Saltimbanco

I went to the Cirque du Soleil last night. How amazing. I think I said "Wow" every 5 seconds. There was so much going on. I didn't think about anything else but what was right in front of my eyes. They were here for almost a week and I guess they didn't sell that many tickets because we were given new seats, right at the center of the stage. Not in the first row, or anything, but still much closer than we would've been.

So hopefully today I can chill out and just focus on Lily and I. And Pedro too, once he comes home from work. :) I'll try to remember to take new Lily pictures. Sigh.

Right Words

I don't feel like I have the right words to say, so I'll just type it out: my dad passed away this morning. Those of you who know me, know that he and I have been estranged for a number of years. But it's still the end of a relationship and the end of what was my immediate family growing up (no matter HOW dysfunctional).

I've felt sorry for my dad the last few years as he seemed miserable and angry. I hope that he finds some peace now.

I am glad that I sent off a few pictures of Lily to him before he died. His friend that called me, told me that he was a proud grandpa. Lily makes it easy for anyone to be proud of her. :)

80%

That's the maximum heart rate I should be working out at. My meeting with the trainer went well. We didn't get an hour. Lily's crying made another baby cry so I had to take her out. Sigh. But I did learn a lot in the time I had and I can tell it's made a difference. I didn't walk out of the gym dragging my feet tonight. :) I'm going to give Lily a break and I'll work out at night for a week. It's kind of nice. It's mommy time. :)

Do you like the picture of Lily with attitude??? Her favorite word (already) is no. I ordered a pizza tonight (part of the reason I went to the gym) and when I opened it up, her eyes got really wide and she said really loudly and slowly "Oohhh nooooo". heeee! Then she picked off all of the pineapple she could get her hands on. We ate quite a bit of freshly cut pineapple earlier today so I'm not sure what her motivation was...

Anyway, I managed to catch this on my camera today. I know some of you had no idea what I was doing when I was dancing around in a circle with Lily singing "Sven said Ted, send ten tents". Well, here it is:

Picasso

Lily loves to draw. She's not very good at keeping it on the scrap paper. I'm SO glad that I bought washable markers. whew They're also non-toxic which came in handy the night she colored her tongue blue. Sigh. I'm a little not excited to sleep with her tonight. She really needs to learn to sleep through the night. I know that no one really sleeps through the night. We all wake up but most of us roll over and fall back asleep. That's what Lily needs to learn. I'm glad that Pedro and I trade off so that neither one of us has to be a zombie.

I bought a new scale (since the last one and I had a falling out) and it looks like I'm not losing any weight. I know I'm thinner cuz my tight pants are falling off my bum. I'm guilty of lifting a lot of weights. I can't help it. I love feeling strong. So I was good today and did more cardio and less lifting. Sigh. I know it's the right thing to do. Speaking of the right thing, Miss Lily ate all her dinner tonight. Including a mushroom and tempeh. Pedro liked the tempeh better than tofu. It has a much firmer consistency and higher protein value. I'm still taking this vegetarian thing seriously. But I have to learn about more options. I made a killer veggie chili with Seitan. Once it went through the food processor, it looked exactly like ground beef. :) Pedro even ate some veggie "sausage" patties. (although, I don't think there was much in the house at the time.)

Anyway, I got completely off topic. Lily ate all of her dinner and didn't throw it around so I gave her a gingersnap cookie for dessert. I don't know if she totally understood but I thought what the heck. Good behavior should be rewarded. :) I'm sure the NO days are ahead, but I still feel lucky that Lily (usually) eats everything I give her.

I have an appointment with a personal trainer at the gym tomorrow. It may be a really short visit if Lily cries so think happy thoughts for us!

Next

Wow, the next button strikes again. Check out these ceramics. I can't tell if she makes them herself or is she's just into them. I'm not so hot on the cigarettes but some of the other stuff is gorgeous. I'm not sure if the language is Italian. I picked up on "artista". Go me!

I'm kind of hanging out with Lily, waiting for Pedro to wake up. He said Lily punched him and kicked him and butt stomped him. She's done this to me as well. The "butt stomp" is basically Lily bouncing her butt off of someone trying to sleep. I'm not sure how to get her to sleep through the night. We've made some inroads on cleaning out the spare room. I think we need to shift gears. I HATE it when someone says "take it to the next level". Paul Tuttle do you hear me?

Anyway, check that ceramic blog. I love the blue tray. Love. It.

Why

do I do this to myself??? The list of ice cream flavours at the local Ben & Jerry's. I can tell you, without hesitation, that Banana on the Rum, is incredible. I think I had it when I was pregnant and going through a fruit thing.

Anyway, I guess I'd better go and play with Lily some more. It's not like I get to do that every day! I'm still sad that I didn't get to work out. I'm really gung ho about losing weight and getting in shape. It's part of my "master plan". :)

OMG. They have a creme brulee ice cream. Nicole, to the bat mobile!!! (or FJ, in your case)

Well, poop

I got all ready to go to the gym and I checked the hours one more time, and it closes at 3! Which is in like 15 minutes. So I'm not going. Booo! Hissss! Sigh. How am I supposed to lose weight???

Well, I guess I could take a page out of Lily's book and throw a tantrum. Enjoy.

ME

I only have a moment before I have to go to the gym so here's some pics of me with my fresh hair!

Lots

of stuff going on. I think I had one day this week where I didn't have to drive into town and even then I had a doctor's appointment. I finally got my haircut! Pictures to come. I got in the door and Pedro asked me if my stylist used a lawnmower. Sigh. What are you supposed to do with men?? This is my latest step in me-improvement. I've been getting to the gym four times a week. Now I have my new haircut. I guess the next step is either school or a part-time job. Or both. I'll need gas money after all. :)

Actually, I guess the next step is doing my taxes. It's going to be a nightmare. I'm going to have file Canadian ones as well. The good news is that I could get some tax money back. yay :)

Star Witches

I made it to the gym this morning. Albeit very briefly. Lily would not stop crying once we got in the door. Sigh. I thought she really enjoyed it. She does kind of sound like she might be coming down with Pedro's cold now. And I woke her night singing butt up early today. :) At least I know she'll be sleeping well tonight. :)

While I was at the gym, I was watching Fox News. That's just what was on. I do have to take issue with the closed captioning people. They usually mess up some words but today they really out did themselves. A doctor was on and talking about how carbs are back. hmmm Carbs. Obviously, that makes one think of the occult, and not perhaps, of starches. Star witches came up in the closed captioning several times. I tried very hard not to fall off the treadmill laughing.

Fox News. It's your lucky day, I'm available and I can spell! (Get it - spell? Witches? Ahh, I give up)

Anyway, Lily decided my toothpaste needed to be stuck in the drain. And then she stole my chocolate Easter bunny. I was wondering why she was stomping through the house, muttering to herself incessantly. Sigh. I honestly thought she couldn't get into the package. :P

Boo

It's been quite a week! The molding under my car fender is missing a piece. I'm not sure what happened but it looks like something I should have noticed, if I did it. Sigh. My week has been turned upside down with rescheduling things to get my car appraised. :P I still haven't had my hair cut. What does it take people???!

The pictures are from last March. I can't believe how fast time flies. That and how small Miss Lily used to be! Good grief. She has such lovely long legs and arms now. Check out the fat rolls from last year! Speaking of fat, I've only been to the gym once this week. Lily keeps on waking me up in the middle of the night. She does some kind of ABC yodelling. So then we both sleep in until 9. I'm usually trying to head to the gym at 9. Sigh. She didn't get much of a nap today so hopefully she'll sleep through the night. That, and I really need to set the alarm. I slept in so late this morning that I didn't even feel the need for coffee when I got up! (and I still woke up before Lily)

I'm so glad that I have these pictures. It's already hard to remember what it was like to have a wee(ish) baby in my arms. I still carry her a lot, mostly to keep her out of things. But I'm letting her walk more and more and teaching her to hang onto mummy's hand. :) Soon she won't want to do that. Sniffle.

Next

Do you ever hit the Next Blog tag on Blogger? Sometimes you can find some interesting things. Take this blog. I think the blogger might be from Turkey? I have no idea what's going on but there's a picture of a hot looking dentist. :) I love these little windows into other people's lives. It makes a snoop like me pretty happy. :)

300!

Wow, this is my 300th post. Ain't life grand? I'm actually not feeling well so that was supposed to be sarcastic. Well, we'll see how far I go before I collapse. I went back to Old Navy today and got a couple of more things for Lily. I got her a cute spring coat. It's lined with a light fleece material. But more importantly, I think she looks really cute in it. Even when she's crying. She may be coming down with what we have although her energy levels seem to be normal! I can't believe she dodged her nap today. Although, she crashed on the way home.

hmmmm Since I seem to be uninspired at the moment, I think I'll spin this into a Friday Facts:

1. Old Navy has great kids clothes and a good selection of Women's clothes online. Cheap and not floral!

2. I have a small Canadian flag on my desk in a pot with a dead plant.

3. I've lost some weight since going to the gym. However, I recently purchased some cinnamon roll ice cream. I can't weigh myself to check the damage because my old scale and I had a falling out...

4. Lily is a lot of fun to watch grow up. Fun and frustrating. She loves to dance now and will do so when I ask her to. You should see her rock out in her car seat. :) You should also see her have a tantrum in the middle of Old Navy. Sigh.

5. If necessary, I can carry a kicking 30lb child and a pile of clothes to the check out counter. :) I'm so glad I've been lifting weights!

6. I don't share my stuffed animals with Lily. I just remembered a time, a long time ago, when I worked at a pharmaceutical wholesaler. There was a guy that came around every Friday afternoon and sold candy and nuts. We affectionately called him the Nut Man. This story isn't actually about him. One day he brought in his daughter. Well, less a daughter and more an ill-mannered thug. At the time, I had a much treasured blue haired troll doll with a pharmacist outfit, on my desk. Well, guess who liked it too? The "daughter" asked me again and again and again if she could have him. I told her no, no, and no. Ain't no one walking off with MY pharmacist troll doll! Once she was gone, my coworkers were dismayed that I hadn't cracked under her kindergarten pressure to give up the goods. I'm still proud of myself for holding out. :)

7. I'm not sure what the above says about me. And hey, I was an only child. I'm still figuring out the sharing stuff.

8. I need to buy Lily something to bounce on. She was trying to bounce up and down on her blue ball. At least I was nice enough not to take a picture after the ball had rolled away without her noticing...

Friday Flu

Well, Pedro and I are still sick. Lily, somehow, has missed out on this. She did get a more recent flu shot than us so maybe it's protecting her. Pedro's the sickest and he didn't get a flu shot. I got one in the fall and I'm like, half as sick. I'm not sure this has anything to do with it at all but it's the only thing I can think of.





Old Navy has a sale on kids' clothing right now. Miss Lily was an unenthusiastic model last night. I returned the color block dress above. I thought the colors washed her out. They had a pink one but not in her size. Sigh. I love the brown and pink dress. Unlike the blue one, it's stretchy. I left it on Lily last night and she wasn't slowed down by it. So I went back today and bought another one in a bigger size. Plus today I got her a spring coat. Her winter one is getting a little snug. :) I've saved a ton of money with this sale. Unfortunately, Lily didn't get a nap before we went (her decision) and she was a real pain in the store. She went all limp so I had trouble holding her. Then she saw a little boy and took off after him. (for the record, he walked away from her as fast as he could!) Then I tried to grab her and she went limp again and it was like trying to pick up a soggy pancake off of the floor. hmpf! She's usually not like that so I'm sure it was the lack of nap.

Speaking of which, she crashed on the way home so I should go and wake her up. Pedro (who's home sick) laughed when he saw her cuz he said she looked like a sack of potatoes in my arms. :) I also got her a bathing suit although the ones in her size don't seem to have bottoms big enough to cover a diaper nor do they have the built in diaper. boo I got her a swimsuit now because I remember how hard it was to find one once summer started. So yes, she has a bikini in February. :P Oh and NO, I did not get my sassy haircut today. I've been sleeping with Lily and last night she woke up at 3am then did some doo dah noises. I kept telling her to go to sleep, so she scuttle over to her corner then make more doo dah noises after 20 minutes. I just could not get up at 7 to make it to my hair appointment. :(

Kids.

Table Cat

Surely more than a few people have one of these. I thought she looked so gorgeous on the table, in a big pool of sunshine. :) Until Lily came along and messed with her. Poor Daphne. Yes, Pedro, I left Daphne on the table to sunbathe. She's an old kitty and I hope I am treated as nicely in my old age. (Just don't expect me to use a litter box) mpf

Oops, that was supposed to be hmpf. Sigh. I'm having one of those days. I think Lily brought a cold home from the gym. She seems to be the one with the least amount of suffering. Which is good because we can't do too much for her when she's sick. Although Pedro and I both feel like death on a stick. But there are medicines for that. {grin}

This is a picture of what I saw when I looked outside this morning. Ice yesterday, snow today. It's like it's winter, or something. I didn't go to the gym today. Not because of the snow, but because of my cold. :( I'm trying to go 4 or 5 days a week. I don't kill myself when I go. I love to lift weights but I try to take it easy so that I'm not so sore that I have to miss a week. Ditto on the cardio. Man I hate doing cardio. I do it because I know I have to and it helps my heart and burns fat. I just HATE it. I feel like a gerbil on a wheel. Albeit a big, fat gerbil. Now how many gerbils have you seen lift weights? EXACTLY.

I do have a ton (okay, five) errands to run today. I'm waiting for Lily to finish her nap and my hair to finish coloring. I have to get the stuff that covers more gray now. (sob) I'm hoping to get a sassy new haircut tomorrow. My hair has been long for a while. It's not quite halfway down my back (long for me!). But I do NOTHING with it. Nothing. It's in a ponytail all day and sometimes, all night (I forget to take the off the hair doodad sometimes). This is part of my year of improvement. I know some of you (M'Lou) are saying that I'd better hurry up since it's halfway through February. Well, I got news for you. I'm following the Chinese year, so I'm just getting started!!! ha!

Alright, it was kind of a fluke that I joined the gym on Chinese New Year. What year is it again? The Rat, right? Well, that's damn close to a gerbil - no wonder I joined a gym! If you need astrological insights for your own life, just let me know. :) No, I'm not licensed or certified so if you listen to me, it's your own fault. :)