this all down to preparation. My parents have a similar wood burning apparatus in their backyard, and he's used to fires at Grandma and Grandpa's house from last summer. And I can't remember how the dicussion first came up, but one of his favourite "stories" is about fire safety. While Owen loves him a good story about Cars or Thomas, sometimes he's into non-fiction. I laughed really hard when Erica once told me that she explained potholes to Nathan one day, and from then on, he'd request "The Story of Potholes". That was before I had my own two-year-old, who requests the story of "Mommy and Owen go to the Grocery Store", "Owen and Jakey Eat Their Lunch", or "What We Do If There's A Fire".

Owen knows if your clothes catch on fire, you are supposed to Stop, Drop, and Roll. This is a favourite game at Casa del Howard. It sometimes gets a little out of hand, like when Owen shoves Jake down and rolls the poor baby over and over. "But Mommy!" he yells indignantly, as I carry him off to his room for timeout, "Jake was on FIRE!!" He knows the phone number you call to get the firefighters to come to our house is nine-one-one. And he knows that the firefighters will come spray water on the house, and that we'll have to go stand outside. He even knows that we'll all go over to Anthony's house (Owen's favourite neighbour) to wait safely until the firefighters say it's okay. Technically, he also knows that if he hears the smoke detector go off, that means that there's a fire and Mommy or Daddy will come get him to leave the house, but since our detector (right outside the boys rooms) HAS gone off in the middle of the night, and NEITHER boy woke up (it was the "low battery" warning, so it wasn't continuous, but it still went off with a long, loud, shrill BEEEEP every 5 minutes starting at 2 am one night until we managed to pry a 9 volt out of one of Owen's toys....) it's just academic.

So, we're looking forward to many more fun evenings around the fire. And if you happen to come by and see us rolling around in the family room, don't worry. We're just practicing for the inevitable playing.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

When I first heard about this, I thought it was just somebody's fantastic idea. A friend had posted the quotation: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains" to their status on Facebook, with a credit to "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", which I just thought was them being funny, and laughed out loud. Imagine my surprise when I see in the bookstore yesterday that it IS a book! I snapped it up.

I'm only about a quarter of the way through, but I'm loving it. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite stories, and the campy addition of the zombies is just great fun. I'm enjoying Elizabeth as a master of the killing arts, and I particularly loved the "Pentagram of Death" as performed by all 5 Bennet girls. And who would have thought that quiet, book-larnin' Mary would be the one to jump up on the table and attempt to stab Mr. Collins in offence to one of his comments? (Happily she is restrained by Lydia, enabling the sappy Mr. Collins to live another day, and eventually, as I'm gleaning from sneaking ahead peeks at the awesome illustrations, marry a zombified Charlotte Lucas!!) Not to mention that the talent of vomiting politely into one's hands puts me in mind of my sister's ability to vomit daintily into a wineglass. Can't wait to finish it out and see how it all ends, but also couldn't wait to share my delight.

Don't know how much fun it would be if you weren't familiar with the original P&P. My husband enjoyed the Bolly-riffic "Bride and Prejudice" without any foreknowledge of the original, but I believe that to truly appreciate P&P&Z, you might want to know the original. (So, those of you who have finished with The Grapes of Wrath and Season 4 of Buffy, now you know what to do with your free time!)

Seth Grahame-Smith, I take my hat off to you - I'm sure I'm not the only English major who wishes she thought of this idea first! Now, my next request, please add vampires to Little Women! (And not the sparkly, twee Twilight kind, but the real kind, okay??)

Brotherly Love

Summer has arrived. :)

When You Wish Upon a Star...

The other night, we were sitting in the family room. When the curtains are open and the lights are on, you can see the reflections of the potlights in the window - Jake likes to point them out to us. (Very big into pointing at things these days, is Jake.)

Owen looked at the lights, and then noticed he could see something else. "Mommy! There's a STAR!"

Sure enough, we could see one tiny spark in the sky, so it was time to make a wish.

"Star light, star bright, first star we see tonight, wish we may, wish we might, have the wish we wish tonight..."

Owen: "I wish for a BABY in my BELLY! Like Mickle Pickle!"

Mommy: "Really?"

Owen: "YES! And then it will turn into a blue dinosaur with PINK POLKA DOTS!"

I love that kid. Him and his weirdly specific wishes. Can't wait to hear what he wishes for on his birthday! :)

Happy Birthday to the King of Howieland!

Today the King of Howieland turns 34. My life is so much better for having him in it. He has given me almost 12 years of unconditional love and devotion, 7 years of married bliss, 2 beautiful boys, and 1 wonderful life.

I'm not sure if I've shared this story before or not, but it's worth sharing again. Steve and I call each other "Big Brick" and "Baby Brick". It goes back years - we like to sleep cuddled up in bed, back to back. Neither of us likes our arms tangled up, but we like to be close when we sleep, so we're often that way instead of spooning. Steve says that we're like bricks, which are better than spoons. Spoons get taken out of their drawers and separated, but bricks are cemented together for always. And sometimes we'll even jokingly refer to Owen (now both boys) as our "Mortar".

Happy Birthday Big Brick! I love you today and always.

The Big Five-Oh!

With this one little post, my 2009 blog output is now equal to the sum of all previous years. That's right, this English major can do the math!

On a completely unrelated note, I updated my Facebook status (I know, but seriously, I go back to work in two months. I need Twitter like I need another Y chromosome in my house) to read "Cari has too much surplus". Not only my favourite line from Disney's Cars movie, but an accurate reflection of how I feel whenever I look in our spare room closet, or the basement. We have too much! Period. But thankfully, some baby clothes and other assorted baby-oriented items will be distributed among some pregnant friends, and various other odds and ends will be Kijiji'd. Either that or we'll be having a garage sale sometime this summer.

(Also, I know not everyone has seen Cars, but I'm pretty sure the line stands on its own, decontextualized. But a few people are asking me what I have too much of....is the definition of "surplus" not common knowledge? Personally, I laugh every time I hear that line; but then again, I also laughed at "I have a big head, and little arms".)

Got Milk?

So, further on the topic of Jake, he's got two teeth through, the front bottom ones. Today he finally cut one of the top front ones, and he's got swollen gums showing that the second top one and the two on either side of the bottom two will be here shortly. So that's two teeth, one nub, and three pending. Although Owen got his first two teeth nearly two months before Jake did, he got his second two in May, so Jake is right on track with that.

I am still nursing him. He eats a lot of baby and regular food, three meals a day, plus snacks. But he nurses when he first wakes, generally following a meal, and then a few times before bed (he's been sleeping through for a little while now, touch wood, so not feeding during the night). He never has taken a bottle, but he'll drink from a straw, sippie, or even a regular cup. However, he'll only take water. He's not interested in breast milk from anything but the source, or in formula however it's presented.

This is okay with me. By this point with Owen, we were about to give up nursing. He was a biter, and with two teeth, it was bad. I tried all kinds of things to get him to stop. I would yell, put him down, tell him "no" sternly, and he would look up at me and laugh. The only time he wouldn't bite was if he woke up in the night to nurse - he would be half asleep the entire time. Jake tried gumming me once or twice before his teeth even came in. I did the same routine with him, but he would look up, and give me the crumple face: that pouty look that means he's about to cry. He got it - after a couple of times, he stopped trying to bite me. Hasn't even tried once since he's gotten his two chompers, so I'm not worried about these new ones. With Owen, I was in tears.

With Owen, once the top teeth came in, not only was he biting, he was drawing blood. Since he wouldn't take formula, I didn't want to stop breastfeeding, because he wasn't eating enough to get all the vitamins and nourishment he needed yet from real food alone, but I was in a lot of pain, and too sore to pump. I don't know if I cried more from the pain, or from not knowing what to do. Finally, after a particularly bloody battle, Steve took Owen, got a bottle of formula, and sat down, determined to get him to take it. And you know what that cheeky monkey did? Took that bottle like he'd been doing it all along. So that was it - weaned to bottles of formula at 10 months, no more breastfeeding.

And as relieved as I felt, I was still sad - I really enjoyed breastfeeding, when it wasn't a blood sport. I always thought I'd breastfeed for at least a year, and then see how things went. I was sad that we didn't have a "last time" - the last time I breastfed him, I didn't know it was the last, and I certainly didn't enjoy it. I'm hoping that will be different with Jake.

I'll be going back to work when Jake is just over a year, so by then, we'll have to be done with breastfeeding during the day. But if he's still into nursing in the morning and before bed, I'll be happy to keep that up for a little while. I know that I'm not comfortable with the idea of him walking up to me and lifting up my shirt himself. The other day, I was talking to Steve while nursing Jake, and he sat up, climbed over my lap, and tried to latch onto my other side while standing beside me, all on his own! Whoa! Not cool. I got him settled back down lying in my lap, and had a bit of a laugh. But I just didn't find that cozy - I felt a little pawed and manhandled. So maybe I just need to teach him better manners. :) We'll see - I don't know how much longer our nursing relationship will last, but I'm enjoying it now, and since he's going to be my last baby, I plan to keep it up as long as I am still enjoying it. We'll see. Of course, if the appearance of the new teeth change Jake into Chompy McChomperson, I reserve the right to call in reinforcements in the form of his dad with a bottle. ;)

Little Man

Owen tends to get the lion's share of updates here, I think, because simply by nature of being two-going-on-three, pretty much everything that he's doing these days is hilarious. (Case in point: we were at a birthday party on Saturday, and my girlfriend wondered aloud how she was going to cut into the cake, because there were so many details on it. Owen: You can do it! You just need a knife!) But Jake is doing all kinds of wonderful things too, and even if they are a lot quieter than Owen's things, they are no less amazing. So here's a brief update on our littlest man.

Jake is quite the talker. For "words" he says Dada, Mama, and Hi. (Hi is always accompanied by a little wave. He waves "bye" too, but doesn't say anything.) He understands EVERYTHING we say. He'll be across the room, and Owen (the little pot-stirrer!) will hold the gate open and say "Come on Jakey!" and slap-slap-slap, here comes Jake tearing across the room, through the gate, then sitting on his little bum and looking expectantly up at big brother, like Okay, what next? (Next is usually the stairs, which he climbs easily. Down is another matter entirely, but he FLIES up them.) But he babbles all the time, nonsense words, talking to his toys, his brother, all of us. He likes to sing too, and will often sing to himself in the Jeep. He answers to Jake, Jakey, Jacob, and Pickle-Mickle, which is Owen's nickname for him.

He eats anything and everything. More specifically, he eats anything and everything that Owen eats. I have to feed them at different times if Owen's eating something that Jake can't have, because otherwise Jake won't eat. Which is kind of a pain, so we try and feed them the same stuff. If Owen's having a sandwich, Jake gets a piece of whole wheat bread to nibble. Happily they both like yogurt and applesauce, and Jake is getting fairly adept at gumming all kinds of food.

Jake has got some moves! He loves to dance to any kind of music. He'll sit on his bottom and wave his arms in the air, or he'll stand (holding on with one hand) and bop up and down, usually with a big grin, maybe with some yelling/singing. And he's a copycat - all ready, he'll pick up anything that looks remotely like a stick, and use it to whack anything that looks remotely like a ball. The hockey mini-sticks are now all his. He'll even pick up Owen's bat, crawl over to his tee, and start taking whacks at it.

He's a sweetie - he has a REALLY long tongue, that he loves to stick out. In fact, if you ask him, "Let's see that tongue!" he'll stick it out for you. I've been trying to teach him to blow kisses, but either his hand-head coordination is really lacking, or he just doesn't get it yet - if I blow him a kiss, he whacks himself in the ear repeatedly. Um, nice try honey! And he does "number 1", holding up one little finger in the air if you ask him "Who's number 1, Jake?" (Owen used to do this with both hands, but Jake just does it with the right.)

He's still my little cuddle-bug, though. He's definitely mommy's little boy. He LOVES his daddy, Da-da was the first word, don't forget, and he goes NUTS whenever Steve comes home. But sometimes, only Mommy will do. And he lets you know with the "baby monkey" routine - he clings so tightly to me, that even if I weren't holding on to him, he wouldn't fall. I have bruises on the backs of my one arm now that I'm wearing t-shirts instead of long-sleeves. He grabs a handful of my clothes in each tiny fist, and holds on for dear life. He'll smile at daddy, or grandma, or whomever is coming close, but he sure won't go once he's in mommy's arms. If I put him down and he's distracted, he's perfectly happy with anyone who will play with him, and then he's fine to be picked up by them as well. But allow someone to take him from his Mommy? No dice. :)

He's my little peanut, and I can't believe he's ten months old all ready. Before you know it, that first birthday will be here. (Number 1!) Sigh. My little baby boy. Very much loved!

Clearly Speaking

Busy, busy, busy. Of course, whose life isn't these days? I did my EndurRace, with a personal best in both distances! I was hoping to do the 5K in under 30 minutes, and I did it in 30 minutes, 26 seconds, so I was quite pleased (my previous time had been about 34 minutes). My previous 8K time (two years ago, the last time I ran it) was just under 55 minutes - I was just hoping to beat that time. I blew it away, finishing in 49 minutes, 51 seconds! I'm so proud of myself!! And so, so happy to finally have completed both races that make up this event. Yay me! The best was having Steve and the boys cheering for me - nothing motivates you for those last hundred metres like hearing your little guy yelling "Go Mommy go! Go Mommy go!"

Lots of other stuff has been going on, some good, some not so good. The really sad news is that we lost Steve's Grandma last weekend. She had been ill for some time, with growing tumours in her lungs. At her age (94) there really wasn't anything they could do for her - her body wouldn't have withstood radiation or an operation, so the doctors just did the best they could to make her comfortable. We will be getting together with family to celebrate her life next weekend.

The boys are growing like crazy. Jake has two teeth, and is the fastest thing around here on all fours. He's literally crawling the knees out of his pants! And speaking of pants, Owen keeps getting taller. I bought new pants for him, but since we're nearly done with pants-wearing-weather, I bought them big enough to (hopefully!) fit him this fall. Which means we're currently rolling the cuffs, and he finds that annoying. Thank goodness most places are putting the adjustable waists into pants, because he's still a skinny minny. Also, those pants are staying completely dry during the day, and Owen is finally telling us when it's time to go on the potty, instead of the other way 'round. Life is good!

I will be trying to post more regularly, evenings have been kind of full of late, and while I've been wanting to post, my brain hasn't been able to handle it. But I do have to quickly post this conversation we had with Owen in the car yesterday before I forget it. (If I don't put these stories down somewhere, I'll never remember them!)

(Owen was playing with a pair of sunglasses.)

Owen (putting on sunglasses): Wow! These sunglasses are really queer!

Mommy: (Sharing a "did we just hear that?" glance with Steve) Pardon me?

O: These sunglasses are really, really, queer Mommy! I like them.

M: Um, where did you hear the word "queer", Owen? (Wondering how I'm even going to start a conversation about the heady semantics of that word with my two-year-old...)

O: On Sid the Science Kid.

M: What???!!! (Mentally reviewing recent Sid episodes... love that show, but pretty sure there hasn't been one about sexual orientation recently... wait, there was one about glasses... making your vision....) OHHH! The glasses are really CLEAR!

O: That's what I said, Mommy. These glasses are cwear.

Owen pronounces his L's like W's. It's something I don't even notice anymore, we're so used to it. Steve and I laughed the rest of the way home.

Neither Snow Nor Sleet (um, Ice!)

The first weekend of the EndurRace is less than two weeks away. I'll be running 5K on the 18th, and 8K on the 25th. This means that I can no longer slack off in my running, because come hell or high water, I'll be out there on the 18t,h wearing a number, and I'd really prefer not to have to get picked up by the cleanup crew that comes out to round up stragglers. (I'm pretty sure they only do that during marathons, but I really don't want to find out!)

SO! Owen was off to daycare today, and Jake and I had to run. Notwithstanding the 15 cm of snow we got yesterday, we had to run. Nevermind that running with the stroller in the wind is like running with a parachute (and that's without the storm cover on...) we had to run. So, I gave Jake a teething biscuit to keep him happy, strapped him into his fleecy stroller bag, and covered him with his plastic bubble. (Um, I dressed him in winter gear as well.)

Thanks to the lovely Auntie Erica, with whom I had the most amazing extended-birthday-afternoon on Saturday, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Yak Trax to fit under my shoes. I'm sure she thought I wouldn't be getting any use out of them until next winter, but they were just what I needed today! Outside is a mess of sticky, blowing snow on top of a crunchy, icy crust - pretty much the worst running surface ever. But my Yak Trax gave me the traction necessary to push Jake up the hills, and the control to keep my stride up down the hills. We ran on the sidewalks, which we don't usually do. Ashphalt is easier on the knees, but on a day like today, we don't trust the drivers in our neighbourhood to be looking out for us. (Or to be able to stop on the ice even if they are looking out for us.)

They were great! Jake and I did 7K. That's right, in the ice, snow and wind, we did 7K. I'm pretty sure my Trax would have stayed attached to my shoes even without the velcro attachment overtop, and the rubbery/springy traction pieces were comfy to run in over the snow and ice. I wouldn't want to run on them all the time on a dry surface, but for the few places where people had shovelled down to bare sidewalk, they were fine, and even helped absorb some of the pounding that makes me avoid concrete .

EndurRace, here I come! :)

Competitive Spirit!

I don't know if this is a boy thing, or a two-and-a-half thing, or just an Owen thing. He's become ridiculously competitive! Every thing is a chance to win, or a chance to beat someone. Putting on our shoes? "I'm beating you, Mommy!" Having a bath? "I'm winning Mommy! Jakey is losing!" Driving? "We're passing that car! We're winning!" Which can be cute, but he's a TERRIBLE loser! And when everything in our life has become a contest, he loses often.

I'm not talking about losing at a game or something I could cheat at to ensure an outcome that does not involve screaming. We're talking about scenarios where I didn't even realize he was in danger of losing until the yelling starts. We were all having dinner the other night, and I was feeding Jake his "mush" at the same time. Jake finished the veggies and I told him he was a good boy for eating all his dinner. Owen burst into tears! "I lost Mommy? Jakey beat me?" Hoo boy.

As parents, of course, Steve and I know that how we deal with this is extremely important. Winning and losing are a part of life, and there are some important lessons to be learned here. And as any good set of parents would do, we've completely leveraged this to our advantage for potty training.

Yep. Warm up the handbasket for us, because we've actually told our son that going on the potty is winning, and going in his pants is losing. And we haven't stopped there, oh no. Whenever he goes on the potty, we tell him he's "beating his friends!" (Nevermind that practically all his friends were potty trained months ago, beating these unnamed "friends" is what makes winning that much sweeter for him. It's succeeding where praise, stickers, and even lollipops have failed!)

Say what you will about our tactics, but the kid has had "underwear under there" for three days now, and has only had four "losses" in that time. (Diapers still for bed.) And whenever he does lose, we talk about how he'll get another chance to try and win again, so it's not like it's all bad. He's a winner, like Lightening McQueen on his underpants. (Of course, tonight when we were putting a diaper on for bed, he wanted to know "Is Elmo a loser Mommy?")

We're very proud of our big boy! I should have known the time was right for him to finally get it: I just bought a club-pack of his current diaper size. I'm sure we'll use them up for overnights. We've been out and about too, using washrooms in stores, at friends' homes, and in restaurants, and he's got a perfect record on the road.

And ball hockey starts in two weeks, so we'll get another chance to screw up work on the whole "winning isn't everthing" message then. In the meantime, his jock fits lots better over Lightening McQueen than Elmo.

Friday's List of Ten IX

Ten things to remember whilst attending Afternoon Tea at Langdon Hall tomorrow with Erica:*

10. All signs to the contrary, we're not there to enjoy ourselves. We're there for our health - two cups of tea a day can have significant health benefits, you know. We're doing this to escape benefit our husbands and children!

9. Proper service of lemon slice vs. lemon wedge: a lemon slice can float in your tea cup, a lemon wedge is meant to be squeezed and discarded on the edge of your saucer. I think tea with lemon is disgusting, so I will be disposing discreetly of any lemon bits served to me in the nearest potted plant. Failing any such handy plants, I will be politely lofting them over my shoulder.

8. The proper eating of a scone involves breaking off a bite-sized piece, and then applying cream and/or jam to said piece before popping it daintily into one's mouth. Like a dinner roll, one should not attempt to saw it in half with the butter knife before slathering it with toppings and then taking bite after bite. Am I wrong in thinking this rule probably came from the pre-dental-advances British wanting to ensure they were exposed to as little view of each other's wonky teeth as possible?

7. Twelve-inch napkins are used for Afternoon Tea service - I have packed my handy ruler in my handbag, so as to be sure that I am not being short-changed in the napkin department!

6. The proper stirring of tea. Apparently, one is to "Place your tea spoon at the six o'clock position and softly fold the liquid towards the twelve o'clock position two or three times." I have been practicing with my breakfast Cheerios, but have a distressing tendency to want to fold from 12 to 6, instead of the proper 6 to 12. Fortunately, I already know about removing one's spoon from the tea before drinking (this needed to be a rule? Seriously, how many people poked themselves in the eye before this became a rule??)

5. Sugar tongs are sometimes referred to as "sugar nips". Try not to giggle if someone does so.

4. Afternoon Tea is NOT High Tea. There is a special level of Hell reserved for those who confuse the two.

3. Proper service for the eats on a three-tiered stand is scones on top, sandwiches and savories in the middle, and yummies on the bottom. Traditionally, service is provided to remove each tier at the progression of each course. (If they think that's going to stop me from having dessert first, then they've got another "jolly good" coming!)

2. Pinkies up! I always thought this was an affectation, but apparently, the proper way to grasp your teacup is "By placing ones fingers to the front and back of the handle with ones pinkie up ... (which) allows (for) balance. It is not an affectation, but a graceful way to avoid spills." The pinkie up is for BALANCE! And actually looping ones fingers through the handle on the teacup reveals that you were raised in a barn. And not one of those nice, red-painted barns, but one of those saggy-roofed, a-few-boards-are-missing-from-the-walls, I-hope-no-animals-are-actually-kept-in-there barns.

1. And of course the number one etiquette rule in any situation: to point and laugh heartily, fully shaming those who are less couth than ourselves into a state of agoraphobia. (No, I know my Miss Manners. Etiquette exists to govern our own behavior, and proper behavior does not allow for us to make others uncomfortable by pointing out their faux pas. Such as my originally writing this sentence to read "there faux pas".)

*With thanks to this site for offering British Royal Household Approved tea tips and interesting facts!

Share and share alike

Okay, so like all parents of toddlers, we've constantly been drilling home the "sharing" lesson since before Owen could even comprehend it. We've come a long way with him, and he pretty much gets it. He knows that sharing is good, especially sharing when someone has nothing, and that sometimes we even have share things that are special to us. When you're 2, even M&Ms are special to you, so this has been a tricky one. But the kid's finally got it.

Last weekend, after a Family Shower (yes, we have a really big shower in the master bathroom, and sometimes the most efficient way to get everyone out the door in the morning is to just all get in there together. It's chaos lots of fun!) Owen was running around upstairs, enjoying being "naked without a diaper". (It's potty-training leverage - the kid LOVES to be naked, but since he hasn't been potty trained, we usually insist he has to be naked-with-a-diaper. Since he's getting better at using the potty, he gets to be naked-without-a-diaper now. Woo hoo!)

I was dressing Jake, and Owen came running in:

Owen: Here I am mommy!

Mommy: There you are. Are you going to get dressed?

O: (running from the room) NO! I'm naked without a diaper! I'm running with my penis!

M: ??? (He was running down the hall, so I wasn't entirely sure I'd properly heard that last part. Does that really require a response? I didn't think it did.)

O: (running back into the room) Mommy, you want to run around with your penis?

M: No thanks Owen. Remember, Mommy is a girl. Mommy doesn't have a penis. Only boys like Daddy, and Owen, and Jake have them.

O: (stops dead in his tracks as he considers this, then gives me a big smile) You can share my little penis, Mommy!

Well, it doesn't get much more "special" than that, does it?

Join the Club

The 100K club, that is. Wouldn't you like to? Of course, if you work in the public sector (I do) then apparently it's everyone's business if you make more than 100K a year. (Before taxes, and including benefits, don't forget.) I have no worries about being on this list. What I do is not worth 100K a year. Don't get me wrong, I work hard (um, when I'm not on mat leave, that is) but I happily leave at the end of the day and spend time with my family, and forget about work until the next day. Yes, there are probably other people who could do what I do.

But for the higher ups at the Region and other local government who ARE on the list, I would argue that there are very FEW people who could do what they do. Managing people is not easy. Managing the entire Region, with all its unions and the public scrutiny, is a big job. Higher ups are definitely putting in more than 35-40 hours a week, and there's the whole "walk a mile in their shoes" thing. Plus, they're not in the stratosphere - the highest local government earners are in the high 100K-low 200K range, which I actually find to be quite reasonable. My director made the list, and so did my manager (barely). These guys are both professional engineers. They have training and knowledge that a lot of people don't. I will never move up into their jobs, I'm not qualified. They work hard and deserve their salaries.

What is completely UN-reasonable is the fact that there are people on this list making over a million dollars a year. Even over TWO million dollars a year! The hell??? My reaction is not because of the downturn in the economy. I get pissed about this every time this list comes out. There is NO WAY that the CEO of Ontario Power Generation is worth that much. What in the heck is he doing, casting fantasic spells that are keeping dragons from frying the province to a crisp?? Maybe "CEO of OPG" is just his mild-mannered ego, and his office is really located on the Hellmouth, and he spends his nights saving the world from demons and vampires while the rest of us sleep in blissful oblivion. (No Buffy fans out there? Just me then? Okay.) His trusty sidekick, "CEO of OMERS" started off a little geeky, but really came into his own in Season 4 when he started the whole practicing witchcraft thing.... (Seriously? Only me, huh?)

Nope. Nuh-uh. You cannot convince me that people are worth this much money. MAYBE if you work in the private sector and are responsible for making this kind of money for your investors, you deserve a piece of the pie. Maybe. (And don't even get me started on AIG executives. I'm just not going to go there with companies receiving handouts.) I am happy with how my OMERS pension fund is performing, but I just can't find 2 million dollars worth of happiness in my heart. Sour grapes? I'm pretty sure not.

I agree with Dwight Duncan that the number of 100K employees is not such a big deal, especially given inflation. What percentage of those people are in the lower range? Looks like a lot, from what I can see. Where we need to take a good look is at those in the 1M club. Maybe even the 500K club. But 100K? Not so much.

(Season 4 Buffy! Those of you who have finished reading The Grapes of Wrath, go watch! The rest of you, back to the book.)

Long Story Short

March Break. Trip to Ottawa. Baby Gracie! Good news from great friends. Museum of Science and Tech. Juggling and train engines. Doggy fun. First joint-birthday celebration in years! Boys awesome on the road. Running. 5K in 34 minutes with the stroller in the wind. Jake says Ma-ma. Actual birthday. Sleeping in. Fabulous dinner out with Steve. New patio furniture (front and back). CAKE! Steve re-discovers online poker, seriously cutting into my computer time. A good friend gets engaged! Owen spends one day dry, going on the potty. Jake is cutting tooth number one. Oh, and Abby home and healthy!

We'll return to regular scheduled programming soon. :)

Long Overdue

I finally got around to installing the software for our new camera (ran out of room on the memory card, just the motivation I needed!). Here are some fun recent family pics, and there are entries below for Christmas and New Years.

New Years Photos

We were in Ottawa for New Years, where we finally got to meet my lovely niece, baby Gracie, and hang with Auntie Kristi and Uncle Ryan, and visit with Auntie Lee Ann and Uncle Evan too. Good thing I cleared the camera, I'm posting these in time for our March Break trip up - maybe we'll get over to Lee Ann and Evan's house, and get some pictures of the boys with their adorable pups!