.:shy:.

my little book worm

i will admit that i'm about to share a very proud moment as a mother.

but it's not with any conceit. it's because i usually wonder how much i'm screwing up my own kid.

parenting is hard. period.

every now and then, there are moments that remind me that i'm not doing half bad. that while i'm certainly not perfect nor ever will be, the kid is doing alright.

last night was one of those moments.

just to back-track, chaeli was a bit slow on learning how to read at the level she was suppose to be at. not because she couldn't do it, but because she was in an environment for JK and SK that didn't give her a kick-start. which really, wasn't a problem for doug and i. we were actually trying to allow her a childhood before she was forced to grow up five times faster then normal once she started grade one.

of course, due to a crappy school in our area with no before/after childcare support what-so-ever, we made the leap into enrolling her in a private school... one that was slightly more academic and had her put into a grade two and sometimes three level scenerio.

this caused massive panic attacks for me. i questioned myself day in and day out - was this the right move to make? am i putting too much pressure on her? perhaps i didn't worry about this daily - but it was on my mind a lot in the first month and a half.

well, last night, she was asking me if she could have some extra time to read that night. not wanting to ever take away the joy of reading, i told her that i would allow her 15-20 minutes before we had to get ready for bed.

and that's when i discovered that she was 2/3rds into her chapter book. granted, it was 'captain underpants' but as i watched her read, i could tell how much she was into it. she was laughing at the funny parts and serious at others. she wasn't just reading but completely absorbed into the story. so i asked her later, which book she was going to read next. her library shelf has a section where she organized all her chapter books - she showed me the next two she wanted to read with sheer excitement.

i think what made me proud was that she was showing so much enthusiasm. and i know i didn't get into reading until much later. grade three was probably when i started to enjoy it.

it's a valuable tool. i'm happy she's picked it up. reading has been a way for me to gain so much more knowledge. it makes me think about things and the way the world is... the way people are. and of course, the ability to escape... even if just for 15-20 minutes.

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.

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.

one more craving

yesterday, i listed off some current cravings. i would like to replace the entire list with one very big craving i am having right now...

to drop everything, get the next flight out to vienna and meet my friend who had been stuck in cairo. we would celebrate over some schnizels and very good beer.

how tempting it is...

cravings...

and i'm not just talking about food cravings. though, there are a few to add to that list as well... but it's now february and as with all february's, the darker and shorter days of winter added on to the cold, dry climate (not to mention, miserable and dangerous driving when the roads are slippery), always makes me day-dream more of things i want to do or have at that respective moment.

i'm sure this is the result of being more caged in at home. not that i don't love being at home but there's more work involved in getting out of the house. with the longer drives and the preparation of staying warm, our very hectic and crazy life gets a tad more crazier.

anyway, here's a list of cravings - both big and small:

• full-back massage
• a 3-night trip to vegas
• manicure
• fresh hot cinnamon rolls
• lobster and steak dinner
• summer
• yoga retreat
• new furniture for our living room
• fried squash blossoms (never had any but am craving to try one - preferably in italy)
• edward cullens*

*i had a dream the other night about edward cullens. it was a very cool dream but unfortunately, i would much rather have dreamt about jasper. i blame this on watching eclipse while i was sick.

a geeky-family type of birthday

as a continuation from our geeky-family type boxing day, my one wish for my birthday was to see Tron.

and so, now at the age of 38, over 18 years ago after i saw the first movie in the theatres, my wish came true.

happy birthday to me!

and as for the movie...

stunny CGI and great graphics.

everything else was... meh.

a geeky-family type of boxing day

doug is playing his new firefighter game on the wii.

chaeli is playing one of her new 7 nintendo ds game.

it's only natural that i should devote my boxing day afternoon to the sims. no, nothing new from christmas - just a game i got two christmases ago of which i have yet to fully enjoy for a very, very long time.

we'll be screening calls all day.

think of it as a big 'do not disturb' sign on our entire household.

twas the night before...

i am exhausted. chaeli's been in bed for over two hours now and we just finished laying out all the gifts under the tree and stuffing the stockings as much as possible. when we were done, doug and i just sat there. i turned to him and said, "i thought we were all going easy on the gift-giving this year?"

it still looks like a crazy amount of gifts to go through tomorrow.

hobbes definitely senses something is up. he's been excited all night, following one of us right at our heels as we walk back and forth, each trip carrying more gifts to the tree and stockings. i find it funny - he has no idea why he's excited. just that he simply knows something is up.

anyway - it took a lot of energy to get everything ready for tomorrow morning. but i think both hobbes and chaeli are in for a real treat.

i just hope she lets us sleep in.

and with that, merry christmas to all and to all a good night!

ah midnight bath!

i find it hard to relax when it's been awhile since i've had a long stretch of time to relax. this weekend was one example.

i just couldn't get into the groove. and the crazy thing is that it's now sunday night, i'm about to go to bed, and i'm a little disappointed that i didn't have a chance to clean. crazy.

i did, however, do a very large load of laundry and finish all my christmas wrapping. we did more baking and also decorated the christmas tree. on top of that, i also got chaeli's stuff ready for winter camp.

last night, it was late, but i realized that i had to do something to unwind. so i did what i use to do - a trick that i learned that's proven to be quite relaxing.

a midnight bath.

with candles lit and the lights dimmed down, i drew a hot bath. and then i soaked in it. just thinking about it is making me relaxed all over again.

why midnight? i don't know. it's when everything is done in the house and anything that needs to be done can wait until tomorrow because it's just too late. it's when it's quiet both inside and outside. i suppose it's when i finally get a moment's peace to myself.

anyway - *yawn* - time to get ready for bed.

this upcoming week is going to be brutal.

vinyl cafe, udon and more baking

i's been a really, really, ultra-short weekend. simply because it's been just so much fun that time flew by way too quickly.

chaeli stayed at my parents place for a 2-night sleepover - and i so needed this. a break from motherhood even if just temporary. doug and i did a lot - things we had to do and things we wanted to do. after all, it's all about striking that balance:

• friday night, we went over to my aunt's and uncle's where hobbes was staying during the day. since chaeli and my parents were not joining us this time, we took the opportunity to get some spicy indian food. of course - yum! winter and spicy food (especially if curry is involved) is my comfort food from the cold. sure, sure - i love a mean stew every now and then. but it just doesn't beat some of my favourite spicey foods - indian, west indies, thai, just to name a few.


• i did take saturday morning to do things on my to-do list - p90x cardio-x and cleaning the house. afterwards, though, doug and i got to doing some more baking which we will finish up today and then sort all six kinds into several tins to be handed out this week. feels good to almost be done. as much fun as it was, it does take up a lot of time. i'm not at all sure if we'll be doing this each year. but if we do, i need to try and do it in november and then just put the cookies in the freezer. it's nice to have one less thing to do in december, since preparing for the holiday festivities is already jam-packed as it is.


• we went to see stuart mclean's christmas tour last night and like last year, it was not at all a disappointment. what i love about his stories are that they are not just hiliarious but touching and humble and down-to-earth. they are fictional characters but over the many, many years (close to two decades?) these characters of dave, morley, sam, stephanie and arthur the dog have become so real and so very much part of our lives.


• before heading to the show, doug and i stopped at the grange for some japanese noodles. same place as where we went last time. the service is fast and with our two dishes and two appetizers, the whole meal came out to less then $30 after tax and tip. plus, the piping hot steam coming from the food was like a warm blanket from the winter evening walk.


• hobbes was a great sport. we rarely leave him on his on for more then five hours - if even that! but due to the show starting late and the traffic coming home, he was pretty much on his own for almost eight hours. but he did really well - no accidents and the kitchen wasn't in a mess when we got home (well, his toys were everywhere but that was to be expected).

so we're now off to do a little shopping and to go meet up with my parents and chaeli for some all-u-can eat sushi! hopefully, if the weather does not get too crazy, we'll also be picking up our tree on the way home.