Two Shirtless Goofs

 

I fought with Ian to get him to smile while I was taking this picture. He claims that he is smiling, but I don't see it. 

No Excuses

Last night a young woman in Alberta was convicted of Second degree murder for the death of her newborn infant. Her trial had been in the news quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. The defense was trying to get her found guilty of the lesser charge of infanticide due to mental illness. This young woman hid her pregnancy and gave birth in her parents basement. When the newborn started crying, she wrapped a pair of her underwear around his little neck and tossed him over the fence into her neighbour's yard. When the dead baby was found, she at first claimed that she had never had a child, then she claimed that she did have a baby, but gave him away, then she claimed that her boyfriend did it, before finally admitting what she had done. The girls family call the verdict a travesty of justice.

Being a relatively new Mum, I followed the trial somewhat, and I had very strong feelings about it. I find that more and more mental illnesses such as post partum depression are being used as handy excuses to get away with doing things that everyone knows is wrong. "I didn't mean to shoot that girl/kill my baby/run my neighbour over, but I couldn't help it. I'm depressed." It makes me sad, and it makes me angry that people can get away with these things. I acknowledge that there are people out there who are mentally ill, who perhaps cannot see the difference between right and wrong, who need medications to keep themselves level. I do not, however, believe that depression/mental illness is as common as drug companies and Dr. Phil would have us believe.

I had a hard time after Mary was born. An Extremely Hard Time. I know others who went through extremely difficult times after their children were born. Yes, I did in fact have thoughts about hurting my baby, and hurting myself. I also knew that they were wrong. I knew that as tempting as it was, it was wrong to put my baby out in a snowbank until she stopped screaming. I got help from my husband, from my friends and from my doctor. I didn't kill my baby, but if I had, I certainly would expect to be punished. Murder is murder, whether it is a baby, a toddler, a teenager, your spouse, your mother. Murder is murder, whether you are depressed or not. I believe this girl knew what she was doing was wrong from the moment that baby was born, and the proof is in the fact that she lied and lied and lied about what actually happened.

Sleep?

Can you see the time stamp? Can you? Well, if you can't, i'll tell you....it's 2:25 in the morning, and I am sitting at my computer. My husband is fast asleep in bed, but I'm sitting here. Why am I not snuggled up beside my husband, you may ask? Well, if you can come up with an answer, give me a call and let me know. All I know is that Mary'll be up in a while, I'm tired, but I can't sleep. Oh, and every time I lay down, my sinuses clog up like something else. I suppose I could try to sleep, but it's just so frustrating to lay there on the bed, tossing and turning while time passes and Ian snores peacefully. It's almost better to sit here and fight the sleep which I know won't come if I try for it. Much More Music is playing some good video's tonight anyways...

If I get tired enough, I'll sleep well tomorrow, right?

Baby Blogging

Here are some lovely pictures that I've taken of the poo monster in the last week. In a couple you can see the scabs on her poor little nose. They fell off yesterday, and now her nose is just a bit pink.


 
 
  

A Great Pootastrophie

So. I bought a new brand of diapers the other day. I got the Pampers Easy Ups. I liked them, until I realized that Easy ups are also easy downs. Yesterday morning, Mary came marching out of her bedroom stark naked. Thankfully, we could not find any messes. We were not so lucky at nap time today. The poo, it was everywhere, accompanied by its good friend urine. No more easy downs in this house, I think. I hope we survive through the bag that we've already opened.

Same Pattern On the Table, Same Clock On the Wall

Wow. Blogger's being dificult these last couple of days. I've been trying to post since yesterday afternoon. And even commenting on blogger blogs is a pain in the ass.

The diaper rash issue seems to be suddenly resolving itsef, thank goodness. I was really regretting having a stark naked Miss Mary roaming the house leaving puddles in her wake. I wish it were still summer, I'd just put her in the back yard and let her enjoy the freedom of no clothes. Anyways, thank you all for the advice! I'm sure that it will come up again, and now I have some good ideas what to do. Though I must ask, was I the only one taken aback by Goody's $275.00 consult fee for her sons bum? I mean, I know that they have to pay for doctors visits in the States, but I had no idea it was that costly. I'm especially thankful for living up here after reading that, particularly when I think of the paniced visits I made to Marys pediatritian during her first year of life.

My poor husband is having a hard time with life right now, I'm afraid to say. We are learning that as adults with a child, we don't really spend a lot of time together anymore. Last night, both of us got home around the same time, him from work, me from babysitting. He hopped into the tub, I fed Mary, and then I ran out the door to babysit Ravens awesome kids. As I was heading out the door he muttered something about maybe spending time with me in 2007. We are both so busy, and evenings are the only time I can do a lot of things that I want to do that need to be done sans toddler. I was looking at our weeknights, and we (I) now have no free evenings. Monday I go to Ravens place to play Seventh Sea, Tuesdays is D&D night, Wednesdays I will be looking after Ravens kids (which I would be delighted to do, even if she (the government) was not paying me, Thursdays is pole dance class and Grey's Anatomy (Season starts tonight! My tear ducts are ready!), and Fridays are various live games for Ian, and game night at Ravens place. Two Saturday evenings a month are live games for me. Sundays are quiet, but sometimes Ian works on the weekends. Phew. Well, pole dance ends next week, so that'll open up Thursdays again. I'm not going to take another class till the end of October, I'm going to Vancouver for a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving.

In other news, please see the comments on my last post for why homosexual marriage will bring about the downfall of our society. Roaming around naked during the day! Could it get more....um...what word am I looking for here? Oh well, I am righteously indignant. Now, where are my pants?

The Sky Was Dull And Hypothetical

What a crummy week. The rain and miserable weather are getting to me. At least I don't work outside like Ian. Poor bastard.

I did have a good weekend in spite of the weather. Friday was spend exchanging increasingly silly emails with a large group of friends, and Friday evening I went over to Emmett's place with said group to hang out. We chatted and geeked some, and then we decided to watch 'V for Vendetta.' The movie was even better the second time around, I was able to pick up on some of the more subtle details that I missed the first time. Saturday Ian got up bright and early for work, only to appear home shortly after that because of the weather. We hung out, went for breakfast with friends, did stuff around the house. That night was our Arthurian LARP, at which the Knights of Camelot fought the prettiest, girliest Roman army ever (the women all hid in the keep, so we got to play the Romans in our lovely gowns and tiaras). Ian worked Sunday, and Mary and I....um....I don't think we did anything other than hang out and cuddle on the couch.

Over the past few days Mary has been incredibly clumsy, and every time she falls she hits/scrapes her poor little nose. It's very red now, and has a huge scrape right on the end. She looks like she gets beaten on a regular basis, poor little thing. I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow so I can show you all, it's quite pathetic. She's also developed a very bad case of diaper rash, the poor baby. It's nasty, and she freaks out every time her diaper needs changing because she knows it's going to hurt to have her bum wiped. It's actually bleeding, and the penatin cream doesn't seem to help. Do you think I ought to take her to the doctor now, or wait a little while longer?

Okay. It's late. I need to sleep now. G'nite everyone!

It's a Cool, Sweet Kinda Place Where the 'Copters Won't Spot It.

It's been a busy week!

Well, not really busy in a classic sense. Time just flies these days. Between Mary, the house, the cats and Ian, I am rarely bored.

Mary's been doing fabulously well, and she has more words than ever! She now says:

High Chair, Mummy, Daddy, Baby, Up, Hi! No! Down! Don't! Cat, Dog, Puppy, Kitten, Jonah, Eye, Ear, Bum, Diaper, Car, Supper, Juice, Cookie, Night Night, Milk, Bottle. I'm sure there's more that I'm missing, it's really amazing, she has a new word every day it seems. She also knows to point to her head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, cheeks belly, knees, shoulders, feet, toes and bum.

So, one of Ians co-workers wives just started a job as a school bus driver. They are desperate for drivers here due to the labour shortage, and they are willing to do all sorts of things to convince you to work for them. They have paid training, they pay for your drivers lisence, and they will install a car seat for your child if you are a stay at home mother so you can bring the baby along while you work. I'm seriously considering becoming a school bus driver. It's only a few hundred dollars a month, but that's more than I'm making now, and I can't really think of a reason why not too take the job if they let me bring Miss Mary along with me.

Tomorrow is Pole Dance. I'm kind of dreading it a little bit. Last week was incredibly hard...we had a substitute teacher and she was MEAN. Also, I nearly wrenched my arm right out of its socket and had to re-learn everything left handed. I should have expected it, my right arm is weak and pathetic due to living with a badly separated shoulder for about 5 years, ending with surgery that didn't really work. Anyways, it hurt. Tomorrow we are learning another spin, the backwards spin. I can't even do the first spin we learned! Someone save me from exercise and learning to be sexy! (I'm SO not sexy. Not at all. Just sweaty and kinda fat...oh, and clumsy too)

I made a strategic error last week. The Jehovas Witnesses visited me again (I can't remember if I told you about this or not). As always I was polite and listened to what they had to say, even when the older fellow basically told me that the Muslims and Jews are going to Hell (His actual words were "The Jews and Muslims, they don't follow Jesus, so we know that they are lost."). Anyways, they were back today to read more bible scriptures to me. I really haven't the heart to tell them to go away, and I honestly don't mind listening to what they have to say...but I suspect that they'll never leave me alone now. They are already promising to come back next week to chat again. I may have to answer the door naked or something. Or just stop answering the door....or invite them in for tea...

Just For Goody

You asked, and so you shall receive.

The Doodlebop Pledge. (Keep in mind that the following is recited loudly and rythmically while marching around waving flags that match the colour of one's clothing)

Ahem.

We promise to share, we promise to care, all together as a team!

Just stick to it! We can do it! We can do anything!

Stand tall, say it loud, we're together and we're proud!

Deedee, Rooney, Moe! (Those are the doodlebops names, you see. Each one shouts their name while proudly waving their personal flag in the air above their head.)

After reciting the pledge, you should run wildly around leaping over furnature and doing cartwheels.


Aren't you glad you asked?

When I am King

Yesterday was an interesting day. Mary and I got up bright and early to take the care in to the garage that put new brakes on it a month ago. The brakes are still incredibly and annoyingly squeaky, and I've been concerned that perhaps the brakes are not in the best shape after all. The fellows at the place looked at them however, and assured me that the brakes are perfectly safe and the squeaking is just a "Taurus thing." I have my doubts that it's a Taurus thing, but I do believe that my car is safe, if annoying, to drive.

In the afternoon I got a phone call from Raven asking me to go look after her kids that evening, so she and her lovely husband could spend some time together. I was more than happy to head out to Sherwood Park and do my part. The boys were both locked away in their bedrooms when I got there, so all I needed to do was entertain the girl. I spent the entire time being bossed around (in a very cute and imaginative way) and pretending to visit various characters from Kids CBC. It was a fun time, though I discovered that I know the entire "Doodlebop Pledge" by heart.

When I got home Ian and I had an interesting conversation, which once again made me wonder how on earth I ended up married to someone who is the complete polar opposite of me when it comes to politics. Anyways, I love him dearly, but we can't talk politics without me ending up in frustrated tears and quivering with rage at him. You'd think I'd have learned not to mention that sort of thing to him by now. In case you were wondering, our chat last night was about censorship...wow. Just thank your lucky stars that my husband isn't the king of the world.

Tonight is my pole dancing class, it's been a week already. My bruise from last week is starting to heal, and doesn't hurt so much anymore, but I'm sure I'll fix that tonight.

Did you know?

Did you know that Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog? I didn't till this weekend. Now I spend time every day going through the archives and reading what he has to say. It's tough to read, but very entertaining! You should check it out! (Thanks to Anne R. Key for pointing the way).

I really did have something else I wanted to say here today, but it seems to have slipped my poor brain. I'll come back later if I think of what it was.

Proof

I have decided to present proof to you that pole dancing is indeed a dangerous sport. This is a picture of the bruise on my inner right thigh that I managed to give myself learning the "Fireman spin" on Thursday night. When I took this picture the bruise was 4 days old, and it's looking much better than it did on Friday.

 

In other news, do you like my new keyboard? Isn't it nice? Someone (possibly me) dumped half a cup of hot tea on the keyboard Saturday morning, and it just couldn't take the abuse. 

The Betty Cup Invitational

Happy long weekend everyone! So far it's been a lovely one for us.

Friday we went, as always, to Raven and Shades place in Sherwood Park. There was some landscaping work going on in the front yard, and my husband, being the helpful bloke that he is decided to pitch in and assist with the rock moving endeavour. I went inside and hung out with Raven and the kids, which is fun and incredibly exhausting. Thankfully all four of the children gathered there are very well behaved for the most part. We had a wonderful supper of home-made pulled pork, which was great, but not as great as the last time Raven made it. We played a round or two of a game called Jungle Go, and then Shades ran part two of our two part adventure in an RPG called The Mountain Witch. It's a very neat game, and although I was nervous at first due to the way the game is narrated by both the GM and the players, it turned out to be great fun and very satisfying. Apparantly next week we may end up playing a game in which we are all cavemen, and we can only grunt and gesture to get our points across to the other players. Cool. After we finished playing Mountain Witch, we played more Jungle Go. I have learned that I am much better at that game when I have a case of Coke under my belt.

Saturday was a lazy day, I slept in (mostly because I didn't fall asleep till after 5 am due to the gallons of cola that I consumed). We went to West Edmonton Mall to pick up some litter boxes and makeup for me for Paradise Lost. Let me just say that West Ed is a miserable place at the best of times, let alone on the Saturday of Labour Day long weekend with a crabby toddler. We got what we needed, and by time we got out of there we were all ready to tear eachother to shreds. That night was Paradise Lost, and it was fantastic as always. Bad things had happened to my character in downtime which were not clear to everyone, but by the end of the night, I think everyone knew that something was up.

Today was the Betty Cup Invitational Croquet Tournament. I did not place in any of the games, which was unfortunate, but we had a lovely time. I got lots of pictures, but due to the fact that it was beautiful and sunny out today, many of them are not very good because of shadows. Mary was mostly good, and busied herself with making sure the pond was always full of croquet balls. She was very good at her job. Our neighbours, I & V have themed their backyard on Alice in Wonderland, so there are a great many plastic hedgehogs that Mary would throw into the pond, an adult would retrieve from the water, just to have Mary toss them back into the pond.


 


Tomorrow we will head back to Sherwood Park to spend the morning at a Spray Park with many children. It will be either fun, or horrible. It's always a gamble. 

Adventures in Pole Dancing

I had my second pole dancing class last night, and it once again confirmed that I am in terrible shape, and not particularly sexy. Though I am getting a bit better, I like to think. Last night we learned the "Fireman Spin" on the pole, and the "Sexy Pushup" on the floor. I was concerned about the spin, and it turns out I was right to be worried. Today I have a giant bruise on the inside of my right thigh from doingit incorrectly, and bruises on both my ankles from doing it correctly. I'm still not doing it properly, but by the end of the night, I managed to spin around the pole and actually land on my feet, which is a big step up from the way I ended up sprawled on the floor the first couple of times I tried. The Sexy Pushup is a miserable thing. I don't have a lot of strength in my arms, thanks to years of having a separated shoulder, followed by surgery 3 years ago, and ending up with arthritis in said shoulder. I've avoided using my arms for a long time, and pole dancing requires a whole lot of upper body strength. Anyways, I showed Ian how to do the sexy pushup (which I cannot myself do just yet) and even he thought it was tough, and he has upper body strength to spare. So, I will continue to stick with this class, and probably take it again. It's really great exercise, once again muscles that I didn't realize I had are aching today. As ridiculous as I feel, the women in the class and the instructors are friendly and fun to be with. I've never found a way to exercise for an hour that only feels like 15 minutes.

I must go, Mary is shouting "No!" very angrily at the TV, apparantly Zabomafoo has done something with a Llama that she does not approve of.

What I Learned Today

When bringing your toldder to a petting zoo, do not put her in the pretty green shirt with ruffles on the front. Unless of course you want the toddler to get eaten by goats. Enough said.

Andy Panda

My baby brother. He's turning 26 in two months, so I guess he's not such a baby anymore. He's also done very well for himself in Vancouver, and he's an excellent person to go to if you have a question about wine. In fact, if you're ever in "The Big Smoke" drop by Marquis Wine Cellars and say hello to him.

 
 
 

I decided to post this instead of commenting on the DRAMA! that is going on in our little social circle. Emmett and Anne R. Key are far more involved than I, but the whole thing makes me shake my head. That is all.

So, on Friday before Purgatory Mary and I ran to Safeway. I had comitted to making up some fake blood for the game, and needed supplies. My list was Cocoa powder, Grenadine, Corn Syrup and red and green food colouring. While paying, the girl at the till, being a friendly girl and wanting to make conversation, said "So, what are you making? Looks like it'll be something good!" I could feel myself turn bright red, and I muttered something about baking brownies before scuttling out of the store. I suppose I could have told her that I was making a few litres of fake blood, but I'm not sure that'd go over too well. 

The End of Summer Bash

Our friends V & I had their end of summer bbq today, and we had a lovely time. It was Marys second time enjoying the party, and she had an absolute blast.

Here's a picture of last year's party:

 

And here's a picture of this year:

 


It just never ceases to amaze me to see how quickly she changes.

Oh, and you might be interested to know that the pretty pink dress she was wearing today was actually made for me by my Grandmother, almost 30 years ago. 

Confirmation

I had my first dance class last night, and while it was not awful, it confirmed several things in my mind.

First - I am in terrible shape. Seriously. Though not as terrible as I expected myself to be.

Second - I despise physical activity of any time. Again, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, which is nice.

Third - I'm fat.

Fourth - I am not even moderately sexy. I spent a whole lot of time looking at my fat self in the mirrors which are on every wall last night and trying not to laugh at myself. I kept thinking "What is that fatso doing trying to be sexy...there's nothing sexy about all that flab." Also, I am so uncoordinated it's not even funny. While doing the "sexy walk" one is expected to run ones hands over ones body. I, however, am so busy concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other without falling down, any movement of my hands messes with that and I do fall down. Don't even get me started on the actual pole work. yeesh.

It was a good workout though, better than I had expected. Every muscle in my body, including my abs (which i thought that pregnancy had destroyed) aches. It's nbot a bad ache, really, I'm kind of enjoying it. And who knows, if I stick with these classes, maybe I'll loose a little weight and learn to put one foot in front of the other without falling down.

The Great Bra Hunt

Yeah yeah, I know. Lollyblogger. Is anyone surprised? To be honest, I've been having a tough time blogging at all for the last few months. Life has settled into a sort of routine that does not have room for any excitement.

Anyways, one bit of excitement is that I start a Pole Dancing class tonight. Yes, I did say pole dancing. I'm pretty excited about it, a few of the girls that I know have been taking the classes for a while, and they love them. So, I have decided to take the plunge and sign up. I really need to loose weight, and I hate physical activity, but I have been told that this is great fun, so I'm going to try. Aside from which, one friend of mine who is built in much the same way as I am has lost 2 dress sizes since she started. The added bonus is increased flexibility and confidence. I've never ever considered myself sexy at all...I'm about as limber as an 80 year old, but hopefully this class will change that a bit.

One problem with taking this class is that I needed to find a sports bra. Apparently the world has decreed that fat women with big boobs don't exercise, and never will, therefore they don't need to make sports bra's in larger sizes. I've always had very large boobs, and I always will...loosing weight likely will not change that. It's always a nightmare finding a bra that fits, but hunting for a sports bra was a step beyond...almost as painful as looking for a new bathing suit. After the third time I tried on an XL bra that barely covered my nipples let alone supported anything, I was close to tears. I finally found something that fits half decently, although the support is not what I would have liked...but I made do, I really don't think I would have found anything better.

On the Mary front...well...she is just funnier and funnier every day. She has taken to disciplining herself when she gets into trouble. If she climbs up onto the cat house or diningroom table, she starts to yell "Down! DOWN!" at herself, and if she gets into something she knows she shouldn't, she starts saying "No. No no no." even before she does it. She's also gone baby CRAZY. Everywhere we go she points out every baby she can see, and often a short person is considered a baby. At home she has a Cabbage Patch doll which she got for her 1st birthday. She never paid attention to the doll till this past weekend, but now she drags it everywhere. She shares her juice and cookies with Baby, pretends to change it's diaper, wacks it's face against the wall, brushes its hair, tosses it to the floor, and tucks it in under any sort of blanket/clothing that she can find. She still loves her cars and trucks, but she's definitely got the baby bug. Hopefully Moustapha and I can provide her with a real baby to take care of (minus the face bashing and tossing to the floor) in the not too distant future!

Oh! Did I mention that it is officially official, Moustapha has a new job? It's great to have him home every evening, and even better is that his new employer actually has health benefits! Which means that I will be able to get new glasses, which I desperately need. I can't do any of my embroidery right now, which is annoying because I'm getting better at it, and I've managed to teach myself to do more than just cross-stitch too. But if I do it for too long (more than about 10 minutes) right now I just give myself a splitting headache. I have a couple of big projects that I want to finish before Christmas, and I need to get to work now so I can finish them in time.

Anyways, Purgatory is tomorrow night, and I've had some big changes happen with my character. BIG changes. So, I must think on how I will play with it...no matter what, it'll be interesting. I waited up till 1am for my turn last night, and when I got it...well, it was fantastic as usual.

Good News

Well, it's only a step away from being officially official. Moustapha has accepted a job working in Alberta. He has been working with this company all week now, and found out yesterday how much they are willing to pay him. It's not quite as much as we had hoped, but it isn't bad, and it is much closer to home. In fact, he should be home pretty much every evening and weekend. Isn't that fabulous? It's certainly worth a dollar pay cut to start, in my mind. The last step is informing his other employers that he won't be traipsing all over the world with them anymore. It's going to be hard, not only because it's always an uncomfortable thing to quit a job, but because he is working all day it is hard to actually get ahold of the boss to let him know. I'm confident it'll all work out though.