2008

Elizasmom did this and invited anyone to join so here goes.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Break my ankle. Break my ankle while pregnant.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My main two were - Have a baby (But I knew that one was happening. Is there such a thing as cheating on your resolutions?) and Start Training in Taekwon Do again. Unfortunately the first doesn't go so well with the second. That's okay, there is a time and a season for everything.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Several clients of mine. And someone I've never met in person but someone I consider myself to be close to, Bon.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Our sixteen year old, outspoken, stubborn, moody, lovely cat, Casey. An amazing woman who was one of my clients.

5. What countries did you visit?

No other Country besides Canada. I don't expect to get to another country, except maybe, the US, anytime soon.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A greater feeling of financial security.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

July 17, the birth of our second daughter.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

There were a few. Learning how to walk again after my ankle break. Learning how to do this while VERY pregnant. Giving birth for the second time.

9. What was your biggest failure?

The times when I lost it with either Miss A or Peter. They sort or blend into one gigantic failure.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Um... yeah. See number 1.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Ah...nothing important. Killers CD maybe? Breaking Dawn, perhaps?

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My kid. Aside from that brief but violent descent into the Terrible Threes this fall, she is a sweet, funny, generous, loving little girl.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

My entire family, including myself. But I love them anyway and I'm learning to forgive myself.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Our mortgage and extra expenses while on maternity leave.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I've got to agree with Elizasmom on this one - "Potty training! No more diapers!" Oh and that little movie called 'Twilight' was pretty exciting too.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Viva La Vida and Human.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?

Probably happier because I'm not barfing my guts out.

b) thinner or fatter?

Hard to say. I'd been vomiting a lot this time last year... Still I think I may be a bit smaller.

c) richer or poorer?

Dude... poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Laughing.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Crying.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

At my MIL's with her brother. A great time was had by all.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

I often fall in love with Peter and Miss A all over again. But I fell in love with Baby B.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

True Blood was probably my favorite this year and Californication was next in line.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Probably.

24. What was the best book you read?

Breaking Dawn.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Hmmm. I really liked some of the bands I hadn't heard of on the Twilight soundtrack. For instance... The Black Ghosts - "Full Moon", Blue Foundation - "Eyes on Fire", Iron & Wine - "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" and even... (or especially) Rob Pattinson - "Never Think"

26. What did you want and get?

A baby.

27. What did you want and not get?

More sleep.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Um... Twilight

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 32, it's an after baby haze... oh yeah, rock climbing (on a rock wall) and lobster dinner.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Financial security.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Part One - How not to look like a huge pregnant lady when you are hugely pregnant.

Part Two - How to look good in clothes when you just gave birth.

I failed at each part.

32. What kept you sane?

Umm... I'm not sure anything did.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Yeah, Robert Pattinson.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The whole Obama thing was pretty amazing. Even though it wasn't a political issue in my country it still affects me.

35. Who did you miss?

My niece. My cat. My friends that live far away.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I honestly don't think I met anyone knew.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Relax. I didn't put it into practice though.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Sorry to be a copycat AM, "and I’m on my knees looking for the answer".

It's Over. Sigh...

So Christmas is over for another year. We traveled to Peter's Mom's place and stayed for two nights. We had a marvelous time. This Christmas was A's best yet. She was really able to understand what was going on and had a great time. I still don't think she's fully recovered from all the excitement but unfortunately we never really captured any on camera. I filmed the present opening fiesta so it's captured on video at least. This is the best of the bunch.



These are the photos we took on the way home.



We try to get pictures of Miss A of the rare occasions when she crashes in the car. We find this one particularly cute.



And of course Baby B always sleeps and is cute.




This is Peter being afraid of me driving and taking a picture at the same time.



But he really thought it was funny.



And Peter took a picture of the good winter driving conditions and the traffic.



And when we arrived home she opened her 'bigger' gifts. The one's we didn't want to pack up and have to drag home. We bought her a Barbie house and some accessories. She loved it. And I was happily surprised because I was ready to be disappointed in it once it was opened. I was worried when I bought it that it was going to be cheap and fragile. It's not. And not only that but it packs away to a tiny size which is perfect for our small house which is slowly being overrun with toys. Here are some humorous photos of the Barbies enjoying their new home and Miss A enjoying her gift. Can I just say that the washing machine and dryer actually spin. How cool is that?? (Yes, I'm living vicariously through my child!)











So anyway, now to get back into the regular swing of things. Which will likely include playing a lot of Barbies. :)

Damage

My mom didn't want me to take any pictures but I couldn't help it. I wanted to be able to show my siblings just how bad it was because I think they're all in denial.

And I'm posting them to again drive home the point how fast something like this can happen.







This pot was the start of it all, yet it is still in tact.



This is what remains of the artificial plant (deadly kindling) above the sink.



These are my girls enjoying their Grandma.



Merry Christmas and please be safe!

Blessings

Things have been crazy around here. On top of adjusting to my back to work schedule, general Christmas madness and preparations, my mother had a fire at her condo last night. Thank god she was not hurt. Seriously, if you have never experienced a miracle - live vicariously through me.

She was starting a batch of butter tarts when the phone rang. It was my sister at the door on the first floor. My mom ran down to let her in but my sister was just dropping something off and didn't want to come up. They talked for a couple of minutes when it occurred to my mom that she might have left butter melting on the stove. When she got back up to her condo the pot was dry and smoking. She transferred it across to the sink and it seemed about to burst into flames. In a panic, the best thing she could think of to do was run water on it. LET THIS BE A LESSON. DON'T DO THAT!!! The water caused the butter to basically explode which caught an artificial plant directly above the sink on the top of the cupboards to burst into flames. (Another very important tip. It is a terrible idea to have anything in your kitchen which could become coated in a film of grease from day to day cooking. If you have things like that I would highly suggest you move or dispose of them.) She went into the hallway and struggled with the fire extinguisher. Luckily a neighbor was able to get it and extinguish the fire.

The fact that my mother escaped with the slightest burn on her hand (it's not even really a burn actually) is almost unbelievable. The only explanation is that there was an angel protecting her. Her condo, however, did not fare so well. There is extensive damage to the kitchen. The ceiling is black and the light fixture is melted. I went there today and seeing it with my own eyes only made it more disturbing not to mention driving home the point that it is a miracle she was not harmed. She is staying with us right now and we have no idea how long it will take for her place to be cleaned and repaired. She most definitely won't be home for Christmas.

The saddest thing of all is knowing how awful my mom is feeling. She feels so stupid for letting something like that happen, not to mention embarrassed. She feels guilty about how this has and will effect her neighbors. She misses her home. Though she's very fortunate, not only not to be hurt but also that she didn't lose any personal belongings, it's still very depressing. There is a lot of smoke damage and everything is covered in a thick layer of soot. The disaster specialists will be starting the cleanup tomorrow.

The other thing that breaks my heart is how nervous she is about cooking now. Cooking is my mom's thing. She can cook/bake better than many people out there doing it for a living. This has really shaken her up. While we were preparing supper together this evening she was asking me all kinds of questions as though I were the amazing chef and she was some inexperienced moron. I guess this is pretty normal after something like this. I really hope that she can get past it. One of the ways my mom expresses love for others is through her cooking. It would be really strange if this big part of what makes her who she is was suddenly gone.

For now, I am just grateful and feeling blessed that she is okay. I share this to remind us all how quickly something like this can happen, even to the most experienced cook. I can't think of how many times I've left something on the stove to tend to one of my crying children. I don't think I will do this again. I would rather have them cry a while then possibly start a fire which could destroy our home, hurt us or both.

Ring a Ding Ding

My ears are ringing. I just arrived home from an evening of dancing. My old school friend/DJ was in town doing a gig at a local boutique/eatery (weird location). I would just like to say that I am officially old. Don't. Don't argue with me. Because my body would like to tell you otherwise. My back is stiff and aching (I don't even want to think about what it's going to feel like tomorrow), my knee is hurting as is my ankle which also got stiffer and stiffer the longer I danced. I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on myself. I can't remember the last time I danced for about 3 hours straight.

I went by myself and not one of the people I invited were able to make it. I ran into an acquaintance who invited me to dance with her which I did, the whole night. She is this drop dead gorgeous Czechoslovakian woman and I was staring at and coveting her cheekbones all evening. The music was superb but the crowd was irritating at best. The following would be my personal messages to some of the characters I was surrounded by.

To the girl with the hooker boots on that ended up in bare feet by the end of the night - Those boots aren't very practical for dancing. They aren't really practical for life actually.

To the two eighteen year old amorous couples - I could do without seeing you grind each other on the dance floor. This is not a club. People like you are specifically the reason why I decided to come to this event and why I avoid clubs. Please take your dirty business elsewhere.

To the drunk woman with the sparkly shirt - Please stop bumping into me. Your shirt is giving me road rash every time you touch me. If you are too intoxicated to dance perhaps you should sit down. Or another novel idea would be, go home, sleep it off and rethink that shirt.

To the guy with the 90's Matchbox 20 hair - You are not cool. No one is attracted to you. I know you were a stud once and could probably get any girl you wanted but those days have long passed. Now you are just a short, drunk guy with an outdated haircut who everyone is trying to ignore.

To my Czechoslovakian acquaintance - Why must you be so beautiful? You are very nice and I love listening to your accent but you are making me look bad. Also, I can't stop envying your cheekbones.

And this is what several people were probably thinking about me.

To the lady in the pigtails - Dude. Don't you think you are a little too old for pigtails? Why don't you get a cute short haircut like that gorgeous Czechoslovakian woman you're dancing with? You dance like someone who doesn't get out much and what is with your boobs? You totally look like you need to go and feed a baby or something.

And guess what? I do.

*#@$ !

It is so totally unfair that less than five months after having Baby B, and in spite of the fact that I am exclusively nursing, my 'womanly gift' has returned. What the bleep?

It wouldn't be quite so bad if it didn't make me feel like a bag of crap. Like a bag of crap that can't stop crying over NOTHING.

It was the weirdest thing. On Saturday night after the kids were in bed and we were catching up on various television programs I was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness and fatigue. Soon after I discovered the likely culprit and was absolutely disgusted.

I recall it came back when Miss A was around 7 months old and I was very upset and sent a worried email to Bon asking "Am I normal?" It seems everyone else I know gets at least a year out of the deal.

Why not me? Looking after two kids is challenging enough without being an emotional basket case and feeling so exhausted that you just want to lay around all day. All of this on the heels of going back to work. Sigh.

On the upside, I'm ready for Christmas. Oh. Except for the tree which is still naked. I'll see what I can do about that.

It Crept Up on Me

Wednesday. That's tomorrow. The day I go back to work. The day my maternity leave is officially over. I'm only going back sixteen hours a week until July but still. This was the last time in my life that I was able to be at home with my kids without having to work. Tomorrow the juggling begins. The passing Peter at the door with a quick kiss and supper instructions. The pumping of milk. The stressing over having enough milk pumped. The pumping at work. Sigh.

I cannot complain. I know that many people out there have it worse than me. And this was the choice that we made. The choice that works best for us. I could have chosen to stay home longer. I'm just not sure what the consequences would be. I won't have to find out either. I will go back to work tomorrow. I will put on my happy face. I will kiss my sweet baby goodbye and know that I will be missing out on things while I am gone. I will accept it and carry on.