Neanderthals roam the earth

If you believe that Neanderthals are extinct, let me assure you that they're not. In fact they're alive and roaming around right here in this city.

They're tricky to spot because they look and dress like modern man, but just one cat call from their mouths is a sure sign that their brains haven't yet evolved.

I'm sure any woman who, while going about her own business and has experienced this unwanted attention, like I was on my cycle to work this morning, would attest to it. I thought this lame behaviour died off at least a decade ago, but sadly, no.

So in reaction to this I take the high road and ignore it. But what I'm thinking is - Dude. Seriously? This is 2010, catch up already. Go educate yourself or something. I should hand out books to these poor souls and explain in language they might understand. "Book. Read. Learn you. Good." But that would take too much of my time.

What might be even more effective is to simply throw books at their heads. Maybe that would knock some sense into them.

HVAC

Got a message from the HVAC company about booking an appointment for our annual furnace cleaning.

I always look forward to this appointment. I think because of all the seasonal home maintenance tasks we should do, we only ever get around to some, but this is the one that we never let slide. 

While we were house hunting we saw first hand what happens to a neglected furnace. Aside from not heating the house properly, it needs more energy (and in turn more money) to run, and decreases the value of the house. All in all it's just not good.

So this week we'll book our appointment and be toasty warm again for another season.

The tummy speaks again

It's routine on weekend mornings for Lauren to call out from her bedroom to let C and I know that she's awake. This morning after I lifted her from her bed her stomach let out a little gurgle.

In response to the gurgle Lauren said, "My tummy said, 'Hi, I  am hungry and  I want Cheerios'". "Oh!", I replied. "Ok, let's go to my bedroom first for a bit then we'll go downstairs for breakfast."

This isn't the first time the tummy has spoken, and I'm not sure why she sometimes refers to it in the 3rd person, but it's pretty darn cute.

C and I are always still groggy when Lauren wakes up, but we can usually squeeze in a light snooze while she flops around on our bed for a while or reads her books. If we're lucky she'll fall asleep again. This morning we weren't so lucky and I was coerced into a game of -"The lion is coming we have to hide under the blanket!"

So we spent several minutes hiding from the lion and were having a jolly old time when Lauren suddenly declared loudly, "I AM HUNGRY!! I WANT CHEERIOS!!"

Oops. Grogginess got the better of me and I forgot that the tummy had very politely asked for Cheerios a while ago. Experience has taught me that when Lauren is hungry it's best to get some food in her fast otherwise a meltdown is sure to follow. And that really ain't so cute, especially on a Sunday morning.

My husband. My hero.

Today marks the 4 year wedding anniversary of my husband and I. At least as documented by the province of Ontario. We prefer to celebrate the anniversary of when we first got together - May 12, 1999. That was 11 years ago, and add to that the year we spent getting acquainted as friends, makes 12 years of togetherness.

12 years is a long time to know a guy, but this guy still knows how to keep the fun and excitement alive. Take last night for example. It was late and I was shuffling around upstairs getting ready for bed when I heard him call for help. The tone in his voice told me right away that something wasn't right.

"I saw it again", he said as he met me at the foot of the stairs handing me my shoes to put on. He had mentioned earlier that day that he thought he saw something small scamper across the kitchen floor. It was too small and too fast to identify but, it could have been anything. We live in a really old house in the city, so it's not unheard-of for tiny outdoor critters to sometimes find their way indoors.

The rational part of my brain was telling me that anything so small is probably way more afraid of me than I should be of it. But still, the best I could do to help was stand very still feeling squeamish.

One of us had to do something, so without hesitation this husband of mine jumped into action. Imagine if you will, a thirty-something year old man bounding around the kitchen at 11 o'clock at night shoving appliances aside, with a large metal BBQ spatula (for squashing) in one hand and a plastic waste basket in another. "This is to trap it", he said, waving the basket at me.

By the end of the night nothing was trapped or squashed, but the sentiment was there. My husband was ready and willing to go head to head against the thing so that I wouldn't have to. My hero.

So husband, here's to you and me on our fruit & flower/ linen, silk, nylon/ appliances anniversary. May our happy old home be rid of creepy crawlies and unidentified critters,  and may the excitement continue for many, many more years to come.

xo

Leaky pipe

C discovered a slow leak in the seam of one of the pipes beneath the kitchen sink. It really is a sloooow leak, but a leak none the less.

Zut alors!

When the contractor finished the reno job back in March he did mention that we could call for up to a year if any issues came up. So, C gave him a call this evening and fell on voice-mail. I'm really hoping he'll phone back tomorrow, or at least sometime before the weekend. I would really love to get this pinhole patched up before it turns into a gusher.

Hot Smoothee?

I'm not a coffee drinker, but every once in a while I need an afternoon boost and tea just doesn't cut it.

This summer I've been slightly hooked on Tim Hortons' Iced Cappuccino.  Again, I'm not a coffee drinker, but add a lot of milk, a bit or chocolate and whip it together in a big blending machine and I'm all over it. Bonus if it comes with whipped cream on top. On the Tim's site it's described as a "cool treat" which is really what it is. Or in my case, it's an after lunch get me through the next few hours before I go home, dessert.

Earlier this week I needed a boost, so headed off to the nearest Tim's with Iced Capp in mind. Only it was chilly that afternoon so when I got to the store I browsed the menu for something hot.

Me: What's a Hot Smoothee?

Counter Person: I don't really know

Me: Is there coffee in it?

Counter Person: Actually it's the only beverage that doesn't have coffee in it. Sorry!

Me: Is there fruit in it?

Counter Person: No

Just as I'm starting to think that this isn't a useful conversation, the counter person walks away and  comes back with a small piping hot cup of frothy looking milk for me to sample.

Counter Person: It's a kind of milky powdered base that you can add flavour to.

This sample tasted like piping hot milk with hazelnut flavour, maybe?

Me: Thanks. I'll take a small café mocha please.

I'm a huge smoothie fan (the cool, thick fruit packed variety) and there should be no confusing it with this hot smoothee drink. I think Tim's should change the name of it to "Flavoured Steamed Milk Drink" or "FSMD", or something. Not quite as catchy, but way more accurate.

When all else fails, eat cheese

On the lunch menu today at daycare were egg sandwiches. I'm told that Lauren took 2 bites then refused the rest. I'm not surprised. Actually I'm surprised she even tried it at all.

Her disdain for egg goes back a long way. One day when she was just old enough to eat egg yolk I carefully separated it from the white and mashed it up into a paste and fed it to her. She spat it out. On the next try I mixed it with one of her favourite purees. She spat it out. On the next try I simply crumbled the yolk so she could finger it and feed herself.  She mashed it into the feeding tray.

I gave egg a rest for a while, but one day thought that scrambled might be more appealing. She looked at it as if it was some nasty alien concoction then turned her head away.

Nowadays when I'm home and making lunch she'll ask, "We're not having egg?", which is her roundabout way of telling me that she really doesn't approve. Similar to, "We're not washing my hair?" Or, "I'm not going to bed?" Frankly, sometimes I think she's a little paranoid that the eggs are out to get her.

So today for lunch, Lauren did not eat her egg sandwich. BUT, she did eat a lot of cheese and some mango and strawberry. Hurray for little victories!

Drum roll please... zuccini cookies!

I finally got around to making this zuccini cookie recipe that I first spotted in Today's Parent.

Getting Lauren to eat vegetables is a challenge, so I'm always on the lookout for variations on the traditional ways of serving them up. And I love cookies, no matter what they're made from, so I couldn't resist giving it a try.
 
I substituted the sugar with 3 tbsp of maple syrup and raisins for chocolate chips. When all ingredients were combined the batter was a bit more gloopey than expected, but they firmed up into nicely shaped chewy cookies after a few minutes of baking.

I offered one to Lauren today and... drum roll please... she liked it! She actually liked it! I was half expecting her to spit it out and hand it back to me, but she asked for more!

This recipe is a definite keeper.

Stinky Pinky no more

C finally managed to get Lauren's stuffed Pinky bear into the wash this weekend. The stuffed Mouton sheep got a bath too - bonus!

I don't think it would have been possible had Lauren not decided to take Teddy Bear to daycare on Friday instead of Pinky as is usual. That afternoon we went straight from daycare to the train station and off to Grandma's house while Pinky stayed home.

Pinky has a pretty tight schedule between being Lauren's chaperone at daycare by day and sleep buddy by night, so there's little chance to steal him away for a good washing.

Thankfully he got his chance and none too soon as he was getting really grubby, and really stinky.

Mind your manners

Lauren's stomach has a mind of its own. I already know that it's particular about what it eats. But, sometimes when it grumbles she'll tell me that it's saying "hi". At least it's friendly!

Today at the dinner table it got an education in manners:

Lauren: My tummy is hungry for apple sauce but she doesn't know the magic word. Please!

The magic word works every time.

Oh happy day!

I recently received the gas bill for July and had a little conniption at the amount due. $306.43 is nearly double the usual monthly amount and more than I've ever been charged. Ever.

Zut alors.

So I'm thinking, what the heck have we been doing differently? There are only two adults and one little girl living here. The furnace isn't on. We haven't been taking more hot showers than usual - or have we? We do cold water wash for laundry. We did get a new dishwasher in March, but is it really using that much hot water? Is it the HST? Are we simply using more energy?

I began to panic and wondered how we can continue to afford living in this house if the utility bills are suddenly skyrocketing? Hydro was high thanks to the air conditioner and dehumidifier (it has been a record breaking hot summer after all) and the last water & waste bill was ridiculous. Although I finally figured out the cause of that issue.

So I called my brother-in-law to get some feedback and he suggested that if we cranked the furnace during the winter it could be over usage amounts that are being billed now. We're on an equal billing plan so this is a possible theory. But didn't we have a mild winter?

Just before we decide to try not using the dish washer for a month to see if it will make a difference, I gave Enbridge a call to see if maybe a mistake was made. Like the bean counter added some numbers instead of subtracting. Or something. Anything.

I waited on hold for 15 minutes and finally gushed my problem to the customer service rep.  And this is what happened...


Enbridge: Ma'am, you have a credit of $612.72


Me: What?


Enbridge: We overcharged you the other month. That little CR next to the mount is what we owe you.


Me: Oh! Really?


Enbridge: So you don't pay anything until that little CR is gone.

Me: Oh! Well great! Thanks!

Apparently I didn't have a lot to say, but what else is there when a utility company says they owe you money. It turns out that the little CR has been on my bills for the past few months and I didn't notice so just kept paying the amount due, which was actually the amount due to me which kept increasing with every payment I made.

So no gas payments necessary for the next few months. Woohoo! I fee like I won a small lottery.

I heart giant sunflowers

I love sunflowers. I especially love the giant variety because they're so comical and huge. I once saw a house with a sunflower patch in the front yard and the flowers were taller than the house. It was  an amazing sight to see a house dwarfed by  flowers.

Well, mine didn't grow as tall as the house (although that would have been ridiculous, and very cool), they  did get pretty huge. My final measurement was 8'10" and they probably could have reached up  higher had I tied them to some sort of support. Instead the heads have gotten too heavy for their necks and started to droop last weekend.

If these flowers produce any seeds I image they'll fall to the ground and grow into new  flowers next year. At least that's what I'm hoping.

In the mean time I'll enjoy the final blooms and think up something to do with the stems. I recently heard an interesting tip about using them for Halloween and Christmas sculpture decorations. Stay tuned for updates on that project...

Brand new day

First day at the new daycare today.  We've been talking about it so much that Lauren was very exciting to go and squealed as we approached the building this morning.

Apparently she shed a few tears soon after we left, but she was fine moments later. I think seeing some of her pals there helped to make the unfamiliar more familiar.

Introduction is gradual so it was just two hours today, then 3.5 tomorrow, then a full day on Wednesday.

So far so good!

Beam me up Mommy!!

This cracks me up every time.

I was never much of a Star Trek fan, but I do know what "Beam me up Scotty" refers to.

Lauren has a great vocabulary and can pronounce most words pretty well. Still, some words don't always come out very clearly. So when she has her arms outstretched asking to be picked up she'll say, "Bring me up Mommy!", which sounds an awful lot like, "Beam me up Mommy!".

Excuse me waiter, there's a fly in my blouse

So I'm riding home and suddenly an insect of some sort flies down my blouse and starts buzzing around.

Zut alors! 

This is not a good situation to be in while both hands are on the handle bars trying to negotiate traffic. I do manage to waft my blouse with one hand and the insect finally frees itself. Phew...  accident averted. 

Conversation about dinner

My daughter is a very fussy eater. She can eat her weight in pasta and cereal, but will ignore food she's not interested in, which is just about everything other than pasta and cereal and some very select meats and one kind of vegetable. No big surprise from someone her age, but I still persist in trying to get her to eat new foods. Here's a conversation we had recently about what we should have for dinner.


Me: Lauren, would you like rice or couscous?

Lauren: Sausage!

Me: OK, with your sausage, would you like rice or couscous?

Lauren: Cucumber!

Me: OK, with your sausage and cucumber would you like rice or couscous?

Pause ... smile ...

Lauren: I don't know!

A few minutes later...

Me: Lauren, would you like pasta with your sausage and cucumber?

Lauren: Ummm, yup!

Well played little girl, well played.

My favourite food

Well, this is a first. From the mouth of a toddler that doesn't care much about eating unless it's pasta or cereal, while eating lunch today came the words, "Mmmmmm... my favourite food!" followed by "I love to eat!" Of course she was eating meatballs, which I suppose is one of her favourite things to eat aside from pasta and cereal.

I took a chance on something new and bought some chicken noodle soup while out grocery shopping. I thought it might help with her cough and sniffles. Later at dinner I just served up a little bit and low and behold she took a bite and liked it - Eureka!! I have a suspicion that she eats noodle soup at daycare because she was pretty keen when I mentioned earlier that we were having it for dinner.

True to form, however, she spat out the celery and picked out the lumps of chicken and carrot. Ah well...

Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

Don't think that I can't see those rain clouds hovering up there in the sky. Please blow them away.

The sky was beautiful this morning (thank you) and I did not hear the weatherman mention anything about rain for this afternoon, so I did not pack an umbrella and I am wearing pants that will turn transparent when wet. My blouse will likely turn transparent too. Transparent is really not a good look for me.

Feel free to bring on the rain anytime after 5:30 pm. My sunflowers would love it.

Thanks much,
Caroline

Stink strikes again. Thank goodness for Albert's

It must be Thursday. I mentioned in a previous post about the stink on St. Clair Av W. Well sure enough as I rode to work this AM, the whiff was in the air.

What I didn't mention last time is that there is relief from the stink in the form of the delicious smells wafting from Albert's Real Jamaica Foods on St.Clair @ Vaughan Rd.

Albert's has been serving up West Indian delights in this location for well over 10 years, and more recently has been soothing my nostrils with wonderful smells of soup, curried chicken, roti and patties. Even at 7:30am in 30 degree heat I want to eat it all up. Unfortunately I'm always in too much of a hurry for a pit stop - and the doors don't open until 11am.

I think I'll pop in for bite this weekend and say thanks for saving my nose once again.

Cookies!

My daughter makes the best imaginary chocolate cookies, cake and tea EVER! I think she's going to be a master baker when she grows up.