.:shy:.

escaping the politics

i haven't blogged much because i've been overworked and pretty much stressed out. and while i'm tempted to vent about all the silly politics that's been going on around me, i'm more inclined to just put that aside so i can write about other things in life.

besides, after doug came home last night from his evening class, we stayed up until midnight, discussing all the issues i've been facing at work. and trying, where possible, to come up with a solution.

since our country weekend get-away, hobbes has come back extremely matted. and while we did try to detangle the furry mess, it was just impossible. at least impossible to do it without causing him pain. since then, it's only gotten worse as he scratches and gnaws at them, making each knot bigger and bigger.

we spoke with our groomer and she basically said that when dog reachs this point, the only they can do is give them a shave.

it's time to change the style anyway. it will prepare him for the warmer months. it's still cold in the mornings and evening so we may need to invest in a doggy sweater. honestly, something i've never imagined getting for a dog but now i see why it may be necessary.

chaeli's 2nd report card came in today. for her core subjects (math and english), she did about the same as far as grades, with one new section graded in english (novel study) and two new sections for math (data management and problem solving). in total, there are now 6 sections graded in each core subjects. she received mainly B+ (high 80's) and some A- (low 90's). we were pleased because the comments were all positive and while the grades did not change much, the material did - much more comprehensive and difficult then in the first term.

what was also nice was to see that in all other subjects, she received from A- to A+, with an exception in science (B+).

i had to laugh when i read that her one A+ was in computer studies. i made a remark to doug, "yeah, i'm not worried about her grade in computer class - it's somewhat inherited."

as for me, i was more into the comments this time then the grades. and am learning that the teacher's comments shed way more light then a mere letter or grade.

anyway, chaeli was totally eager to see her own resutls. i let her read it at the back of the car on the way home the day we receive the report card in her folder at school. all i could hear was exhasperated whispers of "YESSSS!!!" from the back as she went down the list of grades.

there are about 3 more weeks of doug's two-nights per week classes and it's a major countdown for me. the long winter on top of a lot of things happening for work for me, has made the mid-week and half of the weekends where he gone, pretty tough. he's tired, i'm tired... and the crazy thing is that part of my frustration is that i can not work late either tuesdays or wednesdays which are usually the days that are more optimal for me to work late. i've been working late fridays instead and then bringing home work.

who wants to work late on fridays and over the weekend when they can get it over earlier in the work week?

so it's a bit ironic... i'm countding down to the weeks where i can work late on those two days which is a wierd thing to want to do. but given the option, it's the lesser of two evils.

country road, take me home...

we just got back from a country weekend getaway - friends of ours invited us to stay with them in a town two hours away from here.

they live on a fairly large property with the backyard leading to a forest - cross the dirt road and we also were greeted by a river.

they had over 70 maple trees on their property tapped, saving a couple to tap when chaeli got there, just so they could show her how it was done. i thought that was pretty special. even if you go to a very rustic maple syrup farm, the trees are already tapped and collecting the sap. so for chaeli to see the production happen from start to finish was very cool. in fact, it was cool for me because i had never seen that myself!

they gave us a huge jar of syrup to take home with us - we're very lucky. store bought maple syrup is heaven. local maple syrup is even better. but this jar? it comes with memories of the whole, entire weekend which we will always remember for years to come.

on top of all that, we were pampered with good food and wine, which even a daily cocktail as the sun started to set. i got a chance to try a grasshopper for the very first time. i know it's quite a dated cocktail but i've always wanted to know what it tastes like - damn good!

both chaeli and hobbes got a lot of fresh air. hobbes went nuts because we let him off leash pretty much the whole time. he's now sleeping after going non-stop for the past couple of days.

what a great way to end our march break.

am dim sum, pm irish stew

considering we've had the week to relax, as usual p, our week ended up being jammed pack.

yesterday, a bunch of mepy girlfriends and i got together for lunch. it served a dual purpose - the kids got a few hours playdate and i got a chance to meet up with some girlfriends whom i haven't seen in 2011 yet (i had to miss out the last two gatherings).

this morning we had dim sum with family and now we're about to have a traditional irish stew with fresh potato bread for st. Paddy's day. doug is going to have Guinness. i'm not a fan of it so i'll stick with wine.

not starving at "starving artist"

We're sitting here at Starving Artist (http://www.starvingartistbar.com/) after the most delicious waffle and espresso brunh I have ever had. I got the potato waffle benny - first time having waffles with potatos in it and first time having benny on a waffle rather then the traditional english muffin. Definitely worth the experience! We're now going to another dog park to expend some puppy energy.

ahh... the art of lounging

i didn't wake up to workout as early as i wanted to. i think i woke up at 8am and just lounged in bed with my ipad for 45 minutes before getting up and heading downstairs for my p90x workout (chest/back and ab-ripper-x). we've just finished brunch and i'm now sitting in the living room, listening to some asian-inspired electronica/deep house while i blog. chaeli is still finishing up her meal, doug is taking his turn on the ipad and hobbes is curled up behind me so that he's wedged between my butt and the back of the sofa.

this is living!

as soon as we're done our coffee, food and geekiness, we're going to get dressed and head out. the sun is shining and the winds are down - it's still chilly but truly beautiful outside. we'll head out to a dog park for a couple of hours. maybe take a light stroll as well.

first march break... as an adult that is

when my colleagues asked me what i was doing next week, i told them, "oh nothing... just taking march break."

sounded weird but truth be told, i have never taken march break off before. chaeli has always been in a daycare setting so doug and i just continued on with work. and leading up to this year, i was dreading it. dreading having to take the one week off where all other parents and kids are off. and really - to try to keep chaeli busy on my own? as much as i love her, it didn't seem appealing to me.

well, when this week started to approach us, i was so looking forward to it (especially if we get good weather). the bonus is that doug also took the week off. and now that she's seven, she's pretty self-sufficient. in fact, she helps us out whenever we need help (and with tasks that she can safely do on her own). plus, we're not at all planning to go to any of the tourist traps. we'll probably see a movie but we're hoping to try out a couple of restaurants and do some hiking. and a couple of dog parks are probably in the mix, too. no doubt, we'll be taking the subway downtown to do a bit of walking as well. which reminds me, i have to find out if dogs are allowed on the subway. i think they are outside of rush hour

today is saturday and it's my semi-vacation day only because doug is at a workshop during the morning and half of the afternoon. i've also just spent my morning cleaning the house just to get it over with.

i've learned in the past that every two weeks is the ideal to give the whole house a nice disinfecting scrub and dusting. it's easy to maintain if i do it every two weeks. when i'm really busy, i might let it stretch to three weeks. this would be rare, though. and at three weeks, i notice that it's just a little bit more tougher to get the grind out or dust collected with a simple sweep.

with me being sick and work being so busy (among life just being chaotic), i've left the house for a month without anything but some quick spot cleaning. i can't remember when i last did this - maybe a couple of years ago or more?

anyway - wow. not something i want to make a habit of. most surfaces needed to be wiped down twice just to get the grime and dust off. it just takes twice as long. no thanks. not to mention we had to live in that condition for a couple of weeks.

but... of course, it couldn't be helped. i just really want to get back to my regular cleaning routine now.

long winter blues

totally not surprising, but this winter seems to have dragged on longer then most. i think it's because we've just had a lot of bad luck hit us this year. with a crazy schedule, it's been hard to find time to just catch my breath.

i've been sick a lot too, which hasn't helped. in fact, it's been really hard for me to work out for the past couple of months because i'll start my workout routine for a week or two and then have to stop because of some ailment.

anyway, an update with life in general:

• with me not feeling well a lot, hobbes has been a faithful companion. days where i was in bed all day, he barely left my side. it's amazing how these canines can just detect that your not well.


• it's hard to imagine that chaeli is more then halfway through grade one. she's learning stuff like: nonagon, heptagon and decagon (the three i had to look up for either the number of sides/vertices and/or pronounciation); capitol cities of countries such as jordan, vietnam and pakistan; and getting ready for multiplication and division. quite a lot for grade one but with our help, she's been able to get anywhere from 90% to 100% on her test scores.


• fitness for me has been a struggle these past two months but i'm not giving up. this week, even though i'm not 100% recovered, i'm starting again. but to help me ease into the swing of things, and just to try and keep in perspective that my life is busier and so i need to cut some time out of my workout schedule, i'm just back to the basics. essentially, i'm going to try and do something each day and only workout to the intensity i'm able to. i've lost so much strength since before christmas and while it's very frustrating, i have to look forward and not let this set back depress me as it often can. i do think that i need to do yoga at least twice a week, swapping out some high intensity workout for it. so far, i've worked out 3 times this week - hoping to continue like this.


• doug has been going to night classes back to back, two nights during the week - one with all-day workshops on most saturday's. it's been really hard. on all of us. but personally, it's been really hard for me. i miss not having him help out. it's hard to work all day on a job where no matter what, i can't help but to bring work home at least in my mind because i'm doing a lot of projects/tasks that require my problem solving skills, and then having to be the one to pick chaeli up, go home, do homework with her, cook dinner, prepare lunches for the next day and hopefully, squeeze in shower time (for her and for me) before trying to get to bed early. and then wake up early enough to get chaeli to school before getting to work myself. the daily grind this winter is way harder then the latter half of last year. i can't wait until the school year ends - not just for chaeli but more so for doug.


• chaeli has been a great sport in all of this. and while there are frustrating days with her, for the most part, i'm so glad i get to be this kid's mother! i thought i could never love her more then i already do but i was wrong. as she grows up and i learn more about parenting and her growing personality, i seem to love her more. it's more challenging but in return, it's also more rewarding. i don't always feel this, of course. there are days, thankfully not often, where i feel like it's almost impossible to continue being an effective parent. but still, i'm lucky to have her in my life.


• march break is coming up and we're kicking it back at home for the whole week. it's only been 2.5 months since christmas break but we all need it. i'm looking forward to working out in the mornings (without rushing to work afterwards) and spending some quality time as a family.

ikea, scones and skype

we spent this saturday at ikea, purchasing a couple of TROFAST cabinets and wall shelves (with an assortment of different colour and sizes of bins) for chaeli's room.

the assembly and re-organizing (which included more sorting and chucking) took up a good chunk of the day. but it was worth it. with just one wall shelf to put up (which we've decided to leave empty and use as a book shelf instead), her room is pretty close to being organized. i've shown her where she can find all her toys (mainly one cabinet) and all her craft supply (one wall shelf and top bins of the other cabinet on the other side of her table). i know it's still wishful thinking that she'll keep it neat but so far, she seems to have no trouble putting things back where they belong. it helps that she can take the bins out completely on her own so that she can really see what's inside. and it's just a matter of putting the bin back inthe empty slot.

i recommend investing in this storage system if you're a parent. ikea is not the most high-quality type of furniture but lets face it - it will outlast the school age years.

sunday afternoon, we went over to di and rik's place for high tea with the rest of the posse. and i really do mean the whole posse! even though rita and harry are in the states, and ada and hoa are in vancouver, we made sure to skype them over.

on the way home, i said to doug that even though i know this is so not new, it definitely was an interesting situation - to have people there.. virtually at a party. it was a neat concept though, of course, i would have much rather have had them there in person but i suppose this was better then nothing!

anyway - doug baked some scones which were pretty much fresh out of the oven (we were late) and still warm when we got to the party.

here's the recipe.