A Day in the Life of Stephanie

Can I hear a "Wooooooooo Hooooooooooo"!?!!!

2007-06-19T09:26:00.001-04:00

This mommy is very very happy.... Since last Thursday E has been pooping on the toilet! THANK GAWD! It's been a real issue with him...he's been scared. I got great advice from Auntie Louise in L.A... make a chart up with the stickers etc, but when they have an accident in their pants put a big black "X" on that day. E did not like the black x. I also took away his McQueen cars (put on top of fridge) !! I know, I'm so mean as Barb said. But, it worked!!

Fingers and toes crossed it continues!! :)

Now, if he would only eat something else besides ham and cheese sandwiches.......

E dancing to "Backyardigans" .... he gets his moves from me!

2007-05-27T23:52:00.001-04:00

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Happy FOURTH Birthday to my baby!

2007-05-27T18:22:00.002-04:00

Been awhile....

We celebrated E's 4th bday on the 23rd. Out to dinner with Gram, Bops, Uncle Scott and Auntie Tracy. The restaurant we went to has a magician that walks around to all the tables on Wednesday nights. E loved that and tried to copy the magic tricks! "abara cadabara" he would say and hide his card in his shoe just like the magician.

Then went back to my place for presents and cake. Auntie TT and her girls came over too. Very fun and of course E was so spoiled.

Had his bday party at Springridge Farms again this year. They do such an awesome job - v.organized and fun for the kids. The rain held off for us too! :) Had 2 girls and 9 boys come to the party. They all really enjoyed themselves! Even the ex husband came too. Which was nice for E and me - easier to chat with the other parents when I don't have to watch my whirling dervish all the time!

Happy FOUTH||

2007-05-27T18:22:00.001-04:00

Trip to Florida

2007-03-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

Whew! We made it to Florida - the ride to the airport was a bit tense, but our flight was only 1/2 hr late due to de-icing. Big thanks to Mr. Hall for coming to my house so early to drive us there and drive my car home!!! :)

We arrived in Orlando afternoon of the 14th...E was thrilled to see Boppie and Grammie. I would have been thrilled to see my suitcase, but alas, it did not make it. The girl at the bagage counter seemed a little more concerned that her "favourite pen" was missing. Then, she left and said she would be right back. Ok, you don't do that to Doug (my dad) and I. We can get a tad surly at times. I said to the other girl behind the counter, um, do you think that girl is coming back, because I'm pretty sure my missing suitcase is a little more important than her missing pen! GAWD. So, she came back, I filled out the forms, we left. Turns out that another passenger took my bag my mistake (after 2 phone calls to airline, 2 to baggage claims people who were useless). I got the bag back 10pm (because the airport's delivery van forgot to drop it off when they said it would be at noon), on Thursday 15th. Double GAWD.

We spent Thursday at Disney's Magic Kingdom. It was great. E had a great time seeing the characters, getting their autographs and pics with them. What a racket tho! Disney is a serious corporation/business. They hit you with the merchandise pretty hard, not to mention the cost to get into the park. Vic and Doug were hoping there would be a "golden/seniors price. No such luck. (boppie bought a "Grumpy" sweatshirt cause it was a chilly 50 F that day! )I know a few of my friends really enjoy Disney, but it's just not my thang. E had a great time, it was fun watching him, but I really wouldn't care if I never went back. I know, the shock and the horror of it!! The "value resort" we stayed at was Pop Century and it was really nice - clean rooms, nice pool (there were even people swimming when it was 50f outside - in their heads they must have been thinking "dammit, I'm in Florida and I'm going to swim in the G.D pool, even if my digits freeze off!!"

We drove to Naples on Friday. After unpacking, E and I met my friends Rick and Kelly & their T at the McDonalds playland. Now, the original plan was to meet at the beach, but Florida was having a real cold snap and we decided to meet at McD's and then go to Target. Wish we could have gone to the beach with them!

It finally got really warm on monday. We enjoyed the pool and beach monday - friday. E had a great time making sandcastles, jumping in the waves, checking out the fishermen & pelicans at the Naples Pier. Everywhere we went, E would make friends. In the pool one day, some older kids about 8 or 10 yrs old were swimming too, E swims up to them and says "hi, I'm E and this is my friend mummy". It was soooo cute and funny! There were some older "kids" early 20's from Ontario at the pool too. E had fun throwing the rings into the pool and one of the guys Pierre (from Sudbury, I can not escape people from Sudbury), would dive down and get them for E. E thought this was just hilarious! Even on the plane home, he walked down the aisle high fiving the other passengers. Hey, dude! Then, he would tell them he was Lightning McQueen. Oh dear, I think I have a real comic on my hands!

We came home, tanned, relaxed, a bag full of shells, a suitcase 10lbs over the limit (oops) and energized to deal with the rest of winter!! Thanks Grammie and Bops for having us, we had a wonderful time with you!!

Vacation time!!

2007-02-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, E and I leave for 10 days in Florida!! Woot Woot! Keep your fingers and toes crossed that we will be able to get out of Toronto - big snow storm here in Btown and in Hamilton ... apparently, not much snow flying out in the Toronto area. Please, don't let me get stuck at the airport!!
The plan is to fly into Orlando tomorrow, do the Disney park on Thursday and drive back to rented condo on Friday to meet up with the Wirkowski family at the beach Friday afternoon. Kell, Rick and thier kids are vacationing on Marco Island where her parents have rented a condo for a month. E is really looking forward to our trip and to see Mickey Mouse!
Send good vibes to us for a safe trip and that we actually get outta here on time!! :)
Cya when we get back!!

Splish Splasing away!

2007-02-05T10:21:00.000-05:00

My friends Kirsten and Rob had a fun bday party for their kids Maddie (8) and Braden (5) yesterday. It was at the Fallsview Waterpark in Niagara Falls. It's on top of the parking garage. Huge water slides, wave pool, medium sized waterslides/structure and toddler/preschooler type waterplay area. Needless to say, it was tonnes of fun, even though I had to wear a bathing suit in public the entire time! Damn those Lindberg thunder thighs.
Kirsten watched E for me a couple of times while I went down the big slides (E was too short and too chicken to go on them!). They watched me come blasting down and E just thought it was hilarious and funny! It was soooo fast and I was sputtering away from the water shooting up my nose and face!
There is this bell that starts ringing and all the kids come running and stand under this HUGE bucket that dumps water onto them. They all run away laughing hysterically. E did it once and didn't like it too much, but loved watching the other kids do it.
It was great fun - E was very tired last night! I'm sure he slept well!
The falls were beautiful too.... we didn't get out (too cold -20c) but drove by. Everything was frozen and looked so cool!

Winter Weekend

2007-01-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

I watched 2 really good movies this weekend - Little Miss Sunshine and the Last Kiss. I recommend them!
After gymnastics class Saturday morning E and I met Grammie at the mall. Went to the pet shop. Thinking I might be E a guinea pig for his bday this year - I had Angel a white, albino GP when I was a kid and then I had Gidget a orange & white rough haired GP a few years later. They are great little pets and pretty low maintenance. So, we looked at them - I love the "squeaking" noise they make. E loves that show Wonder Pets - one of the characters is a GP "Linny". On the way home, I asked E if he would like GP and of course, he said yes... He wants a black one with curly hair and he's going to name him E----. I said, don't you think the GP should have his own name? Maybe blackie or cupcake or curly. Nope, he wants his name to be the same as his!
Pretty uneventful weekend - it was -15 degrees c, so we didn't go outside. I don't think E would mind the cold, but mommy sure would! Just about 3 weeks till E and I meet Grammie and Bops in Florida for 10 days! Can't wait!

so much for that warm weather!

2007-01-15T10:07:00.000-05:00

It's -3 degrees c today. I could hear the rain/ice falling against my bedroom window since about 1am this morning. Needless to say, it was not pretty when I got up. My car was covered in ice (can't wait for my new house to be built with a garage that my car will actually fit in!!). Scott was scraping the ice off his car too. We were pouring hot water on the windshields to make it easier to get the caked on ice off. Took me a good 1/2 hour. It's a bit slippery but not that bad. The rain/freezing rain is supposed to turn into snow this afternoon. Thank goodness I don't have to commute to work! It's about 2km to the daycare then about 2km to work.

Weather

2007-01-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

Weather has been phenomenal here! It was 12degrees c yesterday and today! (52F). Personally, I love it - don't need to bother with snowpants, hats, mitts, winterboots...much easier! Think E has only worn his snowpants twice ! I'm sure it will all come to an end soon enough - we'll be hit with a tonne of snow and -15 degree weather.

Happy 2007!!!

2006-12-31T13:21:00.000-05:00

E was in Sudbury with his dad from 20-25th. He came back to my house around 12pm on the 25th. sooooooooooo, our "xmas eve" was the 25th and "xmas day" was the 26th.

My friend Louise came home with her kids and husband from L.A for 2 weeks. Louise, her sister and her brother (who to my shock and horror is now legal to go to bars. I swear, last time I saw him he was 6 years old back in the day when Louise and I went to a club called NRG!!). We went to Club 54 - it was my first and [possibly last time there. It was tonnes of fun dancing and hanging out with the Barley clan, but really not my thing anymore - the music was really loud! Was it always that loud??!! :) If they had been playing current music - a little J.Timberlake, Nelly Furtado or anything like that it would have been better.

My grandma (Nanny Mitzi) flew in from North Dakota - she is doing pretty well! It was so nice to visit with her - we miss her alot. My friend TT and her sister Nicki came over with their kids to see Nanny. We all grew up together, so Nanny is kinda their grandma too since their extended family is all in South Africa. Mom, Nanny and I went to see the movie Queen on 24th. Good movie - Helen Mirren was great. But really quite wierd that they were able to make a whole 2 hr movie out of the reaction of the Queen after Diana's death.

Was sooooo happy to get my baby back on the 25th! Missed him tonnes. We had everyone over to my house for Xmas Eve dinner - can't wait to get into my new house in July - more space!! I made a roast, baked potatoes, asparagus, and salad. It was nice...then after cleaning up, E put out cookies & milk for santa and carrotts for Rudolfe. He went to bed really well (was still getting over his strep throat from week before). In the moring he woke me up at 6:40am saying that he thinks Santa was here and lets go see what presents he left! We went downstairs and sure enough cookies, milk and carrotts were gone and E's stocking was filled and Santa left two wrapped presents for him. He got the Thomas the Tank Engine flashlight he's been asking for and a "Cars" shake n go car. We then got dressed and headed over to Grammie and Boppie's house for the festivities! So spoiled we all are!! I made the Land of Nod cinnamon buns - they are to die for. Recipe is in the Best of the Best of Bridge... highly recommend! Also had the Xmas Wife Saver (in same cookbook). It was a great day! So glad Nanny Mitzi was there with us...

Tonight E and I are going over to Barbie's house for early dinner with their friends and then will just come home put E to bed and see if there is a good movie on. Was invited a few other places, but just feel like staying home this year!

My last post for 2006!! How fast this year has gone by .... Wishing you all a very happy, healthy & safe New Year!!

Lets see...resolutions for 2007? hmmmmmm....of course loose weight. I've been going to the gym 3-4 times a week, so keep that up....how 'bout you??!! Any resolutions?

Santa

2006-12-18T23:57:00.000-05:00

E and Santa....oh, and I had a reading done with a psychic last night...when I get a few minutes I will write a bit more about it! It was very interesting and she was bang on with quite a few things that has really left me feeling a bit freaked out!

Christmas Muuumic

2006-12-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

Muuuumic = Music (the way E pronounces it!)

I bought a cute CD at Fortinos that is kids singing christmas songs. E thinks it's great! He does the cutest thing - he gets my throw pillows from my bed, and puts his "friends" (myriad of stuffed animals - mostly dogs) on top of the pillows. Then, turns the cd on - the first song is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Then he gets his Rudolph stuffed animal and has him "act out" the song for his "friends" that are watching!! it is very cute (of course)!

Yesterday I was at dentist as they re-did a root canal. That was fun. But what makes it worse is that I picked up pink eye on Sunday - E and I were at a friends bday party at an indoor playland. Just imagine all the germs. YUCK! E had a fantastic time as usual, but I came home with pink eye. So, this morning I discovered it was now in both eyes. Eyes are all puffy , red and goopy. Attractive.

Christmas Buzz

2006-11-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

First off - Happy Bday to my cousins Jen & Kristi - they are sisters born exactly 2 yrs apart. "Irish Twins" Nov 22 and happy bday to my friend Louise in L.A. Nov 21!!

So, I'm suffering from my 3rd cold in 6 weeks. Argh. Today, I Lysol'd the entire office, vaccuumed it and bought an air purifyer. Hoping that all this helps, as I am sick and tired of getting sick and tired!! I know that E is bringing home all kinds of germs from daycare, but you would think after him being in daycare for almost 3 yrs, I would have built up some kind of immunity to it!

I've been getting to the gym 3-4 times a week - started my old routine from '97 back before annoying ex husband and before kid! Hoping that my body will remember what it used to look like and start transforming itself. E and I are going to Florida in Feb to meet up with my parents (they have rented a condo down there), so want to be in better shape for swimsuit weather!

Everybody has got the Christmas buzz! I'm working on getting my xmas cards ordered online. E and I are joining the Trimble family on Dec 9th for our now annual Christmas Tree Chopping day. We actually go to a farm and hunt down the perfect tree and "Uncle Ross" (tarryn's husband) chops it down for us. Instead of going to the Dairy Queen parking lot and buying one!!! We had fun with them last year, so hoping it won't be too cold this year! I bought garland for the post on our front porch and the cutest polar bear - its white and at night lights up with tonnes of lights - so cute! Been wanting to buy it for a couple of years! http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396673356&bmUID=1164315137890&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443284344&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true

My builder called last week to advise that my move in date has been changed. It was supposed to be Feb 28th. I didn't think it would be done then - maybe March or April. She said it would be ready July 3rd. Rats! I was hoping that we would be in earlier. More time to save money for all the extra stuff like driveway, landscaping, patio in backyard etc. Still a bit disappointed tho.

E did not want to wear what I was putting on him this morning. (read MAJOR 3 yr old tantrum). Trying not to yell and be frustrated as we were already late, I said ok, you pick out what you want to wear and put it on. So, in he goes to his room, which he said I was not allowed into! Mommy, you stay out there, I'm getting dressed. Well, then, allright kid! He put on his undies (took off his pull ups that I put on him cause he hasn't mastered the pooping in the toilet yet!), socks his orange and black "bat halloween" shirt and jeans. He looked pretty good. He said, throwing his arms up in the air "All done mommy". Sigh. so cute.

pics from trip

2006-11-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Trip to North Dakota

2006-11-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

E, Grammie and I left for our trip to North Dakota bright and early on Friday Oct 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th. AND this is not the first time I've flown on a Friday the 13th. Went to Ireland in Aug '04 for Julie P's wedding! Anyways, a bit of a bumpy ride landing in Winnipeg, but nothing major! We found out why it was so bumpy landing once we exited the terminal to get our rental car though! The WIND was incredible. and COLD!
We made it to Grand Forks in one piece and met Nanny Mitzi at her apartment. She has a very nice place and seems quite happy there! We then went over to Auntie Jeanne & Uncle Dick's house where we stayed the weekend. We enjoyed some great food, company and walks to the neighbourhood park! E even made a friend at the park "hey buddy, hey buddy, you wanna race cars?".
Auntie Bobbie met us at Jean's and Nanny Mitzi, Grammie, E and I headed to Bemidji, MN to see Bobbie & Jon's new cottage. It was beautiful! E especially enjoyed the toy room.
The next day back in the car to go to Fargo, ND. E and I stayed at Jennie & Jai's house. E had a great time playing with cuzzie Jacob. They raced cars, tortured poor Baxter (dog who weighs about 5lbs), told Michael he wasn't allowed playing with their stuff, watched Wonder Pets, read books, had lunch and games at Space Aliens, in general, had a great time together!! Jen and I had a shopping day together - no kids! the Grammie and Nana babysat for us while we checked out Target, the mall, and party store (see my next post for E's Halloween costume) and lunch at a really fab Italian restaurant! It was so nice to be able to shop in peace!
The last night there, Nanny Mitzi, Bobbie, Grammie, Jen and I went out for a deluxe, delish dinner in downtown Fargo! Yummy! Poor Jai was left at home with the children. But, he handled it well, they all seemed to go to bed without any major problems!
Thanks guys for having us ! Remember, next time it's your turn!!

Thanksgiving /Last Weekend at the cottage 2006

2006-10-09T23:19:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was our (Canadian) Thanksgiving. The weather was gorgeous all weekend. 20c! E was with his dad from Tuesday till Sunday when he dropped him off at the cottage. So, had a bit of time to myself this week. E enjoyed rolling around in the leaves...Uncle Scott took us for the last boatride of the year. We did a bit of fishing off the boat and got a HUGE....................log. Scott is determined to catch a fish in our lake. Especially since our neighbours have caught many pretty big fish right off the end of their dock. I of course, got the hook stuck in my finger. Fisherman, I am not.
This friday E, Grammie and I are off to the motherland. Fly to Winnipeg and then drive down to ND to visit with my Grandma (Nanny Mitzi), Auntie Jeanne & Uncle Dick and then Auntie Bobbie (silver haired fox as my friend Rick calls her - Yes Rick, we will say a special hello to Auntie Bobbie for you!), Uncle Jon and my cousin Jennie, her husband Jai and their two boys J (4 days older than E) and baby M. We are very much looking forward to it - E will have fun with his cuzzies! and I will have fun at Target of course!! LOL.

Reunion

2006-10-02T23:21:00.000-04:00

During my last 2 yrs of university, I had 3 housemates. Kerry, Liz and Margie. Since graduation in '94 (gulp), some of us stayed in touch and others not so much. But, in the last year or so we've all been in touch alot more. Kerry lived out in BC and moved back to ON I think 4 yrs ago...anyways, she got into the insurance biz (poor girl)and has moved closer to where the rest of us are located. We decided to have a reunion of sorts this past weekend at Kerry's townhouse she just bought last year in Waterloo. Margie, Liz and I drove up there on Saturday morning. We spent the afternoon shopping in St.Jacobs...its a quainty type/ mennonite type/cutesy shops kinda town. Highly enjoyable. OH, did I mention this was sans kids? Liz has 2 daughters 3 yr old and 2 yr old and is married to my ex's best friend. Margie is on the verge of being engaged (that is if Jones gets his act together, mans up and goes to Tiffany's soon!!), Kerry is single and of course I am the token divorcee with a son.

We had a fun time catching up, reliving the days at 196 Huron St in London. and of course the days at Brescia College (affiliate of Western - think we all transfered to main campus after 1st yr. Maybe Margie didn't?) Now, Brescia College is the ONLY college/uni of its type that is still in operation in North America. It is a girls only college (although some guys do take courses there - I think they like the odds of 10-1 female to male ratio). It is run by nuns. Each floor in the residence has a nun that lives there to "look after" the girls. Our nun was Sister Lorretta. She ran the whole residence, so therefore hand picked the girls she wanted to live on her floor > the quietest/most studious girls. Yes, I was on the nerd floor. Hard to believe given my vivacious/wild animal personality. I think Liz, Kerry, Margie,Jen Thrasher (Margie's roommate)& I were the wildest girls on the floor. Translation: we actually went out and had fun and didn't just study all the time! Oh and men/boys were not allowed in the residence AT ALL except for one sunday a month from 1:30pm-5:30pm. This included fathers, brothers, cousins etc. I KNOW!! It was a very odd place. Every Sunday morning at 9am poor Margie and Thrasher were awoken by the tolling of the church bells since their room was next to the bell tower. Wierdly, you did not have to be catholic to go to this school. Because I of course am a 'non religious' type. I'm sure enrollment has been down since the oh, I don't know 1960's! So they have to take all kinds to survive!! LOL. As you can imagine, many many funny stories to recall from living in the Nunnery. (as main campus people called us).

We had a great time shopping, then enjoyed a delish Thai meal at a local restaurant. Exhausted from shopping, we went back to Kerry's for a movie. Not a drop of alcohol was consumed. In bed by midnight. How things have changed since 1991!!

Thanks Kerry for being the hostess with the mostess!

Pink Eye strikes!

2006-09-26T23:21:00.000-04:00

Phone call at 2pm on Monday : Hi Stephanie, it's Tanya from E's daycare, we need to you to come pick up E because we think he might have pink eye. Ugh. Then there was 1.5 hr of "waiting" (read of trying to keep a very active 3 yr old occupied in the waiting room without pissing off sick people waiting to see the dr.),at the clinic. When we finally got to the dr, he simply glanced at E and said, oh ya, thats pink eye allright. Then the 1/2 hr wait at Walmart for the prescription. E took off his shoes and socks and threw them out of the buggy. Good freakin God. Finally got home and after a time out in his bedroom for poor behaviour in Walmart that made mommy very upset, I put the drops in his eyes. 2 drops each eye 3 x a day for 7 days. The only way to get the eye drop job done is to lie him on the ground, put his head inbetween my legs, pin his arms under my legs and pry open his eyes which he has firmly closed. Of course he is screammmmming and kicking his legs around. Not even the promise of smarties can persuade this boy to let me put the drops in. Yeah, this is definitely going to mean 5 yrs of therapy for him as an adult!

His father picked him up at noon so I could go to work and tackle my 2 foot high paperwork. Insurance biz definitely is not paper friendly. Honestly, there is a tree worth of paper delievered to our office on a daily basis. I called E after work to see how he was> this was the conversation : "Hi E, Hi mommy, how are you baby, Good, mommy. What you doing mommy? I'm at work E, What you doing at work mommy? I'm processing policies. Why? Because people bought insurance from mommy. Coooool!!, mommy." Heh. if he only knew how uncool insurance was! But, at least I got a "cool" about my work. All I hear about is trains, trains, trains. His father is a conductor for CN Rail. And, to a little boy I guess that is the coolest job.

My eyes are itchy.....hope this is just 'sympathy' itch.

Bye Bye Summer?

2006-09-16T23:24:00.000-04:00

E on the Labour Day weekend at the cottage. The weather was great on the friday, but was icky the rest of the weekend. :(
Went out last night for a friend of a friend's stagette. I didn't get picked up till 10:30pm! I almost didn't go out...I was so comfy in my jammies! Usually in bed by 10:30 , not going out at that time!! But, it was fun. As stagettes always are! We ended up at Joe Dog's on Brant St. They actually asked us for ID! We were all so happy. Most of the cliente were born in the 80's. GAWD. But, we were there kickn'er down till 1:30am!
E spend most of the afternoon throwing up. ick. Poor little guy...my poor couch. Yep, barfed ALL over it. I consulted a few people, then discovered the original invoice and ah ha! the "protection plan" for the couch! So, I called in a claim and they are going to send me a new cover for the one cushion in 8-12 weeks. After chatting with my neighbour Christiane, she advised she has a similar couch and had thrown the cushion cover in the wash on gentle after potty training incident years ago and it came out ok...Unable to stand the stench that was wafting in my family room from trying to "air out" the cushion, I threw the sucker in the wash. Looks ok now...just hang drying it. Fingers and toes crossed. Will see how it looks in the morning.
I have my bedroom and E's bedroom all rigged up with puke proofing. Towels on floors, mattresses covered with extra sheets. Hopefully, he sleeps thru the night without incident.
Oh, forgot to mention that I am 'babysitting' Jasper my parents black toy poodle. I think the babysitting is going to turn permanent tho as he doesn't seem to like his new digs at parents new highrise condo they just moved into downtown Burlington. soooo, after E threw up dirty Jazzy was in there eating it. GAWD. the smell was horrible I was near tears and almost threw up myself. Quite the scene.
I will leave you with that pleasant thought! Sweet dreams.

P.S E has said he wants to be a ghost for hallowe'en...any costume ideas? Besides the standard white sheet over kid.

5 months till xmas....

2006-08-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

Fall was in the air at the cottage this weekend...cooler nights, spotted the first red leaf. Argh. There is still hope tho, cause it was 28degrees c today!

A couple of weekends ago E and I went over to Liz's house. E discovered Emma's 2 wheeler bike (with training wheels)... here are the cutest pics...guess we know what Santa is going to bring to E this year!! Santa should look now I suppose cause there could be sales on!

I have also started looking for a snowsuit for E. His second winter I was bad mom of the year > I didn't realize you had to look in August for a snowsuit. There I was looking in November and unable to find one! Gasp! I am prepared this year. I will get the snowsuit early and be done with it!

My baby comes home on Wednesday...I can't wait.

T.G.I.F

2006-08-18T15:59:00.000-04:00

oh man, thank gawd it's friday! What a long week. E is with his father on vacation for a week (left Thursday to go to Sudbury). It's kinda nice to have time to myself, but kinda don't know what to do without him. Last night I mowed the lawn, weeded, tidy'd garage, went shopping, filled my car up with gas, and watched a movie.
I'm going up to the cottage tonight around 7pm... I'll be the one sitting in the sun doing absolutely nothing!! (oh, and sleeping in!) E comes back Wednesday night...can't wait to see him already!! Again, nice to have time alone, but I miss him!

Thomas the Tank Engine

2006-07-25T22:48:00.000-04:00

Grammie, Bops and I took E to A Day Out With Thomas last week in St. Thomas, ON which apparently is the train capital of Ontario. Who knew? Well, you should have seen all the little boys running around with their Thomas shirts on! When E first saw Thomas it was a bit like seeing Santa...really excited to see him, but when you get up close and personal he's not too sure this is such a great idea. We boarded the train for a ride around the town about 20 min long...he loved that. Then stood in line to get his pic with Thomas. There was tonnes of other stuff to check out too. He had a great time and Boppie bought him 3 new Thomas trains for his track at home! Of course he HAD to bring them monday morning to school!! :)

My new house...

2006-07-25T22:39:00.000-04:00

So, I bought a house November 05...its not supposed to be ready till March 07. Thought I would post the progress of the building for all to see. Right now the city is in there doing the gas lines, hydro, sewers, roads etc. The builder says that I should be able to go pick out my cabinets, flooring etc this August. Here is the link for the builder...my house is the Alton Village, Meadowlark model.
http://www.valeryhomes.com/ You can see the Niagara Escarpment in the background.

Little Otter Lake Weekend with Friends

2006-07-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

'Chillax' - to chill and relax. It was the word of the weekend. And lots of chillaxing was done. Julie P, Kerry, Maria, Hermanator, Chumbie and I were up at the cottage a couple weeks ago.

It was Maria's first time north of Toronto -- she hails from Venezuela. She was introduced to the sounds& sights of the north. Frog sounds - Al does the best imitation, loon calls, lily pads and our gorgeous lake. Oh, and the sounds of Chumbie's new Sirus satellite radio were also heard. So many stations, so little time!

A few fruity cocktails were consumed (mostly by the guys), some tubing behind the boat was done, a little jumping off the boat and swimming was enjoyed. We did our best the first night to stay out and have a fire but unfortunatley, the bugs were horrible! And of course, certain city kids were unable to actually start the fire.

We discovered that Geoffwinder 'Bachelor Extrodinaire' has a new woman in his life. The question that left us all wondering was will our Geoffwinder miss his new love this weekend? Stay tuned.

Kerry and Julie have not changed one bit since our days at Brescia College @ Western. Still as chatty and friendly as ever! Too bad Jules' hubby the loverly Brit Nigel couldn't join us...next time Nige!

Thanks guys, I had a great time!

Where have I been??

2006-07-13T16:47:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know, I haven't posted in a bit but, will do a quickie entry now. Summer has been fab thus far...
> Girls weekend at Sauble Beach with Barb, cousin Kym Hall and Sparkling Sue. It was fun, to just chillax and not have to worry about anyone but me! We had some yummy meals, perused the shops, read magazines, suntanned a bit (loved Sue's tan er, burn)...good times.

> I had a weeks vacation after the July 1 holiday. E and I went up to the cottage with mom. We went to Santa's Village one day. E just loved it. It is such a great place to take kids. His favourite was the train, of course. His love of trains is in his genes his father (CN) and his great grandpa mills (CP). We saw Santa in his "summer outfit" and E was amazed when we saw Mrs. Claus in the bathroom. "why she in there? well, even Mrs. Claus has to go tinkle". We had fun swimming, jumping off the dock, playing in the lake and sand, going on "adventures" etc.

> This coming weekend I have the cottage to myself and E is with his dad. My friends Al, Geoff, Kerry, Julie, Nigel and Maria are coming up to the cottage so I am really looking forward to enjoying the cottage without having to look after a 3 yr old! It'll just be different! I can sit out in the sun and not have to worry he is going to wonder off! I already miss my poopie tho! :( Yesterday, I was rushing to get him ready for school and he put his hands on his hips and said "mommy, be patient". er, ok. So, I waited a mintue and said , ok can we go now? and he said, yes. Wow. Unbelievable! too cute! but, wow.

I will report back Monday to tell all the funness of the weekend and try to get some pics up from the cottage!

Baby Wirkowski

2006-06-11T19:25:00.000-04:00

Olivia arrived safely on June 8th...she was approx 9lbs. I went for a quick visit to OTMH on Friday morning...everyone was doing well! Livie was sleeping so I didn't pick her up - she was up all night crying. She is just a doll...looks like Kelly and a bit like Taylor! Here is a pic of her!

Motor mouth

2006-06-01T12:07:00.000-04:00

This morning I was sitting on the floor with E while he was watching t.v ... I was playing with his toes/feet ( I love his feet!)... and then i started pushing back his cuticles on his toenails. He stops and looks at me "mommy, what you do to my toes?" then "what you do to my nails?"... I said I'm pushing back your cuticles. "oh". and continues watching his show!

During the car ride (5min) to daycare we listen to his cd's and he sings all the words to all the songs. or sometimes he breaks into "doe a deer a female deer, fa a long long way to run"... (he must have learned that one in music class at school).

Every night I read him 5 books. Grammie Girl just gave him a Miss. Spider book for his bday...he can already "read" it to me. If I stop reading he continues the sentence with all of the books. They really are little sponges aren't they?

E's birthday party at Springridge Farm

2006-05-29T18:39:00.000-04:00

E had his bday party this past weekend...the weather was fantastic and the farm was so much fun for the kids!! They went on a tractor ride, pony rides, did crafts, went into the chicken coop and got eggs. E tried to pat the chicken! She flapped her wings and squalked! They got to feed the goats, play on the hay bales and drive mini tractors...and after all that was lunch and presents! On the way home he fell asleep and slept for 3 hrs that afternoon! It was so much fun and E loved seeing his friends!! Here are some pics of the kids at the farm!

E turns 3 yrs old!!

2006-05-22T23:28:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe that it has been 3 years since May 23, 2003 when E was born at 6.17pm and weighed 7lb, 4 oz!! He was so sweet and cute! And had quite a set of lungs on him!

He is now about 35 lbs, 41 inches and almost out of diapers!! He still has quite the set of lungs... and can talk and talk and talk. Doesn't stop from sunup till sundown! He loves adventures and exploring at the cottage! This pic was taken today ... he was helping me carry some wood to the wood pile! He still makes my heart melt!!

"Taywer came for dinner"

2006-05-17T23:08:00.000-04:00

E and T get soooo excited when they get together...its so cute. Here are some pics from tonight!

why?

2006-05-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

Since the weekend, E says "why?" after EVERYTHING I say! Put your boots on E its raining...why? Its raining and wet outside, you need your boots...why? ARGH!!Cause mommy said so. Then sometimes I guess I give him a satisfying answer to his question he just says "oh". He def is quite the chatter box > must get that from the Bebonk (as he says it) side.

I had a nice lunch with Julie P, Kelly & Liz...then J & K and I went over to Winners and shopped a bit. Kelly is def in the "brutally uncomfortable" stage of her pregnancy...she has the baby in 23 days June 8th. I think she's only working for another week.

It is supposed to rain all week ... hopefully, it stops for the weekend and is nice and warm up north. We will be having E's bday celebration up north!

GAS PRICES

2006-05-03T09:25:00.000-04:00

We get so many complaints from clients about the price of insurance... but how about gas??!! I heard that it's going up to 1.40$ / L this summer. I rec'd an email today with a good idea... boycotting Canada's 2 largest gas companies Esso and Petro Cda. Use other gas stations..ie: Pioneer . Thought that was a good idea. The vacation/cottage areas are going to feel the pain of the cost of gas this summer because noone will be able to afford to drive anywhere!

Wildlife....

2006-05-02T22:44:00.000-04:00

I am sitting at my desk right now and hear what sounds like either a) a newborn baby type sound that you hear during the first 2 weeks of his/her life at 3am or b) a cat being tortured or c) a racoon fighting with another animal. So, not a pleasant sound at all. Very disturbing. Wait, its gone. Whew. Hope it wasn't one of the neighbourhood bunnies. E loves watching them as they chomp on my grass.

I actually saw the look of fear in E tonight. He has been spitting when he gets mad and it drives me nuts. So when he did it tonight on the front step (he wanted to play out more, but it was time for bath), I looked at him, took his hands and squeezed them. DO NOT SPIT AT MOMMY, MOMMY IS VERY UPSET RIGHT NOW. He actually flinched! I think this is good that he understands when I'm mad cause he usually looks right thru me. He knew he was in trouble...he marched in the house took his shoes and jacket off and went upstairs. I did the whole "you need to listen to mommy's words thing and what do you say to mommy?" I'm sorry. "and??!!" I won't spit. Good lord kid! Give your mom a break! :)

Darin has E overnight Friday night....so looking forward to a) going out with Barb for her maythefourth(be with you) bday appys and movie and b) sleeping in saturday morning! Woot woot.

By the way, I'm putting out and all points bulletin for a decent single guy. So if you know of one, you know my digits homie.

No rain up north.....

2006-04-24T10:42:00.000-04:00

E & I headed up north for the weekend. We stopped at Vaughan Mills to pick up Margie. Mom and dad had been there up north, so were able to enjoy the warm, sunny weather we had last week. It was alot cooler @ the cottage, but at least it didn't rain. Apparently, it rained all weekend in Burlington. I took Margie for a ride on the ATV, which was fun! Lots of mud. At the bottom of our giant hill, there is a creek and it has been washing away a bit of the road. Then, along the ATV/snowmobile trail a big chunk of the trail was washed away by the same creek. So, we had to stop and turn around. We headed up another trail that brings you up to Rankin Lake. I got a little crazy and fire it up the hill fast. We bumped around and then decided this was too dangerous! We had fun...
E stayed in his bed last night ! woo hoo! he didn't get out once I left the room!

my baby is a big boy

2006-04-15T17:41:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad came over today to help me dismantle E's crib :( and now i'm sad! He's at Darin's today for their "Easter" together. I'm picking him up at 7pm and we're going to Carlisle for the night as the Easter Bunny is stopping there tonight. So, E won't spend his first night in his new big boy bed till tomorrow night. I'm semi confident that it will be ok as he 1) sleeps in a queen bed at darin's and 2) sleeps in a toddler bed at school for naptime. Fingers and toes crossed it won't be a battle every night to get him to stay in his new bed!! I was busy today cleaning house, got some new cute shoes for summer etc... going to go have a hot shower and get ready to pick E up. Will post Easter pics tomorrow night!! Happy Easter! or as Al says "Happy resurrection of Christ day".

Dash Sports...

2006-03-26T19:59:00.000-05:00

Few pics of E's DashSports....he had a "ball" in that class! Have him enrolled for the KIK soccer thru Dash that starts end of may.

This is E learning from Coach Jaime how to swing a tennis racket.

Here he is with his Dash ribbon...Its now on the wall in his room!

After Dash we went with Grammie to his favourite place "Bdonalds". Grilled cheese happy meal please!

~Springtime~

2006-03-22T12:48:00.000-05:00

Just checked the weather network http://www.weathernetwork.ca/ and it looks like we're supposed to have warmer weather next week!! woo hoo! + 5, 6 degrees c! Soooo looking forward! I should have planted tulip bulbs last fall, but comletely forgot. I'm sure the ice pansies will be out in the next couple of weeks.

I think E is going with his father up to Sudbury to visit his paternal grandparents. So, I'll have 2 nights & days all to myself!! What will I do?!? I've signed him up for soccer...that starts at the end of may. Just after his 3rd bday. THREE! OMG. Little monkey was up at 1am this morning...brought him to bed with me and he snuggled right next to me...he's not a snuggler, so it was kinda nice at first. But, then after 2 hrs of me not being able to fall asleep not so good. At least he slept till 8:30am.

Got my hair cut yesterday...love it. Steve @ Hairitage House is really good. Haven't had a good cut in well over a year!

Not many plans for this weekend it is Marty Perusini's (Barb's husband) FORTIETH b-day!!! old timer! So, will be going there Sat afternoon for "appetizer party". I guess I should get an app that will be easy for the old guy to chew! :)

CONGRATS.....

2006-03-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

To K & D who had a baby girl Kara on March 2nd. I went to see her this week...both mommy and baby are doing well. And what a cutie Kara is!! Tiny, tiny, tiny with a mop of black hair! Can't believe E was ever that small!

This morning E was watching Dora the Explorer - she was on an adventure to release 100 puppies from the pound. When she finally got there (after finding 100 keys) she released the hounds from their cages...E had THE biggest smile on his face!! Then he turned to me and said "mommy, i want a puppy". ARGH. thanks Dora.

OLD MAN...

2006-03-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GEOFF 'HERMANATOR' HERMANSON!! Only 6 yrs away from 40!! woo hoo!

What are you thinking?

2006-03-03T10:47:00.000-05:00

> What would you like to do on a first date? coffee?dinner?mini golf?
I like the idea of a quick, informal meeting...coffee...low maintainence/no pressure.

> Has Kim L had her baby? Is everything ok?

> I'm going to a Lock & Key party tomorrow night...(every guy gets a lock, every girl gets a key and you go around see where your key fits). A bit nervous about it. What does one wear to this event?

> I'm making Angel Food Cake with Espresso Mascarpone Cream for dinner group tonight. Is it going to suck or be delish?

> Is my baby ok? He's with his father till Sunday afternoon.

> Why oh why did I need to have a root canal? My tooth is STILL killing. Had it done on Tuesday morning. Well, at least my dentist is a hottie.

Sunny day

2006-02-22T11:28:00.000-05:00

It's sunny out today!! About +3 today too! Hopefully, spring is just around the corner!

Pilates class last night. We didn't have one last week, so last night felt good to get back into it. Will probably sign up for her next session too. 10 weeks for $125...not too bad?

I started the WW a couple weeks ago...lost 2.2 the first week. And YES the .2 lbs count!! :) Mike at work asked me if I would like him to get a bagel for me from Tim Horton's this morning. (He saw me eating my sad sad skinny WW bread!). I say noooooooooooooo! I might as well have a full on doughnut then. (same pt value = 6) He then started looking at the points for McDonalds etc. He was quite surprised about how many "points" food is. The Low Fat muffins at Tim's are 5 pts.

Ex might have E overnight Friday. So, that means I can go out! Woo Hoo! might see what Chumbie is up to.

It's Been Awhile.....

2006-02-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

since I last posted....

Well, we knew winter was going to happen sooner or later! It's been really cold her the month of February. Not nice, esp after we've been spoiled with relatively "warm" (+5c) weather. It was sooo cold this weekend that couldn't even take E out for a trip to the park. (-20c). He did enjoy Dash Sports this weekend. We did golf. This is a program I enrolled him in at the beginning of January. Every week a new sport is introduced. We've done soccer (he loved), hockey, basketball, football, tennis etc. He has a good time (its a parent and tot class).

On my second ballroom dance lesson there was a new student. A guy about my age! woo hoo! So, he asked if anyone ( I was standing with the other "singles") could show him what he missed the first week. So, of course I volunteered! He was my partner for the rest of the night. I didn't get a chance to talkt to him too much, cause I really have to concentrate on what I'm doing, otherwise I'll step on my partner's toes!! Then, the following week I was sick, so I was afraid someone would steal my new partner! This past Thursday I wnet to class, but he wasn't there! :( So, I was left to dance with a 150 yr old man that was not very good at dancing. I was tring to listen to the instructor and old guy wasn't listening and therefore not following the instructions and stepping on my toes or vice versa. Argh. Fingers and toes crossed the young guy is here this week!!

Mom and Dad are in Mexico for 2 weeks. Lucky them. Good time to go since its' so cold here!

We had Scott's 30th bday party on Feb 4th. It was fun...although not fun that my younger brother is 30.

Cute pic

2006-01-26T23:08:00.000-05:00

Here is a very cute pic of me and my baby!
Tuesday night was pilates. I seriously think the instructor is trying to kill us. If anyone has ever done pilates some of the exercises are very difficult! AND she had us doing pushups. Argh. Difficulty moving on Wednesday. re: sore muscles.
Met Kelly (prego 4 months), Kim (prego 7 months), Liz (bday girl), Tarryn and Vicki for dinner for Liz's bday. Fun times catching up.
First ballroom dance lesson was tonight. Slow, slow, quick, quick. It was the fox trot and we danced to some Michael Buble and Rod Stewart. There are quite a few single ladies in the class, so I'm not alone there. But, I am the youngest in the whole class by a good 20 yrs. Oh well, its fun and active! The female instructor asked if I had ever done it before...I said no. She said I was doing quite well! Dancing with the Stars here I come!! Or Ballroom bootcamp. (which is a really bad show on TLC).
I'm off to bed...Quiet weekend ahead , except for Dash Sports on Saturday.

Nothing new to report...

2006-01-23T15:55:00.000-05:00

> It's 4pm on the 23rd and I am still unsure who I want to vote for...criminals or extreme right wingers? maybe i'll just vote for the Green party?!
> E was with leloser this weekend...so I had a nice time just me, myself and I on Sat...then had a few friends in Sat night...I made a nice Chicken Satay with Peanut sauce...it was good!
> Last night E whispered to me again at bedtime, that there was a ghost behind the door. Ok, that really freaked me out. He's going to tell me that he sees dead people isn't he??!! Got him a couple long sleeved tops from Bonnie Togs today $6 each. Good price I thought - got him 3T for next year!

See > nothing new happening here! I did see a good movie last week called Dear Frankie. Its a scotish movie and Gerard Butler is HOT ! I likey him. Maybe more than I like George Clooney! Gasp!

Funny hat...

2006-01-13T20:37:00.000-05:00

This is a hat that Uncle Scott used to wear when he was younger...he NEVER took it off. So, it's pretty funny when E puts it on!

Bath time

2006-01-13T20:36:00.000-05:00

As you can see, he LOVES bath time!

Trying to get those darn socks on!

2006-01-13T20:34:00.000-05:00

E has been trying to get his socks on himself lately...its pretty funny! He usually manages to get them on ! Big boy!

First pilates class....ouch.

2006-01-11T10:13:00.000-05:00

Had my first pilates class last night. First off, the teacher looks like Susan Hay from Global (totally pretty) and has a killer body. As Ross said, what a bitch. Then he said, maybe I should join the class! I am very stiff this morning. She didn't ease us into the program. We were doing hundreds 10 min into the hour! Think I will break out my Windsor Pilates tape to do a couple times in between her classes.
Ethan was with LeLoser last night, so I was able to get 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep! :)

Sunday night....ahhhh.

2006-01-08T18:10:00.000-05:00

Had a pretty good weekend. E and I started his "Dash Sports" on Saturday morning with S & Joey. It's 45 min of various sports ie: soccer > kicking the ball, running. Jumping thru hoops on the ground, etc. E loved it! It was challenging for me, cause he doesn't like to sit and listen to the 'coaches'...but, I'm sure once he gets used to the routine it will be better.

Went over to Chumbies last night. Good times. Geoff, Marvski were there too. A couple beverages, and a board game that wasn't well, boring in the very least. Ear muffs mom > it was called "Who'd You Rather Do"....and basically, you are giving scenarios and you pick option a or b and the other players would place wagers on which option you would choose. It was funny at times, thats for sure!

Played outside with E today - it was actually a really nice day! not too cold! He just LOVES his new train set!

My pilates starts on Tuesday - looking forward. Uncle Scott will be babysitting for me. It's only an hour long, so, should be ok.

Was sorry to hear that my friend S lost her baby. Such a great loss for her, so I hope that she is doing ok. :)

Thats it. Peace out.

HAPPY 2006!!

2006-01-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

As you can see from the pics, my New Years Eve was a fab time! My plans didn't solidify till noonish and I am very happy that the Perriers invited me to their get together! I brought my friend G with me...I think he had fun..I hope so, as I had a great time! The Trimbles and The Perriers are great people to get together with and I always have an awesome time! I love you guys! Yes, and that is a pic of S, mother of 4 kids taking a swig directly from the champagne bottle (which by the way was 15 yr old champagne!!! yummy). She needs it. 4 kids, 6, 4, 2 and 9 mo old. wow. I'm glad that we were all feeling the love that night....see tongue pic and M lovin G! So, I guess M liked G?! LOL. I might have had a glass of wine too much as you can tell from the pic of the 3 HOT SEXY GORGEOUS girls! Anyways, food was great and company was the best.

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

BE SAFE NEW YEARS EVE!

2005-12-31T15:17:00.000-05:00

Hey kids,

I'm just getting packed up for a night of good food, excellent company and a bit of the drink. Going to the Perriers with the Trimbles and Hermanator. Good times.
Was out last night with L from L.A - we had a couple martinis at the Martini House downtown Burl...the best was that I think the bartender forgot about us and didn't charge us for 3 martinis. We stood up and put our coats on and she still didn't say anything!
Have a happy and safe NYE everyone!

Xmas Day...

2005-12-28T18:12:00.000-05:00

Xmas morning....as you can see, Santa enjoyed his snack! Santa brought a wonderfully, loud keyboard w/ microphone for E...he really enjoys it! Lucky boy got a cool train set from Grammie and Bops...he LOVES it! He also got the wiggles cd, he LOVES the music or moo-mec as he calls it. We were dancing to it last night! He got spoiled big time! But, he was a good boy all year! Oh, and the pic of him blowing out the candles...he thinks the candles are for his bday cake and loves to blow them out!! It's pretty funny!
E is in Sudbury with LeLoser, ooops i mean his father, visiting the crazies, ooops i mean the Leblancs. Poor kid. Be strong little man!! I'm just kidding (am i?) he'll, have fun and I'm sure get spoiled. Doesn't mean I have to like it!! He'll be back on Saturday...so, here I am with 3 free nights to myself! I'm going to wash all the new sheets, duvet cover that mom and dad gave me for xmas...and get that set up on my bed. Think tomorrow night I'll run into the city (toronto) to visit Margie and Jones. Not sure what New Years Eve holds for me right now...

Hope you all had a very merry christmas!!

Xmas Eve....

2005-12-28T18:07:00.000-05:00

E and I got up to Grammie and Boppie's house in the afternoon...E tried to open the presents right then! We decided to decorate the gingerbread house to get his mind off of the presents...candy will get your mind off anything!!

E would put his hand up to his ear..."I hear Santa coming!"...how cute is that?! Then, we got ready for bed, put out Cookies, milk and a handfull of cheerios of course for Santa. E was a good boy and went to bed no problem...He even slept till 8:15am Xmas morning!!

Snow storm last thursday...NZ & Australia look good right about now!!

2005-12-18T22:54:00.000-05:00

E & Boppie reading the paper this weekend

2005-12-18T22:50:00.000-05:00

Swiss Pigeon and a movie.....

2005-12-18T09:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, seriously, what is wrong with me??!! Had friends over Friday night and was making tortilla shells as chips (cut them up, brush with melted marg sprinkled with salt and bake till brown). They are in the oven and I guess I forgot, must have been the riveting chat we were having about some soft porn that is on channel 18 - the Latin channel late at night on the weekend. I won't reveal anynames, but it appears that someone is an avid watcher. Just kidding. So, anyways, I remembered the chips in the oven, opened the oven and the smoke came wafting out. Damnit. Then the fire alarm. Damnit. Lots of cursing, hitting the alarm with a broom. Kill the alarm! The chips needless to say were black. What is wrong with me? Could it be simply that I'm not paying attention? or That I'm a bad chef? Maybe I need lessons. or Maybe I need 10 extra hours in the day. or Maybe I need 12 extra hours of sleep a week??!! Who knows!

Went with Barb aka Lewis for our usual Swiss Pigeon (Chalet) for dinner and then a movie. Had the festive special. Yummy. We saw The Family Stone. Good flick. Alot more emotional than I thought it was going to be. I was actually crying! I don't cry. Well, at least in the movie theatre. You could hear alot of sniffeling in the theatre. Good movie.

Stayed over at Grammie and Bops house last night and E slept till 8:30 - that means I slept till 8:30!! woo hoo. Hope he naps this afternoon! Going to take him outside and let him run around in the snow...that will tucker him out! Its pretty cold outside - I think minus 3 C. Very jealous of my friends in NZ, Australia and L.A right now. Warmth/Sun!!

We are going to Auntie TT & Uncle Ross' house this afternoon for our gift exchange. TT has taken pity on us and invited us for dinner. I asked if I could bring something and she said, oh no, its ok. Maybe she's afraid I'll burn down her house??!! LOL.

Time to bundle up and brave the Canadian cold...

Brescia Girls

2005-12-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

Met up with the "Brescia Girls" - girls who I was in first year university with @ Western. Kelly, Jules, Margie, Tarryn, Kerry & Liz. It was fun catching up with everyone - I pretty much keep in touch with all of them, but some of them hadn't seen each other in years. Everyone is healthy and happy. The insurance biz has claimed 2 of their employment lives. Insurance - it just sucks you in! But, I guess everyone needs insurance, thus lots of jobs available. BTW, if you want to go to a fab restaurant - Julia in downtown Oakville. V.good!
E was a bit happier this morning when I dropped him off - no tears. (he started at a new daycare 2 weeks ago and he's been crying when I leave him in the mornings). There are a total of 3 Ethan's in his class!

Traffic is dumb

2005-12-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

Well, didn't make it to my date - took me an hour on the QEW to drive from Winston Churchill to Hurontario. This usually takes, what 5 min?!God damn traffic. I called boy to let him know traffic was bad and I was stuck - he said no problem, he was reading his book and would wait. (ahhh, nice! - and his voice sounded v.nice). So after sitting there for 5 min and not moving I called back and said still sitting here...he said he would call me back in 15 min to see where I was at that point. I couldn't see the traffic moving any faster once I got to Hurontario , so we decided to re-schedule the "meeting" God damn traffic. Disappointing yes. Hopefully, will have something set up to meet him after xmas. He said he was so sorry I drove all that way. I said, no I'm sorry. > At least we know his empathic to others. A nice characteristic to have. Stay tuned.

Date Night

2005-12-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

It's date night tonight. Well, I guess not a full-on date. More of a "meeting" an "interview". He is my age, lives in Toronto and is a writer/editor >> will get more details on that tonight. He doesn't mind dating a single mom cause his folks divorced when he was young. I'm sure 15 minutes into this "date" I will be able to determine if it's a yay or a nay. I'm driving to the Second Cup on The Queensway to meet him - in the plus and minus column, thats a minus - he doesn't have a car - is a city person. Will give the update tomorrow.

E has been sick > at least now he knows how to barf in a bucket. Poor guy, he was not well at all. But, seemed to really bounce back quickly. Now, he has a cold > green snot coming out of his nose. Lovely. He is with LeLoser today and overnight, so he can deal with sickness for once!

What am I going to wear tonight???!!!

Chumbalina's Party ... martinis are good.

2005-12-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, Chumbie's party sat night...martinis are good! Of course, by the end of the night, Maria, Geoff, Al and I were dancing in the living room. Funny enough, I can't remember what music was playing. Highly enjoyable evening. Being the nice girl that I am (say: yes you are Stephanie), I brought an appy with me. The delightful bacon wrapped water chestnuts (or crestnuts as I was saying - that was only after 2 drinks!!yikes)... you put a toothpick in to hold the bacon around the chestnut. I did that. Unfortunately, I used menthol/minty toothpicks. Good god. I also brought a drink with me (Bacardi Razz from the LCBO website), and you put a few raspberries in the drink for decoration. Yep, my raspberries were a tad moldy. I know! Martha I am not. I get an A for effort tho right??!! So, had fun seeing the Chumley Bros...even if I momentarily got Rob & Craig mixed up...those damn Chumbies...they look so much alike. Steve and Jen Tsekrekos stopped by, good to see them always (and I'm not just saying that cause they read the blog!! :) ) Thanks to Geoff for letting me crash at your place - very nice of you :0 So, that was my wild n crazy night. Think we might be getting a tad too old to "kick'er down" like that ... recoop time is MUCH longer than it used to be. And, of course, can't eat the "recovery food" of McDonalds anymore...that would just make the situ much much worse!!

Xmas Tree Adventure

2005-12-05T18:50:00.000-05:00

Good times had by all! Thanks to Uncle Ross for chopping down our tree (pic of E and I pre-chop). Don't hate Auntie TT and I cause our kids are so freakin cute!! Who are those 2 HSG girls??!! (hot, sexy, gorgeous)...thats right sister. We had a super time with the Trimbles on our adventure. My tree is in my garage - not going to put it up for a couple of weeks. GASP! I know, Auntie TT already gave me shite for that!

Paragraphs

2005-12-02T20:48:00.000-05:00

Oh, forgot to mention, I've been told that I don't write nice, neat paragraphs when I'm emailing or blogging for that matter. Geoff Hermanator Hermanson told me that. Heh. My brain is usually working overtime and I've got a zillion different thoughts going thru my pea brain that I don't have time for the paragraphs. But, I will try young Geoffrey, to do the paragraph thing. No promises.
Enjoy your friday night kids.
peace out,
~steph~

'sup

2005-12-02T20:39:00.000-05:00

'sup. Friday night. Just read an awesome blog...this chick is funny! http://boredhousewife.blogspot.com/ It's rated R - she swears alot, but I think its quite hilarious!
Had loverly dinner with RBC Girls - Heather & Pauline - met at Square One (mall) for dinner at a restaurant - Moxies, then did a bit of xmas shopping. Bought myself a fab new top from Banana Republican (gulp = mucho deneiro). But, I broke out my colour wheel of my SUMMER colours and the colour is marked as ** = excellent. So, HAD to get it!!
Quite the busy week on my plentyoffish dating website. A few prospects. A teacher in Burlington, another guy in Burlington (can't remember what he does = yawn) and a writer/editor in Toronto > semi interested in this fellow.
So thats me... Going to chop down a xmas tree tomorrow with the Trimble Family - hoping RDT does the chopping. Also, better not be as freakin - ok I'm going to say it - fecking!! cold as it was today. Might be a very quick trip to the tree farm in that case!
Peace out.

Online Dating - not so bad.

2005-11-30T22:11:00.000-05:00

A boy asked me out for coffee!! (actually 2 guys did, but I'm not 100% sure of one of them)... So, my friend the Hermanator asked me why it says I do drugs >3 times a week on my profile. Oooops. Perhaps the reason for the snake breeders and "body art" guys emailing me on this site??!! So, I've amended that to read that I do not do drugs. I've been emailing back with a guy who lives here in Borington, he's a teacher at a local high school. He seems to meet some of my criteria...so, I might tell him ok for the coffee. Oh, the dating website is www.plentyoffish.com I know, cheesey name. Faith momentarily restored in the online dating.

E & THE motorcycle

2005-11-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

Whew. Another busy weekend!

2005-11-28T13:25:00.000-05:00

1) Jewellery party @ KL's house...very fun...purchased some loverly earings for me! Gabbed, ate, purchased. A good time.
2) Got my "colours" done by friend Jules. Drum roll..... I am a SUMMER! So, now I am equipped with my 'swatches' of the summer colours that I look good in!
3) T.W's 2nd bday party! My party animal son decided to not have his nap and ended up falling asleep in the car and stayed asleep in the indoor playland for about 40 min...but, when he woke up he was ready to partay! He loved the motorized motorcycles...would not get off of it!
4) Online dating... do I have to be really specific with these people? Please if you are covered in tatoos and are a snake breeder I'm not interested. Seriously. He had a pic of himself with snake on his arm. I'm about to give up AGAIN with the online dating. Too time consuming and the people are never what I want.
5) E started @ his new "school" today...montesorri 1/2 day and daycare 1/2 day. He seemed quite happy when I left... Mommy has to go to work now... "ok, bye mommy". I called @ noon to find out how he was doing and his teacher said he was very happy, loved playing outside with the other kids, had 3 pieces of bread for lunch and loved the pudding! Of course!
Happy Birthday Tay - we really enjoyed your party!! :)

Tried to get nice xmas card photos done...

2005-11-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

mister e would not "pose" nicely tho...argh!! so, hopefully the card will be ok.

2005-11-22T15:11:00.000-05:00

Spur of the moment

2005-11-22T09:23:00.000-05:00

Ex had E yesterday and at 4:30pm he asked if he could keep E overnight. I said it was fine. So, there I was wondering what am I going to do with this "free time".... Called my friend K.L and asked if she wanted to go see Derailed w/ Jennifer Aniston... she was happy to come with. It was quite a good movie .... lots of twists/suspense. AND K.L had passes, so the movie and treats were free! LOVE IT. So, last minute/spur of the minute and inexpensive!

Didn't do much, but it felt like a busy weekend!

2005-11-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

Was at Toys R Us by 9:30am on Sat morning...looking for one of E's xmas gifts...Found it, not the same as I saw at Target but price was right and he'll like it. Was hard to get E out of that store (wig out #1 of the weekend).
Grammie and Bops came by to fix my no heat issue...I went with Bops to ManLand...Home Depot. Got a new thermostat...that seemed to do the trick and now we have heat!
Of course, E wouldn't nap at his regular time ... so he feel asleep in his Elmo chair at 4pm. Brought him to his crib and he slept till 5:30... I watched Season 3, Episode 4 of Six Feet Under... I LOVE that show..totally addicted to it. E and I played outside after dinner @ 7pm...it was quite mild out...and we looked at the "Christmas Trees".... he loves the lights on the trees.
Sunday morning the Girl Chichs' , E and I went to Springridge farm to do the "Xmas Activities"... we met Lewis, J and her neighbourhood friends there.... (Wig out #2 of the weekend occured when we tried to leave...had to get E out of the huge sandbox - he was NOT happy to leave).... Was fun and cute for the kids...we made gingerbread men...they baked them and then we decorated them... also painted on a glass ornament, which E then dropped and it broke into a million pieces. Too bad. E didn't seem to mind tho. (avoiding another wig out).
E would n't nap again (seeing a pattern here??!!) .... so we drove up to Grammie and Bops house...he feel asleep in the car and then slept in Grammie's bed for another hour. Many a wig out followed and a time out... He doesn't like time outs it seems... :) I've got to get reading my latest parenting book 1, 2, 3 Magic.
I fell asleep at 9:30 and missed the last part of Desperate Housewives....
So, we sure didn't do much this weekend...but we felt tired by the end of Sunday!!!

Too cold...indoors and out

2005-11-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

So, my heat isn't working...will get on Union Gas this morning. E woke up at 11pm last night (he's had a bad cough this week) so I brought him into bed with me... he flip flopped for 2 hrs, took up majority of bed, coughed and was grinding his teeth!! Good God. Yep, I'm feeling a tad tired this morning. He was up at 7am moving my hair out of my face and whispering "mommy wake up, time to get up".... ARGH. Everything was fine until it was time to get dressed. He was not interested. Was not listening to me at all (early signs of MANhood). I even used Auntie TT's tag line "E, please listen to mommy's words".... didn't work. So, we struggle to get diaper and clothes on, then finally made it downstairs, struggled to get boots, coat, mitts, hat (don't ya love winter??!!) on. Finally get in the car and then he says "No school" and starts to get mad that we're going to school. double ARGH. He was happy enough to get to class - his buddy Aaron came running up to him and they went off playing. See ya kid! Now, I'm at work and have to call Union Gas to get heat in my house. Not good to not have heat when its -3 degrees outside. AND its only 9:30am.

No Coldplay Tics for me :(

2005-11-17T10:21:00.000-05:00

Tics went on sale yesterday for Coldplay (am exp holders) I tried to get thru for 1 hr...finally did, she said she could get me 4 tics, 2 and 2 together. Then we got cut off. ARGH. So I called back, another 1/2 waiting on phone. This girl said that she could get me 4 tickets but none of them would be sitting together. Ok, so, lets go to a concert but sit with strangers. No thanks. VERY disappointing.

New to this...

2005-11-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, new to the blogging...don't know if I'm doing this right, but we will see!