Friday, November 20, 2009

Friday Fifteen

In the spirit of true randomness:

1. It’s inventory weekend for J-L this weekend which means basically being a single parent for 3-4 days. boo!

2. Wherein I come across as a completely judgemental so-and-so: Sometimes it’s nice to go to a function where there are other parents with young children to regain some self-confidence as a parent. The other night we were at a function where there was a young child who basically spent most of the evening being destructive, not eating his dinner and not listening to his parents. Of course, his parents basically shrugged and smiled the whole time and called out “Jaydn, please come eat something.” as he ran about the room. (Aside: J-L after the party: “Jaydn? Oh, I thought his name was Satan.”)

3. Carrie Prejean’s parents must be so proud, hey? I know *I* certainly would be.

4. Conversation with my daughter the other night:
Abby: Mom, lay on your stomach so that I can give you a massage.
Me: (as I lay on the couch promptly): Oh good!
Abby: What’s a massage?


5. I’ve become a little bit addicted to Freecycle. If I see someone posting something they are wanting I want to get it to them. At times it’s to the point where I even want to give away stuff we need. “Aaaaa, we don’t need it THAT much”.

6. We may not have had much of a summer but goodness are we having a lovely fall.

7. At times during this job I see employee applications and I very much enjoy looking at people’s names as well as what they name their children. For example: It’s no surprise to me that X & Y Smith have two children named Emma and Samuel. They just fit together well. They sound like they were named by the same parents.

8. One group I came across recently? A mom and 2 daughters: Rose Mary, Rosalie, Rose-Ann. Perhaps she thinks it’s cute? Me not so much. Narcissist would be more the adjective I would use.

9. Thinking of that makes me think of my dad. I would often look in the paper at baby announcements and have sarcastic things to say about their name choices. He got quite a kick out of that.

10. Sometimes I like to feed things to Jack that I know he does not like. He makes the most delightful (combination of confused/angry/betrayed) face. The other night it was coleslaw. Watching his face had Chanel and me snorting with laughter.

11. I did the same with my daughter. Not the same face but the same delight at her expense. Really, what’s the point of having children if you can’t laugh at them at times?

12. Is the company that sells Viagara going through some sort of financial crisis? Because they seem to send me a LOT of emails trying to persuade me to buy their product.

13. We’ve firmed up our friend Christmas dinner date. Of all the things that I love about Christmas (and there are plenty) this one ranks in my top 5 hands down. We’ve been doing it for years and I just LOVE it. Good food (potluck), relaxing evening and oodles of laughter. Plus, I’ve already bought the Christmas gifts for each of them which pleases me.

14. Speaking of Christmas, another wee story: The first Christmas J-L and I spent together we were having my family’s gathering in the evening on Christmas Day. I didn’t see the point of cooking much for lunch for the 2 of us when we were going to have a big supper. So, after church, J-L and I stopped off at 7-Eleven and bought a jar of salsa, a jar of cheese sauce and some taco chips and that was our Christmas lunch. Felt so completely wrong and weird being in Sev on Christmas Day and felt doubly weird eating junk food for lunch. And yet, this has now become our own little trailer trash tradition and it makes me smile. This year? Yeah, we’re taking the trailer trash to another level. J-L fills up gas at a Petro-Canada that has a 7-11 attached to it. For every fill we get $2 in Big Bucks. Are you thinking what we’re thinking? That’s right, we’re tucking away our Big Bucks for our Christmas lunch. We already have $12 and by Christmas should have another $10. Oh yeah, it’s the BIG bag of Nachos this year and methinks Abby and Chanel and Patrick will be getting slurpees as well.

15. I’ve heard rumours that Oprah is ending her show in 2011. Goodness! Can it be true!? Please let it be true.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Open Letter

Dear Food Network,

You know all those shows where you make sashimi or give us ideas on 101 things to do with oysters or try out the latest pumpkin roulade with ginger buttercream or the best way to use up your raspberry sorbet?

Yeah, could you rather have a show that shows how to cut up vegetables with a sharp knife with a toddler balanced on one hip and a preschooler shoving a pencil in need of sharpening in your face?

Thanks!
Cynthia

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The other side of the coin

If I were to have entered a post on here about half an hour ago it would have read something like this:

Sometimes it's just too much.
It's too much rushing.
And too much picking up.
And too much whining.
Too many messes.
Too much cooking-every-night-for-six.
Too many temper tantrums.
Too many spills.
Too little quietness.
Too many people I'm disappointing because I'm late or not able to commit. (probably mostly just myself.)
Too tired.
And have I mentioned all the picking up?
Too many questions.
She never stops.
Oh the questions... that seem tenfold when I'm rushing to try and get supper on the table.
So that some days I just want to sneak away without anyone noticing.

That was half an hour ago. Since then a relaxing light-hearted supper with 5 people that I love.

And a refilled soap dispenser without me even having to ask. (See, it's the little things.)

Thanks J-L.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bits

It's another gloriously warm night out there.* Warm enough to be without a jacket.

Just got home from my second concert in 4 nights with one of my favorite friends**. It was the first show of their tour. The kinks and minor errors weren't all worked out so it just made it all the more vulnerable and sweet. The tartness of the wine is still clinging to my palette.

I come home to a quiet house. I walk into one dark room to see sleeping children. There's a little brown-haired girl in one bed - her hand loosely wrapped around her bear, snoring ever so slightly. She's 4 now and tomorrow will want a recap on the show and will provide me with bits and pieces of her evening without me. In the crib nearby is a wee boy of 17 months. His covers have been kicked off and his bum is in the air. He was especially clingy before I left for the show tonight. Unusually clingy, wanting only me. Because I'm his mom.

I walk into another room and see a man sleeping in my bed. He's sleeping on my side of the bed (as he often does) until I get there so that I don't have to climb into a cold bed. Tomorrow we will have a full day of working together as a team. I don't think I ever could have imagined how good it could be, having a companion like him.

I'm not sure what I did to deserve all this.

I am humbled and I am grateful.

* The thing about being a Manitoban is that when gloriously warm November nights happen you're just so overwhelmingly grateful.

** The thing about having a friend like her (and I'm dreadfully lucky in that I have a few) is that it really kind of spoils you for other possible friendships. You might meet someone and think "hmm, maybe there's something?" but then you realize "yeah, but you're no X so really what's the point?"

Thursday, November 05, 2009

November 4, 2009

4 years ago today I was recovering in a hospital bed after giving birth to my firstborn the day before. It's been exhausting raising her (more questions than I ever could have imagined and more energy than most) and yet I feel lucky every single day that I get to be her mom.

One of her favorite things to do is to watch videos on the computer. I couldn't think of a more fitting gift to her than a video filled with photos of her. And, hey, if you have 5 minutes of time (yeah, it's a bit long, but again, it's for her) maybe you want to see a glimpse into our lucky life too.

Song #1: Who's My Pretty Baby: Elizabeth Mitchell
Song #2: Come Take a Trip in My Airship: Natalie Merchant