Oscars and the Glamorous Life

Lastnight, Angelina and JLW came over to watch the Oscars. I can't believe how late they run!!! Eeeks. The Gosling family were there - Mandi, mom (forget her name - oops), and Ryan. (Mandi - if you somehow read this blog, call me. It's been a long time since we've talked.) The girl hasn't called me back yet, so I am employing all methods of communication. Lastnight, we saw the glamorous. Today, while I spent 2 hours scrubbing and scraping my floors, I thought of this. My life didn't seem very glamorous this afternoon. Probably the opposite. My kids are always throwing food around so there were lots of remnants stuck to the floor - strawberry, cucumber, marker, and the gooey sticky bits that can no longer be traced to a specific food.

I talked to Eiryn last week. She thought it was interesting to note that a married mother of two young children is travelling to France with a girlfriend this Spring. It gave her hope that life does not end with marriage and children. I suppose we all have a hand in creating the life we live. I don't mind leaving my little ones with Dad and the Grandparents for a couple weeks. Eric has left me with the kids for a week nearly every month since Konrad's birth. BUT I have accepted many 'un-glamorous' changes in my life. That's okay, because it was my decision and who really wants to mess up your kids? I'd spend the rest of eternity hearing about it or feeling guilty about it. Besides, my window of opportunity is small - I am not pregnant or nursing a baby right now. Time to go to FRANCE!

'Ur Ine' Trouble!

What's with the title? Well, tonight we had a notable event. Eric was putting Konrad to bed tonight while I folded some clothes in the living room. I hear Konrad crying, and crying - crying loud. After awhile, I decide to check on the situation. I go in the bathroom to inquire - 'What's going on?' Eric tells me - 'I peed on Konrad's head." How does this happen? Who does that? Eric explained that they were both urinating in the toilet at the same time. All was well until Konrad slipped and nearly fell into the toilet THUS the urine on the head. Poor Konrad was traumatized. Truly.

About the pictures -kids love playing in boxes and yes, my shirt is on backwards.

We had the sushi feast of Queens on Friday night. More sushi than my eyes have ever seen! And the cake made by Michelle and ... (French people who own Sucre et Sale) was absolutely yummy! Happy Birthday Angelina!!

I helped out with a 'Tarde Latina' lastnight. It was great fun. We had food from Colombia, Mexico and more. It was fun using my limited Spanish to cmmunicate with others. I love doing that. I only wish Adriana was still around to enjoy Tarde Latina! (miss you!)

For those who read, feel free to comment if you wish!

Valentine's Day - a non-Holiday?

We celebrated Valentine's Day this week. Maybe I'm just not in the mood right now, but Valentine's Day seems to be a manufactured holiday. What are we really celebrating? Being in love with someone? Familial love? The idea of being in love or being loved? What happens if there isn't a romantic love in your life? Does that make you feel lame? I hope not, because people ought not to feel lame just because they aren't in a relationship. I remember the days prior to marriage - I did not have a boyfriend most years. I actually broke up with guys the week or two before the day of 'love'. Since marriage, some V-days have been ok. Eric was out of town for a couple years in a row so we didn't even see each other on V-Day. This year, the kids and I picked out a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Eric. Then we went out into the snow to eat big bowls of Vietnamese soup (pho). It's Eric's new obsession. He ate it twice so far this week. It was nice to go out together but not terribly romantic. Besides, if my mate truly cares for me, I would expect the dishes to be done and demonstrations of true love on more than just one day a year. I guess our notion of 'romance' changes as our lives change. As we grow older, the true and effectual things matter more than infrequent big productions to prove our love to each other. What will romance be when I am 73? Someone who will bear with me as I develop Alzheimers. That's love, true love.

Besides the non-event of Valentine's Day, life is good. Konrad is growing super-fast. He often rushes around the house cleaning everything he can find. At times, he has this inner need to clean everything up and cannot go to bed or watch a movie before everything is picked up. Even in my bedroom. You'll se him carrying laundry to the basket, moving shoes, coats, bags and toys to their rightful places. He is also obsessed with numbers. He can play with a calculator forever. He needs to know everyone's age and compare everyone's age, counting to 200 or rattling on about being 41 inches high... I thought it was weird at first, but it's probably a phase and I should nourish it just in case he ends up being a mathematical genius.

Anders is lovely. He's starting to speak and can understand complex instructions. I wrote exams for the entire day last Saturday - not fun. AND I did book my flight to Paris as well. I read your blog, JLW and I agree - if we can live with our husbands for this long, we can remain friends after 2 weeks of travel. It's gonna be great. I can't imagine what it'll be like to be without children for 2 weeks but Im sure I'll make every minute count. I already have plans to read a book on the plane, study metro maps, ooohhh, springtime in France. Can't wait.

p.s. The picture above is where I'd rather be right now. It's been freezing cold for too long and I am in serious sunlight deprivation. The picture is from our holiday a couple years ago when we rented a place on the ocean in Mexico. It was gorgeous, peaceful and WARM.

Spelling Errors

I am so embarrassed by spelling errors. I, who received certificates forbeing the Queen Spelling Bee of 155 Huron St. Yes, I see that in the previous post I used 'their' instead of 'there'. I can't imagine why I would do something like that. Sorry, folks. I've let a whole nation of believers down.

Another remembrance. I was mentioning that I am currently counting every calorie going in my mouth. Well, I called Eric on Friday to find out when he'd be coming home and to report on my eating habits. He was stuck in Cobourg with the madness that followed the fiery inferno on the 401. In order to keep himself from falling asleep, he started munching. (History - Eric's mom is very entrepeneurial and bought 20 cases of Christmas gingerbread cookies for nearly nothing and claims to be re-selling them. Knowing my mother-in-law, she is probably giving everyone within a block radius enough cookies for the whole year.) Eric starts eating these cookies to cope with being stuck for hours in Cobourg. In the spirit of counting, he decided to count the calories - he had already eaten 5000 calories worth of gingerbread cookies. His daily total - no idea, since he was still hours from being home. Gotta love gingerbread!!!

I Can See It Now...

We have purchased a property in Val-des-Bois. It's a lovely piece of land on a small, private lake. It's beautiful. This year, we'll be enjoying the space for swimming and camping while we prepare for building. The building will probably be done over a period of a year or two. We're trying to find plans for a medium-sized cottage/cabin for our own use and for a rental. It'll be really nice to spend time their with the boys - fishing, swimming, hiking. Just down the road, there's a tubing hill as well. It's pretty close to Mont Blanc and a few other ski hills. When we went to sign some papers a couple weeks ago, the local restaurant, gas station and convenience store had not one car in the parking lots. All snow machines (commonly referred to as 'skidoos') or ATVs. I made Eric sell his 4-wheeler last summer so we could purchase a nice snowblower. A good switch if you ask me.

We hope to share this nice place with our friends and family (that means you, of course - no one else would look at this blog). Right now, it'll be a campout but one day I hope to have all the comforts of home (washing machine, internet hookup).

Ok - nothing to do with this entry BUT I just have to say that Eric put me in charge of taping the SuperBowl so he can have a midnight Superbowl Party at our house. This event usually causes me anxiety since I know that I'll probably be awake most of the night listening to men scarf down meaty sandwiches while watching football. Anyway, we're nearing the end of the second tape and I decided to edit the commercials. Only, I got carried away with this blog and kinda forgot to record once the game started. I remembered, jumped to record and not two minutes later a huge touchdown was scored. Whew! I would have suffered much wrath had I not recorded that touchdown. There would have been many groans in my house at 2:00am.

The Simple Life

Who woud have ever thought that I would succomb to the simple(r) life? I do believe it has happened, though. A friend called me this week and asked, 'what's up' or new, at least. Of course I said, 'not much'. I thought about this. My calendar is full and I am usually tired - and what's up. Well, this is my life in between exercising 4-5 times a week, the calling, the kids, the dishes, the laundry. All too domestic for my liking but I have succombed. I've discovered that living in a mess stresses me out too much. Life goes along a lot smoother now - perhaps this is because Anders is finally sleeping through the night occasionally. I haven't lost as many pounds as I would expect given my trainer's intense need to punish SO - I am counting calories. Everything that enters my mouth is counted. I haven't gone out to eat yet - which will be interesting because who knows how many calories would be in the yummy sauces. If my goal caloric intake is 1200-1300, I'd probably have to starve all day in order to eat the yummy saucy dinner. It's been going really well the last 3 days - I've chosen yummy meals full of goodness and even had a couple homemade cookies after tallying the totals at the end of the day (of course I counted those calories, too) AND Eric and I have decided to be more fiscally responsible. Not only am I counting the calories, we're counting every dollar and cent. Let's hope that these experiments give results!

p.s. Sorry about the boring post but once again, this is my life - the simple(r) life.