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

Late Night Walks

When I was in high school I had a close-knit group of friends. We spent just about every weekend together.

At night we used to talk long walks along the lonely roads of the rural community where I grew up.

When cars would pass us, we'd stop on the side of the road and assume a 'family portrait' pose - we'd stand side by side, facing the road, turned slightly inward towards those in the center of the group, those in front kneeling, those in back with a hand placed lovingly on the shoulder of the person in front of them, all smiling inanely and vacant-eyed at an imaginary photographer in the distance.

image source

We'd hold the pose until the car had passed and disappeared into the distance, then w'd resume our walk. When the next car came along, we'd form our family portrait post again. And when that got dull, we got creative.

We'd form a still-image of a Kung-Fu battle.

image source

Or a still-image of a dance-routine, usually Lord of the Dance style.

image source

Sure, we were weird. But we did have fun.

Travels

All of the pictures are screenshots from Google street view. Locations include: Ronda, Spain; Central Mexico; a mountain pass in Corsica; and Alberta. I also visited Japan, Finland, Scotland, Northern Canada, British Colombia, PEI, Wellington in New Zealand (hi Sue!), lakes district in England, the southern coast of England, the north of France, Florence (a great place to play 'spot the tourist'), the Golden Gate Bridge in San Franciso and NYC.

Google street view is my new obsession.

Kindergartner!

This is adorable.



Kindergartner!