Our House... in the middle of our street (Part Two)

Here are a few more pictures of my house. It is only slightly less clean now than it was when these photos were taken. I'm trying to stay on top of it.

A view of the bathroom. It is small and difficult to photograph. I would like to gut this bathroom and start over. And then attack the kitchen.



Our bedroom. I love this bed. It has taken a beating in the five years we've had it. Oh. Gee. That sounds really bad. I MEAN it's been moved a couple of times and has some deep scratches in the wood. I still love it though. I only wish we'd bought the matching dresser. We didn't think we could afford it. We had no idea what broke was back then...





Our living room. Notice the many, many babies by the fireplace. And the computer armoire. Where the magic happens.





And the kitchen. It doesn't look so bad in the pictures but believe me it is functionally challenged.





For the proper house tour go here.

A Winning Streak

Bon wins again. And the Big Fugr is sad that she beat him to the punch. But hey Bon, if winning cheers you up or makes your day in any capacity - please just keep on winning.



I do own 'Vision Quest'. I have a thing for Matthew Modine and it really is a great movie.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Bon won last week and she could do it again. She's got a laptop, wireless connection and time on her hands!



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



“It's not funny, believe me! The girl of my dreams lives under my own roof, but she thinks I'm just a kid, a dumb jock, all of which is more or less true. I'm dying, Mr. Tanneran, just like that girl in the poem... only quicker, and with a hard-on.”

YouTubesday

At the gym I go to they have Televisions attached to the machines. I usually listen to my MP3 player and watch MuchMusic at the same time. Because I can. And because we are all ruined by technology. Anyway, I was watching this video without sound until I was convinced it would be a good song and I plugged in my headphones. I'm glad I did. I hope you like it too.

Lazy - Silversun Pickups

Our House... in the middle of our street

So part of the motivation for my cleaning spree is that I wanted to take pictures of our house. For posterity and also to give you all a tour of sorts. But see, then I broke the camera and well... I've been having nothing but trouble completing this project. My darling husband actually fixed the camera last night. Bless his heart. He reconsidered on the buying of a bigger and better one. That is simply to expensive for us right now, which was why I was so shocked to see his comment! I took the remaining pictures this morning and now for some reason am having trouble uploading them to our computer. So this post shall be – Part One.

I'll post a few pictures here but what you really should do is go here to see all the different angles of the room and get the full tour. Don't you want to come to my house?

Another disclaimer. My house NEVER looks this clean and tidy. I try, but it just doesn't. That is another reason I took the photos. To remind myself of what it could look like and hopefully will again some day.

This is our front entrance. I love the door. And that is about it. This area was once a porch and they 'transformed' it into a front entrance area with ugly closets and poorly done dry walling. I don't think it's properly insulated either. And that window is drafty. (Wow! I didn't mean for this to be a complain about my house post...) Notice the shoes all lined up. Not like that anymore.



If you came in our front door the first thing you see is our dining room. This was what sold me our house the moment I stepped in the door. The hardwood and wood work, beautiful. It's a bit cluttered now with a piano and everything but I still love it.




Our hallway. Just off the dining room and also the kitchen. That's my second degree black belt certificate hanging on the wall. Hang a left to A's room.




A's room. I still love that color even after almost 2 years of looking at it. I love her furniture too. Even though she's chewed the crib... little beaver. You can't tell from the picture but the plain wall has textured wallpaper on it with small squares on it. It works with the gingham curtains and blanket.




That's all for now. Stop by next week for Part Two!

Good and Bad

Good – This awesome temporary shade I purchased for Miss A's room seems to be helping her to sleep better. As in, not get up at 5:00 AM angry because the sun in shining into her room and waking her up.

Bad – My jaw/head/neck has been aching since Friday. A side effect from the wisdom teeth removal. I thought I wouldn't have to be taking drugs anymore. No such luck. I wanted to go to the gym this morning but I thought it would just make my head pound more.

Good – There has been a language explosion happening here. A has started using some humorous expressions. “Oh Boy!” “Oh My!” “Uh Oh!” and my favorite which I have yet to hear “Holy Moley!” (I say that one.) Also “Please” (Pronounced Peas) is music to my ears.

Bad – She seems to be teething again. Complete with runny/stuffy/snotty nose, chewing anything and everything and a generally HORRIBLE demeanor. She is not a kid I enjoy taking out in public at present. Unfortunately never going out is not an option. Swimming lessons tonight should be good times...

Good – I spring cleaned my entire house this weekend. I still have no idea how I was able to do it. I haven't been able to clean this much at one time since before Miss A was born. It feels amazing to have everything clean at once. My OCD is kicking in though and I'm picking invisible specks of dirt up off the floor.

Bad – It has been raining since Friday. That means we have pretty much been cooped up in the house. No walks, no playground, no yard work. Nothing. Ugh. We all need to get some fresh air.

More Bad – I broke our digital camera. Peter if you read this before I get a chance to tell you, I'm sorry. I feel just shitty about it. It was a gift. I'm not sure if it is going to be worth it to fix it. I suck.

Aren't You Busy or Something?

As Bon herself said she has uber google skilz and she discovered that this weeks quote was from 'Wisdom'. I feel honored that she has the time to bother. Wisdom, hmmm. I wonder why I picked that movie this week?? Perhaps because I'm missing some?



Anyway. This is one of my bosses favorite movies. I'm not sure that I have ever seen it actually. I couldn't find anything on YouTube so IMDB it is. Oh, and for those of you still wondering what Tofutti is. Check it out.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Elizasmom was a first time winner last week, identifying the classic 'Risky Business'.




Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!




“I was hungry - I went to get some Tofutti. “

YouTubesday

I haven't seen this show very often but it's hilarious. Smack the Pony. I cannot find the sketch I am looking for which is likely okay because it was pretty dirty.

This one is more for all you Mamas out there. It's funnier every time I watch it.

"I don't want to look at your Steeetches!"

That Totally Sucked

*This is a really long post. It's funny in parts and I think it's interesting. If you're bored just check out the pictures. Except the gory one's if you have a queasy stomach.*

When Peter found out I was getting these teeth out his exact words were “Let me know if it's worse than childbirth.” I found this hilarious and informed him that I was certain it wouldn't be even though my birth experience was really great. I think the reason he said that is because he would rather give birth than have two wisdom teeth removed.

Well sweetie, now that the ordeal is over and the teeth are gone I can honestly say – it WAS worse than childbirth. And no one was more surprised about that than I was. Perhaps it is just because the memory of A's birth has faded. And I think I had a ridiculously easy birth. Even so, my wisdom teeth removal sucked. Let me tell you about it.

On Monday night for the first time I started to feel a little panicky about the whole idea. I started thinking about getting needles in my mouth and I started thinking “I don't want to get needles in my mouth.” I forced myself to stop thinking and fretting about it because it would do no good.

A decided to help me out by getting up at 3:00 am, staying up until 4:30 and then getting up for the day at 7:15. (Which by the way, totally messed with my ability to get ready) I wasn't running too far behind and managed to get A to her Grandma's and then get to my appointment on time. Thanks to Elizasmom I had my MP3 player ready with Disintegration by the Cure on it. Coincidentally that was the album I listened to for the last two hours of labour and during A's birth. I guess it is the soundtrack to my most painful moments in life. Fitting if you've ever heard the album. (if you haven't I strongly recommend going out and buying it RIGHT NOW.)

I had remembered before going in for the appointment, when my mind had wandered back to the needle thing again, that they had numbing gel for your cheeks so the needles wouldn't hurt so much. That gel is much more powerful than I remembered it being. So the needles didn't hurt that much after all. At first I was concerned about the fact that freezing was all I'd be getting before they forcibly extracted enormous teeth out of my jaw. Then they left me on my own for a while listening to Robert Smith and gave the freezing a chance to really take effect. And boy howdy, did it ever!

I have never been so numb in all my life. My entire lower jaw, tongue and even my chin were completely numb. They came in to poke at my mouth to see if I'd say 'Ouch'. I didn't. Then the hell began. As I mentioned yesterday they informed me that they would need to cut off the tops of both teeth so that they could maneuver them out. I strongly believe that the fact that they needed to do this was the main contributing factor to how awful the whole procedure was.

My MP3 player was as loud as it would go yet I could still hear the awful noise of the tooth saw thingy. Also, I could smell... what I can only describe as burning tooth. I was told that the tooth cutting tooth “shouldn't hurt” that I “should only feel vibrations”. Well let me tell you it felt a whole lot worse than just vibrations. I can't say it hurt exactly but the sensation was really awful and caused my legs to involuntarily begin trembling. This leg trembling intensified the longer they continued the tooth sawing until it became full on leg shaking which was moving up into my torso and at times even to my head. The dentist asked me if I was 'okay' a couple of times, to which I replied 'yes, I'm fine'. I hate to ever admit that I am anything other than fine in those sorts of situations. I don't know what my problem is.

So they extracted the first and 'easy' tooth after much cutting and reefing. I was happy that the dentist didn't put his foot on my chest for leverage. Then they took a small break which I was grateful for. I took deep breaths, steadied my spazzy legs and just regrouped in general. They whisked in once more and set to work on tooth two, left tooth also known as the tooth that would not be removed in one piece or without much sawing, yanking, breaking apart and coming out bit by bit. By bit. I seemed to get a handle on the leg shaking by contracting my bum muscles. I now have the hardest butt in the world. Then they took another break. This time in the middle of the job.

I was nervous. My brain was working over time. Was something wrong? Did I have some kind of freakish wisdom tooth that they had never before encountered? Were they consulting dental journals? Was I dying? (Just kidding) Also during this time I noticed that a really needed to pee. I knew what a hassle this would be and my dentist and his assistant had disappeared somewhere to draw diagrams of how the heck they were going to get my stupid tooth out. I assessed my need to pee. I wasn't sure how horrible the conclusion of this tooth removal would be and was concerned that it may be so bad that it would cause me to wet myself. Therefore I decided to ask permission to go.

My dentist seemed a tiny bit perturbed. I'm pretty sure he thought I was a wimp with my shaky leg business. I was all, “DUDE, you totally should have seen me have a baby. Not wimpy AT ALL. I totally rocked childbirth.”

Now that I had an empty bladder, they carried on to finish the job. It wasn't more awful than before, just the same level of awful. When they had finished I didn't realize it because I didn't have that same feeling of a large piece of tooth being removed as I had on the other side. All of a sudden the dentist was stitching it up. Because I didn't realize they were done I thought perhaps they had given up and asked about it afterwards. “No, we got it all.” the assistant cheerily told me. Great, all done. Only stitched on the one side. I was amazed that I didn't feel them at all. As opposed to my stitches after A was born. THAT was the part that hurt.

If it is at all possible my face felt even more frozen after they were finished. It felt like my tongue was hanging out of my mouth. I had to feel my face to make sure it actually wasn't. When I attempted to speak it was really garbled and hard to understand. I had the tiniest inkling of what it would be like to have had a stroke and be unable to speak clearly. It was not a pretty picture.

(A Picture of me imitating what I felt like.)


The best part was I didn't have to pay to be tortured. I just signed my name on the dotted line and left. Cool. I went back to my mom's place and she proceeded to take care of me and feed Miss A her lunch. We then went home and A had a nap. I SHOULD have had a nap but instead rewarded my own bravery with a little PS2 Sims 2. My sweet, lovely Mama came back to make my family supper. My supper consisted of mashed potatoes, gravy, and mashed butternut squash. And chocolate puddin' for dessert. I ate slowly and carefully and still it was tender.

To those of you still with me here... Wow! Good for you. This is a stupidly long post. I just needed to get it out there. Now for those of you with a weak stomach skip past the pictures of my extracted teeth and me pulling my cheek over. They are a bit gross. But enjoy the rest.

(These are the yicky ones.)






Lastly, if you think this was awful I consider myself lucky that I am not going through what my good friend Bon is going through these days. Even if you don't know her... go over and give her some love.

(Sorry to disappoint but I pretty much look normal. This face looks surprisingly (or not surprisingly) like my 'labour face', no?)

Wisdom

Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM sharp I will be sitting in the dentist's chair having two of my (bottom) wisdom teeth extracted. They are through the gums but badly impacted. This is a picture that I found on the internet that pretty much looks like my x-rays did.




I have needed to have them out for a number of years but haven't been able to afford it until now because now we have insurance. Hallelujah!

The procedure was explained to me. I will only be frozen, they will break/drill the tops of both teeth off and then they will have the room to pull them out. Of course I stupidly asked some of my clients to tell me their wisdom teeth removal stories. Some were good, some were bad, some were very bad. The general consensus was that most people are knocked out or given a drug that basically knocks them out. I am slightly concerned that I am not being given these drugs. I'm wondering why it is that I am only being frozen. I guess as long as everything goes well the freezing will be enough. Cross your fingers for me.

I can't say I'm looking forward to it. I am relieved to be having it done. I am glad that the day is almost here so that I don't have to think about getting it done anymore. It will be nice not to have irritated gums anymore. It will also be a relief to not have to worry about my teeth crowding any further because of them.

Needless to say I'm not sure how I will be feeling and thus I'm not sure how much I'll be writing this coming week. I am supposed to be working the following day. I hope I can speak normally, don't look like a chipmunk and don't look like I've have the crap beaten out of me. However, regardless of how horrible I look (or not) I will take pictures to share with all y'all. I know. You can't wait.

Another First Timer

One of my new favorite people/bloggers won Say WHAT? this week. Elizasmom correctly identified the quote from another classic Cruise film, 'Risky Business'.

I don't think I saw this movie in the 80's. In fact I'm pretty sure I saw it for the first time just a few years ago. Verdict – Okay. Not amazing. Not one I'd watch more than once. Tommy boy looks like such a baby in this movie. Wow.

I apologize for subjecting you all to this song again. It is the infamous scene after all. You could always watch it with the volume muted. Regardless, enjoy.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Sorry I posted late last week everybody. But Bon came through by identifying the quote from 'The Running Man'. Way to go Bon, after the week you've had - you deserve to win again!



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



"Porsche. There is no substitute."

YouTubesday

I can't WAIT for this freakin' show to start again. May 24th... If you haven't watched it... you're crazy! And also, you should start this year. It is the best show on television. Especially if you ever wanted to be a Solid Gold Dancer. If you did you'll go nuts for this show. I think the following is my favorite dance from last year. Must be the stylist in me... I dig the hair, the makeup and of course - the DANCING!

Where Does The Time Go?

What is it about children that just make time disappear? Don't answer that. I know, I know. But it's not fair. There is always so much to be done and never any time to do anything...

This morning my mom helped me out by looking after A while I did a bunch of tedious running in and out of places kind of errands. You know the ones where you'd have the kid in and out of the car seat like, fifty times. And by the fifth time they'd be screaming and fighting being buckled back in. I ran to the vet's to get a case of food for our cat, to City Hall to check on getting funding for putting up a fence in our yard, to the bank, to the grocery store, to WalMart to buy my mom a microwave on behalf of all her kids for Mother's Day. (While there I also found a tankini bathing suit which actually fits!!! Yay! And three cute flowy skirts and two shirts for me!)

While I sit here writing this Miss A is frolicking in her crib singing songs and what sounds from here like she's practicing her gymnastic floor routine. She SHOULD be sleeping. But I'm fairly certain that won't be happening. Thankfully I do believe I'll be done work on time tonight and therefore will be home in good time to put the exhausted little monkey to bed.

Perhaps I'll post some pictures of myself in all my cute new and affordable skirts. I am loving the flowy skirts right now. If only I had a little color on the legs. Currently they are as white as a fishes belly! I don't really care it's just they are a little blinding...

I'm still here...

Just busy that's all. Yesterday my coworkers and I did a cut a thon (haircuts for $10) at a local high school to raise money for students who are in an environmental program. And this morning I did my mom's hair. So much for a day off this week. That's okay. So it goes.

Anyway, just thought I'd check in. Say hello. Post a picture of my little flower girl.

Bon Strikes Again!

Sorry about getting Say WHAT? up late on Friday. We were having technical difficulties around here. I was happy to see that some people checked in later anyway. I was also happy to see that someone - BON knew the quote.



It was from 'The Running Man'. I do love this movie which I believe is further proof of my tom boyishness. Arnie is in fine form in spandex. Hey, it was the 80's don't forget!

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Last week my real life pal Jen K won by identifying 'Weird Science'. It is so nice when someone wins for the first time...



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



“Well, it is a contact sport, okay? You want ratings. You want people in front of the television instead of picket lines. Well, you're not gonna get that with re-runs of Gilligan's Island.”

YouTubesday

My friend Myles introduced us to this YouTube gem.

I love it all. The typing. The mumbling at the computer screen. The cough. It's all good.

I've said it before but I'll say it again. The British are brilliant.

Spammed to Death

It's true. And in three different ways.

Mail Spam – I am amazed at the amount of junk mail we get from financial institutions offering us loans or credit cards. We get other junk mail too. This is the spam we get the least of.

Email Spam – We must get at the very least 50 spam emails a day. I should keep track one day but instead I try to delete them constantly through the day. I know that my husband has special ways of filtering this spam too so this makes me wonder how much email spam the average person out there is getting. The people that aren't lucky enough to know tricky ways to filter it.

Phone Spam – This is BY FAR the most annoying of the bunch. It has gotten so much worse in even the past year, so much so that I'm feeling at the end of my rope. This morning I received two of these phone calls before 10:00 AM. Then I was out until 1:00 so who knows how many I missed while out. I have also received 1 call since coming home and am sure to expect at least 2-3 more from 5-7:00. So approximately six spam calls a day. That is ridiculous, no? Is it just me? Anyone else having this problem?

I am getting to the point where I am ready to jump down the throats of these people. HA! As I was writing this I received one of these calls! Anyway, before I lose it and yell into the receiver I remind myself that the people who usually have these telemarketing jobs are not being paid well and often seem to be immigrants. I ask myself if they really deserve my verbal abuse. They are only doing the job they are paid to do. What I'd really like to do is have my provincial government put legislation in place to either eliminate or restrict the amount of telemarketing done in this province. Because, come on. Six calls a day!

How do you all deal with this spam? For the latter of the bunch I have resorted to just hanging up when I here that long predictable pause on the line. Because if I don't I worry about what might come out of my mouth next.

*Edited to add

Email Spam from Perry

Hello,

You like allure prostitute with huge?

Answer. No.

Worn Out, Worn Down and just plain worn...

I don't think I've complained for a while. So I'm due for a good rant.

I am tired. So tired that I'm sick. You know when you sort of get a cold from sheer exhaustion? That's what I have. My nose is runny and I've been fighting off a headache all day.

This fatigue is the result of several nights of poor or just plain rotten amounts of sleep. I have chosen to believe that Miss A is teething. She has cut both of her first molars on the top despite the fact that there is no sign of her top cuspid (fang) teeth or anything on the bottom other than the two central incisors that she's had for months now. This chart tells you approximately when all of their baby teeth are supposed to come in. As you can see A does not follow this chart in the slightest possible way. The only reason I care is because the fact that her teeth are coming in all willy nilly means I had NO FLIPPIN' CLUE what teeth she might be cutting. Knowing might help to explain her crankiness and help me to respond accordingly. At the moment I'm assuming she's cutting both her top and bottom molars. Why? Because I can't imagine her being more irritable and miserable than this.

It seems to be affecting her appetite hugely. The kid who normally eats everything and anything can't even tolerate the old stand by foods that she'll ALWAYS eat. Actually, I think her appetite is fine it is the fact that eating hurts that causes her to eat less. Last night at supper I made one of her favorite meals. She ate an adequate amount but then when I gave her yogurt which is always well received she actually threw it on the floor when I wasn't looking. When I asked her “Did you throw your yogurt on the floor?” she replied “No.” I then tried some ice cream thinking it would feel nice and cold on her sore mouth. This should have been a huge hit. After a few mouthfuls she refused this as well. If the kid won't eat ice cream then there is definitely something wrong!

The worst thing of all is that due to my lack of sleep I also lack patience. She is more needy and demanding and I am less equipped to deal with her behavior. Doesn't parenting sometimes seem like the cruelest joke is being played on you? Like – Although you are totally unable to deal with the slightest thing, such as spilling a tiny bit of cream on the counter without bursting into tears, you have this toddler who is completely unreasonable and inconsolable to look after. I almost start laughing sometimes because I can't believe how ridiculous things can be. Those are the times when I feel like I must really be going crazy.

Anyway, I am crossing my fingers for a good nights sleep tonight. Which will also make this fatigue sickness thing disappear and turn me into a perfectly patient, happy, wonderful mama by tomorrow. Yup. That's gonna happen.

Explanation

I realized that when I posted the video I was in that I never really gave much explanation. And surprisingly no one really asked any questions. Also somewhat surprisingly all the feedback was positive. Cool.

For any of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, here is the video.



I met Myles and his brother when I was 15. Since high school he hasn't been living close by for much of the time. He joined an art collective group for a while and made movies. But now he's living here again. We have been hanging out. And he writes music. And then we started singing together sometimes. And then we liked a song so much we decided to make a video to go with it. The End.

The best part is that the entire video was filmed in my living room with a blue screen behind us. And Myles magically put us in the subway, at an ATM and me – in jail. Awesome!

Anyway, thanks to those of you who have left nice comments. I'm not sure if there will be any more videos or not. It depends if anything else we do is that good again.

Winning Can Be So Sweet

I am happy to announce that long time client, first time winner Jen K is our Say WHAT? winner for this week. The quote certainly was from 'Weird Science'.


(Nice Picture Jen!)

I don't have a lot to say about this movie. I think it appeals more to the type of guys who essentially were the two main characters in the film when they were teenagers. Hormonally charged geeks. Since I have a weakness for geeks, it works for me.

Here's the trailer I found.

WARNING: There is a quick flash of a picture of a womans breasts. Just so that I don't surprise and thus offend any of you.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Jenn won last week by Googling the quote from 'Class'. Seriously people. Two Brat Packers. This one SHOULD be easy. (It's so easy for me to be smug when I don't have to guess...)



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!

“We need more input. We gotta fill this thing up with data. We gotta make her as real as possible, Wyatt. I want her to live. I want her to breathe. I want her to aerobicize.”

YouTubesday

It's funny on these days I seem to gravitate towards music videos... Interesting.

The first time I saw this video (1994) I fell in complete and utter love with Blur. They are all stinkin' cute, even the drummer although he's last on the list. And I still remember all of their names. I especially loved Alex's hair swaying back and forth as he rocked the bass guitar. From that moment on I have been a devoted Blur fan. Watching it again, I realize I had forgotten about the strange kissing bald people...



And now there is The Good, The Bad and The Queen. I saw an interview with Damon Albarn on The Hour. It was a really good interview but I couldn't help obsessing over the state of Damon's teeth. They are looking frighteningly similar to Shane McGowan's.



It's such a shame because he's such a freakin' cutie and rotten teeth are such a turn off. Maybe he's doing it on purpose. Maybe he's tired of being so darn handsome. Perhaps he thinks his good looks are preventing people from taking his music seriously. Maybe he's rejecting society's idea of what is attractive. But me? I like a pretty smile, so it upsets me. Anyway here is a video of theirs as well.

The Blur

Now that the warmer weather has finally arrived we have been trying to get out more. We have started taking Miss A to various playgrounds which are close to our house. On Sunday evening the three of us went for a stroll and had a play on this fabulous structure. As you can see there are plenty of things on which our little monkey can hone her climbing skilz. Her Grandma would have had about five heart attacks if she had been there with us. “Watch out! She's going to fall. Don't let her do that. Please make her get down.”






I had to set our camera to the sports setting and still I often was only able to catch her blurry body running by.




I think her expression in this photo pretty much captures the level of excitement that she has for this activity.



The only downside to doing this sort of thing with her is convincing her that it is time to go home. Her Dada usually has to haul her away kicking and screaming. Poor little psycho.

I am looking forward to setting up her little inflatable pool in the back yard. (A couple of months from now, it's still WAY too cold for that yet) I think it's going to be a blast. Who knows I may even get a tiny bit of a tan. That would be astounding.

I'm a Rapper, Yo

Here it is. My Rap video debut. 'ATM is a Robot' written by Myles. Performed by Myles and Mama D. Video by Myles.

And yes, the camera does add ten pounds. At least.

Hair

There are some new developments with hair around here. Mine, first of all. It's been a long time coming. I made a valiant return to 'The Bob'. As you can see looking way back to October 2005 that is the haircut I was sporting.



And then it grew. And grew. And grew. Until it ended up looking like this.



Which wasn't so bad. I could braid it. And put it up. Wear it wavy or straight. But most of the time I just put it in a pony tail. And I was getting less and less creative when it came to doing something interesting with it for work. Because I'm a hair stylist this can be problematic. So one day a couple of weeks ago I was driving to work and as my hair was sticking to my neck I thought “This hair is too hot (and not in the Paris Hilton way), it's got to go.” So the next day I let my boss cut it off.

This picture was taken on Peter's birthday. Rockin' the new hair. You can see it in action tomorrow when I post the Rap video I am in.




And then there is Miss A. Yesterday I gave her her very first pony tail. (Not counting bathtub ponies) It was special for church. She kept touching it when I first put it in and then she forgot about it. I could only fit the mullet part of her hair into the pony and everything else just looked short. I thought it was cute anyway. I long for the days when she'll have luxurious hair that we can actually do stuff with. I know, I know by then she likely won't let me come near her head with a ten foot pole. Let me have my dream...

Stumpers

Jenn finally Googled the quote. It's from "Class". I can't believe I stumped you all so badly two weeks in a row. I guess I'll pick something easy next week. I didn't really think this one was so hard. It's got both Rob Lowe AND Andrew McCarthy in it. Wasn't that reason enough to see a movie back then?



I couldn't find a trailer or a clip that was strictly from "Class' so this one has scenes from both 'Pretty in Pink' and 'Mannequin' in it. Any true Andy fan will be able to tell which is which. Personally, I think he looks the cutest in 'Class'. But I am an absolute sucker for a baby face. Which I'm pretty sure was the reason for his success. Because the acting? Looking back now, leaves a little to be desired.

Jenn asked me to tell you what I liked about this film or whether or not I'd recommend seeing it and I have to confess that I don't remember seeing it myself. I wouldn't be surprised if I did in fact see it though. Peter was the one who suggested it because honestly... sometimes I can't come up with anything. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to start cycling through movies I've used already, just picking different quotes.

Anyway, here is the video.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Alas, I have no one to link this week. No one won last week by identifying "Dangerous Liaisons". Just in case that ever happens again. That I don't actually tell you to Google. When it's Sunday, all bets are off. Go ahead. Just somebody win already!

Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



"One thing I don't need right now is the world according to Skippy here. Do us both a favour, huh? Just shut up."

YouTubesday

I got on the 'Buffy' train late. I resisted because it was so popular. But then Peter downloaded the first season a few years back. I reluctantly agreed to watch the first episode. Then the second, and the third. Next thing you know we had watched three seasons in one month and made up code language such as "Want to watch 'Buffy'?" Translation: "Wanna go to The Bronze?" (For non fans out there 'The Bronze' is the club they hung out at all the time as well as a place where much vampire shenanigans and slaying occurred.)

We finally caught up during the last season and had to wait to watch episodes week by week. It was torture. I was sad to see it end. It had been a fun obsession. One day I'm sure we'll watch all the episodes over again. It's fun to watch her style evolve from the late 90's to 2003.

Anyway, this is from the musical episode. (How cool is that?) Even if you aren't a Buffy fan you can probably appreciate this song or at the very least Anthony Head's singing. (Giles) Makes me a bit weak in the knees, it does.

"What can't we face if we're together?" Sounds like a good family motto to me.

Mama D's Journal (yawn...)

I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I don't really have anything to say. Well... nothing very interesting anyway. Yet I feel compelled to write SOMETHING, anything. So here goes.

Friday April 13th – Surprise party for Peter at our friends place. We had a BBQ and a DQ cake. Visited and played American Idol Karaoke Revolution. I was disappointed in my overall performance. I didn't dominate the way I did the last time we played. It was just okay for me, dog.

Saturday April 14th – After I finished work we finished the rest of our packing and headed to Winnipeg to stay with Peter's brother and family. Miss A periodically screamed for the last ½ hour of the drive nearly causing me to have an accident or purposely drive into oncoming traffic (just kidding). By the time we got there our nerves were frazzled but she wasn't finished screaming. We felt like terrible parents because we had zero patience left. Peter took A outside to play and all was well. We had a great supper and a really nice visit. Miss A refused to miss anything and wouldn't go to bed. She was very angry about being left in her playpen and wouldn't have anything to do with it. At 1 am I finally lay down with her in our bed and she fell asleep. I then snuck her back into the playpen where she slept the rest of the night.

Sunday April 15th – I went to the ABA while Peter and A stayed with the family. The hair show was pretty good. I was able to sit and listen to some really talented people and see some really cool hair. Miss A apparently had a really rough day because she was so dang tired. When Peter came to pick me up at the show she was already hardcore passed out in her car seat and proceeded to sleep the rest of the way home!

Monday April 16th – Peter's actual birthday. I arranged a babysitter and we went out for supper (gift certificate, YEAH!) and to 'Blades of Glory'. Yes, it was funny. We had a nice time. It was so great to have some time together.

Tuesday April 17th – Watched a friend's two kids in the morning, filmed a rap video with a friend in the afternoon. Yes, you read that right. I'm a bit scared, but knowing him it will turn out awesome. I will link the video when it is finished. Played volleyball in the evening and the other team killed us. At least I got to slide across the gym floor on my kneepads a few times.

That pretty much catches you all up. Looking back I guess I haven't had a lot of time to write either. Wake up! It's over.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Today is my dear sweet husband's birthday.

Happy Birthday, my love. You are my best friend, a wonderful father and the hunkiest man I know.

A video from the Karaoke Revolution surprise party extravaganza soon to follow!

No Winner?

I was away at a hair show today and I didn't remind you all to Google this quote.

It is from 'Dangerous Liaisons' set in the 1700's but an eighties film none the less. I find John Malkovich irresistible in this movie which is exactly the point I suppose. The hair, costumes and makeup are lovely and although it's a terribly depressing film it is also hopeful in a way.

Anyhow. Since it would seem that most of you haven't seen it, I suggest that you do. Here is a small taste.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

The Big Fugr made a big comeback with his knowledge of Tom Cruise movies. Good job!



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!




"Well I had no choice, did I? I'm a woman. Women are obliged to be far more skillful than men. You can ruin our reputation and our life with a few well-chosen words. So of course I had to invent not only myself but ways of escape no one has ever thought of before. And I've succeeded because I've always known I was born to dominate your sex and avenge my own."

YouTubesday

I know Plantain is not a big John Mayer fan but I keep trying to change her mind. Maybe this video can do it. It has to be my favorite song by him. Come on. How can you help yourself? The way he plays his guitar, both gently and rough. It's perfection.

And don't even get me started about his hair. Delicious.

Ah crap, I have to link it. Embedding is disabled. Go there. Watch it. Love it.

Why I Blog

I'm still trying to catch my breath after Easter. You would THINK that I would be rested because I took Saturday off which meant I had five, that's right FIVE days off in a row. But you see we traveled on Friday to see my mother in law and traveled back Sunday only to quickly unpack and head to my mothers for Easter supper. We were lucky enough to have Peter home on Monday as well but the day seemed to fly by with yet more food at my moms and my first class back at TaeKwon Do. (YAY!) And today wasn't much better. The A-ster and I were running all day. So needless to say I'm not feeling very rested. Sigh...

I do have a story for you all to enjoy. A story that will make the majority of my readers breathe sighs of relief that their children have never done such a thing.

The story takes place at Grandma D's house. Once we were settled in after the two hour drive most of which A spent sleeping the four of us were enjoying a bit of television together. Miss A often goes up to the television to point out something to everyone. Not a big deal. But for some reason she suddenly decided that it would be a good idea for her to try to climb the television. She placed one hand then the other on the top of the TV. We all sat there watching, yet seemingly paralyzed.

And then it happened. The TV began to fall. There was nothing any of us could do. And just like in an action movie Miss A somehow dodged out of the way of the falling television set. And stood there in shock as it sat screen down on the floor. I yelled her name out of instinct immediately causing her to begin crying. Peter set the TV back on the entertainment center only to find that the color was all messed up like the way a calculator screen goes all crazy when you push on it. Luckily we had a spare TV to use because, for goodness sakes what would we do without TV?

Grandma was very gracious and not at all angry. She was just so relieved that A wasn't hurt as were Peter and I but once those feelings wore off we were just blown away by the fact that our offspring had just destroyed something so expensive. She now holds the record in both our families for the most expensive thing wrecked by a grandchild.

I can't help but be embarrassed. I feel negligent. What if she had gotten hurt? Then I guess I'd just feel worse. Seriously, I didn't order such a busy, rambunctious, monkey of a child. I ordered a well behaved, calm, relaxed one. Who messed up my order?

We offered to buy Grandma a new television. Of course she declined. She 'needed' a bigger one anyway. Not to worry. Yeah. Thanks Grandma. We promise to keep her away from all of your expensive appliances from now on. Or bring a medium sized cage to keep her in when we visit.

My only consolation when stuff like this happens is that I can blog about it. Imagining the shocked looks, the “Oh No!”'s, the hands held up to you mouths when you read that A almost pulled a television set down on top of herself, makes it all worth while. Knowing that someone can feel comforted by the fact that while their child may be mischievous and get into their fair share of trouble they have never broken a television. That friends, brings me comfort and it is the reason I blog.

Ashamed to Win

The Big Fugr won although he was ashamed he knew the quote. When Peter threw 'Cocktail' out as a suggestion I had to look it up to see that it was indeed an 80's movie. Sure enough it was made in 1988. I always thought of it as more of a crappy 90's film. That made it seem like a good pick. I thought it might be more of a challenge.

I'm not a huge fan of Tom either frankly but if I had to pick a decade that I liked him most it would have to be the 80's. Back in the day before braces, jumping on couches and trying to give people advice on treating depression. Come on now. That's just silly.

But I have to say that 'Vanilla Sky' is one of my favorite movies. For so many reasons.

Anyway here is an infamous drink mixing scene for ya'll to enjoy. And also to remind you not to bother watching it again.

Say WHAT?

Happy Easter everyone! I'll be posting the winner on Monday. Have fun!

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Omar is really getting into the swing of this game, pulling out another win last week. If he keeps this up he'll be setting records soon.

Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



“I don't care how liberated this world becomes - a man will always be judged by the amount of alcohol he can consume - and a woman will be impressed, whether she likes it or not.”

YouTubesday

This song was performed at the Junos (Canadian Music Awards) last Sunday. I'd never heard of DJ Champion before. Wow. He is amazing. I love how he jumps around and pumps his arms excitedly. And I think Beatrice Bonifassi sounds amazing. Her voice is really incredible and unique.

Anyway, I had to share it with you all. It makes me want to dance. But then again, it doesn't take much...

Something for the Scrapbook

Due to the graphic nature of this post (mentioning pee and poo which I refuse to call anything other than those names) viewer discretion is advised.

Okay. Something really weird happened yesterday. As Miss A was finishing her lunch she started getting what I like to call the “doin' her business” face. And let me say now if I haven't mentioned it before that we've had the potty set up in our bathroom for a while now. You know just for her to get used to the idea. She's sat on it many times (mostly with her clothes on) and wiped her (clothed) bum with toilet paper. So she had the idea. Also my mother had been hassling me lately, telling me that she was so obvious when filling her diaper that she'd be 'easy' to potty train. Ha! I thought.

But today when I saw that face I thought, what the heck. So I explained that 'we' were going to sit on the potty. We took off her diaper and down she sat. I read her a book a few times in a row as she sat there and wiggled around a bit. I honestly didn't think she was doing anything at all until I smelled a little something. I assumed that she may have left a tiny poo behind which I would celebrate with her anyway. Then we looked through a home decorating magazine after which she seemed to want to get off the potty.

When she did I was shocked and surprised to see that there was a tiny amount of pee and a very nearly adult sized poo sitting in the potty. Quickly I started clapping my hands (as I've been told you should celebrate and congratulate the child) and saying 'Yay! Good girl! You went on the potty!' She clapped her hands also but seemed a bit confused and also shocked about what was in there.

I had to take a picture (I know what you're thinking but I'm comfortable with the fact that I'm a sicko) and I immediately emailed it to Peter at work with little explanation. He promptly called me back for further details. I can hardly wait to scrapbook this poo photo using decorative brown and yellow paper and stenciling 'Miss A's first Poo on the Potty!' JUST KIDDING!!! But it will make a great bribery photo when she's a teenager. “By all means A, go ahead and disobey me. Just expect to see that photo of your first poo in the newspaper next week.”

Now before anyone gets all “I can't believe you potty trained your child at 18 months!” let me be clear. I haven't! In fact now I'm feeling all this pressure to start potty training. When I put her on the potty I didn't actually think she'd do anything! I started getting all stressed about it after it happened like, so does this mean I have to start potty training or what? But she can't really tell me that she needs to go. How are we going to do this? I don't know what I'm doing... AhhhhH! Then I took some deep breaths and realized that I can take things slowly and gradually. And that is what we are doing. Today we haven't used the potty at all. Maybe after her nap. Maybe not.

But it's still exciting. The prospect of not having to buy diapers anymore is exciting. I know I have the accidents, bum wiping and so forth to look forward to but still... exciting. And although the poo photo exists and I'm tempted to post it because I am sick like that I'll simply post a shot of the infamous potty...

Tantrum Update 2007

Thanks to all of you who gave me any advice on toddler tantrums. Especially to my friend KT who actually contacted her sister-in-law (Early Childhood Educator) on my behalf. I've been taking it all in and applying advice as necessary. Upon re reading my post I realized that I made myself sound completely incompetent which, although that's how I may feel, is not exactly accurate. I will give myself some credit and say that after reading more about how to correctly deal with tantrums I have found I'm doing a lot of those things already.

I do find that the majority of things I read or am told apply more to slightly older children. She's really too young yet to understand if I try to explain stuff to her for instance “We are running late so I'm going to carry you instead of letting you walk down the stairs yourself because it'll take forever!” or “You can't run around on that wet floor because you're going to fall and crack your head open!” or “You can't have that pen because you are going to scribble all over the door (again) or yourself.”

But I am learning what is likely to set her off and so I can try to avoid it. Except for those times when it's just something random or a tantrum has resulted in pure fatigue, which is sometimes unavoidable. I don't know if it's getting better or if I'm getting better at dealing with them. Or just getting used to them. Except that eardrum piercing scream. I could never get used to that.

If nothing else I have a lot of great ideas that are going to be awesome as she gets just a bit older. Such as setting a timer for when it's time to get out of the bath. That one will be awesome. Right now it would be all - Ding! “Hey, that was a cool noise! Let me have that thing so I can bring it into the tub with me, I won't break it. What do you mean I can't? But I want it... I need it! Give it to me!! WAAAAHHHH!!!”

Um. Yeah. That's pretty much how it would go down.

But I do try to explain things to her. Even if I think she won't understand, because really, she's pretty smart. And she'll catch on eventually. Just look at me. Once I was just a girl with a new baby. Now I'm a Mama.

Does This Mean I'm Famous Now?

Have you noticed anything different about my blog lately? Anything? I'll give you a hint it's on my sidebar. The thing on the right. Scroll down. Way down. Past the Links and just above my sitemeter. It's a little shopping link. It's small, it's baby related and I GET $25 DOLLARS A MONTH TO HAVE IT ON MY SIDEBAR!!! Isn't that CRAZY?!

I mean I knew that you could get advertising to put on your blog and you could get paid for it and I always thought “How annoying.” Not the getting paid part but the big, ugly, flashing ads on your website. It would ruin the look of my pretty pink and brown page. But then the Crazy Hip Blog Mamas contacted me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I could put this itty bitty, unobtrusive link on my sidebar and get paid for it. Well alrighty then.

So now that I'm getting paid to blog (sort of) I figure this means I can call myself a professional blogger. And soon I'll be famous. And then you can say “I knew her before she was famous.”

Won't that be cool?

Boys and War Movies

I had a feeling either Omar or The Big Fugr were going to get my quote this week but I was ready to be surprised and impressed that one of my female readers would know a war movie quote. But I found my suspicions were correct once I saw that Omar recognized the character 'Animal Mother' from 'Full Metal Jacket'.

This movie is one of Peter's favorites. I love Matthew Modine and don't mind a good war movie every now and then. Vincent D'Onofrio is amazing in this movie. Why that man has never won an Academy Award I don't understand, honestly.

I can't seem to stomach anything with much violence since having A so I don't know if I'll be able to watch these sort of movies anymore. Not such a bad thing I suppose. The last movie I saw was wonderfully fluffy and made me laugh out loud several times. I guess I'll stick with those kinds of films at least until my actual life is a bit less tense.