Mortimer's Mom

3 & 1

Guess who's got tghbe pleasure of sitting with both kids; and who got a seat across the aisle all by HIMself......

Email on the go, sent by TELUS

Red, many interpretations

A couple of days ago, my friend Red came over and introduced us to her new baby, Yummy. One week after coming home, they were already able to go out for a visit. Yummy is... delicious! So awake and curious. Dumpling, in her own way, was quite delighted. She paid little attention to Yummy during her visit, preferring to color and send Red and S home with some pictures. But after they left, boy, did she want to talk about Yummy and where she came from and China and all...

Before she left, I peddled my drug of choice, Top Chef, onto her iPod. Along with many, many other hours of television that were all ready for her new toy. She wanted to thank me by giving me a little something, but with all the talking, she forgot it in her car. So this time, she brought it. I'm not sure what she's saying.... it's subtle:

I was very tempted to crack it open tonight, after the manic packing of the last 3 days, but contrary to popular belief, I cannot drink an entire bottle of wine by myself in one night, so it would be a shame. I will keep it for a more appropriate desperate night!

I was also a little red in the face today... needing to go to the principal's office for Dumpling... that's right, 2 1/2 months into pre-K and we're at the principal's office! Truth be told, we asked for the meeting. Dumpling, you see, is not eating lunch at school. She's never been a good eater. Eating is an entire process that requires an enormous amount of parental intervention. We have down path now. But at school, she doens't eat. Which wouldn't be a big problem if she didn't come home a little after 2 pm. That's a long day to go without eating. So after asking the teacher nicely if they would encourage her to eat a little, or keep her dessert/treat from her until she at least made an attempt at her meal, we spoke to the head of the pre-K. But she felt it was about the actualy food I was sending: ie Dumpling didn't like her lunches. But that's not the issue, since she'll eat the exact lunch I sent the minute she gets home (with some parental encouragment).

We gave it time, we tried the non-pushy approach. But today, I spoke to the principal about it. Nobody knows what to do, we are waiting for some tips from a specialist. But in the  mean time, the principal will speak to the teachers to see if they can give it a little more effort.

Finally, my last take on red is that my hair no longer is. I had it cut and I decided to go a little browner for the winter. So don't be suprised when you see the pictures from Florida!

Packing Status Update

House Packing: done, as of noon on Sunday. yeah!

Florida Packing: kids clothes, done. My clothes, done, with possibility of completely changing my mind. Hubs clothes: to be done.

Remaining to be done: cameras, chargers, iPods, wires of all kinds to attach iPods to TV or laptop, Laptop (!), some snacks so we don't have to purchase Disney-fied snacks every day. I did remember the floaties, must find sunscreen. Pharmaceuticals and sundries.

I think that's it. We might actually make this happen before Tuesday morning.

Sympathy Packing

My friend Mrs. Figby must be packing this weekend, since she is about to move for the second time in a few months. Since I can't fly to NJ to help out, I thought I would do a little Sympathy Packing (think sympathy pregnancy pains) and pack up the entire first floor of my house. Just for fun. 

Actually, it's for the floor sanding. This is why I have avoided having the floors done these last 4 years. Because my husband owns A LOT of books. And there is a lot of crap in my house. And we have soooo many sets of dishes in the dining room (Meat, Dairy, Passover Meat, Passover Dairy, and all assorted serving platters). Everything has to be boxed up and moved to the basement. The movers will come on Monday and put the furniture in the garage. Then, next Monday, right after we get back, we will do the entire thing in reverse. Fun!

Because the sanders come first thing Tuesday morning but we are not Florida-bound until Wednesday morning, we will be displaced people on Tuesday. Both girls have school, so we are good til early afternoon, at which point they will both be taken to their grand-parents for an afternoon of fun and a family dinner. Then we will be driven to the airport where we will spend the night.... at the hotel! (OK, I thought that was funny!!!!)

Actually, here is a note to adoptive parents. If you want to be sure to rock the boat with a kid that hasn't been home a year and is still freaked out by change: pack up an entire floor of your house! Beach Ball has been wandering around all day, wondering what the heck is going on. And then we are going to go the hotel for one night, and then on a plane, and then another hotel... Wait a minute! When we took Dumpling on a cruise, didn't I come back SWEARING I wouldn't do that the first year again.....

Lemming

I did it. I signed up for NaBloPoMo and I will do my best to blog once a day in November. The first three posts will probably be cell-pics from our Disney Vacay. (Unless a previous commenter is right and I can snag some free WiFi there. Somehow, I can't imagine anything free at Disney!)

I will put two or three posts in the can just in case, but I will really attempt to bring you fresh non-sense daily. You have been for-warned.

as promised

Here I am, with Gail Simmons. For those of you who didn't know, she's a judge on Top Chef and is in charge of Special Projects at Food and Wine Magazine.

I'm toying with the idea of doing the November Post-a-Day thing. But seing as I'll be at Disney for days 1 through 4, I'm not sure how that would work out.... I guess I could cell-photo blog.....

one thing we DIDN'T buy at Target

at the end of a row in the toy section, we came upon this:

It comes with a carrot to feed it and it moves its head.....

When Dumpling saw it, her eyes started to bug out of her head and we quickly whisked her to the only-slightly-less-evil Barbies, where she was allowed to pick one new one, because frankly, the large collection of late 80's, early 90's hooker-Barbies we inherited is starting to freak me out. At least she picked a nice non-branded princess-type Barbie.

And we didn't bring home the pony!

A foodie Dream-Day

Today, I had lunch with Gail Simmons and drinks with Anthony Bourdain. OK, sort of.....

Gail Simmons was the guest speaker at the annual women's fund-raising campaign in the Jewish community. I usually avoid those things like the plague, since I don't own pearls and my diamonds, though real, are dust compared to the rocks some of the ladies sport. But when I read that she was the guest speaker, I promptly made  my donation and got a ticket. My friend S. who spearheaded the cookbook a few years ago, was a judge in the "cooking competition" they had, so she had dinner with Gail last night and was able to introduce me. Funny thing was, Top Chef isn't very well known around here, we are 6 months behind (unless you watch on illicit downloads like we do) so very few of the Ladies-Who-Lunch set had ever heard of her. Except for the fact that it turns out that she is also a McGill alum and is marrying a nice Jewish boy from right here! So she has strong ties to Montreal and lots of the ladies knew her has the fiancee-of-so-and-so.

My friend S. took a picture of us together, so as soon as she emails it to me, I'll show you guys.

Then, tonight, hubs and I had tickets to a book signing by Anthony Bourdain for his new book, No Reservation. We are big fans of his, both his books and his shows, and of course, he is a guest judge on Top Chef and writes a great blog about it. We didn't get to talk to him, because the theater was sold-out and we were up in the top, so by the time we got downstairs, the lineup was very, very long and as much as we enjoy him, I enjoy sitting in a restaurant more than I do waiting in line to have someone sign a book. But his chat was over an hour long and he was very funny and irreverent, and I had a glass of wine, so there you go!

Lunch with Gail and Drinks with Tony!

Much was purchased, but not what you think

The weekend in Vermont didn't go so well. We did too much driving on the first day to get to Target, and the kids were beyond pissy by the time we unpacked and got out of the car. And we have a window issue at the condo and the whistling wind kept us up all night. Also, Beach Ball didn't want to go to bed in a big bed the first night... It sort of worked the second night, but she moves so much, she managed to push Dumpling out of the bed! This doesn't bode well for Disney!

For the second year, the outlets in Vermont let me down. JCrew yielded one sweater and B.R. 2 cropped jackets, but that was it for me. I didn't even buy much for the kiddos, since the OshKosh outlet closed. We did, however empty the grocery stores. We came home with 24 boxes of cereal, 18 boxes of Fruitabu roll ups, 16 jars of Seeds of Change pasta sauce, 5 packs of the new instant individual molten cakes I saw on TV, Paul Newman marinades and dressings. Why? It's all Kosher AND not sold in Canada.

Our border encounter went something like this:

border guard: "anything to declare?"

Husband: "I got some clothes for myself, a ski suit for my kid, a bunch of crap at Target and 300$ worth of cereal and fruit roll ups"

Border guard: "alcohol/tobacco"

Husband: "Nope, we are boring. Just Very Berry Kicks and Product 19. Oh, some Wheaties!"

Border Guard: "Have a nice day, you boring people"

In other news, I dropped like 5 things today. At work, I kept dropping some screws. The I came home to make dinner and dropped the rice box on the floor. And tonight, the dog was bugging me while I was mixing aforementioned molten cake and I dropped the bowl on the floor..... Maybe Mrs. Figby could diagnose me, because I'm sure I'm ignoring the symptoms of some horrible motor-skills disease....

A warning to shoppers of southern VT

I know this is not fair warning, as we are getting in the car in an hour, but if you live in southern Vermont, there will be no size 8 anything left at J Crew after I come through this weekend. There will be no size 39 shoes. There will probably one less purse at Coach. And kids clothes in sizes 3 and 5. Forget it! Because the Canadian dollar is STRONG people, so I don't even have to do my ususal 15% calculation and feel bad about how much I'm buying!

We are heading down for our annual stay at the mountain resort, complete with visitng our friends the wooden bears in the village, the requisted outlet shopping and the 1 hour drive to the only Target accessible from where we live! Which reminds me, if the Saratoga Springs Target is your usual haunt, stay out this weekend. There is going to be a crazed canadian blogger and her family stocking up on all manners of un-necessary stuff, just because it's from Target!

on a high

When it comes to most things in my life, I am either full-on or completely-off. There is nothing wrong with me (i mean seriously wrong, psychologically) but I definately have highs and lows... I have been in a high/manic/productive phase for a couple of weeks now. It started with the doomed weekend up north, when I found myself with hours on my hands and nothing to do. After sorting through the girls clothes (NOTHING up there fits them anymore!) I came across one of the first fancy sweaters I bought Dumpling. She wore it for her first holiday pictures. It was soooo adorable. But it wasn't going to get worn again and I just couldn't imagine giving it away.. But I AM NOT PUTTING IT IN A BOX! When we met Dumpling, my mom, bless her heart, gave me a giant box of clothes she had kept for 30+ years, all moth-ball smelling.... There was no way I was putting Dumpling in those, though we do have fun playing dress up with the highly flammable polyester couture!

Anyhow, the sweater. It was a sweater. It is now a pillow and a pair of mitts.

  I also made Dumpling her halloween costume this week. She will be trick-or-treating during our vacation to the Happiest Place on Earth, so appropriately, it's Disney TM! Of course, she's still complaining every day that she doesn't have the red hair yet.... I may pruchase a cheap wig, but i am actually tempted to knit her one. I saw a funny wig pattern in Craft magazine a while back and I could totally hack it to make it look more like Ariel, but I'm afraid she'll be too hot.

she is  very stoked about the fin!

  I haven't started BB's fairy costume yet. But I did finally cut into some of my  long-amassed Super Buzzy fabrics and made her a cute little top for school:

  the pattern is from one of my japanese craft books, also from Super Buzzy.

I also made a quick update to Ubercrafty with yet another project I whipped up last week.

A TOTALLY pointless day in the life of....

Do you ever have a day like this? You get a ton of tiny little things done, but you accomplish nothing? I had once of those days today.... let me bore you with a detailed play-by-play:

6:50 hear the girls bickering. Great. I just *LOVE* waking up to the sound of bickering.... Spend the next 15 min cuddling with BB in my bed while trying to direct Dumpling to get dressed. She picked out her dress the night before, but for some reason, she is DEMANDING red undies, which she does not own. Then she wants Little Mermaid underwear, but not the regular ones, the polka dot ones, which are nowhere to be found. There are, however, at least 25 other pairs, all a combination of various princesses and polka dots.....

7:05 make it to the kitchen and turn on the espresso machine. For some reason, I feel like it will be particularly important to drink my entire cup today. Spend the next 25 making sure Dumpling eats a resemblance of a nutritious breakfast (dry Cheerios, a frozen yogurt tube and some grapes).

7:30, the negotiations begin. She MUST finish eating in the next 10 min if we are going to make it to school on time. I make her lunch and hunt down the library book she has to return. I manage to finish my coffee and as a bonus this morning, I find time for an English muffin with peanut butter. This will turn out to be a very good thing later on.

7:50 running around looking for shoes. Not the pink shoes! Not those ones! Noooooo! Settle on the yellow shoes with bows. This is what happens when you bring home 24 pairs of shoes from China.

7:58 pull out of the driveway and leave the house. Please mark this time down.

8:02 Car pool stop. Pick up the second chatty 4 year old. Spend the next 15 min driving to school listening to them argue about who has the best princess Halloween costume, who had a Cinderella dress first, who can chew gum and who can't (Dumpling has to wait til she's 5)....

8:15 start looking for a parking spot in the drop off zone. Have to drive around the block. Deposit the girls the their respective classrooms and jump back in my car. Drive the reverse path home, checking out that fancy Westmount estates.

8:32 arrive home. Find BB getting dressed. Help her finish getting ready, find some shoes (she doesn't care quite as much) and then wrestle her into the car seat.

8:42 Begin the second drive to the same freaking school.

9:00 Deposit BB in her classroom and stick around for about 10 min to make sure she is all settled. Head over to Home Depot to buy light bulbs for the store.

9:15 Home Depot. Standing in the light bulb section. Cannot remember the size of the bulbs in the tracks 16 feet in the air. Pick a size that looks right and put 10 of them in my cart. Get to the cash and am convinced they are too big. Quick run back to the department and switch them for the smaller ones.

9:50 arrive at work, luckily there is a spot right in front of the store.

10:05 chat with employee, look up at the ceiling. the light bulbs are too small.... OF COURSE! because with the height, the very big bulbs look smaller.... argh! Decide to finish laying down the rubber-mat winter flooring instead and spend an hour on my hands and knees peeling the back of double-sided carpet tape and cursing a lot.

11:00 leave work and return to Home Depot to exchange the light bulbs. The guy in the section gives me an "I told you so" look, but the thing is, he DIDN'T tell me! He could have saved me a trip! notice yellow gas light. Sure!

11:30 stop by the grocery store and purchase pre-cut cheese and washed grapes and a small slab of cheese-less pizza.

11:45 Beach Ball's school, Pick her up. She did well today, no crying. She even let them change her diaper.

12:00 stop at only full-service gas station left in this part of town. Because with a kiddo in the car, I don't like to get out to pump myself. Spend the time filling up preparing lunch for BB. Feed her the grapes and cheese. She thinks it's Da Bomb to eat in the car.

12:10 waiting for the amazing babysitter at the subway station. Tear off a piece of the cheese-less pizza and feed it to BB.

12:25 Babysitter is now in the car, we head home. I explain to her how I decided to feed BB in the car so she wouldn't be starving by the time we got home. Turn around, BB dead asleep in the car seat!

12:45 having deposited my 2 passengers home and put BB in her crib, I head back on the road and head to the dentist.

1:00 teeth cleaning. A small cavity we have been watching for over a year is tender during the cleaning, so we schedule an appointment in 2 weeks to have it fixed.

1:45 am done with the dentist and head back home, making a small detour to the fabulous Asian 2$ store where I find Dumpling a sweet Bento Box to take her lunch to school.

2:15 HOME!!!!!! but not for long. Dumpling has a doctor's appointment at 3. So I sit with the girls in the attic for a few minutes and watch them color. Babysitter fills me in on their moods. convince Dumpling to leave her coloring behind and guess what? Get back in the car and head to the doctor's office, which is one block away from the school!!!!

3:00 I swear my car knows how to get here on it's own. I have now been at this intersection 5 times today.

3:30 the doctor is running late and I suddenly realize that I have not put anything in my mouth since I left this morning. And Dumpling is a tad hyper. Fun! She is put on iron supplements and a nose spray for the nose bleeds. Head back home. Stop for a coffee because at least it's a full serving of milk.

4:15 this is it, this time I am home for good..... help get Dumpling ready for her weekly gymnastics class (her one and only activity) she decides, thankfully, that she doesn't want me to take her, she wants to go with the babysitter. So hubs drives them and I am alone with BB for 45 min. I sit on the couch and sing her some songs.

5:15 hubs returns and offers to make dinner if I will go pick up Dumpling. For a moment, I want to strangle him. Back in the car? Is he nuts? But it's better than cooking, so I watch yesterday's episode of The Hills and veg for the first time today.

5:45 back in the car, fetch Dumpling return home.

6:20 dinner. Feel like crap.

Now, most of my days are not like this. Actually, they are rarely like this. But when the are... ARRGGGHHHH! I was actually supposed to give my  monthly talk at the adoption agency tonight but it was canceled because of low registration. Thank Goodness!!!!

On a happy note, it's days like this that make me very happy my car is a hybrid! At least I didn't spend the day polluting too much.

Sin

I have made arrangements and I am about to commit what I use to consider the WORST sin against old houses..... We are about to have the trim painted..... I know! I can hear you screaming at the computer! (ETA: I have no problem with white trim... I just always thought the sin was painting genuine vintage oak. People spend hours/days/weeks stripping paint to get back to the wood, why would anyone paint it? Oh. I'm about to!)

here is the deal. The main house color inside used to be yellow. Last year, we had everything painted out Wedgwood Grey (Benjamin Moore), which I absolutely adore and it totally made our house more modern and up to date. But the oak. It's every where. The floors are light blond and all the trim is that orangy-brown that is typical of 90 year old oak. It's nice, but it makes the house look very out of date.

So while we are visiting the Happiest Place on Earth for Halloween, the floor refinishers are coming in and sanding the main floor and the stairs (probably for the 2nd time only, maybe even the first. in some places, there is no finish left at all). But I am having them refinish in a dark brown. Not quite chocolate, but almost. There is actually a band of dark brown that runs in the main rooms, as an inlay. It won't be as dark as that, so we can still see the inlay, but it will be in the same family.

After we get back, I need to find a painter, and we will be painting out the trim, the bannister and the stair risers white. I haven't picked the shade yet, so if you have a good white to reccomend, please do so.

Here is the current look:

this is the type of look I'm going for, but not so traditional. so the bannister will be white as well, and you can't tell by my picture, but my walls are actually a nice dark grey-blue, so it will be a nice contrast.

So yeah... I'm going to sin.....

Meme of doom

This morning, Johnny tagged me to take a turn on his Meme of Doom, since Mrs. Figby, the current tag-gee was very busy. So I started working on it, but then Mrs. Figby posted and tagged Jen. So I wrote to Johnny and asked if I should wait, but he insisted and asked me to squeeze in between. I promise you, I wasn't trying to steal a turn, Johnny told me to do it! So here goes:

1) Read the meme that was dumped assigned to you. Answer the questions.
2) Add TWO new questions to the list. Answer those questions.
3) Forward Dump this onto the next blogger victim (and list their name and link to their blog).
4) This series will conclude when we get 50 questions - so yes, it’s 25 bloggers in the chain.
5) Please make sure that the next victim in the “link” doesn’t have a password protected blog.
[Optional 6] Update the links so people can follow along (this is similar to the method I used in the Why China series).
[Optional 7] When you see an update, down the chain, update your own page with the new questions and answers.
[Optional 8] Copy these micromanaging instructions into the top of your meme post.

The Chain:

Johnny(1,2) -> Our Journey to China (3,4)-> 3D's Adoption Journey (5,6)->Waiting for Pumpkin (7,8)->Two Kayaks (9,10)->Watch Our Family Grow (11,12)-> Our Journey to Little Maple and Back (13,14)-> American Family (15,16)-> Chicago Mama (17,18)-> The Further Adventures of Spacemom (19,20)-> Mrs. Figby (21,22)-> ME! (23,24)-> JenEx

1. What secret/surprising/personal goal (that is realistically achievable within the next 15 years) would you like to fulfill?

Regular readers won't be surprised: have my own tv show. I've had a taste of TV and I love it! There are possibilities, especially on French TV around here, but I'm such a procrastinator, I haven't devoted myself to actually making it happen.

2. Can you list an event in which you made a last minute decision or guess that significantly changed the path of your life?

There are 2 and I can't pick, so here goes:

In my last year of high school, I applied to go on a student exchange and I wanted to go to Austria. They offered me another country (I believe Argentina) and I turned it down. I registered for College and forgot all about it. Then, in mid-August, just weeks before the program started, after having picked all my classes and a few days before buying my books, they called me and found me a host-family in Austria. I left 14 days later. It set me on the path to learning languages and traveling on my own and my life was never the same after that. I was going to be a gradeschool teacher!

December 1998. I was depressed. I hated my life, my job, myself. My friend IH and her then boyfriend invited me to a new years party at his house. Then the party got somehow moved to some guy's house that her boyfriend knew. I didn't want to go, but she nagged and I went. Turned out the "guy" was someone we had gone to College with, we knew lots of people at the party, and I met my husband that night. I wasn't going to go, I hated my outfit (Payless shoes! arrrgghhh!), but we would have never met otherwise.

3. What is one unrealistic goal (but your total secret dream) that you would love to come true, but are pretty sure it won’t ever happen?

A house in Westmount. Not a Victorian a the bottom of the hill. One of the real big ones at the top. It's pointless, we don't need it, but I drive around there on the way to and from the kid's school and I make notes on which ones I like, which ones I'd consider. I want to restore them, not gut and modernize....

4. Who has had the most influence on your life and what did they teach you?

For sure it has to be my parents. Not very original, I know. My mom did everything herself: painting, sewing, moving furniture (a piano! she moved a piano by herself once!!!) and so I totally get that from her. My dad always made me feel girls could do anything. He never expected anything different from me. (Except riding a moped. He wouldn't let me get one but he did my brother!!!) Between the two of them, I was encouraged to make my own path, no matter how windy the road got. I studied abroad, changed majors, had a 180 turn around in carreers, converted to another religion and did another about-face in my work. They never blinked. OK, maybe once.

5. You are on a deserted island. You are stranded with someone from any point in time for 2 months (they are coming to rescue you but are busy right now). Other then family/friends/naval engineers, who is it?

I feel like a big idiot typing this, especially in light of my previous post. But, how can you expect me to say anything but Martha Stewart? I know the woman can be a big pain and I probably wouldn't enjoy her company too much, but to me, it would be an opportunity to learn from someone who has done so many of the things I dream of doing, both from a craft/homemaking standpoint and a business standpoint.

6. Name and describe 3 things on your mind lately. Is there any particular reason why you’re thinking about a particular thing?

- My husband's health. He gave us a big scare in June and I can honestly say I haven't recovered. I'm not sure how to deal with it.

-Dumpling's behaviour. We make headway, and then she slips back. It's frustrating. I don't want to be the mom who obsesses, but I really feel like if we let it go, it will not work itself out alone....

-My sugar intake. I don't eat too much dessert, maybe twice a week, and I've cut out chocolate, but I poor huge spoonfuls in my coffee, twice a day. It's bugging me. I bought artificial stuff, which I don't love the idea of. But I'm worried about too much sugar. I wish I enjoyed coffee unsweetened, but I don't.

7. If you could go back to one moment in time and change it, what would the moment be and what would you change it from and to?

When we sold our first house. I like our new house. But I HATE what the new owners did to our old house, and I have to drive by it every single day. I would either A) keep the old house and work harder at coming up with a reno that could have met our needs and the city's requirements, or B)  I would have sold it to the other couple who made the lesser offer, but clearly had not intention of gutting it within an inch of it's life.

I know it's a very superficial answer, but really, I am very happy with how my life has turned out, so there isn't anything in my personal life I would alter.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve and is there anything that you can do or not do to stop other people from doing it? 

I really had to think about that one. At home, my biggest pet peeve is that my husband is obsessed with doing the dishes, cleaning the dishes, etc, but he rarely uses the dishwasher, he insists on hand washing, which, in my opinion, is a big waste of time. I have tried, but it cannot be altered. I have given up.

9. Who has been the most influential teacher in your life and why did he or she have such an impact on you? Have you sent them a note?

My 5th grade teacher Francine. She was very special. She encouraged me to reach for the top. We stayed in touch for many many years. She is the one who first told me about exchange student programs and thought they would be good for me (this is years after I had left grade school). She stayed in touch with my mother for years. She even gave her daughter my first name (don't know if it had to do with me or not, but hey!)

10. What three things do you regret not learning to do?

1. Snowboarding. My knees are shot now, it's hopeless.
2. Speak Italian. Would have been much more useful than Russian....
3. Dive. I can swim, I can't dive.

11. What is your biggest fear?

My husband's health going downhill before the girls are old enough to have enjoyed a really good life with him.

12. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I really need to be more patient.

13. What is the answer to life, the universe, everything?

If i knew that, would I be typing this?

14. If you knew, beforehand, that the wait for your child from China would take this long and drastic a time frame, would you still go through with it or would you choose another country.

No question about it, we wouldn't change a thing. We are re-thinking our plan of more than 2 less than 5 ( ie 3 or 4). But #1 and #2 were meant to be here in the time delay that it took.

15. What is one food that most people like that you do not like at all?

That is soooo tough. I'm a pretty adventurous eater and there is very little I don't eat. I guess Vinegar comes to mind, but I don't know that MOST people like it. I can't stand it. The smell just grosses me out.

16.  Name one place in the world you would love to spend at least one month visiting?  Is there anywhere on earth that is so repulsive to you that there is no amount of money that could convince you to visit it?

A month in New York. I'm going to get flack for this, but I have no interest in setting foot in India. Every image I have of that country is somehow associated with a smell (I watch too much Amazing Race)

17. What book have you just finished reading and why did you pick it up?  Would you recommend it to others?

M. the amazing babysitter lent me "how to teach filthy rich girls". it was pure chick lit and I enjoyed every second of it. I would recommend it as a completely useless read.

18. Share a relatively quick and easy recipe for Fall.  One pot/dish recipes given extra credit.

One head cauliflower, cut into florets. Spread over a cookie sheet, preferable covered with a silicone mat. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syprup, sprinkle Kosher/coarse salt, sprinkle with Curry powder (to taste). Coat well. cook at 400F for about 30 to 45 min depending on the size of the florets.  whenever i make it, there is not one piece left. Kids love it because of the sweetness

19. Would you rather be financially well off, but unhappy, or a happy person who is always in need of money?

I have, at different points in my life been all of those and more: wealthy/unhappy, wealthy/happy, poor/happy and poor/unhappy. If given the choice between the 2 in the question, I would take happy and in need of money. Because it's easier to find ways to make money or live without it than finding ways to be happy, and you can't live without being happy.

20. What is the most comforting sound in the world to you and why?

"Mommy!"

21.  What is your all time favorite book?  If you aren't a reader, what is your favorite movie?  And why?

Anne of Green Gables. As a kid, it was the life I wanted, the life I dreamt of. And I wanted to marry Gilbert.

22. Share one of your most cherished childhood memories.

When  I was a kid, my uncle Pierre had us over one time to go boating on the lake. He made us (my brother and I) Kraft Dinner (what we call Kraft mac 'n cheese in Canada). I had never had macaroni from a box before, my mom was strictly home-made. It was unbelievable to me. When I moved out years later, I ate KD twice a day for a month!

and now my questions:

23. What are you paranoid about?

I constantly worry about stepping on toes or disturbing people. Like when Johnny tagged me and the Mrs. Figby posted, I was paralysed in fear of offending if I posted. I am always worried about being in the way....

24. What trait of yours do you MOST hope your children will carry on?

Resourcefullness, the ability to try to do anything. I got it from my parents and I really hope I inspire my daughters to do the same.

So now it's really onto Jen!

I just don't get it

So Alexis Stewart (who is the one and only child of Martha Stewart, for Johnny, and others who didn't know) is on Oprah today, talking about speding 28Ks a month on fertility treatments because, and I quote, she wants "a child of her own". ARRGHH! Am I the only one who finds this so aggravating? Sure, she's filthy rich, she can spend her money on anything she wants, but 28K? A MONTH? At age 42?

Why is adoption still so second-class? I admit it, we were weird. We pursued both IVF AND Adoption at the same time. I know most people try one, and then have to come to terms with their infertility and move on to adoption. I can understand that. But she says herself she doens't have a plan B! Seriously? With that kind of money, she could easily adopt a perfectly healthy new-born. If trans-racial adoption isn't her thing, I can respect that. But tell me what birth-mother presented with her file wouldn't pick her? Sure, she's not married. She may or may not be gay and some people might not pick her for that. But I just don't get it.  28K a month....

I just don't get it.

(And by the way, can we now start saying she wants "a biological child"? Because I would like someone to explain to my kids how they are not my own?)

the prisoner vs the escape artist

we spent a couple of plague-filled days at the Kibbutz. We were going to buy Dumpling her new ski-boots and skis, since she grew so much, but my uncle wasn't around, so we had to skip that. Then we had a flood (something is wrong with the tub drain and it drains to the floor below. It's the second time it happens). And of course, there were the ladybugs. Everywhere. I found a dead one in my bra when we got back to the city Saturday afternoon....

The few times the went last winter with both kiddos, Beach Ball slept in a crib in our room. Dumpling's room is very small, so we figured it was better to have BB with us. But we like to read at night and we're always worried we'll wake her up, so this time, we figured we'd try putting her with Dumpling. The plan was to move the crib in there, but it didn't fit through the doors without being dismantled, which I was not in the mood for. Luckily, we still have Dumpling's old toddler bed, so we put that in there and just moved the matress.

The first night was a disaster. Within five minutes of being in there, BB figured out she could get up and walk about. I know all kids do this. But you have to understand. To this day, Dumpling doesn't get out of her bed if we don't come to get her. She has gotten out twice: once because she had a really scary dream (about a year ago, before she figured out she could just scream and we would come running) and once last month when she woke up with one of her spectacular bloody-noses. The rest of the time, she stays put. Which is why she still wears pull-ups at night, because she can't get the hang of going to the bathroom on her own.

So it was somehow perfectly suited that BB would be the total opposite. She ran out of the bed the second we were out of the room. And then, they talked. And talked. And talked. At 9:30, we gave up and put the mattress back in the crib and ended the sleep-over experiment. We got luckier the second night. We set the ground rules (5 mintues of talking, NO WALKING!) and BB slept in the toddler bed. And at 11 pm, she was standing right next to my bed! I have never been so jumpy in my life! And of course, at 6:00 am the next morning, they were giggling and running around. Funny how Dumpling got out of her bed this time....

As we prepare to order a big girl bed for BB, I am trying to delay as long as possible. Because it will have to involve gates and bells and alarms. Because that girl, she's gonna be getting out of bed, I just know it!

help me save the Kibbutz garden - updated with better pictures

When we purchassed the Kibbutz of the North 2 years ago this month, it came with a perfectly manicured lawn and a stunning flower/plant garden. I am NOT a gardener. I have no interest. Blame the lack of instant gratifiction, but I cannot tend to something for months on end only to have a little enjoyement out of it.

Anyhoo... we found a lawn-guy (because my e-husband didn't take up lawn-mowing until this year....) It was hard to find a lawn guy up here, they are few and far between, because people around here.... well, they tend their own lawns! Adn the lawn-guys that do exist are very busy tending to the lawns of city-dwellers like me who don't know a hoe from a rake. (I do know the difference, btw).

What we have been unable to find is a garden-guy. Because lawn-guys, don't do plants and flowers, they do lawn. And the one flower lady that I found, well, she wanted to charge me more to take care of the country-house plants than the city guy charges. Which makes sense on her part, but since I don't come here often enough to enjoy the garden, it made no sense on my part.

So, to make this very short story even longer, I let the garden go for 2 seasons, sort of to see what would happen, what would grow back on it's own, etc.  Some plants I know need to be cut down in the fall. I know this because either the previous owner told me, or I have the same plants in the city and the city-flower-guy cuts them down (I learn from watching, you see). But some I have no idea. And this year, the garden, it started fighting back. It is over grown and sprouting things that actually bite:

Exhibit A)

I got rid of those. With kids and dogs, we cannot have prickly little things sticking to us when we walk by.

But there are other I am unsure about, so I turn to you, oh Wise Internets, to tell me: Leave it alone, Trim it, or Cut It Short.

Plant Query #1: I took the pics with my phone, so I apologize. I know those bloom in the summer, with little bell-like white flowers  .(I think I'm remembering hte flowers wrong... I googled perrenials and I think they might be daylilys... possibility????) So, Leave alone, Trim (if so, how long) or Cut Down? ( My poor gardening instincts say cut down)

here are the better pics of plant #1:

Plant Query #2:

This use to look very nice. Now it's crazy out of control. Up close, it looks a little like a Terragon plant, but it's not. I'm tempted to Trim this one. Tell me: Leave alone, Trim or cut down?  I tried to get a better picture of this, but it was really hard, there might even be two types of plant in there, one has shorter and "harder" little green leaves and the other has longer, softer ones..... I have no idea what I'm talking about!

Final Query: Ladybug infestation. The are everywhere. Hundreds. Probably Thousands. If I could get a picture on the beam on the side of the house and sent it to RQ, every single family waiting would be convinced the CCAA was sending out all the referrals tomorrow. They are cute. The girls enjoy seing the odd one on the swing set. But we need to shake off our clothes when we walk into the house. Last fall, they made it INTO the house, which was gross. So, why are they here and how do I get rid of them, in  a non-toxic way. Pesticides are banned here, plus, I wouldn't actually use them.

(we have since called the exterminator. We are not the only ones with the infestation. he told us to wait it out until they freeze and make sure they don't get into the house!)

Help me save the Kibbutz of the North Garden. It deserves a much better gardenere than I can ever be.

Manipulation

I tried very hard not to write a post in my head about the Britney debacle, but I couldn't. The entire night, it was writing and re-writing  itself, so here goes.

Some of you know that I studied languages, then PR in University. I am a big cynic when it comes to the media, especially entertainment media. I am well aware of how a good PR person can leak a story and have it published with absolutely no truth to it, or, how a REALLY good PR person can bury a story for years and years. (like, let's say, for example, if a certain mega-movie star were to be gay, but keep that hidden, and then, let's say same movie star would marry to make himself look legit. The charade might even take on mythical proportions, with children, divorces, new marriage, contracts to further the wives' carreers..... GMD!!!!)

On a certain level, I enjoy it. I enjoy reading the magazines and the blogs, because it never neceases to amaze me at the bulshit people will believe. (My favorite gossip girl, Lainey, calls it "the Mini-Van Majority")  How Tori Spelling managed to rescue her dead-in-the-water-movie-of-the-week carreer by stealing someone's husband is actually an amazing accomplishement in media-manipulation. She strutted her post-baby body this past weekend, looking all fit and very ugly (does anyone else see the Donatella resemblance?) while the ex-wife Mary-Jo is sitting at home with the 2 kids that gold digger she married left behind! I have to bow to her and say: Well played!

But then, part of me wonders, at what point does it go too far? It doesn't take a professional degree to see that Britney is quite effed-up. I don't know if it's drugs and alcool alone, or if she has actual mental issues, but that girl lost it a long time ago. After the Matt Lauer train-wreck of an interview, I really wondered if she could be saved. Any celebrity who goes on the air looking like that is completely cookoo. I understand that she willingly went on that interview, so the Today show had to air it. But when she shaved her head? I think that should have been the point when the rags said enough. We won't cover her until she gets her act together. The problem is, there is also strong evidence that she herself is inviting them to tag along. Just last week, she invited a Pap into the bathroom with her to act as her security guard.... There are stories all over the place about Brit herself calling around to make sure there are enough photogs to capture her every mood. And the best trick is when she goes into a club wearing one outfit and comes out having switched outfits with her friend.... Guarantees 2 pics of her the next day.

I don't have the answer. I don't know. But mark my words: if her parents don't have her committed against her will so she can clean her shit up, we will have another Anna-Nicole on our hands.

confessions of a terrible SAHM

I stayed home today. I never stay home on Mondays. Monday is my big work day, when I go in and create the codes for all the new products, catch up on weekend-events, things that are out-of-stock, etc. But Hubs pointed out that I work more than he does and I had things to do today, so we switched and I stayed home.... I'm not very good at it.

• I dropped off my car at the dealership for a 15000 km tune-up. Turns out I was supposed to go at 6 month/8000 km, not 14 month/15000...... oops!
• I don't like the park. It's taken me 3 years of being a parent to realize, I don't like taking the kids to the park. I don't mind pushing them on the swing in my own back-yard for an entire hour, and I don't mind watching them make 12 dozen sand cakes at home, but it doesn't translate to the public park. I'm miserable there. BB had a tantrum because a daycare was using all the swings, and tryas I might to teach her about waiting her turn, all I kept thinking was that if we were at home, she could switch from swing A to swing B without even having to fight her sister for it. And when a little kid came over and grabbed her pail without asking and she protested, I packed her up and took her home. I should have been teaching her patience and sharing, but I didn't. I went home. In the end, she was in a terrible mood and needed an early nap, so it was a good move on my part, but that's not why I did it. I did it because I don't like going to the park.
• at 10 past the hour, I started freaking out because the carpool hadn't dropped off Dumpling yet and school let out at 1:30 and she should have been home by now, it doens't take 40 min to drive home from school.... But instead of panicking and calling the other mom, I called Hubs at work to see if it ever happened that Monday drop-off was late (since he's usually the one home on Mondays). He asked me what time it was.... 1:15 I said..... yeah, school lets out at 1:30, she'll be home in an hour! it's 10 past ONE not 10 past TWO......