Happy New Year!

Christmas Day

Well, it's been a banner Christmas day for gifts. I got a laptop! And so did Penboy!
I really have the best husband in the world. And not just because of the electronics. He let me sleep in at six in the morning when our child was done tearing into his gifts (he got up at 5:30). He was the designated driver last night so I could have some Christmas Eve wine. He cleaned the kitchen yesterday and took out the garbage countless times. :)

So, the day has been all about learning about laptops and stuff. And sleeping. I slept very badly last night and have been pretty tired all day.

We are off to my friend Car's tomorrow and seeing Mrs.Peel Tuesday. Love the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

... and Happy Holidays to everyone who does not celebrate Christmas. May all your dreams and wishes be fulfilled.

'Tis the Season... Almost

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I've been trying to fashion my own felt decorations and let me tell you something - there is a reason you can buy these things instead of making them. Still, it's fun and I learned the blanket stitch pretty well.

Penboy and I are going to Casa Loma for gingerbread decorating later this month. I'm looking forward to seeing the castle decorated for Christmas. And speaking of gingerbread, I finally made it and it turned out pretty good, I think. Of course, my mom turned her nose up at it a bit, but I was expecting this. I was not given the honour of making it for the family at Christmas. That's OK, I will make it for friends.

Penboy has the sniffles. He went to a party Saturday afternoon and Sunday was sniffly all day. Today he's sniffly too. I am having tummy problems and I think a liquid diet will be de rigeur for the next little while. We're just a bunch of sickies right now.

Hoping to get out to the movies this season. I really want to see "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "W.E." Both of them are coming out this Friday, I believe. Mind you, Alec Guiness will be a hard act to follow. Too bad they don't make "Smiley's People." Anyway, Moscow rules all the way.

November



Penboy persuaded me to go to Black Creek Pioneer Village yesterday. It was a fabulous idea. I had not been there in yonks, at least since high school.


They had the place decorated for Christmas and we even spied a certain gentleman in red with a white beard coming in as we were leaving.




From there we went for lunch at a certain Toronto mall and it took us 10 minutes to find a parking spot about a kilometer away form the entrance. I say, Black Friday and Saturday should be cancelled.

In other news, Occupy Toronto people seem to be gone from St. James park (and about time) and I am still not 100% clear what it is they were protesting. They did not do a great job of explaining their protest or even publishing a list of demands. I know they are against banks, but not sure what they propose as an alternative - keeping money in a sock? And what about loans? Back to loan sharks? It's very puzzling. I will just go on with my regular, middle-class life with a job and consumer debt.

October

So, here we are in the fall, friends. October has been busy already, and we're barely past the half mark.

We went to Parry Sound again, for Thanksgiving weekend, and this time made it on the 30 000 islands cruise. It was beautiful - emerald green water, blue sky, trees blazing with reds and golds. Also saw a swivel bridge for the first time. I didn't even know such things existed.

Now it's all about the prep for penboy's birthday. This year we are having a party, mainly because he went to so many parties last year. Booked an indoor playground, bought plates, cups, napkins, loot bags, loot bag contents, decorations. The only thing I still have to get is food and drinks. Now, of course, there is one kid in his class who is allergic to everything, and after some pondering, I realize I can't cater to him. Penboy keeps asking "what's Owen going to eat?" And I say "fruit" 'cause that is the only thing this kid can eat.

In knitting news, I have finished the Harry Potter scarf and have started on baby blanket for co-worker, but I am already thinking about taking it apart and starting again because it's too thin. Yeah, OK, it doesn't have to be super thick, but I'm a lazy individual and making a thin blanket takes way longer, so I would rather double the yarn and go with thicker. Anyway, I have until mid-February to finish, so not that long.

I have also been making bracelets for United Way and they've been selling on the spot, so I keep having to make more. That's good thing, of course, but keeps me away from my knitting time.

And finally, we are almost finished watching Lost. OMG, I am really ready for this series to end. It's been really interesting, but there are only so many iterations of John Locke that I can take.

Splint Free!

The splint is off my broken wrist (that was broken August 1, thank you very much). I feel much better and am back to regular activities like knitting. Penboy is a newly minted Harry Potter fan and wants a Gryffindor scarf, which is about half made now. Pics of the finished product will follow.

In other news... my sister got married. And I found out about it the day before. It astounds me that she can do stuff like this. This is the woman who caused me to join Facebook in the hopes of keeping in touch with her. She did communicate with me there a few times, but clearly did not think it necessary to mention that she was engaged. Slipped her mind, do you think? Of course, she also did not tell our dad and I can only imagine how hurt he is. So, how did we find out, you ask? From my aunt who let it slip that she was resting on Friday because she wanted to be fresh for the wedding on Saturday. Grr. I feel doubly betrayed.

It's funny though. There was no mistaking the satisfaction in my mom's voice when she said "yes, your sister is getting married... for the first time...at her age..." Yah, OK, your daughter's been married for eight years now and is six years younger, we all know. :) I should 'splain that my sister is my dad's daughter from his frist marriage.

One-handed Bandit

I am broken. Literally. Well, OK, just my wrist, but it seems to be taking a toll on the rest of me. I was getting out of a paddle boat at Safari Niagara, slipped and fell and injured my left wrist. Of course, I refused to go to emerg because of a. c difficile in the Niagara region and b. the six hour wait times. So went to physio instead. After about two weeks, the therapist said she was not happy with the progress and I should go get it x-rayed. By then I was in a lot of pain, so went to emerg. Yep, after six hours of waiting, and many painful x-rays (had to twist arm in many directions), found out it's broken. They then sent me to the fracture clinic at Mt. Sinai, where, frankly I looked the most healthy and whole. I got away with a splint, which I have to wear for four weeks (one down, three to go). It's my left wrist and only now I am finding out how much I normally use it. Even stupid things like washing my hair and getting dressed are hard. But worst of all - I can't drive! Gaaah!

Summer!

Summer is offcially here - that means splash pads, ice cream trucks, trips to the beach... We did all three this long weekend. And bbq. Yep, we are those people now, the people we hate because they have a bbq on their balcony and the smoke goes everywhere. We couldn't beat them, so we joined them. So far, we've had four bbqs. Yum. Today we even had my parents over for a bbq lunch. Oh, and I am spreading the evil by helping my neighbours get their own bbq. They have no car, so I drove them to WalMart today to get their own bbq, brickettes, and tools. Ha!

In other news... I have stepped over to the dark side and... joined Facebook. It's all my sister's fault. Why? After five years of no communication from her, she sends me a Facebook invite. So, I joined and sent her a message saying "I'm so happy you got in touch! How are things with you? Here in Toronto, it's been really hot lately." And what does she write back? "In Warsaw it's cold." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after five years of no calling, writing or otherwise giving a sign of life, my sister imparts this earth-shattering revelation - it's cold in Warsaw.

But speaking of long lost friends, found one! My friend Justyna from elementary school, no less! I did some sleuthing on Google and various other sites and found her! She's married and has two little boys and we've been e-mailing a bit. I miss her. We used to play together for hours. We used to walk each other home after school until our moms came home and pulled us indoors.

OK, last bit of news. My lovely husband gave me an iPod Touch for our wedding anniversary! Oh, I so love electronic toys!

Love Birthdays!

OK, the birthday was good. And the best part is that it keeps on giving! As the actual day was on Wednesday, there was not too much happening (except delish dinner at home). Made up for it starting Friday night! Had a lovely dinner with Mrs. Peel. OK, the company was lovely, the dinner... well, left some things to be desired. We went to this kind of cutsey, artsy place called Kalendar. Frankly, the service was appalling. It took them 45 minutes to bring ANY food to the table (this being hors d'oeuvres). Then another half hour for the main course. I had this "scroll" which was a fancy name for a crepe stuffed with chicken salad. Hmm. The description said roast chicken with tomatos, feta and all kinds of other yummys. I did not expect chicken salad. And there was a LOT of it, my friends. Took half home to Mr. P, who fortunately, liked it. Food and service notwithstanding, we had a blast. She got us matching bracelets!

Saturday was a trip to Port Perry with Car. We took a lovely cruise on lake Scugog and did some shopping in town, of course. I got a lovely pair of summer sandals. Car also gave me some lovely jewellery, all in silver and purple tones. Did I mention that purple is my new favourite colour? The bling is from Magnolia, this UK company that only has a few retail places in Canada. My friends make me feel so special!

Of course, there was cake with my parents as well. And Mr. P gave me a GORGEOUS side table that I am using as my night stand now. Oh, and flowers, AND new fave movie "The King's Speech."

Birthdays - good!

The B-day Approacheth

It is that time of year... next week to be precise. I should be feeling a lot more mature, but I'm not. I am still reduced to tears by the stupidest things, like being seen to have made a wrong decision. I am still in love with jewellery and can't seem to get enough. I still can't give up sugar. Maybe what I need to get is acceptance, not maturity. Or maybe they are the same. Or maybe I should start thinking of these failings as assets. Probably the latter would be best. So. Resolutions for the next year of my life:

Go against every grain but my own.

Be the most genuinely me that I can be, even if that means a magpie fairy stuffing her face with chocolate, running after every shiny stone she sees.

And try not to care how it all looks.

The Height of Married Life

So Mr. P and I have reached the pinnacle of married life. Oh, lucky pengirl, you say. Listen to this. OK, this is going to get a bit intimate. Mr. P and I are not above using some shall we say utensils in our whoopee time and one of them is a bottle of personal ...hm, lubricant. Penboy has a hamster, as you know, Henry. Henry likes to run in his wheel all night long. The wheel has become really squeaky, keeping us up. Do you see where I'm going with this? Finally, Mr.P decided enough was enough and he was going to put WD40 on that wheel.

I came home from work the next day and this conversation ensued.

Mr. P: I finally got Henry's wheel to stop squeaking!

Me: You put WD40 on it, could that not be harmful to him!?

Mr. P (with a happy shining smile on his face): No, actually, I could not find the right lube, so I used our lube for it.

Me: As in...happy times lube?

Mr. P (with pride): Yes!

And that, ladies and gentlemen is the height of married life. Using sex toys to fix your child's pent's cage. Yep, it doesn't get better than that.

Happy Valentine's Day



OK, so it's Valentine's Day's Eve really. Mr. P and I are going to have a quiet celebration with some wine and crepes with mixed fruit. Oooh, la, la! And chocolate, of course.



In t-shirt blanket news... it is almost finished! Yay! Today I put the backing on and now just have to put on some tape on the edges to make it look nice.






This is what it looks like on Penboy's bed.



And speaking of Penboy, he is loving his hamster, Henry. Henry gets to visit pretty much ever corner of our apartment. Luckily, Penboy is good about supervising.





Here's the little rodent, being squeezed in my child's hand.
-------------------
In world news, I salute Egypt! The world is really a different place when you can get real-life reports from ordinary people. I love the way they took advantage of the internet to make the world pay attention. This is true power of the individual! I hope they get the freedoms and prosperity they deserve.

School Nerves

Penboy is in grade 1. He has Cruella DeVille as his teacher. Seriously. OK, I know I'm a mom and as such people will accuse me of hysteria when it comes to my child. Let's just get past that for a second. I don't know what this woman wants from my kid. He's not brilliant. He's a normal six-year-old who prefers recess to any school activity. When he writes, you can most of the time figure out what he's trying to say. He can read quite well, but doesn't want to. He's not great at drawing, but loves painting. He also likes geology, space, nature, and animals and knows quite a bit about those subjects. Cruella thinks he's seriously incapacitated. Every time I pick him up from school (which does not happen too often because I work for a living!), she beckons me with her bony finger and says "Oh, Mrs. Pen, I'm so glad you're here." Then proceeds to tell me what extra activities she has dreamed up for my child to do at home. This is supposedly because he is capable of nothing at school.

She asked me the other day if she could bring him up at a school meeting. I foolishly gave permission. She then phoned me with the results (recommendations for occupational therapy and such). She phone my cell. She phoned my work. I was away from my desk, so I called her back. She took about ten minutes to admonish me for not being available to her at the drop of a hat.

Yesterday PenBoy asked me for a timer (a stop watch). I asked him why he wanted one and he said it was because his teacher used it in class.
"What for?" I asked.
"Because Dennis was being slow."
"So she TIMED him?"
"Yes, she set the time for him to be finished the work he was doing."

No pressure there! Good thing my boss doesn't stand over me with a stop watch. "Pengirl! Write faster, you have ten seconds to go!" I think if she threw in the theme from Jeopardy, that would have made it even more "fun."

Yes, so this woman has rubbed me the wrong way. But if I'm overreacting, so is she. PenBoy has even told me of times when she flicked him in the head with her fingers to "make him focus."

Well, now I have to go pick him up. Maybe if I wear dark glasses and a hat I will escape the dreaded finger.

New Year


Yes, another one. It came on subtly. We did not make it until midnight. That is, I read in bed until about 11:00 and then could not fall asleep, so actuall saw midnight come and go, but that's it.


I just have one resolution - to take more action rather than wait for things to "improve."


Today was Mr. P's birthday. We went for our usual Mandarin Palace lunch. I find that buffet places are a waste of time on me. I can eat one plate of food. I had some dessert as well and then I was over-full. Also, their quality has deteriorated or maybe I have become more discerning. Anyway, Chef's House it is not. Munching on my papaya enzymes now.


Christmas was good except for all of us being sick. Seems that every year at this time we all get sick. I got some excellent loot from Santa.


and





and more stuff too, of course, including a new very chic watch from my friend Car. She spoils me so. I wish I could reciprocate.

Penboy has been begging for a new Leapster and we got it for him today - Leapster Explorer. Of course, we now have to get new games for it. Sigh. Toy manufacturers are evil. For Christmas Santa brought him a new hamster whom he named Henry. Henry is very cute and happily climbs onto my hand. Penboy very quickly adapted to Henry. I was worried that he'd be a bit scared. At first he was unsure, but when he picked up Henry for the first time, it was a love affair at first touch.

I got Mr. P a collection of four Sci Fi movies, including 2001 The Space Odyssey. I think it will be many happy hours of knitting time for me.

Happy New Year to all!