a rite of passage

I got Katie's ears pierced.




I've always said that I would have it done when she was old enough to ask for it and to understand that it would both hurt and require a fair amount of care. I admit, I was hoping it would be another year yet but it was inevitable once she started school (particularly this school which is ethnically diverse and contains many girls who had their ears pierced in infancy according to cultural customs). She has been, well, for lack of a better word harrassing us for weeks to have it done.

And yes, she cried. Or, more properly, she wailed like a banshee.

Happy Birthday Wolfgang

It's the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart. Radio 2 has gone completely mental and is doing all Mozart all weekend. Thank goodness I like Mozart :)

It is remarkable though to think that this is a man who was born 250 years ago and died young, is still incredibly well known today. If there's one thing that geneology research has shown me it's that in 250 years there will be virtually no trace of my life left.

It's election day in Canada, polls are open, the "democratic process" has begun.

I don't usually talk politics, I have strong political leanings but they differ from most of my family, half of my friends and practically all of my coworkers, so I usually keep them to myself.

That being said, I have to point out what I've observed this past week and a bit. I live in Ottawa, in the Ottawa South riding that has been represented by the Liberal party both federally and provincially for aeons. My MPP is the premier of Ontario (Dalton McGuinty) the current MP is his brother (David McGuinty) and the former MP was John Manley. This riding has been a "safe Liberal riding" for longer than I've lived here. What's different this election? Blue signs EVERYWHERE. I don't mean the big signs that the party with the most money will errect on public land at intersections and playgrounds, no, I mean the small lawn signs that private citizens put up on their own property. Last election, just a year and a half ago, almost all of those signs were red. This year more than half are blue. The Conservatives are running a very strong candidate, Allan Cutler (the "whistleblower" of the sponsorship scandal), and it sure looks like a fair amount of long time Liberals have jumped ship.

Who will win Ottawa South? I predict a very close race. The Liberals have deep roots here, and the Liberal candidate actually lives in the riding, but will that be enough? I'm not so sure. Tomorrow will tell.

Snow glorious snow?

So pretty to look at when it's fresh and white





But man what a bitch to drive in! We got 15+cm yesterday, I was shocked to call ballet and find out yes, classes were still running. So Katie and I were out driving in this. Thank goodness for snow tires.

I can't wait for Tampa. There's no snow in Tampa.

Leaving on a jet plane

I'm leeeeeavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

Booked my flight to FL! I am soooo excited!!

I do, however, have guilt: I have to leave on Katie's birthday :( We'll probably celebrate the weekend before, but still, I'm missing the actual day (well, not the whole day, I can probably leave right after dinner and make it to my parents' in enough time to sleep perhaps 5 hours before heading to the airport). Guess I'll have to bring her back something special from my trip :)

Weeeeee.... winter getaway! Only 42 days to go!

blah, blah and some blah on the side

I am so not a morning person. You would think after 4 years of working 7-3 or 7:30-3:30 I'd be used to the alarm going off at 5:30 or 5:45, but no, I still hit snooze a bare minimum of twice each and every single morning. I still laze around under the warm blankets dozing until the very last minute every morning. Is it biological? Are you born either an early bird or a night owl and condemned to be such forever?

Yesterday we had freezing rain with bus cancellations and school closures, so I stayed home with the kids. Got very little accomplished, but it was nice not to have to put on my game face. I don't have to pretend to like being home with the kids, unlike work. Today it's sunny, so no choice but to come in to work. I have though, managed to avoid most of my coworkers, the benefit to my office being a virtual isolation booth. If only I dared set up my scrapbooking stuff in here...

The entry in which I say both S&M and winky

I swear I'd blog more if I could just stick a device in my ear that would automatically transmit my brain waves into my blog.* Because I think about blogging every day.

Life is life and is slogs along regardless of my participation level. I've spent the past week putting in the absolute bare minumum of effort. Two days of sunshine threaten to awaken my creative, motivated side, but I'm certain mother nature will throw more snow/rain/fog/dark at me again soon.

The kids continue being unbelievably adorable. Katie's ballet lessons restarted on Saturday, she makes such a lovely ballerina, tall with her long slender arms and perfectly muscled legs. She truly stands out in a room of chubby 3 and 4 year olds who look like pink sausages, squeezed into their leotards. I know those kids will shoot up this year and become lovely coltish supermodels in training too, but for now I can puff up my chest and boast about having the most beautiful child in the room.

Starting to plan my scrapbooking escape - I'm flying to FL in March to meet up with a bunch of scrappers, shop, drink, eat, take classes, drink, party, walk ont he beach, drink and generally have a good time. I've been reluctant to talk about it, not wanting to jinx anything, flights from Canada to Florida in the dead of winter are terribly expensive and knowing we can scarce afford it even in ideal circumstances I keeping waiting for some proverbial shoe dropping. A optomist? Why yes! But it's coming soon, and despite myself I'm getting excited. 15 crazy women, stamps, paper, ink and sharp objects: an S&M dream come true. <---there should be a winky guy there so you know I'm joking. We only use safety scissors.

Life, as I see it, for now anyway.

*actually, I doubt anyone would want an unfiltered look into my brain, so scratch that.

Delurking week

According to "Paper Napkin it's "De-lurking week". So come out, come out, where ever you are and say hello!

Wintery days

Was a perfect Canadian winter day today, not super cold, sunny but not "make your eyes ache" bright, just a great day. Took the kids sledding on a small hill at the park, Katie loved it, Jonah was a little afraid. He went down a few times but was much happier dragging his sister around on the sled instead. We checked out the outdoor rink that is supposed to be there - the boards are up, the lights are up, the trailer is there but no ice. Rots, it's so convenient having the little rink right there. I could take them to the arena at the comminity centre, but the skate times are limited and short and it costs $$ to get in. I could take them to the canal but it tends to be quite crowded, especially with teenaged Wayne Gretzky wannabes who zip in and out of the crowd and can easily send a pair of toddlers flying. So we'll see, I really want to get them out on skates next weekend.


Had stamp club today too, always lots of fun. Lately I've totally been neglecting scrapbooking in favour of stamping and cardmaking, but stamping is an expensive hobby! (OK, so is scrapbooking, and I have wads and wads of scrapbooking stuff that I neeeeeeded but haven't yet used. I did take advantage of PhotoLab's buy one digital print get the second free promotion and now have 60+ pictures just waiting to be scrapped. Soon I hope.)

Back to work tomorrow. Blecch.

Just rip out my heart while you're at it

If I'm this teary looking at Katie just playing dress up bride, how much will I fall apart in 20 some odd years when the real deal happens?

Resolutions

My dear friend Christine had a most fabulous idea: instead of making a list of resolutions Jan 1st to last all year, breaking it up into monthly resolutions (the idea being a 1 month commitment isn't as had to swallow as a whole year). In that spirit my resolution for January is to lose weight.

I put no number value on that, I just want to see the scale moving in the right direction. I will say though that I am now the same weight as I was full-term pregnant with Katie, which means I am nearly 30lbs over ideal. There's no reason for that. Yes, I've been stressed and yes, I am taking medications for which the major side effect is weight gain but 30lbs? My back is sore from the extra weight, my knee is sore from the extra weight, I get winded carrying the kids around because they're freakin' heavy, and also because of the extra weight.

So for January I'm going to make better food choices, eat smaller portions and move my butt more. We'll see how far that takes me.