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.
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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!

Merry Christmas to All. God Bless Us Everyone!

Troubles

The gods of electronics are displeased. In the space of a couple of weeks we lost our hard drive and our TV. They both just gave up. The hard drive HAD to be replaced immediately. We are doing with a tiny portable TV while waiting for dear dear Santa in the person of my lovely friend Car to give us a new TV.

In other news, attempts are being made to get into the black once again. I bought Gail Vaz Oxley's book on getting out of debt and am busy poring over budgets.

I am very proud of self. I am pretty much done Christmas shopping. I just have a couple more things to get, a box of hand cream for my mom and something for Mr. P, which I won't say because he sometimes reads this blog. Hah, thought I'd slip up there, eh?

There was decorating of Christmas trees today. Penboy is excited out of his mind. He is so wired that he has been closed to tears on several occasions. Can't wait for Christmas day!

Halloween



So, this year we had to dress up at work. Yep, I know, I was kind of relieved not to have to do that the past two years and here I was all excited. Well, I was excited because I made my costume. Sewed it, no less. I was Pierrot. I made the shirt and the pants and the ruffle collar. Hah! Was very proud of self. The theme was the circus, btw, in case you're wondering why Pierrot. Which was a bit appropriate because I just read "Water for Elephants" by Sarah Gruen and it's about the circus too.



Here is moi, albeit you can only really see the collar.


Penboy went as a cat on trick or treating night and he made out like a bandit. We had two bags of goodies, which I am munching right now. Mmmm, Cheezies!

Been doing these:

Sock monkeys rock!

Dog Days

The proverbial dog days of summer are upon us. It's been hot and humid most of July and it just makes everything sluggish.

Vacation was awesome, but it seems like so long ago now. We saw Kingston, albeit mostly Princess street. We also went on a 1000 Islands cruise. That was awesome. Nothing but water, rocky islands with trees and birds, bridges, boats. Oh, and multi-million dollar summer homes, of course. I loved it. There were few people on the boat, which was nice. We could look out from both sides of the boat, wander to the front and back (that's stern and bow for you boating people), take pictures, sit and relax.

Later on, we went to the hot air balloon rally in Wellsville, NY. That takes care of one of my entries off my bucket list. I have always wanted to see hot air balloons. There is just something romantic about hot air balloons. I always fantasized about lying in the grass, watching hot air balloons floating in the sky... Well, it didn't quite happen that way. There was sitting on the grass and watching hot air balloons taking off ten meters away!!! Mr. P ran into a lady (Dee) he had met earlier at the balloon rallies of yore and she got us pit passes. We got to go in, talk to the pilots, touch balloons. Penboy had a ball. We saw about 20 balloons launch. Unfortunately, the pilot of sky turkey (and Dee's brother all in one person) decided it was too windy to launch, so Penboy did not actually get to help with a launch. We had a great time though.

But now it's back to work... and heat... and commute. Summer in the city.

Summer!

Yess, yess, it is here! Oh, happy days of splash pads, ice cream trucks, swimming pools, and trips to the beach! Of course, with that come the days of heat and humidity and a perpetually sweaty forehead. But no matter.

Party life

So, bbq season was officially kicked off by my friend Car. Unfortunately, the day of her bbq, it was about +15C and sprinkling. As a consequence, most of the party happened indoors. I love Car dearly, but I had never met any of her other friends. Most of them I really liked, with one notable exception. Let's call her... Celine. Celine was very helped Car with her health in the past and remained a friend afterward. Celine is from la belle provence and has a bit of an accent, which was charming, until this conversation took place. Let me explain first that Celine has no children nor does she work with them or have any real contact with them. Penboy was at the party and was excitedly running around with the dogs, having lots of fun.
Celine and I were in the kitchen. Alone. Penboy flitted through in chase of a dog.
Celine: Your son, he is so tall!
me: Yes, well, he has tall parents.
C: Your son he has, umm, autistic?
me: Excuse me?!
C: No? He has autistic?
me: No, he does not have autism.
C: Well, what does he have? He has SOMETHING!
me (at this point my eyebrows reached my hairline): Why do you say that?
C: Because he is running around like that.
me: He's five. And he does not have a disorder of any kind.
At this point I left the kitchen to join Car's nice and well-bred friends on the terrace. I did not speak another word to Celine though she tried to talk to me. Let me explain to those of you who have no offspring. You do not suggest to a mother (that you have known for five minutes) that her child has an unknown syndrome of some kind.

The Graduate
Penboy graduated from kindergarten on Monday. He had a little hat with a tassel and got a diploma. It was all very touching and exciting. He's grown so much and can read some stuff and write letters. He's good at math and is interested in all kinds of things. Aww. So proud.

What do these women have in common?

They are 40 or over. And yours truly will be joining their ranks tomorrow.

Monthly Update

I say monthly because it seems I write once a month these days. All because Secret Company does not allow blogging at work and comes down hard on people who do. Fair enough, but that means I have little time to blog. Not that I have that many topics...



Attended a fabu conference in Rochester run by the Society for Technical Communicators. Met a whole bunch of nice people and even learned a bit. The hotel (Hyatt Regency) was very nice and had a pool. Mr. P, Penboy and I splashed for a few hours on the night before the conference. Penboy even dared let go of us and splash by himself (with two life preserves on, of course). Earlier there had been panicky clutching of my hair. I swear, I will go bald one of these days because when he's scared of something, he grabs my head and holds on to my hair.

After conference, we went down to visit FIL. With the dollar (then) being at par, we splurged on a portable DVD player. Ahhh, new electronics, love them.



Then of course, on Saturday morning, I woke up to the news that the upper part of the Polish government had been wiped out in a plane crash. I was in shock. My mom was still in Poland and we were worried that air traffic would be cleared for visiting dignitaries and she would not be able to return on time. This was all before the crazy Icelandic volcano eruption, of course. Yes, we do live in interesting times. My mom came back as planned though. Volcano held off until later in the week.

In browsing the net, I found a picture that epitomizes me (I'm sure Mr.P will agree here). It is called the Magpie Fairy. I shamelessly pilfered it from here: http://www.josephinewall.co.uk/magpie.html





Because I am doing some spiritual work with meditiation and reading about Buddhism and stuff, I spent a period agonizing over my love of bright shiny objects. I think I just need to come to peace with it though. This is who I am, the Magpie Fairy.

March Blues

A word about insurance companies - they are bloodsuckers! They will squeeze every penny out of you. This was brought on by my dear insurance company sending me a renewal of my insurance and raising the premiums $50.00 a month! I ask you! Pretty soon if this goes on, I won't be able to afford to have a car at all.

Read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and absolutely loved it! Am totally motivated to mediate now. I even bought a book on how to meditate called "The Power of Stillness." I had some success in my early days of meditation, but the last two days were not too successful. Basically it goes like this.

Om. Namah. Shivaya.

Damn that stupid insurance company!

Om.

Gee, I wish I were somewhere warm and lying on the beach. Maybe I'll mediate about that.

Namah.

OK, back to it. Stillness is not thinking about the beach, it's concentrating on the mantra.

Shivaya.

----

Om.

But the beach would be nice. Gee, I wish I were ten pounds thinner. Or twenty for that matter.

OM!!!

And that is when I gave up. Back to it again tonight. I think I am supposed to practice a different mantra this time. Om usually does it for me, but I need a different "emergency" mantra for tougher days.

Valentine's Day

It was a good one this year, peeps. I got a gorgeous art nouveau ceramic box, an Egyptian canopic jar, a really nice Second Cup mug, and little fun toys which I will leave to your imagination. All from Mr. P. :) Penboy gave me a Valentine which he signed himself and where he tried to write Mama, but wrote Mami. I am keeping it for evah!

In other news, sister-in-law is getting a divorce. I spoke to her at length on the phone. It left me feeling down. Then we were supposed to go to Car for dinner, but when we pulled out of the garage, spotted a big flat tire. As it's Family Day, our friendly neighbourhood garage is closed, so there was no going anywhere today. Just a bit of a grey, down day today.

New Year, New Me?

Every year I read the January "New Year, New You" issues of magazines. Not this year. I have decided to give the old me free reign. That said, I did come up with some very unpleasant resolutions:

1. Spend less money.

2. Eat less sugar.

3. Eat less fat.

4. Eat less of everything.

5. Exercise more.

6. Lower debt.

Sigh.

So, a quick review of the holiday season. Santa brought me the coveted Julia Child book and also French Chef on DVD! I immediately made Beuf Bourginion and a lovely roast chicken for Mr. P's birthday that I had to baste EVERY 15 MINUTES! But, oh it was so worth it!

Watched a bunch of movies that found their way under the tree: Howl's Moving Castle, Star Trek, Julie and Julia.

We all finally got over our colds/bronchitises at the beginning of January.

Had my performance review at work and got a very good rating!

We went to Casa Loma a couple of weekends ago and had a blast.

So, not too bad for a month of stuff.

The Plague


I think this must be the time of year, because we are all sick. And I mean sick, not with little colds, no puffers and antibiotics are involved. For a little while I wondered if we had H1N1. I don't think so though. I certainly don't have the right symptoms. Well, anyway, it's not fun, especially with a very energetic five-year-old who is feeling fairly well and wants to play elaborate car games.

Oh, and by the way, if I see much more of Max and Ruby, I will go postal. Penboy LOVES Max and Ruby. Mr. P and I both loathe it. I have never heard on cartoon TV a more condescending and patronizing voice than Ruby's. I think I'd rather listen to Elmo's annoying laugh.




They look cute, don't they? Do not be fooled!

In crocheting news - excitement! I have finally begun a granny square afghan. I made two squares so far and the afghan calls for 90. So, that makes one square a night for three months and I should be done! Only have 88 to go now. If Mr. P watches one of his fave programs on TV (involving dinosaurs, or real-life cop chases, or dinosaurs chasing cops), I should be able to churn out two or three in one night!

I am sadly behind in making jewellery. I originally planned to give it as Christmas gifts, but I see that won't happen now. I got some nice art nouveau brass pendants on etsy and began making the necklaces to hold them, but sadly my enthusiasm waned. Luckily, I have two birthdays right after Christmas, so that's where they'll go.

We are off to Zellers today to get skates and a helmet for my child. He shows very little predilection for winter sports and I would like to get him excited at least about skating. I mean, we are Canadians, after all. I plan to take him to city hall, where there is a large skating rink with lights, music, and a big Christmas tree. Will keep you appraised of the results. Fingers crossed anyway.

All I Want for Christmas

Happy December! It's Ho Ho Ho time soon. In keeping with the spirit of "getting," here is my wish list. (See Sally on Peanuts - "Christmas is the the joy of getting.") The two main ones are:

1. Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward Mankind.

2. Health and Happiness.

And smaller things,

3. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.

4. "The Age of Innocence" DVD.

5. "Julie and Julia" DVD.

6. Bella's moonstone ring. Yes, I am smitten by the lore too, though I have not read the books.

7. Lots of yummy things to eat and good times and friends and laughing and joy.

Come to think of it, I'll be happy with #7.