Note to self: tomato sauce

Note to self: Be more careful when eating pasta and tomato sauce while wearing a white linen blouse at work. Tomato sauce spills are tricky to eliminate without leaving large wet spots on said blouse.

Zut alors!

Oh, the irony

Well don't I feel silly. After writing a comment mentioning how Lauren is a good sleeper, she decides tonight is the night that she doesn't feel like sleeping.

Maybe it was the novelty of reading bed-time stories on my bed rather than in her room as we do every night. Or maybe she really wasn't all that tired. Whatever the case, there was 10 minutes of her babbling to herself, then one request for water, then one bedside visit by me to explain that it was indeed time to sleep, followed by 20 minutes of screaming. And then silence...

Sweet dreams baby.

I need privacy!

This child of mine cracks me up. As I write this blog, she is sitting on the toilet reading a book while she does her business. She's already dropped the book once and called me in to pick it off the floor for her.

Thanks to a certain book we read a few months back, Big Words for Little People, she likes to declare, "I need privacy!" when I sit her on the toilet. Somehow her bowels are timed to let loose during dinner time, so there have been a lot of interrupted meals in the last little while.

Oh! She's done! Better go...

You are a good good girl

This is Lauren's favourite phrase lately, and if I had a dollar for every time she's said it, I'd have a nice little university fund save up by now.

C isn't spared the compliments either. "You are a good good boy" she'll say as she strokes her dads arm or rubs his head.

So full of love, my little girl.

Mango surprise

I had a brief moment of delight and surprise at breakfast this morning. Pancakes are a weekend treat that we enjoy and that Lauren loves, so she was delighted to dig in even after finishing a bowl of cereal a short time before.

I like to serve some fruit on the side just to add a bit of goodness to the meal. Plus, fruit tastes great drizzled in syrup. Lauren typically eats her pancakes "sans fruit", but today she lifted her shirt at the table and declared "My tummy wants mango!"

I typically discourage belly showing at the table, but for Lauren to ask for fruit just never happens, unless it's banana and she's reeeaaallllllyy hungry and it's in plain view. So I was surprised to hear her make this request. And delighted!

"Your belly wants mango?!" I said.

"Yeah!" She said.

So I put a lovely little piece of mango on her plate.

"No, I don't want it!" she said.

"But your belly just asked for it." I said.

"No, I don't want it."

And there you have it. The moment was gone. Sigh...

St. Clair Av W stinks

Let me be specific. St. Clair Av W stinks between Oakwood and Vaughan on Thurdays mornings at 7:20am.

Thursday morning is organics and garbage/recycling pick-up day on this stretch of road, and during the 4 months that I have been riding my bike it has yet to fail that there puddles of rotten food juice splashed on the pavement and stench wafting in the air. It's even worse on really warm mornings.

I feel for the apartment dwellers. How horrible it must be to wake up to. Come to think of it, it never smelled like this when C & I were living on St. Clair. Interesting...

I wish there was an alternate route I could take, but no other makes sense. Riding the off streets would add considerable extra time to what is already a longish ride. As it is now I just take short breaths and zoom thru the stink zone as quick as my legs can take me.

Sicko

Spent the day at home today with the little girl. She was fine this morning and throughout the day thankfully, but after last night's fever and spew (eeuuww!!) we thought it best just to keep her home.

You never how long these things are going last. I remember the first time she was really sick just before starting her first time at daycare. That lasted a week and the time after that was a couple of days. This bug was out of her system as quick as it came. I suppose there's something floating round the city because the symptoms are exactly what I heard a mom describe last weekend at the park. Fever then puke and then gone within 24 hours.

Anyway, despite the circumstances it was great to hang out, just the two of us. We played and read and went grocery shopping, and I even managed to squeeze in a bit of work so I'm not too swamped at work tomorrow. Oh! And Dora. It can't be a sick day at home without a few episodes of Dora.

BMW

Saw a nice display of luxury cars on the road today coming home from work. It's typical for the Forest Hill hood but there seemed to be more about than usual today. They reminded me of the MBW I spotted on my ride this morning which reminded me of "BMW".

I haven't thought of the expression in a long time, but it made me smile this morning. In Montreal, people (at least some people know) would say that they're taking the "BMW" to get to a particular destination. Sounds fancy doesn't it? But, "BMW" is the short form of Bus Metro Walk. Ha ha. Get it?! It's corny but deserving of a chuckle.

BMW doesn't make much sense in a city like T.O. where the metro equivalent is subway. Hmmm, "BSW". No, that doesn't work.

Anyway, a BMW (the 4 wheeled kind) would be nice, but for now I'm happy with the two wheels I've got. My bike.

Library woes

More trouble with the library. First I tried logging in to my account and got bounced to a "page not found" 3 times - I should tell tech support about that. When I did get into my account saw that I have a $3 fine - will I never learn to check due dates on time? And then when I tried to renew some of the books on the list I got a message telling me that there is a problem with my account and I need to contact the library by phone or email. And I couldn't renew the books so the fine will be more by the time I get this resolved.

Zut alors!

Yikes! Am I in trouble? It's like being in elementary school when you get a test or essay back with a note at the top where the teacher has written "See me" in red marker. Never a good sign, and I always got a sinking feeling in my gut when I read those notes. It's never a good sign when you have to talk to someone in person to resolve an issue, but I have to say that I'm slightly intrigued. What could the issue be? It's the library after all. Maybe my card expired, or maybe my card has been compromised in some way. Library card identity fraud? Interesting...

I have no idea, but I just hope that whatever it is, it's not going to cost me more money!!

Weedless

Just noticed that there really aren't any weeds in the yard. I guess I have the clover to thank for that!

Mommy I'm hungry

Did I mention that I was woken up at 4am on Saturday by the repeated cry of "Mommy I'm hungry, Mommy I'm hungry, Mommy I'm hungry!!"?

I tried to ignore it, I really did, but after about 5 minutes I felt bad for the starving girl. So I unpeeled myself from bed, trudged down the hall, scooped her from her bed and made our way down to the kitchen. I fixed a bowl of cereal and plopped her in her chair while I plopped down on the couch. I think she asked for a refill twice before she was done. I'm not sure as I went back to snooze on the couch between refills, but I do remember telling her that she was going right back to sleep, which she agreed to, and did.

I was hoping she'd sleep to at least 8am or beyond, but she was rearing to go at 7am. No wonder I felt out of it all weekend. I don't think I recovered from that 4am snack attack.

Anyway, the weekend was a good one non the less. Party in the park on Saturday followed by a mellow day at home today.

Lets hope for a more restful week. I sure could use it.

Note to self: black dress & cycling

Note to self: Cycling from downtown to midtown T.O. in 30 degrees celsius heat while wearing a black linen dress will cause profuse sweating.

Do not attempt to do this ever again. Ever.

Road etiquette

Witnessed another example of poor road etiquette today on the ride home from work.

There was a line of cars waiting for the light to change at a busy intersection. A jeep was trying to creep up ahead into the right lane by bumping up onto the sidewalk. The jeep couldn't get ahead due to an electrical pole on the sidewalk and I couldn't get past the jeep because it was now taking up room on the road and the sidewalk.

When the light changed I managed to get ahead and cross the intersection. The jeep drives along side me and then passes me and then cuts me off by taking a sharp right turn into a parking lot. No signaling whatsoever and I slammed the brakes hard enough for passers by to notice.

Watch out jeep. You're an accident waiting to happen.

Money not well spent

When did I get to be so bad at returning books to the library on time? I used to have an excellent return record and now I currently have a $2.70 fine on my account for this week alone. I wouldn't be surprised if I've already paid over $10 this year.

Zut alors!

I either need to borrow less, or work out a better system for returning them. The library is getting to be too expensive!

Veg!

Picked two more ripe cherry tomatoes today!

Little Miss Bamm-Bamm

Of all the DVDs in the house, little Miss Bamm-Bamm managed to break the one that doesn't belong to us.

Zut alors!

Replacement fee = $15 + late book fee = $15.87. Most expensive trip to the library ever.

2 going on teenage

Just a month shy of 2 1/2 and my daughter is a already showing signs of teenage behaviour. This morning before waking her I opened the drapes in her room to let some light in. She groaned and grumbled and finally mumbled "Mmmhmm...it's too bright". Is she going to be one of those teens that goes to bed a 4am and wakes at 4pm?

Lately she's been saying that she "needs privacy" while in the bathroom. We haven't been pushing the potty training, but we're thrilled that she has been telling us that she "has to go". Actually, she tells us about 50% of the time, but we're still thrilled non the less. So now when she's sitting on the toilet she'll ask for a book to read, say "I need privacy" which is our cue to leave the bathroom and close the door.

At a few minute intervals we'll check in to which she usually replies "I'm not finished yet". After about the 3rd or 4th time she'll decide she's done and we can move on to hand washing.

I think being in the bathroom by herself gives her a sense of maturity and independence. After all, that's what all the big kids do.

I think we're going to have to get the basement toilet fixed in the next few years if we want to keep the peace in this household!