Photo Dump!

Okay, that title sounds pretty gross but all it is is an attempt on my part to share some of the pictures I've taken from my iPod. I always have it in my pocket or purse and never my camera so I get some very interesting off-the-cuff misguided unfocussed stupid shots. In the next couple of blogs, I'll post one and explain the motivations behind it.

Just an aside, 95% of these photos are all about me. It's just like my blog so this should be no surprise to anyone.

Today's photo:

I found a great iPod app where you can insert any words (and tiny icon... see the oven mitt?) into the traditional "Keep Calm and Carry On" sign. As you can see, I was feeling both particularly creative and depressed the day I made that. Geez, my ego knows no bounds, does it?

kxx

I love hearing about baby names

I think I freaked out one of my co-workers when I pretty much got in her face and demanded to know why she named her daughter Elliott (sorry about that Jill LOL!)

But I love to hear about things like that. I'm interested to hear about people's motivations for choosing the handle they decide to lumber their child with for the rest of their lives.

I think I've mentioned my reasons for my own children but I'll quickly recap:

Elliott William:
Named for a car dealership licence plate and my mother's maiden name. If he had been a girl, he would have been Madeleine Elizabeth after the children's storybook and Scott's mother's middle name.

Audrey Margaret:
Named for Scott's 2 aunts. If she had been a boy, she'd be named Peter (middle name forgotten). Interesting note: two-year old Elliott, when asked to name his baby sibling, chose the name of his favourite movie hero at the time... Mulan.

Henderson Michael:
Named for Scott's father's middle name and my brother's name. Had he been a girl, he'd have been Clara Elizabeth.

As for me, my parents were recyclers. If I had been a boy, I'd have been given my brother's name. Also, Tara was another choice for me. I never fail to tell that less than fascinating fact to every Tara I meet.

So anyway, if you have an interesting story about your name or your children's names or anything about names at all, post it in the comments. As I said above, I love this stuff.

kxx

Get your fresh updates here!

I realized yesterday that I haven't given you all an proper update on how we Kayes are doing. I've gone on rants about baby teeth and me, me, me but nothing about my precious family. So here's what we're up to:

Me: Well you know already.

Scott: He doesn't like me to talk about him on here. Suffice it to say he's fine and dandy.

Elliott: He's currently in Europe on a tour with his cadet corps. According to his itinerary he's in Belgium but we haven't heard a word from him. I'm sure he's fine and I'm not as worried about him as I would have been thanks to Alison (THANKYOU!). Ignoring us is not personal, he's just being 15. (*breathe in*) acknowledged and... (*breathe out*) released. Have fun kiddo.

Audrey: She doesn't have too many extracurricular activities but she keeps herself busy by talking on the phone, playing on the computer and watching tv. I can sometimes roust her off the couch by suggesting shopping trips with yours truly. In other words, she's a completely normal, ordinary 13 year old girl.

Henry: A hockey playing, video gaming, ball of energy. He burns it off by doing backflips on our backyard trampoline and biking for hours. In a couple of weeks he's scheduled to get braces so that should curb his monstrous appetite for a couple of days.

Taz (the cat): He's got a wonky thyroid which is making him lose weight and he hates his new prescribed food. He'll only eat it if I put some tuna juice on it. The doctor expressly forbade me to give him any other food but it was a question of watching him starve to death or cheat just a bit. I mean he was really ignoring it and "crying" for food. I couldn't stand it anymore. Anyway, he's eating a bit more and isn't quite as annoying as he was so it's a win/win.

Nameless gerbils: Do we still have those things?

So that's the family update for this gorgeous Easter/Passover weekend. I'm going to start on my list of things to do by boiling some eggs for dyeing and getting some things prepared in advance for tomorrow's big dinner. I thought a mix of Christian and Jewish on the table would be nice by replacing the traditional Easter ham (which we're not crazy about anyway) with turkey and adding charoset and matzah to the table. I think it'll taste amazing.

Please have fun and be safe whatever you do this holiday and see you soon!

kxx

It's the anniversary of my personality

Last week my friend from high school posted a "playbill" from the first play I was ever in. It was Oliver Twist and I played Miss Eliza Sellers, a completely made up bookseller in Merry Olde England. I wore a day-glo yellow dress and my hair up in a bun (I wasn't always bald). I even remember my first line: "Wait, stop! Please don't take that boy away! Stop one moment!" I had to burst onto the stage as they were dragging Oliver away and it was simultaneously the most petrifying and exhilarating moment of my 14 year old life. And looking back, if I'm completely honest, I've never felt quite like that since. Like I wanted to both vomit and upstage the entire show by breaking into an off-the-cuff soft shoe. Incredible.

I need to mention here that I was painfully shy at the time. This, incredibly, is the hand-to-God truth. I had one friend (Jackie) who I was completely dependent on. So much so that when she was off due to pneumonia for 2 weeks, I spent every lunch hour until she came back pathetically eating lunch in a bathroom stall, crouching on the seat so that my feet wouldn't show underneath. Like I said, pathetic. When I think of that time I want to shout to my stupid younger self: "GET OUT THERE YOU IDIOT! THEY'RE JUST KIDS!! THEY DON'T BITE FOR EFF SAKE!"

Thankfully my English teacher Mrs. Beiner saw something in me trying to get out. She forced me to do this play and at the time I resented her for it. But it was exactly what I needed to get my head out of my own ass and today I hold her completely responsible (good or bad) for making me the sassy, mouthy, outgoing ray of sunshine you see before you today. I wish I could contact her so I could tell her this. Because if it wasn't for those 12 lines on that terrifying day in March 1982, I wouldn't be me.

kxx

I was just thinking about cleaning out my jewellry box

You wouldn't believe the junk I have in that thing. Honestly any real gold or diamonds I have I wear on a daily basis and the things I don't (fancy stuff that came from my mum that I wear to the odd "event") can fit in my fist.

So this nice dark wooden box with shiny metal details and blue velvet insides currently holds my fanciest plastic "jewellry", assorted homeless keys, my favourite Silly Bandz and about 72 gross baby teeth. I tried to keep them apart but I don't even know whose are whose anymore. What am I going to do with these flipping teeth?

I've talked about them here and here but the time has finally come. I'm finally ready to throw them away. But there's a small part of me that wants to put them in a little baggie and toss it in with the donations I regularly send to the Salvation Army. I giggle every time I imagine their stricken faces when they see it.

kxx

I'm one of *those*

Audrey and I went to the first showing of The Hunger Games on Friday at midnight. I want to throw my daughter under the bus here and blame her for this idiocy but she reminds me that it was my idea and I was the one who recommended that she read the book in the first place. Ingrate.

So I know you must be sick and tired of hearing about it already so I won't mention it except to say if you adored the book you'll like the movie, if you only liked the book then wait for the video but if you haven't read the book at all, you'll love it.

I so enjoy the movies. Once I went to one movie a week for an entire year. That was awesome and not only because it was before I had kids. Nowadays I don't get to the theatre as much as I'd like and I forget how much I love that little frisson of excitement once the lights go down. In fact, when it happened at The Hunger Games I was so excited and wired (keep in mind it was midnight and I wasn't even in bed) that I actually applauded. Which made the equally wired crowd clap as well until we all realized that it wasn't the movie starting but the 30 minutes of ads and trailers. At a flipping midnight showing. What a let-down. Moving on...

The other day Audrey asked what my favourite movie was. I hate that question and if you check back over the years of this blog, I may have different answers depending on my mood, the time of year or the current barometric pressure. There are movies I like to watch over and over like Deep Blue Sea or Ferris Bueller's Day Off but they're certainly not my favourites. Today. I love Sliding Doors but my favourite? Definitely top 10 but not my favourite favourite. Whatever. Why do I have to have a favourite movie anyway? Ask me about my favourite dish instead.

Um, wait... dessert or dinner? Soup or sandwich? Oh forget it.

kxx (Hang on... it's this. Almost always this. Usually.)

Yawn.

It's 7am on Sunday morning and I can't get back to sleep. Doesn't that suck? My alarm clock went at 6:30 and while that by itself wouldn't keep me awake, a loud report from Scott's ummmm... sub-commander juuuuust as I was falling back asleep put the nail in it. The fact that the birds are loudly singing, there's light in the sky, it's an hour past my normal weekday wake up time and I started to mentally write this blog were the cherries, nuts and gooey toppings on my insomniac sundae. Ooh... wouldn't that make a cool band name? "Ladies and gentlemen would you welcome to the stage.... The Insomniac Sundaes!!!"  (*wild screaming applause*)

The house is super quiet right now (Except for those damned birds, my purring cat and the computer keys clicking. Why does the backspace key make a different sound than the letter keys? I'm just curious...) and I'm debating watching tv after I'm done here. That or clean up the kitchen. Well that was decided even before I finished typing up the sentence. As I used to say when I was 8... like as if.

Talking about tv, remember when stations used to go off the air? They'd play the national anthem at some time after midnight then run that horrible, obnoxious squeal with the graphic of the Indian (Native Canadian?) when channels were black and white and the colour bars when they went colour? Good times. Now when I turn that tv on I'll get some great old cartoon like Looney Tunes on the retro cartoon channel or a new(ish) episode of The Bachelor on the channel out of Israel. Better times.

The above statement makes me want to go channel surfing now before the kids wake up wanting to watch Yu-Gi-Oh or some such nonsense. I'm going to brush my teeth, make a tea and enjoy this quiet house for one more hour before they come bug me. Looks like being up this early can have a few advantages as well.

This is Karen Kaye signing off...

kxx