Epic Olympics

So we had the olympics again. Like every year. Big thanks go to my Sister and her two daughters for doing the lion's share of the work. Everybody had fun.


Epic Fail

The whole point was to fill the bucket on the head with a ladle and then go and dump it into the bucket, as you can see, that was too hard for me. Now this picture shows me in all my middle aged, big bellied, grey haired glory, but notice the very attractive foot, nice lines, nice proportions. Yeah, I still have it.


Epic Cheat

It was a three legged race, nobody said that all 3 legs had to touch the ground. We won this event by the way.


The pressure was too much to bear.


Exhaustion, despair.

We Went Camping

We certainly did. Same gang as the last 5 years. It was glorious. It was scary. It was well worth it. Sorry it has been so long since I was on here. More to come soon.

Aiee Yi Yi!

I haven’t written anything on here for like a year. Dude! Not really sure why, I think being back at work took some of the fun out of it, not seeing the wee one all day is sort of depressing. Anyhow, so many of the blogs that I visit are up and vanishing that I thought I should post something here to keep it alive, at least until I finish grabbing the whole thing to make a book out of for N. I promised it to her as an Xmas gift and I still haven’t finished it. Bad husband bad. I also promised a complete detailing of the fridge, and I managed to stall on that until it up and died last month, then I had no choice; the repair guy could not see that mess.

The Girls


Big – Really big, really grown up, really getting ready to leave home, can’t believe it, off up north for a summer of working and then out to Waterloo for Nano-Engineering. I don’t know how I am going to deal with her being gone. Sure we are ready for the change in a lot of ways, we are rubbing each other the wrong way too often, we misunderstand each other all the time, I always seem to be making her mad, and if I really want to get her mad I just have to ask what is wrong, she is keeping more and more of her life private and I guess it has to happen sometime. But wahhh whahhh waaa, my baby, my first-born, 18 years of constant loving work, out the door. I am getting weepy just typing about it. She sure is tall and beautiful and confident though. You should see her drive off in the car by herself, or come breezing in at 2am from a party. So excited for her, so freaked out for me.




Small – Way bigger, way more grown up, way more trouble, way cuter. A walking talking bossing whining joking laughing loud infuriating 2.5 year old bundle of Jemima. Don’t really like to swear on here, but seriously, she is fucking great! Absolutely committed to pushing boundaries for herself, for us. Likes swimming lessons, visiting Riverdale farm, riding her bike, getting read stories while she is using the potty and taking stuff from her big sisters room. Dislikes sitting still at the table, being told what to do, sleeping in her own bed, being told what to wear, following orders of any kind. Seriously, she is two and a half and she has already perfected the blank, look at anything but me face when I am “talking” to her. This morning she was being a crud on the subway, clinging, crawling between peoples legs, yelling etc. when we got off at our station and I sat her down to tell her off, she avoided all eye contact, and kept trying to change the subject. If she isn’t doing that she is slowly blinking her eyes, or pretending I am not there. She is almost toilet trained and is preparing for 2 major life events. A big girl bed, and moving up to big kids at daycare, they are both still a bit off, but she is aware they are approaching.

The Woman –just finished her degree. Yay for the scholar. I am very proud – given my own scholastic history you wouldn’t think it would matter so much to me, but it makes me puff up my chest and want to brag. She has got herself a new job teaching hearing kids – which will be a big change, but nothing she can’t handle. We are going to spend this weekend cleaning up the garage. Why? Well because we know how to keep the romance alive.



Me
Same as always; in-love with the 3 of them, overweight, out of shape, and happy.

Enjoy the pictures.

Mine Mine Mine

OK, the question should really be “What isn’t Jemima’s?” because according to her, everything is. No joke. “Mima’s chair”, “Mima’s keys”, “Mima’s car”, “Mima’s bed”, “Mima’s potty”, and on and on and on. It doesn’t matter if it is something you are using, if she gets her hands on it, it is hers. Even if you won’t let her have it, (like the red permanent sharpie marker this morning) she will stand there crying, insisting it is hers. We do our best, saying “ours” when she says “mine” and “share” when we hand her things. We are insisting on “please” and “thank-you”, and are trying to get the idea of turns across to her. She worked around that one fast enough; it is always her turn, whenever she wants something.

Enough with the motor vehicles already.

I have spent the last 3 days, morning ‘til night, close-cropping motorcycles and 4 wheelers for a new website. If I see one more dirt-bike I am going to squeal. I turned them all into tiny little navigation button images this morning, so hopefully the job is now out of my hands, and sitting happily with the flash developers. Who would have thought that spokes could raise the blood pressure so.

Toothpaste of the Month July 2007

Babool Toothpaste.

From the fine folks at Balsara Group who bring you the fine ayurvedic toothpaste Meswak comes July 2007s Toothpaste of the month. Babool. With the smiling happy nuclear family on the bright grean box, and the slogan “Begin a great day, the babool way” how could one possibly resist? According to the Balsara Group, Babool Toothpaste is

Babool Toothpaste is a natural toothpaste containing the ayurvedic and medicinal benefits of the Babul tree, 'Acacia Arabica'. The Babul herbal extract in Babool Toothpaste helps prevent swelling & bleeding of gums, keeping gums healthy and teeth strong.

I will concur with them on this. My gums haven’t been swelling or bleeding since I started using it, and I opened a really seized glue tube with my teeth last week and there was nary a broken one. This is a white, almost gel like paste with an upper-mid foaming level and a pleasant minty flavour. I don’t have to worry about medicine cabinet breath after using Babool, and being all white it doesn’t leave marks all over the wall and sink and mirror. (The teenager’s braces are bugging her so she has been using the Red Toothpowder and it looks as if the wall has broken out in acne.)

I can’t say my days have been any greater since using Babool, but they certainly haven’t been any worse. Please get yourself a tube, and give it a try. Like they say “Spreading Smiles Across the Miles”. Babool, July 2007s Toothpaste of the Month.

The Plane! The Plane!

We may live in an upper-income part of the city right now, but that doesn’t stop it being under the flight path that planes use while waiting to land at Pearson Airport. I think we are right at the bottom west edge of the path because during the day there is a plane banking to the north east over our heads about once every 3 minutes. I am not complaining about it, they aren’t that noisy (way up high), and it blends into the background pretty quickly. Compared to being in Parkdale during the airshow it is nothing. Nothing to grown-ups maybe, but to someone who is 19 month old and curious about everything, it is pretty cool. She doesn’t mention every plane, but certainly each one she can hear, "plane, plane" and she is always looking for them, even in the house. She also likes differentiating between cars and trucks simply by the sound. She won’t even look out the window, just be sitting there “truck” or “car” depending. I love her.

Make your ears bleed.

I have been visiting this blog called Blood Is Truth and they have tons and tons of music available. It is mostly of the Drone, Doom, Black, Noise kind, but then they go and throw some folky stuff in to mess you up. Today I went there and they had tons of Leonard Cohen up. I would rather listen to hours of hateful Japanese Noise Noise than even a minute of Leonard Cohen, but it takes all sorts I guess.

This person has almost too much free music. Blues, Country, Hillbilly, Rock-a-Billy, and on and on. Seriously, give it a look and see if there isn’t at least one thing you like.

If you dig complete-ism then this fellow is for you. If you think one album by a band is enough, try all of them. It is pretty impressive, and a little awe-inspiring that he puts so much up. Lots of 80s and 90s stuff. Make sure to check out the archives. I have grabbed the NOMEANSNO discography from here this week.

Look how little she was.

I just found this on a backup disc, while looking for "for rent" signs. Wasn't she little? This was only a year ago. I love her

Toothpaste of the Month June 2007

Vicco Vajradanti Herbal Toothpaste.

Let’s let the fine folks at Vicco Laboratories speak for themselves shall we?

“This is nature's perfect dental care programme. The pure extracts of 20 herbs and barks, tested over generations, have been blended into a potent combination that not only cleans teeth, but also protects and strengthens them.

Vicco Vajradanti offers this unique formula in a dental care paste that has natural astringent, antiseptic, and analgesic properties. These ingredients also stimulate and reinforce gums, while resisting plaque formation. It gives you strong gums, which make your bite mighty, which no cosmetic toothpaste can ever give.

Due to proven medicinal properties of its active ingredients, the Government has permitted manufacturing of Vicco products under Ayurvedic Drug License.”

Enough already, the simple fact of the matter is that Vicco Vajradanti Herbal Toothpaste, June 2007’s Toothpaste of the month, is the bomb! Seriously, this stuff is the shit! It is my favourite toothpaste bar none. Oh sure, there are others I have dallied with, Gopal Toothpowder with it’s sandblaster grade grit, some homemade stuff from my friend Yanni that looked like heroin and was so minty it hurt, an early nineties affair with Tom’s of Maine, but no toothpaste love of mine has endured for this long, or this firmly.

A mid-foaming paste of a pale chalky pinkish colour, it has a whole bouquet of flavours that bring to mind fine Indian Sweets, but without the sweetness. A seasoned toothpaste traveler, or a nervous newbie may easily appreciate it. The many flavours make this the kind of paste you can return to daily without getting bored. One caveat though, make sure you check the best before date on the box, sometimes shifty retailers will try and pass off old stock on us North Americans, and it has a tendency to dry out and go really stiff. I have had more than a few tubes burst while trying to squeeze some out.

One more thing, the Vicco Vajradanti powder should NOT be confused with the paste. It is a professional grade tooth-cleaner, and must be treated with respect. Really it will make you heave if you put too much on your brush.

Vicco Vajradanti Herbal Toothpaste, June 2007’s Toothpaste of the month. My favourite!

The Potty.

She who takes her shoes off every chance she gets has been experimenting with the potty. At first she showed no interest. We left it outside her room. We talked about it. We mentioned when we were going potty, and let her check the action out. She just didn’t care. Then one day we were reading “My Potty for Girls” when she announced “mima potty”. Off came the diaper, down went the bum and out came the poop. Sweet! We played it cool, didn’t make a big deal and over the next week she used the seat about 6 or 7 times. Her enthusiasm seems to have cooled somewhat of late, but she did use it again 2 nights ago, and she mentions it regularly. I don’t expect her to give up the diapers any time soon, but it is nice to see her interested.

Shower!

She, who trips a lot and giggles insanely when the dog tries to lick her, HATES the shower. She didn’t always hate the shower. In fact she has showered with me since she was about 4 months old and until recently seemed to like it. Once she was able to stand on her own I would put her down on the floor of the tub and let her play with her toys while I did my own washing. Then she started not liking it, then she started hating it and screaming to get out and finally she became terrified of the whole thing. This has been going on for a month or so now and shows no signs of abating. It seems to weigh on her mind for much of the day. We will be walking along when out of nowhere she will say something like “mima no shower, mima bath” and I will have to respond with a quick “that’s right, Jemima takes a bath, Daddy showers, Madgy (her name for N right now) showers, Morag showers, but Jemima takes a bath.” If I wait too long to give an affirmative response she get really nervous and whiney and clings to my leg. When she is having her bath she will suddenly look up at the showerhead and shiver and say “mima bath”, if I even reach for the tap, she either tries to hide or grabs my hand and says “no.” She isn’t opposed to other people showering. This morning in fact she made quite a nuisance of herself by standing there with the shower curtain open, dripping water all over the floor, talking to me while I showered. When I finally took the curtains away from her, and her mother carried her bodily from the bathroom there were many tears.

She is crazy for the kissing.

Teenage Death Glare!

Highway 400, southbound, huge - hideous even – diaper explosion, pull over just north of Barrie to change it. Teenager goes to sit in grass, far away from rancid odour. She looks fabulous with the barn in the background and pictures are taken. She notices the photographing, tries to hide and then unleashes her most deadly glare.


Look closely only if you dare.

N’s Birthday

N celebrated her 36th birthday a couple of weeks back, and this last Sunday we went to the home of the ever fabulous JJ and stupendous Angela for brunch with them, and some friends. It was great. Our friends are so nice to us, and there were 2 other kids there. They were both older than Jemima, but after she finished being shy a good time was had by all. Mostly the big kids ignored her, and she tried to wear shoes that were WAY too big for her. Just as we were getting ready to go she had a little strawberry eating time with Isabelle on the stairs. Happy Birthday N, I love you!

My Brother, his Son...

My Brother


His Son



The Teenager and My Mother

Toothpaste of the Month May 2007

Have you ever cleaned paintbrushes in an enclosed space, and after a while the smell of the Varsol gets so strong that you can taste it? Keep that flavour in mind while I introduce you to Eagle Brand No.1 Tooth-Powder White – May 2007s Toothpaste of the Month.

An exciting blend of Thymol, Menthol, Camphor, Benzoic Acid, Calachagi (?), Eucalyptus Oil, Phenol, Lemongrass Oil and Kaolin; this very fine – soft even – white powder comes in a baby blue container with a trippy toothy logo. The container is easy to open, and has an inner lid to avoid spillage. However, the opening is a little too small to get the head of the toothbrush in, so if you want a good coating you have to tip it out on your brush, causing that spillage they were trying to avoid. The flavour is a mix of the aforementioned paint thinning chemical stew and good old-fashioned dust/dirt. This is the first powder where I can really notice the taste of the base. It reminds me of the smell of dusting the top of bookshelves. Not only does the taste of this powder come with great challenges, but I find it has a tendancy to effect the tastebuds for hours after, making other things taste different. I am not making it sound all that appealing - and to be honest – it isn’t. But it does a great job of cleaning your teeth, and the container is fun to look at. My guess is that the Menthol and Camphor taste in this powder will have long evaporated before I can finish the whole batch. It is worth a try if you are feeling up to a bit of oral adventure. With the attractive price of $1.69, how wrong can you go? You can probably find it in an Indian/Pakistani grocery store. I got mine at Iqbals Halal Foods.

Eagle Brand No.1 Tooth-Powder White – May 2007s Toothpaste of the Month.