Longest Questionnaire Ever!

I'm not tagging anyone because I don't think I will ever finish this. Thanks, Erin! Glad my blog entertains you. Anyway, here are 100 questions that I have answered. I don't know why. So much to learn about me.

1. How old will you be in five years? 33

2. What month is your birthday? May

3. How tall are you? 5'2.5

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Sadly, the Monster Truck Jam (I know!)

5. Last person you ate with? Matt and Mike

6. Who is the last person you called? My mom

7. Who was the last person to call you? Board Chair. And, oops ... I hung up on him (he has sense of humour thankfully).

8. What are you wearing? jeans and a black sweater and a lacy pink tank top and cool pink bracelets

9. Do you prefer call or text? depends on the person - text is fine

10. Do you have any pets? 1 cat

11. What were you doing at 2am last night? snuggling with Matty

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? married

13. When is the last time you saw your mom? Tuesday

14. what color are your eyes? blue

15. What time did you wake up today?5:22 am

16. What's the last song you sang? Shake it Baby Shake it - with Matt

17. What's your favorite Christmas song? Away in a Manger

18. Where is your favorite place to be? surrounded by friends/family/Matt

19. Where is your least favorite place to be? The dentist

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Disney Cruise

21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs? Who knows

22. Do you tan or burn? Usually burn - I wear a lot of sunscreen

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?I thought someone would break into our house

24. What was the last thing that made you laugh? Really hard? Probably Lisa yesterday when she was coming up with birthday gifts for Mike.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house? two but right now only one works

26. Who do you miss most? Susie and Ginny and Salina. All in different ways.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? Both plus a blackberry

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on? With

29. What color are your sheets? Navy Blue

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? two

31. What is your favorite season? spring

32. What do you like about fall? that it isn't winter

33. What do you like about winter? snow - oh wait ... what snow?

34. What do you like about the summer? holidays

35. What do you like about spring?my birthday! (May 20th mark your calendars)

36. How many PROVINCES have you lived in? one

37. How many cities/towns have you lived in? 4

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? shoes

39. Are you a social person? Ummm ... yep!

40. What was the last thing you ate? a cheese string

41. What is your favorite restaurant? Probably the Keg or Il Fornello

42. What is your favorite ice cream? Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie

43. What is your favorite dessert? Trifle

44. What is your favorite kind of soup? Broccoli Cheddar

45 What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? strawberry

46. Do you like Chinese food? For sure

47. Do you like coffee? Can't live without it!

48. How many glasses of water a day do you drink? not enough

49. What do you drink in the morning? coffee (times 3)

50. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone? someone though to be honest I could go for a quiet night alone going to bed early and sleeping in late - without being woken up.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? yep - the right side if I am on my stomach, left side if I'm on my back. How do you answer this question???

52. Do you know how to play poker? kind of

53. Do you like to cuddle? yep

54. Have you ever been to the USA? yes

55. Do you have an addictive personality? Yes

56. Do you eat out or at home more often? home

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? yes 2 people, butI don't really talk to them anymore

59. Do you want kids? I have one

60. Do you speak (know) any other languages? French - and Dora has been teaching me some spanish (vamanos)

61. Have you ever gotten stitches? Yes - in my head and also when I had Matt

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? yes but I was unconscious

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? pool

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats? window

65. Do you know how to drive stick? I wish!

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? Clothes, shoes, stuff for Matt

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7? my wedding ring

68. What are your favorite TV shows? America's Next Top Model, House, BT,Ugly Betty

69. Can you roll your tongue? yes

70. Who is the funniest person you know? I know way too many. The first person I thought of was my Uncle Brian.

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? No - there's no room in our bed!

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone? A really annoying bleeping sound that I hate.

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little? No

74. What color are your bedroom walls? a dark dusty rose pink which I don't like

75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth? no

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? open so Matt can find us in the night.

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? Bees

78. Do you flirt a lot? I've been told I do, but it's just my sweet nature. It's not on purpose

79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in? honey, though I just watched SuperSize me (a few years after the fact) and I'm avoiding it

80. What is your favorite food? Love Mars bars, homemade lasagna and a good cheddar cheese

81. Can you change the oil on a car? No. I can't imagine wanting to either

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? No - but parking tickets seem to follow me

83. Have you ever run out of gas? yes - and I didn't know what happened so I called a tow truck

84. What is your usual bedtime? 9/9:30. But, I would happily go to bed at 8.

86. Do you read the newspaper? yes - I have five newspapers on my desk daily - and I can usually tell you the headlines.

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Today's Parent, Redbook and Mike gets Model Railroader. I also read my moms' Chatelaine and I should have a subscription to Cosmo and Glamour and I want to also get Toronto Life

88. Best comedian? Not so into comediens but I LOVE Ellen and Rosie who both used to be comedians. I went to see Jerry Seinfeld once and I was totally disappointed

89. Do you watch soap operas? No

90. Do you dance in the car? Of course I do - and I sing. And if Matt or Kyla is in the car we blast Raffi and I do duck impersonations. It's impressive. I also went through a big baby sign language phase when I tried to sign songs in the car. I kind of gave up on that.

91. What's something people might not know about you? That I never mini golf or curl because of childhood incidents. Someday I may tell the curling story.

92. Do you prefer silver or gold? Silver

93. First thing on your to do list? Go grocery shopping

94. Coke or Pepsi? diet pepsi

95. How often are you on myspace? never

96. Do you have any bad habits? eating too much, biting my nails, socializing too much

97. Are you a romantic? Yep

98. Crayons or markers? markers

99. Weirdest pet you've owned? I adopted an injured gerbil from PetSmart and named her Kobe. But I'm not a rodent person and she started to freak me out so I gave her to the kids I used to babysit. The poor gerbil limped. It was pretty funny. I still have the cage and ball if anyone wants it let me know - no charge! Or maybe I'll buy matt a hamster this weekend (but rodents freak me out except hamsters don't have tails. We'll see. Mike will KILL me)

100. Are you waiting for something or someone? Not really.

Taming a Toddler ...

Lately we have been having bedtime wars with Matthew. Basically, Matthew has decided that 8pm is not a good bedtime. In his books 10 pm is more like it. There are a couple of problems with this.
The first is that the later he stays up the crankier he is in the morning. (obviously) And, as much as I get annoyed with him at night when he refuses to sleep or when he hops out of bed a zillion times, I feel horrible having to get him up in the morning. He's so sleepy. And, I don't think he really understands when we try to tell him that he's tired because he didn't go to bed when we told him to.
The second problem is that I really need some sort of a break in the evening. Last night, for instance, he actually fell asleep later than I did. I can kind of blame the cold/sinus pills for that, but still. But, it's exhausting. Between work, commuting and coming home to a toddler I'm exhausted. And I really enjoy the time I have - even if it's just an hour of tv - before I go to bed and then start the cycle all over again.
Ideas anyone?
Part of me thinks that we're not entertaining him enough when he gets home. It's so easy to turn on Treehouse and let him watch while we chill a bit/make dinner, relax.
Plus, to be fair, I think I do need to play with him more.
So when we got him Mike put on dinner and I went and played toys with him. And then at bathtime we played with his toys and did make believe stuff (I was Kyla, he was Becky ALL NIGHT - funniest line ever "Becky needs a bath now. She's very dirty. Her hair is sticky" funny.)

But, I found myself laughing and having fun, and believe it or not destressing a little bit.
And, wonder of wonders, just before 8pm we tucked him in. And he didn't get up once - at least until 2 am when he climbed into our bed. But, when I got him up this morning he was a totally happy fun child.
I think we need to change our routines.
And, now for Kyla, a picture of your cousin in his new towel from Erin and Gracie.

Does this look like a sleepy child?

I'm Sick

For the last month I've been whining about being under the weather. My throat hurts. My nose hurts. I don't feel well.
I'm not a sick person in general, and having this cold stick around for a month has been driving me insane. I've spent a fortune on throat lozenges and nasal products all to no avail. Honestly, it's driving me mad.
But when my sinuses started to hurt I threw in the towel and went to a Walk-In clinic, as did apparently half of Burlington. There was a line-up just to register and then the very ample waiting room chairs were all full. It was daunting, but it turned out that many of the people there came as full families, so it wasn't as bad as I thought.
An hour later (not bad) I saw a doctor.
I felt like a total dork "ummmm ... I have a cold and it won't go away."
He kind of laughed, and then he said "you don't get sick that often do you?"
Anyway, he started doing this weird tapping thing to my face and when tears came to my eyes he quickly diagnosed me with sinusitis. And, then for good measure looked at my throat and exclaimed, honestly exclaimed "you have laryngitis! You are a trooper."
Well, trooper that I am I left with a couple of prescriptions. And, at least the knowledge that I am not crazy. I'm just sick.
Don't worry friends at work. I checked. I'm not contagious. Apparently the contagious stuff would have happened like a month ago. Now it's just lingering.
Oh, and ... I went to Shoppers to get my prescription. And, they gave me a pager, like at restaurants, so I could wander the store and then come back when the pager went off. This, I tell you, was fantastic for entertaining not only me but Matthew. He was pretty excited. And, it was cool.
And, on the Shoppers note I took my blood pressure - 140 over 72. It said it is high. Weird. But maybe it's cause Matt was sitting on my lap while I did this and then started to imitate the machine which was hilarious and I started to laugh.

New Year's Resolution Continued

So today at my parents' home (they live 5 minutes away) I discovered my grandmother's jewelry box! Yay! My mom said I could have it. (Becky, if you want this though we can discuss ... don't worry)



It came filled with costume jewellry. Mostly clip on earrings. Actually, it kind of made me miss Nana. It was cool. There were some name tags that said "Dotty Rimes" which made me laugh. And then my little munchkin made me laugh harder.


Matt discovered a love of jewelry. How many two year old boys would voluntarily wear clip on earrings? I don't know.

But seriously. How adorable does it get???

Oh wait - it does get funnier!







I do hold full responsibility if my son grows up and decides to wear women's clothing and jewelry.

My New Year's Resolution

So I love New Year's Resolutions. I don't really keep them, but I always make them. Because that's the point of New Year's.
Honestly, I can't think of one serious resolution I have ever kept. I tried cutting out pop and chocolate and working out every day and eating healthy. Those are hard.
But, the one I kept really well was that I would make a concerted effort to always keep my eyebrows groomed. And, guess what? I'm still doing this 4 years later. I also one year made the resolution to keep my nails looking good. That was a few years ago. It lasted until I had my son, and then I gave up. But, I've still stuck to never having scratchy old nailpolish on my nails.
So this year I decided to come up with another AMAZING resolution.
Know what it is???
My resolution is to wear more jewelry.
Don't worry. I'm not about to rob Tiffany's. But, I am going to wear more "sugah"* (right, Beck?) I don't have as much jewelry as I would like to, but I can collect this year. And my sister, niece and mom gave me some pretty cool stuff for Christmas. So I'm set.
One of my friends at work wears jewelry all the time. She totally mixes and matches stuff that I would never even think to. And it looks awesome. So, now I will start.
The inspiration comes also from my grandmother who passed away a couple of years ago. No matter what she always wore jewelry. She had rings and broaches and necklaces and bracelets for every single occasion. She would keep all of her jewelry in this huge fishing tackle box. And when my sister and I got older we were allowed to play with it and try it all on.
So, this year I'm going to make an effort to wear jewelry. Maybe not every day. But often.
And ... now I'm off. I have the day off, and the boys are at their respective office/daycare. What am I going to do with all my time???
Well, clean, shop and maybe even nap.
I know. Jealous!!!

* when we went on a road trip to Buffalo, my friend Ketly and I were laughing at some super snazzy boots with "bling" on the stilleto heels. Becky (my sister) for some reason thought we were calling bling "sugah" - and so for the rest of the trip any time we saw anything with bling (of which there is lots in Buffalo) one of us would say "look, Becky, Sugah". Funny.

2006 - Not a Bad Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2006 ends tonight. I was trying to write down my various New Year's Resolutions. I only came up with one. And it's sort of silly. So I decided to look back on this past year and what we've been up to.
First things first - we moved ... a lot! Since March we've lived in 3 different places: A rental apartment in Oakville, our condo in Toronto and finally our townhouse in Burlington.

(Matt at our apartment)

(This picture was taken the day we moved out of the condo for the 2nd and last time)

In between moving houses, we also had a bunch of other stuff going on. Like it or not, we entered into the wonderful world of toddlerhood with Matthew. I have to admit, I was terrified at the prospect of the terrible twos, but it hasn't been all that bad. We've definitely had our share of temper tantrums, meltdowns, etc., but this has been an amazing year. We went from having a little baby to having a kid who is fun. At 32 months he never stops talking (and singing). We know what he wants, what he likes, etc. And, the spontaneous stuff like hims saying "mommy is beautiful" (so true!) and "I love you" is so worth the temper tantrums.

Matt did a whole lot of growing this year and he had tons of new experiences. I now totally understand why parents spoil their kids. It's just so cool when you see them developing new interests and fun ideas. I'm so guilty of this. Like, when I discovered that Matthew liked rides, I felt compelled to take him both to the CNE and Canada's Wonderland.
For the record, though this was taken at the CNE, we far preferred Canada's Wonderland. It turns out to be way cheaper, it seems much safer, and the stuff for kids is a million times better.
The CNE, though cool, paled in comparison. I really think Matt's favourite thing of the day was the streetcar ride to and from the CNE.
Matthew loved taking the TTC not only to the CNE but also to his daycare at Yonge and Davisville. He was so proud that he could tell everyone we went to Eglinton Station and Davisville Station.
It amazes me what this kid has learned this year. For instance, the other day he was washing his hands and kept saying he wanted some "Agua". Thank goodness this happened at my parents' home where my dad was able to explain that he was asking for water. It's scary when your toddler can speak in a language you don't understand.
Personally, it's been a pretty big year for me too. Just before Mother's Day this year I went to my doctor who told me that I was in a crappy place physically. She was pretty understanding. I'd had a crappy first year with Matt, went back to work, moved twice (at this point) and was just generally stressed. But, when she weighed me and tested my blood pressure we decided that I should probably lose some weight.
And lose weight I have. I've lost a little over 30 pounds (pre-Christmas, that is) and feel better about myself. I have a ways to go - like 20 pounds or so - but that's coming. And, I plan to push harder in the New Year.


You can see the difference a few pounds makes.
And, that's my friend and former neighbour Ginny blowing bubbles.




I also went on an amazing trip for work. In July I went with the Board and Senior Staff to Alberta. It was the longest I'd been away from Matthew. It was a learning experience for me. It was fun and hard and rewarding - everything that you are looking for in a good experience. I missed my boys more than I had expected too. Someone told me that it's a pretty amazing experience coming home and seeing your child after you've been away for awhile. It's true. The minute I saw Matt I burst into tears (as did he).
I have to say - this is one of the most beautiful pictures ever. It was taken at a golf course. You can see the background of the mountains behind us. In case you were wondering, the woman next to me is my boss.
In addition to my excitement of the year, Mike's year was interesting too. He turned the big 3-0 in January. I had a surprise party with some of his friends which was pretty fun. He also switched jobs in December. So, pretty busy.
My nieces also did a whole lot of growing up. Miss Kyla is now a four-year old. We had a blast at her Princess Party in July where I made a special guest appearance as "Aunt Princess Laural". It was pretty adorable, and I still can't believe I led several preschoolers in a little dance routine in the middle of Jack Astors!!!
My other niece Paige - seriously. She was such a baby for so long and then suddenly she blossomed into a child. She no longer is content to watch Matty and Kyla play. She wants to get right in on the action. She is tiny but feisty. Matt often knocks her down in his excitement and she just bounces right up to keep playing.
I have a feeling that as the cousins get older Matt and Paige will be running around and playing tag while Kyla and I play Barbies and do our nails. (we can dream, right?)














Kyla (on the left of Princess Laural) Paige - hamming it up with uncle Mike

And, of course, the recap of our year would not be complete without some pictures of the best place in the world - Vermont!!!
















So, from my and my family - I hope you had a wonderful 2006 and I hope you have an even better 2007!
Thanks for reading and commenting and sharing in the excitement of my life.

Happy 2007!!!!