done Done DONE

It is official. I am done the first year of my degree, which makes me, in the clever words of a friend of mine, a half-librarian. It's been such a wild ride that it has forced me to neglect my poor, long suffering blog audience. I am truly sorry for that. My traffic is at an all time low. Oh and of course because I love you all. Of course.

So news about me (because 'what is more interesting than me?', apparently):

1. My grandmother is celebrating a significant birthday this month and I am going to have the opportunity to give her a hug and congratulations in person. This might not seem like such a big deal, but it was unlikely that I was going to be able to travel the 1100 km that seperate us to do so. Through an epic coming together of many factors, such as Hub's work schedule, air flights, school being done and a friend agreeing to be a 'back-up babysitter' in the event of another natural disaster that prevents me from getting back. So thanks to everyone and everything involved in me being able to go because I really want to give Nan a hug in person. Happy Birthday, Nan!

2. I have a full-time job, starting May 3rd, through the co-op department at school that is going to last for the next eight months. What that means is that I won't have homework and I am planning on spending some of the resulting precious free time in the evenings and weekends here, telling stories. TRUE stories of REAL crime... Or, you know, on second thought, just stuff that happens to me in my life, which, hopefully will not be true crime because that would suck.

3. How crazy was that volcano? Did you know it was caused by a lolcat?

image source

4. I've had some comments from some new readers that were very kind. I want to officially say Hi! and Welcome! and Thanks for reading! to them now. Also? You're awesome!

5. Finally, I just want to complain that I now have no excuse for not cleaning the house. My papers are done. The house needs cleaning. So for the one week I have off between now and the first day of my new job, I have a few special projects lined up: I want to clean out the cars, which are full of playground sand; I want to clean the office, which is currently so messy is would not be out of place on one of those shows where people have such large, clutter filled messes that they call in the experts who force them to put all their stuff in three piles out on their back lawns; I want to see a movie or two; I want to clean out the storage room downstairs and deal with the spiderwebs and dust in the basement; I want to scrub out the fridge; I want to go to the art gallery. I think that's it. I probably won't get this all done. Top priority - the office and the cars.

So. I guess that's it for now! Talk to you soon!

Nag on the Lake

Do you read Nag on the Lake?


You really should. There's always something interesting or funny to enjoy and she updates more often than anyone I've seen (not sure how she does it - I think she must really be 3 people) (Hey Nag, are you 3 people?) For example, I checked out maybe 9 new posts last evening and now there's 6 more for me to enjoy - some videos, some singing cats, a Mondrian cake and what appears to be a comic strip about life in Iran. I can't wait. You should check it out, too. It's awesome.

And, just to put your mind at ease, I feel I should say that the Nag's name is false advertising... even though I've been reading her blog for years, she has never nagged me. Not once. So no need to worry about that.

Beard!

The Horn

They had crazy hair day at Buddy's daycare this week. When I asked him how he wanted me to do his hair, he gazed up at me and said, "Mommy, I want a horn."

"A horn?"

"Right here," he said, gathering the front of his hair into a point over his forehead.

I reached into the back of the bathroom cabinet and pulled out the hair paste that's still hanging around from when my hair was short... back in 2004. "I think I can set you up," I told him.

And I did:




Hope you're impressed!

Thank you for your comments this week. They've cheered me up as I struggle with school, the kids' march break, co-op workterm interviews and everything else. Hugs!

The Truth

I enjoy looking at pictures of other people's houses and seeing evidence that they're kinda messy like mine.

It makes me feel less inadequate.

What is a toonie

I told a story recently about an awkward moment between me and man who asked me for a Toonie, which prompted some of you to ask, "What's a toonie?"

Well, in the interest of educating the world about Canada, I will tell you.

A Toonie is the Canadian two dollar coin:

When I was a little kid, Canada had paper one and two dollar bills (as well as the 5, 10, 20, 50, and up bills that we still have). In 1987, when I was... um... (quick mental math) 12 years old, the Canadian government decided they wanted our currency to be more unique (at least that's how I remember it - don't quote me on that) and they introduced our one dollar coin. We quickly nicknamed the coin (once we stopped belly-aching about how heavy they were to carry compared to the paper bills - Canadians love to complain) the Loonie because of there's a picture of a loon on it:

You can kind of see the logic, eh?

And in 1996, once Canadians were used to hauling around large bags full of golden loonies, the government introduced the two dollar coin. We named it the Toonie because it rhymes with loonie (everybody loves a rhyme!) and it's a two dollar coin. According to Wikipedia, it can also be spelled 'tooney' or 'twoney' but I've always seen it spelled 'Toonie'. Another interesting tidbit I picked up about my country's currency that I did not know before right now (oops, ignorance abounds) is that the bear on the Toonie is named 'Churchill' after Churchill, Manitoba: the polar bear capital of the world. You can go to Churchill and take tours in giant vehicles made to cross the frozen tundra to view the bears in their natural habitat. The tour operators give you a 45% guarantee that the bears will not eat you! It's great.

So there you have it. That, my friends, is what a Toonie is.

More Ass to Kick

I've been putting on weight.

You see, school keeps me really busy. And by "really busy" I mean silent-scream-wild-eyed-ripping-of-hair-and-gnashing-of-teeth-can't-stop-now-or-I'll-never-get-this-done BUSY. So I haven't had time to go the gym. I mean it. I really, really haven't had time.

On top of that, when I'm stressed I tend to self-medicate with food. So, to put it simply, I've been silent-scream-wild-eyed-riping-of-hair-and-gnashing-of-teeth-can't-stop-now-or-I'll-never-get-this-done STRESSED... and, honey, that makes for a bad case of the munchies.

This is a problem for 2 reasons:

1. We have big plans as a family.

We want to do one of the those walking vacations in England. The wonderful ones where you walk the countryside while your lovely tour company moves all your stuff from the hotel you stayed in last night, to the hotel you'll stay in tonight. Midday, you stop and have lunch and a pint in a nice British pub...

image source

and then you meander on your way, enjoying the countryside and arriving at your next stop just in time for dinner.

Also, those biking vacations in Europe sound wonderful. Biking in the Netherlands or Germany or the north of France.

Check it out! It's us on bikes (years ago now).

I'd like to take the kids downhill skiing sometime.

I don't know when we'll have the money to do these things, but I want to be ready when and if we do. Also, there's the right now activities - walking, hiking, playing with the kids, swimming, skating, etc. I need to be fairly fit to enjoy them with my family and I don't want to be so out of shape that I can't do active stuff with my kids.

2. I don't want to get so fat I can't bend over.

I'm watching a show on HGTV.ca (free live streaming in Canada - THANK YOU HGTV) about this newly married couple who are renovating a house. It's a great show. The husband is funny and charismatic but he's quite big and I couldn't help but notice on the latest show that, when he was babysitting a friend's toddler, he had trouble bending down to play trains with the little boy on the floor. His belly got in the way.

image source

I really don't want that to happen to me.

So what I've decided I'm going to do is this:

The plan

1. Not renew my gym membership, because I'm not using it anyway. I might buy a summer membership, though, so we can use their outdoor pool (which is beautiful - they just converted to salt from chlorine). Paying for a gym membership is expensive and useless if I'm not using it. If I don't renew it, I can put that money towards something I will enjoy doing - like #6 or #7.

2. Get work-out videos from the library and (shhh, I don't think this is legal) copy them onto my computer.

3. Do the workout videos often... like everyday. Or, at least, on the days I'm at home all day working.

4. Take walks. duh.

5. Maybe take up running again. Maybe. I don't really enjoy running, you see. But you can't argue with the fact that it's good exercise.

6. Join the 'walk a marathon' class at the Running Room. I heard about this on CBC - the guy who reaches the class says that walking is better than running and he trains for and walks marathons. Sounds like good training for a walking vacation in England to me.

7. Think about signing up for those kick boxing classes, burn off that stress by kicking and punching.

And that's my plan.

Wish me luck!

PS: I did a work-out video this morning by the guy who choreographed the dancing for Madonna's latest tour:

It was fun, but HARD. I'm sure I looked ridiculous trying to keep up with the dance moves at full-speed. There's times I wish my curtains were more opaque.

But at least I was up and moving, right?

xo