tagged!

From Emily's blog

The Rules:-

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)

Find Page 123.

Find the first 5 sentences.

Post the next 3 sentences.

Tag 5 people.

"I was nervous at first but it worked like a dream. I kept my part of the bargain: I stayed out of his way and was very polite to him when I was in his company. Mum asked me, did I like him and I opened my eyes very wide, which is a good thing to do if you're telling something not exactly true, and I said I thought Kent was just find and Mum said I was a good son, a very good son indeed, and her eyes got watery so I took myself off."

From Maeve Binchy's Whitethorn Woods

I tag : Billie, Bonnie, Magan, Monika and Teri

in case anyone needs a brush-up on babies

if you need a refresher course on baby care, please check this link out.

you may learn something important.

or you may laugh really hard.

perhaps both.

winter blahs

I am SO over winter right now. It's been so cold lately, and when it was less cold, we were all sick. I haven't had the kids out to play in the yard in forever. Makes me feel like a bad mom.

This is our third winter here, second full one. I'm really glad it's sunny today, because I'm done with the gray and dreary days. Easter is in two months, and there will most probably be snow. Who sings "I'm dreaming of a white Easter"? Nobody, that's who. I can't picture at least two more months of snow, maybe 3, depending on how well it melts.

I understand why people run off to tropical places. My friend Jen was talking the other day about how she wishes she was back in Jamaica...and I almost, for a second, felt sorry for her. Which I told her, and then we laughed. I don't know, is it better to go somewhere south, warm and sunny to come home to winter...or not to go and to never have your system totally shocked by boarding a plane in hot temperatures, and arriving to a deep freeze? Maybe I'll have to try the tropical vacation to compare...

Too bad my husband went into a career that is not known for it's high wages. On the other hand, he made the front page of one of the local weekly papers yesterday. It's a picture of him using my hairdryer to melt the lock of the church door. My hair dryer is almost famous!

what's in a name?

I was listening to CBC radio yesterday morning while doing the breakfast thing. On the Sunday Edition, there was a conversation about women's names. About taking husbands names, or keeping maiden names. That there has been a large return in the USA to women taking their husbands names at marriage. Something like 90% of women marrying recently will take their husband's name.

I took my husband's name. I liked my maiden name, it was easy to spell, easy to say, and neither too common or unusual. I used it for work purposes, it was part of my identity. I also had no issue with taking Rob's last name. Equally easy to say and spell, if with one more syllable than my maiden name. If our last names together didn't sound so silly, I may have hyphenated, maybe not. I mainly took his name, not just out of tradition, but because I wanted it to be easy for identification of the relationship between us and our future (at that point) children. For us all to have a common last name.

There are women out there who believe that taking your husband's last name is a slap in the face to feminism, yadda, yadda. That women need to step out of the system that keeps them labeled at their husband's property.

I don't buy that. After all, isn't our "unmarried name" just showing that we belong to our father? I smell a bit of irony.

very interesting food for thought

on benign neglect of children

I fully think this justifies me drinking coffee and flipping through a magazine in the morning while my kids run up and down the hall playing monster and dress up.

bummer

I was at my mom's this weekend, got the boy and I looked at by a doc - we're both fine and on the mend. went to church with my mom, and got to sit through an entire service. the kids went to the Sunday school, and did great. I finally got to sit and hear a sermon without handing out sippy cups, keeping a squirmy toddler from swinging on the pew in front of us, or teaching Sunday school. Great, right? no. mom's priest is not a great preacher. He didn't reference the bible lesson at all, and I'm still not quite sure what his point was. Maybe I should get Rob's sermon notes from yesterday instead.

blah

influenza is a nasty thing. let's just say that 2008 hasn't been a great year so far, courtesy of said illness in this house.

Happy New Year!

Just for a New Year's laugh (at me), here's a rundown of my Christmas Eve, after having egg nog bread pudding and wine at J's house.

goodness.

DH left at 6 to make sure our church was ready to go for our 7pm service. I was "hair done, make up on, just not dressed" at that point. The kids were still finishing up supper.

So I get the kids dressed. Ruby is struggling to poop (ongoing issue), so I need to give her a little helper (suppository...nice....). While I'm doing that, my dad phones long distance and is chatty. I'm trying to multi-task, it's all good. Then Ruby poops. Oh my. that's all I will say about that, except that I accidentally flush the toilet when she wants to do it. whoops.

Then we are just about ready to head out the door. I realize I'm still in my yoga pants and tank top. I run into my room, throw on my jeans and my nice shirt. Good to go. Remote start the van, take the kids out (and it's *just* below freezing -yay! finally warm!), get them into the van with minimal issue. Except that my pants are feeling funny. I put on the too big jeans. So I run back into the house and grab my belt, and put it on as I'm walking back outside. Then I realize that my belt is too big, so back inside to jab a new belt hole.

We get to church, that's all good. Kids are wound up, lots of fun. They handle the service well - including Ruby actually yelling "baby Jesus" and holding up the baby Jesus from our pageant yesterday when he's talking about her stealing the baby Jesus at the end of yesterday's pageant. Oh ya, that's *during* the sermon. After the sermon (which we do in near darkness), we light candles and sing Silent Night. Guess whose daughters manage to drip wax on her, from both sides.

Then, Norah decides she needs to use the washroom. Apparently, I'm not allowed in to help her. UNTIL she's stuck on the toilet and can't reach the paper. After pooping. Did I neglect to mention she had locked the stall door? Guess who got to slither under the stall door.

So now I'm home, all is well. I took the kids driving to look at lights and wind down. Then we got home and all into bed.

Then I got to plunge the toilet (see earlier pooping incident).

Merry Christmas - can only go up from here, right???