When Rachel was in the process of giving up her nap back in 2006, I often let her watch a movie in the afternoon for some quiet time. One day, I decided that she would probably enjoy Cinderella. I popped in the DVD and prepared to enjoy some peace and quiet myself. But alas, the calm was punctuated frequently with complaints. "Where's Cinderella?" "How come Cinderella's not in this movie?" For that, we can thank Disney marketing since little girls tend to picture Cinderella in her beautiful blue ball gown, and not the rags in which she first appears. Unfortunately for me, Cinderella only appears in all her finery towards the very end of the movie.
Fast forward to 2010. We rented Mary Poppins yesterday and put it in tonight to begin watching. Rachel must have commented at least a dozen times on how it was boring without Mary Poppins and when was Mary Poppins going to be in the movie anyway? If anyone cares, Mary Poppins first appears at approximately 24 minutes and 8 seconds into the movie.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
We're adopting!
This is Crescendo. She'll be coming home with us on Monday or Tuesday! No, we didn't name her. I assume that the people at the Humane Society did.
We visited with several cats and Crescendo was the one that everyone liked. One cat, Burger, was hilarious but a little too wild for Rachel. Miss Mew was another contender, but she was too tame for Anna. Rachel told us later that she liked Crescendo best out of the three cats we socialized with. When I asked her where she got that word from, she pointed out that the room we were in was labelled "Socialization Room".
Crescendo is not yet spayed but they will spay her for us as soon as they have an appointment available. I'm a little leery about this since we brought Clara home un-spayed 13 years ago and she went into heat before we were able to get her in. I will never forget how my roommates and I were equally horrified and amused at the prolific amount of noise one tiny, innocent looking grey tabby cat could make. I believe that all three of us voiced our thoughts out loud about how if only we had a male cat we'd have done pretty much anything to make Clara's yowling and exuberant activity stop!
We're heading to Petsmart tomorrow morning to pick up all of the things that we'll need. Rachel wanted to make sure that we got cat treats and balls for Crescendo, and we obviously have a list of some slightly more practical things that will be needed. Anna has been walking around talking about "her" cat. Although we talked to the girls at length about how even if we picked a cat, it would be a day or two before we could bring it home, Anna burst into tears when she had to say goodbye to Crescendo. Her face crumpled up and she said, "But I want my caaaaaaaaaaaat!" as we pulled her out of the room.
So we are now almost officially a family of five!
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Snow
Apparently we have some snow. I'd say that as a conservative estimate, we've got something like four feet of snow on the ground in our neighbourhood. I've detailed the storm in a little photo essay here:
A short list of closings and their significance:
Canada Post - There was no mail delivery Monday or Tuesday and I highly doubt that we'll get any on Wednesday.
Schools - THREE snow days in a row. They even called the third one pre-emptively. Prior to this, the last snow day was in December 2006 and the ones prior to that were in December 1977. London really doesn't have snow days for anything less than a huge dump of snow in a short period of time. UWO and Fanshawe even closed and cancelled classes & exams. All of the snow dates have been right on or around December 7th.
Malls - Yes, the malls closed at 5 yesterday and at 1 today. The mall near us isn't re-opening until noon tomorrow.
Transit - No buses tomorrow at all. The London Transit Commission cancelled services as of this afternoon and won't resume until Thursday so that the city has a chance to get cleaned up.
Libraries, rec centres & all other city facilities are closed. My bank has been closed for two days now too. There have been many collisions but fortunately nothing serious so far that's been reported.
Our newspaper had the best headline ever. "Why us? When will the @#&*(@$# stop?" To get the humour and irony, you need to understand that this storm is only walloping London and the areas directly north of us. Ben could have gone to Windsor on Monday because as soon as you get about 20 minutes west of London, there is NO snow. The same went for the east until today when some snow started falling. This storm is incredibly focused, with its epicentre near Lucan. Lucan is about 20-30 minutes north of us and has had upwards of 144cm (close to 5 feet) of snow since Sunday.
The kids are loving the snow and I can't say that I'm complaining either! I wanted snow and we sure have it now. Mind you, I could probably do without the extra foot of snow that's supposed to arrive by tomorrow afternoon. Our snow piles are almost all as tall or taller than me so it's getting harder to shovel.
I'm not sure how long this link will be up but the article is a great summary of everything that's been going on here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/12/07/16466221.html
And finally, we got to our retirement home gigs yesterday and today because we weren't about to cancel on the residents for their Christmas parties! Our Messiah rehearsal for tonight was cancelled though, and that was probably a wise decision even though the snow has temporarily stopped.
A short list of closings and their significance:
Canada Post - There was no mail delivery Monday or Tuesday and I highly doubt that we'll get any on Wednesday.
Schools - THREE snow days in a row. They even called the third one pre-emptively. Prior to this, the last snow day was in December 2006 and the ones prior to that were in December 1977. London really doesn't have snow days for anything less than a huge dump of snow in a short period of time. UWO and Fanshawe even closed and cancelled classes & exams. All of the snow dates have been right on or around December 7th.
Malls - Yes, the malls closed at 5 yesterday and at 1 today. The mall near us isn't re-opening until noon tomorrow.
Transit - No buses tomorrow at all. The London Transit Commission cancelled services as of this afternoon and won't resume until Thursday so that the city has a chance to get cleaned up.
Libraries, rec centres & all other city facilities are closed. My bank has been closed for two days now too. There have been many collisions but fortunately nothing serious so far that's been reported.
Our newspaper had the best headline ever. "Why us? When will the @#&*(@$# stop?" To get the humour and irony, you need to understand that this storm is only walloping London and the areas directly north of us. Ben could have gone to Windsor on Monday because as soon as you get about 20 minutes west of London, there is NO snow. The same went for the east until today when some snow started falling. This storm is incredibly focused, with its epicentre near Lucan. Lucan is about 20-30 minutes north of us and has had upwards of 144cm (close to 5 feet) of snow since Sunday.
The kids are loving the snow and I can't say that I'm complaining either! I wanted snow and we sure have it now. Mind you, I could probably do without the extra foot of snow that's supposed to arrive by tomorrow afternoon. Our snow piles are almost all as tall or taller than me so it's getting harder to shovel.
I'm not sure how long this link will be up but the article is a great summary of everything that's been going on here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/12/07/16466221.html
And finally, we got to our retirement home gigs yesterday and today because we weren't about to cancel on the residents for their Christmas parties! Our Messiah rehearsal for tonight was cancelled though, and that was probably a wise decision even though the snow has temporarily stopped.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thoughts about the holidays
If you've talked to me in the past week or two, you already know that I'm frustrated with lovely, insular London. Despite the outward appearance of more than token multiculturalism, we have been met with gems such as the following:
"Do you put up a Christmas tree?"
"I know some Jewish people celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas."
"Why isn't Hanukkah at the same time as Christmas?"
"These songs aren't Christmas songs. They're just holiday songs you hear on the radio at this time of year."
While the last quote is technically true, the person who said that to us completely missed the point. And yes, the timing question is valid, but not in the context of assuming that our holidays should naturally always line up with Christian holidays. Perhaps some people celebrate both holidays, but as Ben and I wanted to respond, "We are not those people." We are comfortable in our faith and this has nothing to do with xenophobia. We just have a hard time with the ignorance that is so prevalent in our society with regard to other people and their holiday celebrations and customs.
After explaining to someone that we celebrate Hannukah and it will be over a couple of weeks before Christmas this year, I was asked if we would still put up a Christmas tree. No. No tree. No stockings. No Santa. We do not celebrate Christmas in any way. No secular celebration. No religious celebration.
I guess I should qualify the above diatribe. We do celebrate the abundance of gigs at this time of year! Seriously though, I do understand that people aren't aware of other cultures but I personally find it insulting when someone assumes that we celebrate Christmas even though I have just told them that we are Jewish and celebrate our own holidays which are in no way related.
Rant over. I now return to my regular life in which Rachel is pretending to be Judah the Maccabee and Anna is insisting that she is Thomas the Tank Engine.
"Do you put up a Christmas tree?"
"I know some Jewish people celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas."
"Why isn't Hanukkah at the same time as Christmas?"
"These songs aren't Christmas songs. They're just holiday songs you hear on the radio at this time of year."
While the last quote is technically true, the person who said that to us completely missed the point. And yes, the timing question is valid, but not in the context of assuming that our holidays should naturally always line up with Christian holidays. Perhaps some people celebrate both holidays, but as Ben and I wanted to respond, "We are not those people." We are comfortable in our faith and this has nothing to do with xenophobia. We just have a hard time with the ignorance that is so prevalent in our society with regard to other people and their holiday celebrations and customs.
After explaining to someone that we celebrate Hannukah and it will be over a couple of weeks before Christmas this year, I was asked if we would still put up a Christmas tree. No. No tree. No stockings. No Santa. We do not celebrate Christmas in any way. No secular celebration. No religious celebration.
I guess I should qualify the above diatribe. We do celebrate the abundance of gigs at this time of year! Seriously though, I do understand that people aren't aware of other cultures but I personally find it insulting when someone assumes that we celebrate Christmas even though I have just told them that we are Jewish and celebrate our own holidays which are in no way related.
Rant over. I now return to my regular life in which Rachel is pretending to be Judah the Maccabee and Anna is insisting that she is Thomas the Tank Engine.
Heard over the monitor
Last night:
Anna was loudly singing "Blah blah black sheep, have you any wool?" over and over. Between the newly mastered L sound and the newly mastered ability to jump off of the ground with both feet, no wonder she hasn't been sleeping well lately. And yes, it takes my kids a while to master jumping. They have big heads and need time to grow into their bodies and figure out how to make them go.
This afternoon:
Anna did not want a nap but I put her in her room with Ducky and a book anyway. She alternated wailing and chatting for about half an hour before I heard her yelling, "I need some medicine because I'm crying!" Yes, that was a failed nap. So, for the gazillionth time this month, the kids will have early dinner and Anna will be in bed by 6.
Anna was loudly singing "Blah blah black sheep, have you any wool?" over and over. Between the newly mastered L sound and the newly mastered ability to jump off of the ground with both feet, no wonder she hasn't been sleeping well lately. And yes, it takes my kids a while to master jumping. They have big heads and need time to grow into their bodies and figure out how to make them go.
This afternoon:
Anna did not want a nap but I put her in her room with Ducky and a book anyway. She alternated wailing and chatting for about half an hour before I heard her yelling, "I need some medicine because I'm crying!" Yes, that was a failed nap. So, for the gazillionth time this month, the kids will have early dinner and Anna will be in bed by 6.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
It's going to be a long night
Anna woke up at 3:43 a.m. after a not-so-great night. She's still working on getting her last molar and she has a cold as well. She went down for a so-so nap from 11-1 and I got her to bed "for the night" at 6 p.m. after she had a huge, healthy snack of apple, cheerios & shredded cheese while watching t.v.
It's now 7 p.m. Although she slept from 6-6:45, apparently that was just a nap. Over the monitor we heard her whimpering, "I was supposed to be doing something better than sleeping!" over and over. She also suggested that "Going downstairs would be a great idea!"
She is so lucky that she's cute. I have a feeling that it's going to be a long night.
It's now 7 p.m. Although she slept from 6-6:45, apparently that was just a nap. Over the monitor we heard her whimpering, "I was supposed to be doing something better than sleeping!" over and over. She also suggested that "Going downstairs would be a great idea!"
She is so lucky that she's cute. I have a feeling that it's going to be a long night.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
So much to say, so little effort put forth in saying it
Rachel is either very lazy, very creative, or both. For a long time, she didn't let her inability to spell words hamper her desire for creativity or productive output. She simply put the first letter of each word and figured that was perfectly good. Even if no-one else knew it, pictures adorned with "PADORSF" clearly indicated that "Patrollers are destroying our romping stomping forest" - yes, we asked. No, we have no idea where she got that from.
Grade One has proven to be a bit of a challenge in this respect since Rachel evidently figured out on her own that her teachers would not share the same admiration and appreciation of her abbreviated approach to writing. For the first month or so of school, Rachel was reticent and reluctant to complete assignments if she was not given appropriate spelling assistance. She has progressed beyond that in school now. When asked to label Hebrew flash cards with the corresponding English word on the back, we saw the following gems amongst the many correctly spelled words:
carpit
garbge
cupbord (It cracks me up that she knew there was a p in cupboard. When I asked, she explained that she knew the word involved putting together cup and board.)
She is realizing that she can spell more words than she had previously thought herself capable of, and we're enjoying that right along with her.
Apparently she still likes using her short forms though, because when I told her yesterday that Ben and I were going to have a late dinner and would likely make something that she and Anna didn't care for, she thought for a minute and said cheerfully, "EMT?"
"EMT?" I asked, baffled.
"You know," she said. "English Muffin Thing!"
Yes, Ben and I have taken to making our own egg "mc"muffins at home with English muffins, egg & cheese. We call it English Muffin Thing because that's how we roll in this house. That reminds me that I haven't made Crouton Thing in awhile. Hmm... lunch idea for tomorrow perhaps?
Grade One has proven to be a bit of a challenge in this respect since Rachel evidently figured out on her own that her teachers would not share the same admiration and appreciation of her abbreviated approach to writing. For the first month or so of school, Rachel was reticent and reluctant to complete assignments if she was not given appropriate spelling assistance. She has progressed beyond that in school now. When asked to label Hebrew flash cards with the corresponding English word on the back, we saw the following gems amongst the many correctly spelled words:
carpit
garbge
cupbord (It cracks me up that she knew there was a p in cupboard. When I asked, she explained that she knew the word involved putting together cup and board.)
She is realizing that she can spell more words than she had previously thought herself capable of, and we're enjoying that right along with her.
Apparently she still likes using her short forms though, because when I told her yesterday that Ben and I were going to have a late dinner and would likely make something that she and Anna didn't care for, she thought for a minute and said cheerfully, "EMT?"
"EMT?" I asked, baffled.
"You know," she said. "English Muffin Thing!"
Yes, Ben and I have taken to making our own egg "mc"muffins at home with English muffins, egg & cheese. We call it English Muffin Thing because that's how we roll in this house. That reminds me that I haven't made Crouton Thing in awhile. Hmm... lunch idea for tomorrow perhaps?
Good advertising
After dropping Rachel off at school this morning, Anna and I were headed home. When we stopped at a red light, directly in front of us was a van for a local flooring company. Its logo?
"Say no to rugs!" complete with a "no rugs" sign on the back.
I admit to laughing out loud at that one.
"Say no to rugs!" complete with a "no rugs" sign on the back.
I admit to laughing out loud at that one.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Halloween
Ben just left with the kids to go trick-or-treating. It's 6 p.m. and we couldn't hold them back any longer! They were ready shortly after 5. I stood on the porch and watched them go - my adorable little elephant and my big monarch butterfly. (That's Monarch with a 'k' sound at the end, not a 'ch' as Rachel keeps saying!)
I watched them walk down the street, Rachel skipping ahead, wings bobbing up and down. Then I realized that she is spreading her wings, both literally and metaphorically. She's getting so big so fast. Lots of someones warned us that this would happen, but we didn't really believe it. And yet here we are, 6 years after her first Halloween, back in the same neighbourhood.
This is the first year that we haven't been all together for Halloween activities. For the past two years, we've done Boo at the Zoo in Kansas City on the weekend before Halloween, as well as trick-or-treating during the day at Town Center Plaza. This year I'm home handing out candy and Ben's off with the girls.
Originally they were going to go until their little buckets were full and then come home. They just knocked on the door to say that their buckets were full, and could they please have some bigger bags! I guess they've figured it out after all. Anna is wearing the handmade elephant costume that I got for Rachel off of Ebay when she was 2. She also has a matching monarch butterfly costume, but opted for the elephant at the last minute.
The girls know full well that whatever non-kosher goodies they come home with will be donated somewhere. I suspect that they'll still have plenty of junk that they'll forget about in a couple of days anyway!
And for those who are wondering, we talked about Halloween as a family and decided that as long as we donate the non-kosher candy, it's ok to trick-or-treat right now. We'll re-visit as they get older, but who am I kidding? Cute kids in costume? Yeah, we'll do that.
I watched them walk down the street, Rachel skipping ahead, wings bobbing up and down. Then I realized that she is spreading her wings, both literally and metaphorically. She's getting so big so fast. Lots of someones warned us that this would happen, but we didn't really believe it. And yet here we are, 6 years after her first Halloween, back in the same neighbourhood.
This is the first year that we haven't been all together for Halloween activities. For the past two years, we've done Boo at the Zoo in Kansas City on the weekend before Halloween, as well as trick-or-treating during the day at Town Center Plaza. This year I'm home handing out candy and Ben's off with the girls.
Originally they were going to go until their little buckets were full and then come home. They just knocked on the door to say that their buckets were full, and could they please have some bigger bags! I guess they've figured it out after all. Anna is wearing the handmade elephant costume that I got for Rachel off of Ebay when she was 2. She also has a matching monarch butterfly costume, but opted for the elephant at the last minute.
The girls know full well that whatever non-kosher goodies they come home with will be donated somewhere. I suspect that they'll still have plenty of junk that they'll forget about in a couple of days anyway!
And for those who are wondering, we talked about Halloween as a family and decided that as long as we donate the non-kosher candy, it's ok to trick-or-treat right now. We'll re-visit as they get older, but who am I kidding? Cute kids in costume? Yeah, we'll do that.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Books!
We went to the library's book sale at the Western fairgrounds today and it looks like Anna will be in the paper on Monday!
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/10/23/15804846.html
In other news, I think the above link might actually be clickable! If so, this is truly a noteworthy moment as I have been unable to figure out how to do this before now, and I sincerely doubt that I'll ever be able to do it again since I have no clue what I did differently this time.
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/10/23/15804846.html
In other news, I think the above link might actually be clickable! If so, this is truly a noteworthy moment as I have been unable to figure out how to do this before now, and I sincerely doubt that I'll ever be able to do it again since I have no clue what I did differently this time.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Another literalist
We went to a pumpkin patch near Waterloo today with Ben's cousin Sarah and a friend of mine. The kids had a great time climbing the hay castle, playing in the park area, riding the "train" (a glorified wagon with a train-like engine at the front), riding ponies, seeing a huge cow up close and of course picking more pumpkins for our porch.
The people at this farm are clearly geniuses. They provided sturdy sleds to haul pumpkins back from the patch to the parking lot! Only Canadians would think of that... hahaha. The kids both had turns riding on the sled. Anna rode with the pumpkins and Rachel rode without them. I that that the weight was probably about the same both times!
When we got home tonight and I was getting ready to change Anna into her pyjamas, I told her that she was the cutest pumpkin in the patch, just like it said on her shirt. "No I'm not!" she answered indignantly. "Yes, you are!" I responded. "No, I'm not IN the patch anymore!" she retorted back.
The people at this farm are clearly geniuses. They provided sturdy sleds to haul pumpkins back from the patch to the parking lot! Only Canadians would think of that... hahaha. The kids both had turns riding on the sled. Anna rode with the pumpkins and Rachel rode without them. I that that the weight was probably about the same both times!
When we got home tonight and I was getting ready to change Anna into her pyjamas, I told her that she was the cutest pumpkin in the patch, just like it said on her shirt. "No I'm not!" she answered indignantly. "Yes, you are!" I responded. "No, I'm not IN the patch anymore!" she retorted back.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
So long, Sucky. You and your buddies have definitely served us well.
We've been talking about weaning Anna off of Sucky. A few months ago we restricted Sucky to naps, bedtime & "visiting" on her bed when needed.
Inspired by a friend's recent success, I decided to suggest to Anna yesterday that maybe she should think about giving Sucky to a friend who recently had a new baby. I explained that Anna was big now, and Sucky could go to a new baby who needed it more. (No, we wouldn't really expect a baby to use Anna's well-loved Sucky. Yes, I feel the need to make that disclaimer clear!)
I told Anna that we'd be visiting these friends sometime within the next month or so (yes, C, it's you! And no, Baby B does not have to use it or even ever see it, haha.) and that would be a good time to give up Sucky. She replied that she would like to do it right now. I was more than a bit taken aback. To be honest, I was dreading how bedtime would go without Sucky. Anyone who knows Anna knows Sucky. Sucky and her predecessors have been with us since the very beginning. Sucky gave me momentary blissful relief during those 8 months of nursing insanity. Sucky helped babysitters actually get Anna to sleep for the night. Sucky could fix all things. Wait a minute... Sucky was on the verge of attaining idol status! It was clearly time for Sucky to go.
Anyway, I got out an envelope and we put Sucky in and sealed it. Anna decorated the envelope and "wrote" the baby's name on it. I explained that we would "mail" it in our own mailbox since it was too big to drop through the slot. We had also talked about Anna getting a new toy in exchange for giving up Sucky.
So after Rachel's piano lesson last night, Anna and I began the trek all over town in search of her desire: Duplo Thomas trains/blocks. Apparently these are only available for exhorbitant prices on amazon.com. I talked her into getting the Duplo bus and a set of Duplo "learning" blocks with numbers and animals on them. (It was buy 1 get 1 half-price at Zellers, what can I say?)
When we got home, it was close to 8 p.m. and Anna was clearly exhausted. She wanted to take her new bus to bed but kept telling us that it couldn't vroom in bed, only on the floor. Whatever works, kid. She fell asleep easily in our bed and Ben transferred her to her room later with no issue. She woke up at 5 a.m.!
Great, I thought. That was easy. Fast forward to tonight. Anna refused to nap today and was a growly bear by late afternoon. Since Ben was teaching, the task fell to me to return several times to our room to lie down with Anna. She finally fell asleep clutching Ducky and her bus, but half woke up crying a bit later. She went back to sleep quickly, and hopefully the rest of tonight will go more smoothly.
So long, Sucky. You were a good and faithful friend.
Inspired by a friend's recent success, I decided to suggest to Anna yesterday that maybe she should think about giving Sucky to a friend who recently had a new baby. I explained that Anna was big now, and Sucky could go to a new baby who needed it more. (No, we wouldn't really expect a baby to use Anna's well-loved Sucky. Yes, I feel the need to make that disclaimer clear!)
I told Anna that we'd be visiting these friends sometime within the next month or so (yes, C, it's you! And no, Baby B does not have to use it or even ever see it, haha.) and that would be a good time to give up Sucky. She replied that she would like to do it right now. I was more than a bit taken aback. To be honest, I was dreading how bedtime would go without Sucky. Anyone who knows Anna knows Sucky. Sucky and her predecessors have been with us since the very beginning. Sucky gave me momentary blissful relief during those 8 months of nursing insanity. Sucky helped babysitters actually get Anna to sleep for the night. Sucky could fix all things. Wait a minute... Sucky was on the verge of attaining idol status! It was clearly time for Sucky to go.
Anyway, I got out an envelope and we put Sucky in and sealed it. Anna decorated the envelope and "wrote" the baby's name on it. I explained that we would "mail" it in our own mailbox since it was too big to drop through the slot. We had also talked about Anna getting a new toy in exchange for giving up Sucky.
So after Rachel's piano lesson last night, Anna and I began the trek all over town in search of her desire: Duplo Thomas trains/blocks. Apparently these are only available for exhorbitant prices on amazon.com. I talked her into getting the Duplo bus and a set of Duplo "learning" blocks with numbers and animals on them. (It was buy 1 get 1 half-price at Zellers, what can I say?)
When we got home, it was close to 8 p.m. and Anna was clearly exhausted. She wanted to take her new bus to bed but kept telling us that it couldn't vroom in bed, only on the floor. Whatever works, kid. She fell asleep easily in our bed and Ben transferred her to her room later with no issue. She woke up at 5 a.m.!
Great, I thought. That was easy. Fast forward to tonight. Anna refused to nap today and was a growly bear by late afternoon. Since Ben was teaching, the task fell to me to return several times to our room to lie down with Anna. She finally fell asleep clutching Ducky and her bus, but half woke up crying a bit later. She went back to sleep quickly, and hopefully the rest of tonight will go more smoothly.
So long, Sucky. You were a good and faithful friend.
I think you've got the wrong London
We had an email inquiry yesterday for a gig in November. Skimming the request form, I picked up on the use of the 24-hour clock and thought to myself that I wasn't familiar with the event location. Then I saw the .za extension on the email and the + sign followed by a string of numbers in the phone number column. Since the form included a complete grammatically correct sentence with a reasonable request, I didn't think this was spam.
I googled the event location and confirmed that yes, it was for a banking company with offices in the UK and South Africa! The employee had emailed me from their South Africa branch looking for musicians for an event in London, England.
Once I stopped laughing, I formulated the following response:
"Thanks for your inquiry about music for your event on November 10th. Unfortunately, you've got the "wrong" London as my group is based in London, Ontario, Canada and I don't think you really want to pay to fly us overseas!"
I did mention that I might be able to find some local contacts for her, although after emailing that, I realized that I probably don't have contact information for any of the musicians I know over in the other London!
Her response this morning cracked me up:
"Oops! Just goes to show, never assume that there can only be one London! Thanks for the insight, Jane. And yes, you're right - we're from the tip of Africa and cannot afford to fly people to Europe. Although I wouldn't mind doing that (were we able to afford it)."
Too bad, because we are free on the 10th of November. Heck, we've even got valid passports!
I googled the event location and confirmed that yes, it was for a banking company with offices in the UK and South Africa! The employee had emailed me from their South Africa branch looking for musicians for an event in London, England.
Once I stopped laughing, I formulated the following response:
"Thanks for your inquiry about music for your event on November 10th. Unfortunately, you've got the "wrong" London as my group is based in London, Ontario, Canada and I don't think you really want to pay to fly us overseas!"
I did mention that I might be able to find some local contacts for her, although after emailing that, I realized that I probably don't have contact information for any of the musicians I know over in the other London!
Her response this morning cracked me up:
"Oops! Just goes to show, never assume that there can only be one London! Thanks for the insight, Jane. And yes, you're right - we're from the tip of Africa and cannot afford to fly people to Europe. Although I wouldn't mind doing that (were we able to afford it)."
Too bad, because we are free on the 10th of November. Heck, we've even got valid passports!
Cello teacher not needed
Ben took Anna upstairs to put her to bed shortly before he was scheduled to teach this evening. She was cranky and wanted him to stay with her as she was starting out the night in our bed. He explained that he had to teach. She didn't care. He then said that the person coming wouldn't be able to have a cello lesson unless he went downstairs.
"If you stay, the cello would have to teach the lesson by itself!" she exclaimed happily.
"If you stay, the cello would have to teach the lesson by itself!" she exclaimed happily.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Score!
Anna theoretically needed a nap this morning, so Ben and Rachel went to shul without us and we took a walk around the neighbourhood. A couple of families were having garage sales, so we stopped to check things out. I almost never find things that we can use at garage sales, but today was definitely a good day to have stopped. We got a huge box of Lego including windows, doors, 2 dogs, 1 horse, several people and two little boards to build on for $6 and a complete box of Junior Tinkertoy for $3. I felt bad that I only had a $20 bill, so I told the man just to give me $10 in change.
When we got home and Anna was happily playing, I looked it up and found that the Tinkertoy goes for $20US at Target and I know that Lego isn't cheap either. The sets were in great condition and the girls are absolutely thrilled!
When we got home and Anna was happily playing, I looked it up and found that the Tinkertoy goes for $20US at Target and I know that Lego isn't cheap either. The sets were in great condition and the girls are absolutely thrilled!
The innocence of children
A couple of weeks ago, we were reading the kids a book while they were having a snack. The book included something about a bris, so Rachel asked us what a bris was. I told her that it was a circumcision and that only boys have that done. We explained that she and Anna had naming ceremonies instead. She then asked what circumcision was, so I told her. (Ben didn't appear to be ready to volunteer this information too readily!)
She thought about it and then said she was glad that only boys had that done. I thought the conversation had gone rather well until a moment later...
"Do they have to do it more than once? Do they keep doing it?" Rachel asked.
As Ben crossed his legs and cringed, I explained that it was a one-time deal, and no, the foreskin does not grow back. She was relieved to hear that as she thought that it might hurt.
We totally get parent points for not cracking up during this conversation, right?
She thought about it and then said she was glad that only boys had that done. I thought the conversation had gone rather well until a moment later...
"Do they have to do it more than once? Do they keep doing it?" Rachel asked.
As Ben crossed his legs and cringed, I explained that it was a one-time deal, and no, the foreskin does not grow back. She was relieved to hear that as she thought that it might hurt.
We totally get parent points for not cracking up during this conversation, right?
I find this amusing
Now that I've made this blog private, it asks me to log in every single time I want to post something. This continues to happen despite my checking the "Remember Me" box when I log in.
I guess I should be pleased that the security features are working. ;)
I guess I should be pleased that the security features are working. ;)
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Fall
Have I mentioned before how much I love the month of October? Yes, it's started out rainy and cold, but I don't care about that. October is just awesome. Crisp, cool air. No need for air conditioning. First frost will come soon, and with that, the death of allergies for the winter. Jeans & hoodie weather is the best kind there is.
And the kids would expect me to add that October means it's also pumpkin time. Anna is quite excited about this. I have yet to break it to her that I don't think the Superstore will sell the little pumpkins with faces painted on them that can be found throughout the store.
Neither kid has asked yet about trick-or-treating or costumes. I'm curious to see whether or not it will come up. We have enough stuff in the dress-up bin that I'm sure they could find something to wear, whether we just stay home and hand out candy or go to an event somewhere.
And of course now we are back to celebrating Thanksgiving in October. I've somehow roped myself into hosting a large dinner next Sunday evening. As long as I can get the kids in bed early, that should be just fine.
And the kids would expect me to add that October means it's also pumpkin time. Anna is quite excited about this. I have yet to break it to her that I don't think the Superstore will sell the little pumpkins with faces painted on them that can be found throughout the store.
Neither kid has asked yet about trick-or-treating or costumes. I'm curious to see whether or not it will come up. We have enough stuff in the dress-up bin that I'm sure they could find something to wear, whether we just stay home and hand out candy or go to an event somewhere.
And of course now we are back to celebrating Thanksgiving in October. I've somehow roped myself into hosting a large dinner next Sunday evening. As long as I can get the kids in bed early, that should be just fine.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
So many things to say
I'm impressed that we managed to escape the Jewish holidays with only Anna and I getting minor colds this year. Usually someone gets sick and it's not pleasant. This year the only unpleasant aspect of the holidays was trying to fit all the usual hustle and bustle of September in around them!
Anna has turned into a little ham. She's quite funny and knows it. A few weeks ago, we were driving home from somewhere and from the backseat we heard, "I want to be a pirate. Then I could EAT you!" We have no idea where she got the concept that pirates practise cannibalism. She also occasionally says, "I'm going to bite you!" but has (thankfully) not followed through with it. We did have to warn the preschool teachers that she says it though!
We've been checking out a lot of library books lately. Last week after storytime, I asked Anna if she wanted a Franklin book. She said that she did, so I picked up "Franklin Says I Love You" without knowing the plot. It turned out to be a story about Franklin wanting to find a fancy present for his mother's upcoming birthday. I did not choose this book on purpose, despite what the other members of the family think!
Rachel has been going around trying to pretend that there is some great secrecy and intrigue surrounding my upcoming departure from the 25-34 age demographic. She has been asking me whether or not I would like certain things for my birthday and I have heard her shouting frantically, "Change the subject!" whenever I enter a room in which she, Ben and Anna are chatting. It's pretty funny. Anna just asks me if I want a fancy present, for which I clearly need to thank Paulette Bourgeois, author of the Franklin books.
I said a long time ago that we would gladly take whatever children showed up by the time I was 35 but by then I wanted to be done. Now that that's only 10 days away, I'm more ambivalent about it than I thought I would be. Of course, I never expected to find myself dealing with secondary infertility. I sometimes wonder how it would have gone had we been able to conceive sooner after Rachel was born. The girls are starting to actually play together more now, and we've seen Rachel really blossom in the role of big sister. And yes, that role definitely includes plenty of complaining about how Anna is in her way, in her stuff, and not doing things correctly, but it also includes more helpfulness, positive interaction, and genuine concern if Anna is upset about things.
We'll see how things pan out. I can't imagine wanting to start over again with another baby if it doesn't happen soon, but I've been surprised by other things in our lives so I guess that we'll just have to play the good old wait and see game.
Anna has turned into a little ham. She's quite funny and knows it. A few weeks ago, we were driving home from somewhere and from the backseat we heard, "I want to be a pirate. Then I could EAT you!" We have no idea where she got the concept that pirates practise cannibalism. She also occasionally says, "I'm going to bite you!" but has (thankfully) not followed through with it. We did have to warn the preschool teachers that she says it though!
We've been checking out a lot of library books lately. Last week after storytime, I asked Anna if she wanted a Franklin book. She said that she did, so I picked up "Franklin Says I Love You" without knowing the plot. It turned out to be a story about Franklin wanting to find a fancy present for his mother's upcoming birthday. I did not choose this book on purpose, despite what the other members of the family think!
Rachel has been going around trying to pretend that there is some great secrecy and intrigue surrounding my upcoming departure from the 25-34 age demographic. She has been asking me whether or not I would like certain things for my birthday and I have heard her shouting frantically, "Change the subject!" whenever I enter a room in which she, Ben and Anna are chatting. It's pretty funny. Anna just asks me if I want a fancy present, for which I clearly need to thank Paulette Bourgeois, author of the Franklin books.
I said a long time ago that we would gladly take whatever children showed up by the time I was 35 but by then I wanted to be done. Now that that's only 10 days away, I'm more ambivalent about it than I thought I would be. Of course, I never expected to find myself dealing with secondary infertility. I sometimes wonder how it would have gone had we been able to conceive sooner after Rachel was born. The girls are starting to actually play together more now, and we've seen Rachel really blossom in the role of big sister. And yes, that role definitely includes plenty of complaining about how Anna is in her way, in her stuff, and not doing things correctly, but it also includes more helpfulness, positive interaction, and genuine concern if Anna is upset about things.
We'll see how things pan out. I can't imagine wanting to start over again with another baby if it doesn't happen soon, but I've been surprised by other things in our lives so I guess that we'll just have to play the good old wait and see game.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Dr. Gitter, I presume?
Dr. Gitter has had two days of teaching so far and, unlike last year, is receiving emails from students that are written in complete, coherent sentences. Other than the lengthy commute, I haven't heard any complaints from the professor.
Grade One
I think Rachel may finally have found somewhere that she's comfortable! She loves Grade One so far, and we're hoping that it stays that way. Ben and I were discussing it, and it seems so obvious that of course she would prefer "real" school over pre-school because now she's getting to learn things in a more formal way. She never really enjoyed pre-school, so it's awesome to see her loving school this year.
In her bedtime story the other night, I made a comment about how Rachel went to Grade One and loved it. She interrupted me to say cheerfully, "I sure do!" She likes everything so far, even music class!
That said, I asked Rachel if she was playing with the other kids. She said that sometimes she plays with them, and sometimes she plays by herself because she likes playing by herself too. Fair enough. Ben and I would likely have said the same thing as children.
I know that Rachel is comfortable and having fun, because she refers to the teachers by name and talks pretty openly about what they do in school. Tonight there's a back-to-school night hot dog dinner - hey, at least I don't have to cook, right?
In her bedtime story the other night, I made a comment about how Rachel went to Grade One and loved it. She interrupted me to say cheerfully, "I sure do!" She likes everything so far, even music class!
That said, I asked Rachel if she was playing with the other kids. She said that sometimes she plays with them, and sometimes she plays by herself because she likes playing by herself too. Fair enough. Ben and I would likely have said the same thing as children.
I know that Rachel is comfortable and having fun, because she refers to the teachers by name and talks pretty openly about what they do in school. Tonight there's a back-to-school night hot dog dinner - hey, at least I don't have to cook, right?
Kindermusik
I took Anna to her new Kindermusik class yesterday. She wasn't as enthusiastic as I'd expected, but participated and was thrilled to get her new instrument & bag. When Ben went to put her to bed and was telling the story of her day, she told him "I went to Kindermusik... but it wasn't Miss Trilla!" with an irritated look on her face. Oops. I guess she has a better memory than we thought. The girls finished their Kindermusik classes in Kansas back at the very beginning of May!
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Rachel's first day of Grade 1
It's hard to believe how quickly the past 6 years have flown by. From this:
 |
| April 9, 2004 - 1 day old To this: |
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| September 7, 2010 - 6 years, 4 months & 30 days old |
Saturday, September 04, 2010
It's back!
I'm sure that this blog has been either completely forgotten, or sorely missed, although the truth is likely to be found somewhere between those two options.
We've had a busy summer. Rachel starts Grade 1 on Tuesday, Rosh Hashanah begins on Wednesday evening, Ben starts teaching in Windsor on the 13th, Anna starts pre-school on the 14th and I don't start school at all. Three illegitimate degrees are enough higher education for me.
I'll attempt to catch up on the rest of the summer over the next few weeks. We'll see how that goes.
We've had a busy summer. Rachel starts Grade 1 on Tuesday, Rosh Hashanah begins on Wednesday evening, Ben starts teaching in Windsor on the 13th, Anna starts pre-school on the 14th and I don't start school at all. Three illegitimate degrees are enough higher education for me.
I'll attempt to catch up on the rest of the summer over the next few weeks. We'll see how that goes.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Follow-up
Anna just got out of the bath. A moment ago, she was muttering happily to herself, "Bubbles, bubbles, come out of my bum!" Ben asked her if there were bubbles coming out of her bum and she replied, "No thanks, I'd rather leave them in!" She's right. She wasn't farting, just reminiscing.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Use your words, Anna!
The other night in bath, Anna farted. "Did you fart?" Ben asked her.
"The bubbles came out of my bum!" she told him happily.
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The title of this post is rather tongue-in-cheek since Anna is not shy about telling us exactly what she is thinking. If she doesn't like something, we hear about it: "I am NOT happy!" she will mumble under her breath or out loud in an indignant voice.
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Last night I served honey-orange glazed chicken drumsticks for dinner along with oven fries and a mix of vegetables. Both girls cleaned their plates and kept requesting more chicken. I had brought out some BBQ sauce for Anna since she likes dipping her food, but I was informed that "This chicken is good without sauce!" I'm taking that as a compliment.
"The bubbles came out of my bum!" she told him happily.
*************************************************************************
The title of this post is rather tongue-in-cheek since Anna is not shy about telling us exactly what she is thinking. If she doesn't like something, we hear about it: "I am NOT happy!" she will mumble under her breath or out loud in an indignant voice.
**************************************************************************
Last night I served honey-orange glazed chicken drumsticks for dinner along with oven fries and a mix of vegetables. Both girls cleaned their plates and kept requesting more chicken. I had brought out some BBQ sauce for Anna since she likes dipping her food, but I was informed that "This chicken is good without sauce!" I'm taking that as a compliment.
Glasses
Rachel saw an opthalmologist earlier this week on the recommendation of our doctor. Despite having seen our optometrist yearly since she was 3, Rachel quite clearly needed glasses. I know that kids' eyes can change rather quickly, but her prescription is pretty strong for a first pair of glasses.
We presented it to her as, "Wow, you get to wear glasses now! That's great! What colour would you like?" Rachel was very excited and told me on the way to the store that her first choice was pink and purple, then purple, then pink. I told her that I wasn't sure if pink & purple would be an option but we would certainly check.
They actually had a pink & purple pair that fit her really well, so within the hour she had her glasses on and could actually see where she was going and what she was doing!
We've heard no complaints about wearing glasses. In fact, Rachel told me the other day that she sometimes forgets that she's even wearing them. She wants people to notice them but also wants us to tell people she has glasses so that they don't miss out on complimenting them. Narcissistic 6-year-old?
We're hoping this will help with a lot of the co-ordination and tracking issues we've noticed over the past few years. And I'm not sure that we'll be taking the kids back to our optometrist next year. We'll see.
We presented it to her as, "Wow, you get to wear glasses now! That's great! What colour would you like?" Rachel was very excited and told me on the way to the store that her first choice was pink and purple, then purple, then pink. I told her that I wasn't sure if pink & purple would be an option but we would certainly check.
They actually had a pink & purple pair that fit her really well, so within the hour she had her glasses on and could actually see where she was going and what she was doing!
We've heard no complaints about wearing glasses. In fact, Rachel told me the other day that she sometimes forgets that she's even wearing them. She wants people to notice them but also wants us to tell people she has glasses so that they don't miss out on complimenting them. Narcissistic 6-year-old?
We're hoping this will help with a lot of the co-ordination and tracking issues we've noticed over the past few years. And I'm not sure that we'll be taking the kids back to our optometrist next year. We'll see.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Upon reading a book
In the book "Sheep Out to Eat", there is the following page of text:
"Sheep slurp. Sheep burp."
After I read this page to Anna, she looked at me, grinned, and said, "DAD burps!"
"Sheep slurp. Sheep burp."
After I read this page to Anna, she looked at me, grinned, and said, "DAD burps!"
Saturday, July 10, 2010
She did it!
Yesterday we got Rachel her new 18" bike. It's purple and says "Spy Girl" on it, so therefore it's the coolest thing in the world.
Rachel and Ben put it together while Anna was napping yesterday afternoon. I suggested that they take it for a trial run before I came back out to see Rachel ride it. Imagine my surprise when I went back outside a few minutes later and saw Rachel riding her bike back from the mailbox with Ben attempting to keep up with her on foot!
She was so proud of herself. She and I went for a complete round of our crescent, and although I heard several complaints about how hard it was, she didn't want to quit riding at all! We talked about the importance of continuing to pedal, especially when the sidewalk went uphill a bit. I know that technically she is supposed to ride on the road, but I do wonder if the sidewalk somehow made her feel safer. That, and she's got a new helmet that fits her much better than any of her previous ones ever did.
As we approached our house, I let Rachel know that once she passed the house with the red van in the driveway, ours was next. I gave her two options:
1. Stop on the sidewalk in front of our house
or
2. Turn and ride up our driveway.
Apparently I forgot to add that when she turned up the driveway, she should take care to not crash into our van! Luckily I caught her just before the bike would have made contact. She thought this was hilarious and couldn't wait to tell Ben all about it.
We did put the training wheels on, and I don't think they'll come off before next summer. There were a couple of times where Rachel got going really fast, but going too fast scares her still.
Now to see if Anna will still be satisfied with learning to ride her trike once she sees her big sister zooming by on her bike!
Rachel and Ben put it together while Anna was napping yesterday afternoon. I suggested that they take it for a trial run before I came back out to see Rachel ride it. Imagine my surprise when I went back outside a few minutes later and saw Rachel riding her bike back from the mailbox with Ben attempting to keep up with her on foot!
She was so proud of herself. She and I went for a complete round of our crescent, and although I heard several complaints about how hard it was, she didn't want to quit riding at all! We talked about the importance of continuing to pedal, especially when the sidewalk went uphill a bit. I know that technically she is supposed to ride on the road, but I do wonder if the sidewalk somehow made her feel safer. That, and she's got a new helmet that fits her much better than any of her previous ones ever did.
As we approached our house, I let Rachel know that once she passed the house with the red van in the driveway, ours was next. I gave her two options:
1. Stop on the sidewalk in front of our house
or
2. Turn and ride up our driveway.
Apparently I forgot to add that when she turned up the driveway, she should take care to not crash into our van! Luckily I caught her just before the bike would have made contact. She thought this was hilarious and couldn't wait to tell Ben all about it.
We did put the training wheels on, and I don't think they'll come off before next summer. There were a couple of times where Rachel got going really fast, but going too fast scares her still.
Now to see if Anna will still be satisfied with learning to ride her trike once she sees her big sister zooming by on her bike!
I love seeing it in print!
If you copy & paste the link, and scroll down, you'll see it too!
http://web4.uwindsor.ca/units/music/Music.nsf/inToc/8562AEC7626CE9FA8525697500606CE1?OpenDocument
http://web4.uwindsor.ca/units/music/Music.nsf/inToc/8562AEC7626CE9FA8525697500606CE1?OpenDocument
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Amusing things they say
The other day we were having a conversation with Anna about diapers and toilets. She likes to tell us how we all use the toilet but she wears diapers. I thought I'd have some fun with her so I asked her if Dad wears diapers.
"No, he doesn't wear diapers. He wears underwears!"
*********************************************************************
Tonight we went out for dinner and Anna seriously ordered the following:
"I would like a burger, apple slice and Mommy's fries!"
"No, he doesn't wear diapers. He wears underwears!"
*********************************************************************
Tonight we went out for dinner and Anna seriously ordered the following:
"I would like a burger, apple slice and Mommy's fries!"
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
We've had our three for the day
At roughly 3 a.m. this morning our smoke alarm started going off. We found out that it took us about 15 seconds longer than we'd prefer to figure out what the sound was. We also found out that we instinctively each went for the "wrong" child according to our plan. The plan is that I get Anna and Ben gets Rachel. We doubt that Rachel would function well in an emergency, and while I likely could manage to get a 4'1", 52 pound child down the stairs, I'd prefer to go for the "lightweight", thank you very much!
The alarm stopped after about a minute and we couldn't find any sign of anything wrong, so we're assuming that it was either related to the insane heat or a bit of dust got in there. (Yes, that's happened to us before!)
Later this morning we pinpointed the source of water in our basement. There's a leak in the pipe for the external water hose connection. We have a plumber coming in tomorrow to fix it and it doesn't sound like it will be too expensive, so that's good! We're thankful that it wasn't a problem with the toilet or washing machine or really anything "essential" in the house. I'm also glad that apparently it's not a big deal for the exposed insulation in the basement to get wet.
And because things always happen in threes, this morning we checked online to see the status of Ben's Missouri tax refund. It said that he would be receiving a "Proposed Notice of Changes" soon. Very soon, as it turned out. We got the notice in the mail today along with a cheque that was for $300 less than our accountant had filed. Ben called the accountant and scanned the documents to email them to her. Honestly, I hope it was the state of Missouri's error, because if it turns out that she filed this incorrectly and we paid her $300, I won't be impressed. If I wanted to do my taxes incorrectly I'd have just done them myself!
But on the plus side, Anna did not puke again today, Rachel survived Day 2 of her day camp, and we got several cheques in the mail. One of them was a surprise - surprise money is always a good thing! We also had someone come by to look at our broken kitchen chair and he is going to repair it fairly inexpensively. It would have been cheap to also have him re-upholster the chairs but let's face it - the kids are MESSY, what's the point!?!?
And now it's time for bed. Let's see if I get to sleep through the night tonight, shall we?
The alarm stopped after about a minute and we couldn't find any sign of anything wrong, so we're assuming that it was either related to the insane heat or a bit of dust got in there. (Yes, that's happened to us before!)
Later this morning we pinpointed the source of water in our basement. There's a leak in the pipe for the external water hose connection. We have a plumber coming in tomorrow to fix it and it doesn't sound like it will be too expensive, so that's good! We're thankful that it wasn't a problem with the toilet or washing machine or really anything "essential" in the house. I'm also glad that apparently it's not a big deal for the exposed insulation in the basement to get wet.
And because things always happen in threes, this morning we checked online to see the status of Ben's Missouri tax refund. It said that he would be receiving a "Proposed Notice of Changes" soon. Very soon, as it turned out. We got the notice in the mail today along with a cheque that was for $300 less than our accountant had filed. Ben called the accountant and scanned the documents to email them to her. Honestly, I hope it was the state of Missouri's error, because if it turns out that she filed this incorrectly and we paid her $300, I won't be impressed. If I wanted to do my taxes incorrectly I'd have just done them myself!
But on the plus side, Anna did not puke again today, Rachel survived Day 2 of her day camp, and we got several cheques in the mail. One of them was a surprise - surprise money is always a good thing! We also had someone come by to look at our broken kitchen chair and he is going to repair it fairly inexpensively. It would have been cheap to also have him re-upholster the chairs but let's face it - the kids are MESSY, what's the point!?!?
And now it's time for bed. Let's see if I get to sleep through the night tonight, shall we?
Friday, July 02, 2010
He really didn't have to go to such lengths
Last night Ben promised me that he would definitely rehair my good violin bow before coming home from his workshop in Victoria. He had already rehaired our friend H's violin bow and his cello bow, and the instructor had taken care of H's other bow. That left my viola and violin bows, and I suggested that I'd really prefer to have the violin one done.
This afternoon I got a call from Expedia saying that Ben's flight home had been cancelled. Reminiscent of 2005? Why yes, yes indeed. The nice man on the other end of the phone told me that they could rebook Ben on a flight that would leave tomorrow (Saturday). "No, that's not going to work," I told the man. I explained that I'd been playing single mom for almost a week and I knew there were flights home from Victoria tonight that they could rebook him on.
Then the man explained that he would need to rebook the flight with Ben since it was his account and he was the passenger. I laughed. Why did I laugh, you ask? Because, as I explained to the man, I had booked the flight and set everything up. Fortunately, he spoke to his supervisor and was able to rebook the flight without needing to contact Ben who actually did answer his cell phone during his workshop when I called him.
So instead of taking the red-eye directly to Toronto tonight, Ben is going from Victoria to Calgary where he will sit for 2.5 hours. Then he gets to fly on the red-eye from Calgary to Toronto where he'll get a whopping 3 hours of sleep if he's lucky before he heads to London. Good times.
What does all of this have to do with my violin bow? When I called Ben to let him know that he needed to get out of his workshop on time to get to the airport since his flight was leaving earlier, I asked him how his day was going and if he'd done my violin bow yet.
He told me that he'd started on my bow, but it broke! Yup. My bow is broken. Actually, that's not true anymore. The instructor has glued it but it needs to set for a week before it can be rehaired, so Ben ended up leaving it in Victoria and we'll have it shipped back to us. This is my "good" violin bow that I bought years ago for a great price precisely because it had a metal spline thingamajig inserted near the tip to repair a previous break. Apparently that's no longer the recommended way to fix bows.
So I'm thinking that West Jet cancelling the flight was a little drastic and dramatic, but Ben did promise me that he wouldn't come home without having rehaired my violin bow... hahaha. He was going to bring it home and rehair it in a week when it's set, but we all felt that it was a better idea to leave it in Victoria and have the instructor finish it instead. I figure I might as well tell him to fix anything else that needs doing at the same time. Then I'll just have to take my violin in to The Sound Post to get some work done this summer.
I've already let Anna know that she will be napping with Daddy tomorrow afternoon because I know full well that Ben will be exhausted when he comes home!
This afternoon I got a call from Expedia saying that Ben's flight home had been cancelled. Reminiscent of 2005? Why yes, yes indeed. The nice man on the other end of the phone told me that they could rebook Ben on a flight that would leave tomorrow (Saturday). "No, that's not going to work," I told the man. I explained that I'd been playing single mom for almost a week and I knew there were flights home from Victoria tonight that they could rebook him on.
Then the man explained that he would need to rebook the flight with Ben since it was his account and he was the passenger. I laughed. Why did I laugh, you ask? Because, as I explained to the man, I had booked the flight and set everything up. Fortunately, he spoke to his supervisor and was able to rebook the flight without needing to contact Ben who actually did answer his cell phone during his workshop when I called him.
So instead of taking the red-eye directly to Toronto tonight, Ben is going from Victoria to Calgary where he will sit for 2.5 hours. Then he gets to fly on the red-eye from Calgary to Toronto where he'll get a whopping 3 hours of sleep if he's lucky before he heads to London. Good times.
What does all of this have to do with my violin bow? When I called Ben to let him know that he needed to get out of his workshop on time to get to the airport since his flight was leaving earlier, I asked him how his day was going and if he'd done my violin bow yet.
He told me that he'd started on my bow, but it broke! Yup. My bow is broken. Actually, that's not true anymore. The instructor has glued it but it needs to set for a week before it can be rehaired, so Ben ended up leaving it in Victoria and we'll have it shipped back to us. This is my "good" violin bow that I bought years ago for a great price precisely because it had a metal spline thingamajig inserted near the tip to repair a previous break. Apparently that's no longer the recommended way to fix bows.
So I'm thinking that West Jet cancelling the flight was a little drastic and dramatic, but Ben did promise me that he wouldn't come home without having rehaired my violin bow... hahaha. He was going to bring it home and rehair it in a week when it's set, but we all felt that it was a better idea to leave it in Victoria and have the instructor finish it instead. I figure I might as well tell him to fix anything else that needs doing at the same time. Then I'll just have to take my violin in to The Sound Post to get some work done this summer.
I've already let Anna know that she will be napping with Daddy tomorrow afternoon because I know full well that Ben will be exhausted when he comes home!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Verb conjugation
Tonight at dinner we somehow started discussing verb conjugations. Rachel asked what a "verb combination" was and that started this discussion:
Me: "I eat, you eat, he eats."
Then I decided to try something a little different.
Me: "We are..."
Anna: "HAPPY!!!"
Me: "I eat, you eat, he eats."
Then I decided to try something a little different.
Me: "We are..."
Anna: "HAPPY!!!"
Saturday, June 12, 2010
I managed to keep a straight face...
...when the very young groom-to-be who came to my house recently asked me if I'd played at very many weddings. I suspect that he and his fiancée were barely out of university if that. Very nice people, but I sure wasn't expecting that question from him!!
I kindly explained that my group had been playing together for 15 years and had played at hundreds of events during that time. I usually get that kind of question from parents, not the bride and groom! And I haven't gotten asked that in awhile so either I look really young again (ha!) or he was just nervous and making random conversation. Either way, I was amused.
I kindly explained that my group had been playing together for 15 years and had played at hundreds of events during that time. I usually get that kind of question from parents, not the bride and groom! And I haven't gotten asked that in awhile so either I look really young again (ha!) or he was just nervous and making random conversation. Either way, I was amused.
And now for something completely different
Ben and I have been trying to define exactly what irritates us about the so-called egalitarian movement in both reform and conservative synagogues. Neither of us is a fan of females adopting the practices of wearing a kippah, tallit or tefillin. While arguments can be made that the daughters of the great rabbi known as Rashi put on tefillin, it has certainly not been looked on as something common for women to take on until the past couple of decades.
We've talked a lot about this recently as it starts to become more immediately applicable to our family. In religious school this past year, our daughter was the only girl in the Kindergarten class who did not wear a kippah. The rabbi at Beth Shalom basically tried to mandate that every student was obligated to wear one during school hours. We spoke to the school director and both she and the Kindergarten teachers were helpful in ensuring that Rachel was not forced to do something that neither she nor we wanted her to take on. I will admit that we ignored the issue with Anna in preschool although it also made us both uncomfortable knowing that everyone put on a kippah for "Shabbat" on Thursday mornings.
Why is it a big deal to us? Partly because it doesn't sit right with us. I was browsing on chabad.org the other day and an article about this very issue jumped out at me and articulated our thoughts on the matter more succinctly than I think either one of us could have done. Basically, if a woman (or girl) wants to take on these traditionally male customs, let her do it AFTER she has done everything she can as an observant female. Let her do it in her own home so that it is between her and G-d, not to show other people that she can. It's that last part that I think is most relevant.
How often do we do something hoping that someone else will see what we have done as opposed to doing it privately in a pay-it-forward kind of way? When we attend services and hear how women can do everything men can do, I want to jump up and scream that no, that's not true or necessary.
In Judaism, women are exempt from time-bound commandments. I may have posted about this before, but I think it bears repeating. This morning Anna needed an early nap, so I stayed home with her. Am I exempt from being required to pray? No, but I am not bound by time the way a Jewish man is. I think that makes perfect sense.
I also don't think that men and women need to be "equal". That doesn't mean that I think men are superior to women, but it does mean that I actually acknowledge that there are differences.
Ben and I have had many a conversation about where we'd like to end up, Jewishly speaking. Most of these conversations follow the same sequence of statements/questions:
1. We'd like to be more Torah-observant than we currently are.
2. It's sad that mundane things like career and what our friends and family would think can hold us back from this goal. (I thought about putting quotation marks around mundane, but since it refers to things pertaining to the world/earth I think it's best left as is.)
3. At the same time, the truth is that becoming orthodox would entail us needing to make drastic changes to our careers. It wouldn't really be acceptable to play at the weddings we play at, nor to play many of the concerts we play whether because of time, content, or both. It would also affect our ability to teach since our private teaching is obviously one-on-one and in orthodox Judaism that can be an issue one children are past bar/bat mitzvah age.
4. If Ben could get a full time university position, we would be able to make these changes. Otherwise, we're back to the same old discussions and debates regarding what's halachically desirable and what's practical for our current life.
5. If we were to switch, we'd ideally like to attend a Modern Orthodox shul. From what we've studied, the MO shuls seem to adhere to a traditional liturgy while making some concessions to "modern" life.
6. If the conservative shuls weren't so insistent on pushing gender-neutral terms in prayer books and egalitarian *no matter what*, we probably would be quite content there.
7. Or would we?
8. Probably not. We left reform Judaism for a number of reasons. Conservative Judaism holds many of the same problems although it has retained more of the traditional liturgy that we prefer.
9. I still maintain that putting a doily on your head in shul is not a head covering. I will concede that it is a sign of respect for the tradition of married women covering their hair, but I doubt that I'll ever be comfortable with it.
10. Dressing one way to attend services and another way for the rest of life occasionally seems just fine and sometimes seems like a double standard since clearly G-d is everywhere and the obligation to pray is not just on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
11. So we're back to fitting in with the world or doing what we think G-d is telling us to do. Apparently there's no doing both 100% of the time, or at least not in a way that we're ready to take on.
12. And now back to reality... here in London there are precisely 3.5 options. There is the Reform synagogue we left and wouldn't feel comfortable returning to. There is the Conservative synagogue that we will renew our membership at - Ben and Rachel went this morning and Ben seems optimistic that the "new" rabbi (it's his 3rd year there now) has been able to implement some much-needed changes. There is the orthodox synagogue that is very "black hat" - this comes as no real surprise since the rabbi and his wife are really Chabad and therefore it's got its own flavour. Ben has been to functions at the orthodox shul and he is just not comfortable there. There is also Chabad at Western but since that's for university students, I'll call that the "half option".
So here we are at the beginning of a new month and week, Jewishly speaking. Shavua tov!
We've talked a lot about this recently as it starts to become more immediately applicable to our family. In religious school this past year, our daughter was the only girl in the Kindergarten class who did not wear a kippah. The rabbi at Beth Shalom basically tried to mandate that every student was obligated to wear one during school hours. We spoke to the school director and both she and the Kindergarten teachers were helpful in ensuring that Rachel was not forced to do something that neither she nor we wanted her to take on. I will admit that we ignored the issue with Anna in preschool although it also made us both uncomfortable knowing that everyone put on a kippah for "Shabbat" on Thursday mornings.
Why is it a big deal to us? Partly because it doesn't sit right with us. I was browsing on chabad.org the other day and an article about this very issue jumped out at me and articulated our thoughts on the matter more succinctly than I think either one of us could have done. Basically, if a woman (or girl) wants to take on these traditionally male customs, let her do it AFTER she has done everything she can as an observant female. Let her do it in her own home so that it is between her and G-d, not to show other people that she can. It's that last part that I think is most relevant.
How often do we do something hoping that someone else will see what we have done as opposed to doing it privately in a pay-it-forward kind of way? When we attend services and hear how women can do everything men can do, I want to jump up and scream that no, that's not true or necessary.
In Judaism, women are exempt from time-bound commandments. I may have posted about this before, but I think it bears repeating. This morning Anna needed an early nap, so I stayed home with her. Am I exempt from being required to pray? No, but I am not bound by time the way a Jewish man is. I think that makes perfect sense.
I also don't think that men and women need to be "equal". That doesn't mean that I think men are superior to women, but it does mean that I actually acknowledge that there are differences.
Ben and I have had many a conversation about where we'd like to end up, Jewishly speaking. Most of these conversations follow the same sequence of statements/questions:
1. We'd like to be more Torah-observant than we currently are.
2. It's sad that mundane things like career and what our friends and family would think can hold us back from this goal. (I thought about putting quotation marks around mundane, but since it refers to things pertaining to the world/earth I think it's best left as is.)
3. At the same time, the truth is that becoming orthodox would entail us needing to make drastic changes to our careers. It wouldn't really be acceptable to play at the weddings we play at, nor to play many of the concerts we play whether because of time, content, or both. It would also affect our ability to teach since our private teaching is obviously one-on-one and in orthodox Judaism that can be an issue one children are past bar/bat mitzvah age.
4. If Ben could get a full time university position, we would be able to make these changes. Otherwise, we're back to the same old discussions and debates regarding what's halachically desirable and what's practical for our current life.
5. If we were to switch, we'd ideally like to attend a Modern Orthodox shul. From what we've studied, the MO shuls seem to adhere to a traditional liturgy while making some concessions to "modern" life.
6. If the conservative shuls weren't so insistent on pushing gender-neutral terms in prayer books and egalitarian *no matter what*, we probably would be quite content there.
7. Or would we?
8. Probably not. We left reform Judaism for a number of reasons. Conservative Judaism holds many of the same problems although it has retained more of the traditional liturgy that we prefer.
9. I still maintain that putting a doily on your head in shul is not a head covering. I will concede that it is a sign of respect for the tradition of married women covering their hair, but I doubt that I'll ever be comfortable with it.
10. Dressing one way to attend services and another way for the rest of life occasionally seems just fine and sometimes seems like a double standard since clearly G-d is everywhere and the obligation to pray is not just on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
11. So we're back to fitting in with the world or doing what we think G-d is telling us to do. Apparently there's no doing both 100% of the time, or at least not in a way that we're ready to take on.
12. And now back to reality... here in London there are precisely 3.5 options. There is the Reform synagogue we left and wouldn't feel comfortable returning to. There is the Conservative synagogue that we will renew our membership at - Ben and Rachel went this morning and Ben seems optimistic that the "new" rabbi (it's his 3rd year there now) has been able to implement some much-needed changes. There is the orthodox synagogue that is very "black hat" - this comes as no real surprise since the rabbi and his wife are really Chabad and therefore it's got its own flavour. Ben has been to functions at the orthodox shul and he is just not comfortable there. There is also Chabad at Western but since that's for university students, I'll call that the "half option".
So here we are at the beginning of a new month and week, Jewishly speaking. Shavua tov!
How to move
1. Buy a house sight unseen
2. Trust wonderful friend's judgment after she saw said house briefly
3. Hire moving company based on firm estimate
4. Husband accepts job 2 hours away from said house less than 2 weeks before closing
5. Pack all things and label anally so as not to have any issues with customs
6. Get unreasonably excited about Mayflower providing a Canadian truck driver who clearly understands the ins and outs of international moves
7. Follow all protocol at both US and Canadian borders - turn in I-94 cards, have passports stamped, get inventory list stamped, etc.
8. Find out that truck driver got stopped at customs in Windsor
9. Remind self that there is a reason to cross at Port Huron/Sarnia instead of Detroit/Windsor
10. Find out that poor truck driver was made to sit in a chair at the customs office for 16+ hours while a customs crew unloaded every single item from all 3 shipments off of his truck
11. Find out that the shipment bound for Mississauga was going to a storage warehouse, belonged to a family named Mohammed AND contained a bucket of white powder laundry detergent
12. Don't even bother to feign surprise at the customs search upon discovering this (seriously, who is stupid enough to pack white powder to cross the border?!!? Laura, this is why you have all of my white substances!!!)
13. Point out to blog readers that while you clearly harbour no ill will toward the Mohammed family, unfortunately racial profiling is alive and well since no-one really believes that this was a random check
14. Movers arrive on schedule on Tuesday to unload our things. Too bad for them that customs did a crappy job reloading and things got mixed up between shipments. It's interesting to note that our boxes were less messed with than the Mohammeds'.
15. Sign off on forms acknowledging that one box seems to be missing. Discover later that you are also missing 2 shelves from your armoire.
16. Receive call from truck driver 3 days later saying that he has your missing shelves. No mention of the potentially missing box.
17. Explain to blog readers that no-one is 100% sure that there is a missing box. Its inventory tag number was not found on anything else that came in to the house, but until everything is unpacked it won't be known for sure whether it was one of the untagged cartons or not.
18. Sit down to blog about moving adventures, because that's obviously more fun than unpacking all of the remaining boxes in the house!
2. Trust wonderful friend's judgment after she saw said house briefly
3. Hire moving company based on firm estimate
4. Husband accepts job 2 hours away from said house less than 2 weeks before closing
5. Pack all things and label anally so as not to have any issues with customs
6. Get unreasonably excited about Mayflower providing a Canadian truck driver who clearly understands the ins and outs of international moves
7. Follow all protocol at both US and Canadian borders - turn in I-94 cards, have passports stamped, get inventory list stamped, etc.
8. Find out that truck driver got stopped at customs in Windsor
9. Remind self that there is a reason to cross at Port Huron/Sarnia instead of Detroit/Windsor
10. Find out that poor truck driver was made to sit in a chair at the customs office for 16+ hours while a customs crew unloaded every single item from all 3 shipments off of his truck
11. Find out that the shipment bound for Mississauga was going to a storage warehouse, belonged to a family named Mohammed AND contained a bucket of white powder laundry detergent
12. Don't even bother to feign surprise at the customs search upon discovering this (seriously, who is stupid enough to pack white powder to cross the border?!!? Laura, this is why you have all of my white substances!!!)
13. Point out to blog readers that while you clearly harbour no ill will toward the Mohammed family, unfortunately racial profiling is alive and well since no-one really believes that this was a random check
14. Movers arrive on schedule on Tuesday to unload our things. Too bad for them that customs did a crappy job reloading and things got mixed up between shipments. It's interesting to note that our boxes were less messed with than the Mohammeds'.
15. Sign off on forms acknowledging that one box seems to be missing. Discover later that you are also missing 2 shelves from your armoire.
16. Receive call from truck driver 3 days later saying that he has your missing shelves. No mention of the potentially missing box.
17. Explain to blog readers that no-one is 100% sure that there is a missing box. Its inventory tag number was not found on anything else that came in to the house, but until everything is unpacked it won't be known for sure whether it was one of the untagged cartons or not.
18. Sit down to blog about moving adventures, because that's obviously more fun than unpacking all of the remaining boxes in the house!
In the house
Not only are we in our new house, but the majority of our things are here and we've got phone, cable & internet hooked up. Our cell phone number was ported easily to become our home phone number, and we just got new cell phones from Telus yesterday. (You didn't seriously think we'd give any more money than necessary to Rogers, did you?!?!?!) We're clearly bonafide Londoners once again since we have also already received our property tax notice from the city. Those suckers certainly don't waste any time.
The people who moved out clearly have quite the disposable income since they left us their daughter's playhouse and sandbox in addition to the swingset in the backyard. Inside the house we were gifted with a ping pong table and a giant work desk in the basement, both of which we can thankfully use. The wall sconce with candles in the living room has been removed and we're looking to re-gift a bottle of wine. Clearly we have no class. ;)
Rachel's room is extremely pink. We were going to hire someone to paint, but someone dropped the ball on calling painters and decided to do it himself even though he had never painted before. After taking my advice about extra primer and brushing techniques, the room turned out pretty well. You can still see hints of previous wall colours in a few spots but overall it is very pink and Rachel is deliriously happy about this.
Anna is in love with her blue room. "Thank you thank you thank you for my blue room!!" she yelled happily upon finding out that it was hers. The previous owners did some shoddy touch-ups in there but perhaps we can just hang pictures over those spots.
The house is in very good shape for a 9-year-old building. While there are some spots on the carpets, the magical Spot Shot from Wal-Mart seems to be adept at removing them. I had to scrub the cabinets quite a bit more than I expected to given that the previous owners apparently had a cleaner come in just before we moved in but I likely would have done it anyway so I'm not complaining.
There seems to be exactly enough kitchen cupboard space for our gazillion sets of dishes. No more questionable separation in this quasi-kosher kitchen! I'd say it would be pretty difficult to mix things up now that there is a home for everything.
Our new fridge and stove arrived on Tuesday but the stove only had 3 feet and so it sat in the middle of my kitchen on a piece of cardboard until yesterday morning when a lovely gentleman from Kiwi Appliances (dispatched by Future Shop) came to fix it and shove it into place. We had to move one of the kitchen cabinets up a few inches to make room for the fridge so now there is an unsightly area of white cabinet side showing above the (not-my-style) oak panel. Neither one of us really cares enough to do anything about it since it's clearly not a big deal!
We opted for a bottom freezer model with French doors on the fridge part. Great plan, except that because our fridge is between a panel and a wall, the door on the wall side doesn't fully open. Oops. I figure it just makes me work harder to get food out of it! I quite like the set-up since the fruit & vegetable drawers are now at a convenient height instead of being at the very bottom.
Way earlier in this post I alluded to some difficulty with the move since only the majority of our things are here. That's another post in itself. And if you're reading in order of last published, you already know the story!
The people who moved out clearly have quite the disposable income since they left us their daughter's playhouse and sandbox in addition to the swingset in the backyard. Inside the house we were gifted with a ping pong table and a giant work desk in the basement, both of which we can thankfully use. The wall sconce with candles in the living room has been removed and we're looking to re-gift a bottle of wine. Clearly we have no class. ;)
Rachel's room is extremely pink. We were going to hire someone to paint, but someone dropped the ball on calling painters and decided to do it himself even though he had never painted before. After taking my advice about extra primer and brushing techniques, the room turned out pretty well. You can still see hints of previous wall colours in a few spots but overall it is very pink and Rachel is deliriously happy about this.
Anna is in love with her blue room. "Thank you thank you thank you for my blue room!!" she yelled happily upon finding out that it was hers. The previous owners did some shoddy touch-ups in there but perhaps we can just hang pictures over those spots.
The house is in very good shape for a 9-year-old building. While there are some spots on the carpets, the magical Spot Shot from Wal-Mart seems to be adept at removing them. I had to scrub the cabinets quite a bit more than I expected to given that the previous owners apparently had a cleaner come in just before we moved in but I likely would have done it anyway so I'm not complaining.
There seems to be exactly enough kitchen cupboard space for our gazillion sets of dishes. No more questionable separation in this quasi-kosher kitchen! I'd say it would be pretty difficult to mix things up now that there is a home for everything.
Our new fridge and stove arrived on Tuesday but the stove only had 3 feet and so it sat in the middle of my kitchen on a piece of cardboard until yesterday morning when a lovely gentleman from Kiwi Appliances (dispatched by Future Shop) came to fix it and shove it into place. We had to move one of the kitchen cabinets up a few inches to make room for the fridge so now there is an unsightly area of white cabinet side showing above the (not-my-style) oak panel. Neither one of us really cares enough to do anything about it since it's clearly not a big deal!
We opted for a bottom freezer model with French doors on the fridge part. Great plan, except that because our fridge is between a panel and a wall, the door on the wall side doesn't fully open. Oops. I figure it just makes me work harder to get food out of it! I quite like the set-up since the fruit & vegetable drawers are now at a convenient height instead of being at the very bottom.
Way earlier in this post I alluded to some difficulty with the move since only the majority of our things are here. That's another post in itself. And if you're reading in order of last published, you already know the story!
No title
Anna habitually pronounces the word sunscreen as "sunscream" and it never fails to crack us up.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Voyeuristic?
Sometimes Ben and I chuckle over how voyeuristic the concept of a blog really is. Let's face it - it allows people to have a window into our lives without actually needing to pick up the phone or email us. Good deal, eh?
Well, yes and no. I enjoy blogging. I get a kick out of writing down funny things the kids do, and I have to assume that our friends and family enjoy it as well. (Otherwise I suppose that my audience is fairly limited!)
The thing with blogging is that it's not a daily diary of events. We get to pick and choose which events to write about and which ones don't really need a mention. I highly doubt that anyone needs to hear about how we almost said Shehecheyanu upon spotting our first groundhog in a neighbouring backyard yesterday, or about how the truck driver's truck had a broken wheel that caused him to have to delay delivery of his Mississauga load.
I don't always take the time to blog. That's life. Just like we don't talk to every person we know on the phone every day or send an email to everyone in our address books on a regular basis, I don't always document every happening here.
I know people who are on Twitter and I will readily admit that I don't (yet?) see the attraction of that site. I enjoy Facebook, but primarily as a means of keeping up with my friends. Instant messaging? Bring it on! Texting? Not likely, especially after I once texted a friend of mine with the one-liner "canyouhelpme" because I couldn't figure out the spaces or the punctuation on our archaic non-QWERTY cell phone!
Anyway, don't be surprised if sometimes I blog a lot and sometimes I don't. I might be elsewhere on the internet or *gasp* reading a book or playing with the kids. I might even be cleaning the house although I wouldn't hold your breath on that one!
Well, yes and no. I enjoy blogging. I get a kick out of writing down funny things the kids do, and I have to assume that our friends and family enjoy it as well. (Otherwise I suppose that my audience is fairly limited!)
The thing with blogging is that it's not a daily diary of events. We get to pick and choose which events to write about and which ones don't really need a mention. I highly doubt that anyone needs to hear about how we almost said Shehecheyanu upon spotting our first groundhog in a neighbouring backyard yesterday, or about how the truck driver's truck had a broken wheel that caused him to have to delay delivery of his Mississauga load.
I don't always take the time to blog. That's life. Just like we don't talk to every person we know on the phone every day or send an email to everyone in our address books on a regular basis, I don't always document every happening here.
I know people who are on Twitter and I will readily admit that I don't (yet?) see the attraction of that site. I enjoy Facebook, but primarily as a means of keeping up with my friends. Instant messaging? Bring it on! Texting? Not likely, especially after I once texted a friend of mine with the one-liner "canyouhelpme" because I couldn't figure out the spaces or the punctuation on our archaic non-QWERTY cell phone!
Anyway, don't be surprised if sometimes I blog a lot and sometimes I don't. I might be elsewhere on the internet or *gasp* reading a book or playing with the kids. I might even be cleaning the house although I wouldn't hold your breath on that one!
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Bossy but clever
"Mom, you'd better eat all of your fries before I eat them!" Anna told me at a restaurant last week.
She had a point.
She had a point.
Slightly confused Anna
We're staying at my mother's house until tomorrow when we close on our house in London. The problem? My mother and John aren't there because they're in England right now! Anna isn't quite sure what to make of this. She knows that we're at Grandma's house, but keeps expecting them to show up.
Then again, Anna also asked Ben if Kansas was outside. He explained to her that no, we were not in Kansas anymore.
Then again, Anna also asked Ben if Kansas was outside. He explained to her that no, we were not in Kansas anymore.
Life. It's cyclical.
Rogers is scheduled to port our cell phone number to be our home phone number in addition to hooking up cable and internet on June 8th. So? June 8th, 2007 just happens to be the date that we finally got our service from Rogers after 33 days of waiting for it. We're already off to a rocky start since the first Rogers guy I talked to in the mall a few weeks ago never got back to me.
Ben and I went in again last Thursday and theoretically have it all set up for Tuesday evening. I look forward to seeing how they can bungle it up this time.
Ben and I went in again last Thursday and theoretically have it all set up for Tuesday evening. I look forward to seeing how they can bungle it up this time.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Wow, post #700!
I'm at that crazy packing stage where it's fun to pack dress shirts with CD players and lamps. Who needs packing paper when you have your husband's work clothes?!?!
We're just hoping that we have enough boxes left at this point. I think we should be ok unless there's a huge closet full of stuff that I've forgotten about. Since storage space was NOT this house's forte, I think we're safe from that!
Today marks one week sans fridge and I am pleased to say that we're doing pretty well with just a cooler. It's well stocked with coke and ice at the moment, but it's had its fair share of cheese and fruit in there as well.
And since I'm clearly procrastinating with this post, I shall head back to sorting clothes in the bedroom. I'm hoping to emerge from the mound eventually, but not for at least an hour given the amount of stuff to wade through!
We're just hoping that we have enough boxes left at this point. I think we should be ok unless there's a huge closet full of stuff that I've forgotten about. Since storage space was NOT this house's forte, I think we're safe from that!
Today marks one week sans fridge and I am pleased to say that we're doing pretty well with just a cooler. It's well stocked with coke and ice at the moment, but it's had its fair share of cheese and fruit in there as well.
And since I'm clearly procrastinating with this post, I shall head back to sorting clothes in the bedroom. I'm hoping to emerge from the mound eventually, but not for at least an hour given the amount of stuff to wade through!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Not too shabby
Ben was unemployed for a whopping 12 days (and not even off the payroll yet!) before accepting an offer for part-time work at the University of Windsor this coming fall. He's been offered 2 sections of "Basic Skills" and was told that he most likely would get a 3rd section as well. This entails teaching sight singing, ear training, dictation and...
***DRUM ROLL PLEASE***
...keyboard skills! I guess it was helpful that Ben served on the Piano Proficiency juries last winter, because he certainly doesn't have any piano experience listed on his CV! It won't be an issue since it really is basic keyboard skills, but all the same, that's one more person who will need to put in some practice time on our piano this fall.
While the commute will be awful (2 hours each way), he will only have to be there 3 days a week. Sessional instructor work at Canadian universities is really a wonderful thing. After you've been there for several years, you get the first right of refusal on teaching the courses. It's similar to tenure but sadly at about half the pay. That said, per course wages at home are over double what they are down here. Ben will have full benefits after he's worked there for a year (as will the family), and we will have the option of paying into retirement funds and having the university match his contributions.
Not too shabby considering that all Ben did to get this job was request 2 reference letters from his colleagues and affix his signature to a letter that I mailed off with his CV last month. They didn't do interviews for the position, which apparently isn't that unusual.
So we're coming home to London. After all, there's no place like home. And no, that line doesn't get old! As of June 1st, I will safely (and a bit sadly - yes Laura, I stuck that in for you!) be able to say that "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore".
***DRUM ROLL PLEASE***
...keyboard skills! I guess it was helpful that Ben served on the Piano Proficiency juries last winter, because he certainly doesn't have any piano experience listed on his CV! It won't be an issue since it really is basic keyboard skills, but all the same, that's one more person who will need to put in some practice time on our piano this fall.
While the commute will be awful (2 hours each way), he will only have to be there 3 days a week. Sessional instructor work at Canadian universities is really a wonderful thing. After you've been there for several years, you get the first right of refusal on teaching the courses. It's similar to tenure but sadly at about half the pay. That said, per course wages at home are over double what they are down here. Ben will have full benefits after he's worked there for a year (as will the family), and we will have the option of paying into retirement funds and having the university match his contributions.
Not too shabby considering that all Ben did to get this job was request 2 reference letters from his colleagues and affix his signature to a letter that I mailed off with his CV last month. They didn't do interviews for the position, which apparently isn't that unusual.
So we're coming home to London. After all, there's no place like home. And no, that line doesn't get old! As of June 1st, I will safely (and a bit sadly - yes Laura, I stuck that in for you!) be able to say that "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore".
Last days in Kansas
Despite hoping for some quiet time after Ben finished work, our last days here have been jam-packed with things that needed to be done. Done and re-done, I should say. Ben called our bank to cancel one of our US credit cards. He was assured that it was closed. However, we received another statement and it's still clearly open as I can access it online. I suspect that we'll be heading to the bank later today.
We found out last night that we both had random fines on our Johnson County library cards. Ben owed $0.30 for "Sheep Trick-or-Treat" while I owed a whopping $0.75 for "Diego's Safari Adventure". The sad thing is that we scoured the entire house looking for these books way back when, and when we finally asked Rachel about it, she was able to tell us instantly where they were. Anyhow, we paid up and now just have our KCMO library cards to return.
It has been ridiculously hot here. We were hoping to fit in one last visit to the zoo, but for that to happen it will need to cool down a bit! The next few days are filled with playdates and lunch/dinner dates with friends. While I'm glad to be out of our house that is filled with boxes and no fridge (we sold it at our garage sale last weekend!), I am also looking forward to maybe actually having some downtime once we get home to London.
Yes, I dared to wish for downtime. Now to wait and see what happens...
We found out last night that we both had random fines on our Johnson County library cards. Ben owed $0.30 for "Sheep Trick-or-Treat" while I owed a whopping $0.75 for "Diego's Safari Adventure". The sad thing is that we scoured the entire house looking for these books way back when, and when we finally asked Rachel about it, she was able to tell us instantly where they were. Anyhow, we paid up and now just have our KCMO library cards to return.
It has been ridiculously hot here. We were hoping to fit in one last visit to the zoo, but for that to happen it will need to cool down a bit! The next few days are filled with playdates and lunch/dinner dates with friends. While I'm glad to be out of our house that is filled with boxes and no fridge (we sold it at our garage sale last weekend!), I am also looking forward to maybe actually having some downtime once we get home to London.
Yes, I dared to wish for downtime. Now to wait and see what happens...
How to return a driver's licence Kansas-style
Step 1 - Cut your licence up into little pieces.
Step 2 - Place pieces in an envelope and mail to the Driver's Licencing place in Topeka.
Step 3 - That's it! No more Kansas driver's licence!
I believe that we will be adding Step 2A which will include writing a note with our names and licence numbers to go along with the cut-up licences. I am still somewhat incredulous that we can't actually go in person to the local office and return them. We tried 3 years ago and they wouldn't take them.
Step 2 - Place pieces in an envelope and mail to the Driver's Licencing place in Topeka.
Step 3 - That's it! No more Kansas driver's licence!
I believe that we will be adding Step 2A which will include writing a note with our names and licence numbers to go along with the cut-up licences. I am still somewhat incredulous that we can't actually go in person to the local office and return them. We tried 3 years ago and they wouldn't take them.
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Non-Handyman
Anyone who knows Ben knows that he is, well, NOT handy. Neither am I. So we tend to call repair services instead of fixing things ourselves, or we buy new instead of used because then we are less likely to have problems.
That said, lately it seems like all poor Ben has to do is look at something the wrong way and it breaks! Take our lawnmower for example. Our previous lawnmower died and we really didn't want to sink a lot of money into a new one, so we found one on Craigslist that was pretty cheap. It was an older Craftsman gas mower with a rebuilt engine, but it ran just fine.
The second time Ben used it, he ran over a rock in the back yard and the blade was bent way out of shape. Not to be deterred, I ordered a new blade online for about 30% less than getting one from Sears would have been. Back in business, Ben was more or less happily mowing the lawn.
This morning he went out to try to get the front lawn done before taking Rachel to her piano lesson. He pulled the cord to get the mower started... and the cord broke off in his hand.
Needless to say, we've opted to grow a jungle in our yard for the remainder of our time here in Kansas. Or perhaps we'll go buy a new mower since buying the used one clearly hasn't saved us any money.
That said, lately it seems like all poor Ben has to do is look at something the wrong way and it breaks! Take our lawnmower for example. Our previous lawnmower died and we really didn't want to sink a lot of money into a new one, so we found one on Craigslist that was pretty cheap. It was an older Craftsman gas mower with a rebuilt engine, but it ran just fine.
The second time Ben used it, he ran over a rock in the back yard and the blade was bent way out of shape. Not to be deterred, I ordered a new blade online for about 30% less than getting one from Sears would have been. Back in business, Ben was more or less happily mowing the lawn.
This morning he went out to try to get the front lawn done before taking Rachel to her piano lesson. He pulled the cord to get the mower started... and the cord broke off in his hand.
Needless to say, we've opted to grow a jungle in our yard for the remainder of our time here in Kansas. Or perhaps we'll go buy a new mower since buying the used one clearly hasn't saved us any money.
Not to be outdone...
Yesterday I packed up all of our fridge magnets - the big capital letter magnets, Hebrew letter magnets, random magnets, Fridge Farm and the vehicles set. When Rachel came into the kitchen, her eyes widened. "What's that black thing?" she asked in an excited voice.
"What black thing?" I asked, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
"That thing!" she said, pointing.
"Rachel, that's the fridge."
I guess we were overdue for a magnet decluttering.
"What black thing?" I asked, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
"That thing!" she said, pointing.
"Rachel, that's the fridge."
I guess we were overdue for a magnet decluttering.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Trains, planes and automobiles
Well, not really. This post is mostly about planes. On the way to London, we had to fly with 2 suitcases, a carseat, a booster seat, 3 backpacks, a cello, and 2 children. This was surprisingly much easier than it sounds, especially since we had to make a connection in Milwaukee.
"Cabinbaggage Cello" had its own seat on the plane and required a seatbelt extender to be strapped in. We were fortunate in that Ben was allowed to pre-board with the cello and carseat on both legs of the flight.
It was raining hard all day, and when we went to retrieve our backpacks from the overhead bin, I noticed that Rachel's was fairly damp on one side. After checking it and making sure that her water bottle hadn't leaked, I told the flight attendant that there seemed to be some water in one of the overhead compartments.
"Oh, when it rains this hard we can't keep the water out," she informed me nonchalantly. WHAT!??!! Seriously?!??! Combined with us overhearing the flight attendants talking about how the flight was late because the pilot couldn't see where he was going, we deplaned with a less than stellar opinion of the "new" Midwest Airlines. They were bought out by Frontier recently, and I think we preferred the old airline! That said, Cabinbaggage Cello was offered cookies and scotch, so we can't complain too much. I'm pleased to report that while the cookies were accepted, we didn't let CC have a drink on the plane despite the fact that CC comes with built-in ID showing an age of approximately 95! CC had no way of paying for the drink and we weren't about to pay for it either since we had already paid more than enough for CC's seat on a fairly empty plane.
We had a near mishap with Rachel's booster seat on the way. We gate-checked it in Kansas City and were told that we would either pick it up as we left the plane in Milwaukee, OR that it would be put through all the way to Flint. Um, no. That's not what happened. While awaiting our connection in Milwaukee, we were told that there was a booster seat at baggage claim and was it ours? Upon hearing that it was, the kind airline employee told us that she would arrange to have it put on the plane to Flint. And people wonder why we would never check our instruments!??!
Today's return flights were mostly uneventful. The kids were good, Rachel had too many chocolate chip cookies, and Anna even slept for most of the second flight. Our luggage all arrived, and we had enough time in Milwaukee to purchase a container of way overpriced sliced apples and cheese so that the kids could eat something resembling real food!
Cabinbaggage Cello did not make the return trip with us. Instead, CC is having a great time at our good friend H's house. I'm sure that CC will have many adventures to tell us about when we get back to London in just a few weeks!
"Cabinbaggage Cello" had its own seat on the plane and required a seatbelt extender to be strapped in. We were fortunate in that Ben was allowed to pre-board with the cello and carseat on both legs of the flight.
It was raining hard all day, and when we went to retrieve our backpacks from the overhead bin, I noticed that Rachel's was fairly damp on one side. After checking it and making sure that her water bottle hadn't leaked, I told the flight attendant that there seemed to be some water in one of the overhead compartments.
"Oh, when it rains this hard we can't keep the water out," she informed me nonchalantly. WHAT!??!! Seriously?!??! Combined with us overhearing the flight attendants talking about how the flight was late because the pilot couldn't see where he was going, we deplaned with a less than stellar opinion of the "new" Midwest Airlines. They were bought out by Frontier recently, and I think we preferred the old airline! That said, Cabinbaggage Cello was offered cookies and scotch, so we can't complain too much. I'm pleased to report that while the cookies were accepted, we didn't let CC have a drink on the plane despite the fact that CC comes with built-in ID showing an age of approximately 95! CC had no way of paying for the drink and we weren't about to pay for it either since we had already paid more than enough for CC's seat on a fairly empty plane.
We had a near mishap with Rachel's booster seat on the way. We gate-checked it in Kansas City and were told that we would either pick it up as we left the plane in Milwaukee, OR that it would be put through all the way to Flint. Um, no. That's not what happened. While awaiting our connection in Milwaukee, we were told that there was a booster seat at baggage claim and was it ours? Upon hearing that it was, the kind airline employee told us that she would arrange to have it put on the plane to Flint. And people wonder why we would never check our instruments!??!
Today's return flights were mostly uneventful. The kids were good, Rachel had too many chocolate chip cookies, and Anna even slept for most of the second flight. Our luggage all arrived, and we had enough time in Milwaukee to purchase a container of way overpriced sliced apples and cheese so that the kids could eat something resembling real food!
Cabinbaggage Cello did not make the return trip with us. Instead, CC is having a great time at our good friend H's house. I'm sure that CC will have many adventures to tell us about when we get back to London in just a few weeks!
Anna sinks to a new low
We just got back from a short trip to London. A couple of days ago, we had put Anna down for a nap at my mother's mother-in-law's apartment (say that 3 times fast!). She took a few toys with her, as well as a stuffed cat that belongs to my mother's mother-in-law.
Since it sometimes takes Anna a while to wind down, no-one was concerned about hearing random sounds from the bedroom. After about an hour, it sounded more like crying to me, so my mother and I went down the hall to listen outside her door.
Anna was sounding pretty sad, so I went in and was confronted by the sight of a half-naked 2-year-old. Fortunately, it was her top half that was missing clothing. "Anna, what happened?!" I asked her. "My shirt fell off!" she told me in a cheerful voice. Oy. "Anna," I said sternly, "Did your shirt fall off or did you take it off?" "I took it off!" she told me gleefully.
Ok then. I hope she understands that she'll need a much better "excuse" if I catch her in that state 10 years from now with a boy!
Since it sometimes takes Anna a while to wind down, no-one was concerned about hearing random sounds from the bedroom. After about an hour, it sounded more like crying to me, so my mother and I went down the hall to listen outside her door.
Anna was sounding pretty sad, so I went in and was confronted by the sight of a half-naked 2-year-old. Fortunately, it was her top half that was missing clothing. "Anna, what happened?!" I asked her. "My shirt fell off!" she told me in a cheerful voice. Oy. "Anna," I said sternly, "Did your shirt fall off or did you take it off?" "I took it off!" she told me gleefully.
Ok then. I hope she understands that she'll need a much better "excuse" if I catch her in that state 10 years from now with a boy!
Friday, May 07, 2010
It was only a matter of time
Years ago, when Rachel was about the age that Anna is now, she used to refer to her crotch as her "scrotch". She was also quite insistent that she did not have a nameless-so-weirdos-can't-google-my-blog in her crotch. No, "I have a chicken in my scrotch!" is what we heard from our then-2-year-old.
Last night in bath, Ben had asked Anna to put away her toy submarine. She was not in the mood to comply, having been up for 11 hours straight at that point. Instead, she shoved the submarine between her legs, clamped them up tight and exclaimed, "The submarine's in my crotch!" Ben informed Anna that we do not put submarines in our crotch. How he managed to keep a straight face is beyond me. I was audibly guffawing downstairs in the kitchen.
Last night in bath, Ben had asked Anna to put away her toy submarine. She was not in the mood to comply, having been up for 11 hours straight at that point. Instead, she shoved the submarine between her legs, clamped them up tight and exclaimed, "The submarine's in my crotch!" Ben informed Anna that we do not put submarines in our crotch. How he managed to keep a straight face is beyond me. I was audibly guffawing downstairs in the kitchen.
One month to go
We close on the house in London one month from today. I've been packing boxes here and there, trying to sort and purge as I go. A major victory was scored yesterday as I convinced Rachel to let go of a handful of stuffed elephants. Since she hadn't been playing with them, I suggested that maybe they should go to some kids who don't have nearly as many toys as she does. I was pleasantly surprised when she agreed to this and picked out some stuffed animals that really haven't been played with in months! Of course, now I'm all worried that in 20 years she'll resent me for having been "forced" to give up her beloved toys. Or perhaps I'm the only one who apparently still holds a grudge about getting a clay set to make your own Cabbage Patch Kid figurine when all my friends had the real thing! Hahaha.
Speaking of Cabbage Patch Kids, much as I would like to pretend otherwise, the kids just don't play with the ones I got them last year so they're going into our garage sale along with a lot of other things that we just don't need. We're having the moving company come out at the end of May to do another estimate. Since we're packing a lot ourselves and we plan to get rid of a lot of things, we're hoping that the initial estimate will drop.
We have yet to set up anything for the new house. We'll need a fridge and stove, and of course we'll have to call the utility companies. We're completely avoiding even thinking about phone, cable and internet services. It's not like we'll get any service anyway, so we plan to put it off as long as possible! I wonder if we'll be able to top 33 days with 8 appointments this time. Actually, I wonder if we can just head any trouble off at the pass by having Ben call and ask straight away to speak to a supervisor. I'm sure they still have our file there somewhere and I know it's a thick one!
We'll see the house next week when we're home for a few days. That will at least give us a chance to take measurements for a few things. (And hopefully not experience any buyers' remorse! From all the pictures that we've seen, we are pretty sure that we already know exactly what we won't like so hopefully there won't be any additional surprises.)
Speaking of Cabbage Patch Kids, much as I would like to pretend otherwise, the kids just don't play with the ones I got them last year so they're going into our garage sale along with a lot of other things that we just don't need. We're having the moving company come out at the end of May to do another estimate. Since we're packing a lot ourselves and we plan to get rid of a lot of things, we're hoping that the initial estimate will drop.
We have yet to set up anything for the new house. We'll need a fridge and stove, and of course we'll have to call the utility companies. We're completely avoiding even thinking about phone, cable and internet services. It's not like we'll get any service anyway, so we plan to put it off as long as possible! I wonder if we'll be able to top 33 days with 8 appointments this time. Actually, I wonder if we can just head any trouble off at the pass by having Ben call and ask straight away to speak to a supervisor. I'm sure they still have our file there somewhere and I know it's a thick one!
We'll see the house next week when we're home for a few days. That will at least give us a chance to take measurements for a few things. (And hopefully not experience any buyers' remorse! From all the pictures that we've seen, we are pretty sure that we already know exactly what we won't like so hopefully there won't be any additional surprises.)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
That little chunk, eh?
Yesterday we had the dubious privilege of playing a wedding along with a singer and pianist. While they were competent musically, the geographical knowledge of the pianist left something to be desired. We were chatting after the gig and he was stunned to hear that we were from Canada and were moving back there. I explained the situation and he went on to ask if our preference would be to stay in America.
Now, let me just say that it irritates me when people say things like that. Canada is a part of NORTH America. Yes, it is the United States of America that is most commonly referred to as America proper, but it's still a questionable distinction that niggles at me every time.
The pianist then asked where we were from. Feeling a bit feisty, I simply said, "London, Ontario. You have no idea where that is, do you?" Admittedly, I waited a few seconds after saying London before following up with my question. I could tell from the look on his face that he had no clue. That's fine. I don't expect people here to know where London is. I usually add that we're 2 hours from Detroit, Niagara Falls or Toronto if that helps to put it in place. When I mentioned this, the pianist's eyes lit up.
"Detroit! I just recently learned that there's this whole chunk of Canada that's attached to Detroit. I never knew about it before. What's that lake up there? Is it Lake Superior? Anyway, I just learned about this chunk of Canada that's there. I had no idea it was there," he said innocently.
"That's MY chunk of Canada," I replied. "And nope, it's not on Lake Superior but you're in the right area!"
Oy. At least he knew that parts of Canada were "attached" to the US? Please, someone help me find a positive here other than that Ben and I had good practice at diplomacy, which in this case involved delayed guffaws in the car five minutes later.
Now, let me just say that it irritates me when people say things like that. Canada is a part of NORTH America. Yes, it is the United States of America that is most commonly referred to as America proper, but it's still a questionable distinction that niggles at me every time.
The pianist then asked where we were from. Feeling a bit feisty, I simply said, "London, Ontario. You have no idea where that is, do you?" Admittedly, I waited a few seconds after saying London before following up with my question. I could tell from the look on his face that he had no clue. That's fine. I don't expect people here to know where London is. I usually add that we're 2 hours from Detroit, Niagara Falls or Toronto if that helps to put it in place. When I mentioned this, the pianist's eyes lit up.
"Detroit! I just recently learned that there's this whole chunk of Canada that's attached to Detroit. I never knew about it before. What's that lake up there? Is it Lake Superior? Anyway, I just learned about this chunk of Canada that's there. I had no idea it was there," he said innocently.
"That's MY chunk of Canada," I replied. "And nope, it's not on Lake Superior but you're in the right area!"
Oy. At least he knew that parts of Canada were "attached" to the US? Please, someone help me find a positive here other than that Ben and I had good practice at diplomacy, which in this case involved delayed guffaws in the car five minutes later.
Dinner conversation
We like telling Anna that the food she eats is in her tummy because she flat out does not believe us. "Nooooo!" she'll say, giggling. "It's not in my tummy! It's in my mouth!"
Tonight at the dinner table we discussed how we chew food, swallow it, and it goes down our esophagus. Rachel was perturbed that I immediately went to tummy, intestines and bowels without any mention of various other organs. She has a book on the digestive system and probably knows more about it than I do!
We thought it would be funny to tell Anna that the food we eat turns into poop, or at least that's what happens to the parts that the body no longer needs. Rachel then wanted to know if food turns into poop only and drinks turn into pee only. We talked about how some foods have more water in them than others and then Rachel wanted to know if drinks could turn into poop. My comment was that it would be highly unlikely since drinks are liquid to start with.
"What about a stiff drink?" she asked innocently.
"I could use a stiff drink right about now," I said to Ben. He concurred.
Tonight at the dinner table we discussed how we chew food, swallow it, and it goes down our esophagus. Rachel was perturbed that I immediately went to tummy, intestines and bowels without any mention of various other organs. She has a book on the digestive system and probably knows more about it than I do!
We thought it would be funny to tell Anna that the food we eat turns into poop, or at least that's what happens to the parts that the body no longer needs. Rachel then wanted to know if food turns into poop only and drinks turn into pee only. We talked about how some foods have more water in them than others and then Rachel wanted to know if drinks could turn into poop. My comment was that it would be highly unlikely since drinks are liquid to start with.
"What about a stiff drink?" she asked innocently.
"I could use a stiff drink right about now," I said to Ben. He concurred.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Adventures of Sucky
Anna did not have a very good day today. Although she was happy to get to go to the babysitting room at Beth Shalom for a while this morning during Rachel's religious school class and Ben's Hebrew class, she was quite perturbed at being removed and taken home WITHOUT RACHEL! We tried to convince her that it was fine because we would go back to get Rachel at the end of class, but Anna would not be consoled.
We headed to Rachel's piano recital in Lawrence and of course Anna did not nap on the way. She was not happy about being taken out partway through the recital when she got too chatty and she let Ben know about it while they were out in the lobby.
She fell asleep on the way home for a brief nap and then spent the better part of the next hour at home screaming. I blame a combination of molars, lack of nap, and rough night last night.
We put her to bed tonight at around 6:45 p.m. A few minutes later, I heard her crying over the monitor, "I want my blue sucky back!" She usually chats and sings but doesn't cry, so I went up to see what was the matter. She had her pink sucky in her mouth but apparently desperately needed the blue one which she had also taken up to bed with her.
I asked her if she had possibly given it to Dad before she went to bed and she said "Yes!" Upon checking with Ben, this was not the case. I searched everywhere in her bed for the blue sucky and still could not find it. Since I had a spare package down in the kitchen, I offered to get her a new, PURPLE sucky. She was thrilled at the prospect, so I got her to promise that she would stay in her bed while I went downstairs to get it.
In the meantime, Ben had come back inside. He went upstairs to look again. While in Anna's room, he noticed that she had an odd bulge in her shirt. Yes, folks, Anna had stuffed the blue sucky UNDER HER SHIRT and then proceeded to wail about how she wanted it back. Oy.
She ended up needing to lie down in our room with Ben in order to finally get to sleep. He just moved her back to her bed where she will hopefully stay until morning!
We headed to Rachel's piano recital in Lawrence and of course Anna did not nap on the way. She was not happy about being taken out partway through the recital when she got too chatty and she let Ben know about it while they were out in the lobby.
She fell asleep on the way home for a brief nap and then spent the better part of the next hour at home screaming. I blame a combination of molars, lack of nap, and rough night last night.
We put her to bed tonight at around 6:45 p.m. A few minutes later, I heard her crying over the monitor, "I want my blue sucky back!" She usually chats and sings but doesn't cry, so I went up to see what was the matter. She had her pink sucky in her mouth but apparently desperately needed the blue one which she had also taken up to bed with her.
I asked her if she had possibly given it to Dad before she went to bed and she said "Yes!" Upon checking with Ben, this was not the case. I searched everywhere in her bed for the blue sucky and still could not find it. Since I had a spare package down in the kitchen, I offered to get her a new, PURPLE sucky. She was thrilled at the prospect, so I got her to promise that she would stay in her bed while I went downstairs to get it.
In the meantime, Ben had come back inside. He went upstairs to look again. While in Anna's room, he noticed that she had an odd bulge in her shirt. Yes, folks, Anna had stuffed the blue sucky UNDER HER SHIRT and then proceeded to wail about how she wanted it back. Oy.
She ended up needing to lie down in our room with Ben in order to finally get to sleep. He just moved her back to her bed where she will hopefully stay until morning!
Censorship
Apparently we should be more carefully monitoring what our 6-year-old reads. A few months ago, we bought Rachel a bird book on clearance for a few dollars. She has enjoyed reading through it and learning about birds.
Tonight I happened to glance over her shoulder while she was reading and noticed that she was reading a chapter entitled, "Seeking a Mate". The chapter had a section on monogamy and "cheating" birds and included reference to a study where male red wing blackbirds were given vasectomies yet still managed to fertilize eggs. In fact, the term "vasectomized" was used - I wasn't even aware that there was such a word.
Luckily, Rachel does seem oblivious to the finer meaning of it all. I asked her what she was reading and she initially told me that she was reading the chapter about seeking a mate. "What's a mate?" I asked her. "One of a pair," she answered. "Oh. Why do birds sometimes go in pairs?" I inquired innocently. "So they can have babies!" she responded. A-ha! "And how do birds have babies?" was the next question out of my mouth. "YOU know! Birds lay eggs!" she said in a tone that implied that I was quite silly to have even thought about asking her these questions.
Tonight I happened to glance over her shoulder while she was reading and noticed that she was reading a chapter entitled, "Seeking a Mate". The chapter had a section on monogamy and "cheating" birds and included reference to a study where male red wing blackbirds were given vasectomies yet still managed to fertilize eggs. In fact, the term "vasectomized" was used - I wasn't even aware that there was such a word.
Luckily, Rachel does seem oblivious to the finer meaning of it all. I asked her what she was reading and she initially told me that she was reading the chapter about seeking a mate. "What's a mate?" I asked her. "One of a pair," she answered. "Oh. Why do birds sometimes go in pairs?" I inquired innocently. "So they can have babies!" she responded. A-ha! "And how do birds have babies?" was the next question out of my mouth. "YOU know! Birds lay eggs!" she said in a tone that implied that I was quite silly to have even thought about asking her these questions.
Better than tv
Our video baby monitor has to be one of the best things we have ever bought. It lets us crack up while watching Anna at her finest. Lately she has been taking well over an hour to wind down and go to sleep, so we frequently hear conversations with her "friends" as well as the occasional song.
Tonight we were treated to about a dozen verses of "The Wheels on the Bus", Anna-style.
"What does the cow say? MOOOOOOOO! The cow on the bus goes moo, moo, moo."
"What does the sheep say? BAAAAAAAAAAA! The sheep on the bus goes baa, baa, baa."
"The flamingo on the bus says I'm a flamingo!"
And on and on... she sang an entire verse for each animal. Then she proceeded to sing about family members. I feel the need to preface this by saying that Anna is usually in our bedroom/bathroom in the mornings itching to go downstairs but being held back by her parents who shower first.
"The mommy on the bus says I have to get my clothes on, I have to get my clothes on, I have to get my clothes on! The mommy on the bus says I have to get my clothes on, all through the town!"
"The daddy on the bus says I want to read..."
"The Rachel on the bus says I want to read my magazine..."
This went on for quite some time before we had to quit listening in order to go and put Rachel to bed. At least no-one argues about bedtime here!
Tonight we were treated to about a dozen verses of "The Wheels on the Bus", Anna-style.
"What does the cow say? MOOOOOOOO! The cow on the bus goes moo, moo, moo."
"What does the sheep say? BAAAAAAAAAAA! The sheep on the bus goes baa, baa, baa."
"The flamingo on the bus says I'm a flamingo!"
And on and on... she sang an entire verse for each animal. Then she proceeded to sing about family members. I feel the need to preface this by saying that Anna is usually in our bedroom/bathroom in the mornings itching to go downstairs but being held back by her parents who shower first.
"The mommy on the bus says I have to get my clothes on, I have to get my clothes on, I have to get my clothes on! The mommy on the bus says I have to get my clothes on, all through the town!"
"The daddy on the bus says I want to read..."
"The Rachel on the bus says I want to read my magazine..."
This went on for quite some time before we had to quit listening in order to go and put Rachel to bed. At least no-one argues about bedtime here!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
How many books?
How many books do you think we own? To cut costs a bit on the move, we're packing our own books, CDs, music, linens, etc. Basically, if it's easy to pack, we're doing it. The movers can pack the awkward and breakable stuff.
I'm up to 225 books already. That doesn't include any sheet music or children's books, nor am I finished packing our books.
If you want to "enter" a guess, go ahead and comment on this post. There might even be a prize for the winner! Price-is-Right style, so no going over...
I'm up to 225 books already. That doesn't include any sheet music or children's books, nor am I finished packing our books.
If you want to "enter" a guess, go ahead and comment on this post. There might even be a prize for the winner! Price-is-Right style, so no going over...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
I see a trend here
The last time I took Anna to Costco, we were walking in from the parking lot when she randomly told me, "We have to watch out for Swiper the fox! He might swipe our stuff!" I told her that I didn't think Swiper would be taking our stuff since he's a character on a tv show. Undeterred, she told me again that "he might swipe our stuff!" I realized that I could easily nip this in the bud if I was willing to ignore reality in favour of an answer that would be acceptable to a 2-year-old: "No, Anna, Swiper doesn't shop at Costco," I told her. "So he won't swipe our stuff."
She happily repeated, "Swiper doesn't shop at Costco!" and that was the last I heard of it. Then again, we haven't been to Costco in a little while...
Yesterday while driving to the chiropractor, the Dvorak cello concerto was on the radio. Since Ben has been inundating the kids with cello CDs when he takes them places, it shouldn't have come as a huge surprise when Anna piped up with, "I hear a cello!" She quickly followed up with, "We have to watch out for the orchestra!" I wonder why. Is the orchestra dangerous?
And for the record, hearing Anna say "cello" is hilarious since her l and r sounds still come out as w sounds.
She happily repeated, "Swiper doesn't shop at Costco!" and that was the last I heard of it. Then again, we haven't been to Costco in a little while...
Yesterday while driving to the chiropractor, the Dvorak cello concerto was on the radio. Since Ben has been inundating the kids with cello CDs when he takes them places, it shouldn't have come as a huge surprise when Anna piped up with, "I hear a cello!" She quickly followed up with, "We have to watch out for the orchestra!" I wonder why. Is the orchestra dangerous?
And for the record, hearing Anna say "cello" is hilarious since her l and r sounds still come out as w sounds.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Looking forward to the fall!
Since a certain relative of mine has been nagging, Ben finally called the Jewish school in London to confirm that there would indeed be a spot for Rachel in Gr.1 this coming fall. We knew that it would not be an issue since the school is tiny. This was confirmed when the secretary told Ben that even if Rachel just showed up in September there would be a spot for her.
At this point, they have 5 kids confirmed for Gr.1 in the fall. Apparently another 3-4 have shown interest but the average class size at the school is 7 kids and they don't have any classes with more than 9 kids right now. We know at least two of the kids that will be in her class, and I'd be surprised if we didn't know some of the others too.
We have a meeting set up with the principal when we're home in May and from there we'll see what happens. We have to also set up a meeting with the finance manager, but that can be done after we move back. They don't turn anyone away and tuition is basically arranged on an individual basis if you're not able to afford the "official" tuition. That's quite different from the elitist attitude I've seen in other schools, eh?
We still need to call the preschool (also at the Jewish Community Centre - can we say one-stop shopping!?) to see if we can get Anna in for Tues. & Thurs. mornings this fall. While she doesn't "need" it, it will be nice to have the option of weekday morning teaching. (Hear that, Sue? How's Tues. or Thurs. look for you this fall? I'll even supply the chocolate...)
It'll be interesting to see how Rachel will fit in academically. I'm hoping that her year of religious school at Beth Shalom will have gotten her roughly to the same point in Hebrew, and I have absolutely no idea where she'll fit in with everything else!
At this point, they have 5 kids confirmed for Gr.1 in the fall. Apparently another 3-4 have shown interest but the average class size at the school is 7 kids and they don't have any classes with more than 9 kids right now. We know at least two of the kids that will be in her class, and I'd be surprised if we didn't know some of the others too.
We have a meeting set up with the principal when we're home in May and from there we'll see what happens. We have to also set up a meeting with the finance manager, but that can be done after we move back. They don't turn anyone away and tuition is basically arranged on an individual basis if you're not able to afford the "official" tuition. That's quite different from the elitist attitude I've seen in other schools, eh?
We still need to call the preschool (also at the Jewish Community Centre - can we say one-stop shopping!?) to see if we can get Anna in for Tues. & Thurs. mornings this fall. While she doesn't "need" it, it will be nice to have the option of weekday morning teaching. (Hear that, Sue? How's Tues. or Thurs. look for you this fall? I'll even supply the chocolate...)
It'll be interesting to see how Rachel will fit in academically. I'm hoping that her year of religious school at Beth Shalom will have gotten her roughly to the same point in Hebrew, and I have absolutely no idea where she'll fit in with everything else!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
I'd be happier if I didn't see the title option...
...every time I go to blog. I don't have creative titles half the time anyway, and I just want to type my stuff and be done!
A few days ago, Ben put Anna into her carseat to take her on errands with him. She was unimpressed and told him in no uncertain terms, "I want to drive!" He pointed out that there was a problem with that since she wasn't old enough and didn't have a driver's license. She thought about it and then conceded, "Ok, you can drive."
Today we had Rachel's birthday party at Build-a-Bear. Anna stuffed a black bear. Its name? "Build-a-bear!" Seriously. She is referring to her bear as "build-a-bear". Rachel stuffed a pink unicorn who is apparently now named Ella. She wouldn't tell the party leader at the store what the unicorn's name was though. She kept saying that it was a secret. This was problematic since the lady needed to know the unicorn's name in order to print off the "birth certificate"! Eventually Rachel consented to sharing the name since I saw it printed on the certificate.
Both girls had a great time at the party. We went out to the Elephant Bar for dinner afterwards and then came home to get ready for bed after a very long day! If I ever get around to posting pictures you will see just how grown-up Rachel is looking these days and how much fun the girls had!
A few days ago, Ben put Anna into her carseat to take her on errands with him. She was unimpressed and told him in no uncertain terms, "I want to drive!" He pointed out that there was a problem with that since she wasn't old enough and didn't have a driver's license. She thought about it and then conceded, "Ok, you can drive."
Today we had Rachel's birthday party at Build-a-Bear. Anna stuffed a black bear. Its name? "Build-a-bear!" Seriously. She is referring to her bear as "build-a-bear". Rachel stuffed a pink unicorn who is apparently now named Ella. She wouldn't tell the party leader at the store what the unicorn's name was though. She kept saying that it was a secret. This was problematic since the lady needed to know the unicorn's name in order to print off the "birth certificate"! Eventually Rachel consented to sharing the name since I saw it printed on the certificate.
Both girls had a great time at the party. We went out to the Elephant Bar for dinner afterwards and then came home to get ready for bed after a very long day! If I ever get around to posting pictures you will see just how grown-up Rachel is looking these days and how much fun the girls had!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
We're in trouble if Rachel sees these...
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/elephant-knobs/?pkey=x%7C4%7C1%7C%7C3%7Celephant%7C%7C0&cm_src=SCH
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Moving Day
...is apparently coming up faster than we think. We had a couple of moving companies come to give us estimates this week. While I am pleased that the estimate from the company that we are going to use was not higher than my "goal" estimate, it's still going to cost us a lot to move everything home. I'm on the rampage selling and/or donating everything that doesn't fit us, isn't being used or is just plain excess.
I guess that the rules regarding transporting goods into Canada have changed recently since we are now being told that they need to load our things on June 1 or 2 in order to have an earliest delivery date of June 8th. The delivery window will be June 8-19 which seems ridiculous unless the truck driver is planning on gallivanting all over the US before coming to London. I can't possibly see how a truck that is loaded in Kansas on June 2nd couldn't be in London on the 8th but what do I know?
Anyway, June 1st is less than 2 months away so it's time to sort and downsize. The only things we won't be able to sell until the last minute are the dryer and the fridge.
I guess that the rules regarding transporting goods into Canada have changed recently since we are now being told that they need to load our things on June 1 or 2 in order to have an earliest delivery date of June 8th. The delivery window will be June 8-19 which seems ridiculous unless the truck driver is planning on gallivanting all over the US before coming to London. I can't possibly see how a truck that is loaded in Kansas on June 2nd couldn't be in London on the 8th but what do I know?
Anyway, June 1st is less than 2 months away so it's time to sort and downsize. The only things we won't be able to sell until the last minute are the dryer and the fridge.
Another kid funny
Yesterday in a futile attempt to distract the kids while I was cooking dinner, Ben took them outside. We ended up having dessert before (and after!) dinner in the form of ridiculously overpriced Passover chocolate chip cookies. I sent them out with a box of cookies and baby wipes.
After everyone was done eating, I still needed about 10-15 minutes to finish getting dinner on the table so I suggested a nature walk. Ben took the girls down the street and they got busy looking for things. When Anna came back in the house, she excitedly told me, "We saw lots of WARMS out there!" (ie. worms - does anyone remember Rachel mispronouncing that word for years!?)
After everyone was done eating, I still needed about 10-15 minutes to finish getting dinner on the table so I suggested a nature walk. Ben took the girls down the street and they got busy looking for things. When Anna came back in the house, she excitedly told me, "We saw lots of WARMS out there!" (ie. worms - does anyone remember Rachel mispronouncing that word for years!?)
She's definitely our kid
Today at lunch we were all being a little silly. It's rather difficult to get a stubborn two-year-old to eat Passover food at the best of times so we started having Ben pretend to take her food for himself. That got Anna all the way through a bowl of egg noodles and made me happy that at least she's eating something besides fruit this week.
After the noodles for the kids (and omelets for us, yum!), I brought out fruit. The girls had applesauce and Ben had an apple. I jokingly told the kids that it wasn't an apple, it was an alien spaceship. They didn't believe me at first but Ben and I continued to joke about it while he ate the apple. Finally, I said that clearly Dad had eaten the aliens since he was all done his apple.
Rachel thought about this for a moment and then said, "If there were aliens in there, they'd definitely be in the core." She's got a point...
After the noodles for the kids (and omelets for us, yum!), I brought out fruit. The girls had applesauce and Ben had an apple. I jokingly told the kids that it wasn't an apple, it was an alien spaceship. They didn't believe me at first but Ben and I continued to joke about it while he ate the apple. Finally, I said that clearly Dad had eaten the aliens since he was all done his apple.
Rachel thought about this for a moment and then said, "If there were aliens in there, they'd definitely be in the core." She's got a point...
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Really?
Ben was told a couple of months ago that the International Students' Office would provide him with an online code to a tax program that is equipped to handle our particular (complicated) US tax situation. I collected our forms, added up numbers and made a few feeble attempts using free online programs such as TurboTax, H&R Block and something else I can't remember.
We finally received the tax code a little over a week ago. I input our information in the program and was unimpressed that there were some glitches. Let's just say that by increasing our charitable contributions by several hundred, the program told us that we OWED an extra $1400 in taxes. Topsy-turvy as things can be down here, I highly doubt the accuracy of that conclusion.
I was also unimpressed with a few other things, so I searched again for a program that could handle our non-resident alien status. Since this is the first year that we have to pay income tax in the US, it gets more complicated than in previous years when I used a (nameless) accountant who was rather disorganized, tardy and error-prone. We have been told various things about our tax status now that Ben's income has exceeded the US-Canada treaty limit for the 2009 tax year. The responses to our situation have varied from saying that we will retroactively owe tax on all income made here since 2005 (which would be kind of ridiculous, especially since we paid tax on that income in Canada) to saying that we may owe back-tax on the income for 2009 that was previously considered tax-exempt.
Long story short, I admitted defeat.
We had received a letter in the mail from an accountant introducing his practice to the neighbourhood. His name? Mr. Starbuck. Now clearly I thought this was a sign that he was the one who could help us out.
Ben called him last week and explained our tax situation. At first, he thought we could simply use the regular forms. Um, no. We need to use the 1040NR - that's NR for Non-Resident, which is what we are. Even if we were somehow considered resident for tax purposes, we are still considered non-resident aliens and need to file as such. After a few minutes of conversation, Mr. Starbuck concluded that since he had never filed these forms before, he'd pass on the name of a "national" firm that had a local office.
At this point, Ben headed out with the girls to Rachel's Kindermusik class and I went upstairs to call Firm #2. A bored-sounding receptionist answered. I gave her the basics of our situation and asked if this was something that their firm could do. She had no idea but volunteered to check for me. After a few minutes, I was transferred to someone else. I asked her if she offered tax preparation services for form 1040 non-resident. Her response: "Um, where are they resident of then?"
Not really being in the mood, I simply said, "You know, I'm not sure. Let me check and get back to you! Thanks, bye!"
Back to square one we went. There was another firm in the phone book that had a website so I poked around on there enough to see that they at least sounded competent online. I called and was soon transferred to one of the accountants. This lady was:
1. Helpful
2. Knowledgeable
3. Smart
4. ABLE TO HELP US!
Ben dropped off our large envelope of tax forms, figures and immigration information on Friday. She said that the usual turn-around time is about a week but that it might take her longer due to our situation. However, she has filed forms for non-residents before and sounded pretty sure that it wouldn't be difficult. Time will tell, I suppose.
I did chuckle when she told me that she'd once had to prepare Canadian tax returns and found them very confusing. It's all what you know.
I'll conclude with my final surprising discovery, which is that I believe we will be paying more tax on Ben's income in the US than we would have done on the same income in Canada. Yet "socialist" Canada has higher taxes according to so many down here. Yes, I fully agree that the rich are taxed at a higher rate, but it looks like for the average working-class family that income tax is considerably lower in Canada. I'll be sure to update once we get our US returns back and can file the Canadian ones.
We finally received the tax code a little over a week ago. I input our information in the program and was unimpressed that there were some glitches. Let's just say that by increasing our charitable contributions by several hundred, the program told us that we OWED an extra $1400 in taxes. Topsy-turvy as things can be down here, I highly doubt the accuracy of that conclusion.
I was also unimpressed with a few other things, so I searched again for a program that could handle our non-resident alien status. Since this is the first year that we have to pay income tax in the US, it gets more complicated than in previous years when I used a (nameless) accountant who was rather disorganized, tardy and error-prone. We have been told various things about our tax status now that Ben's income has exceeded the US-Canada treaty limit for the 2009 tax year. The responses to our situation have varied from saying that we will retroactively owe tax on all income made here since 2005 (which would be kind of ridiculous, especially since we paid tax on that income in Canada) to saying that we may owe back-tax on the income for 2009 that was previously considered tax-exempt.
Long story short, I admitted defeat.
We had received a letter in the mail from an accountant introducing his practice to the neighbourhood. His name? Mr. Starbuck. Now clearly I thought this was a sign that he was the one who could help us out.
Ben called him last week and explained our tax situation. At first, he thought we could simply use the regular forms. Um, no. We need to use the 1040NR - that's NR for Non-Resident, which is what we are. Even if we were somehow considered resident for tax purposes, we are still considered non-resident aliens and need to file as such. After a few minutes of conversation, Mr. Starbuck concluded that since he had never filed these forms before, he'd pass on the name of a "national" firm that had a local office.
At this point, Ben headed out with the girls to Rachel's Kindermusik class and I went upstairs to call Firm #2. A bored-sounding receptionist answered. I gave her the basics of our situation and asked if this was something that their firm could do. She had no idea but volunteered to check for me. After a few minutes, I was transferred to someone else. I asked her if she offered tax preparation services for form 1040 non-resident. Her response: "Um, where are they resident of then?"
Not really being in the mood, I simply said, "You know, I'm not sure. Let me check and get back to you! Thanks, bye!"
Back to square one we went. There was another firm in the phone book that had a website so I poked around on there enough to see that they at least sounded competent online. I called and was soon transferred to one of the accountants. This lady was:
1. Helpful
2. Knowledgeable
3. Smart
4. ABLE TO HELP US!
Ben dropped off our large envelope of tax forms, figures and immigration information on Friday. She said that the usual turn-around time is about a week but that it might take her longer due to our situation. However, she has filed forms for non-residents before and sounded pretty sure that it wouldn't be difficult. Time will tell, I suppose.
I did chuckle when she told me that she'd once had to prepare Canadian tax returns and found them very confusing. It's all what you know.
I'll conclude with my final surprising discovery, which is that I believe we will be paying more tax on Ben's income in the US than we would have done on the same income in Canada. Yet "socialist" Canada has higher taxes according to so many down here. Yes, I fully agree that the rich are taxed at a higher rate, but it looks like for the average working-class family that income tax is considerably lower in Canada. I'll be sure to update once we get our US returns back and can file the Canadian ones.
Spring cleaning and other stuff
It's time for the annual "Oh no, Passover starts soon and we have to clean everything, everything, EVERYTHING!" freak-out at our house. So far this weekend I have done 11 loads of laundry, mostly winter gear and bedding.
Both cars (and respective carseats!) have been vacuumed out and 2 boxes were dropped at Goodwill this morning. Incidentally, Goodwill doesn't open for donations until 11 on Sundays.
*****************************
We saw a robin on the ground outside our window this morning and told Anna, "Look! There's a robin on the ground!" "No, robin! Go away! That's OUR ground!" she yelled indignantly. Yes, the two-year-old is learning about possessions and possessiveness. She's quite serious about it, in fact. I would not suggest messing with her!
*****************************
Yesterday morning Ben went to get Anna from the babysitting room at Beth Shalom. He asked if she was ready to go back to the service and she replied, "Yes, I'm ready to go back to the circus!" Some days she's not too far off there...
*****************************
Rachel is getting very excited about her upcoming birthday party at Build-a-Bear. Apparently her friends are all receiving hand-drawn pictures in their loot bags. I wasn't actually aware that we were doing loot bags since the kids will all go home with a stuffed animal anyway!! I guess we'll have to get creative.
*****************************
Anna has decided that she has to wear her dress shoes everywhere. I'm not quite sure what the brown shoes with pink flowers did to earn her disdain, but they have been rejected now for several weeks straight. I suppose I should be grateful that she's not insisting on her monkey rainboots every time we leave the house.
*****************************
10 weeks from now we'll be on our way to London. That's not a long time to finish my insane decluttering projects here! So much for relaxing now that we've turned the taxes over to a real accountant.
Both cars (and respective carseats!) have been vacuumed out and 2 boxes were dropped at Goodwill this morning. Incidentally, Goodwill doesn't open for donations until 11 on Sundays.
*****************************
We saw a robin on the ground outside our window this morning and told Anna, "Look! There's a robin on the ground!" "No, robin! Go away! That's OUR ground!" she yelled indignantly. Yes, the two-year-old is learning about possessions and possessiveness. She's quite serious about it, in fact. I would not suggest messing with her!
*****************************
Yesterday morning Ben went to get Anna from the babysitting room at Beth Shalom. He asked if she was ready to go back to the service and she replied, "Yes, I'm ready to go back to the circus!" Some days she's not too far off there...
*****************************
Rachel is getting very excited about her upcoming birthday party at Build-a-Bear. Apparently her friends are all receiving hand-drawn pictures in their loot bags. I wasn't actually aware that we were doing loot bags since the kids will all go home with a stuffed animal anyway!! I guess we'll have to get creative.
*****************************
Anna has decided that she has to wear her dress shoes everywhere. I'm not quite sure what the brown shoes with pink flowers did to earn her disdain, but they have been rejected now for several weeks straight. I suppose I should be grateful that she's not insisting on her monkey rainboots every time we leave the house.
*****************************
10 weeks from now we'll be on our way to London. That's not a long time to finish my insane decluttering projects here! So much for relaxing now that we've turned the taxes over to a real accountant.
Friday, March 19, 2010
I'm confused
Who took us out of reality and dumped us in dreamland where Anna goes to bed at 7, Rachel goes to bed at 7:45 and they both wake up at 7 a.m.?!?!?!?
We should have changed the clocks months ago! (Or, really, we should have had the courage to put Anna to bed at 6. I suspect that she'd have slept until 6 a.m. had we done so.)
We should have changed the clocks months ago! (Or, really, we should have had the courage to put Anna to bed at 6. I suspect that she'd have slept until 6 a.m. had we done so.)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Movies
Until today, Rachel and Anna had never seen a full-length movie. This afternoon the girls were jumping on Ben in the playroom and I was sitting on the couch in the living room. I decided to turn the tv on and found that Spaceballs was playing.
Yes, our entire family sat down and watched from beginning to end. I'm not sure whether we're more ashamed or proud to announce that Spaceballs was the girls' first movie!
(And for anyone who hasn't seen it, can we just say "Star Wars Parody"!?!?! I haven't seen it since high school and we were totally cracking up.)
Yes, our entire family sat down and watched from beginning to end. I'm not sure whether we're more ashamed or proud to announce that Spaceballs was the girls' first movie!
(And for anyone who hasn't seen it, can we just say "Star Wars Parody"!?!?! I haven't seen it since high school and we were totally cracking up.)
Friday, March 12, 2010
And so it goes...
Ben and I thought we'd get a jumpstart on the issue of "service providers" since we know how much fun that can be. Not being thrilled at the idea of dealing with the evil Rogers Empire again, we headed to the Bell Canada website where we were offered a live chat, transcript of which follows:
A chat representative will be with you in about 0 minute(s). Thank you for waiting.
Chat representative Anne has joined the session and is ready to help. To start, please provide your name and home phone number.
Anne: Hello, thank you for visiting bell.ca. How may I help you today?
Ben: I'm trying to figure out what options I have for service in London, ON, specifically for internet.
Anne: Sure, I can definitely help you with your request.
Ben: can you tell me if there are options other than the internet essential plus?
Anne: May I know what services do you have with Bell?
Ben: none at the moment because I live in Kansas but I'm moving to London in June.
Anne: May I have the Street name, Street number, Apt/suite, City, province and postal code to check the availability of Internet service at your place?
Ben: *Insert address here*
Anne: Thank you.
Anne: Please give me 2 minutes while I look up the information for you. Are you comfortable with that?
Ben: Yes, I am very comfortable with that.
Anne: Thank you for staying online.
Anne: I am glad to inform you that Bell Internet Essential Plus plan is available in your address.
Ben: Yes, but my original question was whether or not there were other options.
Anne: "Bell Internet service – Portable 512 Kbps" plan and "Bell Internet service – Portable 3 Mbps" plan are available in your address.
Anne: In "Bell Internet service – Portable 512 Kbps" plan you will get Download speed upto 512 kbps and 10 GB of monthly usage.
Anne: In "Bell Internet service – Portable 3 Mbps" plan you will get Download speed upto 3 mbps and 30 GB of monthly usage.
Anne: Are you with me?
Ben: Yup, thanks, that's all I needed to know.
Anne: Thank you for choosing Bell and using Bell.ca for your Self-Serve solutions. Have a great day!
A chat representative will be with you in about 0 minute(s). Thank you for waiting.
Chat representative Anne has joined the session and is ready to help. To start, please provide your name and home phone number.
Anne: Hello, thank you for visiting bell.ca. How may I help you today?
Ben: I'm trying to figure out what options I have for service in London, ON, specifically for internet.
Anne: Sure, I can definitely help you with your request.
Ben: can you tell me if there are options other than the internet essential plus?
Anne: May I know what services do you have with Bell?
Ben: none at the moment because I live in Kansas but I'm moving to London in June.
Anne: May I have the Street name, Street number, Apt/suite, City, province and postal code to check the availability of Internet service at your place?
Ben: *Insert address here*
Anne: Thank you.
Anne: Please give me 2 minutes while I look up the information for you. Are you comfortable with that?
Ben: Yes, I am very comfortable with that.
Anne: Thank you for staying online.
Anne: I am glad to inform you that Bell Internet Essential Plus plan is available in your address.
Ben: Yes, but my original question was whether or not there were other options.
Anne: "Bell Internet service – Portable 512 Kbps" plan and "Bell Internet service – Portable 3 Mbps" plan are available in your address.
Anne: In "Bell Internet service – Portable 512 Kbps" plan you will get Download speed upto 512 kbps and 10 GB of monthly usage.
Anne: In "Bell Internet service – Portable 3 Mbps" plan you will get Download speed upto 3 mbps and 30 GB of monthly usage.
Anne: Are you with me?
Ben: Yup, thanks, that's all I needed to know.
Anne: Thank you for choosing Bell and using Bell.ca for your Self-Serve solutions. Have a great day!
Goin' home...
I find it fitting that I recently played a movement from Dvorak's New World Symphony. The second movement uses themes from spirituals, including "Goin' home" and that is just what we are doing in June.
Ben was offered his same job back here next year - same pay, same lack of job security, same crappy health-lack-of-care, etc. Supposedly it's illegal for group insurance plans to exclude pre-existing conditions and yet that's exactly what they do, whether it's for 90 days or a year. Either way, it doesn't matter. We're not about to let Ben get caught up in a bureaucratic net when he's on Remicade every 10-12 weeks and it's *working* for him!
Technically they might have offered him a tiny pay raise but it wouldn't have made a difference. I calculated the cost of health insurance and doctor visits (because although we pay for insurance, we still pay the first $5000 out of pocket for myself and the girls, and the first $1000 for Ben) and also figured out how much we spend to have two vehicles with Ben's commute. Add in taxes, cost of living and trips home for Ben's "free" health care and it just wouldn't make sense to stay in the US at this time. The cost of flying Ben home 5 times/year is about 10% of what it would cost out of pocket for his treatments, for what it's worth. I assume that we wouldn't have to pay the entire cost here, but that's just that - an assumption. And I have learned NOT to make assumptions about anything here...
The other catch is that even if Ben were to be offered a tenure-track position somewhere in the US, we could only take it for 2 years since that's how much longer he can stay on the student visa with "academic training" status. After that we'd lose our OHIP and that's not an option for us as far as we're concerned. If we return to Canada for a few years, then we'll have the option to leave for 5 years and keep our OHIP. We're not planning to return to the US though, at least not unless it was for an amazing job offer. And since most of the entry-level tenure-track jobs in the US pay about 1/2 to 2/3 of what they pay in Canada, I think our time south of the border is pretty much done.
So where are we going? Back to London. We don't really have a lot of options at this point but we do have our connections in London still, and we've just bought a house there. (Not that our buying a house is necessarily a reliable indicator of us moving into said house, haha!) We get the house in early June and that will let us get settled before the fall. It should also let Ben get some umpiring in - that's something that he missed out on last summer because we weren't home for long enough for him to do anything. He wouldn't have the opportunity to umpire down here if we stayed, because the academic training visa that allows us to keep our OHIP also only permits Ben to work at the job for which he has approval in the form of a written letter. I doubt that he could convince anyone that umpiring is related to his DMA.
So to all of you Londoners reading this, look out! We'll be back before you know it! And thanks again to H, without whom this would not have been possible since in an ironic twist, she has seen our new house while we have not!
Ben was offered his same job back here next year - same pay, same lack of job security, same crappy health-lack-of-care, etc. Supposedly it's illegal for group insurance plans to exclude pre-existing conditions and yet that's exactly what they do, whether it's for 90 days or a year. Either way, it doesn't matter. We're not about to let Ben get caught up in a bureaucratic net when he's on Remicade every 10-12 weeks and it's *working* for him!
Technically they might have offered him a tiny pay raise but it wouldn't have made a difference. I calculated the cost of health insurance and doctor visits (because although we pay for insurance, we still pay the first $5000 out of pocket for myself and the girls, and the first $1000 for Ben) and also figured out how much we spend to have two vehicles with Ben's commute. Add in taxes, cost of living and trips home for Ben's "free" health care and it just wouldn't make sense to stay in the US at this time. The cost of flying Ben home 5 times/year is about 10% of what it would cost out of pocket for his treatments, for what it's worth. I assume that we wouldn't have to pay the entire cost here, but that's just that - an assumption. And I have learned NOT to make assumptions about anything here...
The other catch is that even if Ben were to be offered a tenure-track position somewhere in the US, we could only take it for 2 years since that's how much longer he can stay on the student visa with "academic training" status. After that we'd lose our OHIP and that's not an option for us as far as we're concerned. If we return to Canada for a few years, then we'll have the option to leave for 5 years and keep our OHIP. We're not planning to return to the US though, at least not unless it was for an amazing job offer. And since most of the entry-level tenure-track jobs in the US pay about 1/2 to 2/3 of what they pay in Canada, I think our time south of the border is pretty much done.
So where are we going? Back to London. We don't really have a lot of options at this point but we do have our connections in London still, and we've just bought a house there. (Not that our buying a house is necessarily a reliable indicator of us moving into said house, haha!) We get the house in early June and that will let us get settled before the fall. It should also let Ben get some umpiring in - that's something that he missed out on last summer because we weren't home for long enough for him to do anything. He wouldn't have the opportunity to umpire down here if we stayed, because the academic training visa that allows us to keep our OHIP also only permits Ben to work at the job for which he has approval in the form of a written letter. I doubt that he could convince anyone that umpiring is related to his DMA.
So to all of you Londoners reading this, look out! We'll be back before you know it! And thanks again to H, without whom this would not have been possible since in an ironic twist, she has seen our new house while we have not!
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