Wordless Wednesday

For you, Al!

kxx (HA!)

Crazy busy day!

I had a staff meeting and CPR refresher at work from 9-4. This was after my 5K run at 6am and before my dragonboat practice at 6:30pm.

Poor kids. They didn't see me all day, I came home and threw some leftover bagels and lox at them and now I'm blogging really quickly before I change clothes and run out to practice. Today I feel like an awful mother. I know we all have those days but wow, do I feel guilty. This is why I'm so glad my work is normally half days. Gotta go...

kxx

"So how many convictions have you had?"

That had to be the strangest question ever put to me in my entire life.

So I was at the police station today... wait, that sounds weird.

So on my way to get fingerprinted... wow, not so great either. You all need a background and some context for this not to sound all felon-y.

Because my new job (that I start tomorrow... wheee!) is with children, I needed to complete a police check. I did the paperwork and when it came back there was a disturbing red flag attached. Apparently someone with my name or birthday has been a naughty girl (or boy, I don't judge). Supposedly this happens quite a bit and it's resolved by going to get fingerprinted at the police station. Lots of things went through my mind but "COOL!" was the main thing.

When my number got called, the woman escorting me to the room made the weirdest small-talk by asking "so how many convictions have you had?". Wow. Talk about shitty bedside manner. After my attack of nervous giggles, I replied that I was just there to follow up on my police check.

She took me to a room that I hoped would look more like something from every police drama I've ever seen. Instead it looked like something from every office comedy I've ever seen. After I filled in yet another form, I excitedly waited for the ink blotter to come out. Ridiculously, I was more excited than anyone should be while awaiting fingerprinting. I'm such a dork.

When the time came, she put on rubber gloves, wiped my fingers with a wet wipe and gingerly placed each one on... the glass of a computer scanner. What? Way to disillusion the noob.

So I went all the way down to the cop shop, didn't see any person scarier than a guy that looked like Dwight from The Office; or any cop more intimidating than Mike from Mike And Molly and then I don't even get black fingers like a common criminal? Hmph. What a disappointment.

kxx

I'm watching cartoons with Henry

It's just before bed and Henry and I are watching GI Joe as we do every weeknight. I just remembered that I hadn't blogged today so I thought I'd use GI Joe as my search word for Flashback Friday.

I talked about the deplorable lack of violence in cartoons. Specifically, the fact that they chop my favourite funny violent acts so much that the "stories" no longer make sense. Or I inevitably yell out "what happened to his exploding cigar??"  Put them back, I lamented in this blog from   March 2011...

See you Monday, precious peeps...

Emergency trip to Montreal

Okay, it wasn't really an emergency. When I got back from London, we realized we hadn't seen my dad who lives 2 hours away in Montreal since Christmas. Yikes! I start work next week, the kids start school after Labour Day and lo and behold we had 2 days in a row with nothing on our schedule. We quickly made up our minds and here we are.

Today we went to the Biodome, Insectarium and Botanical Gardens. We had a really fun day but there was a LOT of walking! It was nice to see my old stomping grounds and share some funny stories with the kids. I don't get the chance as often as Scott does since we live in his hometown.

Anyway, gotta fly, I promised my dad I'd set him up with a Facebook account but told him I had to do some preliminary research first. Apparently blogging is now Facebook research. Deal with it.

kxx

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

Pictures!

Can I come with you?

The costume of the most famous Doctor.

The most recent Doctor, Matt Smith.

Enjoying tea and a magazine in the garden. It was a gorgeous place to sit.

My godson and Postman Pat. No sign of Jess...

Mein hosts.

Now with Cousin Francis

I baked these with a hand mixer... I hope Terra doesn't get jealous!

What is he thinking? 

The big show!

The parents and godparents relax.

Party time!

kxx

The trip was amazing!

The highlight was the christening, of course, where I drank too much wine and fell asleep in my clothes. Photos and details (not of the end of the evening, naturally) tomorrow. But I have to mention the Doctor Who Experience. It was FANTASTIC!

I canNOT say enough about this exhibit. It was fun and funny, interactive, interesting and completely and totally amazing. Even Kathy, who had never seen an episode, seemed to enjoy herself. Who wouldn't love taking a spin in the TARDIS? It's staying in London until Christmas then is heading over to Wales where it'll stay permanently. Every part of it was a scream, a trip, a complete joy. I'm so glad I got to go.

So it looks like I've officially embraced my geekdom. I freely admit I'm not a fan of all sci-fi but when I do love one of these shows, I love it more than anything. I want to learn and absorb everything about it. It's not like that with any other genre of show for me. And the new series of Doctor Who (starting with Christopher Eggleston) makes me more happy than a mere television show should.

Now if only I had a time machine of my own. After I'd invest in the internet, I'd totally go back there for another go-round.

kxx

I'm home!

See, like I said whirlwind. I'm actually not back yet, my plane doesn't land until 5:50 this evening but I knew I'd be tired and have a ton of shopping luggage to unpack so the blog would be at the back of my mind. Not to worry, you'll get the story and a few photos tomorrow.

Now off you go so I can get my wits (such as they are) about me.

kxx

Flashback Friday

Since I'm across the pond right now, I thought my search word for today should reflect that. The word for today is London. D'uh...

This was posted in April 2008. See? I seem to go there every year. The post was Scott's clever travel tip to beat jet lag.

See you Monday!

kxx

I'm on my way!

I've pre-programmed this to come out as I wing my way to Ye Olde London Town. I'm so excited! A few weeks ago I went to Toronto and I felt like a fish out of water but in London I can whip from the airport to the underground no problem. I'm really comfortable there. When I was younger I wanted to move there more than anything and I still love all things British. Except for the weather thing. Yes, I have to go through 7 months of cold that freezes your eyelashes together, but nothing beats an Ottawa summer where it's 23C with 100% humidity making it feel like 38C. Over there, the same 23C feels like 15C because of the cool and damp. UGH.

Anyway, I've got a nice warm sweater and a sweet leather jacket and I'm ready for anything. I'll be posting Facebook updates whenever I can and stay tuned next week for a breakdown of my whirlwind trip.

kxx

Not so Wordless Wednesday

Every so often the stars align and my silly little "phd" camera (press here, dummy) captures something that's almost worth framing. I saw Audrey and the boys lying on the trampoline talking and laughing together. A rare occurrence in itself. I grabbed my little pink nightmare and hoped for something usable. After 5 minutes of snapping asses and blurs, goofy mugging and ridiculous demands ("take a picture of my foot!"), I got a few keepers. I plan to take them to the UK to show everyone how lovely my kids really are. If only they knew the real truth...

kxx

I don't think you know

On Wednesday night I leave for the UK. I'm going to be a godmother for the second time to my "cousin" and his christening is Sunday. Cousin is in quotes because our relationship is so complicated I have to have it slowly explained to me complete with genealogical diagrammes every time I see him. Basically we're related on my dad's side, with my best friend forever thrown into the mix for good measure. Now that's another long story.

Anyway, I leave Wednesday for the shortest trip I've ever taken over there. I arrive back on these shores on Monday afternoon. Because this trip is so short, my BFF Kathy has filled my time with activities including a lunch with her workmates as soon as I touch down (I'm assuming with my suitcase in tow), shopping trips and cupcake baking. And of course the baptism. Besides that auspicious event, the only thing I'm really looking forward to is the Doctor Who Experience. I'm beside myself with joy.

I've not been a fan of Doctor Who for long. I'd watched the odd episode from behind my couch when I was a kid but it wasn't until the recent revamp that my love took off. I can't get enough of it. When I found out that there was an exhibit on in London for a limited time I resigned myself to to not going. Then my favourite cousin was destined to be christened and the stars all lined up. I'm beyond excited.

Years ago I went to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas and it was fantastic. It was part ride, part museum exhibit and all amazing. Even my sister-in-law, who came with us and had only seen a handful of original series episodes, still talks about it. Kathy is in for a massive treat. Only she doesn't know it yet. And isn't that the best kind of surprise?

I know you're reading this Kathy... you'll have a ball, I promise or I'll repay your entry fee. See you Thursday!

kxx

Happy Monday!

I post this video every few months but I can't resist. I love this song. Especially on a day like today where I have absolutely nothing interesting to blog. So sorry but it's the end of the day and the family is all comfortably ensconced in the living room without me. Tomorrow I promise to blog earlier so I can write something creative. I watched Glee 3D with Audrey this afternoon so that's what I'm blaming for my lack of bloggitude.

Look at the clip. This little boy was part of the movie... I mean, can you blame me? I wanted to take this little boy home!



kxx

Flashback Friday

I nearly forgot to post again! Today it wasn't because I was bummed, I just got busy. I feel much more happy today and my flashback post talks about being cheerful in the face of someone who doesn't like you. Hard work.

April 26, 2006

Just a sidebar: Hugh has since moved away with his family to BC. I'll never run into him again. Which puts our arch-nemesis status on hold. Too bad. How often can you say you have an arch-nemesis?

kxx

Feeling... well, weird

I've been feeling very strange all day. A little on the weepy side, a little on the angry side since about 10 this morning. I wasn't going to write a blog for today but it's been nagging at me the last hour so here it is. It's not good but it's done. I'm not sure why I feel so strange. Aunt Flo's not due and I had a nice birthday yesterday. It's just one of those things. I think a good night's sleep will solve everything. You know what it's like to feel like the end of a day can't come quickly enough...

kxx

Happy Birthday to ME!

I'm 44 today. Let's catalogue my aches and pains, shall we?

• Soreness under my left kneecap
• Constant ache in the muscle between my neck and right shoulder
• My sinuses get completely stuffed up after 5pm
• I have an ache in my right big toe that sometimes makes it hard to wear heels (waaah!)
• I think I have the beginnings of carpal tunnel in my left forearm
• My right eye is constantly leaking
• Lately an alarming snore (from what Scott tells me) that leads me to think deviated septum

That's about it. Pretty good for an old broad, I have to admit. I'm still mobile and nothing I do is really painful so it's all good.

What about what I CAN do?

• Run 5K without stopping
• Dragonboat well enough to earn a medal or two
• Do 25 "boy pushups"
• Bake a pretty mean cake
• Wear a different pair of shoes every day for 2 months without repeats
• I'm a fairly good mum and a pretty okay wife

So there you have it. The aches and accomplishments of a more than middle-aged, Black suburban wife and mother. I think it's pretty fabulous.

kxx

An open letter

To Everyone With Whom I Converse on a Regular Basis,

People, we've gone through this before. You know I love technology as much as the next person. You read my blog, we're friends on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, Picasa, Gmail, Google+, you name it. I'm on the computer at least 20 hours a week and even when I worked on a computer all day I still came home and computed half the night. As you are well aware, I'm a child of the computer age.

So when you ask if I've watched So You Think You Can Dance and I say "no but I taped it", stop laughing. You have to know I don't mean an actual VCR with an actual cassette. It's just what I'm used to saying. Telling you that I'm going home to watch So You Think You Can Dance on PVR doesn't roll off my tongue.

Here are some other things I may say. Please control yourselves:

"Just leave a message on my answering machine". No, I don't have a machine with a tape beside my telephone.

"The policemen/firemen/mailmen are on strike so I won't get arrested when I set fire to that mailbox!" This is just an example, people.

"OMG, I love that record!" As a matter of fact I have a 32g iPod touch that holds mp3 files of every "record"  and "tape" that I've ever owned.


Stop judging me. I really am a modern girl. It's just that at my advanced age (44 as of tomorrow), I can't be bothered to think too long before I speak. I could go at any minute and I can't spare the time. It takes too long to mentally come up with those new-fangled terms but, trust me, I know what the "real" things are.

So please keep your sniggering to yourself.

Sincerely,
Karen Kaye

"Mum, this was the best night of the summer"

This is what Henry said to me after we all came home from partying on Saturday night.

We went to a big 40th birthday party that night. And I mean big. After the huge dinner (and the bellydancer, and the fireworks... did I mention this was a biiiig party?), they rolled out the dance floor. As the first strains of Lady Gaga boomed out of the speakers, I could see Henry start to tap his feet. Then he started to wiggle. I asked him if he wanted to go dance but he shrugged his shoulders. But those shoulders never stopped moving. "Come on! I'll go with you" I said, and off we went. Surprisingly we had never before been in a dancing situation like that before. I have never properly danced with my kids. How did that happen? Growing up I loved to dance.

We danced and danced. That kid had some sweet dance moves. He spun, and shimmied and boogied his little heart out. He got so sweaty and so into it that he reminded me how much I loved to dance. Don't get me wrong, neither of us will be contestants on So You Think You Can Dance anytime soon (unless it's the gag auditions) but it looks like we both enjoy flailing madly. And trust me, I will bend over backwards to arrange a situation where we can dance together again.

I agree, kiddo. Best night of the summer.

kxx

The most amazing thing I ever saw

Elliott asked me this afternoon what the most amazing thing I ever saw was. What a hard question! I hemmed and hawed a bit and then he jumped in.

"My birth?"

HA! Um, no. Frankly I didn't see much of that. The labour was so long and I was so drugged up I really couldn't care less. And I had a c-section so there was a sheet up over the important bits and I was at the wrong end of the action anyway. So no.

I thought and thought. I'd seen the Northern Lights once. I saw a comet like a rock on fire a few years ago. That was super cool. I thought about my feeling at the finish line of every dragonboat race I'd ever had. All those things were really neat but if you think about it, amazing is such a weighty word.

Scott was leaving for hockey just then. He kissed me goodbye, hugged Elliott and went to shake his hand. Suddenly they started doing that thing that guys do, each trying to crush the other's hand. They were laughing so loudly and honestly and when Elliott was finally lying on the floor laughing and groaning in joy and pain, looking up at Scott with such love in his eyes, I knew.

AMAZING.

kxx

Exciting day for a Thursday

Audrey and I are getting glammed up to go downtown to see The Lion King. I'm wearing my Louboutins and everything. They are the perfect footwear for spending the evening sitting down.

On the way to the show, I have to stop by the canoe club to take part in an interview with my team about our dragonboat triumph at the ICF World Crew Championships in Toronto. See how I threw in the official name? If you have no idea what I'm on about, I'll refer you to every single blog post I wrote last week. The interview is for a local newspaper and it should be interesting to see what they'll make of me in my white jeans and designer footwear down at the riverside.

kxx

Okay!

After yesterday's unfortunate overshare, I thought I'd try for something less um... uriny? Is that a thing? Well, it is now.

It's about a movie I love. It's not my favourite, it's not the best and it's certainly not famous. It's Now, Voyager starring Bette Davis. It's pretty formulaic and there are plot points that wouldn't happen nowadays. For instance the main character, unbeknownst to his wife, practically hands his daughter over to his secret lover Bette Davis to take care of so that they can be together in even some small way.

What is it about this movie? I've seen it about 10 times and I cry buckets each and every time. I once counted my goopy kleenexes after it was over and my all-time high was 11. I'm talking a total breakdown complete with sobbing and wailing. I do know what it is. It's the sacrifice that everyone makes for everyone else. It's almost too much to bear. And Bette Davis' character? She's a full-on saint. Except for the falling in love with a married man thing.

I got a lot out of that movie. I first saw it in the 80s. I smoked back then and often lit other peoples' cigarettes for them the way Paul Henreid did.

I thought Bette Davis' hair was short in the back so I cut and styled my hair to look just like it does after her makeover. It was the 80s and trust me, that was a cool hairstyle. Who knew it was all pinned up and not shaved back there? You see what you want to see.

I even owned a couple of finches and named them Camille and Jerry after the main characters. I could NOT get enough of this movie.

I haven't watched it in years and I'm actually a bit afraid to. What if it's silly or it just plain sucks? My memory isn't what it used to be and I just may be romanticizing how wonderful it is. After all, it's not a classic for a reason, right?

If any of you have seen it in recent years, please post and let me know if I should re-watch it. I own the dvd but I still haven't played it. Tell me if it's still worth my swooning over Paul Henreid's blatant disregard of the surgeon general's warning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehYrqpwJelY

Hmph. I was trying to embed the trailer and blogger won't let me. But click in the link above and it'll be right there...

kxx

Well, this is a new one.

Scott and I have been talking about getting a trampoline all summer. It's great cardio and the kids would get a kick out of it. We have plenty of room in the backyard and it seemed like a nice idea. Then summer got in the way, we got busy with activities and we just plain forgot.

Last week I got a Canadian Tire flyer in my inbox where trampolines were 35% off. Plus you got a $50 gift card.  So today we packed the kids up and made a trampoline run.

***no need to insert the comedy montage of us installing things upside down, fast-motion chasing each other with socket wrenches or shrugging comedically over handfuls of spare screws... we actually did pretty well and installed it completely farce-free in a couple of hours ***

Anyway, onto my indignity. I was having the inaugural bounce once it was all up and I noticed... well... I'm just going to put it out there. I was peeing a little everytime my feet hit the mat. Oh, happy day. So what's that make it? Laughing, coughing, sit-ups, just plain holding a full bladder and now this. Time to put on my big girl (waterproof) panties and buy those Depends.

This getting old thing is getting old.

kxx

Holiday Monday!

My plan for today is to make frosting. Six batches of buttercreme for the cupcakes I have to deliver on Friday  That's it. I already exercised (a 6k jaunt to the beach with my boys), and watched my soaps so now it's time to work. Well, as much work as using my gorgeous mixer to whip up a batch of sweet creamy goodness is work...

However you spend your Civic Holiday, have fun at it and be safe. Don't forget it's the penultimate long weekend of the summer so you have to enjoy the hell out of it. It's a rule.

kxx