As I sit typing this (hoping furiously that blogger will play nice and let me post without timing out fifty billion times) my not-so-kitten is resting nicely on my hands. Yes my hands. Because of this I keep having to backpedal and re-type some things. Why am I allowing for this to happen? Perhaps you didn't see the big sign on my forehead. It reads "sucker".

It figures that on the day that blogger gives me a hella bad time, I feel the need to post not once but twice. I'm like that I guess: Tell me I can't do something. Now watch me try.

Truthfully though I'm a journaller at the core - on top of my nine bajillion blog projects, I also have an actual diary, chock full of the stuff that I don't dare post for public consumption. One day when I'm dead someone will either publish or burn my diaries - or possibly both. Fortunately I won't be around to deal with the aftermath.

Tonight I went to the first Parent Council meeting for the kids' school. Yet again I have agreed to be the treasurer. Whooboy. Hang on to your hats. It was a decent meeting though, and a few scandalous tidbits were hinted at. This should be an interesting year.

My black hair was the topic of conversation today at work. I guess it took a day for people to register what it was that was different about me. The consensus was that it looked good, it made my eyes "pop", and um, why did I dye it again so soon? I explained that it was my Thing To Do. You know, that thing you do when you need a change, or you're bored, or there's no milk left, or you just saved a ton on your insurance. I've tried to cut back; truly, I have. I hope to keep it black for some time. For one thing, it is much easier to maintain - reds just HATE to stay on my hair. For another, it feels familiar. Black was actually the first color I ever put on my hair, way back when I was fourteen and entertained myself by subtly changing things to see how long it would take my parents to notice. It took my dad over a week . My mom noticed almost immediately - mostly because I ruined one of her pristine towels doing it.

I'm sleepy suddenly, which comes as no real surprise as insomnia has taken to visiting me more frequently. If you chronicle my behavioral patterns over the past decade, it almost always seems to be when seasons shift that I have these bouts, and mostly in the fall/winter area. I suppose you could knock it down to seasonal affective disorder or somesuch; frankly I'm too lazy to "officially" find out.

Ok, now I press the magic button and see if blogger will deny me my need.

So it's taking me ten thousand years to get blogger pages to load - thus the lack of updates.

I got a huge fine for a traffic violation that I don't really want to get into - let's just say lesson learned, and that'll teach me for actually wanting to use my tax return for selfish things, like buying Christmas presents early or perhaps fixing up the car.

Gosh. Even typing is showing up slower than I'm typing it. What is going on with you, blogger? Are you sick? Have I done something wrong? Talk to me boy!

SO loves the phones - sends me ridiculous messages just because he can. It took him a while to get on to how to send a text but now that he can - it's hilarious really. Since his computer is completely dead he cradles the phone like it's a baby or something - precious precious technology. I can't really judge - I also love text messaging, as it does not require me to get into lengthy conversations over something that I wanted to briefly communicate - which fills my sisterinlaw with glee as she is also a texter.

K & C survived their first week of school with nary a bump. K didn't understand why they were practicing letters again - however - he was very very pleased that they are starting to learn French now. He was also pleased with the music aspect of the curriculum. We'll see how things go. C loves her new teacher, who unfortunately is only a temp, covering a maternity leave until April. I don't see the point in the "actual" teacher coming back only for 2 months though. How is she supposed to grade students she hasn't seen all year? It hardly seems fair. Plus I have some other opinions I don't wish to rant about here.

Do you know what is hella tasty? Get some stewing beef or just cut up a steak. Fry it up in a wok with some olive oil. Add one package of frozen pasta & veggie mix (I recommend the Green Giant one - preferably the cheesy kind), one can of Campbell's Tomato with Basil and Oregano soup, 1/2 cup of water. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Damn, skippy. It is taaaaaaaaasty. And quick! Took me 20 minutes tops, and that included the time it took to cut up the steak. Even the kids loved it! "It's like the meat and pasta and veggies all at once, mum!"

C is getting excited as it is that time of year again - time to sign her up for Brownies. K is also excited - under the impression that there is going to be Beavers in his future. Unfortunately, due to lack of volunteers, there is probably not going to be a program this year; this leaves me to be scrambling trying to find something else that K could participate in. I'm a big fan of fairness and K is just dying to have something that he does separately from the family, just like C.

I don't want to sign him up for that Thunderkidz crap again - it was nice and all but the church that puts it on follows some practices I just simply do not agree with. MIL was pretty offended when I said I wouldn't be signing them up this year - too fucking bad. It isn't my church, and if she finds peace there that is great and fine for her, but don't DARE tell me how to raise my kids and under what faith. (That little diatribe brought to you by a conversation we had wherein she offered to start taking the kids to her church with her, since I'm not taking them regularly to mine. Let's point a few things out here: They are MY children. I'm Catholic. She's going to a church which is Evangelical. While God is God and all, I can do without the swaying and "Praise Baby Jesussss!" crap - no I'm NOT kidding, they DO do this, and I don't want any part of it. And did I mention, they are MY children? Not hers?)

Rant off. Bah. Now I'm all cranky thinking about it. In the famous mumbled words of Fred Flintstone, "I love my mother-in-law, I love my mother-in-law..."

Don't get me wrong. I really do love her. But there are some things we just don't see eye to eye on, and while I know she usually means well, sometimes she doesn't. And I usually end up caving or just placating her somehow, to keep the peace. Because blood is thicker. Because SO won't argue with her. Because it's all small stuff. Because.

I'm hosting a Tupperware party on Friday. The main reason is I want to get their "Fridgesmart" stuff, which purportedly allows you to store vegetation in the fridge for days and perhaps weeks longer than you normally could. This has been verified by several friends who are avid fans of the stuff, even though they don't like Tupperware itself per se, they love this fridgesmart crap. I am all for being able to keep strawberries and broccoli longer than 3 days. Bring it on, Tupperware!

I feel so old, though. I mean, Tupperware? Like, that's the type of "party" old 1950's moms have, you know? Where I serve little gherkins and celery sticks, and maybe a salmon mousse or pate shaped like a fish. And the gents are out back smoking cigars and waiting for us to rub their feet.

Ok, this is enough update for one day I think. Now let's cross our fingers and hope dear old Blogger doesn't bust a gasket mid-posting.

A few new items on the table:
1. Lunch w/Sir T
2. Hair dye!
3. Cell phones

So I caved yesterday & finally replaced my old nokia cell which was totally falling apart. Got 2 new Rogers cell phones under a family plan, which makes SO hella happy as he was always pouting about why did I have one and not him, blar blar blar. In fairness when we got the nokia it was a Christmas gift from the in-laws, but he never ever used the damn thing so I adopted it for my own. It was especially helpful when I was going back and forth to and from school.

Now we both have one with a good plan for calling between the two phones & etc. They also are mp3 players, cameras, calendars, calculators, text-messaging capable...etc. I have especially been having fun programming ring tunes for people, as the phones came with a program that allows you to edit mp3's so that snippets of songs can be played when people in general call, but you can apply them so that they are only utilized when a specific person/people call. All of which I wouldn't have known how to do had my sister-in-law not come over last night & helped me while we were waiting for my hair dye to set.

Yes, I dyed my hair last night, it is now something the box calls "Starry Night" but is basically black. I haven't been black in a long while - kind of missed it actually as it was hella easier to keep than any other color. My hair really, really loves black hair dye for some reason.

As for lunch w/Sir T, the food was decent but as is per usual at Madelyn's, a huge portion. The company was also good and I was able to give him his birthday present (however belatedly). He would have been happy to give me the details on his birthday celebrating, had he been able to remember any. It was something like a 3 (possibly 4) day bender, so of course the details are quite fuzzy. It should be interesting if this adventure is repeated when his roomate P's birthday comes up. Apparently sisterinlaw has been advised by P to take a few days off around that time - I see a few "Get well soon" cards in their futures.

Ok, back to playing with ring tunes. If you are of the type that knows me personally, and would perchance call the cell, I'm taking requests on ring tones. Sisterinlaw has cornered the Divinyls' "I touch myself", although she was also sorely tempted by Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing". I'm open for suggestions, however if I don't have the mp3 I might have to do some digging.

Ok off for Thursday's adventures. Ciao!

Tomorrow is C & K's first day of the school year. They're asleep in bed, happy as kittens, went to bed with no argument knowing the sooner they went to sleep the sooner they'd get to go.

For whatever reason, I'm really nervous for them. I don't remember being nervous the other times, but this year I am. Perhaps it's because my baby boy is now in school full time. No more every other day schedules, and his new teacher is giving me some nerves too. I'm not one to be fearful of change, and in this case I'm not really, I'm just nervous for him in ways I never really was with C.

C is pretty pleased with herself too because my Dad came by on Sunday and dropped off my old desk for her to use. She set it up with books and the like the second it was placed in her room. She was in her room most of Sunday because of it - not a peep to be heard. When I checked in once or twice she was happily playing away with her little Barbie laptop game thinger, or writing in her little diary, or doing some sort of project or other.

And I caught a glimpse of her growing up, and it caught my heart in my throat. As she lay out her things for tomorrow morning, she included her hairbrush & lip gloss on her desk, and chose her jewelry, and I saw it, the shadow of her womanhood cast over like a looming cloud. She's only eight. If I were selfish I'd keep her eight forever. But I'm not and I know with each year slipping through my fingers she will grow and grow. And I also know she is going to grow into this terrific being and I am so proud that I get to be a part of that, get to watch it happen.

And I see these things happening in my son as well, and my heart is full near bursting and I don't know what to do with it. I never realized parenthood could do this to a person. When I was younger, becoming a mother was never in my gameplan. It was more or less the bachelor apartment, boyfriend allowed to have a toothbrush there and not much else sort of vision. I think about that and I laugh at how hollow it seems to me now. I can't picture my life without my children. And it's interesting how you read of women who wear their hearts on their sleeves, who weep when they see sick children on television, whose hearts swell with fear at the thought of war, of poverty, of violence - but you never truly understand that until you become a mother yourself.

Now I'm just waxing sentimental, a clear sign I should probably go to bed.

So I have that Marvin Gaye song stuck in my head for some reason.

Last night went out with co-workers for a girls' night. Started it out at one co-worker's home with a potluck, drank some wine & then we all piled into one girl's car and headed to what's left of the bars downtown. We stopped at Molly Bloom's first because we figured at least if there was live music it would be worth our time.

As it happens, Molly Bloom's was dead but I did run into Sir T & two of his friends, so I was able to wish him happy belatedness on the birthday.

We mosied over to Bentley's where I discovered my sisterinlaw & her friendly folks and so I chatted with them momentarily & then sat with the ladies I came with. Funnily enough, one of the girls I went out with knew some of the people at sisterinlaw's table.

Got up to the bar to get a drink and was CARDED. Yes you heard me right. I went back to the table to get my ID and they asked me what the hell I was doing, I told them I got carded and they screamed with laughter. Then they were carousing & carrying on about that for a while. The bartender was all huffy and saying "geez you should take it as a compliment" I said of course I do and laughed.

I came back to the table and when they discovered I was 30 and got carded they thought it was even funnier.

Anyhow. P & Sir T have invited me over to play risk and/or zombies at some point. That should be good as I miss those folks.

Talked with sisterinlaw for a while before was dragged out to the only place left to dance in town - Woody's. Ugh. Danced for 2 hrs straight, then got a ride home & walked in the door to find the cat come barreling downstairs and SO walking to the front door from the kitchen. "I was beginning to get worried about you." Why? Because it was 3 something a.m. when I walked in the door.

In any case, a good time was had. I am glad I went out.

School starts on Tuesday. The kids can barely contain themselves with their giddiness over it.

I have next week off, so hurrah!

K is very excited as he has managed to book a playdate with his friend T for this Friday. I advised him he needed to be respectful of C's feelings and not rub it in too much that she still has to go to a babysitter while he's at T's house. C seems to be okay with it but just kept sighing and saying "I guess I'll never see Z again" all dramatic like. I mentioned that school is just around the corner, and she'll be seeing Z then, and that K & T are only just getting to be good friends while she and Z have known each other much longer.

Blah blah blah. She got the message though.

Went to my sisterinlaw/brotherinlaw's place for dinner tonight. Brotherinlaw made ham & scalloped potatoes & vegetables. Hooray for decent meal I didn't have to cook! Brotherinlaw's dog is cute but mischevious as would be expected of any apartment-bound puppy. However the dog seems to be pretty well-behaved all in all; hopefully he'll stay that way.

Now off to bed & staring at the ceiling for 2 hours before giving up, getting up, and watching old movies.

My boy K lost his first tooth today!!!!


He lost it at the sitter's house at lunch time. He was so excited when I went to pick them up today.

I have next week as my week off from work - getting the kids off to school and whatnot. I'm looking forward to it.

Time to go fold laundry. Bah I hate laundry.

Say what you want about School of Rock (I have many issues with the movie, mostly to do with the kids, ugh don't even get me started), I think it's awesome that it has my daughter shrieking out the Immigrant Song.

Actually C really loves old rock. She doesn't mind teeny-bopper pop songs but mostly she loves rock. So she's making me download all sorts of things and asking me why it never plays on the radio.

I explained that stations have an obligation to play whatever the program involves, went on to explain each station has a different agenda, and that if she really liked this stuff I'd just toss it onto a disc and we could listen to that in the car instead. K then piped up that I had to make one for HIM then. K loves bands like Ween and the Violent Femmes and Broken Social Scene and Sam Roberts and Weezer. Don't ask him what band sings which, he hasn't discerned em just gloms them all into the category of "hey mom! That's my second favorite song! That's my fourth favorite song!" It's kind of cute actually, he mumbles things like "push the li'l daisies" under his breath when he thinks nobody's listening.

I've been invited to go out with some of the ladies at work on Saturday. We're more or less around the same age; I'm older than a few of them, but not by much. It should be interesting. I hadn't expected the invitation, it more or less was implied I was going to be there if I liked it or not! heh.

My brotherinlaw & sisterinlaw invited us over for dinner tomorrow & my own brother &his girl are coming over for dinner Thursday. Tonight of course is "Wing Night" for SO. That more or less cleans out the last week of summer. Where did the time go???

The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!

Party was fun and we ended up staying over and a good time was had by all. Woke up sleepy but semi-refreshed. I definitely could use some more rest though.

I have to work noon till 8 tomorrow - blech but what can you do right?

School is looming over like a happy little cloud. The kids are ecstatic but nervous.

I'll be happy to get them going again, but also sad. The first day of school always makes me a little sad, I see my babies growing up faster and farther each year. The little table becomes the little desk; becomes the bigger desk; becomes the home room; becomes the college dorm. Time is slipping through my fingers faster than I can blink.

Remember the box of notes and cards I found the other day? I went through it all and filed the stuff I wanted to keep. I started going through the cards and found the only thing I have left to remember my Dad's father by - a Christmas card, signed by him. I looked at his name for a good long while and then I cried a little. It was an unexpected find so it slapped me in the face like cold water. Maybe it was pms a little but even so. Oh how I miss him, even now.

I'm anxiously awaiting a call from my doctor to let me know when my gynecological appointment has been set up. Without getting into the details of why I went to my doctor in the first place, it's been discovered that I have some follicular cysts on my ovaries & fallopian tube and I have a retroverted uterus (that means instead of sitting straight it is tipped backwards). Follicular cysts are standard issue I suppose but they are concerned because of the history of reproductive issues including cancer on both sides of my family. My own mother had to have a full hysterectomy & ovaries removed not long ago due to a great many complications and precancerous cells on the cysts that had formed. I'm trying to be all blase about it and write it off as just a routine check up, bla bla bla but the truth is I am a little bit upset. Not scared. Just... disquieted, I guess. I'm so damn sick and tired of my organs giving up on me one by one and my doctor just shrugging as if to say "ah well what can ya do?"

Ok enough self-pity for one night. Off to the bath I go.

I have that Franz Ferdinand song stuck in my head. It's catchy.

Tonight we go to JG's father's 60th birthday party. I'm not really in the mood for it, but SO already agreed we'd go, so what ya gonna do right?

Next week is the kids' last week before school. They're getting pretty excited let me tell you.

Memo to self; call brother about dinner w/him & his gf next week.

Too tired to write more.

My Daddy turns 51 today. Aside from thinning hairline, he doesn't look a day over 40. I hope I age half so well.

I had a big rant about Pluto no longer being a planet, but it seemed too trite even for the internet. Shocking, I know.

I'm so tired and yet sleep has eluded me nigh these past three days. So if you've spoken with me and I was having trouble articulating things, that's why.

In spite of myself I ordered Swiss Chalet tonight. SO would argue that's money that could have been used to buy enough groceries to make 4 meals, but I'm too effing tired to deal right now.

But my sink looks fabulous.

Bwaha!

Got the Sears Wish Book today. They make you cough up five bucks for it now. On the other hand, they also give you a certificate for 5 bucks off your next order, so it's all good. C rubbed her hands together with glee and immediately sequestered herself into her room so she could peruse the catalogue in peace. Thankfully, K was too absorbed in his LOTR video game to notice. (PS Hammers thank you soo much for it. He loves it like hella crazy, though it *is* a little tough. He just likes the fact that he gets to swing a sword I think).

This weekend is my high school's reunion weekend. I somehow can't bring myself to go, although morbid curiousity may get me to at least take a tour on Saturday afternoon of the old school which now houses the french immersion elementary school. We'll see.

High school was a multifaceted fuckton of crazy. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it, as does most of the planet I'm sure. I just don't know what to think.

Ok time to go peruse the other massive Sears book & see about maybe getting new sheets. Ciao!

So it's Wednesday and I checked the calendar and lo and behold, school is a mere 2 weeks away. Where did the summer go?

The kids are just dying to go. Which makes momma very happy; I want them to like school. I'm hoping their social scene will be a bit less stressful - for K it should be because his friend T will be in class with him, "all day mum! For real! And I don't hafta wait till after school to play because he'll be there at recess!" For C we shall have to see. I'm going to make a point of stopping at the school & checking it out.

Memo to self: Kids have eye appointment tomorrow night. Eep!

Confession: we did not file our taxes until today. You read that right. There is a very long boring and convoluted story behind it. Rest assured that we weren't merely tax-evading slackers; WSIB was sort of gumming things up for us due to an injury that SO had while working at his job from hell (months prior to quitting and going to happy job). As a result I did not learn until today that I am getting a tax return this year. Huzzah! I was really worried about that because of my severance from my own job from hell, but apparently I gave so much to charities last year that it evened out plus the few courses I took put me in the very very green. So hooray! Just in the nick of time! SO is also miraculously getting a tax return this year. We don't know what we're going to do with it yet - it will likely be put towards starting our basement. Or we'll just save it and see. I don't know.

Other memo to self: pick up wish book tomorrow.

Ok off to take a bath and rest.

Posts might go to a bit of a standstill for a week or so as I get myself back on track, housekeeping-wise. You can read about it here.

I'm vain and bought myself new contact lenses. Hurrah!

I'm also sleepy and need ot get better rest.

I also have a shiny sink.

School starts very soon, the kids can't wait! I can't wait either, frankly. However my j-o-b is giving me a teensy bit of grief - shift has been switched to be 11 am to 4 pm to accomodate BC branches still getting accustomed to a new program we are using to set up mortgages - and the kids get off school at 3:30 pm. I'm hoping the FIL will be nice enough to pick them up for me. I'd ask my motherinlaw but history has proven her to be quite unreliable.

Ok time to go round up breakfast for the critters before going to the doctor's office and finding out why my reproductive organs are doing crazy things to me lately.