At 2:01 today I

Was spending time with family in Montreal.

This is my daddy.

Plus I was playing with my new phone, a Samsung 3 something. I'm still trying to get used to it since the learning curve coming off my precious iProducts is more like a set of steep stairs than a curve.

I want to wish all my readers a wonderful New Year's Eve filled with rum punch and soca music (wait, that's mine)... well, one filled with the things and people you love most. I hope 2014 brings you lots of love and friendship and plenty of patience to deal with my frequent flights of fancy. Let's have a great year together, shall we?

And let's get the word out about this little blog. If you like it, share it with a friend. If I get more readers I'll be forced to post more (and better quality as well) so it'll be a win/win for everyone!

Happy New Year!

All my love,
Karen Kaye (kxx)

Done (finally)

Moving on... at 2:01 today I...

That's an E7, I'll have you know.

Was taking a break from all the wrapping, cleaning and cooking. I've decided to teach myself the standard "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by New Year's Eve. It's full of knuckle crunching chords and I'm loving every minute of it. I really enjoy the jazzier songs played on the uke. Looks like I've found myself a niche...

kxx

I'm not done!

I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

I'm not done.

Have I mentioned that I still have freaking Christmas shopping to do? UGH!

kxx

This is who I am now.

"How boring..."

Is what you'll say after reading this post. I have a little pressure here as I just heard from my kids' music teacher that he heard about me and wants to start reading my blog. Yikes! A professional person wants to read my insane ramblings? Of all days to come up short on a fascinating topic or cunning insight into the mystical mind of a fascinating woman.

Heh. I just called myself a "fascinating woman". I suppose I may be just that to someone who isn't living in my weird (and flabby) skin. I guess we all have something cool or interesting about us. Otherwise why would you take valuable time out of your busy day to read whatever blathering nonsense I have rattling around in my head today?

Which admittedly is nothing. Hoo boy, I'm in fine form right now. Best end this before anyone gets hurt. Stay tuned, Mr S. I promise this stuff gets better. Or at least less... boring?

kxx

At 2:01 today I

Can you guess the theme in our preschool this unit?

was checking the status of my library books. It's a thrilling whirlwind of incredible activity around here, I tells ya...

kxx

Disney or Bust

Well, the Kaye's are finally going to the happiest place on earth, and we need tons of advice from people who've been there before. Have you been? On a scale of one to ten, one being "loved it" and ten being "I plan on living here, send word to my attorney" how much did you enjoy it? I'm a bit worried that I'm setting myself up for failure here since I have no barometer... only the little kid in me screaming to get there already. Is it weird that all I want to do is get on the damned Dumbo ride?

Anyway, anything at all you can tell me, tips, tricks, advice... good, bad or ugly, I want to know. If it helps, we'll be going the second week of February.

Thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to all your insightful comments.

Aaah, blogging is an interesting thing. These posts where I ask for help get very little response, but posts where I just spout a bunch of nonsense inspire an avalanche of comments. What's going to happen this time? I'll google the info if I have to, but I really wanted experiences from people I "know". Come on, peeps... Give it up.

kxx

All I want for Christmas is... gift cards?

Um, how about no. Because I love you, I want to picture you driving around the mall parking lot for ages trying to find a space until you finally give up and slowly follow someone leaving the store to their car only to find out that they have to load $10,000 worth of merchandise and a giant screen plasma into a Smart For Two.

I want you to agonise wondering if you should get me the festive holiday scarf or the Doctor Who tea cosy. (Hint: the cosy... it's always the cosy).

I want you to try your best to find something you think I'd love that you can wrap with a bow and watch me tear open with glee and gratitude.

A gift certificate is nice if you don't know me well (so why are you getting me a gift anyways?) or if I teach your kid. Cash is fine if you're my dad and you can't be arsed to actually leave the house even for that gift card but if you know and love me just look for an item however small. I'm easy to buy for, promise. And in case you are so inclined, here's a handy list of things I enjoy.

The aforementioned Doctor Who
My ukulele (Idris)
Running
Dragonboating
Knitting
Baking
Eating
Watching TV
Blogging and computer stuff in general
Clothing accessories like purses, earrings and funky necklaces
Listening to music
Tea

See? Tons of ideas right there that revolve around those activities. And can be pretty cheap. You have time for this, I promise. Just have a simple conversation with the one you love and find out what they like. You won't be sorry when you see the light in their eyes that comes from receiving a gift that shows you were paying attention in a package that's thicker than an average pharmacy envelope. Plus the mental image of you rage parking? Well that is just an added holiday bonus.

kxx

At 2:01 today I was

Getting my blood pressure checked. My doctor is worried about my hypertension and is trying to adjust my medication. I actually love going. It's 30 minutes of complete peace and quiet. I'm told not to talk or move a muscle. Hm. Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't have snapped this...

kxx

It looks like an 8 but it's a 3... 137/80. That time. It tests me 6 times in all.

Watching Bugs Bunny over the weekend

And I realized something. Well, I noticed a few things one of which should have been that I'm 46 years old, and I should have been watching The Fifth Estate or something smart but that's neither here nor there...

Anyways, what I noticed was if Wile E. Coyote is such a super genius (his words not mine)...

and has the ability both monetarily and cognitively to order multiple products from the weirdly vast Acme catalogue (Earthquake pills? Really?), he can surely just go to the local Costco and buy fresh or frozen roadrunner at a fraction of the cost and effort. Not to mention avoiding the inevitable personal peril. Although to be honest, Costco on the weekend is fraught with dangers that would make Friz Freleng's penis retract into his abdomen. The place is hell on earth but that's a topic for another post.

kxx

To thank or not to thank...

So it's year end at my school. For years if I got anything from a parent, I sent a personalized thank-you note. It wasn't fired off quickly, and I bent over backwards to write one, even if I got a gift on the very last day. I'd scrawl one out and hand it to the parent on their way out.

Last year I heard a different opinion, and I really want to put it out there to parents (and anyone with $.02 to spend). This opinion states that by giving you a small token, the parents are already thanking you so a thank you note for the thank-you gift is starting to go down a rabbit hole of Canadian style politeness.

So the question is: would you expect a thank-you note for a teacher gift? Are you insulted if you don't get one? Do they need to be personalized? Seriously, I have enough paperwork at this time of year what with individual developmental assessments and other stuff. My brain is oozing.

What do you think?

kxx

At 2:01 today I...

Was trying something I saw on the interwebs. No, nothing weird. Do you not know me at all? It had to do with food.

Anyway, supposedly all you have to do to peel an orange easily is cut off the top and the bottom, slice it down one side and "unroll" it.

Like everything you see on the internet, it worked... kind of. It didn't unroll beautifully like the photograph (which I think may have been the notoriously easy to peel mandarin versus my navel (orange, that is)). Then when it came to eating the segments, most of them stuck making it just as hard as usual to separate them from the peel individually.

So boys and girls what did we learn today? That copying stuff from lifehacker is iffy at best. But still worth a try as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. And I got a yummy orange out of the deal anyway so there's that...

kxx

That's the way it's supposed to look.

No wonder I'm always tired

The other day I was telling Scott that I'm not sure why I'm so exhausted at the end of the day. Keep in mind that the end of my day is usually 1pm. Then I went on to tell him the thing I say under my breath every day, seconds before the kids start arriving. As soon as I said it the penny dropped.

"It's showtime!"

Then I'm on. From 8:30 to 1pm it's all big toothy smiles and enthusiastic enthusiasm. I grin through temper tantrums and crocodile tears. I crouch and bend and jump and stretch. I've even been known to turn a cartwheel or two. Today I even did a handstand in the pool. I sing and mug and behave like a clown. Yes, it's only for four and a half hours, but it's literally non-stop. In fact, sometimes going to the bathroom is my only break. So when you catch me drooling into my couch cushions at 2pm, just put my Snuggie over me and move on. I deserve it.

kxx