This is what I get for sleeping in

Remember when I posted and said that Sacha was wonderful for letting me sleep in?  Until 7:18?  I take it back.  He was just easing me into the hell that is today.  As it stands, it is 2:50 pm, and he napped for, oh 45 minutes.  That's it.  He spent the rest of the day screaming at me.  Including right now.

Did I also mention that he refuses to eat anything that is not either a) a peach, b) yogurt, or c) dessert tofu or d) chocolate covered cookies?

Save me.  PLEASE!

You know you're a parent when...

Tony doesn't really bother to set his alarm to wake up in the morning. That's what we have Sacha for.  To wake us up at the crack of 6:00 am each and every day.

This morning, however, he let us sleep in.  Until 7:18 am!  We were so ecstatic!  Sleeping in!  The sad part is that 7:18 is not sleeping in by anyone's standards.  Except ours.

What does sleeping in mean to you?  I pray for your sake that it is not 7:18 am.

Schmoozapalooza

Oh. My. Yellow. Lilies. I don't have a speech prepared! I wasn't expecting this! I don't know what to do!

Kara over at You Can't Reason With Crazy awarded me this:

I know I'm a chatterbox, but now I am an AWARD-WINNING chatterbox! Chatty, but in a nice way. In a way that spreads the warmth of the online community through our madly-typing fingers. Mostly, though, I like posting comments on everyone else's blog because I love reading comments on my own posts. Do unto others, that sort of thing.

And now it's time to share the love!

I hereby award the Schmoozer award to (drum roll please):

Andi over at Poot and Cubby: She started her blogging addiction hobby a year ago, and has managed to get rave reviews and her fair share of faithful readers and referrers since then. She's all about growing the fan base.

Erika at Plain Jane Mom: I know, this is a given. She consistently links to lesser known blogs and gives them the recognition they deserve. She has probably already been awarded several times, but I think it bears repeating.

Kristi at Here In Idaho and School House Rock: I love her sense of humour, and I admire her determination to homeschool her children PROPERLY. As well as share her experiences with the world while doing this.

Mrs. Chicken at Chicken and Cheese: She took the time to comment on this, which meant a great deal to me.

And lastly, I award this to Pharmadaddy: He just entered the blogosphere recently, and devotes some time everyday to read the latest happenings on his google reader, as well as posting on being a father, being a husband and being a pharmacist (complete with a Q&A feature).

PS - The fact that I am sleeping with Pharmadaddy bears no weight on my decision to award him this. None whatsoever.

7 things you should know about my weekend

For lack of creativity, here is a brief and colourful description of our weekend.*

1. Tony had 3 days off, so we were able to do some fun family stuff, like, say swim in our pool. All 3 of us at the same time! That's only the second time. EVER.



2. Sacha has decided that he HATES baths. For the past 11 months, we have been lucky. Now, bath toys are equivalent to a whip, those balls with the spikes on them, and a Chinese bamboo shoot growing up your butt.

3. Sacha has developed another ear infection. EEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAAAAH! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW! That's what I've been listening to all day. ALL. DAY.

4. I'm grossly overtired, despite my wonderful husband's acts of getting up with Sacha in the morning and letting me sleep in. It's rather hard to sleep while listening to GAAAAAAAAAAAAAW! DADADADADADADADADA! EEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAW!

5. Did I mention that Sacha now wakes up at 6:00 am everyday without fail?

6. Plumbing is my child's future:



7. My testicularly-brained husband cannot be trusted with a camera:


**I spent all my creative energies on garageband last night. Hoping to get into the studio next month :)

Zesty Tortellini al Forno

Mrs. Mustard is here to share one of my FAVOURITE mom recipes. I call it a mom recipe because it originated as an easy dinner to make and quickly evolved into a faithful standby.



Zesty Tortellini al Forno

• 1 lb fresh tortellini (I use cheese filled)


• 3 bell peppers of your choice, cut up into chunks. I like using red, green and yellow.


• 1 medium onion, cut into chunks


• 1 lb fresh white mushrooms, sliced


• 4 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 lb hot Italian sausages


• 1 jar (940 mL) of your favourite spaghetti sauce. I've used all kinds, and it really doesn't affect the overall taste of the dish


• 1/4 tsp dried oregano


• 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning


• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped up


• dash cayenne pepper


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese

NOW, to put it all together:

1. Prepare the tortellini as indicated on the package. Usually they boil for 8 minutes to reach al dente. Drain and set aside.


2. Brown the sausages in a skillet. Remove from heat and slice into rounds.


3. Sauté the vegetables and garlic in a large pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle the oregano, parsley, Mrs. Dash, salt and peppers on the vegetables as they cook.


4. Add the sausage pieces to the vegetables and add the spaghetti sauce. Stir and heat through.


5. Add the tortellini to the veggie and sausage mixture. Stir to coat the tortellini well.


6. Place in a 4 qt casserole dish. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top.


7. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.

EAT AND ENJOY! Serves 6 (depending on how much you eat).

My son (11 months) loves this dish! I've puréed it for him as well as cut it up into bite-sized chunks for him to eat as finger food. What's nice about it is that you hit all 4 food groups in one yummy dish.

As an added note to you vegetarians out there, I originally created this dish without the sausages, so just omit those and go for it!

You could also substitute ground sausage meat instead of using actual sausages, but I quite enjoy the little rounds of sausage on my plate.

I always knew I wasn't a Slytherin

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Although, I also pictured Hufflepuffs as pudgy little short people who had big poofy hair and chubby cheeks. I am short, but none of the rest.

Memology 101

As tagged by Andi over at Poot and Cubby. You know I can't resist a good meme!

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I laughed when I read this. Fortunately for all you out there, I kept a diary from the ages 12 to 18. So, after a quick look, I found my diary from 1997 and even found an entry from June 27/97, 11:33 pm:

I am so pathetic! Every love song on the radio reminds me of Brenton and they're all starting to make sense to me now. Every cartoon and TV show I see reminds me of him and us. I watched Aladdin and seeing Aladdin and Jasmine together in love made me think of me and Brenton. How pathetic is that! This feeling I have for him makes me act and think pathetically. You know you're really happy when you find yourself relating to love on cartoons! I'm even singing corny love songs and they're so beautiful! Just like our relationship!

Oh sweet blooming petunias. LMAO! I was 15 when I wrote that, just so you don't all think I'm a total loser. That is possibly the cheesiest thing I've ever read. I think this diary may be good for a laugh-a-thon at my expense.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
I'll give you a hint: I was about 40 lbs heavier and wearing stretchy pants every day. Oh, and my stomach moved as though possessed by an alien.



Five Snacks You Enjoy

1. Anything from Starbucks


2. Apple slices and sharp cheddar


3. Salsa and nachos to bring it to my mouth


4. Celery with nutella smeared on it


5. Stawnichy's sausage

Five Songs That You Know All The Lyrics To
Only five? Well, here are some off the top of my head:

1. Possession - Sarah McLachlan


2. Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne


3. What Hurts the Most- Rascal Flatts


4. Bubbly - Colbie Caillat


5. Angel - Sarah McLachlan (I used to sing this to S to put him to sleep or calm him down when he was a wee newborn)

Five Things You Would Do If You Were a Millionaire

1. Pay off Andi's student loans


2. Pay off Tony's effing contract


3. Buy my Baba a new car and a condo


4. Set up a scholarship in memory of my dad through the U of A or NAIT


5. Buy a Starbucks

Five Bad Habits

1. Playing the what-if game for EVERYTHING


2. Chewing my nails


3. Picking my acne, and Tony's. Gross, I know. It's a problem, really. Did I mention that I was crazy?


4. Losing my keys


5. Staying up too late and then bitching when I am tired in the morning.

Five Things You Like To Do

1. What I wouldn't give to just be able to sit and play the piano for hours on end, composing and singing and being the creative me that has gone into hiding since August 25th of last year.


2. Shop


3. Golf - when I can get away, and when I can get a tee-time


4. Knit


5. Drink Starbucks beverages

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again

THIS!!!

1. Bathing suits with the little skirts on them


2. Mathing outfits with my mother and sisters (see above). Oh the humanity!


3. Those really pointy-toe shoes. They look great on everyone but me.


4. Any dress that requires me to go braless.


5. Any bra size less than a D cup

Five Favorite Toys

I don't play with toys (much), but I used to enjoy

1. Lego - and not the dumb pink ones.  REAL lego, dammit!


2. my old fisher price record player


3. Ice cream pails - for collecting things, wearing as helmets,etc


4. Broomsticks and string to go fishing in our ditch in the front yard. Oh, and rocks for bait.  My dad loved that (insert sarcastic laugh here).


5. Blankets and pillows to make forts in our living room.  My mom loved that.  Made cleaning SO easy, right?

As for tagging, my sister loves doing these, but she is behind on her memes, so I'll just tag Krista and Kara instead.  The Kloganistas!

Colbie Caillat - Making my ears happy

I am always on the lookout for new artists, new sounds.  I read Lefsetz Letter and found an entry about this new song, Bubbly.  "GO GET IT!" the letter implored.  "This is a HIT!"

I searched it on iTunes and found it to be by a new artist, Colbie Caillat.  I listened to it, then listened to the rest of the tracks on her new album, Coco, and immediately clicked the BUY NOW button.  For $7.99, I've found a new treasure.  I cannot get enough of the entire album. It's always a bonus when you buy a CD and can listen to the whole thing without skipping through those annoying token ballads, or poppy crap-0 tunes.  In fact, I like it enough that I would pay a lot more than $7.99 for it.

Even Tony is smittin' with it, and it's not just because she has a pretty face!  It's not often that Tony and I agree on musical tastes (he prefers the loud screeching nails-on-a-chalkboard of death metal and the like), so you know it's gotta be good if we can both agree to listen to it every day since I bought it.

A little background: Colbie Caillat got her start on myspace, of all places, and accumulated a huge fan base there before being signed to a label.  There are entire tracks there that you can listen to or download for free, so I would strongly suggest you check it out.  You'll thank me later.

Wordless Wednesday - NOT THE DVDs!

It's not easy to be me

I think that I have a slight problem.  Please review the following and advise.

1. My clothes hanging in the closet MUST be arranged in the following order: red, orange, pink, yellow, green, blue, white, brown, black.  Any clothes with more than one colour are ordered according to their dominant colour.


2. My bed must be made daily, even if this means making it at 10:00 pm and going to bed at 10:01 pm.


3. My morning  shower is followed by pill-taking and teeth-brushing, come hell of screaming child.  Afterward,  preening and fixing of hair takes place in my skivies.


4. Glasses are to be organized in the cupboard by height, width, and only stacked if absolutely necessary.  So help me if I look in the cupboard and see stacked glasses and empty space!  Or a tall glass sitting in front of a tumbler.  OH THE PAIN!


5. Whenever I put something in the microwave, I always take it out 20-30 seconds before the timer goes off.


6. When I misplace something like, say, an iPod nano, and realize at 10:30 pm that it is missing, I obsess and cannot sleep until I have found it.  Turn the house upside down if I must.  Then, once found, I put it away in its proper place and never think about it again.


7. I shave my legs on Fridays.  Only Fridays.  Since I was 13.

So, am I crazy yet?

MIA

Not dead.  Just reading Harry Potter. On page 200 or so.  Reading is slower now that must entertain 11-month old.  Will be back when done.

Don't post any spoilers!! This means YOU!

BlogMe 2007

I've heard all the hype. I've read all the anticipatory posts. But I won't be at the BlogHer 2007 conference.  I just can't swing it.
What I can do, however, is BlogMe 2007,as started by the wonderful Mocha Momma.



I'm Sarah aka Perogy Princess aka Ms. Cheeze Whiz.  I've been blogging and such for 1 year, which started as a way to keep in touch with my fam and friends when we moved to Ontario for my husband's work.

I am a 25 year old SAHM, formerly a french immersion and math teacher.  I LOVES the math!

I was 20 when I got married and we now have an 11 month old son.

I am a little artsy: I am a pianist, vocalist, amateur songwriter, former Ukrainian dancer, former figure skater.

I am a little Type A: My closet is organized by colour, my cups and glasses MUST be arranged in a certain way in the cupboard, and I get really antsy whenever someone else is in my kitchen.  Even when they're cooking for me.  I'm just that crazy.

I could live at Starbucks, but I think they'd kick me out eventually...

Tell me about yourself! Just click on the fancy button...

Mrs. Mustard does Meatballs

This one has been a family favourite for over 20 years. It may sound strange when you read the recipe, and *egaad* it's a form of meatloaf. WIth an egg in the middle?! WTF?! But I guarantee you, it's not your Aunt Bessie's greasy mushy loaf. Easy to make, yummy to eat!

Scotch Meat Loaves with Sweet Chili Sauce


Prepare 4 hardboiled eggs. Let cool and peel. Set aside.

• 1 lb hamburger


• 1/4 cup finely chopped onions


• 1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper


• 3/4 cup dried bread crumbs (or crushed crackers)


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 egg


• dash pepper

Combine these ingredients in a bowl. Use your hands, get nice and dirty! Divide the meat mixture into 4 equal parts.

Take one section of the meat and wrap it around one hardboiled egg to form a large meatball, roughly the size of a fist. Well, my fist, anyway. Repeat for all 4 eggs to get 4 meatballs.

Place in a glass baking dish. Cook at 350 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the chili sauce:

• 1/2 cup ketchup


• 2 tbsp water


• 1 tsp white vinegar


• 1/2 tsp chili powder


• 1/4 tsp dried oregano

Combine these ingredients and stir well. After the meatballs have cooked for 30 minutes, drain off any fat (if you want to go that way). Spoon chili sauce over the meatballs. Return to oven and cook another 15 minutes. Enjoy!



Tips:

• I usually double the sauce as it is a huge favourite, and we love eating it on rice.


• We also enjoy grating cheese over the meatballs in the last few minutes of cooking. Cheddar, mozzarella, monterey jack, whatever you like!


• Sometimes, when I want to make my meat stretch further, I can make 5 meatballs using 1 lb of meat. Just for shits and giggles.


• I usually serve these with rice and steamed broccoli (which is not in the picture, but I was out of broccoli). The sauce tastes great with those little trees!

Marley, dude

Here is my latest yarn creation.  Well, in progress.  I have yet to make the "Marley toppers" as they are called in the pattern.  A sort of pompom, if you will, made to look like a Bob Marley hat.  Don't you just hate weaving in ends?!

 

Waiting

I'm tired of living here, away from everyone I love.  I was just getting used to it when my next door neighbour, a fellow mom with young kids, started a "my house is your house" sort of agreement between us that resulted in having adult conversation and friendship almost every day while my husband was at work.  Now, she says that she is moving - husband's work, yadda yadda.  I know that story all too well.


She's been gone on holidays for 3 weeks, and already I want to die of the monotony of it all. Wake up in the morning, feed S, play with S, watch Backyardigans, put S down for a nap, shower, go on the computer, S gets up, we play, have lunch, nap, wake up, go for a walk, park, play, supper, bedtime.  Repeat.  Every. Day.  

I spend so much time on the computer just to feel like I have friends and family close by, which I don't.  I would not call 4 provinces and 3000 km away "close by." If I was better at making friends, I wouldn't have this problem.  I am not, however, what you would call a social butterfly, and I look at other moms pushing their strollers and long to scream out "HELLO!  CAN I BE YOUR FRIEND?"  But I don't.  That's just not me.   Read my old post: "Making riends: the new dating.".

I miss my mom.  I miss my sisters.  I miss my grandparents, my aunt, my cousins, my kids (aka students). I miss my in-laws (call me crazy...).  I miss my best friends.  I miss life. 

My life right now is a waiting game. Just waiting.  Waiting for T to come home for lunch, waiting for T to come home at the end of the day.  Waiting for August when I fly away from here and visit everyone for a month. Waiting to meet Arlo and kiss his sweet head.  Waiting to see Elliot and dance ridiculous dances and sing silly songs with her. Waiting to see Sara and visit over pedicures.  Waiting to introduce Kaloni, my best friend since the third grade, to Sacha.  Waiting to hug my mom. Waiting to stitch and bitch with Andi while she spends all my money for me. Waiting for T's contract to be up next summer. 

Waiting.

I'm tired of it, and I'm tired of feeling this way. 

Giftology 101

I came across s truly unique and heartwarming story while perusing a site on giftology. What is giftology, you may ask? Well, according to my spell-check, it is not a real word. BUT it is a new an interesting phenomenon (see the site here). There is a lot of interesting food for thought on this site, so even if it takes a few visits to snag it all, it is well worth it!

**********

My son snagged the keyboard yesterday and threw it on the floor. My space bar now requires a good kick in the qwerty to work. Freaken crap.

A snippit into my mind

In the spirit of meandering back into babyville, I've been thinking about what I am going to do with my life when my babies are all grown up. Or even, what I am going to do to maintain some sort of connection with the outside adult world while fingerpainting with food-coloured corn syrop and duct taping diapers onto my son in the backwards position.

How does that saying go? If money were no object, what would you most want to do with your life? Job-wise, that is. Hmmm...what would I most want...get ready for stream-of-consciousness ramblings!

I am a teacher. That's what paid the bills when I was supporting T while he was still in school. I loved it. I loved my kids, some of whom still keep in touch with me via e-mail, facebook. etc. The fact that I still refer to them as my kids means something. Yes, I think I would teach, even if it meant never making a million bucks or living in a mansion or ever being in People. I would do it and I would love it.

On the other hand, I've always wanted to do something musical. Not the old standard of be a star, get famous, live in a mansion, be on the cover of Rolling Stone, but something related. I would be a songwriter. I've been doing it for years just for myself, but damn! If I could make money doing it, it would rock! Sell my songs to some artist who would then pay me royalties for using it. It's creative, it's musical...yes, I think I would do that.

On the other foot, I would like to try and publish a book. Not a novel, I have no hope of that. Poetry. Which I hear is really hard to do, since there's not so much a market for new poets nowadays. But I think I would do that. Maybe I'll give it a go, see if anyone wants to read my stuff. I don't care about the money, just the idea of sharing my weird twisted mind with the world.

But I guess I do that here.

The hardcover binding would be a nice touch, though.

What would you do?

So there it is

We are now trying for another baby.  I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but we are going for it before we have the second one and realize we're in total shit and are never going to sleep again and Sacha will further spread his chaos throughout the house, like get into the ribbon drawer and messes up all the ribbons while I'm nursing and I can't do a thing about it.

Is gravy a talent?

 

As tagged by my rockin' awesome sister-in-law/knitter in crime

1. Were you named after anyone? Interestingly, there are two stories to this. My dad swears that I was named after the Fleetwood Mac song while my mother says that it was after my great grandmother. I tend to think both stories are true. Good old communication in my house.

2. When was the last time you cried? You know, I can't remember. I think I've gone hard. Stone hard.

3. Do you like your handwriting? Sure! Although my students used to say that my z's looked like 3s. Oh well, what do kids know...

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Stawnichy's garlic sausage. I grew up on the stuff. Used to eat an entire ring as a snack. Although I can't get it out here in T-town.

5. Do you have kids? Yes, a 10 month old boy.

6. If you were another person would you be friends with you? I've been told that I appear judgmental, so I would probably think that I was a snob and snubbing myself,so I would start badtalking myself behind my back, and then probably not really want to get to know me, even though if I did, I would realize that I am not judgmental and that it's just my normal facial expression.

7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Fo sho!

8. Do you still have your tonsils? yup

9. Would you bungee jump? I don't think so. The opportunity presented itself with the possibility of scoring some cool points for doing it, but I didn't have the hroshi to do it.

10. What is your favorite cereal? Reese Peanut Butter Puffs. They're the perfect cereal/snack/junk item of the millennium!

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Not so much

12. Do you think you are strong? Physically, I'm a tank. Mentally, I'm a fish tank in great need of some cleaning.

13. What is your favorite ice cream? I like ice cream in general. Of the regular kinds, chocolate chip mint rocks my world.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Smiles, how their eyes light up (IF they light up) when they talk about something. Then hair. I love funky hair.

15. Red or Pink? PINK

16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? I'm the worst at what-iffing when there is no need for it. And I'm an awful morning grump.

17. Who do you miss the most? This is a loaded question, as I live 3000 km from everyone I really know and love. So if I specify one name and not another, I'm in the chicken coup (not even good enough for the doghouse). Let's just say I miss my mom. That's a pretty safe answer, and it should earn me brownie points. Are you reading this, MOM? I also miss my dad, as he died when I was 17.

18.What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Jeans and naked feet.

19. What was the last thing that you ate? Indonesian Satay Chicken. That's right, I made curry.

20. What are you listening to right now? Silence. And it truly is wonderful.

21. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Could I be a mood crayon and choose whichever colour I want to be whenever I want to be it?

22. Favorite smells? Stawnichy's sausage being warmed in the oven. The smell of success...otherwise known as a chocolate martini.

23. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Julie

24. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Absomolutely

25. Favorite sports to watch? Figure Skating! Although I have not watched it since S was born.

26. Hair color? Blonde

27. Eye Color? Blue. Yes, I am Hitler's poster-child.

28. Do you wear contacts? Used to, but they never really sat well with my damn astigmatism.

29. Favorite Food? It's easier to say what I don't like: seafood, sushi, okra, zucchini, caviar, salmon.

30. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Endings that are so happy it's scary.

31. Last movie you watched? Pan's Labyrinth.

32. What color shirt are you wearing? Hot pink!

33. Summer or winter? Summer with the heat and the pools and beaches and wearing halter tops and daisy dukes...

34. Hugs or Kisses? Both. It's the French Canadian way! I kiss everyone!

35. Favorite Dessert? Sex in a pan (I've peaked your interest, haven't I) and trifle.

36. What book are you reading right now? Lullabies for Little Criminals

37. What is on your mouse pad? A cushy gel pad for my wrist so that the tendonitis doesn't come back.

38. What did you watch on TV last night? A whole lot of Everybody Loves Raymond

39. Favorite Sound? Someone playing the piano, especially if that person is less than 2 feet tall and laughs after every few notes he plays.

40. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles appeal to me a bit more, although they are before my time and interest.

41. What is the furthest you have been from home? Let me look at a map...I guess Greece.

42. Do you have a special talent? Not really sure. Is making amazing gravy a talent?

43. Where were you born? Peace River. Figure out where that is.

44. What superpower would you like? The ability to make people fall in love. That, or the ability to make babies sleep through the night.

Tag time: I'm going to tag my witty sister. She loves doing these things anyway.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

Sacha had a bad night last night. This is nothing new in our house.

What is new is me having a fantastically passionate dream involving a HOT HOT man who truly makes my ovaries tingle (celeb who shall remain nameless, but I'm sure you can fill in your own blanks) who wanted to get it on with yours truly! Hot damn! I've never loved sleep more than I did last night! So there we were, fully becoming worthy of my R blog rating, and Sacha wakes me up.

"Tony, will you go put him back to sleep? PLEEEEEEEEASE!"

I try to fall back asleep, find that gorgeous specimen in my mind, but he's hiding.

2 minutes later, Sacha is totally melting down, and I have to go in and use the milk-maids to calm him down.

And when I returned to my bed, my dream hunk, nowhere to be found, had clearly decided that I wasn't worth the trouble and went back to his wife in Realville.

Fuck.

Original Corruptors BLING

Have you sucked invited others into your web of addictions - blogging, facebook, internet funsies, or even KNITTING and laughed with glee when they, too, became fellow addicts?

Or maybe you were that kid in school who said THE WORDS: Everyone is doing it...

Here's the bling for you!

Rules:

1. Just write a post about your evil deeds and how you convinced others of its coolness


2. Link back here


3. Post your badge with pride!


4. Spread the love.

After you've linked to me, I'll e-mail you the code, k?

Original Corruptors Membership Drive

Hello, my name is Sarah, and I am addicted to facebook.

It started as a simple way to establish an alumni/reunion group for my high school grad class.  Originally, I knew very few people that were on facebook. But that changed.  I added friends and friends, all people I grew up with, went to school with, had crushes on, worked with, lived with.  Friends began finding me, and the list grew.  My inbox was flooded with "So-and-so has tagged you in a photo on facebook," "Whatsherpickle has written on your wall," and "whatshisface has sent you a message" and I squealed like a piglet each time. I even created a group. Or two.  And had myself named as an officer of a few groups, with a title and everything (I am Queen of Grad, Dr Winston Wing DDS and Mme Randall). Most of my FB time is spent perusing through photos and videos of my friends' children (those friends who haven't yet discovered the wonders of the blogospere or of their own websites).

In all this hoopla, T began referring to himself as the facebook widower.

Then I convinced him to join.  Hence began the Corruption.

I have, since then, personally enlisted the following people to join facebook. And then they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on:

1. Tony


2. Stephanie (who wrote a hilarious post about the idiocy of facebook here)


3. Jason


4. Talia


5. Kaloni


6. Steve - a former facebook widower


7. Desirae


8. Brad


9. Julie


10. Christine


11. Dustin - a former facebook widower


12. Ryan


13. Jocelyn


14. Lynn


15. Amyee


16. Charlene


17. Abbi


18. Jennifer

Jennifer went so far as to name me as one of the Original Corruptors, aka the O.C.  Now that I've reviewed my list of suckers recruits (which I think is incomplete at best), I quite like the title.  Maybe I'll start a group for Erika, Bon and I.  Maybe with some sort of bling for my blog to let the world know about the Corruption.

What about YOU? How many of you have pressed your friends to get on board with facebook?  Or blogging?  Or any other internet addiction laced with a healthy dose of crack?  Or maybe knitting...I think you know who I'm talking about!

OHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOY!

Are you sitting down? Are you? Don't risk it, you should be sitting down for this:

Sacha took his first steps! He was pushing a broom (yes, I train my child labourers early) and I was holding on to him. Then all of a sudden, he just took off from me, walked 5 steps, realized that he was no longer touching me, and cried and fell on his grossly padded cloth-diapered bum.  I screamed for Tony to come and see, and this scared Sacha and made him cry more.  Stupid Sarah.

Then, he did it again! 5 more steps (while sweeping, good boy)! Once again, he realized that he was alone in his endeavor, fell on his bum and cried.

I ran around in circles like a village idiot howling "I have to call someone! I have to call someone!" only to realize that my mom was NOT at home. So I called my Baba (for you non-Ukrainian folk, that's Grandma) who asked if I had taped it. Seeing that I am not psychic and did not anticipate the event, I told her that I had not captured the moment for all eternity.

Yippee!  I am über happy, even though I know these few steps will only eventually lead to complete chaos in my house.

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As if it weren't already chaotic here: did you know that tampons do not make good soothers?  They should really put that on the box.

Kelly Clarkson: What happened?

I was very excited to hear that KC had a new CD coming out.  Now that I've listened to My December a few times, I'll let you in on a little secret: It's not my favourite.

Alright, maybe that's not really a secret, as her tour has been canceled, the first single Never Again peaked at #8 on the charts, and all of the other hullabaloo going on with her right now.  I bought the CD the day it came out and listened to it with great anticipation.  After listening to it once, I put it on top of my player and did not listen to it again for a week.  That is not a good sign.  When Breakaway came out, I listened to that CD every day commuting to work for 9 weeks straight.   That's how much I loved it.  After thinking about why I didn't want to listen to My December, I discovered why.

I had no desire to listen to it, as the songs feigned a depth that was really just a turtle-shaped kiddie pool of despair and bleakness.  This is not to say that I don't enjoy good old female darkness.  Hell, Jagged Little Pill is still one of my favourite albums, and whenever I want to unwind, I listen to Fumbling Toward Ecstasy or Surfacing from the queen or sorrowful goodness, Sarah McLachlan.   But Kelly's darkness, well, it insists upon itself.  Yeah yeah, there's a hole.  Yeah, I know: Never Again will you kiss him, or want to, or whatever else you NEVER AGAIN want to do. Or Maybe, Maybe, Maybe MAYBE MAYBE PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT WORD!

The other thing that bothers me is that the melodies lack appeal to sing along with and listen to over and over and over.  Thankful and Breakaway mastered the melody, with Breakaway being awarded a Grammy for these efforts.  There is no reason that edgier aka "more artistic" lyrics have to be set to obscure and strained melodies. (Cynthia sums it up best here.)  Jagged Little Pill had amazing melodies and vocals.  Sarah McLachlan's melodies can make you cry in concert.  (That's just me? Oh...) When I try to remember the songs on My December, I can't.  The melodies are forgotten that easily.  They don't stick.

And the bottom line is, if they don't stick, you're not going to remember them when you are at the music store looking to buy some music.

Sorry, Kelly.  I gotta say it like it is.

I don't often do this, but...

I am not really a political person, but I do get all riled up when anyone mentions Bush.  So in light of the recent events and Bush's "pardon" granted to Libby, I was delighted to watch Keith Olbermann's commentary on the kerfuffle. Watch it.  You'll be glad you took the ten minutes to do so.

So he's a girl, then?

I've ranted about his before, but now for the sake of the wonderful Parent Bloggers Network I will remind you of the necessity of being polite when talking to a new mother about her child's name.

My son's name is Sacha.  S-A-C-H-A.  Middle name, Adam.  When we chose this name, we did not really think that the name would cause a stir.  I've known a few Sachas, both male and female, and thanks to the famous Sachas (Trudeau, Baron Cohen), I thought the world was ready for one more.

Here is a conversation I recall from an outing to a restaurant when Sacha was 3 months old.

(Note: He was wearing a green and blue boy’s outfit with little trucks on it and it said "Little Construction Company."  Now, I know that women are very active in the construction industry, but I have yet to see a 3 month old girl sporting a truck-and-backhoe brazed outfit.)

Server: He’s SO cute! (referring to Sacha and making googoo noises at him)
Me: Thanks!
Server: How old is he?
Me: He’s almost 3 months old.
Server: What’s his name?
Me: His name is Sacha
Server: Oh! He's a girl? (with total embarrassment about getting the sex of our baby wrong)
Me: No, HIS name is Sacha.
Server: Oh!

Notice the number of times the word he is used in that conversation, and yet the table wench server still thought that he must be a girl because his name is Sacha.  What's wrong with the name Sacha for a boy?  In fact, Alexander the Great was commonly known as Sacha!  I don't remember where I got that information, but if you google it, I'm sure it will come up.

And sadly enough, this was not the only time it happened.  Apparently, dressing a boy in blue does not overcome the public brain fart when trying to reconcile Sacha = boy.

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Don't you wish you could have just handed them this?

What makes me roll on the floor

I love a good ROFL , and this month, I nominate Kristi at Here in Idaho for this. As a cat lover, but also a cat loather (they're a fickle fickle breed, aren't they?) I remember reading it and bursting out with uncontrolled giggles. I also remember immediately writing a post linking to it from my own lame-o blog, and actually commenting on her post "ROFL!"

Therefore it is only fitting that I award Kristi


If you want to really have a good roll around, check out this month's other winners at Metro Mama and Chicky Chicky Baby.

Waiting

Sacha hasn't pooped in 3 days and counting.  For a boy who normally goes multiple times a day, this is not good.

Forget terrorists.  I am living in perpetual fear of my boy's bum.

Which one am I again?

Chesty Laroux? Busty McPerky?
No, that can't be it.
After going through the full spectrum of bra sizes in the past 7 years (I have been everything from a 34 A to a 36 DD), and having a baby suck the life force right out of them, I decided that maybe I should seek professional help. And by professional, I mean asking the ladies at La Senza to size me up. She takes one look at me, says "high C to low D, definitely."
Frick. That means more weight for gravity to work with.
She takes out her measuring tape and does her thing.
"34D."
Double frick. Have you ever TRIED to find a 34D bra? It is easier to find a husband who will change his name to yours than to find a 34D bra.
So if any of you out there have any 34D bras that are in good shape, sexy (but not sexed ON) and want to donate them to my breasts, send 'em over! I have no shame...

Dear Munchkin

Dear Munchkin aka the littlest sister,

I heard that you are getting married. Not that you told me, although you told pretty much everyone else. I know that you and I have had our differences, like when you break or destroy everything you steal borrow from me. I have always been supportive of you, even when I think you're being a dumb ass. I listen to your delusions of grandeur (moving to Paris, moving to Texas) and kindly offer my words of advice, or play the devil's advocate, although Lucifer seems to have thoroughly possessed you in the past 8 months or so.

You broke up with fiancé number one 8 months ago, who was a great guy and who loved you to bits. I understood, because things weren't quite right. You yearned to pursue your love of music, and I wholly supported that. You moved across the country to make a fresh start, and I supported you. I encouraged you to find yourself, but all you found was a new guy, to whom you gave your key to your place after one week. You haven't done anything with your trumpet. You broke up with him a few times in the past 6 months that you've known him, telling Magoo (aka the other sister) and I that he was emotionally abusive, he had a temper, he was controlling. We listened to you pour it out on the phone, only to hear that you'd got back together with him hours later. It's hard listening to you tell us how unhappy you are, and then have to listen to you tell us that everything has changed for the better and that you'll be ok, and that you were meant for each other.

We listened to you when you told us that you were pregnant (just after you had broken up with him for the 3rd time, but then you got back with him, of course) and stayed up at night worrying about you. We listened to mom cry over you, scared for your future. We breathed a sigh of relief when you told us that you'd lost the baby, and hoped that you'd learned something from the whole experience. It seems, however, that the only thing you've learned is how to give us ulcers from worry.

We don't know what to say to you anymore, because you get angry when we don't sound elated with joy and rapture when you tell us that you're back with him and now, that you are marrying him this fall (should I remind you that you were supposed to be marrying fiancé #1 on September 1?). We've never met the new guy, but you've painted a very bad portrait in all our minds. What's more, we will not have the chance to meet him before you commit to spending your lives together, and this saddens me. Why are you rushing into this? You are young, he's even younger. You've not known each other more than 6 months, and no one has seen or heard him but you. It takes more than love and a diamond ring to make a marriage work. Ask anyone. You need love, but love is not enough. It takes devotion, commitment, knowing how to communicate, and knowing when to pick your battles. It takes a willingness to share everything and to learn how to forgive, but not forget. It takes trust, it takes time, it takes support from your family when the going gets rough (and it does, for everyone). We've done all we can for you, but our we're tired, scared, and feeling empty with the notion that with this new guy and your new life, you've effectively dismissed us, your sisters, your family, from your life.

Thanks for not inviting us to your wedding. I'm sure you don't mean to hurt us, but you did.

I love you.

- The oldest sister

Happy Canada Day!