Freakazojd's Palace

And in the end...

2008-10-11T09:57:00.002-04:00

Dearest ladies & gents,

I am closing up shop. Thank you so much for your patronage. Here's an updated photo of the babe for the road...I hope your trails are happy ones.

Love

Kristina

Calling all fellow vocabulary geeks

2008-09-24T01:16:00.001-04:00

Put those vocab skills to good use here. It's fun AND you help feed the hungry. Win win. That is all for today. I miss you guys like crazy, but I am having a REALLY hard time sitting down and coming up with things to say. Gah, as they say.
xo

Hee hee...

2008-09-08T18:48:00.004-04:00

This made me laugh today. In other news, I got my hair chopped right off.

Before:

Or maybe this will give you a better idea, but excuse the wonky glasses/eyes situation:

After:

Well well.

2008-07-31T23:49:00.001-04:00

Given that I have sucked it hard with the posting of late, it has occured to me that the very least I could do would be to recommend some other blogs to you. You know, bloggers who actually post. Regulars. Each one a superstar in their own ~~mind~~ right. Again, it's the least I can do. So as not to play favourites too much, I'm going to sum up each blogger with one word. It's harder than it sounds especially because some of you were fairly new to me when I stopped blogging and couldn't visit as much. My apologies if you don't feel your word fits; consider this an open invitation to provide your own word if you don't like mine, and know that if you look at your word and you're not sure how to take it, I mean each as a high compliment. I thoroughly enjoying reading each and every one of your blogs when I get the chance.

Alli: Compassion
Back in the Day: Felicity
Blog, Blah, Blah: Heart
Cynical Bastard: Ribald
Deep in the Forrest: Visceral
A Garden of Nna Mmoy: Intelligent
Hello Josephine: Unique
Knight Ramblings: Adventurer
Odd Mix: Family
A Peek Inside the Fishbowl: Creative
Pickled Beef: Hilarious
Ramblings of a Madman: Honest
Ramblings of the Bearded One: Alchemist
Real Live Lesbian: Dignity
s.m.ART: Beautiful
Tales from a Texaconsin Diva: Personable
Work in Progress...: Strength

Pics of my boy's birthday coming soon. If you can't wait (and hey, who could blame you) they're on Facebook already, so if you're on "The 'Book" let me know at amazon_kris [at!] hotmail [dot!] com and let's hook it up, yo!

For now...

2008-07-23T00:54:00.003-04:00

I have a bigger post planned, but it involves posting pictures from my son's birthday party...which was supposed to be this past Sunday, except that he got sick. BOO! BOO for being sick on your first birthday! There should be a law...

Anyway, here's a little something to tide you over if you're one of those lovely people who is still checking in with me from time to time...the party has been rescheduled to this coming Sunday, so I will post again next week.

Piss & Vinegar

2008-06-20T14:28:00.003-04:00

Something got me mad today. Mad enough to set other things aside that are screaming to be done so that I can write a post about it. The Canadian government is in the process of "reclassifying" Canadian lakes for the purpose of being toxic dump sites for the mining industry. There are about 16 lakes from coast to coast that are on the "chopping block" so to speak, and that is in addition to about 50 lakes that are already so classified. This is DISGUSTING to say the least. The mining industry is supposed to be responsible for containing their own toxic waste in containers that keep the waste completely separate from our natural water resources, and that is how it should be. In an ideal world, the mining companies should be held responsible for finding solutions to the problem - the best case scenario would obviously be to not create ANY toxic waste. However, I won't be alive to rail and kick against horrible things like this if I hold my breath waiting for THAT to happen. So, while I understand that the mining industry creates lots of jobs for Canadians, which is, of course, a good thing, I also understand that the business of mining is a profitable one. So I say again that the onus should be on the mining industry to properly and responsibly contain its waste while looking for other viable options that reduce (or better yet, ELIMINATE) toxic waste. Otherwise, they should not be allowed to do business here. If the Canadian government were to set that stipulation, I'd be willing to bet that SOMEONE would step up to the plate. There's money to be made, after all, even when operating responsibly.
I signed a petition this morning for this very thing, and was very interested to read the following note added to one of the signatures:

"I am president of the Tsolum River Restoration Society in Courtenay , B.C. Canada. Our group has spent the last 40 years trying to undo the damage [done by] a mine that was in operation for about two years in the mid 6o's. During this time it sent pollution into the Tsolum River until eventually it was declared a dead river. Over the last 15 years there have been some remediation activities that have taken place. Just a short while ago the B.C. government just announced that they have set aside $4.5 million to cover the mine and save this valuable salmon habitat. Lets not let this happen to other lakes and rivers. It is estimated that it cost the valley economy about 2 Million per year that is about $80,000,000 that could have been pumped into the local economy?? Is it worth it?? "

You can find the petition here if you're interested in joining your voice. Also, if you live in Canada, you can write to your local MP, and you can find them via this page, and/or you can go here to find contact information for (among others) the Canadian Minister for the Environment (Hon. John Baird). And, if you would like to read more, here's the story that recently aired on the CBC about this, and here's a subsequent article from msn.

As for me, I'm still kicking - my son is keeping me incredibly (and blissfully) busy, and while there are so many things I COULD write about, I'm just too tired on most days to sit on the computer and try to organize it all into posts, plus, I'd like to see mein Hublein somewhere in there, too. I owe Real Live Lesbian a post though...I will try to get that on here soon (see? I'm committing!) with pictures and everything!! :)

Wow, who would have thought...

2008-05-01T14:44:00.005-04:00

My little post on Leona Lewis has garnered a number of comments. Interesting. The latest is from someone who called themself "sexy mama" and I started to write a response in the comments, but it just got so long that I thought "Hey - this should just be a post. I don't post enough as it is." So thanks, sexy mama, because you've given me something to write about while I SHOULD be taking the opportunity to grab a nap. ;) This one's for you:

Hey sexy mama, thanks for your interesting comments. It's too bad you've completely put your own spin on mine, though. I'm not "threatened" by a good looking woman who can sing. Where on EARTH did you get that from? I'm a musician myself and I have many friends who are gorgeous and can sing the roof right off from over your head. A number of them could easily be in her place right now, and I'd be happy for them. So why does one person get a contract for $100 mil when there are so many out there who could have something equally as fantastic to contribute? How about record companies share the love a little? Stardom is not my goal, to be clear. This isn't a jealousy issue, it's just a cynicism with the music industry at large. And for the record (ar ar), I completely agree with you that paying people millions for sports is ridiculous. It's a different skill, yes, and there should be compensation for athletes if that's their profession of choice, but the amount of money that many of the athletes are paid is - again - ridiculous. That said, the consumer definitely helps drive that machine, you know what I'm saying? They wouldn't get paid that much if the customer wasn't providing the funds for them to get such lovely salaries. Really, the same thing goes in the music industry as well. All I was saying about Leona was that I had listened to clips of her music on amazon.ca and didn't understand the hype, or the justification for such a huge salary. For heaven's sake, she's barely out of the gates and hasn't established a brand or anything yet (and don't kid yourself, pro musicians who are signed with big labels ALL have brands). So obviously this brand is going to be formed FOR her - big bucks yes, but how happy will she be down the road?
Also, having made these comments, I have since followed the recommendation of a fellow blog buddy: I went to Leona's myspace page, where I was more impressed by what I heard. So yes, yay for Leona and her beauty and her lovely voice. But still...$100 million? I don't know. I think about artists like Jill Scott who blow me away much more than Leona Lewis has, and who don't seem to get the same amount of hype or attention, and I just think there's something seriously skewed in this industry when only the beautiful ones are rewarded because someone thinks they can sell product as well as beautiful music. And I feel sad for everyone out there who's equally as deserving of success in this field, and who have to struggle EVERY DAY to get whatever modicum of it they can, because someone at the top thinks there's only room enough for a select few "superstars". So really that post was more about "those fucking corporations" than anything else.

Borrowed stories seem to be my best ones these days...

2008-04-29T21:06:00.003-04:00

(...Maybe because I just don't seem to get out much any more?)

We watch The Office with a couple of friends of ours on whichever Thursday nights work for everybody. It's always a lot of fun, because these two are hilarious. It was suggested a while ago that we have an "Ugly Face Contest" and I said I'd post on the blog and everyone could vote. That has been slightly amended, because audience participation is so much more fun, don't you think? More on that soon. Today's post involves the same wonderful couple. Let's call them "Dwight and Angela". Heh heh. Anyway, "Dwight & Angela" live next door to a 50-something-year-old guy and his elderly English mum. Picture your typical lovely, neatly dressed, snow-white-haired English lady. The son has a massive video collection and has told them to come over any time and borrow whatever they like. They took him up on this, because hello, free movies! One day they went over to borrow a flick and he wasn't in, so the mother brought them to his room so that they could choose something. They get in there, and they're going through the movies, and of course the mother stays with them as they're looking, and she's suggesting various titles as they browse. Just as she's picking one up, "Dwight" gets a glimpse of what it is but it's too late to stop her. It's a porno. Called "Ass Attack", no less. The mother says (please to read using your best "proper" English accent, and with a slightly tremulous voice): "Oh nooo! What's this? 'Aaahhsss Attaaaahck'?! Oh it's a pooornoooo! Nobody should be watching pooornooos!" (Arrr, it's hard to transcribe English accents!) Anyway, you can imagine the discomfort...needless to say they grabbed something fast and got out of there.

For even more fun, here's "Dwight" doing his best English lady impression:

Fun Pengin update: I tried to feed my little guy some food he doesn't like today. He closed his mouth very tight and shook his head "No." I was shocked - he copies us shaking our heads (we do it for fun - I've tried teaching him up and down, but he hasn't got that yet), but I had no idea he'd attached any meaning to it! Holy crap!

Overheard in the shitter this evening

2008-04-24T02:07:00.006-04:00

Freakazojd: "Look Pengin, daddy just brushed his teeth!"
Hublein: "Hey mama and baba!"
Pengin: "AaaAAAH! Ba-da!"
Hublein: "Hee hee...look at your mama, Pengin. She's wearing blue socks, pink knickers and a yellow brassiere, haha!"
Freakazojd: "Aw, thanks Hublein! I wasn't feeling that sexy a moment ago, but that made me feel so much better."
Hublein: "At least your legs are smooth!"
Freakazojd: "Ummm...not totally..."
Hublein: "Well at least you're not Bushy Bill Roberts any more!"
Freakazojd: "Oh! Is that what I was?!"
Hublein: "No...you were like this!" [Hublein puts his foot up on the counter and shows off a hairy leg]
Freakazojd: "Oh! Thank you so much!"
Pengin: "Ha! Ah-da!"

Bonus Pengin photo, for fun. Pengin watches The Muppet Show (also, check out the awesome dimple!):

Music geek alert!

2008-04-22T13:07:00.002-04:00

I've been hearing some hype about Leona Lewis. How could you not, right? Talk about a media driven machine. "Clive What's-His-Name" (just kidding, Davis) is reported to be potentially signing her for $100 million contract. Does anyone know if this is happening? (I ask, not necessarily needing an answer.)
So I finally took a few minutes to check her out on amazon.ca today. I listened to the first clip - and just shrugged...meh. Not one to pass judgement on the basis of one clip, I listened to a few more. Again and again, underwhelmed. The accompaniment/"beats" didn't do much for me, and while her voice was nice enough, she didn't sound much different from all of the other little pop queens/princesses out there; what I'm getting at here, is that vocally, she didn't stand out to me as being something special enough to warrant $100 million. So what's the draw? Besides the fact that she's fucking GORGEOUS, of course. Are looks REALLY all it takes to be a popular musician these days? And do I suddenly sound like I'm 60 years old?! Frikken frack.

Friggin' heck

2008-04-18T02:08:00.006-04:00

I am SUCKING with the posting. Some days I think about doing it, and then it doesn't happen. Other days I think I should just shut this thing down, because I'm so infrequent that I don't even expect anyone to check in on me anymore. Why DO you? Doesn't really matter, I guess, because I'm really grateful whatever your reasons are, but I don't think I'd even check in on me.
So, again, I'm up late, having just fed the babe who still (friggin' heck again) does not sleep through the night, and I'm too damned tired to come up with something interesting to say. Here are a few highlights of life lately:

I am so happy that The Office is back on again.
I discovered Etsy.
I am hooked.
Shit.
This is for my friend T in BC who doesn't think Viggo is hot. First: I'm going to have to kick you in the neck. Second:
In other words, what the hell are you thinking.
Weight loss. Ooohhh yeah...I was supposed to be doing something that had to do with weight loss! Well, I'm down a total of 17 pounds (since the beginning of January), but please, don't clap too hard, because that's been holding steady for a few weeks now.
I blame birthdays and dinner parties and such.
The weather is AWESOME. I ran around my house in my skivvies with all the windows open today. It was 22 degrees out. Seriously. WHEEEEE!
Holy shit, my blog has degenerated to discussions of the weather.
My kid has FOUR teeth. #5 is coming soon. Dig it:
The whole teething thing means we see a lot of faces like these:
I love those faces. They are my faves.
Also new (since I posted last, anyway): Pengin can get from lying down to standing up in his crib.
By himself.
My days of only having to have eyes in the front of my head are nearing their end.
Also new: initiating and playing peekaboo. Cute.
He also likes copying games, like smacking his hand and waiting for you to do the same, or doing what I call "The Old Man Cough", a.k.a. "Harumphing" and waiting for me to repeat that back to him. Think Statler & Waldorf. I will try to get that on video, because it's hilarious.
The Jolly Jumper is losing its appeal in favour of walking (or running, god help me) while holding onto our fingers.
My back is killing me.
Also, apparently sippy cups and crawling are going the way of the soother in this house...my kid is skipping both, and going right for the glasses and cruising/walking.

Ok, that's all my tired brain's got right now. This post was interrupted by yet more feeding. I think that 5th tooth is arriving very soon...

Over and out...zzzzzzzz...

I'd like to thank the Academy...

2008-04-05T18:18:00.003-04:00

Wow. There's a really sweet and amazing blogger out there named Jen who SOMEHOW saw fit to award me with this:

Jen, I don't know how I merit such a thing - as much as I'd love to say that I have quality where my posting quantity is lacking, I don't think that's the case. But whatever your reasons were, I thank you SO much. First the golden sporks and now this! I squeal with glee in your general direction. :)
From what I can see, the idea is pay it forward, so without further ado, I present the following as winners of this award (there were a couple more I would have added because I love their blogs, but they've won a number of times so I hope they won't mind that I have opted instead to give them both an honourable mention so that I can spread the love around a little more):

These blogs are all fabulous, so if you haven't yet checked them out, please do. And thanks again, Jen. :)

It's there! It's there!

2008-04-03T13:44:00.004-04:00

Not that I think you haven't been to Jay's yet if you're here, because he is the king of posting, and I am definitely in the serf category (although I'm trying to post more, I really am!). HOWEVER. Jay got his package today! I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing this most awesome photo, just in case there are some of you who haven't seen his post yet:

Jay, you ROCK the helmet, and you do my ancestors proud. :) Let me know if you need more Smarties.

Seems the west is more badass than they'd like to admit

2008-04-02T20:24:00.001-04:00

Toronto gets a bit of a bad rap in some parts of this country, especially if you talk to folks out west. I lived in Regina for a year, and most of the friends I made were from the western provinces; I got my share of digs simply because of the fact that I had lived NEAR Toronto my whole life. According to many out west, Toronto is a dangerous, crime-ridden, and delusionally-self-aggrandizing city. Self-aggrandizing MAYBE (although I happen to really like the city, and I think if you've got the goods to back it up, go ahead...to a point). Anyway, dangerous? Not so much, as it turns out. This article was a bit of an eye-opener. Apparently Toronto is 26th on a cross-country list of communities of 50,000 or more people in terms of crime rate per capita. Montreal is 19th, and the top nine 'crime-ridden' communities are - get ready for it - all out west. Between (and including) Winnipeg and Victoria, to be more precise. Number 10 on the list is Halifax, the only city from the eastern provinces to make the top 10. Veeeerrrrry iiiiiiinterrrresting. A.K.A. "SUCK IT!" to my friends out west, haha!

And That's a Fact!

2008-03-30T14:16:00.001-04:00

It is 2am. This post is being written (yes, handwritten - how old-fashioned, I know) in the back of my NY Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle Book. (Fact #1: I am a geek. Fact #2: In my defence, my dad got me hooked on crosswords when I was young. Fact #3: Better than getting me hooked on drugs.) I am up WAY past my bedtime. (Fact #4: I am "postcoital-tired", but without the sex part, unfortunately. Fact #5: My jokes SUCK when I'm tired.) Everyone - including the cats - is sleeping, except for me:

Anyway, I am writing this post because I won a freaking AMAZING prize from Real Live Lesbian. She just went on an envy-inciting trip to South America, and I won a souvenir from her travels. Can you freakin' DIG IT?! (Fact #6: I've never won anything in my life.) To boot, in the comments of her prize-winner-announcing post, Jay said "Cool beans" and that I was "cool." (Fact #7: "Cool beans" has never been used in a phrase including my name. I love it.) Now about that Jay fellow. Jay is pretty cool himself. AND Jay Guessed the Day. My handsome & adorable kid is now 8 months old (here he is with his present from the Easter Bunny):

This means that I have been owing Jay a prize for...wait for it...ok, yeah 8 months. I KNOW. I see you, covering your mouth and laughing "Oh my GOD!" with some modicum of disgust. It is inexcusable. But guess what. Today? Today, I mailed it. (Fact #8: I really did mail it!) (*Note from type-time: "today" means Friday.) I had actually finished preparing the package - at long last - on Monday, and then I found out I won the prize from RLL, so that actually got me to the post office with it by the end of the week. (Fact #9: I really did mail it!) Because to accept a prize from another when I haven't even sent one that was promised months ago is bad karma. Or something. So, Jay Who Guessed the Day, your fab, fun prize is on the way, and I hope you like it! Here is a photo of the box:

That's all I can show you, because I forgot to take photos of the contents of the box before I taped it up, so I'll leave that to Jay if he feels like sharing. (Fact #10: I am seriously starting to question how long I can continue to claim "baby brain".) As much as I hate to admit this, this is actually GOOD when compared to my snail mail track record. Get ready for another "OMG" because the Christmas photo cards I spent ~~too~~ so much time designing are currently sitting on my kitchen counter in envelopes that are addressed, and as a special bonus this year, stamped. Why are they still there? Because I got too ambitious: I wanted to add personal notes to every single one. The kicker is that they were ready to go in early December. So now I'm revamping them into "Happy Spring" cards. And it gets worse. (Fact #11: I can't believe I'm about to tell you this.) In 1995 (insert an even bigger "O!M!G!" here), three friends of mine came to visit from out west, bringing with them some photos of our time together the year before. (Fact #12: I went to Bible College for a year in Saskatchewan. I know. Shocker.) Two of the friends left their photo albums behind. Fact #13, right out loud: I still have their photo albums. Take your time with that. Yeah. THIRTEEN YEARS LATER, babies. I have packed them up and unpacked them again numerous time as I've moved around since then, and they are currently in storage somewhere in this house. *Big, long sigh.* However, I am going public with this (not-so-superstar-style) because I want to hereby officially commit to both finding them this coming month, and sending them off to their rightful owners. All these years later. They're going to love me and hate me all at once. It will be Le Magic. Maybe I can get my "Happy Spring" cards out at the same time.

A piece of life

2008-03-28T12:18:00.006-04:00

I liked an idea I saw over at Jay's today, which originally came from Apathy Lounge so I'm joining in. The idea is to take a photo of your dining table - be not afraid of mess, it's a slice of life. Very cool idea. And very revealing. What I realised is that we, apparently, are boring.

So...we've got some placemats, a runner, a chocolate bar (Burnt Almond Dark, yum, can't wait to crack that puppy open), some recipe mags, a kleenex box, some flyers, and the table top for my son's highchair. And the cat, of course. What picture of any part of my home would be complete without one (or both) of the cats?! Anyway...interesting exercise, ho-hum result. I'll have to junk it up a bit and have a do-over. :)
Have a great weekend, everybody! I'll have a new post either later today, over the weekend or on Monday. It all depends on the babe - teething season has begun anew, so I = tired.

Am I becoming cynical?

2008-03-16T21:26:00.002-04:00

Check out this photo and the accompanying blurb.

Did you check it out? Hope so, otherwise this will make no sense:
Yeah. The reason was so that he could stick it to Heather Mills.

Thanks for your comments on the last post, everybody. They were greatly appreciated.

Birthdays and wanting better for my kid

2008-03-16T20:56:00.003-04:00

I was looking at this picture today and thinking that I never want that joy to be taken from my son's beautiful face:

In fact, I got really sad thinking about it. Parents out there, help me out, is that normal? I was even crying. It could be my already-melancholy frame of mind. Here's the preface: mein hublein just had a birthday, and it almost went unnoticed by my family, aside from a conversation with me on the phone where I was asked to pass on a "Happy birthday" (which is something, I guess, but it would have been nicer if they'd talked to him directly) and my parents gave him a card. Hublein doesn't care, but I do. As for my birthday, for at least the last 3 years I have received my birthday present from my parents at Christmas (my birthday is in Nov), and I have received nothing from my brothers aside from the occasional card split between the 2 of them. My brothers are in their mid-to-late 20s and have been in various situations of in-school-and-part-time-working to in-school-and-out-of-work, to not-in-school-but-working-full-time; it doesn't matter, they never do anything. To clarify, I don't care about how much is spent or not spent - to me, birthdays are about showing the ones you love that you thought about them, that you're happy they're here and that you're happy to be in their life and have them in yours. While theoretically we should show each other love all the time, life does get busy, and I understand that; but the day of ones birth seems like an ideal day to set aside for letting your loved ones know how glad you are that they're, you know, alive. Pretty basic stuff. Unless you're from my family, apparently. Anyway, this latest show of "we don't give a shit" (ok, I'm being over-dramatic, I know) upset me, and got me to thinking about the fact that I WILL NOT tolerate this when it comes to my son's birthdays. So I'm drafting a letter that won't be sent until June (which still gives the fam plenty of time to prepare for Pengin's birthday in late July) that basically says that I expect better for my son and that spending money isn't the point, but I expect them to write or paint or do SOMETHING special for him on his birthday. Because I never want him to wonder why his family doesn't care, like I have. I never want that joy in the picture above to be taken from him, especially in the place where he should feel the most safe, most appreciated, and most loved: with his family.

I'm down with WWC, yeah you know me...

2008-03-06T13:24:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the intrepid Tink, the words for this week were Stone and Glass. I am late posting. That is ok. I am also not doing cool, artsy shots like I have seen some of you doing. That is also ok. I'm very zen today. I have to be - I didn't have 2 seconds to fart in yesterday and ended up very stressed out by the end of the day, so today - it's an easy, breezy beautiful, I'm a cover girl kind of day.

Glass:

The same window as the previous photo in a not-so-forgiving kind of light (marks courtesy of my cats' noses --- and paws ):

If this doesn't melt a heart of stone I don't know what would (a.k.a. Pengin with his favourite book). Please to notice another new development...his fantastic, natural mohawk:

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

The cutest baby in the world

2008-03-04T13:53:00.003-05:00

As per Tink's request, I thought I'd post an updated pic of the binger. It was taken just this morning, because I was trying to be THAT accurate in terms of adhering to the request for a "recent" photo, and I was finally able to get his 2 new teeth in the shot for the first time ever! In order to do that I had to take a close-up photo, so it's a little funny, but the teeth are there! And oh, the things you have to do to keep your child laughing for that long. Best of all, it only took 201 tries...aaaaand, that's only a slight exaggeration.

Well holy crap

2008-02-27T19:24:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in over two weeks. Huh? Two weeks?! Where the hell did they go?! I am SUCKING with computer time lately. Case in point: an old friend wrote me in January and I keep hoping for time to have a good sit down and write a long letter back and it just doesn't happen. L, if you're reading this, I think of you often, for whatever that's worth, and I really do keep trying to have that sit down - I think I'm going to have to coordinate it with the Hublein when he's home. It's very hard to say "I'm not here" when the baby's crying though. Case in point #2: I owe a fellow blog buddy a package from, oh, 7 months ago for correctly guessing the binger's birth date. Have. Not. Sent. Said. Package. I. Suck.
This month has been...interesting. Quick recap only because I just got the baby to bed and will be scarfing down my dinner in about 5-10 minutes from now (yeah that will be good for the weight loss). So here we go, a mix of sad and good, as life always is:

February started with Pengin & the Hublein both sick. I held off until the 2nd week of February. I'm still trying to get rid of the remnants. Damned sick.
Our anniversary is on the 2nd of this month. Yes, same day as groundhog day. Whatevs. Made fun if you will. But everyone said that seeing us in our groundhog suits at the wedding was a highlight.
That was a total joke. I actually had a pretty kick ass top/skirt/coat ensemble that I designed myself and had made. And, um, it = awesome.
Hublein's uncle passed away after a lengthy illness. I will be forgiven, I hope, for saying that it was a blessing in many ways. 45 years ago this uncle worked in the shipyards in England for a mere 6 months. This resulted in asbestosis - proper term is "Pulmonary Fibrosis" I believe - and this is what did it 45 years later. SIX. MONTHS. Horrible stuff.
Pengin got better.
Pengin got sick again, 2 days after recovering from cold #1. And this one was even worse than the first. He has now missed 4 swimming lessons. I shake my fist at the sky. How futile.
Hublein's cousin in England lost his wife to lymphoma. She was only 32. They have a little boy who is just 3 years old and who keeps asking where his mummy is. Also, when they discovered it last year, she had just become pregnant with their second baby and they had to terminate the pregnancy because she had to start chemotherapy immediately. My heart breaks a little more each time I think of it. I can't help but hope that we never go through such a horrible thing.
On a (much) lighter note, we just found out that mein Hublein's sister is expecting - yay, a cousin for our little binger!!!! (Talk about a yo-yo of a month...)
Mein sohn got his first tooth! It = le cute!
We took said son to the doctor for the cold and discovered he weighs the same as your average one-year-old. Em...come again?! He is also taller than average, so I think it is now a matter of time before Hublein is the shortest in our family.
Mein sohn got his second tooth, just yesterday. It also = le cute! I haven't been able to get a picture of the teeth though, because each time I try, his tongue goes "bleah" and covers everything up. :) (I love sound effects. Too bad they don't work so well on the computer, eh.)
I found a friggin' AMAZING recipe for sweet potato soup. In the slow cooker. I am in love.
Have now lost a grand total of 13 pounds since January 7th. Insert angelic chorus here.
The baby figured out how to say "Dada" (smarty-pants learned "Mmmm" and "Mama" first, then "Baba". That's my boy!!).
He now says "Dadadadada" (etc) all the time.
I was worried he'd forget "MmmmmMama" until he started saying it again yesterday.
I can't wait until he actually associates our faces with those sounds, because kids, it's freakin' exciting enough that he is making these sounds. I think that when he says "Mama" and means me, I may shed a tear or two from the sweetness of it all.
I am writing poetry again. It feels GOOD.
I think that's it. How do I turn the damned numbers off?
*Sigh*...OK, I can't figure it out. Signing off, I remain your favourite computer-illiterate blogger. It's amazing I've even figured out how to post at all.

You'd think...

2008-02-11T17:17:00.000-05:00

You'd think I'd be too busy, what with having a 6 month old child. A 6 month old child who is sick, and who generously shared that sick with his mama, thereby making her sick. A sick mama who also has a sick Hublein. A sick Hublein who won't stay home from work and get better because he thinks he's Rambo.

You'd think.

WOOHOO!

2008-01-31T11:42:00.000-05:00

I've lost 8 pounds this month! I know that rate will slow down as the pounds come off, but this is a great start, and I'm very happy for it. I haven't even added much exercise yet, I've just been focusing on changing the way I eat; because I know myself...I have to do it one step at a time. Anyway, hooray hooray! This halfway makes up for the nights I've only been getting 2-3 hours of sleep this week (yay for teething).
I know this is isn't a long one, but it's not always the size that counts (that's what she said).

For those following the writers' strike...

2008-01-27T12:57:00.000-05:00

Seth MacFarlane, oh he of Family Guy fame, has created a great video which he titled "The Negotiating Table" to explain how things are going with the Writer's Guild strike. Check it out here.
Be-deah be-deah be-deah, that's all folks.

Fun stuff

2008-01-24T22:53:00.000-05:00

Seen at Cynical Bastard's and Work in Progress...

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first article title is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.Now take your pic, add the band name and title to it, then post it.

I have to say that mine rocks. In fact, I'm inspired by it...inspired to actually write a song (or poem) with that title. I love the band name. I love the photo, which is by Víctor Almendra. Holy crap. Awesome.