Whaddup?

(I've been gone for over a week and suddenly have turned into a gangster? Gangstah? Whaddup with that?)

So hai.

I've been gone.

I know, I know.

But, but, but! See, first there was the thing where the husband left for 10 days and went overseas to drink Guinness and walk the Royal Mile over and over again, and left me with 2 kids, and only ONE OUNCE of vodka in the house. Now tell me, how is that fair?

No wait, I'll tell you instead:

IT'S NOT!

And then there was Blissdom.

Blissdom was this amazing conference, filled with 300 of Canada's top bloggers and buisness women and generally cool folks and I happened to be there. I also happened to be there with my adorable baby (NOT SO BABY!) boy. Who was cute and adorable. But only when I was holding him. Which, as you might imagine, got to be old after 2 days of trying to listen to sessions, not to mention heavy.

I have so many things floating around in my head, I can't even begin to put them all into coherent thoughts. I'm thinking of doing a little renovating around here. Switching things up a bit.

I'm also making soap like y'all are the dirtiest people on earth! Seriously, who knew the world needed this much soap! Well apparently they do, and I'm making it.

(Don't tell anyone, but I'm secretly thrilled about that!)

And then there are my children, who need to be fed, clothed, cared for, and even entertained once and a while. I love them to bits, but I'd love them even more if they could do their own darn laundry and drive themselves to the grocery store every once and a while.

I mean, seriously, how hard can it be?

(Hey boys, would you do my laundry while you're at it?)

(The large one did go trick or treating last night though, and brought me home a big bag of chocolate, so I guess I shouldn't be too ungrateful!)

Corben is teething. Or something. He's one cranky little bugger these days.

And today, for something different, I chased 6 cows off my front lawn. And when I say something different, that's heavy on the scarcasmo, in case you didn't catch it. Because we've been doing that all summer, feels like.

Some day soon it's going to snow, and I'm going to go to plow the driveway, and I'm going to get on the tractor and realize that I can't plow snow with the mower deck, and then I'm going to cry. Right. Snowblower. Best get on that.

But oh (and here's where I gloat for a minute,) I'm almost done my christmas shopping! TAKE THAT, stupid MALLS!

And that's not nearly all, but it's all I have time for right now. So you'll just have to wait with baited breath for more. (I thought breifly about doing NaBloPoMo, and then I thought HA! Who am I KIDDING! And then it was over.)

Thus endeth this ramble.

Scene.

Life, in Point Form

Well, I'm back. Sorry for the bloggy silence of late. Here's a little fly-by update on the goings on around these parts:

-Steve was away for the better part of 2 weeks, which throws this house into an unholy state of chaos. Steve and I work REALLY well together as a team to run this house and take care of the kids, but when I'm on my own and missing my team mate, the seams unravel right quickly and a wee shitstorm usually ensues. However, he's back, and once I can manage to clear the couch of all the clothes that I managed to wash last week but not fold (or put away, obviously,) then things will be back to normal.

-We had a wickedly good Father's day. We dropped the wee one off at Grandma and Grandpa's and took the not so wee one to see Toy Story 3. It. Was. Awesome. Nevermind the broken popcorn machine (Hello, Movie Theatre? Broken popcorn machines are NOT COOL!) we had a wicked time anyway.

-On Saturday I managed to get out of the house TWICE, all by myself. A girly night on a deck at a friend's house on Saturday evening produced some of the best laughs that I've had in years, and a summers worth of mosquito bites in one night. (Are the mosquitoes particularly bad this year, or do they just like me extra specially?)

-Saturday morning I went to a Natural Soapmaking Workshop. We've been buying handmade soap for about 5 years now, I refuse to buy the crap in stores anymore. However, I've always wanted to make my own, but was scared of the whole caustic lye business. Now, I'm not scared. Making soap is wicked easy, and I'll never buy a bar of soap again. My soap turned out wonderfully, it's cocoa/peppermint mix, and it smells good enough to eat.
(P.S. I'll be pissed if you actually eat my soap, so don't.)

(P.S.S Dear Family, you're all getting soap for Christmas!)

-Corben is rolling over on a regular basis. Back to front, front to back, he's got it down cold. He'll also lie on his tummy and get his butt wiggling, rocking back and forth. Not quite up on his hands and knees, but making like he's thinking about crawling sometime in the not so distant future. Dear lord, hold me...my baby's going to be moving soon!

-Corben also has a mouth FULL of teeth that are just dying to get out. The trouble is, they ALL seem to want out of those little gums at once! Right now, there's a race happening between the two bottom front teeth, and his lower incisors. I'm rooting for the incisors, they look the most painful, and I think it would be fun to have a little vampire baby for a while!

-My garden looks AMAZING. A few girlfriends and I decided that we were going to go on a weekly rotation of weeding each others gardens. This week it was my turn. The girls came with their kids, the kids ran around, we weeded, ate lunch, weeded some more. We maybe spent two hours in the garden, but with three people, that's 6 hours of weeding, and the garden has never looked better. The kids had a blast. Everyone wins!

-Yesterday I planned a semi-fancy summer solstice dinner. It all went to shit. Steve had to work late. Griffin had the runs and shat himself twice while we were trying to eat. Corben screamed the entire time. Dinner was cold by the time I had everyone sorted out enough to eat, so I gave up. Next time it's warm and sunny, we're having a do-over, this time with more Vodka, just in case.

-With Steve away, I kind of fell off the Creativity Bootcamp wagon. I REALLY want to go back and finish up the last week, but there's too many other things happening at the moment.

-After three weeks of running on a semi consistant basis, I'm finally seeing the scale start to hover towards the "lost 10 pounds" side of things, rather than the "holy postpartum mammarys, batman!" end of things. It feels good to feel this good.

-EXCEPT...with all this feeling good, my body seems to feel it's necessary to remind me that I pushed out a tiny human just a few months ago. Hey body, you can tell the hemorrhoids to take a hike! I won't forget about the tiny human, he's attached to me all day long!

-Tonight is Griffin's end of preschool year concert. I can't wait for the cute!!

I'm sure there's more. But there's also that massive pile of laundry on the couch. And my mother arriving in a few hours. And floors that haven't seen a mop in entirely too long. And. And. And....

I miss you guys. I'm working on that whole "balance" thing again.

Right now, in the name of balance, I'm going to make another pot of coffee, and maybe watch my baby boy sleep for a while.

Life is good.

Saturday Bits

It's summer theatre season here again, and that means that Daddy is here and gone and here and gone a lot. Which leaves me and the munchkins. And the dog. The goal right now is to make it through the days with everyone fed, happy, and relatively clean. (I might be failing on that one, since last night Griffin said to me "Mama, I want to snuggle, but not to close, because you don't smell too good." Humph. Thanks kid. Here, hold the baby, I'm going to shower.)

Corben is....something. Teething likely. Happy as a clam during the day, miserable at bedtime. Last night and the night before it took me TWO hours to get him down to bed. This morning he was up at 5:30am, miserable again.

Not a wonder I don't have time for a shower.

At least I'm smart, and when Daddy's away we all crawl into the big bed together. This makes bedtimes and any midnight wakings infinitely easier. Often I'll wake up with a foot in my kidneys or an arm in my face, but like I said, the cuddlemania has been quelled for as long as I can keep my pits stinky.

Corben doesn't care if I stink. As long as my boobs keep making milk, we'll be BFF's. One snuggler in the bed is enough

Tonight, by some minor miracle, everyone was asleep by 8:30. The 5:30 wake-up by C and Mr. No Nap Griffin may have something to do with that. I don't even have the energy to do anything creative with this evening. I think I may go join the little snorefest myself.

My three year old? Could out-snore many of your husbands. He'll make someone a fine one some day!

And with that, I will leave you with this little bit of awesomesauce, and bid you adieu. This is how I get ready in the morning, fuss free. Corbenvision. Have mirror, will entertain!

Status report from Puke Central

I know, I know. I invite everyone over for a party, tell them to come back soon, and then disappear.

I suck.

It's actually not true though - I don't suck. Work, however, sucks. (That's not actually true either, since I kind of love my job.) But working is sucking all my time. Steve is seriously busy, I am seriously busy, and sadly it's just going to get worse until about the middle of May.

And then my 2 big things are going to be open and I'm going to take a week off to plant my garden!

Then, life will be normal again!

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell you that from now until May, don't expect much. Heck, if you don't expect anything at all, no posts, no nothing, then now and then we may actually be able to exceed your expectations around here!!

Life on the Roof: Lowering Expectations since 2009.

Right now I'm at home on a weekday for the third time in 2 weeks. Next to me is the light of my life, who has a smokin' fever and has spent only 2 of the last 16 hours puke free. It's a darn good thing I love this kid so much, especially considering that I spent the WHOLE DAY yesterday catching up on 3 weeks worth of laundry. At 10pm, less than an hour after I had tucked the final piece of folded laundry away in it's home, the pukefest started. And it just kept going. And going. And going.

It finally stopped about an hour ago.

The first (new) load of laundry is in the dryer. The second is in the wash. The third is still in the laundry basket at the top of the stairs, not entirely convinced that it has seen the last pukey pair of PJ's.

Despite the fact that everything has been or it on it's way to being laundered, and I have showered, I can not seem to escape the smell of regurgitated Italian dinner. I think the kid is the next thing to hit the wash.

So while we're hanging on the big bed, about to fire up Wall-E for the third time today, I thought I'd head over to Random.org and find me a crown winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:3
Timestamp: 2009-03-30 18:10:57 UTC
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:3
Timestamp: 2009-03-30 18:10:57 UTC

Comment #3 - is Secret Mom Thoughts - yay! A crown of your choice is coming your way!

So remember, expect nothing. That way we can promise to meet or exceed your expectations every single time you visit!

Puke Central, over and out.

(9:24 pm Edit - spoke too soon about being puke free. Load 3 of laundry in the machine. Loads 4 and 5 (Pillows...YUCK!!) standing by.)

Smell ya later, March "Break"

Thank goodness THAT'S over!

I sit here, green with envy at those of you who are coming to the end of a week off. I, however, am at the end of 16 days WITHOUT a day off.

Oh, wait. It's not the end. One more week to go, and THEN I get a day off!

I've been working at the Royal Ontario Museum for the week, our company has been doing shows as part of their March Break programming. It's meant driving into the smelly city every stinking day for the past 12 days.

Do you know those people who commute into downtown Toronto EVERY DAY? (Or for that matter, downtown anywhere.) The ones that spend 2 to 3 hours making a 45 minute journey, travelling at 40 kilometers an hour down a 100 km/hr highway? They're CRAZY!!!! I'd poke my eyes out with a tightly rolled Tim Hortons cup before I did that! Seriously.

Um, yeah. OK. Hi! Sorry about that little rant there. Yikes!

(That'd be my inside road rage voice talking a little too loud!)

So, enough of that. Enough of me in fact. I'm going to go downstairs and spend some time with this hot guy who's been hanging out in my kitchen, and claims he's my husband. It seems like so long since I've seen this husband character, but hey, if he wants to stay and cook me more roasted broccoli, he's MORE than welcome.

(WHAT!! You've NEVER roasted your broccoli you say? Seriously, you'll never look at broccoli the same. Chop up some garlic, toss it and the broccoli in some olive oil, salt it and bake it at 400 for a bit. I swear, you'll have a whole brand new love affair with that little green veggie that we all love to hate!)

Adios amigos. Oh, and you too March Break. Don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out!

Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

Wow. I'm pooched. Done. Kaput. Finito.

Work is busy. Life is busy. The laundry is piling up. No sewing is happening. Thank gawd the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow...hey, do you think she might be able to do the laundry?

I spent the better part of last week "auditioning" for a gig that I didn't get. Boo. It was a lot of time invested, and I was really hopeful, but alas... (It was not a gig to replace my super-fantastic job, don't worry. Just an extra-curricular thingy.)

On Monday Steve and 6 of his friends from the theatre here did the "long walk to Mordor" - they watched all 3 of the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings movies. Over 12 hours of movie viewing pleasure, back to back to back. They left behind a lot of food. What's my point? My point is there's cake in my fridge. And I'm going to eat it. In bed. Now.

So long.

(P.S. Spring? It can come anytime now.)

Drawing a....

...um, yeah. I got nothing.

Seriously though, folks. This working full time is really starting to get in the way of things. Blogging, sewing, gardening, not to mention SLEEPING IN! And just life, in general.

We've begun talks around here about giving the munchkin a sibling. I tell ya, even though it's still likely a year or so away, I'm tempted to put a rush on it, just so I can have a YEAR OFF WORK! Good golly, Miss Molly, what the hell am I going to do when I have TWO kids that want me to read them stories, and crawl into bed with with them (and half of the stuffed animal kingdom) and 'nuggle with them till they fall asleep?? WHEN will I ever sew again?

Just in case you don't have enough reading on your plate, a little something I wrote is up in this month's issue of Root and Sprout. If you're not familiar with Root and Sprout, head on over and take a look. Where the hell I had time to write last month, I can't quite recall.

OK, that's it for me. Got that damn work thing in the morning again...

(Apologies for the lack-lusterness around here lately. HEY LOOK - CUTE KID!!!)

Let me off the crazy train!

Stoopid busy.

Getting ready for this:
This craft show, along with things blowing up at work have made for a very busy me (today, quite literally they blew up. They being the bulb of my very expensive projector...not a happy moment!) Every time I think things have settled at work, something else blows up. WTF?

Tomorrow we sew. But tonight, tonight I give up. I'm going to bed. Yes it's 9:10, but me and my book are going to get cozy under the covers, and in about 20 minutes we're going to call it a night.

I'll be back. Maybe not till Saturday, but I WILL be back.

Saturday. I think I'm going to go out and buy a bushel of tomatoes and spend the day making salsa. Sounds like just about the best thing to do with a fall day!

Happy Birthday Griffin!

My little baby boy turned TWO yesterday, and I didn't even have time to write about it...how sad is that?

Work is seriously kicking my ass these days.

Griffin had a great day yesterday, given a pass from daycare, and got to stay home with dad, where they did Griffin's favourite thing - watched "big shows." (Movies on our cinema screen in the basement.) Griffin also got a little set of Toy Story figurines from us in the morning, that he was STILL hanging onto and playing with at 5pm when I met the boys for pizza. He played with them ALL DAY. Best 16 bucks we've EVER spent on a toy!

There was also some time spent on the new, shiny BIG! BIKE! We searched for a bike with inflatable wheels, figuring it would fare better on our gravel driveway, but could only find one...for TWO HUNDRED bucks. For a TRIKE??? I don't think so!! We had a great dinner at Boston Pizza, where Griffin was suitably charming and had all the waitresses fawning over him (we didn't even mention his birthday, to avoid clapping singing (badly) gangs of teenage waitresses.) We carted home, bribed him into the bathtub saying that Woody and Jessie needed a bath, and then snuggled up to sleep. Steve woke me up at 9:30, and I crawled directly back into the big bed, where I seriously wish I could return!

There will be more pictures after our little fete this weekend, along with a suitably heartwarming letter from Mama. Right after I get this stupidly long work day done and over with! Happy Birthday little man! We love you!

Too busy to chat

Oh, hey!

Hi!

Remember me? (That's ok, I barely remember me either!)

It's been a bit busy 'round these parts. Sadly there have been no big adventures, no racous stories of drunken debauchery to share, just little old us, working too much as usual. I'm currently gearing up for the opening of the school show...two more weeks, and I can start coming home at 4:30 again, instead of 8!

Till then....

Miss me!

(P.S. The leaves are starting to turn here. Consider yourself warned.)

Tired, Sick, Working Too Hard

Apologies for the silence around here, we're in the middle of the hell otherwise known as tech week. This one hasn't been too bad, but the 9am to midnight day (with one 1/2 hour dinner break...smell that overtime!) that we pulled on Tuesday kind of threw my body right out of whack. It's almost over, which means soon I'll be doing shows at night, and spending days with the boy, which I'm looking forward to. Plus, the show is going to be wicked cool, which makes all the long days worthwhile!

Griffin decided to get sick this week too, and him puking on the teenage babysitter rounded out Tuesday quite nicely. We started Wednesday with a fever of 103 degrees and a hacking cough, both luckily subsided quickly, and we seem to be on the mend.

That's all for now...I leave you with this gem from Steve, upon finding a present in his footwear this morning:

"You know you're a parent when you find a bus driver in your boot."

Gloomy day

I had a bit of a gloomy day. Missed my baby boy all day today, for no particular reason...maybe because I KNEW I was going to be late picking him up from day care - I was working till 6, Steve is in the city.

I arrived at day care at 6:30, long after all the rest of the kids were gone. Griffin was happily perched on a booster seat, shoveling mac and cheese in his face. I asked him if he wanted to go home and was greeted by a loud "NO!!" As in, "no way are you taking me from my dinner, lady!" So I sat and chatted with our care provider, while Griffin filled his face, and heard all about all the new things he's been doing, all the new words he's been saying, how he likes to run full tilt around the cul de sac when they're out playing, his new climbing abilities, his blossoming friendship with one of the other little boys and so on and so forth.

After enough chit chat, I dragged (quite literally) him away from his nearly finished mac and cheese and took him home, where sweet toddler was quickly replaced by exhausted, throwing things toddler. I gave him a bath, he threw ducks at me. I told him it was time to get out of the tub, he started screaming at me. I finally got him in his PJ's, snuggled up with him on the rocking chair, and got very, very sad.

I HATE that this other woman gets to spend so much more time with my baby than I do. She practically knows more about him than I do! I hate that she gets to enjoy all the fun times with him, and I get to "enjoy" all the cranky tired times. I HATE that I ask him if he wants to go home and he screams "NO!" I laugh and slough it off, but on the inside it breaks my heart. (I know it's mostly about the big bowl of food in front of him, but it still hurts like hell.) It kills me to work 6 days a week while I'm in rehearsal, and see Griffin for an hour in the morning, and a cranky hour in the evening, and one crazy Monday a week.

I always said that I didn't want to have kids just so someone else could raise them, but our financial situation puts us in a place where both of us need to be out there working. Some days it's not so bad. And other days, like today, it sucks big old monkey balls.

I must confess, I came downstairs from lying my precious boy down in his bed and went straight to the computer and typed "mls.ca" into my browser bar, wondering if there were any "options" for us to downsize, move into town where we could live with one car, get a part time job at the local quilt store, and stay at home with my baby. I don't know if its what I really want, considering how much we love this house, and how much we love living in the country, but if it makes the difference between being my son's best friend and being a stranger, then I'm absolutely willing to consider it. Because this - this day, this sinking feeling in my heart, and these tears welling up in my eyes - they all suck.

Home for a rest

Well, am I glad THAT's over!

9 days of work in a row, 10 hour days give or take. Part of my job is being the "front line" when accidents happen on the hill, or wherever. Yesterday I got to call 911 twice. That's two times too many! The first one was particularly nasty, and involved someone very dear to a lot of people there, so it was a rough rough day. Luckily I came home to risotto simmering on the stove, bison steaks on the BBQ, 4 bottles of red wine and some great company. Delightful. But then there was the sick baby....

I'm so beat, I barely have the energy to tell you to click on this link to see how cool we are - a picture of me and the G is featured in a column that our friend David wrote for knitty.com this month.

We just came from a baby shower, where I stuffed myself full of cupcakes and bon bons and I think the only appropriate thing to do with myself is to crawl into bed.

Adios.

Cinderelly, cinderelly....

The past few weeks for me have been all about work work work. This is the hardest and the most that I've worked since the summer before we moved up here in 2005. (Hmmm...that is coincidentally also the last time I worked in theatre...what are we learning here????) But it's not just the theatre. I've been busting my arse left right and centre and wondering how other Moms manage to hold down a full time job, raise kids, and manage to feed themselves and shower every 4 or 5 days, until it hit me that I'm actually working one full time job, and 2, count em TWO part time jobs! It's not a wonder that this house is a pit, and the washing machine hasn't seen any action since last weekend when the laundry fairy was here...and why the good works of the laundry fairy are still right where you last saw them...folded pretty, in the laundry room!

I had a little mini breakdown the other day, something along the lines of "whats the point in working so hard to pay for a damn house when I hardly live there, and whats the point of having a kid when I never see him, and ohmygod will February just f*ck off already and will the snow just go the hell away ??!!!???!!! " Luckily I had this mini breakdown in my head, while driving the 15 minute drive from job A to home, and by the time I got home I was over it and no one needed to deal with my drama. A shower and a hug and some pasta alfredo fixed any lingering mania, and all was calm....then off I jetted to job B for the night...people, I am TIRED!

All my boys have been superstars through all this. It sure does suck working a 12 hour day, but coming home to dinner on the stove and a cute blond smiling and yelling "Mama!!" sure does make it all OK again. I love you, my boys!!

Tomorrow and Tuesday mark my first 2 days off in...well...I'm not sure how long. It's certainly been a while. At least 3 weeks I'm thinking. I'm going underground for a few days, literally - I'm heading to the basement to catch up on the laundry, and some serious sewing that has been at a standstill for too long. Time to get the old stuff done and off the table, just in time for the new stuff coming down the pipe. AND I'm shutting the computer cabinet. I'm putting my to do list on the outside door of the computer cabinet, and aside from the morning coffee and email check, I won't open the door until at least 5 things on the list are crossed off. There's 20 on the list right now, and counting.

I will still, however, be accepting distracting phone calls especially if you're a) calling to offer me money, or b) calling to talk about playing hookey and doing a day at the spa with me on the 4th of March (hint, hint GMO...) or c) the laundry fairy.

And now, because I'm sure you missed us, a little photo love. Here, Griffin's first self portrait:And some crazy Mama love:
And some lovely Mama love!See y'all on the other side of Mt. Laundry!!

I'm Back!

Phewf. Its been a long week, and I know I've been absent from blogland for a while, but I'm back, and I have a whole lot to say, so hang on to your hats! Thanks for missing me!

First off, as you may have gathered from the post down below, someone stole our mailbox. Yup, STOLE our MAILBOX!!! All I have to say to that is What. The. Fuck? The mailbox suffered a near fatal blow from the snowplow this week, as most country mailboxes do at some time in their lives, but it soldiered on, as did the mail lady, and it was still working as a functioning mailbox. And then today I came home from work and it was just gone. I'm quite certain it was there when I left this morning, and I'm quite certain it didn't get ploughed away, since it's been piss-pouring rain all day. Steve checked the ditch and surrounding environs, but the mailbox is gonzo. Who the hell wants a mailbox with OUR emergency # on it?? Who ever it is, they're going straight to mailbox hell!

I am remiss for not mentioning a few bloggy awards that have been passed along to me...whee, awards! This adorable one came from my dear friend, The Bean. She makes the most beautiful dolls ever, and you should go check them out! Go, go now! I am particularly in love with this one, and trying not only to figure out what MY soul whisperer looks like, but trying to figure out how I can con Bean into making her for me!

I also received 2 (count 'em, TWO!) of these little guys!

Once came from one of my new daily reads - Boondock Ramblings. The other came from the never dull, always hilarious Burgh Baby's Mom. There was also a few memes I got tagged for, and I suck, because I never followed them through. This is me, bowing my head in shame, and sucking. I'm supposed to pass these awards on, and I'm going to kind of do that, but in a different sort of way - I'd love to draw your attention to some very cool peeps I know, who also happen to be very good friends, that have some beautiful handmade goods that I think y'all should support!

First there's Kater, and her fantastic Baby Knits over at BabyMakes. Griffin is the proud owner of a BabyMakes vest and cap, looking all adorable in this photo right here. There's another BabyMakes item on the way too which I am very excited about (and totally understand if it has gotten waylaid by The Dress!!)

Then there is Shay, over at the Alphabet Shoppe, who makes wonderful custom paintings, Griffin has his very own set (and Shay happened to mention that there may be a little sale happening over at the Shoppe right now!) I'd love to have the whole alphabet some day. Bring it on, Lotto 649!

And last, but not at all least, is Gretel and her beautiful Gretel Slings. This is a somewhat selfish plug, because I happen to be one of Gretel's seamstresses...and if she gets busy, I get busy too! I have all sorts of fabric here, waiting to be sewn into slings, but I have trouble getting them done without deadlines!

And then there is me, and although I never formalized the Mei Tai sewing, there still here, and I'm happy to make them for anyone who wants one. Kater sent me this beautiful picture of her and Cameron in the one I made for them - I don't think I ever posted it here, it's up on my MotherRoots website, but I'm going to put it here too, because I think it's not only a stunning picture of Kate and Cam, but it makes my Mei Tai look pretty good too!

Next Topic: Wouldja take a look at this:

What you are seeing here my friends, is a large pile of perfectly folded, CLEAN laundry. There is clean laundry hanging from the line, there is clean laundry piled on the dryer, there is NO dirty laundry stacked up for days on the floor. Guess who showed up - THE LAUNDRY FAIRY!!! She exists, she really does, and her name is MY MOM!! I invited her up for the weekend, and she did ALL THE LAUNDRY while she was here...it was truly not my intent when I invited her up, honest to goodness it wasn't. But to her I say "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Come back anytime!" (And to me, I say "stupid twit, should have known she'd tackle the laundry, should have taken the dirty pile in the bedroom closet downstairs too!") Seriously though, thanks Ma! You're a lifesaver!

I think that's all I have to say for tonight - all these linky-dos are hard work! I had a whole lot to say about Stuart McLean making me mad today, and houses where no one lives, but I think I'll save that for another day. Right now I'm going to finish my glass of wine, and crawl into bed with some guy that lives here, that I see much less of than I want to these days...and even when I do see him there seems to be another, smaller version of him that somehow always ends up sleeping in between us....

Sleep through the night my little one, for the love of god...Mama needs a rest!

Can't talk, working...

Sorry it's been so silent here, we're in the midst of Tech week, which for you non theatre types means a (seemingly) endless week of stupidly long work days and nights, eating take out food at the theatre, and forgetting what the light of day looks like. Since Steve and I are working on the same gig, it also means a week of ferrying between daycare and babysitters on the dinner break, which as you can imagine, gives very little time for dinner. Or a break!

Oh, and snow. More. It just keeps coming.

Good Times.

Shadowball 5

What a lovely night! The room was beautiful, the performances we're divine, the costumes were hot, hot, HOT (the mummified performers seen below were unravelled to reveal some wickedly sexy outfits!) and the Lamb! Ohmygod, the LAMB! One of the perks to working the gig is eating the rich people's leftovers, and ohmyGAWD the lamb was AMAZING. As was the chocolate fest we had for dessert! And I can officially say that the Lychee Martini is my new favourite drink.

Overall, a delight! And now, we sleep.

One Happy Birthday Boy!

Late last night, someone of Freecycle offered up a Sandbox...something I have been wanting to get for Griffin for a while, but we decided to wait and build one next year. But I didn't really want to wait, and when it came up last night, I snagged it! Not only that, but this kind lady had all kinds of Garage Sale Leftovers, which she insisted I rummage through. So a new sandbox, and a whole whack of "new" toys greeted Griffin when he came home from Daycare today. He couldn't have been happier (as you can see!)

We are missing Daddy-o terribly today, but the call of duty had to be answered and he's in Blyth. We're celebrating properly on Sunday, and until we can celebrate all together as a family, it doesn't really feel like a birthday at all. Despite Steve's absence, Griffin and I had a great time today and this evening, with a little mini celebration out for dinner.

I also spent some time this afternoon getting all teary over the labour and birth pictures that Gretel took one year ago....a rite of passage I suppose....and I'll likely do it every year!

Happy Birthday, Little Dude! I have more to say, but I'll wait till we can all be together to celebrate this momentous day in style. And with CAKE!!

Cursed Facebook

Beware - the Facebook status bar is cursed, I'm convinced. The other day I wrote there that I was a house selling machine. One day later both my deals have gone down the shitter. This morning I wrote that today was going to be a better day, and then I slipped getting out of the shower and broke my big toe. I was thinking of writing there that I was penniless, only to get the opposite to come true, but the I figured that the way things were going, it was more likely that I'd get hit by a Brinks truck carrying 2 tonnes of rolled pennies.

Whatz goin'on!?

So we've been a busy little beehive for the past week or so, hence the silence here on our bragbook of our cute kid blog. But just in case you're wondering, here's what we've been up to.

Favourite activity of the week: stair climbing.
When we do this activity: as often as possible. Especially when Mom and Dad aren't paying attention.
Grade: A+. Griffin is a top notch stair climber. His concentration is slightly lacking, as there is all sorts of unexplored and untasted bits of stuff in the carpet on the stairs. You understand.

Second Favourite activity of the week: Stair climbing in monochrome.We took a trip to London for the second of the Agnew Sisters (Steve's cousins) Weddings.
Most popular wedding activity: Flirting with the lai-dees.

Second most popular weekend activity: Hangin' with peeps: Uncle Paul, Peter and Gizmo the wonder dog. At home today, we've gone right back to the old favourites of stair climbing and Elvis impersonations:

Overall, not a bad few days!

Me, I've been working like a lean mean Real Estate Machine, and that's all you get to hear about that...suffice to say that there are good days and bad days, but we all know where talking about our work on blogs gets us!

We're looking forward to the big 0-1 coming up in a few weeks, and the birthday bonanza that goes with it. We ARE having a party, and if you think you may have been left off the invite list please don't feel slighted and just call and we'll give you the details...I'll admit to my brain being elsewhere these days and sometimes I forget things. OK, a lot of things. But whatever. Deal.

More soon, as we work on getting organized and getting this household running like the lean mean Stage Manager's dream that still haunts my days (and nights!) I'm THRILLED to be bringing my old career into contact with my new one - they work well together!