Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
World's Longest Update
I was talking to Andrea on Skype the other day (which is a very cool thing and it is stupid of any of us to pay for long distance again-especially to Sarah and Louise in Australia!!) and she told me to check out this show called "Pole to Pole" (no, it's not a porno) made by BBC for their Planet Earth series. She assured me it was mind blowing. I was a little skeptical but after I watched it, it truly was. I think anyone over the age of 8 would enjoy this and I think we all need to see this so we can think about the environment the next time we buy a car, throw out something recyclable or vote. So go plant a tree, re-use a plastic bag and find an hour to watch this show:
http://www.watchtvsitcoms.com/PlanetEarth/N01.php
Very cool for all of you Science teachers out there.
Plus if you missed last week's Grey's Anatomy, you can get it here also.
Watched my first episode of "Prison Break" after hearing Andrea praising it all summer and I love it. Hot guy on it, too.
http://www.watchtvsitcoms.com/PlanetEarth/N01.php
Very cool for all of you Science teachers out there.
Plus if you missed last week's Grey's Anatomy, you can get it here also.
Watched my first episode of "Prison Break" after hearing Andrea praising it all summer and I love it. Hot guy on it, too.
More Good Books
I finished off my CBC backpack of books from Carolyn Nielsen (thank-you!!) and the last book I read was great and it lead to an even better book. The first one is a collection of related short stories that take place in an apartment building in India by Rohinton Mistry called Tales From Firozsha Baag. After I was done that, I got A Fine Balance which is the book that I think made him famous-he won the Giller and was shortlisted for the Booker and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award among many others (in other words, I am not the only one who loved it). I am still reading it (it's over 700 pages) and it is wonderful. If you have ever had any interest in India, want to laugh, feel horrible, feel grateful for living in Canada, realize prejudices of your own that you never even knew you had-read this book. Plus he is Canadian and we have absolutely amazing writers in this country and we should support them.
I am so glad I am on a kick of reading wonderful books-I went for quite a few months reading only so-so ones which always depresses me.
Plus the cover of this book is so cool, I have spent a fair amount of time gazing at it. When you are lugging this book around for the week or so it takes to read, it is a good conversation starter.
So go out and buy it and read it. Or ask for it for Christmas.
I am so glad I am on a kick of reading wonderful books-I went for quite a few months reading only so-so ones which always depresses me.
Plus the cover of this book is so cool, I have spent a fair amount of time gazing at it. When you are lugging this book around for the week or so it takes to read, it is a good conversation starter.
So go out and buy it and read it. Or ask for it for Christmas.
Updating Andrea's Blog For Her
Since Andrea has a "secret" blog, I thought I would post these pics she emailed to me a little while ago because they are absolutely amazing. She went to this place called the "Lost Quarter" in the middle of the desert and it is pretty frigging cool. Doesn't quite top my overnighter in Doaktown on the weekend but....
Anyway, just wanted to show off the pics and wish that I was somewhere a bit more interesting than Lincoln.
By the way, this is proof that Black Sabbath t-shirts are cool anywhere.
Miss you, Andrea!
Anyway, just wanted to show off the pics and wish that I was somewhere a bit more interesting than Lincoln.
By the way, this is proof that Black Sabbath t-shirts are cool anywhere.
Miss you, Andrea!
Weaning The Weiner And An Ode To Aunt Debby
What I have put off for the last month came back to haunt me yesterday. I have been giving Nathaniel a bottle of breast milk every week since he was a couple of weeks old and he has always taken it with relatively little problem. Sunday evening I decided I needed to start this weaning thing in earnest since I am back to work in a month and as much as I enjoy the pins and needles feeling of my milk making my boobs rock hard, that is an experience I am willing to forgo in front of grade 8 kids. With a small sense of urgency in the back of my mind, I settled down for a pumping session, got a bottle ready and gave it to Nate. The baby beast turned on me with a vengeance-no way was he taking this fake titty. You would think I was trying to pour ear wax down his throat-he actually made gagging noises. I decided not to panic and went at it again yesterday.
Nathaniel and I locked horns all day. The only success I saw was when I waited until he was screaming crying (and I mean screaming-the kind of crying that consists of a moment of silence with the mouth open, no breathing then a big inhale followed by an ungodly scream), then he decided the bottle was better than starving to death. One good thing, he did sleep well after exhausting himself in his crying rages. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I love how there is no backing out of this motherhood thing.
Then my Aunt Debby called.
She said that when she was weaning my cousin Lee, she couldn't even be in the same room or he wouldn't eat. So I gave a bottle to Iain, left the room and he gulped it down. Yay!!! Thanks, Debby-you saved my sanity! Plus I found NOT feeding the wee one was very enjoyable-I actually smiled while I was unloading the dishwasher. I can see myself grinning as I lay in bed and Iain gets up to feed the baby a bottle on Saturday morning also. A big thanks to my aunt again because she bought me one of those Avent microwave sanitizers and I must have used it at least 8 times yesterday-I would have gone crazy if I had to boil those bottles and the breast pump every time on the stove.
Good news today-he took a bottle from me without any complaints and is now off in dreamland for a couple of hours (I hope).
Nathaniel and I locked horns all day. The only success I saw was when I waited until he was screaming crying (and I mean screaming-the kind of crying that consists of a moment of silence with the mouth open, no breathing then a big inhale followed by an ungodly scream), then he decided the bottle was better than starving to death. One good thing, he did sleep well after exhausting himself in his crying rages. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I love how there is no backing out of this motherhood thing.
Then my Aunt Debby called.
She said that when she was weaning my cousin Lee, she couldn't even be in the same room or he wouldn't eat. So I gave a bottle to Iain, left the room and he gulped it down. Yay!!! Thanks, Debby-you saved my sanity! Plus I found NOT feeding the wee one was very enjoyable-I actually smiled while I was unloading the dishwasher. I can see myself grinning as I lay in bed and Iain gets up to feed the baby a bottle on Saturday morning also. A big thanks to my aunt again because she bought me one of those Avent microwave sanitizers and I must have used it at least 8 times yesterday-I would have gone crazy if I had to boil those bottles and the breast pump every time on the stove.
Good news today-he took a bottle from me without any complaints and is now off in dreamland for a couple of hours (I hope).
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A Nice Day
My brother and I decided that we needed to start getting our kids to enjoy staying at each others house so we could take advantage of overnight babysitting-kids tend to lose their charm at 6AM with a hangover. So this morning, Nate and I headed out to Penniac to get his big cousin, Karson, for a day of hanging out.
We went over to Suzanne's house to play with all of Eric's toys and the boys were quite amusing going through periods of shyness, fighting and playing. Sharing toys between two year olds is quite the adventure. It's not too hard to see how naturally selfish we are. Sarah came over with Malik and we had a great time chatting while Suzanne fed us and took care of the kids-heehee! Thanks Suzie-Q, I really need to force myself out of the house more.
Right now, Karson and Nathaniel are sleeping side by side in our bed and it is so sweet. It has been a busy day hanging out with a 2 1/2 year old and a two month old, but it has been a lot of fun so the chance of another addition to the Aitken clan is a distinct possibility in the near future. Quite a 180 from someone who an hour after having her first baby emphatically declared there would be no more coming out of her. It certainly sweetens the pot when your nephew looks over at you, smiles and says, "I like you".
Eww, I am turn into a big pile of gush.
We went over to Suzanne's house to play with all of Eric's toys and the boys were quite amusing going through periods of shyness, fighting and playing. Sharing toys between two year olds is quite the adventure. It's not too hard to see how naturally selfish we are. Sarah came over with Malik and we had a great time chatting while Suzanne fed us and took care of the kids-heehee! Thanks Suzie-Q, I really need to force myself out of the house more.
Right now, Karson and Nathaniel are sleeping side by side in our bed and it is so sweet. It has been a busy day hanging out with a 2 1/2 year old and a two month old, but it has been a lot of fun so the chance of another addition to the Aitken clan is a distinct possibility in the near future. Quite a 180 from someone who an hour after having her first baby emphatically declared there would be no more coming out of her. It certainly sweetens the pot when your nephew looks over at you, smiles and says, "I like you".
Eww, I am turn into a big pile of gush.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Collage
Just tried the "collage"option on Picassa-thought it was kind of interesting if you had a bunch of pictures with the same theme. Thought I would share.
Jehovah Junkie
One of the more interesting parts of being home on maternity leave is actually seeing all the weird people that come to your door during the day. It can get pretty busy.
Right now, I am being stalked by my friendly neighbourhood Jehovah Witness who is determined to make a convert out of me. It all started last spring when I had a doctor's appointment and was home for the afternoon. I had wedged my svelte seven month pregnant body into the trunk of our station wagon, trying to remove the roughly 8 trillion dog hairs stuck to the carpet when I turned my head and there was this little old lady in a skirt standing about 2 feet away from me serenely smiling and holding a bible. She scared the living shit out of me.
Once I stuck some nitroglycerin under my tongue to get my heart to resume beating at a normal pace, she proceeded to ask me a number of tricky questions such as, "Do you think God is punishing us with hurricanes?" which I found a bit of a stumper to answer. Anyway, my whole religious experience wrapped up with her reading to me from the bible and giving me a freaky magazine. I figured this was a one time thing, so no big deal. I was wrong.
I am now on the Jehovah migratory path and seem to have the uncanny ability to always be home when they arrive and I can't seem to say "screw off". Today I managed to squeak out that I am not interested but at the end when she said she would stop by again, I said, "Okay, see you then." I can't say no. I have had imaginary conversations with her numerous times which have ranged from me destroying the whole Jehovah Witness religion with my uncanny wit and rhetoric to just politely saying thanks, but no thanks, but when push comes to shove, I just can't be assertive enough. If it was anyone else but this little old lady, I could do it, but I just can't.
So she showed up again today and I meekly accepted my magazine as she commented on how much I must enjoy them (yeah, enjoy using them to start the fire) and turned into a spineless weasel once again. Good thing she is not asking for donations or I would probably be handing over my pogey check to her.
If I do run into her again, I do have a question for her. Iain and I noticed that on every Jehovah Witnesses' building, there are no windows and I want to know why.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel because I am going back to work at the end of next month and then Mr. Nice Guy Who Likes To Talk To Everyone will be flying solo. Hahahaha!
Right now, I am being stalked by my friendly neighbourhood Jehovah Witness who is determined to make a convert out of me. It all started last spring when I had a doctor's appointment and was home for the afternoon. I had wedged my svelte seven month pregnant body into the trunk of our station wagon, trying to remove the roughly 8 trillion dog hairs stuck to the carpet when I turned my head and there was this little old lady in a skirt standing about 2 feet away from me serenely smiling and holding a bible. She scared the living shit out of me.
Once I stuck some nitroglycerin under my tongue to get my heart to resume beating at a normal pace, she proceeded to ask me a number of tricky questions such as, "Do you think God is punishing us with hurricanes?" which I found a bit of a stumper to answer. Anyway, my whole religious experience wrapped up with her reading to me from the bible and giving me a freaky magazine. I figured this was a one time thing, so no big deal. I was wrong.
I am now on the Jehovah migratory path and seem to have the uncanny ability to always be home when they arrive and I can't seem to say "screw off". Today I managed to squeak out that I am not interested but at the end when she said she would stop by again, I said, "Okay, see you then." I can't say no. I have had imaginary conversations with her numerous times which have ranged from me destroying the whole Jehovah Witness religion with my uncanny wit and rhetoric to just politely saying thanks, but no thanks, but when push comes to shove, I just can't be assertive enough. If it was anyone else but this little old lady, I could do it, but I just can't.
So she showed up again today and I meekly accepted my magazine as she commented on how much I must enjoy them (yeah, enjoy using them to start the fire) and turned into a spineless weasel once again. Good thing she is not asking for donations or I would probably be handing over my pogey check to her.
If I do run into her again, I do have a question for her. Iain and I noticed that on every Jehovah Witnesses' building, there are no windows and I want to know why.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel because I am going back to work at the end of next month and then Mr. Nice Guy Who Likes To Talk To Everyone will be flying solo. Hahahaha!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Martha Madness
After a satisfyingly greasy breakfast with the Rowney's, I bought three pumpkins that were for sale in front of the restaurant. As we headed home, I had a strange sensation overcome me-I wanted to make a fall display with hay bales, gourds and the like. I tried to fight it, but I just really wanted to do it. It made me doubt who I really am, so instead of fighting that battle, I decided to just blame it on the post-pregnancy hormones (which I find is a convenient excuse for many of my new behaviours).
After a visit to the Country Pumpkin, where I personally feel I paid way to much for a bunch of dead grass tied up with string, I headed home to decorate. After, I was so pleased with myself, I thought we should take some pictures for posterity's sake. After all, this may never happen again.
If I start buying geese wearing bonnets to decorate my kitchen, someone please stop me.
After a visit to the Country Pumpkin, where I personally feel I paid way to much for a bunch of dead grass tied up with string, I headed home to decorate. After, I was so pleased with myself, I thought we should take some pictures for posterity's sake. After all, this may never happen again.
If I start buying geese wearing bonnets to decorate my kitchen, someone please stop me.
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