The Rest of My Life

Cruise 2011: Day 6, Nassau, Bahamas

2012-02-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

I finally convinced Rob that we should order room service for breakfast and enjoy it on the balcony, and what nicer way than as we sail into Nassau? We selected the time slot 8-8:30am and picked our food. It was a little confusing, as you filled in how many of something you wanted, but it also asked how many guests.

We were a little surprised to be woken up with a knock on the door at 8:02am! We seriously did not expect it that early! There was a LOT of food. I loved the fact we got a carafe for the coffee, although we still ended up with non-dairy creamer even though I had wrote "real cream" on the menu. The food was alright, the hashbrowns weren't what I was expecting, but were still considered hashbrowns.

It's foggy here because it was hot and humid and my camera immediately fogged up when I turned it on! We sailed into the slip at about 9:30 and saw three other ships there. We didn't know it till we got home, but the day before had seen SEVEN cruise ships in the port. Apparently, it was a bit of a logistics nightmare, but they all got docked. Never found out what ships they were.
While we sat on our balcony, I could see a lady laying on her balcony, on the Norwegian Pearl, directly across from us. She appeared to be pantless. I just had to get a closer look!

Ahh! A pale pink bathing suit! I felt a little better knowing she wasn't pantless, but still was a little disturbed. I do wish there were lounge chairs on the balcony, but I don't think I would have laid on the floor; much too hard!

The gangway was to open around 10:15am, but that came and went. We went down to the jogging track; Rob sat in a lounger and held my water bottle while I slogged around the track a few times. It was terribly hot and humid on the track, with no wind, and lots of non-exercisers making it a challenge. I really don't recommend using the track when in port for these two reasons.

It was taking so long for the gangway to open up that we went up to the Windjammer for the last of the breakfast and first helpings of lunch. They won't let you in once they close breakfast, but it seems that if you're actually in there, they won't kick you out.
We had a nice view of the other ships. We had seen the Norwegian Pearl before, when we left on our second cruise. What was funny this time, was watching the kitchen staff try out the hammocks and take pictures of each other! LOL! I think these were on the private sundeck. It appears on those deck plans that the Pearl also has two storey suites; I thought Oasis was the first? Or maybe this is an update to the Pearl?

We finally got off the ship around noon. The Pearl also has a private lounge/coffee area beside the ship on the pier! Anyway. At certain angles, the Pearl and the Allure look not too much different in size...but late shots will show otherwise!

Also in port was the Disney Dream. We have also seen the Disney Magic, but the water slide on this one looks way more fun! The other ship was the Carnival Sensation, a very old and small looking ship. In fact, it's passenger total is only 2052 people; the Pearl takes about ...OH! 2466! The Disney Dream hosts 4000 people. The Norwegian website calls the "elbow room" on the Pearl, "roomy". I would think so! Fascinating to see them lined up! The Carnival does 3 and 4 night cruises through the Bahamas on this ship, starting at $229/PP. If you doubled up, that's still only $460 for a week, although I don't know if this ship would keep you busy for a week, but there are a lot of ports on that cruise too.

It was a bit of a challenge getting through the port building. Our initial estimate was that there would be about 16 200 guests on the four ships (plus any crew that come off). Now that I know the actual numbers, it's more like a maximum 14 718. Still, that's a boatload of people, LOL!
The building you get fed through is like a flea market, with many stalls of food and souvenirs. And hair braiders. I did read a sign that said to make sure your hair braider is "certified". I also read a sign that said tour and service providers are to not approach tourists, but that was certainly ignored. We ended up going right to the end of the building and having to pass the horse and carriage ride zone....try to avoid that. Even from across the street it stunk!

The first few blocks around the port and pretty much just like any other of the ports that haven't been "remodelled" by the cruise lines. Old buildings, crowded streets with poor/no sidewalks, and American stores taking over. Please don't judge a port just by the areas shown on the port guide handed out by your ship. Walk a few blocks in any direction, use your instincts, and enjoy yourself! My son is currently doing a project on the Bahamas, and I've read that the recession put city improvements on hold, but they are getting back to investing in the city. According to Fodor's, there are plans to make some streets connecting Bay Street, Shirley Street and the wharf, pedestrian-only. I'm not sure if this has happened. You can see Bay St. in the picture above, and the street that goes down to the pier....and there's vehicles on it. Making it car-free would be great. There's not much room for pedestrians, and we watched some in wheelchairs/scooters have a really hard time. Once past Bay Street, the crowd disperses significantly, but sidewalks are still rough and small.

I was hoping to see a police officer in this little booth, which was in the middle of a busy intersection. All intersections were busy though, LOL!

Rob insisted on a picture of this Suzuki Jimmy. Not available in North America, I think due to the high rollover rate he said. It replaces the Samurai in other countries.

I love seeing my bank on various Caribbean islands. I would have checked my balance if I had known they were there--my wallet was in our cabin.

If we had the kids with us, I think the pirate museum would have been interesting. It's $12 per person, and slightly scary, but the souvenir shop is worth checking out (I wish I had this Fodor's book when we were there, although we didn't even know we were going there!).

One thing I've read in Fodor's is that there is a Straw Market that burnt down in 2001. It's apparently a big deal, and the book said a committee was formed in 2009 to create a permanent home for it. No where in the book can I find where the market currently is. However, I just googled it, and sadly, the temporary building (of plastic tarps) was destroyed in late August 2011 by Hurricane Irene. Apparently they were supposed to move into a new building on Bay Street, "in the fall". Judging by Google Maps, I think we walked past what remains....an open lot with vendors. I have no idea if the images on Google are of the "new" building (which doesn't look too permanent) or of the one that was destroyed in August 2011.

When we were having our brunch, we could see beaches. We didn't know if these were public or not, but we were walking in that general direction so we quickly found it. Called Junkanoo Beach, it's actually man made, and public. It looked so inviting! The first thing we did was find a Diet Coke at one of the vendors. So cold, and much more tasty than the ones on the ship that were more than twice the price!

I would highly recommend spending time at this beach. There is a shady area at the very east end (the end closest to the ships). We kept walking down the beach, picking up shells and a couple Bahamian pennies.

A nice view showing the back of the Allure. You can see the rock climbing wall on the left side. There are two pillars, which is where the high divers were diving from during the Aquatheater show. Diving--head first! Right above the "Allure of the Seas" is the jogging track. When the curtains were open, you could see the stage and look up at all the seats. The deck right above the lifeboat was our deck, but we were 1/2 way down the ship.

Here's a nice shot of the four ships. I'm surprised at how small the Pearl looks; like I said, I thought it was similar in size to the Freedom/Liberty ships we had been on before, which are about the same size as the Disney ship.

These are some of the buildings across the street from the main part of the beach. There appeared to be some hurricane damage, like broken windows and missing shingles. The two storey building in the middle is the "El Greco Hotel" which is an economical, old style hotel that offers free phone calls to the United States on the lobby phone (not sure if you could just walk in though, LOL, apparently due to the small size the owner gets to know the guests...). However, there is no on site restaurant and the pool is small.

More interesting vehicle options!

A mailbox! How cute is that?!

We headed back to the ship, after trying to cool off at the beach. I wasn't wearing anything suitable for swimming, but if it wasn't such a hassle to get back on the ship, I would have gone back to change. We entered the pier building and found a LONG line of people waiting to get through security. It was hot in there. Be prepared.

Rob wanted to go in the Solarium pool, so I wandered around getting pictures of the city and waterfront. This catamaran is a ferry (that's what I overheard). Don't know where it was going, but I did hear that you can take a ferry to/from Miami.

Below, the yellow building with the green roof next to the tower, is the pier building/flea market that you go through to get to Nassau.

This open area in the bow of the Disney Magic is a kids only area, apparently.

This is the water slide on the Carnival ship. It looked like fun. I think these are a great option for kids in the 6-10 age range who might not be quite big enough to feel comfortable in the pools, which tend to not be shallow enough.

Below, is the British Colonial Hilton Nassau. It was builtin 1899, and burnt down in 1921. An exact replica was opened a year later. It's a gorgeous building, right downtown, although Fodor's says it can also be a little busy.

Looking to the right (to the west) as we stood on deck, is this lovely green building. According to Google, it's the Manx Coporate Centre. Appears to be something financial.

This is the beach, going further west.

Coming to the end of the beach, at Awarak Cay. This is as far as we walked, as we could see it was all industrial on the little island. Fodor's says there's great, authentic restaurants "on" Awarak Cay, however, the restaurants aren't actually ON the cay (which is to the right of the bit of water at the right edge).

This is looking straight down the harbour towards Awarak Cay on the left, and Crystal Cay on the right. There is a marine park at the far end of Crystal Cay, where you can just make out a lighthouse type building behind the bridge.

Above is the passage way the ships use to enter/leave the habour. It's not a very big harbour, and has had a lot of dredging to deepen/widen it. Still, it's a tight fit for the Allure! The long breakwall is Crystal Cay.

Below is a view of Atlantis. THere is a lot more than just Atlantis on Paradise Island. I did take a lot of pictures of Atlantis (it's HUGE), but you can easily Google for more. You're supposed to pay to wander the grounds, but apparently you can also just wander around for free, as my inlaws found out, LOL.

Here we are leaving the harbour, through that opening. You can see a little boat that's going to ride the resulting current down into the harbour. It was fascinating watching the Allure pull out and do a 180degree turn. We were running from side to side of the ship seeing just how close it gets to the markers. It would be neat to see an overhead video!

We weren't too impressed with our room steward this time. I don't know if he was new at it, or what, but he/the crew were not too helpful when we had questions or concerns. We didn't even get all the departure info that we were supposed to get. I don't think we had a towel creature every night, like on the other cruises, either. This was one of the few, and I think, the only one we took pictures of.

The show that night was "Blue Earth". I knew it would involve acrobatics/trapeeze type stuff, so we sat in the balconey. I find the theater on the ships to be VERY cold. Each ship has been this way. I don't remember if the balcony was warmer though. While waiting for the show, you see this suspended fabric globe that has the earth projected on it.

Of course, this show is spectacular, if not a little abstract...there's no dialogue or real story. Just go with the flow. It's about the earth,and the various elements. The "underwater" scenes were stunning. There was a sheer curtain at the front, with video projected on it (the Nemos above), and the acrobats hanging behind it.

Here, there are jellyfish projected on the curtain. Google for some video. I didn't want to break copyright too much :) And please, people, do NOT use flash photography at shows. I'm a musician, and it is extremely annoying/distracting, and potentially dangerous to the performers.
One part of the show involved these two inclined trampolines. The dude in the orange/red on the right is the lead male/singer. He was also in Chicago, as the slimey lawyer.

This was a long day again, and quite hot and sunny walking around Nassau. I really recommend getting some books from the library before going on a cruise. I'm not sure why I haven't done that, except that Rob likes to stick with offical exercusions, or walking around close to the docks. But he also hates shopping, and the ports are usually either 1)new and designed for the cruise ships or 2)old and a mix of the same stores as in 1, as well as seedy looking shops he won't go in and American shops/fast food that we can get at home. A few blocks further though and it's nice to have a guidebook.

Cruise 2011: Day 5, At Sea

2012-01-09T14:50:00.001-05:00

As we were leaving Jamaica, the captain announced that due to Hurricane Rina, we would be heading to Nassau, Bahamas, instead of Cozumel, Mexico. This was exciting, since we had already been to Cozumel, but we hadn't been to the Bahamas. Well, I had been there when I was five, but I don't remember a whole lot. However, I was a little disappointed that we hadn't known sooner, so maybe we would have done an inland adventure in Jamaica and save sailing/snorkeling for the Bahamas.

We decided to take it really easy on this sea day. I think we might have even missed breakfast, LOL. Not sure what we did in the morning, but we made it to Johnny Rockets for lunch. This has a $4.95 cover charge, and then extra charge for some of the items (like the floats).

It's a yummy place. We also had breakfast there one morning (that is free), and it was quite good, but very slow. We also learned that "cream" means (artificial) creamer. We had to be explicit. I think Johnny Rockets was the only place we found cream; the coffee "shop" had 5% cream, I think. I'm used to 10% minimum.

I think it was after lunch that we finally got to go ice skating. On our first cruise, we thought we'd be able to go every day. However, there was so much going on that we went only once. This time, there was no public skating until day 5. We were the first on the ice, and it was still really wet. I nearly wiped out, and when I turned around, I watched Rob take a tumble. He really whacked his elbow. You do have to wear helmets, but other safety gear is up to you to bring. The skates on the Allure were much, much better than on Freedom and Liberty (that was back in 2007 and 2008 though).

Later in the afternoon, the Captain said we'd be able to see islands. I wish I knew what islands these were. The above photo is how it looked with the naked eye, off our balcony (oh, I was loving the balcony!).

This is the "super zoom" on my new Canon. Loved it!

I don't know what this white blob was. It looked like an iceberg, but we were in the Bahamas.

Later, we saw this ship. This ship, the Tamerlane, is a car carrier. More info can be found here. Fascinating that the picture in that link was taken in Australia, about a month after we saw it in the Bahamas. I wonder what it's route was. You can read in the link what it's route was after that picture was taken, but not before.

This day was the second formal day. I don't remember exactly what the menu was, but it looked nice.

I'm wearing the dress that my mother wore at our wedding :)

We had cherries jubilee for dessert. As a child, we had this a lot, but ours was always flaming. This one wasn't :(

The entertainment for the night was a cover band/show, adbacadabra. You don't get to know what the headliner show is before the cruise, and although I'm not a big ABBA fan, you know that Royal Caribbean has only the top entertainment!

You can catch a listen to the show on YouTube

It was a late night, but quite a nice day, relaxing on the ship and getting excited for our day in Nassau!

Cruise 2011: Day 4, Falmouth, Jamaica

2011-12-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

Day four brought us to Falmouth, Jamaica. On our last cruise (also a Western one), we were supposed to go to Ocho Rios, but had to divert to Montego Bay. Falmouth, while a very old harbour, is a very new port destination for Royal Caribbean, located about 45 minutes east of Montego Bay, on Jamaica's north shore. I decided to go down to the jogging track as we were approaching the harbour, and do a few laps. I don't recommend doing this. There was no ocean breeze, and the deck was full of sightseers, including many crew members. It wasn't the most pleasant jog and I went back up to our room before we docked.

We didn't notice anything when we docked this time. Rob wanted to be at the gangway right away to make sure we didn't miss our tour, but they won't let you wait near the gangway. Don't worry though, if the tour is scheduled to meet at 10:15, and they don't open the gangway till 10:20, and you're the only ship in (any) port, the tour operators ARE going to wait for you! It's a bit of a walk from the pier, through the shopping section, to the tour staging area, but not too far. It just feels like forever when there's a couple thousand people also trying to figure out where to go. However, I noticed this last time in Jamaica--they are well organized, very polite, and helpful. Some of the young girls working looked a little bored, but I love that they are all dressed smartly and at least look professional. Right down to pantyhose!

We made it to our staging area just as it started to down pour! We were right at a permanent roofed pavilion, so were fine, but a lot of others squished in too. It was interesting watching the buses maneuver around the staging area...and seeing scrapes on the buses....Our last drive through Montego Bay was a little scary, and this time, it was pouring! I was glad to see there were seatbelts on the bus, and immediately did it up!

We were curious to what this little contraption was for. My guess was for a pack of cigarettes.

We left the pier area, and started driving through Falmouth. One of the first things we saw was "Juici Patties"...and note the packing tape holding the SUV together:

Immediately after Juici Patties was "Beaver Tile and Hardware", complete with a beaver picture on the sign. There was actually a couple shops with this beaver name/picture (click on pictures to make them larger). I wonder if there's a Canadian connection.

The town of Falmouth was a little depressing. We hadn't seen this kind of poverty when we drove around Montego Bay on our last trip. What really got to me was seeing garbage everywhere, open water full of garbage next to homes.

This was a common sight throughout Jamaica--cinder block homes in various stages of completion. They're very sad looking before they get their finish coat and bright colours.

Outside of Falmouth, you enter the "suburbs" and the vacation villa area. The homes are beautiful and large.

Another partially finished home. Someone on the bus mentioned that they had heard that if a house isn't finished, they don't have to pay taxes on it, so there's no incentive to "finish" and homes are often lived in one portion of it, while the rest is being "built". I wonder how long it takes to build a home here?

Below, click on the photo, and you'll see a sign for a "Royal Bank of Canada". I suppose this is a popular area for Canadians? It was on the outskirts of Montego Bay.

Our destination was a sail and snorkel by Dreamer Catamaran. It sails from Cornwall Beach which is a lovely "private" beach (ie--not attached to a hotel, and not public--free--there is an admission charge). Our boat was the 65ft Island Dreamer catamaran.

This was our third catamaran snorkel trip, and I really enjoy these. Like the one in Cozumel, this one stuck close to shore and we didn't really get sailing, but it was still fun. I took a disposable underwater camera, and haven't got it developed yet, so no underwater photos yet.

This is the view of Cornwall Beach as we were leaving.

You could see a Carnival ship in the port, it was quite a distance away (if you're looking on Google Maps, you'll see three 1/2 circle beaches towards the north shore. I think Cornwall Beach is the middle one. Oh, look, it's across the street from the Canadian Consulate!

During the snorkel time, someone found a crab trapped in fishing nets--we were in a marine preserve so there shouldn't have been any fishing.

The snorkeling was great, very scenic. The crew spent a bit of time with the beginners. We were offered life vests, which I put on in the traditional way. Then I noticed that the beginners had them on just around their waists. I ditched the life jacket, and they found me a pool noodle. I'm a lousy snorkeler....I keep holding my breath, then when I do take a big breath, it sucks in my mask, and I get freaked out, and I turn my head and get a wave down the snorkel...I can't swim down underwater either. I finally gave up on the snorkel, and just used the mask, LOL!

After a while, I started to feel nauseous. I nearly threw up, in the ocean! I was sea sick while swimming in the sea. Good grief. The swim time was almost over by then.

After the swim, we motored around the lagoons, got to fondle a sea cucumber, LOL. The bar was open and decently stocked. The snack/lunch however...processed cheese slice on whole wheat raisin bread, with butter. Strange, but edible if eaten in separate pieces. The crew was great, they were even doing massages, although no one got to me. I did get a bad sunburn on my scalp though--I didn't take my sun hat because I was worried about it blowing off :( I would definitely recommend this company's trip.

Coming back to Cornwall Beach, we got to see the same coastline sights that we had seen last time as we cruised away from port (for more pictures, and more about Montego Bay, check my previous post).

The Carnival ship from the other side of the port, we were in the lagoons.

Some better pictures of Margarita Ville.

Leaving Montego Bay, you pass all the huge (and not so huge) resorts on the shore. Then you get back to the poverty.

And people trying to make a life, a business, out of anything. Little tiny shops were everywhere.

Coming back into the port was really slow. There is security to go through; someone comes on board, and we all had to hold up our Sea Pass and photo ID. Not sure how much the guy could see from the front of the bus. While we were waiting, I spotted this sign:

"The possession and use of Ganja on site is prohibited. This notice serves as the first and last warning. Anybody caught in possession of Ganja or apparatus to smoke Ganja will be dismissed". I found that amusing and reassuring.

While waiting for our tour in the morning, I had seen a man on stilts. Hugh was wanting to be a stilt man for Hallowe'en, so I was trying to get a picture. I couldn't get a good one in the morning, in the rain, but he was back in the afternoon.

One of the excursions is a 'real life pirate adventure'. This is the ship you get to go out on, while the crew does a live re-enactment of a pirate brawl (or something).

Rob was hungry and didn't want to explore the port. For the most part, it's all the same shops as at the other ports, with some local vendors thrown in. Apparently, the port was restored with/by/for Royal Caribbean, said our (Jamaican) waiter, however, the bus driver said it was all new. I think there was a lot of newly filled land, but I don't know if the buildings are old or not.

I don't know what this end building is, but it was pretty in the lowering sun.

There was a row of unfinished homes on the other side of the port. Who knows if they are actually being worked on, or if it's on hold...

A few minutes further out, and the sun broke through the clouds.

Later on, we went to another ice show, "How to Train A Dragon". It's a short (22 minute) show, based on the movie. Of course, it is very well done. I expect to see this as a touring production soon--there's a lot of money invested in this show and while there are about 5-10 ice rinks on the various Royal ships, is that enough of a run to make it profitable?

That's all I have for day 4. I really don't remember what we did that night. Perhaps we actually went to bed "early"?

Cruise 2011: Day 3, Labadee, pt 2

2011-11-30T10:50:00.001-05:00

I wanted to be on deck for the sail away, and as per the previous two trips, Rob would lay down on a deck chair and have a siesta. This time there was no loud band (we were in the Solarium; the large glassed in area at the front of the ship), but there were those dark clouds again! What really got me was that they blew the ship's horn as we were leaving. Several times. Wouldn't it have been better to blow it before departure? It is VERY loud, so be warned if you're up on deck. I never heard it at the other ports (that have cities).

A little while after leaving Labadee, the Captain came on the loudspeakers. Being on the deck, it's really hard to hear. What we did make out was that there was a hurricane coming, and we would probably not be going to Cozumel. We weren't too disappointed by that, since we had been there before, but were very curious as to where they'd take this huge ship. There aren't too many options!

We had no plans until time to see the headlining show, "Chicago". I was SO excited to see this. I've played the music in bands, but I've never seen the play or the movie. I knew Royal Caribbean would do a good job with it, and that the scantily clad women would appeal to Rob, but other than that I really didn't know much about it. It was awesome. Fabulous. But as always, very cold in the theater.

I'm not sure what Rob had for dinner...I had started out writing it down every night, but then realized pictures are worth a 1000 words....

I had lamb shank. I think I prefer lamb chops, but this was very moist (with some fatty bits), and very flavourful--lamb is a strong taste!

I didn't discover the mint jelly until half way through, and although I wouldn't normally eat it, it did help mellow the taste of the lamb. Rob ate my potatoes. Rosemary was the garnish on everything this week.

After dinner we went up top to play mini golf. At first glance, you might think this is an easy course--there's no windmills, or sliding gates, or other tricky things. But it is a very well thought out course and you can't just whack the ball. One of us started right off with a hole in one....I think it was Rob, but maybe it was me (I did it on the other cruise, so maybe this was his turn, LOL).

Hey, how'd Skippy get on the mini golf course?!

There's a little kids section too, which is more like putting practice, but very whimsical and fun.

We headed over to the flowrider to see what's up. There were some staff working out. On one hand it looks like fun, but watching the video on the TV and watching people actually try it for the first time was enough for us, LOL! There are two Flowriders on this ship, but often just one was open. Still, I hear the line ups aren't too bad. We thought about getting a lesson, but it's $60. We're too cheap!

Tomorrow---Jamaica, man!

Cruise 2011: Day 3, Labadee, Haiti

2011-11-23T13:11:00.000-05:00

Although we'd been to Labadee twice before (see the Cruise 2008 posts), we were interested in going again, to see how it's changed.
When we found out we were on deck 6, we thought "great, no docking noises!". Well, not so, as we found out around 6am as the engines slowed/stopped! We were surprised to be awaken this way, but this was the only time I ever noticed anything to do with engines or docking.

These four pictures give a panoramic of the harbour (the bottom one goes to the right of the one above it). The new pier is huge. I'm not sure how many ships they dock at once. The smoke in the second picture is not charcoal making fires, but the Columbs Cove bbq. The big boat in the first picture is one of the old tender boats; now it's a one way ferry to the Columbus Cove area.

We had a relaxed breakfast at Windjammer, I think. We didn't go ashore until 9:45, and were pleased at how quick and easy it was. There is even an escalator to get down to the gangway.

Isn't she pretty? We noticed when we boarded that the lower hull is a pale baby blue. We were hoping to find out why, but didn't.

Armed with our map, we set out to explore. Immediately on land, we saw a path on the left, but weren't sure if it was for the public. We continued up the main path a bit, then took the next path and headed to the "left" edge of Labadee, behind the "Dragon's Plaza".

Parasailing is a popular activity here; the experience is about an hour, although the flight is only 5-6 minutes. You must be over 12, and 12-15 year olds must fly with a parent. All flights are tandem. Cost is $79US

Looking towards where you enter Labadee, we headed off to the left shore, and towards the rocky point sticking out.

Looking towards the left shore, below, the red roofed buildings just behind the shore (towards the left), are the Dragon's Breath Pub and cafe buildings.

This is a nice strip if you want to avoid the beach crowds.

Looking towards the Dragon's Breath Cafe, Dragon's Lookout Point, Dragon's Beach, and Adrenaline Beach at the far back.

We headed towards the Dragon's Breath Lookout Point.

On the right side of the picture (click on it to get the enlarged version), you can see a dragon's head. When the waves crash, it looks like he's spewing water. Over to the middle of the picture, you can see a round area and a post. This is the actual overlook. There is a small rock pool here, and when the waves crash on the shore, this pool "breathes". It's really neat. There is a security guard there, who took my camera while I was trying to get video of it, and took some pictures. Well, it's not something that a picture can express--just ripples on the water. He also took some pictures of us!

After leaving the rocky point, we headed across Dragon's Beach. This is the beach that had the funny sign (scroll down) last time we were there. There is no swimming at this beach now, however, it was great for "wildlife" spotting!

The "Beach Monitor"/lifeguard blew his whistle because you're not allowed going in the water here.

I saw many, many works of art that is otherwise known as black women's hairdo's. They truly were fascinating, but I really liked the elegance of the one above. It looks like she set it for the night previous (formal night), and kept it up for today. A little over-elegant for strolling on the beach, but still very nice!

I saw several different interpretations of this look. Not sure if you can tell, but she has sunglasses, a big hat, and a scarf wrapped over her face (including nose) and neck. The day prior, I saw a lady sunbathing in a tiny bikini, while covering her face with her big sunhat, and her hands with white gloves.

We found an empty hammock and Rob set out to give it a try. He did make it in, and then I joined him for some lounging. I was surprised that you don't feel the ropes on your back!

After the hammock, we wandered over to Adrenaline Beach. This area is new since our last visit. The swim area is sheltered, and some people were snorkeling, however, I did hear a few complaints about the ickiness of the bottom, and the fellow next to use got bite/cut by something. If you plan to actually swim here, bring swim shoes.

Adrenaline Beach. It's a very sunny beach area, with only a few of these shelters.

That's the start of the zip line, poking above the trees.

You can see the top of the Allure in the background.

A view of the zipline (more photos about the zipline later in the post).

We went in the water, but it wasn't really swimming. Afterwards, we walked up to the very north end, to the Shipwreck Pub (didn't go in, but there's nice seating). This is the area with basketball and volleyball courts. No one was playing. It was just too hot and sunny.

While resting here, I finally spotted some real wildlife, a tiny hermit crab.

This fella was tiny! About 2cm long (less than one inch).

We walked back into the "town square" and into the Artisan's Showcase/Market. So much nice artwork here! Some of it is too big for people who are flying, but there's a lot of other stuff.

We hopped on the tram and took a tour of the Artisan's Village:

When I tell people that the cruise goes to Haiti, I often get asked if it's safe. It's quite a ways from the big cities, and where they had the earthquake (Jan 2010?).

Labadee is at the very top of Haiti, near the border of Dominican Republic. It's interesting to look at the satellite image on Google. The pier is so long it's the first thing you can locate as you zoom in.
The people that work in Royal Caribbean's Labadee "resort" live either in the nearby village (called Labadee), or in the area right beside "Labadee", separated by a fence. We could see a motel like building at one point. You can see this area on the satellite images, it's a cluster of buildings and tanks, etc, on the very right edge of the resort. There is actually no real road to the village of Labadee (I'll show some pictures later on).
And besides, how can you NOT feel safe when you look up from your lunch and see this:

From left to right: Royal Caribbean security, local police force, and National police/military.

We got off the tram at the Columbus Cove area, so we could have lunch. All food is supplied by the ship, and most of the food staff is from the ship too. The variety at the buffet is a little limited if you're picky, but I'm sure you can still find something.

All around the resort (people kept calling it an island, which it is not, in the geoghrapher's term. It is "island like" in the sense that it's removed from the rest of Haiti by fences and security), there are groups of local musicians performing. They're quite good and deserve a listen and a bill or two. They have CDs for sale, but I don't know about the quality of them--much of Labadee Village doesn't have electricity still.

After lunch, we went over to Columbus beach. This side of Labadee is quite different, more matured. You can easily get a lounge chair in the shade, and the swimming is lovely (there are some rocks, and it is a little squishy when you get out a ways, but at that point you can float, LOL).

See the row of life boats? Right in the middle of the ship there are two, and then a gap, then four. Above that gap are three stateroom balconies. Ours was one of those three rooms.

The deck with the lifeboats is deck 5, where the jogging track is (and inside is the Royal Promenade). The two story loft suites are on the top left.

Next to Columbus Cove is the Arawak Aqua Park, and then the old dock that the tenders used before the pier was built.

View of Arawak Aqua Park, below:

Below is a better view of the old pier supports, and the aqua park.

The aqua park looks like fun. You get about 50 minutes in the park, for $15. If you're under 48" tall, you must have a parent in the water (and I assume, also paying!), and if you're under 16, you need a parent on the beach.

After our swim at Columbus beach we moved over to Nellie's Beach (not really labelled on the map, but it's in the blurb about swimming). It's another lovely spot to swim and relax, unless you're listening to a Jewish trio complain about the food! We think they were complaining about either the "alternative selections" (plainer, common, dishes on the menu) or "Giovanni's Table", the non-complimentary Italian restaurant on board. The woman was saying that she could have linguine or salmon at home. Whatever. To me, any meal I don't have to cook is a good meal!

There are some cabanas being built along the edge of Nellie's Beach. There's no info on cost. Next to Nellie's Beach is Barefoot Beach, for Crown and Anchor members of a certain level. There's more cabana's there.

Nellie's Bell Tower....looks the same as last time we were there!

Next to Nellie's Beach is the exclusive area, "Barefoot Beach Club" and spa. You need have reached a certain level in the Crown and Anchor society, which we hadn't yet :(

On the very right, you can see the side of the bell tower. Why didn't those buccaneers build it so you could see it from the cruise ship? LOL!

We got back on the ship around 2pm, and just like before, the clouds rolled in!

These pictures are of the actual village of Labadee, to the south of the resort area.

As we were sailing away, I heard a woman comment that it's a small place, all there was was the long beach running up the north side (Dragon's Beach). I wonder how she thought that?

Now for a little bit about some of the attractions at Labadee. First up is the very popular zip line (proper name is Dragons Breath Flight Line).

First you get the safety lecture, and then get to try out the baby zip line (not shown). Then you get trucked up the hill--500ft above Adrenaline Beach.

This attraction trucks you up to the top of the hill way behind Adrenaline Beach, and lets you fly through the air, landing near the Dragon's Breath. You start off with the information talk, then get to test out the baby zip line. Then you ride up the hill, 500ft above the beach, and soar over 2600 ft in length over the beach and water, at speeds of up to 50mph.

You must be 60inches tall (153cm). Wow, I'm only 61" tall! Max. weight is 250lb, an not recommended for the usual suspects: back neck, heart problems, or pregnant women. Footwear required. If you book the 7:30am ride, you also get a free coaster ride. The zip line is $85.

I was interested in doing the new Dragon's Tail Alpine Coaster. I'm not a big coaster rider though, so was unsure.

You can see parts of the coaster in other pictures of Adrenaline Beach and the zip line. I'm not sure what the vertical track is--I think maybe they send the empty 'cars' there after the rider unloads. It's an unpowered ride, going up to 30mph. Minimum age to ride alone is 12; kids 5-11 must ride in same cart as parent. Max combined weight is 360lb, which meant that Rob and I together would have been just over the limit! We asked at the info desk how much it was, and they said $19. We gasped and walked away. The actual ride is only 3-5 minutes! However, if you purchase a ticket, you can take a person along in your cart for free (if you're under the weight limit). There are also combo packs; Aqua Park and coaster, $29; and a free coaster ride if you get the 7:30am zip line.

Floating mats--I didn't see very many this time; they're now $12 for the day. Unless you plan to spend the entire day laying on a lounge chair, you've got to drag the floating mat around with you (like, to lunch). At the end of the day last time we found many discarded ones, but this time we didn't see any. I really think they should be cheaper!

Haitian Cultural Tour at Paradise Cove & Beach Break--we didn't go on this, but if you've still got Google satellite map open, stroll down the coast, to the south. The first village in Labadee. Keep going, and there's something like a resort on a point. Go past that and follow the coastline southwards to the first inlet. That's where this takes place. It's a 3 hour escape on a narrated water taxi. You visit Le Village which is like a museum. Then you get floating mats, beach chairs and a welcome drink. There's also a cash bar. For $65, it sounds like a nice getaway. There's several other nice getaway type trips, by various types of watercraft.

If you look around the satellite images of Haiti, you can see all sorts of neat things. There's the deforestation caused by the charcoal trade, seaside resort/homes...some with no roofs.

Something to look for, mostly from the ship decks, are the fishermen. Their small boats look mighty tiny in the open sea!

For some of these, I had to zoom right in! They were quite difficult to see with the naked eye.

I am going to end this post here, and write about our evening in a separate post.

Cruise 2011: Day 2; At Sea

2011-11-09T14:01:00.001-05:00

The first full day of the cruise is spent "at sea". Heading towards the north coast of Haiti, by going just off the coast of Cuba. The cabin was nice and dark with the curtains drawn, but at 7:30, someone woke up and thought (s)he would see what the view was like.

Holy smokes, was the sun ever bright! We were on the starboard (right side, when facing the front/bow from inside the ship), and we were heading south-east. The sun wasn't coming in directly, but the glare from the water added to the brightness. We immediately shut the drapes, LOL. A few minutes later I peeked out again, and saw land!

Mmmm...land looked a little bigger through the binoculars, and on my computer screen....

For breakfast, we checked out the Solarium Bistro. The ships we had been on before didn't have this restaurant. It was touted as being the "healthy choice" for eating. It was a lovely setting for breakfast; outside, covered, a little babbling brook....but the food was blah. Turkey sausage (dry cardboard crumbs packed in a tube), turkey bacon (dry cardboard strips), scrambled eggs, etc. My idea of healthy eating has changed recently, and this was not it.

So, what did we do on our day at sea? Well, I have no pictures of the day, up to when we went to the ice show at 7:30. However, I do recall that since Rob wasn't feeling well, I went down to the jogging track.

On the other ships, the jogging track is way at the top, out in the full sun, through the rows of sunbathers. I rarely saw anyone actually jog on it. The ships also had a lower deck you could walk around on--deck 4, where the lifeboats on. There was shuffleboard layouts, and lounge chairs, and it was a great place to slip out to after dinner or a show when you actually needed to warm up from the air conditioning, LOL. However, jogging was not allowed. On the Oasis class, the deck is now deck 5, and has no loungers or other recreational aids, and is the jogging track. There are two lanes, one on the right for walkers, one on the left for joggers. There's inspirational signs, a mileage guide (one lap is 0.667 km) and a direct entry to the gym (there is no access to the helipad on these ships). There are also water fountains, but they are actually tricky to see as they're tucked behind corners so you don't see them unless you look behind you!

This first time on the track was great! There were a LOT of walkers, but most were good about staying to the right. There were a few joggers too. It was mostly shaded, and although it was warm, there was quite a breeze in some spots. It was neat to be able to see the AquaTheater from the backside of it. One tip I'll bring up later about the track--don't go when the ship is pulling into a port, or waiting to unload. Crazy.

For lunch, we tried the hot dog stand on the Boardwalk. It was a little overwhelming to have so many choices. I got the bratwurst, I think Rob did too. It was a nice, "boardwalky" thing to do, although Rob didn't feel well later in the day so that tainted his opinion of the hot dog stand, even though that wasn't the reason for not feeling well. I had planned to get back to it to try other flavours, but we just never did.

The rest of the day? Lounging and looking at the wildlife. Now, yes, I'm on a huge ship. What kind of wildlife is there on a cruise ship? The geriatric beached mammal (almost always male) was very common:

This was actually on Day 1, before even left Ft. Lauderdale!

You can click on it for a better view!

Since we were going to see the "IceGames" show at 7:30pm, we had to be ready for our formal dinner before we when down. I've never been to an ice show wearing a floor length formal gown!

I am standing in front of the door into our cabin. The door beside me is to the washroom. It's not even as wide as the door once you're in. The white splat at the bottom of the photo is the bed.

The ice show was also a concept show--the skaters were IN various games that come to life. Once again, I'm impressed with what these skaters do on such a tiny rink.

However, I think it's almost cruel to the skaters--for years they work towards more power, and now they have to reign it in, and that usually results in a few spills during the show. For more pictures/video of a Royal Caribbean ice show, see my "Cruise 2008" posts (and my YouTube channel, TracyKMainwaring).

We went straight to the formal dinner. All day, Rob had been trying to guess what Vanessa and John would do. She had said she was having trouble finding clothes that fit (she was 10 weeks pregnant), so I figured it's quite likely they wouldn't bother coming. And if they did come, John would most likely be very sober. Rob figured they wouldn't come because Vanessa was embarrassed by John's behaviour on the first night. He didn't want to sit with them again, and was pushing for moving to "Our Time" dining, or asking for another table. I'm a little more tolerant, but I did think it was unlikely they'd show up.

They didn't, and in fact, they did remove themselves from the main dining room 8:30 seating list.

I decided to get brave, and try escargots for the appetizer. Yup. I'm not too adventurous with food (I like spicy, etc, I just don't like weird food!). I had 3 and Rob had 3. The first one I had tasted very seafoodish--I think the sauce was butter/garlic/lobster flavoured. But the next two weren't too bad! I wouldn't pay to order them though, LOL.

I don't remember exactly what the cut of meat was for the main course, but it was divine! I think it was tenderloin. I did finish it all, and Rob ate my potatoes.

We had a bit of a break after dinner, and got changed, then went down to the Comedy show. There were two acts; Phil Palisoul and Mike Wilson. They repeat the same show many times during the cruise, but I'm sure each time is slightly different. They were good, not too raunchy. Phil's humour had a lot to do with getting old, and not being good looking; so many people could easily relate. The other guy did a lot of voice impersonations, as well as some jokes I think I've read in Reader's Digest. Still laughable though!

It was another late night, and we were arriving early in Labadee, Haiti in the morning!

Cruise 2011: Day 1, Embarkment and Sail Away

2011-11-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

We got a shuttle at 10:45am from the hotel to the port. Getting close to the port we could see the very top of the ship. It wasn't quite the dramatic entry as going into the Port of Miami, but actually by just being able to see a little of the ship, made us realize that she really is huge! There were no other ships in the port this day for comparison. If you want to see something interesting look at Ft. Lauderdale on Google Maps (satellite). The airport is easy to find. Our hotel was just south (two major roads), along the I95. The port is east of the north end of the airport. If you zoom in close, you can clearly see either the Oasis or the Allure. It's the big one on the left, bow pointing south :)
We were brought up to a section of the parking lot at the north-west side of the building, where you can see angled parking spots in the Google map. A bunch of people immediately sprang up, but then the driver got on the speaker. Just before he did, the woman behind us told her young daughter (around 8 or 9) that there would be a lot of people and things going on and she'd have to be really patient for the next two hours. The driver explained that first, all the luggage would be unloaded, then we would get off and find our luggage and give what ever we wanted "checked" to the porter, and keep out all our important stuff in our carry-on. The woman behind us could see her carry on bag with all the luggage and started going on about not wanting it checked and where on earth is her other suitcase. Then her daughter started about where is her backpack and she wants it to carry on....then the mother immediately freaks on the daughter and wouldn't let her say another word. Argh. She's an excited child, just picking up on her mother's cues!

We got off the bus, and got our suitcases. We were checking 3 out of the 4. We didn't have room tags though, as we didn't get our room assignment until Friday evening (more on that later!). The porters were friendly and got the job done quickly. We went into the terminal, followed the signs, stood in line, and were in the waiting area in less than 1/2 hour. A few minutes later, we were heading to the gangway! We were on the ship by 11:45, I think.

I have a lot of pictures to post of today, so I'm not going to include ones of specific areas of the ship right now. In another post, I'll walk you through the ship and show pictures of each area.

We immediately headed up to Windjammer (the largest buffet on board, and usually the only thing open at boarding time). This is what to do on any cruise, we've learned. This time, it's on deck 16, which is one above the pools (the other two ships had it on deck 11 with the pools). I had brought the deck plans from the cruise book, and we were given a little booklet when we checked in, but hadn't yet gotten an idea of where anything was. The little booklet is great, when you spread it open on your bed, but not too handy as you're going up the elevator, LOL. The Windjammer is just as expected, although now there are hand sanitizers everywhere on the ship. They tend to dispense a little more than my girly hands needed, so be prepared to have some man hands nearby to drip onto :)

A helicopter cozy!

We went outside to look around, then I remembered we needed to go to the box office right away. We found out where it was at that moment (it's not a real structure, it's tables set up in a bar, staffed by the recreation staff). We found the line, and joined it. It was probably the longest line we dealt with all week (except for the flight home). However, we were able to get seats to the two shows we hadn't been able to reserve pre-cruise. Reserving seats pre-cruise is now offered on the Freedom and Oasis classes only, I think. I remember getting on board with the first cruise, and seeing all the different events we wanted to schedule, and wished we could have known a bit more while still at home. Even though we had the show schedule at home now, there were still many other events (and shows) that didn't need reserving, and still needed to be worked into the schedule.

For some reason, the sight of a machine gun made us smile.

We decided after that to go up and see where our room is. I had heard that rooms wouldn't be open until 2pm, but it's not an "all at once" type of thing--if your room is ready, you're allowed in. We were surprised to find at 1pm that not only was our room ready, our luggage was already there!

After work on the Friday afternoon, Rob checked on line to see if we finally had our room assignment. We finally had a room, on the 6th deck! Not only that, but somehow, we had been upgraded to a balcony room!! Every time we've booked a cruise, we toy with the idea of a balcony room, but don't want to pay the extra. A balcony is about $200 extra, per person. We always decided we'd rather use that money for an excursion. After all, every one says you don't spend much time in your cabin. Right? Well. On the first cruise, I was sick. I spent a lot of time in the cabin. On the second cruise, we had already experienced much of the ship, so we, uhhh...did spend some quality time in our cabin. For views of the standard, inside cabin, check out the links on the left for "Cruise 2008". The inside cabins on the Freedom class are 152sq ft. On the Oasis class, they're 149sq ft while the room we got was 182 sq ft. I'm not really sure how they made the smaller rooms so much smaller--smaller sofa, pushed right to the end of the wall. The layout of the balcony room we had is slightly different than what they show on line and in the book--our bed was at the front, and the sofa next to the doors. I think the room would feel bigger with the sofa near the door, and would make it a lot easier for using the closet. Rob would get something out of the closet and sit down on the bed, making it impossible for me to get in the closet.

Every few minutes, the weather looked different!

The first thing Rob wanted to check out was the lock on the sliding door. He had read that it's easy to lock yourself out. Indeed, it is. Especially if it's windy; the door makes an irritating squeal, heard both in the room and on the balcony, unless left open a few inches (letting hot humid air into the cabin), or put in the lock position.

We started unpacking, and discovered that our room had been booked by a Portuguese speaking couple that were Diamond members (we're Gold members). You'd think after that many cruises they'd be in a suite. Maybe they had upgraded themselves. We never did get our own coupon books--the Guest services said they'd come to the room by the second night, but then we went back and they didn't have any left :( We couldn't use the Platinum coupons as you have to provide your name and cabin number. We did enjoy their Welcome Basket snack and robes though!

Uhhh...are we headed towards that rain?!

After, we headed out to explore some more. We toured the spa and some of the gym, then headed to the other end of the ship where the Boardwalk area is (all this was on our deck). It's a nice area of the ship, although not really a relaxing zone--not a lot of seating, except in the AquaTheater.

At 4:30pm there is a mandatory emergency drill. On the other ships, you have to take the life jackets out of your room (see Cruise 2008 for pictures), put them on, and line up on the hot, outside, covered slightly, decks, with 100s of other people. Even the year I was feeling good, I nearly fainted. It was impossible then to hear all the info on the speakers. This time, the life jackets are at your meeting place. As you go there, you have to have your SeaPass card out, and the location is in big print. You show it to staff standing everywhere with signs saying "Have SeaPass in hand" and they point you which way to go. When you get to your location (for us, it was the ice rink, otherwise known as "Studio B"), you have to have your card scanned. You don't have to put on life jacket! But you sit down with about 350 other people and listen/watch the video. In the event of an emergency, your leader will take you as a group to your lifeboat. Ummm. I know the odds are great that it'll never happen, but I don't really want to go deep into the ship, and wait to be led to the lifeboats!

After that, we headed back to our balcony to watch the send off. Luckily, we were on the starboard side, and headed south, so we could watch the shoreline. And watch the clouds. Mmmm. The weather wasn't looking so great. We went out to Central Park to check it out. It was probably our favourite area on ship. Despite being mid-ship, and closed in on 4 sides, there was a nice breeze, and lots of places to just sit. And sometimes some fun characters too!

Our dinner time was 8:30. Would we get a table of 8 again? Young people, old people, couples? English speakers? We have no idea how they group people. We went into the dining room and wandered around the main area before asking someone. There was no logic to the table numbering! He took us off into a side room we never knew existed! We were at a table for 4, and there was another young couple there.

Oh boy. John was 30, a "chef", parent to a 7 year old boy, and married to Vanessa who was 23, about to get her masters in business degree, 10 weeks pregnant, Brazilian but born and raised in Utah. Together though, there were from Florida, and boy, did John sound like it. He had a Corona in front of him, and that's all he had until the after dinner shot, but I don't know how much he had in the pre-dinner hours! He was a big talker. Slightly repetitive though. And I could barely understand 1/2 of what he said. He was very friendly with the staff, almost too much so, for the first night.

Our waiter was Michael Miller, from Jamaica; his assistant was Andrew, also from Jamaica. I have no idea what the head waiter's name was, but he was from Slovenia. I don't remember what was on the menu for this night, but Rob and I had Black Angus sirloin (I think) from the "alternatives" menu (otherwise known as the "basic food for picky eaters"). As always, the food was excellent.
John and Vanessa left without dessert, which of course we stayed for. As soon as we got into the lobby though, we both cracked up and started laughing hysterically. We had nothing in common with this couple, but they were quite entertaining (in a "were we ever that young and dumb" sort of way).

It's sort of like Cirque de Soleil. The pool has a platform that can raise up and down.

We had to head up to the AquaTheater right away for the show, "OceanAria". Ten minutes before show time they let in those without reservations, so you want to have your seat before then. The Boardwalk seemed wet, and we think it must have rained during dinner. The theater was already pretty full by the time we got there, at about 10:15.

These guys below, are known as "Hand Balancers"

The show, "OceanAria" is a conceptual show--something about what life in Atlantis would be like. This is a little hard for Rob to follow--he wants a real story. I say, just watch it for what it is, not for the "plot". It's an incredible show, choreographing springboard, platform, and extreme high divers, with trampoline, dance, "hand balancers", and airborne acrobatic artists. Whew. There's a lot going on at any time. Pictures don't do it justice, especially when you're still new to your camera's functions (and do NOT use flashes during performances!). I did find a ISO3200 setting on my camera which is probably the best option for dim light/fast action.

Yes, that's a trampoline.

After the show, we went to bed. There were still lots of other things to do on board, but we needed to chill a bit before going to sleep!

See those people near the top right? They go over to the platforms directly above the springboards (which are folded up and out of the way). Then they dive off. Crazy? Wait for this next picture...

See the tall tower? See the person at the top? Yes, he dives off, and he's not the only one; there's a tower on both sides. I'll have more pictures on other days to show just how crazy high this is. These guys are called "Extreme divers". Since everyone on board does multiple jobs, I wonder what else these guys do!

Cruise 2011: Pre-cruise

2011-11-01T14:16:00.001-04:00

Ever since our last cruise, November 2008, we have wanted to go on another. Rob has wanted to go on the newest ship, the Oasis of the Seas, but the thought of being on a ship with 6100 other guests (plus over 2000 crew) was a bit much for me. I really wanted to go on a southern Caribbean cruise, but Rob didn't want the hassle/expense of flying to San Juan, or the smaller ship. The past few years have been really busy and stressful for us (the move and his new job), but every once in awhile we'd check out cruise prices and then sigh and postpone for later.

This past summer one of my friends went on the Oasis of the Seas. She gave a very good review of her trip, stressing that the ship never felt crowded as there are more venues, places to eat, and open space than on the smaller ships (ie--it has two FlowRiders, but not twice as many passengers as the ships we had been on). Rob's parents were open to looking after the kids for a week (since we now live close, and all three are in school full time!). We looked at the prices, and the itineraries, and on Sept 6 booked the Western Caribbean cruise for Oct 23-30 on Allure of the Seas. We booked as an "guaranteed inside cabin", which meant that it could take up to the day of sailing to find out our stateroom number/location. We feared being down in the bottom of the ship again, but would take our chances.

Our WestJet 737 for the trip down

Isn't that spectacular? Just want to reach out and touch that fluff!

We got lucky with awesome direct flights, at good times and good prices. We flew WestJet from Toronto to Ft. Lauderdale on Sat. Oct 22 at 4pm aprox. We were nervous about timing, having to drive through Toronto on a Saturday afternoon, but it was nice not to have to get up in the middle of the night! We actually got there a bit before the WestJet counter opened, but when it did, we were immediately pleased with their staff. Actually, before we left, I got a call from someone at WestJet to make sure we had found out about our change in our return flight time! Going through security and customs was quick and painless, although paying for an early dinner in the airport wasn't so painless, LOL.

I was terribly excited to see the live GPS images, however, once the plane showed up on the screen, I had to laugh. Look at how big the plane is! It was handy to take a picture out the window, then one of the screen to show where we were. I'm sure the old snowbird next to me thought I was odd!

These two pictures are between Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia. The river formations/deltas were amazing! I'm going to be visiting Google Maps to check them out some more!

They called pre-boarding, and we were surprised at how many adults in wheelchairs there were. Apparently the migration of the snowbirds had started! Pre-boarding (silly word) took longer than expected, and we boarded near the end since we were in row 6. We took off a few minutes late.

I think this one below, is Daytona Beach. I liked how the shadows of the buildings projected onto the ocean, but you couldn't see the buildings themselves.

Crew was pleasant, and although the take off was as lousy as I remember (it was fine, really, I just hate that part), the flight was smooth. We got in a few minutes early in fact. Our bags came quickly, we found our shuttle to the hotel and got checked in, then went to Chipotle's for a late dinner.

I love how the cities go right up to the Everglades and then Stop!

However, it appears that we were further south than what the GPS showed.

A little bit of the sunset. It was hard to photograph, as it either blinded the camera (and me), or the camera would focus on the dirt on the window.

I had heard about Chipotle's on Oprah, and I think we have one in Toronto, but neither of us had been. Rob thought we were just going to another form of Taco Bell, but he was extremely pleased with the taste and value of his meal. He kept talking about going back to get another one! Mine seemed to get spicier as I got closer to the end, but it was very good. I would have liked a little dessert/sweet bit after as the spice stayed with me for awhile.

The views from our hotel room...yeah, that's the I95. Not the greatest view, but hey, we were there for the bed, free shuttles, and free breakfast.

SpringHill Suites (Marriott), Dania Beach

Weird double-headed shower thing.

It was technically a suite (with a king size bed!). We kept our free water cold in the mini fridge, but didn't use the coffee maker. I did however, enjoy sitting at the big desk while writing out a knitting chart!

We were going to go to the pool, but opted to keep our suits dry till on the ship. It wasn't really an early night, but better than the last trip when we didn't get to the hotel till 11pm.
We got up bright and early for the free breakfast, then gathered our things for the free shuttle to the ship.

Update on Hugh

2011-10-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

It's time for a little update on Hugh. The accident was on October 11. On October 13 I took him to see our family doctor (who he hadn't yet met) at the walk in clinic. She was somewhat more helpful than the hospital, although she didn't take the cast off to look at it. She did prescribe naproxen (a stronger version of Aleve) and prevacid (to protect his stomach from the naproxen).

These pictures are from just before we went to the walk in clinic, Oct 13.

These pictures are from October 14th:

Its hard to get a good picture--using a flash makes his skin look shiny and you can't see the bruising, but no flash means it's blurry, although the colours are better.

You can really see how the right side of his foot is either swollen, or out of place. It looked like this on the xray, but the doctor said it wasn't broken.

These pictures are from October 17:

The bruising around his toes did not show up as quickly as the ankle bruising. Is that good, or a concern?

Tomorrow, Oct 20, we go to the "fracture clinic" at the hospital. Hopefully we'll finally get some answers there. He's able to put some weight on it and "walk" without the cast, but I'm not letting him, LOL, although he takes it off for sleeping now. I think that's helping heal the road rash--getting some fresh air on it.

One thing we found out after this accident, is that Hugh has a wart problem on that right foot! I had no idea--he ALWAYS wears socks, so we don't see his feet. He had had one on his hand that got large and was hard to get rid of, and last year had one on his foot that was also difficult to treat. But he's got two huge plantar warts (which he says don't hurt), and MANY (10+?) smaller warts around the toes. I read that up to 90% of warts will just disappear, but I don't think the plantar warts will, and he's even got some bumps on his knee that look like mini-warts. My bigger concern though is WHY does he get so many, and no one else in the family (Lucy and Meg have each gotten one or two at a time, easily treatable) gets them that bad. I never get warts.

Music Monday

2011-10-17T12:28:00.001-04:00

I've written before about my love of Genesis. One thing I enjoy about this group is their auditory variety due to their various life stages. Many bands that have been around 30 years sound pretty much the same now as they did at their start, which is also a great attribute. But a band that continually matures and evolves despite some major changes, like the loss of their lead singer and image maker, should also be acknowledged.

The other day on my "walg" I listened to "All in a Mouse's Night" from Wind and Wuthering (1976). This is a most interesting song, from a fascinating album. Who writes a rock song about a couple that sees a mouse; parts of the song are from the couple's view and some parts are the mouse's view. And then there's the poor cat. What I love about this album is that it is very musical. It's not formula music to be played on the radio. It's music that makes you listen. How much of that is out there now?

I think the strength of this album comes from the strong musical education of these men. If you watch this video, it's charming how the guys could be your accountant, your butcher, or your child's teacher. Music education like they got growing up just doesn't happen anymore. Much of it was church based, and that is very evident in the heavy Hammond organ and Mellotron use by Tony Banks.

In that video, it's interesting to hear how this is one of Tony's favourite albums. Is that because his songs did well, or did his songs do well because he liked the album (and the making of it)? It's also interesting to know that Phil Collins was not doing much composing back then. In fact, even the singing was still pretty new to him, as you can tell by the thinness of his voice. He hadn't grown into his role as lead singer yet--even the album notes state that he provided the "voices, drums, cymbals, percussion". As Phil's confidence and importance in the band grew, the individualized credits for each song were eliminated until all music was written by "Genesis". And that is also when they started getting more consistent North American air play. Mmmm.

I would love to find out more about the genesis of the songs from this album. There doesn't seem to be much indication of drug use by the band, and mind altering drugs don't suddenly provide talent anyway. What provokes someone to write "Fifty thousand men were sent to do the will of one./His claim was phrased quite simply, though he never voiced it loud, I am he, the chosen one.//In his name they could slaughter, for his name they could die./Many there were believed in him, still more were sure he lied,/But they'll fight the battle on." (One for the Vine; Tony Banks).

Other songs could be on the pop charts today, both musically and lyrically: "You, you have your own special way,/of holding my hand keep it way 'vobe the water,/Don't ever let go-Oh no, no, no./You, you have your own special way,/Of turning the world so it's facing/the way, that I'm going, don't ever don't ever stop." ("Your Own Special Way; Mike Rutherford). Also, "But I, I would search everywhere/Just to hear your call/And walk upon stranger roads than this one/In a world I used to know before?I miss you more//Than the sun reflecting off my pillow..." (Afterglow", Tony Banks). I'm surprised there aren't more remakes of Genesis songs, like "That's All" (I don't particularly like this remake, although for some reason I'm wondering if this isn't the song I'm thinking of...is there another countrified version of a Genesis song? Oh my goodness, look who also performed it! How fascinating to hear such different versions. I can see myself spending too much time on YouTube today!).

Anyway. That's Music Monday today!

Happy Anniversary?!

2011-10-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

It seems this year my family's wedding anniversaries bring unfortunate events. My brother had his derelict minivan stolen out of his driveway. And yesterday it was our turn for not celebrating our anniversary.
Back in April, for Rob's birthday, I bought him a high speed go-karting experience at a place north-east of here; adjacent to a popular motorsport race track. In the summer, my younger brother, Michael, also bought the voucher (it was through wagjag, sort of like "Groupon"; a discount service where a company offers a deal, as long as a certain number of people pre-purchase it, and you don't get charged unless the minimum number of people buy). They were excited to go together, but trying to arrange two very different schedules...on top of that, some of the info said it had to be done during the week, not on weekends. Sigh. The vouchers expire on October 31, AND, we're away from Oct 22 to Oct 30! Finally, the boys agreed that yesterday, Oct 11, our anniversary, would be acceptable. Their time slot was 1pm, and it was supposed to last 1 1/2 hours. I expected them back around 3:30-4pm. I had Hugh and Meg booked for dentist appointments at 4:45pm, and I told Rob he could either take them, or he could stay home and cook dinner. He chose to stay home.

At 4:25 they still weren't home. I called Michael's cell, and they were about 10 minutes from home (and in "my" truck). I decided to wait for them, rather than take Rob's truck. They showed up, and we left. We parked in a municipal lot, on the south side of the main 4 lane road through town (Dundas Street, or "Highway 2"). It's 1/2 the price of the parking meters right by the dentist, and I usually have to go to the bank or library right by the parking lot. But it means crossing Dundas Street...lights are two blocks in either direction. I grew up in this area, and crossed this street very regularly from a young age. During the day, I will usually cross the street with the kids, rather than go out of the way to the lights. During the "rush hour", I play it by ear, but usually go up to the lights if we "have time". Yesterday, since we were rushing, I opted to jaywalk.

We waited for the eastbound lanes to stop (backed up from the lights, two blocks up). I held Meg's hand in my right hand, and Hugh was beside her. We crossed through the two stopped lanes, and I stopped on the yellow line. I looked down to Meg, to make sure she didn't have her feet sticking out, and saw that Hugh wasn't there. As I turned to my left, I heard the screech. And thud. And screams.

I looked over and saw him on the ground, on his back like a turtle. He was screaming about his foot and his glasses. I got his glasses, and he got up and took a couple steps towards me, but then dropped down to the road. Traffic had stopped, but we were in the middle of the road. A woman stepped forward and asked if she could help--she was a nurse. She directed two men to scoop him up and carry off the road onto the grass in front of the church. People were milling around but I just focused on Hugh, I assumed someone would take it upon themselves to call 911 (I don't have a cell phone).

911 was called, and the nurse came back to see in I needed anything. I said we were supposed to be at the dentist beside the church and could she go tell him we weren't coming. Dr. Greenglass and his hygienist soon appeared, and although I'll never love going to the dentist, LOL, it was really nice to see their familiar faces. I asked if they could call Rob and tell him to come down, along with Hugh's health (insurance) card.

The "first responder" EMT arrived, a nice, friendly, non-young man. He got Hugh's shoe and sock off and we saw the extent of the damage. Wow. We were certain there'd be some broken bones, although he had all his pulses and could move his toes. He also had a cut on his knee, and road rash on his elbow and back. But looking at his clothes (including a WHITE t-shirt, you'd have never know he just collided with a car!). How fortunate that Hugh doesn't like sandals! An unmarked cop showed up, and the ambulance came and got Hugh loaded in just as Rob showed up. The cop said I could go in the ambulance, but he was waiting for a marked police to show up and take the actual report, and then the ambulance left (nearly getting hit by a Ford pickup as it made a U-turn). Rob left with Meg to go home.

The new cop took over. Picture this....distraught mother...barely over 5ft tall. Dark black cop WAY over 6ft tall, who did not take his sunglasses off. He had the warmth and compassion of an ice cube. He never leaned forward or bent down, he was fairly soft spoken and with an accent and we were still beside a busy road which made it hard to hear him. He would probably have been great when arresting someone, but he totally missed on the sympathy aspect. However, he at least wasn't too hard on me, perhaps because I did say this was my fault. He said he wasn't going to press charges (against me or the driver), but it would actually be up to his Sargent about that and if CAS is contacted. I'm not surprised, but I think it was pretty obvious that this was not a case of neglect or intentional harm!

I spoke briefly with the driver before I left. He seemed okay, although I have no idea what he was like immediately after the crash. His windshield was broken he said, but it didn't seem that Hugh hit his head, and his foot had obviously been twisted or driven over. I don't think his lightweight, combined with the slow-ish speeds could have meant that his elbow did the damage.

I got home, and Rob wasn't home! I collected my stuff and was getting ready to leave when he showed up with both girls (Lucy had been at her friend's house). He drove us to the hospital, dropped me off, then took the girls to his parents and came back to the hospital just as Hugh was getting examined. I want to say a HUGE thank you to the paramedic who stayed with Hugh in the emergency department until I got there!

The doctor was not exactly Mr Pleasant either. Although after seeing Hugh he disappeared for awhile and when we saw him later he was much better. I guess we weren't the only ones missing dinner! He ordered a urine sample and foot x-rays. That didn't take too long, but waiting for the results took awhile.

When the top view popped up on the screen, I was concerned as everything looked a little angled. On the side view, there is a bone at the top of the foot, with some grooves in it, but I didn't know if that was normal. But the side view scared me. I had never seen an ankle x-ray, so I really had no idea of "normal". There is a bone that sort of droops down on the side, looks like when you squish a S'more and the marshmallow oozes over the side. There was also a horizontal line just above the end of the leg bone. Turns out this is normal, and the small segment at the end of the leg bone is the growth plate. I had Googled x ray images yesterday morning and didn't make a distinction between adult and children, so at first I got mad....then I googled for children specifically and it seemed to be a normal thing. The doctor said it was badly sprained, but no breaks. He'd need a splint.

However, there was some blood in his urine, "+3". He said if he was an adult, this wouldn't be a concern, but he consulted with the urologist, and this number is above the cut off for okay, and he would need a CT scan. Mandatory. Rob was really upset with this; I guess working in the nuclear industry now has made him more aware of the issues. We had to go out to the main waiting room, where there wasn't a single book, toy, or magazine. The TV was on, but we couldn't see it. Hugh was freezing, we were all hungry and tired. Rob went and got a snack, but of course, there's all these signs that say patients can't eat or drink. I let Hugh have a little bite of doughnut and sip of water. Rob called his mom and she had given the girls a bath, which was great since the next day was picture day! She would take them back to our house so they could go to bed.

(the line going across his leg is his tan line from wearing socks all summer!)

At about 9:10 they called us back, and Hugh had to drink two big cups of a cold, watery fluid, quickly. He was freezing! Then the nurse had to put in an IV. He did awesome, even though we could tell it hurt. We were escorted to the CT scan, and that was all done by 9:50. The technician said they use a lower dose on children, but then we were told by another nurse that they don't dose by size.

We had to wait in the main waiting area again, until about 10:20. The results were fine, though we were told he needed to drink more. We had to remind the doctor about the splint, and then had to wait again. A nurse came to do that. Finally, at the end of the night, we get someone with some personality and social skills (the CT escort and the CT tech were also nice). She got him into an "AirCast" ($175!). However, none of his wounds were cleaned up or dressed. We left just before 11pm, and Hugh noticed the full moon, LOL!

Hugh has a loft bed, so his mattress was moved to the floor, and we visited with Rob's parents for a bit. The day before, at Thanksgiving Dinner, when we each had to say what we're thankful for, I said good health, and having family close by again. Who would have thought the very next day we'd be calling upon them in an emergency!

Hugh was pretty tired on Wednesday morning, so he stayed home until lunch. The rash on his back was hurting more than anything else, except for his leg getting tired from dragging the heavy cast around. We hadn't been given ANY instruction on how to care for him (except to see the Ortho. next Thursday). I took the cast off, and the sock liner was stuck to the raw parts on his leg. Not too bad though. He iced his foot for 20 minutes, kept the cast off for a bit while I took pictures, then we put him back together.

This morning, he did say his foot hurt (finally). He did go to school, although we almost missed the bus. Luckily, the bus has to drive towards us, so they can see if we're running down the street, LOL.

I'm taking Hugh to the walk in clinic after school, where our doctor works. She hasn't met him yet (she's met everyone else, LOL). I just want to know how best to care for him, what's the best painkillers, etc, and to have documentation in case anything turns up later.

I will mention that Meg was an awesome girl during all this. She didn't see him get hit, thankfully. She was calm and not demanding while Hugh was being attended to. She did start talking to the first responder about her upcoming trip to Pingle's Fun Farm (which is owned by my ex-aunt and her husband). Lucy woke up when we got home and she got to see the cast, but when I took Hugh into the office at lunch, one of Lucy's classmates was there and she said Lucy started crying when she told the class what happened. And then there's me. I am able to keep calm (but still shook up) during emergencies, but then later, I crash. As the day wore on yesterday, I felt worse and worse. There was a lot to do, emails, people to phone, this to write out, dinner to make, and I didn't want to do anything. I was exhausted, with a minor headache, and a deep feeling of horror mixed with relief. I think going for my "walg" (walk and jog) would have helped this morning, but Lucy woke up and then threw up on my kitchen floor. But she's totally better now, so I'm taking her to school in a few minutes!

Music Monday

2011-10-03T10:36:00.000-04:00

I was all set to write about this song last Monday, but then found out the CD doesn't include lyrics :( Then I got really busy and now it's this week, LOL. I promise I won't do country music each week!

"I'd Rather Be Happy Than Right". There's no video to go with the music, so you have to intentionally listen. But it's an easy listen!

As a woman, I do think every man should hear this! It's like a Dr Phil episode in a song. And better looking! LOL.

However, this caught my ear: "if I want to be happy later on tonight, I better let her think she won the fight, cause I'd rather be happy than right".

Good point, LOL. But....shouldn't the woman also/sometimes let the man think he's won the fight? Mr. M and I totally disagree on some renovating things right now, but I can let it slide and let him think he's "winning". I think it just comes down to this...what can you let slide for the sake of happiness? The paint colour? Do you really need to comment on her lipstick? His mismatched socks? What you focus on expands!

Music Monday

2011-09-19T10:59:00.001-04:00

Today on my walk/jog ("walg"? "wog"?), "No Time to Kill" by Clint Black (1993) came on my mp3 player. I decided to actively listen to it, instead of passively. I found the lyrics quite motivational and thought I'd share them today as part of a new series, "Music Monday"

No Time To Kill
(Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas, 1993)

There's no time to kill between the cradle and the grave
Father Time still takes a toll on every minute that you save
Legal tender's never gonna change the number on your days
The highest cost of livin's dyin' that's one everybody pays
So have it spent before you get the bill, there's no time to kill

If we'd known ten years ago today would be ten years from now
Would we spend tomorrow's yesterdays and make it last somehow
Or lead the cheers in someone else's game and never learn to play
And see the rules of thumb are all the same that measure every day
The grass is green on both sides of the hill, there's no time to kill

No time to kill, even I've said it and probably always will
But I can look ahead and see that time ain't standin' still
No time to kill but time to change the kind of hurry I've been in
And quit this work and worry lookin' back at where I've been
If you don't look ahead nobody will, there's no time to kill

If we had an hour glass to watch each one go by
Or a bell to mark each one to pass, we'd see just how they fly
Would we escalate the value to be worth its weight in gold
Or would we never know the fortunes that we had till we grow old
And do we just keep killin' time until there's no time to kill

This song came out while I was dating Jim, and we also saw Clint Black on the tour for this album. If I had known then what the next 10 years would bring, what would I have done? Continue to enjoy the time we had until it ended, or just give up then? We did have some great times, but I could have been having those great times with someone else! Dr Phil often says that time is going to pass anyway, so why put off what ever it is that you keep putting off for a better time? How do you know there will be a better time to travel/have kids/get fit/learn Spanish?

Ten years ago, 2001, well, we all know what that September brought. For me, I was still emotionally recovering from a 13 week miscarriage. Hugh was 15 months old and a handfull and we were still trying to figure out our lives together, LOL.

Ten years from now, what do I want to look back and remember? That I re-found the inner strength in me, and really, truly started pushing myself when I exercise! That we went through some rough times this summer but came out WAY stronger and better! That the kids could go through another major change and start taking a bus to a new school! Life is really good right now and I want to be able to remember this in the future when hard times come around again. I'm trying not to waste my days, but I'm also not trying to "save time". The kids are going to grow up; I can't save time and deny that. Enjoy time!!

Indianapolis, Day 8

2011-09-15T10:30:00.000-04:00

As we were getting ready for our last night in Indianapolis, we had a special visitor!

Apparently there is a red fox family that lives on the hill behind the house, but we never got to see them, so seeing the deer so close to the house was a treat!
Day 8 was Saturday, and we left bright and early (6:20am) to come home. The sun was barely up, and it was going to be another hot day!

The trip home was pretty uneventful. There was no construction this time, and we stopped for lunch at a Subway instead of a picnic. I even got to access the free Wi-Fi from the Wendy's across the street to update my Facebook status, LOL.

The border crossing was pretty slow...slow enough that we could snap this picture without holding up traffic!

We did have two slowdowns coming through Toronto at 5pm on a Saturday. There was this crash in the westbound lanes. There weren't very many emergency personnel there, and the people standing around looked horrified and shocked. I googled when we got home but I couldn't find out anything.

Shortly after this, while we were in the eastbound express lanes, Meg said she had to go to the bathroom! She had just gone when we came through Kitchener! Nothing like having to move over 8 lanes of traffic and find an exit with good bathroom potential while travelling through Toronto! We were lucky though, and there was a nice Shell station just off the highway.

We got home shortly before 6pm and the kids instantly turned on the TV!

I was hoping to get some pictures of Indianapolis, but you couldn't walk around the neighbourhood we were in. The city itself feels like Calgary or Ottawa. Sufficiently large, but not overwhelming. It's easy to get around (except for a bit around Broad Ripple where the river gets in the way), but the residential areas within the city are not like they are here. This area was developed in the mid-late 1930s. The houses are spread out and well treed. However, there are no sidewalks, and not even any shoulders to walk on! The public school is just up the road, but even as an adult, I felt unsafe when Rob and I went for a little walk up the main road.

(Obviously, we were driving here, LOL, but we did walk one night). A large area of Indianapolis is like this. Comparable streets in Orangeville (Ontario), would be Hansen Blvd, Blind Line, Alder Street....the main roads through areas, but in this case, there are many homes on them too! In Whitby, think of Manning Dr, Garrard Rd, Thornton Rd, Adelaide St, Burns St, even Henry St and Cochrane St. Two lane roads that are thoroughfares but also residential (albeit, low density). Makes for beautiful drives, but not for exercise. Rob also noticed areas like this on a recent trip to South Carolina. Perhaps the fight against childhood obesity should start with re-vamping roads so that they are child-exercise friendly!

This is a small ravine, or gully, between Lou's house and the neighbour. The landscape is very interesting. Although Indianapolis is fairly flat, the micro-topography shows a different story.

This is a bed of beautiful hostas at the neighbours. It was stunning; this picture really doesn't show it well enough! The flowers were a much more intense colour in real life!

I'm not going to show any house pictures, but I did have to share this one. Who wouldn't love this in their family room?! It was custom made to fit the wall/TV and houses everything a child could need or want. Imagine how much tidier we could be if we had something like this (we used to have some great built ins in our townhouse, but not here).

Our trip to Indianapolis was great, despite the high heat. I know it might not sound like a tourist town to visit, but really, it is very tourist friendly, with lots to see for visitors of all ages. Great food, incredible architecture in the downtown and along the residences on Meridian Ave, shopping (a Cutco store!!), trails, etc. I would definitely recommend it for those who don't want a beach vacation or don't want to visit a large city.

Indianapolis, Day 7

2011-09-08T10:55:00.001-04:00

Phew! Life got a little crazy there. Last week was the last week of summer break and the girls were in daycamp and Rob was away for 4 days so I thought I'd get lots of blogging done. Ha! Especially since I had to upload some videos to YouTube and for some reason it takes like 1/2 hour for a 2 minute video. Anyone know why? The video was shot with my old Canon Powershot compact, 5.0mp camera, nothing fancy.

Anyway. Day 7 was the last day of camp for the kids, and this meant Lucy's camp was putting on their performance. It was a 20 minute musical called "Annie Jr. Jr". The orphans tell the story of Annie, without characters like Annie, Miss Hannigan, or Mr Warbucks. Just the orphans. I hadn't realized that Lucy was the first one to actually speak in the play, and I totally missed taping that :( But I did get some other videos. If you go to the YouTube link in the first paragraph, you can see the three videos I took of the production. Lucy is the one with blonde braids, glasses, and the brown t-shirt dress.

We were VERY impressed with Lucy's performance. She was on the younger side of the group, but you couldn't tell. It's hard to believe this is the same girl that wouldn't even look at strangers as a toddler. She's thinking she might like to join a youth theater group now!

Hugh's class didn't come to the production as they were still fine-tuning their robotic vehicles and vying for the title of camp champion. Most of the kids didn't want to leave and it was only when the parents started dismantling the cars did they finally concede to the end of camp.

Meg didn't mind coming home, although carrying two Dixie cups with sugar solution and Popsicle sticks that "CAN'T MOVE!!" was a chore.

For Friday afternoon, Rob, Lou's husband and I took the kids to the JCC again (Jewish Cultural Center, where they have an awesome outdoor aquatic park; see Day 3). Meg had been asking to go every day! Unfortunately, the smaller kid area was closed, so the other areas were a bit more crowded, but that resolved once the day camp kids left. To celebrate our great trip, I even tried the water slides!! The tube one was very dark and kind of scary but I figured if the kids could do it, so could I. And it was fun! A couple weeks ago I even went down the water slide at a pool here!

It was rather sad to pack up Friday night. The kids had a great time together, although it was definitely tough on everyone at times---adding 7 people to a family of 3! They have great memories of the trip though and we'd love to do it again.

Indianapolis, Day 6

2011-08-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

Thursday, July 14 was day 6 of our Indianapolis adventure. For the afternoon, 8 of us piled in the SUV and headed to the Children's Museum. This is the world's largest children's museum and a "must-see" if you're ever in Indianapolis. Lou took Rob and I there in 2003, but a lot had changed. The above picture was actually taken on the way back from the zoo, as the way we went to the museum totally missed the front.

This picture below shows that these large fellows really do go through the glass wall! Okay, I know it's dark, but trust me!

I couldn't find evidence that these fellows were also inside, but we didn't see everything there either.

Upon entering from the parking garage, there is already a lot to see before getting through the turnstiles or into the exhibits.

This dude is from the Transformers movie; I assume he's a real, live, full size character?

This wasn't the best picture to show the detail, but this picture (and several others) are made entirely from jelly beans!!

Lou's family comes to the museum a lot, but living in the city, they have the luxury of coming for only a few hours at a time. We got there rather late, and the museum closed at 5pm, so we had only a few hours to try to please 4 kids (and two guest adults, LOL). As soon as Hugh saw there was a dinosaur exhibit, he HAD to see it. He was a huge dino freak as a kid, and has only seen one other dino exhibit that I can recall (Toronto Zoo). The girls in the group were not too thrilled, but it was still interesting and they kept themselves busy. We kept losing the adult men though!

There was a neat area where you could dig for fossils. It looks like loose pebbles, but it's actually ground up rubber that gets compacted (like at many playgrounds, for the paths). It was hard work chiseling out those bones!

There is a real working lab in the dino exhibit (behind glass). This is an actual triceratops skull! At certain times you can talk to paleontologists!

The one thing I really remembered from our 2003 trip was the vintage carousel. I told Meg about it and we HAD to make sure to do that!

There is a large area devoted to an exhibit about Egypt. There was lots to interest the adults, and lots to keep the kids entertained (and educated).

Who wouldn't want to pose on a life-size model of a Nile crocodile?

The newest exhibit is National Geographic's "Treasures of the Earth". It starts with a fun elevator ride, and then you can explore three areas...China's Clay Warriors, an Egyptian mystery tomb, and a shipwreck believed to be Captain Kidd's. In this picture the kids are exploring the shipwreck.

I wish we could have had more time at the museum. Luckily, the gift store stays open a little longer as we had promised the kids they could do some shopping. They all picked out some nice things, although it was hard to keep to their budgets!

I highly recommend this museum if you're in Indiana. It's not too busy, although I suppose camp groups could change that but there's so much to explore that I'm sure there's room for every one. I really liked the miniature houses exhibit, and we never even made it into some of the exhibits! Two trips, if you can do it, would be the way to go.

Indianapolis, Day 5

2011-08-26T15:34:00.000-04:00

Day 5 brought us to mid-week, Wednesday. In the afternoon, our BIL, his daughter, and the 5 of us packed into his SUV to head to the Lego Store. It was interesting, but not cheap, and a little headache inducing. The wall of single bricks is really neat if you're missing something particular. After that, we went shoe shopping. Yup. Two men, one woman, three young girls and one pre-teen boy. The first store didn't even carry children's shoes.

We didn't find anything we thought were suitable for Meg and Lucy, and headed home for an early dinner as the family photographer was coming over to take pictures. Rob's sister didn't want the adults hanging around too closely while the kids got their shots done, but I wish I had taken a few of the adventure. After doing some at the house we moved to a beautiful park (please check out the link!). The kids were "playing" on a knoll while Stacey took photos. There were a few disturbances as they really aren't used to playing together, LOL. Then, they were to hold hands and jump. Somehow, Hugh wrenched Lucy's wrist and really hurt her. Then, while trying to console her about that, a bug bite on her leg started bleeding. That was it for her, end of her model aspirations, right in time for the individual close up pictures. No matter what the adults did (mostly Rob and Stacey), they could not get her to smile again. Now, Lucy does pout a lot, so a pouty picture would actually be in her nature. However, when we got the online proofs, there was only one pouty picture and it wasn't pouty enough; she just looked sad.

After the photo session we headed to an ice cream shop, Brics. A delicious treat was had by all, and we enjoyed the "family game" on the table...a little box of cards, each with a question to ask your family, such as "what talent would you like to have". The 10 of us took up a lot of space, and looked rather funky in our bright outfits, but it was a nice end to the day.

I don't have any pictures of the day's activities, but took some after day camp when the kids showed me the zip line at the school. It's geared more for children though as Daddy's bum hit the ground!

Even Granddad gave it a try. I did it too, but no one took a picture!

Monkey Meg!

Indianapolis, Day 4

2011-08-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

Day 4 was Tuesday. Probably the hottest day of the summer. After camp (which included my FIL and I searching the campus for a lost Hugh), we headed to the Indianapolis Zoo. This is a really nice mid-size zoo. Lou's husband is on the board of directors and arranged a "Behind the Scenes" tour for all of us, as well as his daughter's friend and her nanny.

The main part of this tour was the orangutan house. The zoo has been fundraising for a new primates exhibit, but somehow (I didn't hear the whole story), these furry guys became available before the new exhibit even has broken ground. So a home was built for them "backstage". It was a long hot walk to the exhibit, but worth it!

This guy on the left is the dominant male. His hormones will inhibit any other male from developing the hair growth and facial structure that makes him so fascinating.

They like to drink from tetra boxes! I think the big guy's name was Larry, and the keeper says he's "Lazy Larry" and she hand feeds him. They are really smart, and can be trained to do things like give a urine sample on command (one of the ladies has diabetes). The keepers do not go in the cages at all, so that's pretty fascinating!

One of the girls is named Lucy! We couldn't go up to wire, but had to stay about 5 feet back. The keepers have never seen any indication that these guys could be harmful, but you never know. They are still animals.

After spending some time with these guys, we headed off to the dolphin show. Man, the backstage areas of the zoo are very sunny! It was SO hot! We were already running low on water! We could see and hear some bits of exhibits, but unfortunately we really didn't get to see much of the zoo. The dolphin show was fun to watch, and the kids got to be "Junior Dolphin Trainers"!

(My new camera has an "aquarium" setting! I really wish I had had it for this trip!

Next up was a stop at the new tiger exhibit. Nothing "behind the scenes" about this, except that we did have a tour guide. I think there are two tigers here, but I could be wrong. Although he looks skinny, he is actually perfect...tigers aren't supposed to be plump!

Then we went into the bat exhibit. Yawn. LOL! Watching them stretch while sleeping was exciting as that got!

We tried to look at other exhibits, but since Lou's family comes all the time, they weren't really into sightseeing in the hot weather, and wanted to get to the splash pad. That was fun too, although I'm sure we could have gone to a park to do that, I would have liked to see more of the zoo, however, since all the adults were on the trip, and Rob and I were that night's chefs, we had to get home. I'd highly recommend spending a day at the zoo if you ever visit Indianapolis!

Indianapolis, Day 3

2011-08-18T12:22:00.000-04:00

Day 3 of our trip was Monday, and the first day of 1/2 day daycamp for the four kids. They went to camp at "Park Tudor", a huge, pre-K to gr 12 private school. I can't even think of an equivalent in the Durham Region here; most private schools start around grade 5 here. Meg and her cousin were in "Edible Science", Lucy was in drama camp putting together "Annie Jr. Jr" and Hugh got to take the Lego Robotics camp. While they were at camp, Rob and I drove around a bit and then got groceries for our turn to cook dinner on Tuesday.

After lunch, Lou, Grandma, Rob and I took the 4 kids to "the JCC". This is the "Jewish Community Centre". They have an outdoor aquatics park that is just wonderful! I didn't take pictures, due to it being full of kids (Park Tudor camps come several afternoons), but check out some other images. Mmm...can't find too many pictures on line! That's too bad. There is a large L shaped pool with 12ft depth at the deep end (but no diving board). The kids had fun there working on their dives as the pools we go to at home don't allow diving. Hugh also worked on his strength and distance swimming as it wasn't too busy in the deep end, he didn' t have to do a swim test to swim there, and the depth meant he HAD to swim, LOL.. The younger girls could also swim in the deep end, but they also enjoyed the family splash area. Everyone loved the lazy river. Once up on the tubes, that is. Next to doing dives, the lazy river was Hugh's favourite. There was also two water slides. One was open, one was a dark tube. The girls enjoyed these, Hugh did them a few times too.

It was a very hot and sunny afternoon and it was fairly busy there. Lou's husband gets a pass through work, and then she buys a pass for her and her daughter. It was $25 for us to go, I don't know if that was discounted because of her pass. Rob thought it was expensive, but I thought it was reasonable...compared to the cost of indoor public swim at home, which has time limits and much less to do.

Only one picture today. The kids were sharing one bedroom, which had just a queen bed and a single air mattress. At first, everyone wanted the air mattress, but by this night, no one wanted it. Lucy is NOT good about sharing, and that includes beds. But when I went in to take Meg to the bathroom, this is what I found:

They were in the queen bed, and my plan was to sleepwalk Meg to the air bed after potty. Hugh hadn't gone to bed yet. But while I had her in the bathroom, Hugh got in the airbed, LOL, so I had to kick him out. Musical beds every night!

Indianapolis, Day 2

2011-08-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, July 10, we headed out to Connor Prairie. This is a cool "living museum" because it has several different historical periods within the grounds. The first stop though was the balloon ride.

Now, it is a tethered balloon, but it does go 350ft high, and it's not so tethered that you feel anchored, if you know what I mean! I've always wanted to go in a hot air balloon (went in a tethered one before, but it went up maybe 100ft). I was WAY more nervous than I thought I'd be!

This is where they have "Symphony on the Prairie" performances. Lou and her first husband brought us here in 2003 and it was wonderful.

This view shows about 3/5 of the areas to explore. We didn't get out to the Civil War section way at the top.

This is a view looking straight down into the balloon winch. The circular roof covers a promenade with displays, and the larger portion to the left is the snack bar, and leads to the outdoor areas. There's also a large indoor exploration exhibit.

Another view of the bandshell.

Similar to the earlier view, this one also shows a bit of the Indian trading village, and the dirt patch in the lower middle is the tomahawk throwing zone!

Coming in for a landing. There are many wheels on the bottom of the circular gondola, and the dark brown area slopes towards towards the middle which is cone shaped. So the balloon always rolls right into position. There is a bit of a bump though when you get up in the air and the winch stops!

The rest of the afternoon we walked around the buildings. The Indian/Frontier Trading Post was the most interesting for the kids (and the first area we explored). Of great delight was the tomahawk throwing instruction.

Even the 5 year olds got to try! Aunt Lou was the only one to sink the tomahawk into the target!

There was a display of skins that were used in trading times. I could name them all! From top: deer, raccoon, otter, beaver (missing his tail).

The last skin is a bobcat (smaller than a lynx which it's often confused with).

This is a "blue shirted staff" that provides an educational link between the modern world and the exhibits. He was demonstrating the various tools used in starting fires. It was fun just to listen to his slow, almost-Southern drawl. And the kids were fascinated. In the background, you can see a young man. Later, he taught the kids some frontier times games, which they also enjoyed. We weren't really aware yet that the people in costume could not "get out" of their time period/position. Made for some frustrating questions and answers sometimes!

We had a somewhat quiet night as we tried to get the kids to bed early so they could start camp the next day.

Indianapolis, Part 1

2011-08-02T12:54:00.000-04:00

Rob's sister lives in Indianapolis. In August 2003 Rob and I went down to visit her, leaving their parents looking after Hugh and Lucy during the "Great Black Out of 2003". They didn't even have a non-cordless phone to get in touch with us to let us know their power was out for only about 10 hours. At the time, Rob's sister---Lou---was living in a condo in a converted school house, where David Letterman had gone to school. Our visit was fairly short but fun. Then Rob and Hugh went down in July 2006 for a Suzuki truck off-road event and stopped in for a couple days. Then, Lou and her 2nd husband were living outside of Indianapolis and had just had a baby. This trip though, is the first trip for all 5 of us, and we were also taking the grandparents! Seven people invading their brand new, not quite finished house!

We left Whitby at 6:10am. The kids, amazingly, did not fall asleep (although Meg did have a very short nap late in the afternoon). We stopped at the rest stop near London, where Rob discovered the parking brake had stuck on again. He hadn't brought any tools; and his dad's tool box did not include a hammer. We were headed across to Sarnia and there's not much along the way. We decided to get off at Strathroy and there was a country hardware store just off the highway. Brake fixed and back on the road just a few minutes behind his parents. Crossed the border at about 10:35, after visiting the duty free shop. I had forgotten my "fear" of high/long bridges, and that there would be one crossing from Sarnia! I do enjoy the view, but too many "what if"s go through my head!

We plowed on and stopped for lunch at a rest stop. Great picnic lunch! Lucy decided to ride with the grandparents for awhile. It's a pretty uneventful trip, although we were surprised to see construction crews on a Saturday (maybe they were making up for the holiday Monday?).

We arrived in Indianapolis at 6:40. Long day, but we survived. Having two vehicles (and two sets of snack options!) helped. Despite the early morning, the kids were still full of energy, so Lou and Pawel decided to put on a fireworks show for us; belated July 1/4. We sat in the driveway, and they set up in an area between the driveway and the road....there are a lot of trees around the house, but this was the best we could do.

Lucy provided some pre-show entertainment!

The first fireworks were these little UFO shaped things that spun around on the dirt. Then the next firework fell over and shot large flaming bits right at us! It just missed Hugh's head. The adults realized they needed to brace the fireworks with large rocks, and all went well (except the kids were now frightened and didn't like the noise, and there were mosquitoes...). There were some close calls as sparks landed on vehicles, in the trees, and a rooftop patio!

Hugh has his fingers in his ears. Smart boy!

After the fireworks, we tried to get the kids into sparklers. They hadn't really enjoyed them on Canada Day, and by the time they warmed up to them, they were all used up!

It was a late night, but it was Saturday, so that was okay!

Hazardous Television

2011-07-07T10:56:00.000-04:00

Is anyone else annoyed with "Bringing Home Baby" and "Baby Story" on TLC?
They should come with a disclaimer: "Following any/all of the parenting activities in this episode might put your baby in danger and play havoc with their health".

My big pet peeve: car seat safety. I know 8 out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly. But if you watch "Bringing Home Baby" you might see more than 8 out of 10. For the past two days, both episodes showed the infant car seat in wrong for the trip home from the hospital. Primarily, they left the handle up. Don't people read the instruction books? What about the stickers that are right there, ON the car seat: "The handle must be in the DOWN position when used in a vehicle" or "The arrow must point this way when used in a vehicle" and if it's that way, the handle is down. On Wednesday, the mother was sitting RIGHT beside her baby in the backseat. Didn't she wonder what all the different stickers say? The handle was UP. The scary thing is....this mother is a lawyer! DOH! I also see chest clips too low, babies in snowsuits or swaddled under the straps, and convertible seats facing the rear that are not reclined enough. Argh.

But my BIGGEST pet peeve....the bottle feeding! The new episodes show a baby being bottlefed in the opening title sequence. So you see it every episode. The statistics are now that just over 70% of newborns are breastfed. Bottle feeding is not only the un-normal, but the uncommon, way to feed an infant. I wish it was even more uncommon. So often the 'excuses' the mothers give are insane: "My milk hasn't come in" (no one's milk has come in by day 2), "He's got a bit of jaundice" (giving a bottle of bovine breastmilk isn't the cure--more nursing or bili blankets work better), "Daddy wants to feed him too" (if Daddy works full time, how many feedings does that mean he can actually do? Out of 10 feedings, he might be around for 4---mainly middle of the night--not the greatest bonding time. Ever heard of a breast pump?). "It's not easy to breastfeed" (but it's not easy having kids with allergies, ear infections, asthma, diabetes, lower IQ, and cancer---and don't forget the increased chances of SIDS). Not to mention the increased cancer risks and other health issues to mom by bottle feeding.

There is no substitution for human milk. Formula (bovine breast milk, or from soy plants...the same as what oil and margarine is made from) is more suited to feeding orphaned cows than it is for feeding human babies. Formula is so not the optional food for babies, that the World Health Organization lists it as the fourth option. It is better to have donated human milk than to use formula. There are human milk banks opening up in many places and mothers are willing to pay huge amounts to feed their babies with the food that the baby's body is designed to consume. There are Yahoo groups for women with milk to share, and parents looking for human milk. There are mothers that induce lactation to feed their adopted baby, or in one case I know--she induced lactation after nine years (that's years, not a typo) for her ex partner's newborn. Now that's love!

Now, I know there are some women who are going to cry "I tried, but it wasn't easy" or "I have to work" or "He didn't take to it" or "Bottles are more convenient". Those that get the most defensive about their position are usually suffering from hidden guilt. Having guilt means that you know, deep down, that you didn't do the right thing; make enough of an effort. And if you have that defensiveness/guilt and have any more children, then that guilt might be a good thing actually. If you really tried--consulted LCs, BF clinics, books, videos, used pumps, herbs, prescription medication, etc--and it still wasn't successful, then you shouldn't have any guilt, just sadness or disappointment (but unfortunately too many mothers have guilt about everything). For an awesome article on guilt and breastfeeding, check out 'Rev Jan's' website.

My personal opinion, through 11 years of research and practice: Newborns under 6 weeks should only receive formula if there is a medical issue (loss of mother, losing more than 10% of birthweight, or not regaining weight; not because of slight jaundice or elevated sugar levels). Infants under six months should only receive formula under the guidance of a doctor, perhaps with a prescription needed. Breast pumps should replace free formula samples at hospital discharge. Nestle and Enfamil (and any other company that has infractions) should be held accountable for breaking the WHO Breastfeeding protocol that they signed. Currently there is no punishment if a formula company signs and then does what they please anyway! Every workplace should have 'pumping rooms' like at Starbucks' head office. Doctors should go over the 100 reasons to breastfeed with a pregnant mom before delivery. The US program WIC (Women, Infants & Children) should not provide formula for babies under 2 months and should increase their support of breastfeeding. Over half of the formula sold in the United States is through the WIC program. Guess who pays for WIC? Taxpayers of course. Breastfeeding should be shown in advertising and other media aimed at new moms, (and not just formula ads) showing the natural, normal way to feed infants (how often do you see breastfeeding on a soap? Or other family drama/comedy show?!)

The 70%+ breastfeeding rate is better than it was 20 years ago. But it should be higher, to match the number of women that can actually breastfeed, not just the ones that 'want' to breastfeed. However, much improvement needs to be made in sustaining this number over the first 6 months. It is currently recommend that babies receive nothing but human milk for the first 6 months, but only about 17% of babies are still breastfed at 6 months. That's lousy. Even my LC was surprised when I said I 'only' made it to 9 months with my first two. She thought it was awesome; I was disappointed.

So, I guess I can't call myself a 'closet lactivist' now, LOL.

BTW---human milk is the best food for babies, but while the WHO indicates that breastfeeding maybe the preferred method of getting it in the baby, the second option is expressed human milk (and the third best infant food is donated human milk). So, I'm not trying to ignore those brave, dedicated women (Monkey!) who use mainly expressed human milk, it's just a lot to type, LOL.

Music

2011-06-24T13:51:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure I've written a bit about the importance of music in my life. I'm not a big techie....I don't have surround sound and wireless connections and all that; I'm not a big groupie; I don't go to many concerts; I've never bought mp3's from iTunes. But I do love music and have a decent size CD collection (it's growth slowed after moving to Orangeville/the boonies) which has a wide range of albums. Looking at the albums is like looking at the history of my life. Different people brought different genres to me; some I couldn't get into, some I've adopted as "my" thing.

Last night I started ripping all the CDs onto my computer that I haven't done yet. So, I heard bits of Air Supply, Jann Arden, Chris de Burgh, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Phil Collins, and Genesis. This is just a typical cross section of the CDs, there were other albums in that section of the alphabet that I've already ripped.

This morning, I've picked up again with Genesis. They were my first band crush; the start of listening to new music because someone else (usually a boy) was. The year was 1983, I was 12. I'm sure I probably heard a bit of their previous album, but it was their self-titled album (otherwise known as the "Mama" album) that really catapulted them to mass market. They had finally been able to create songs short enough for radio play but with their distinctive sound and humour. My brother had a friend who was 16 and "cool". We'd known him for about 4 years by then, and you know how I described how my mom felt about my other friend in the last post? Well, this guy, Mr Slick, was totally this way. Cheesey, slimey, smiley while helping move your new TV in and doe eyed when it went missing the next month type of guy. But when you're 12 and Mr Slick smiles at you...LOL. Anyway, he was already a big Genesis fan, so of course, I had start listening.

Then Genesis went on tour and Mr Slick got tickets. Oh, did I want to go into the big city on the train and see the show with him. But I was not allowed :( In retrospect, I know I wasn't ready for a big time concert then...back then you could smoke inside the arenas, and on buses and trains, and (esp. on concert days), it wasn't always tobacco. If you catch my wiff. LOL.

Mr Slick was in and out of our lives over the next few years until he met his real sweetheart and somehow, she got him to settle down and shape up. Now he's a business owner, father of three, and a far cry from the skinny, smoking, pierced hoodlum of the neighbourhood. Strangely, when Rob and I were house shopping in 2009, we looked at a couple in his neighbourhood, but didn't know that's where he lived. That could have been interesting!

(This is my best friend and me at the end of our Grade 9 band trip, May 1986, with some dude that took a liking to me...)

Anyway, I kept up with my Genesis fascination, and on Sept 22 1986, my best friend and I went to their Invisible Touch concert, on the bus and train into Toronto, all by ourselves! I'm still not sure how I convinced my parents (or her's; she was a year younger than me!). It was at the old outdoor, open roof Exhibition Stadium. The smells were flowing freely that night. LOL! Exactly a year later, I was back at that stadium with my boyfriend, Paul, watching Pink Floyd. Oh boy. We were right at the top of the bleachers, catching wind of everything that got blown up our way. I had had a huge fight with my parents about going....if I had gone the year before on a school night, then why was this one such a no-no? Oh yeah....my parents are older than me....LOL.

Near the end of Grade 10, a couple friends and I went to Toronto for an outdoor performance by the cover band 1964, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Sargent Pepper and the Lonely Hearts Club Band. One of those friends, Sanjay, was the smartest guy in high school; went off to MIT, and just had his third baby. The other friend, Mike, or "Boom Boom" as we called him cause he was a drummer and we knew too many Mikes, has become a radio DJ/music director at stations east of Toronto, and just started up a new station in Peterborough that plays the most eclectic mix of songs from the 80s onwards....pop, rockish, light country...I love it!
In July 1987 Mike and I went to see Peter Gabriel, again at Exhibition Stadium. We had awesome seats. Instead of putting the stage at the end of the field like usual, it was mid-field, facing the long side of the stands. They did this because right beside Exhibition Park was Ontario Place, and they were having a fireworks competition. This meant our almost crappy seats became awesome. It was an incredible show, especially as he started singing "Red Rain" with a backdrop of red fireworks (supposedly unintentional...).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA3rJXV4R4E

I hate the way Blogger works now, this WYSIWYG is not true!

If you can, watch/listen to the duet with earphones. They are so in sync you can't believe it's two drummers, yet it gets so intricate you know it can't be one drummer.
Huey and Rob are learning to play the drums, and I played this video for Huey at lunch time. He seemed impressed, LOL. I could listen to it over and over. And watching it is cool too. Phil is SO at ease on the drums. Just like when I wrote about the one-legged swimmer last month....it's the same thing. The music flows THROUGH him, not just from him....he doesn't just "play", he IS the music. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I posted about listening to music, and this video, today on Facebook, so I thought I'd go into more detail. And that takes us only to 1991....LOL! There were big changes when I started dating Jim....stay tuned?

People

2011-06-21T14:36:00.000-04:00

Do you ever wonder if someone isn't who you think they are? Wonder how you can think they're a good person, but someone else seems to think that person is the scum of the earth? What about when you think you know someone really well, but then something pops up that makes you question all you've known? At what point do you heed to someone else's opinion of a person even if it goes against what you feel you know?

Whoa. I hadn't mean to get deep, LOL.

I've written before about how Facebook has brought people back into my life....some good experiences, some not so good. There's a couple of girls that I'm still trying to find, but for the most part, I'm happy with my friends. Some I haven't seen in forever, but that's okay, the internet keeps us close. Others, I haven't seen in forever, and it doesn't matter one way or another. And there's some that I'm really curious to see again....how has time treated them, what do their kids look like? How did they end up where they are? Some people have a voice I'd love to hear, some people have a humour that doesn't come across in type, some people just need to be real live friends, not just FB friends. But often, they're not the ones who FB brings back into your life, LOL, and sometimes you've got to be grateful for what does/who does come into your world. Is it better to have no friends, or to have less than optimal friends? I don't know; don't know where I'm going with this either.

I have one FB friend who I was pretty close to in high school. Towards the end of high school though we were drifting apart due to choices he was making, but it was never about our friendship. When I went away to Queen's, he was one of only two friends that kept in touch with me, but then, after a brief visit just after I got back after first year (May 1991), he totally disappeared. I knew the reasons behind his disappearance and hoped his life got turned around at some point, but in the pre-internet days, I assumed he was "gone". Shortly after joining FB, I saw his name (and it's not exactly John Smith, LOL) and he accepted my friend request. He was not on FB very often at all, but his life seemed to have settled down; he had an address, a daughter, and a job. We tried to meet up at an outdoor concert but that fell through. I didn't hear from him for awhile after and got worried. Finally, he sent me an email, and opened up about a really, really, hard time he was having. I continued to send emails to check on him, but never heard back and I was getting concerned. Finally one day, out of the blue, he sent me an email explaining the silence...he'd met a nice woman and was spending all his time with her and her 3 kids and didn't have access to a computer very often. I breathed a sigh of relief. Again, months went by without hearing from him, and then out of the blue, again, he sends a message suggesting all of us meet up at the park by the lake on the May long weekend.

So, we did! It wasn't much of a catch up visit, but I got to meet his awesome girlfriend, her 3 kids (exactly the same ages/sexes as ours!), and his daughter. It's nice to know that someone can have such terribly rough patches in their life, but still press on.

This past weekend I was visiting with my parents, and mentioned that I'd seen him again after 20 years. My mom shared her opinion of him. Whoa. I was a little surprised...while her opinion did sort of match his physical appearance, and I could see how someone might think that if they didn't know him, my parents were always supportive of our friends, and he was around our house a lot, and I know of other friends who definitely match her characterization, and I never knew she thought that way about him. Sure, he made some poor choices, and others made poor choices that affected him terribly, but I never thought of him the way she did.

I know it's possible for two people to have differing opinions of the same person. But now I have to re-assess my opinion. Actually, I'm thinking that's a bit of a waste of time. I don't know what place him and his (new) family will have in our family, but I think I will proceed with an open, but slightly guarded, mind. He is who is his, our friendship will be whatever it will be. What I focus on, will expand. Right?

Happy Birthday Huey!

2011-06-03T23:02:00.000-04:00

Today, is Hugh's 11th birthday!! In 2007 I wrote out his birth story on my (now) knitting blog, so I'm not going to repeat it here :) Last year the day before, or was it after, his birthday, was a PD day, so we took the train into Toronto, and walked all the way from Union Station up University Avenue, to the OPG building, just south of Queen's Park. There, we phoned Daddy at work in the building, and surprised him. We took the subway back down to Union Station and then went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Lucy was hungry, and wanted mini pizza, which they didn't have. Sigh.

This year, it wasn't a surprise, and the PD Day was actually today! Because of the truck situation, we started out the trip by taking Durham Region Transit to the Go Station. We're only two blocks from the route, but it comes only every 30 minutes during the day (we can walk to a different route that is more frequent, but it is a little further). On the bus, ($8.60 for me and the 3 kids!!!), Lucy went right to the back and perched in the middle of the back row, like a little throne at the back of the bus!

We got to the train station very early, since I was concerned that the bus after the one we took, got us to the station with only 12 minutes....if it ran on time...and you have to go down the stairs, and up the stairs....so I decided waiting 40 minutes trackside would be better. Oh, that was fun! LOL. The train ride in was nice and uneventful until we got to Union Station. We got off the train, and couldn't see where the stairs were, so we were following a lady with a stroller--I figured she was heading for the elevator...then she did a U-turn...I found a stairwell, but it was marked "York Teamway" and emergency route. Uh....we took it anyway and found a GoodLife Fitness and an elevator to Union Station/SkyWalk. Eventually we got to the TTC (Subway). Got the subway up to Rob's work....and we were a little late and I forgot his work phone number (cause I had taken it out of my purse to phone him before we left...). We walked around and in a minute or so, he came out of the building. Phew.

We walked up to Queen's Park, and went into the Lobby area. Beautiful. We couldn't go on a tour, or walk around, so we went back outside and walked through the park to the north, and up to Bloor St. One block more, and even though we were 30 minutes early, we headed to the restaurant...Duke of York pub. What a great place! Hugh had said he wanted chicken pot pie for his birthday. I googled around till I found a place in Toronto that would be easy and close to get to, and was well recommended, AND suitable for the younger kids. On their website, you can see the menu. I filled out the contact us form to find out if they had a children's menu as we wanted to bring the family the next day. Within an hour, I got a phone call from Mark, to answer any of my questions! The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, quick, and pleasant! The food was great! Hugh had a nice chicken pot pie, Meg had a kid size fish and chips that was fabulous, and came in this cute little pretend fryer basket. Lucy got chicken fingers and fries (the fries were great!). I had a southwestern chicken sandwich and beef barley soup. They were great! The kids also got some great French vanilla ice cream...and were "allowed" to get both caramel AND chocolate sauce. Even though Hugh's meal wasn't a kid's meal, he still got the ice cream! I would have gotten the fish and chips, but I'm trying to cut out potatoes and white foods :( The best part---for the 5 of us, it came to just under $60! Sure, Swiss Chalet might have been a bit cheaper, but probably not much, and this was definitely better! I highly recommend the Duke of York Pub!!

We walked along Bloor and saw what they did to the ROM. I'm still undecided on it. I love the old architecture, and the addition is just so wild. I have great memories of seeing laser shows at the Planetarium and I miss that, although the dome is still there. I wanted to show Lucy some of the high end shops on Bloor, but Rob wasn't interested. We had decided to go to the Eaton's Centre, and I had thought we'd walk down Yonge St to get there. The kids decided they'd rather take the subway, LOL. So, we headed underground at Museum Station:

All the pillars and stuff were "museum-y". It was cool!

Meg had a serious moment, LOL.

Lucy was fed, and not walking, so she was happy!

Meg entertained Rob and everyone!

Lucy tried to climb the poles.

We got off at Dundas and went above ground. There were some street performers that were really neat--a silver "robot" Elvis, a statue, drummer, etc. We went inside to the Eaton Centre. Mmm. Well. It's beautiful inside. However...we wanted to go to Adene's or Claire's as Lucy lost one of my earrings during the day, and she shouldn't go without earrings for long yet. We looked at the map and headed out. Checked the next map. Notice that as you look at the map, it's backwards to real life! Sears, on the map, was on the right end, but as you stood there, Sear's was off to your left. That is really silly! The shop we were supposed to be closest to, was no longer there. Other stores had stickers over their names, why not this one? We continued on, and I saw a Geox store. The kids see the ads, so I thought we'd just take a peek. $75-$80 for sneakers in Lucy's size range. I think the kids understood why they don't have any!

We started to walk down Yonge Street, and Lucy was upset she hadn't gotten anything in the "big mall". Sigh. Pout. We got down to Front Street, and Rob checked his train schedule card and we realized we could catch a train if we headed right there.

Lucy cheered up on the train ride, and they had a fun time playing balloon toss. It did get a little rowdy, but in a good way. Sure, they were noisy, but they were happy noisy!

These were the only two pictures I got of Hugh, all day! (Lucy might have some on her camera).

Eleven years. Sigh. Soon he'll be riding the train into Toronto by himself!!

Strollers Are Better?

2011-06-02T10:53:00.000-04:00

(This is another post from my other blog, August 2006....wow, nearly 5 years! Hugh was 6 and starting grade 1, Lucy was 3 and starting JK, and Meg was 9 months old.)

We did a test walk of the walk to school. We moved in May. It used to be 3 blocks, now it's exactly one mile. No bus, not even for 3 year olds going to JK. It took 25 minutes and was torture most of the way. Huey just can't cope with that, given his poor muscle tone.

Megan rode in the stroller. She doesn't spend much time in it. Being born in November and worn in the sling since the day we got home from the hospital, she hasn't needed the stroller. Too awkward when walking in 'the forest', too annoying to fold up and put in the truck if we go anywhere. But she doesn't seem to mind the stroller anyway.

However, when we got home, I rushed inside to let Lucy go potty and pushed the button to open the garage door. As I was heading back out, Huey starts screaming. Apparently, he was trying to be helpful by pushing the stroller into the garage. He was watching Megan though, and not the garage door. The stroller got hooked on the bottom of the garage door, and when I got out there, she was dangling from the top! Thankfully she was buckled in well, but man! The neighbour watched it all from inside her minivan next door! She says they did that to the dog once, LOL.

What You Focus On.....

2011-06-01T13:24:00.000-04:00

I've had a few occasions recently that support the notion that what you focus on, expands. And, what you fear, you create.

One of my FB friends is a girl I was pretty good friends with for grades 7 & 8 while we were at senior public school. I hadn't seen or heard from her in over 20 years, but it's been nice to reconnect on FB. She doesn't have children, but is married to a man with a teen aged son who lives (mostly) with them. She often makes disparaging remarks about the crazy ex-wife (which do sound valid), but sadly, also about the boy. He's lazy, breaks the rules, has no respect (which all may be true), but it's the underlying tone and attitude towards him that saddens me. One rule was no smoking in his bedroom. She caught him, and dumped his ashtrays all over his bed. I do like that consequence, LOL, but it's the underlying attitude that's sad. I don't know how I would be feeling, but I do know that I would go into a relationship with a man who's a father, being a little more open minded. This is the off-spring, the genetic extension of the man you love. If he loves his son, then so should you. That doesn't mean love his behaviour. Oh no, LOL. But if all you see is a lazy, disrespectful off-spring of a crazy woman, then that's what you're going to get.

Yesterday, I went to my doctor's for a physical. It's been a long time! I like this doctor, she seems very knowledgeable about vitamins, she was respectful when I said I was delaying/selective vaxxing the kids, and she remember me, the girls, and things that happen. And I've been seeing her only since September! She remembered how we were having to be a one car family, and was asking how it's been, trying to do everything, and wow, did I have my hands full with three kids, etc. I commented that I just do what I have to do, and I look at other mothers who do way more than I do, and think I don't have it too bad, I could be doing more! She remarked that I have a good spirit. Isn't that a nice thing for a doctor to say? I can't do much about the truck situation....I just collect all the change I can find around the house, take the bus to the GO Train station, steal my truck and off I go. Then, I do have to interrupt dinner to go to the station with the girls to pick up Rob, but really, that's not bad. I do wish he'd ride his bike to the station (or gee...take the bus, which would mean he'd have to take a later train, but at least he doesn't have to worry about the terrible parking). Sure, today Meg and I walked to the pool for her swimming lesson, but at least we had that option, and although sunny, there was a fabulous breeze. Yes, I can't go thrift store shopping, but really, I don't NEED to. Things could be worse.

Today, while watching Meg's swimming lesson, three Parks and Rec employees came in for their break. There was an older woman, and two university age students. The boy (LOL...not exactly...but not "man" either) was talking about how he doesn't swim. Apparently, he used to get terrible ear infections, and I think I heard him say that he nearly drowned twice. The girl and the woman were trying to convince him that he could overcome this and learn to be water safe. The girl said "You won't get ear infections now, and you won't drown". (Well, it's easy to say that I suppose, but what if...). Personally, I do agree...if you want to learn to swim, you can't focus on what scared/scarred you. You can either totally ignore it (I'm sure that's hard), or acknowledge it, and then move on. If you go into the pool thinking "I might drown", well, at the least, you're not going to enjoy your time, and at worse, you will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you go into the pool thinking "I've had trouble in the past but I'm over that" then you've got no where to go but up!

Then, it started me thinking about my own fears. Mmmm. I'm not keen on spiders, or bugs. I don't want to bungee jump, but not because of past experience. I can look at it, and skydiving, and say, "Yes, I'd be terribly afraid, but it'd also be incredibly cool". Umm, yes, my fear (and the cost) is keeping me from doing it, but I also know that I'm gravitationally challenged and my vestibular processing is weak. I don't do rollercoasters. I do rather enjoy small ones, but the incredible physical stress I feel when I do anything crazy, like the Tower of Terror at Disney's MGM Studio....OMG...I truly felt physically sick...not "I'm going to throw up" but like my entire physical systems were haywire. Flight or fight to the max, like I'd never be able to get my visual inputs to match my internal responses again. Rob couldn't understand it. He could understand getting nauseous, or throwing up, but not like my entire world was gone wacky and would never re-align.
Any other fears? Is there anything negative I focus on? Mmm. Is it possible to be too open to the universe and 'what happens, happens'? I'm not passive, but is it possible to be TOO accepting?

Do You Really Know?

2011-05-31T11:20:00.000-04:00

Do you REALLY know what your kids do at daycare? When your provider says they went to the park, do you REALLY know what that means?

Meg and I sometimes go to our local park in the mornings. There are usually several "day care ladies" there and today was no exception. There were two. "Old Lady" had three "walkers" (around age 2 1/2 to 3) and one stroller kid (looked like 18 months). And a dog. "Fat Lady" had one walker and one infant in a carseat-stroller and a dog.

Now, the Old Lady did pay attention to her three kids playing in the park, and a small bit of attention to the kid in the stroller. But the kid in the stroller never became a kid in the park. She didn't play with the children, but at least she was cognizant of them.

Fat Lady though. She didn't notice when the dog wandered off (she had been stepping on the leash). She never made any comments to the girl playing in the park. She never interacted with the baby in the carseat. Most of the time she appeared to be texting on a cell phone. The "baby" in the carseat was at least 6 months old....looking a little too big for the infant carseat actually. The baby WAS awake, and did make some noise, but was not actively engaged in any way.

Do you know how long your children are spending in their carseats and strollers (daycare kids or not)? I see kids at swimming lessons and story time that have been in the carseat or stroller for at least an hour, continuously. Think about that. How do you feel when you've been sitting for an hour? How would you feel if you had a diaper on? You can see other adults and kids, but they don't seem interested in interacting with you. You'd respond in one of two ways...withdrawal ("He's such a good baby, never makes a peep in the stroller") or with anger/frustration ("He's such a handful; won't sit in the stroller for long!"). Which of these is the "preferred" response? Perhaps that depends on who you ask. I don't want zombie kids, do you?

Backyard Part 2

2011-05-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

The new deck was built a step lower, so we opted not to put a railing.

The new deck is a little bit narrower, so that the basement window is now exposed.

Part of the old raised raspberry beds. Like most things here, it was poorly built. At the other end, next to the compost, we discovered a wasp nest, in between the ties. Not just any old wasps, but mean, nasty ones that stung you for just standing in the backyard. It took several attempts to get rid of them, and in doing so, the ties all came out.

The old deck had some cheap trellis sheets to "block" the view. Rob built a solid wall with these cedar adjustable panels. That's our baker's rack, which we bought when we bought our first house. There's not really anywhere inside that it fits, but it's turned out to be really handy though.

We got new patio furniture, and found it got too sunny, so we bought curtains to hang, however, they were so lightweight that they mainly blew around. For the winter, we brought the furniture inside and it made a nice setting in our "living" room. We bought that tree in memory of my aunt, and we put in a couple other trees too.

Here's the raspberry bed after the ties were taken out. Unfortunately, Skippy found them delicious.

This is the first replacement box. A little higher, and with a wide edge to sit on. Hopefully the next box gets built soon. I saved as many baby raspberries as I could, there might not be many berries this summer, but hopefully they revive.
I don't have a picture of the hot tub, but it's on an angle, on the flagstone patio in front of the left side of the deck. I'm not keen on it being on an angle, LOL, but it works for the lid, shade, access, etc.
There's still some more things to do in the yarn, we'd like some seating at the back, the kids want a trampoline or pool, LOL, but we love the yard!

Backyard

2011-05-20T10:50:00.000-04:00

When we looked at this house, one thing we liked was the big, flat backyard. Our last house had a good sized backyard that was very private, however, since we had seen it on a dark February night, we hadn't seen the slope in the back corner, or the amount of trees, bushes, garden, that took up the rest of the yard. There was barely any play area, no where to put a pool, etc. We had a hard time deciding between a new house with small, bare yard, or an older house with a big, mature, lot. We would have liked more privacy, but that can come later.

One of the first things we needed to take care of was the roof. While doing some work, Rob thought he'd re-shingle the shed. Well. He discovered that the shed was pretty much rotten and needed to be re-built. Of course, the finished shed is way better than what was there.

Fall was then upon us, and then winter. Spring came early, with a beautiful week in early March. Perfect for ripping apart the incredibly badly built deck!

The deck is a great size, although a little awkward. It was just so poorly built that we couldn't live with it. It was even bouncy!

The deck was built level with the doors, and in the covered section, Rob could almost touch his head on the roof, LOL.

In the picture below, you can see the new shed on the left, and the original raised gardens on the right, full of raspberries!

This picture above, and the one below, show how poorly the deck was built, and why it felt springy. The joists are just too far apart!

This picture below, shows how a deck SHOULD be built (okay, it might be a little over built, but better safe than sorry!)

This picture below shows the view from the kitchen door and how the steps went down from the center of the long portion, so that if we put the table there, it'd be hard to get around it to the yard. And the railing was unsafe and was blocking the view.

I'm finding it hard to move around pictures, and having the text be how I want it. I'm writing this while Meg snoozes on the couch; she was up 1/2 the night sick. I'll get to the finished deck pictures later; it's too hard to do it all at once.

NINO Graduates

2011-05-18T13:45:00.000-04:00

(I want to move some of my non-knitting posts from my other blog to here, so I'm cut and pasting them. Is there a better way?)

August 18, 2006

Not El Nino (although for Megan, it would be El Nina I think). Nine In, Nine Out. It's an organization/movement promoting a calm, baby-led transition from womb to world. Fuelled by the Attachment Parenting beliefs of Dr. Sears and The Happiest Baby on the Block guru, Dr. Harvey Karp, NINO is sort of the public side of attachment parenting (AP). Babywearing and breastfeeding are the two biggies. We flunked at co-sleeping.

Megan is now 9 months old. Although she is (mostly) an 'easy' baby, she is impatient. She (still) has reflux. She got 5 teeth in under two weeks. She nurses every two hours...at night only. It has been a very challenging 9 months. If she were my only baby, it wouldn't have been too bad. But she's the baby of the troop and the other soldiers want to commit a mutiny.

When you're young, say, in university, sleeplessness is no issue. Two weeks of exams and all nighters? No problem, you've got lots of time to sleep in. But the sleeplessness of a baby is different. This type of sleeplessness is so invasive to your daily life. My eyes hurt. I pour water in my mug...and see I forgot to put in the Nescafe Frothy mix first. I cook dinner and realize I forgot the veggies. I walk into things (more than usual), I can't add, or multiply (so important for knitting), and working the microwave suddenly needs a university degree.
Five hours of sleep may be enough when it happens all at once, but when it happens in 90 minute chunks, your body starts to complain. Despite not having grown (height wise) in over 20 years, growth hormones are still released while you sleep, to fix the miniscule muscle tears of daily living. But, these hormones are released during the deep sleep portion of the night, which cycles about every 90 minutes. Do I need to say more?

Then, after the 3rd or 4th time of getting up, you go into insomnia mode. Your body, so exhausted, has forgotton how to hit the off button and go to sleep. You lay there thinking "I've GOT to get to sleep" but your brain is thinking "What luck that Classic Merino IS the same dye lot as last year's purchase. Enough to make that basketweave sweater from IK a few years back...but you don't want to hand wash something like that and you have no gentle cycle on the washer in the new house and he won't wear a knit sweater anyway and you don't know any other man you'd handknit something like that for maybe a pair of socks but before you start more socks you've got to finish the ones you've already started and perhaps finish the alligator you started LAST Aug and what colour are you going to paint your toenails cause you can't go to your cousin's weddding looking like a momma of 3, one who only sleeps two hours at the most and are you going to make meatballs or meatloaf with that 2lb beef tube in the fridge oh there's no evap. milk for meatloaf so it's meatballs or a casserole but it's nice out so you should bbq but ground beef falls through the grill and do you think anyone would take the Blue Cheese Hamburgers if I offer them on Freecycle..."

How do you know if you've been successful at the NINO principles? Where' s the check list? Do we get a cap and gown? Obviously, we're still nursing, cause getting up to make bottles during the night sucks (making bottles at anytime, sucks). We've started having some bottles now that she's on 'real' food. There's no way I'd ever WANT to feed my babies bovine breastmilk (formula) as their primary source of nutrition. Last I checked, I gave birth to a human, so I fed her human milk. But since she's eating just about anything (including orange beads, tree leaves, and cherry stems), then I'm okay with some formula. But not soy! Oy! Banned in Britain, should be banned here. We're still babywearing....the collection of carriers has grown...with more in the planning stages. So convenient when we go out, great at home when she's cranky. When she was a newborn, I couldn't understand how parents could leave their awake babies laying in bassinettes, playpens, etc when they're not even old enough to hold a rattle. Sure, a few minutes in the bouncy chair (the most basic one, no toy bar even) here and there...but most of the time she was in her pouch, quietly observing the world within the safe confines of fleece. I swear it helped make her my most social child (any baby could be more social than Lucy was). We don't swaddle anymore, but still do the shushing noise and swaying. I've been swaying so long I don't know if it ever leaves your subconscious. You SEE a baby and start to sway.

One benefit of babywearing that I don't think NINO or Dr. Sears promotes is weight loss. At delivery, you instantly lose about 11-13 lbs of baby, placenta, and fluids. So that leaves another 10-15lbs of increased blood supply, edema, increased uterine muscle and pregnancy fluff. But...strap on a 7lb baby, and your body says "Oh, we suddenly weigh more. We've got to burn more calories!" A couple weeks later, you might have 8 lbs of pregnancy fluff to lose. You put the baby on, and suddenly you weigh 10lbs more and your body says "BURN those calories!". As the weeks go on, you might carry her a little less as she gets more adjusted to the world, so your body is surprised one morning when you strap on an extra 14lbs. You keep surprising your body with an increased weight load, even as your own body mass goes down. Add to that the need for perfect posture when picking things up while you babywear...squats galore! Lunge to the side instead of up and down! Step back and lunge! Feel the burn as you work that butt that usually just provides your cushion as you surf or nurse! Before you know it, you're at pre-pregnancy weight with great buns! But don't stop there....babywearing while exercising (or just babywearing FOR exercise) is fun, socializing, and incredibly effective!!

Has Megan adjusted calmly and favourably to the outside world? All I want is to curl up and not join the outside world for a few more months, LOL. But until I can knit while I sleep, I guess I'll get by somehow.

Wet

2011-05-18T11:37:00.000-04:00

Ever see someone doing something and you just have to watch because it's mesmerizing to see someone so naturally gifted at something?

I was at Meg's swimming this morning, and I went upstairs to watch, like usual. During her lesson time, there's also lane swimming. There's usually only one or two women there, but today, it was busy, and my eyes were immediately drawn to a man doing laps. It's rare to see a man there, but this man must have been born in the water. He was so smooth and even and it looked effortless. He wasn't going fast, just a steady front crawl. He was obviously in excellent shape. I did notice that he wasn't using his legs much, but thought maybe he was focusing on his awesome arms. Then when he got down towards my end again and did that crazy little flip thing "real" swimmers do, I noticed something blue and white bobbing/around his legs. I didn't notice it while he was swimming at first. I couldn't help but watch him swim a few laps; the difference between him and the lappers was enormous (especially compared to the men and women in the slow lane doing the breast stroke....that's got to be the least sexy stroke, LOL).

Then, I noticed something. He was missing his lower left leg! The blue and white floaty thing was giving him extra buoyancy I guess. It didn't matter, I was impressed when I first saw him. I've always wanted to be a better swimmer, and I thought I might do laps while Meg did her lesson, but I'm both inspired by him, and reluctant to look like a dork. LOL.

I saw him after we came out, with a pretty wife and two well behaved small kids and a cute little Mini. Some people are just naturally blessed! Have you ever seen someone like this? I also felt this way during the Jason McCoy concert and watching his McCoy Monday Minute videso on YouTube. Doesn't hurt that both these men are easy on the eyes :)

Things That Make Rob Go Whhaaaatt??

2011-05-13T14:19:00.001-04:00

Rob is not an environmentalist. He'll burn pressure treated wood, plastic, and styrofoam in the fireplace, he constantly puts things in recycling that don't belong there, or put recyclables in the garbage. He hates the compost bins. While Rob does love the outdoors, he's not about to go chain himself to a tree, or put solar panels on the roof.

I'm not about to chain myself to a tree either, but my geography background involved learning about the environment here, and around the world, and how people and their environment interact. I have learned about the environmental plights of people around the world.

Recently, we were watching the news, and a story came on that I thought would be interesting. An area of Kenya was getting home water filters that would mean potable water without boiling it first. In order to boil water, women and children must first collect or buy firewood. This is a significant use of their time and meager financial resources. My first thoughts about eliminating the need to boil water is about the local environmental and financial savings, and of course about the health benefits to potable water (as unsafe water is a HUGE cause of illness and death). The announcer though, made comments regarding the significant reduction of CO2 emissions from less wood burned.

Of course, the next question is cost. The announcer said these families were getting the filters installed for free. Wowee. Who's footing the bill for this?! The world's largest producers of CO2 emissions. Yes, sirree bob! By buying into this program, these companies can ease their guilt and improve their social standing...while still producing just as much CO2 emissions!

On one hand, this is awesome. Getting some of the world's largest companies to use some of their profits to fund development projects around the world is great. Share the wealth. For sure. And this is a great device--minimal investment with outstanding results. But wouldn't it be great if those companies would also reduce their CO2 as well? Or just pay for these filters out of the goodness of their corporate hearts, not as a way to reduce their carbon footprint on PAPER only.

Edit to add: I forgot to include WHY Rob went "Whhhhaaaatt?!". LOL. Despite having been in manufacturing, and the plastics industry, and not particularly caring about the environment, local or foreign, even he could seen the absurdness of this venture. LOL.

Things That Make Me Go Mmmmm?

2011-05-11T13:59:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to signing Meg up for swimming lessons since we moved back here. It's a fairly "new" facility, popular with young families (despite the lack of a family change room). There is a "parent and tot" class before Meg's and one during her class. I've noticed that a lot of the new moms (the babies have to be 6 months old) are quite slender, compared to the new moms I've seen in Orangeville. Maybe cause there's way more fitness/health opportunities here. Anyway, many of the moms of the older kids are quite slender too. But of course, not all.
For week 5, parents are invited to get in the pool with their child. I thought this was a cool idea; we never had that in O'ville. But what surprised me? The skinny moms stayed on deck and the fluffy moms got in the pool. Fascinating.

The other thing I've noticed? The strollers. OMG. It's crazy! Those babies, as I said, are 6+months, yet many of them come in, in the carseat in the stroller. It's surprising, since the parking lot is not big, and they have to wait for a small elevator. Not only that, but strollers are allowed on the pool deck (you have to go through the showers to get on deck, there's no way to stay dry!). Some of these siblings of swimmers spend an hour (or more) in their carseats and/or stroller. Some are bundled up for the outside weather. It's not surprising that many of them are cranky! And the ones that aren't cranky have a zoned-out look. There is one toddler that is allowed to roam the deck, and he is the most happy, bubbly child there. Co-incidence?

Your Local School Board

2011-04-29T14:55:00.000-04:00

The local school board publishes a calendar full of lots of usefull info about the schools, and of course, multicultural awareness. For example, for the month of May, here is the list of important days:

Wesak
International Day of Families
International Day Against Homophobia
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
Victoria Day
Declaration of the Bab
National Missing Children's Day
Ascension of Baha u Ilah
Asion Heritage Month
South Asian Heritage Month
Speech Language Hearing Month

Mmmm. See any familiar North American "holiday" missing for May?

Absorbant Minds

2011-04-28T09:20:00.000-04:00

(How can I change the background colour of the typing area? Not what shows once it's posted, but right now, the background is dark grey and I can't see the cursor).

Back at Christmas Meg was having a lot of trouble with getting to sleep. Most nights she stayed up on the couch with me, while I watched TV. I chose shows that were okay to watch while she was there, but hopefully, not too engaging....like Dr. Oz. What 5 year is going to watch, and absorb, Dr. Oz at 11:30pm?

Meg. That's who.

Last night I was cleaning her toilet with some cheap children's shampoo. She asked why I was using that shampoo. I said cause it was cheap and not a good shampoo. She says "Yeah, Dr. Oz says not to use watery type shampoo, you need to use creamy shampoos".

She can remember THAT, but not to not stand on the arm of the couch?!

Jason McCoy Concert

2011-04-15T14:19:00.007-04:00

I don't remember listening to any particular type of music while growing up, we listened to just about anything it seemed. In high school, I was a strange mix of hippyness, rocker, 80s stuff, but no country. I had a good friend who did listen to/sing country and people teased him and called him "Dwight (Yoakum)" and "Randy (Travis)" and I never really understood who they were referring to. Later on, I started to date him, in June 1991, in the early days of "New Country" and I was in for some major eye opening...and ear opening, LOL. New Country was cool! The singers were hot! The jeans were tight! When we broke up in 1995, I kept listening to country, as well as popular music.

I don't know when I first heard of Jason McCoy. Surely I had heard of him before "The Road Hammers" (2005). Looking at his album/song list, his first was in 1989, before I knew about country. The first songs on the list that I recognize are from 1994-1995 (so why did he have a mullet?!) but I wasn't a big fan back then (I'll admit I wasn't; there was something holding me back...the mullet, the too slick sound combined with the mullet and forced styling? Something just didn't jive with me.) The first song I really liked was "Still", from 2003. What a difference in those 9 years!

When I heard that he was having a "concert" here in Whitby, at a small dinner theater, I jumped at getting tickets. I had no idea what the show would be like...then I started watching his "Monday Minute" videos on YouTube and got more and more excited. It's a concert, but interactive. I still didn't know exactly what it'd be like until it started. We walked into the theater and to our table....FRONT ROW, off to the right. We later learned that it holds only 150 people for shows like this. Wow. The show is unlike a regular concert, and I suspect the small theater makes an impact too, much easier for audience interaction. We really loved the slide show of personal photos of his (and his wife's) youth. He's a great example of how you never know how someone will turn out during those awkward teen years, LOL. I wish I had gotten a photo of one of those screen shots, LOL. He started out singing along while his early videos played on the screen. It was awesome to see the contrast between the confident, handsome man on stage, and the young guy in the videos. I had guessed he was around my age, but watching those videos made me wonder when he had gotten his start, so I found him on Wikipedia and was stunned to see that while he was indeed my age, he was MUCH older than I thought in the early videos...around 25-27!
It just goes to show what an impact facial hair and dentistry can make! LOL (I'll admit I have a thing for country singers with facial hair....Tim McGraw and Gary Allan....oh my! Perhaps that's why I don't really remember Jason's early songs?).

Some parts of the show were interactive with video of other people. Here he is with Johnny Reid in the background. Now, you know he's not there live, and that Jason has done this "routine" at all the other concerts, but his personality REALLY shines and it sounds fresh and not contrived/routine at all. Jason is really funny! Not in a "Have you heard the one about...." but with a true love of life, ability to see life as funny, a quick wit, etc. Now, I will say, I was a little surprised at the number of seniors at the show, and perhaps some of the jokes about Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan went over their heads, but everything else was funny. It was great to see him interact with the audience.

Here's a short clip of Duelling Banjos (despite that he's not playing a banjo):

It was a fabulous show. I would have loved to hear even more music, but getting to "know" him a little bit more was also REALLY, REALLY cool. Not to mention just getting out with Rob for the night, LOL. If you get the chance, check out his YouTube channel and watch some of his Monday Minutes! Even better, go to a show! I can't guarantee that it'd be the same in a large theater, but music is music and it will still be great!

Editing

2011-04-04T14:24:00.001-04:00

Why is it, no matter how many times I hit enter to get a blank line, between paragraphs, none ever show up?!

No Need to Get Cranky

2011-04-04T13:46:00.003-04:00

So, I actually got a comment on my last post. I can't get "copy and paste" to work, but you can go back to the last post and read it yourself. I've got it in a window so I can comment along... "Yu know those ebil monitors you and your ilk go on about--they would have detected a problem". Not necessarily. My last two births were monitor-free, so, Mother X, you can't assume she would have had a monitor on. Having an "ebil" (LOL, I think she means 'evil') monitor on probably did save my son's life, so to say I think they are 'ebil' just shows that you're here to troll and create controversy, because obviously you haven't read my birth stories! LOL. So, no feathers ruffled here (and gah, "ebil" is used more than once, and who is "your ilk"?). Monitors can be a very useful tool, but they are also over-used and studies have shown that they have probably led to more c-sections than were necessary due to poor readings and impatient doctors. If the labour is progressing normally, there is no reason to use a monitor continuously, and intermittent use doesn't always co-incide with when there is trouble happening. So, Mother X, to assume that being in a hospital would have prevented the death, shows that you have blinders on. Babies DO die in the hospital. "...people like you who refuse to see the benefit of medicine..." Oh, get real, LOL. Once again, her ignorance is showing. I have open files at 3 different medical doctors currently--cardiologist, endocrinologist, and family doctor. I used to have an OB/GYN and an internist before we moved. To say that I don't see the benefit of medicine would imply that I should have "let" my father die after his heart attack, or that I should ignore my hypertension, or that I should just suffer the consequences of Hashimotos Disease rather than seek MEDICAL attention. LOL. The woman wasn't having a home birth because she valued the "story" of her birth more than the health of her baby. She had a homebirth because for most of the world, it is the safe, normal, natural way to give birth. She had no indications that there would be trouble. Some women are willing to trust birth and accept any risks because they know the chances are so remote that there will be a problem. Other women won't accept even the slightest risk and feel that a hospital is the best choice (although it should always be noted that a hospital is NOT fail-safe). No woman should be insulted, belittled, or interrogated because of whichever choice she makes. Especially not a woman who has just suffered a loss like this. And, for what it's worth, I didn't SAY that Dr. Amy said that the mother had turned the birth/death into a spiritual event, I said that the mother had said that and Dr Amy interpreted it (to suit herself). So, my final comment still holds true. How is Dr Amy's post going to help the mother deal with her grief? How does it even further her "birth is a medical crisis" ideology? It's not about home birth vs hospital birth, Mother X totally missed that. The woman could have had (and many do) the EXACT same feelings about her son's death, no matter WHERE THE BABY WAS BORN.

Shouldn't Have Gone There....

2011-03-29T13:59:00.002-04:00

In the natural birth blog community, there is a woman known as Dr. Amy. She trolls around, looking for home birth blogs especially, so she can 'make an example' of anyone who has the slightest trouble at a home birth. She is (was?) an OB, with 4 kids, but her head so is so far stuck up the medical model of birth that she has lost sight of what a normal birth is. I see reference to her on many blogs I visit, but I have refrained from actually checking her out myself. Until today. Argh. I wish I hadn't gone there. People like her are not interested in changing their opinion to one based on acredited, substantiated research. No matter what research you show her, no matter what your own personal experience was, none of that matters if it differs from her views. Sad. Her post I read today irked me: skepticalob.blogspot.com and scroll down to March 24 2011 (I don't want to directly link there case I don't want to get embroiled in anything). This post is about a woman (not a theoretical woman, but an actual, live, grieving woman) who had a homebirth and the baby died due to his arm pinching off the umbilical cord during birth, long enough to cause lack of oxygen. The mother feels that her baby's birth was not in vain--his 'job' was to faciliate her spiritual growth (interpretation by Dr Amy). Dr Amy called her selfish and immature and goes on to lambast the mother for making a choice to homebirth. I don't know anything about the cause of death, however, I do know that in a hospital, monitors are not always used, and if they were, they are usually removed during pushing (unless something was detected). I don't know how someone in the hospital could have seen inside the mother's womb to know that the umbilical cord was pinched. Dr. Amy does not provide any info on how to diagnosis this, prevent, or 'treat' this condition that is NOT limited to homebirth locations. All she does is pile her brand of dog manure onto the mother. Depsite Dr Amy's belief that women are planning their homebirths so they can star in their own 'show', I do believe that women want the best for their birth. When something bad does happen, they need to reconcile that in their OWN minds, and piling Dr Amy crap on top does not help anyone. How is that mother going to feel now? Better? Umm, no. (I still can't get spellcheck to work)

Strange Things in the Land of Oz

2011-03-25T13:29:00.002-04:00

The kids are still not feeling well, so I'm downstairs again to watch my soap....I'd much rather record it and watch it later without commercials. Instead of channel surfing during commercials, I'm cleaning, LOL, and blogging.

One show I can't stand to watch "live" (and it's on at a bad time anyway), is Dr. Oz. Now, I do quite like him and what he's doing for health awareness, even alternative health practices. However, after what he just showed, and said, I'm not too sure anymore.

On March 11, he did a segment about incredible 911 calls. The first one really was incredible (a woman who got the call for a lung transplant, but when she got on the highway, there was a traffic jam and she risked running out of portable oxygen and the short window of time to get there). The second call irked me SO much though. And because it's a fairly routine occurance, the misimformation that was given is much more of an issue than if it had been an odd incident. What was the 911 call about?

A woman giving birth in a car. In one way, I think that's great--minimal interventions! However, the 911 operator told the dad to take his shoelace and tie off the umbilical cord (to prevent transference of the mom's blood to the baby). Gah! Gross! If that wasn't bad enough, Dr. Oz's response was unbelievable. He actually said that doing that probably saved the baby's life. What? The baby was already crying! If anything, he put their lives AT RISK!

A few points...it's becoming more common now to let the cord stop pulsing before clamping it. This allows baby to get ALL the blood possible from mommy. It's a GOOD thing. There are people who actually leave the cord attached to the placenta until after the cord naturally detaches from baby. They keep the placenta wrapped up and elevated above baby for a day or so. This is called a lotus birth. Same call it hooey, but whatever, as long as it's kept clean, it's probably not harmful.

What IS harmful is the use of a potentially dirty, grimey, floor dusting string to sever the intimate connection between baby and momma. Picture this...shoelace has invisible germs, it's cinched tight around the cord, perhaps breaking the membrane and coming in contact with blood. Where's that blood going and what is hitching a ride? Ewwwwww.

For a great read about this topic, check out the ever imformative Navel Gazing Midwife. Also check out the Unnecesarian for a post, and read the comments and then read the follow up post. Apparently it's pretty difficult to change the official protocal, they won't take info from experts that are not in the academy of 911 dispatchers. Dumb. So, if you know someone who is a 911 dispatcher and would be sympathetic to this cause, let them know their advice is outdated and unsafe and give them the links so they can pass on real info to their academy.

I'm just so surprised at Dr Oz's reaction to this, how wonderful it was, a great idea. Did he not check it out at all? Did he not even think about it for a few seconds?

(I can't seem to get spellcheck to work....hope it's all okay!)

It's Okay to Sometimes Ignore the Doctor

2011-03-24T14:24:00.003-04:00

Hugh and Lucy are home sick, so while they veg upstairs, I'm relegated to the basement. This means I'm forced to watch TV as it happens....which includes commercials (rather than watching what I record on the DVR). So, I'm flipping between Mighty Ships and Bringing Home Baby.

It's a first time mom. Her best friend visits, she has a toddler. You hear her ask the new mom if she can hear the baby swallow, which is answered with a yes, and the friend replies that that means he's getting milk. The next day, the mom goes for the baby's check up, and comes home with instructions to supplement "a little, 20z" because her milk is slow in coming in.

WAIT!! Giving a bottle will mean your body isn't going to be told that it NEEDS to make milk! Your body is going to think "oh, I should slow down a little, there's no demand". Nursing MORE will increase your milk. You might say "oh, but baby is still hungry an hour after I nursed". Then nurse again! You might say "I nursed for 15 minutes and he's still fussy". Then burp, and change breasts and nurse some more! If, after that, baby still seems hungry, then offer supplementation, but by finger feeding or, even better, by a supplemental nursing system so baby is still nursing and the body gets the message it's got to step it up. Leaving baby with grandma and a bottle while you go to do laundry is NOT going to increase your milk supply. Why is it so hard for doctors to understand that? Oh yeah....a pediatrician is not an expert in normal infant feeding needs, or breastfeeding. Duh. That's like going to see the dentist because you have a stomach ache, and gee, the food starts off in your mouth.

See a lactation consultant for lactating troubles. They're the experts.

Robin!

2011-03-21T11:12:00.002-04:00

Yes, we saw a robin last week. But that's not what this is about!

When Rob and I moved to Orangeville, Dec. 1997, we figured we'd be there 5 years. Most people in similar jobs where Rob worked left (or were asked to leave) by five years. We thought Orangeville was a nice town, but worried that there wouldn't be the same opportunities for our children as back in our larger home town/city. We were very wrong---it was the small townness that gave our children the opportunities to have the best start in life they could have.

Hugh was born June 3 2000 and it was a hot, sticky summer. I knew early on that there was something "different" about Hugh. He always wanted to be held, and to be moving, and he rarely slept. During that first frustrating summer, I visited the breastfeeding clinic, not so much for breastfeeding help, but thinking maybe I was doing something wrong that made it hard for him to sleep. We stripped him down, weighed him, and I sat in one of the comfy chairs. He didn't want to nurse, but within minutes he was asleep. And stayed asleep for over an hour. The nurses were great, and suggested that it might be the heat bothering him and I could come back anytime I wanted to get relief from the heat and let him nap.

In December 2002, I had six week old Lucy and was running on empty. I called Public Health asking for a home visit by a LC to get help with nursing laying down. An angel named Robin Berger came to my home just before Christmas. Hugh was 2 1/2 at the time and tried desperately to get some attention from Robin, LOL. Near the end of the visit, she said something that changed the course of our lives. She noted that although it wasn't her area of expertise, she felt that Hugh wasn't meeting speech milestones for a 2 1/2 year old. She suggested we call "Wee Talk" and get him assessed. We had been on the fence for a few months, as he comes from a family of late talkers. I think Robin saw my hesitation and lack of energy, because the next week, I got a call from Wee Talk! But that's not the end of Robin's involvement in our life!

Over the next 8 months we went for many assessments. At some point, one of his check ups was done by a young, pregnant, SLP. I wish I knew her name! At the end of the visit, she asked me about some of Hugh's behaviours, and asked me if I knew about Sensory Integration Dysfunction. I nearly kissed her! I told her that I had heard of it, and felt that it was the issue, but got no help from the doctor. She got in touch with the community agency that deals with this sort of thing and before long, a caseworker came to see us. She agreed that he'd benefit by seeing an occupational therapist and we got that started. After several months of visits by the OT, she recommended that we get in touch with Family and Children Services and see if Hugh qualified for "Infant and Child Development" program. Our caseworker for that was the wonderful Nina Little. Within a few months, Nina recommended that I come take a workshop at the Ontario Early Years Center, called "Raising Children with Challenging Temperments". And her co-coach was none other than Robin Berger! But in this small town, life doesn't just go in circles, it's more like figure eights, LOL.

At some point, probably while going for the Wee Talk assessments, I ran into Robin at the public health unit. I mentioned to her that I was disappointed that I hadn't met my "one year" goal of breastfeeding the two kids. She was compassionate and understanding, and expressed to me that ANY amount of breastfeeding should be celebrated, rather than feeling bad about the amount that wasn't spent breastfeeding. And that maybe, if there's a next time, it might be different. I felt validated and supported, even though I thought I would have "let her down" by not reaching "industry" goals. That left a good impression on me, much more than the moms who said I "should have" kept nursing if I had "wanted" to make it to a year.

My third child, Meg, was born in November 2005, and like while I was in labour with Lucy, I visited the breastfeeding clinic. It was great to see familiar faces there. I would see much more of Robin over the next year, as Meg had reflux and slow weight gain. Despite being an experienced nurser, LOL, I always felt welcomed in the clinic, and GREATLY appreciated Robin's home visits with the scale as Lucy was not always the most co-operative big sister while at the clinic, LOL. When I felt like giving up, Robin gently pushed me to keep going, reminding me that while reflux is messy, it's not nearly as bad as formula reflux, and there'd be no guarantee that formula would "fix" her. She might have been small (compared to the other kids), but she was still benefiting.

Robin is a great example of how friendliness, compassion, empathy and real support can work much better than the techniques used by "nipple nazis". I hope she gets celebrated hugely at her retirement tea, as hugely as she celebrated nursing moms (and parents of kids with challenging temperments too!).

House of Rash

2011-03-16T11:38:00.003-04:00

We are a pretty lucky family. We've dealt with developmental delays, behaviour issues, speech and language delays, but we don't have "serious" issues like allergies or more intense diagnosis. What we have had though is many, many, many rashes! Not really eczema or allergies, but illness, both viral and bacterial. Even I had my tough time after my breast reduction! Scarlet fever, chicken pox, cellulitis, unknown....
And now, Lucy has red cheeks. She was a little cranky on the weekend (thought it was due to a sleep over) but on Monday she woke up with red cheeks. No fever, no loss of appetite (I wish, LOL), sleeping well, etc. We figure it's probably Fifth's Disease. Not something serious, usually....

But here's the thing....her teacher is pregnant. In her second trimester, but still....Lucy would have gotten this before coming home for March Break. I'm going to send an email to the teacher, but it's a work email, and I don't know if she'll be looking at those during March Break. I feel bad, but hey, it's not like there's a vaccine, LOL (which I wouldn't have gotten for them anyway, even if there was one!).

Meg's Big Day

2011-03-08T22:05:00.003-05:00

In early April 2008, Meg had a horrible day. First she burnt her hands on the stove. Then she ran into a corner and knocked out her front tooth. This picture was a day or so later, after she started to heal.Tonight, Meg lost her first baby tooth by natural means:

It hadn't been loose for too long, we noticed it last week, but tonight after school, she did something with her water bottle and it made it really wiggly.

I went out shopping, and when I came in the driveway I saw a BIG raccoon scrounging in our Green Bin. It went up between the houses and I ran in to tell the kids, and Meg starts yelling that she lost her tooth! The kids were able to see the raccoon out the laundry room door, so everyone was happy.

I'm happy comparing these two photos--the top one really shows what happens with pacifier use, and I'm really glad to see her jaws straightening out. The dentist said her adult teeth were getting really close, LAST March and she's due to go again! When she lost the top one, she was still small for her age, and everyone noticed this cute little girl missing a top tooth (they rarely fall out first!). But by the time she was 4, she was huge for her age, so most people just thought it was normal (it's not). Now, she's finally back to 'normal' LOL. (It's 10:25pm and she's colouring a picture in front of me...)

Michael Jackson

2011-02-25T16:36:00.004-05:00

Huh? MJ? You're asking, what's he got to do with TracyKM? LOL. I was never a huge fan although I recognized he was talented. However, I watched the Oprah episode after he died, when she looked back on her earlier interview with him. It was one of those "I don't really need to watch this, but it's interesting". However, he said something that I found extremely profound, meaningful to my life. He was responding to Oprah's question about what he thought his purpose on earth was.

"I believe that all art has as it's ultimate goal, the union between the material and the spiritual; the human and the divine; I believe that to be the reason for the very existence of art; and I feel I was chosen as an instrument to just give music, love and harmony to world".

When I'm playing an instrument, I feel that there is something greater than me, greater than the notes on the page, greater than the sound in the air, vibrating around me. I'm not a believer of "God" (in the sense of a spirit that created earth and life), but I am a believer in spirit, in energy, both good and bad. Music can bring out the good spirit in anyone. Sometimes I think too much...about how we look at these 5 lines/4 spaces and little circles and squiggles, and I get lost in the amazingness that it can all become something that I can understand and share and that others can understand what I am sharing. I feel spirit in me, and the need to share it.

I hope, when you hear (good) music, that you feel the spirit too. And I hope that you let the music-giver know. It means a lot to us.

Aging

2011-02-18T08:55:00.003-05:00

You often hear people comment that they'd rather have another birthday then the alternative. I suppose so.

Recently Oprah had an episode with some supermodels from the 70s/80s. One of them, Paulina Porizkova (the one who married Ric Ocasek, from "The Cars"), had a very interesting comment:

"Aging is not a birthright. It is a privilege."

Wow.

She's Funny!!

2011-02-08T12:39:00.003-05:00

Every so often, one gets a little bored with the blogging world. You know...you look at your list of favourites, and you feel you've gotten all you can from them, that another post would just be a repeat of what you've read before. You realize that half of your knitting blog list rarely even talks about knitting, that your list of 'healthy' blogs just makes you feel guilty, that you spend way too much time reading things that just don't inspire you, or aren't really your area of interest anymore....

Recently, I was trying to find some more machine knitting blogs, and some how came across one...through comments on other blogs, or links, or something. Anyway, she had commented on my knitting blog a couple times, and one day I couldn't remember which of my many recently added favourites was her's, so I clicked her name on my comments and looked at her profile. I found her knitting blog, and under "other blogs" there was one with an interesting title "Breakfast at IHOP". What? LOL. I had to check it out. The first post I read had me laughing my head off (it is a little difficult to read against the background, and the lack of paragraphing, but it's worth it!!). I went back to read a bit more of the blog....just take that link, click on the header which will bring the blog back to the whole blog, instead of the one post, and then scroll down to her post "Don't Bug Me"----I'm using my new laptop and highlighting is tricky to me).

She talks about telemarketers, and how she likes to play with them. Oh, she's clever! I was thinking about the things I say to telemarketers. Our first house was only 3 years old when we moved in. We frequently got calls for replacing windows, doors, shingles, etc. I'd say that I'd never buy from a company that doesn't do it's market research, because they're wasting their money with the telemarketing, so obviously their prices have to reflect that. If Rob answered, he'd give them the address of the new school across the street and say, come for an estimate. Later, when we moved to an older house, I had to get more clever. I'd say anything. "We don't have carpets/just got hardwood....etc". Calls about duct cleaning were fun..."we don't have central heat" was good, but one day, I was in a strange mood, and I can't believe what came out of my mouth "when they seem dusty I send our little furry dog through the ducts on a long leash. He does a great job!". LOL! The last window call was similar "We have no windows. We live in a earthen dome".
Charities are touchy though. Often staffed by volunteers, I don't want to upset them. "No, I can't afford to take my kids to the circus....so no, I can't sponsor someone else's kids--how can I get my kids on the list?". "I've used my charitable donation for the year already" (works well in September onwards, but not so well in January). "I don't respond to charities/retailers/services that cold call". I'd like to hear your come back lines for charity calls!

Once, Rob answered a call and he actually was interested in the service/product, but couldn't understand a word of the heavily accented speaker. He told them they should invest in employees that can speak English well enough for English people to understand, if they wanted business. A few minutes later, someone with better English phoned him back! But he was still hard to understand, and we just don't "respond to cold calls". He also gets frustrated when he answers and the caller can't pronounce our last name...it's an instant red flag and he doesn't usually let them go further. (I've lost my mouse pointer....argh...a ha! While wiping off the dog hair I touched the touchpad lock button!)

Once, I got a call from a water testing company. I said no, they went on, I said we're educated enough to know if our water needs testing and we'll find our own company....the caller responded that obviously I was not educated. I hung up. A few minutes later, "someone" calls back and utters a few mean sounding things and hangs up! Did I get crank called by a telemarketer?

Potty "Training"

2011-01-31T10:26:00.004-05:00

I get so frustrated when I hear of a parent letting their kid(s) run the show. I know, I have a strong-willed child (or two) and sometimes, it's easier to let her think she's getting what she wants, but it's usually about fairly insignificant things....what she wears, for example. What I'm really talking about is when parents say things like "My kid is 3 and has no interest in the potty so we haven't tried potty training".

Well, Mom...you HAVE potty trained him...to use diapers.

Now, if you know me, you're thinking...hey...your kids weren't exactly early potty learners. Hugh's sensory processing issues created unique challenges. Meg...well, she's a unique challenge all on her own. But my intentions were good. I truly tried. And if I could do things over again, there are definitely things I'd do differently.

Like, "EC". It means "elimination communication". Or, a fancy way to say...teaching your child about elimination from day one, the same way our great-grandparents would have, and the same way much of the world still does. Babies don't like to be wet or dirty; it's not something they knew about before birth. It's kinda scary to them to suddenly have their body doing these things. They give us cues that they need to, or are, eliminating. Many parents learn these cues ("oh, he always makes that face before he poops"), but they don't do anything about it. If you know your child is about to poop, why not put them on a potty or over a bowl? Even if baby is only a few weeks old? Doesn't that make sense? Why spend the money on the diaper that just gets thrown away (in most cases). Doesn't it seem easier to hold baby on a potty then to change a stinky, messy, diaper?

People say that babies have no control over their bladders/bowel. But others say that they do, and even a young baby (6 months) who has been taught since birth that pee goes in a potty, will learn to "hold it" until given the chance to use the potty.

Others say that there's no point in potty training until the child is mobile and can deal with their clothes themselves. That same parent is probably helping their child get dressed in the morning, so what's different about after a potty trip? A child is mobile once they can crawl, and if you teach signing, they can be making the sign for potty pretty young. And, if you're already tuned into their signals, you can get them to the potty yourself. Doesn't it seem easier to pick up a baby and take them to the potty, then to pick up a stinky, leaking, crying, kicking baby and try to change them?

EC is one of the things I really wish I had given a try. It makes sense...you teach your baby from day one about other things, why not about where we eventually want them to always put their pee? It's not like we allow hitting and biting until the day they start school and THEN suddenly say "oh, that's not acceptable now, you must change your behaviour instantly, and not have any accidental bitings".

But Tracy, you say...my child is 28 months old and shows no interest in the potty, why should I potty train her now? I understand! With my kids, I had the notion that it was easier to change diapers than to clean the carpets. I often hear "my kid is toilet-trained and has only 2 accidents a day!". Well, I don't think that's something to brag about (unless your child is 12 months old).

A lot of parents also find that "the terrible twos" don't happen...but then the child turns 3 and is suddenly someone else. You've missed the window of opportunity when the child still wants to please momma and is more co-operative...even if she doesn't show any interest in the potty. And often, how do you show interest in something that you've never been shown that you should show interest in?

I often hear "My son always hides behind the couch when he needs to poop! It's so cute!"....that same mom, when the kid is 3, 3 1/2, 4....is saying "I can't get him to poop on the potty, he'll only poop behind the couch". Well, sorry to say, but you taught him that it was acceptable.

I hadn't heard, formally, of EC until Meg (child #3, and last) was almost 6 months old. I had heard previously that if you put a baby on a (cold) potty, they will usually pee...and I did do this with Lucy at times. I had also read about "old fashioned" potty training, how our grandparents trained our parents to be diaper-free by 12 months, and the debate about whether it's the parent that's trained or the child that's trained. But who cares---being diaper free is a good thing in all aspects!

When Meg was around 4 months I joined a Yahoo Group "Slightly Crunchy Attachment Parenting". One member was EmiLy, who owns http://www.theecstore.com/. Who knew there was a whole "industry" around NOT using diapers? LOL. She's a great lady, very hard working, and awesome at promoting EC. It's a great place to start if you want to learn more. As I said, it's one thing I wish I had known about before having kids. I don't know to what extent I would have done it, but gosh, any time not using diapers is great!

Figured It Out

2011-01-26T12:51:00.006-05:00

I've written before about how a good friend in high school betrayed my trust (June 2008 and July 2009, all under the "Health" label). I have often wondered through the years, "What is it that I was supposed to learn through this?". I DID learn a lot about forgiveness, and that really changed me, but the actual betrayal...it was one of those things that just can't leave your soul untouched...and I couldn't figure out exactly how I was touched. I often put myself back into similar situations, to try to prove to myself that I could handle it. I lost trust in friends. But I just couldn't put my finger on the inner change that I knew must have happened...it must have been so subtle that I just couldn't recognize it.

I often retell the incident to myself. It's a way to make sure I don't forget my lesson (which I was still figuring out), and a way to keep it real, while I learned. By retelling it, like a story, different aspects emerge, based on your current state of conscious awareness, and current view filters. I'm not hung up on this incident, I don't do the "what if" game, I don't do anger anymore; I blew those all away when I gave forgiveness (to myself and to him). I've always loved to write, and there's only so many times you can write the same story over again, esp. while trying to get to sleep, LOL. So, every once in awhile, I just go back to that night and try to figure out my lesson.

And, this past weekend, it finally came to me. How I could not see it before, I don't know. I'm sure I've said the same words to myself before, but it went totally over my head. As I replayed it, I said "....despite knowing what I wanted/didn't want, he did what he wanted; as if what I wanted didn't matter (to him)".

That has been it. Whenever I find myself in a place of anger, it's not from fear, or hurt, or ignorance, as Dr Phil says. It's because I feel that what I want is not mattering to someone else. After awhile, one begins to feel that no one cares what I want (not in a "woe is me" sort of way, just "why bother"). In my subconscious fighting of this, I would oscillate between "What I wants matters most of all and to hell with want you want" and "it doesn't matter that you're walking all over me, no one cares what I want". This was the cause of a lot of fighting between me and Jim....he was not usually overtly controlling, but I was WAY too lax about 'giving in'...so it just became what we were....he got what he wanted because I wanted him and it just seemed that's what was needed to do, and it was easier than asserting what I wanted....but then other times, we'd fight terribly because I would "suddenly" take a stand and he couldn't deal with the ideal that I had wants that might not put him first. I lost a lot of myself in that relationship, and now I see why (we started dating just over 2 years after the incident, when I was still in the raw hurting stage).

The same sort of thing has happened with my relationship with Rob. It started out with me still really hurt, but knowing I had to move on. What I wanted (to be with Jim), didn't matter to anyone. Therefore, nothing I wanted mattered to anyone. I would either be very passive, or very aggressive. As years went on, anger started coming to me. We would discuss some plans, then he'd start it, and then suddenly change everything. Sure, often his revised ideas were great, LOL, but why did it make me so angry? Because, it felt like what I wanted didn't matter.

This has even invaded my relationship with the kids. If I'm doing something I want to do, I get really, really agitated by their demands, which always seam much more frequent when I'm engrossed in my own 'play' time. I heard myself saying, over and over "I just want to....get this load in, finish this thumb, cut out this fabric, wash the floor, dry my hair....". Just normal kid demands and I'd get frustrated and worked up about it. Now I know why.

The next step is to work through the passive-aggressiveness and agitation. Find the way to flip it around and let it go. What I want does matter. And I do get what I want. Yes, sometimes the design changes, or the timing is unexpected, but it doesn't need a chaser of anger. It is what it is, not some retaliation on a high school event by someone these people have never met. That's MY filter, not theirs and it's not fair to them to use it.

Lucy-isms

2011-01-21T10:25:00.005-05:00

Lucy is an interesting girl. Very bright and precocious, she lacks common sense sometimes, but her cuteness saves her.

I love having the kids come home for lunch, for many reasons:

Hugh walks in the front door and says "It helps you walk on top of the snow".

Lucy followed him in the door (rare) and replies "But what if you're carrying a dead horse?"

Huh?

Lucy's class is studying pioneers, like all good grade 3 classes in Ontario since before I was even in grade 3. They were going to have a project where the teacher assigns the kids a "pioneer job" and they have to do a report. Lucy's first choice of jobs: banker.

Last year, Lucy made a Christmas Wish List:

1) Lego Set (any Lego set would be fine)

2) Laptop

3) $200 or $250

4) A magic wand

5) A table for my room

6) My own house (just a little house)

7) Lots of candy

8) a driver's licence (a car for my drivers license)

9) an electric guitar

10) A band (a place to rock out)

11) Sana's autograph

12) A TV for my room

She did get a couple things on the list...but not her own house.

A few years ago, I found a pair of RipZone snowboarding pants at the Salvation Army. They were a little big for Huey, but the price was great. After a while, we noticed a jingling sound. There appeared to be some coins stuck between layers of the pants. One day recently Lucy borrowed the pants. During recess, she tried to figure out what coins were in there, based on sound and size. She decided on a Toonie and a penny. Her friend says "Lucy, you know your money too well!"

Although her name is Lucy (and was named after our last dog's sister), we usually call her Lu, or Lu Lu (or YoYo...). It's fascinating though, that she looks SO much like her Aunt Lou!(Not the best picture to show the resemblance, but I can't find the other ones!).

December 2010

2011-01-20T11:13:00.003-05:00

Ah. December. Christmas "break". I was really worried this year since the kids had a whole week off before Christmas. It turned out to be not a bad week before Christmas, but it was all down hill after that!
First dip in the hot tub!!

December started out with my Community Concert Band of Whitby concert. It got off to a rocky start, but got better as the show went on. It's too bad we have such a small turn out. The last week of school flew by as I was making a batch of brownies every single night for the kids and Rob to take to their parties! The kids had their school concert, which was quite nice, esp. since this year, they left the lights on, LOL. I had no idea of what Hugh's class was doing for the show (or even Meg's class!), so their performance was a neat surprise!

The day after school got out (Sat.), we headed up to the country for the Vetzal family Christmas. The most chattiest member of the family, and a few of the others, were absent. It was quite a quiet affair, and it was so nice to be able to get home at a reasonable time instead of having a 3 hour drive after. And, just like almost every other year, there was a blizzard, LOL!

The Monday of the break, Meg had a doctor's appointment as she had been not well for a month. I had the babysitter come over to watch Lucy (and Hugh). Meg was diagnosed with a sinus infection and since I mentioned that I wasn't feeling well either, she looked me over and gave me a sinus infection AND ear infection diagnosis. Wow. I thought, since we were over that way, that we'd just "pop" in to Michaels and pick up some yarn. It should have been a 5 minute drive. It turned into 1/2 hour! There was an accident and the lane I was in (eventually, a left turn lane), was blocked. I had also wanted to get some groceries on the way back, but we were hungry. Got home, asked the babysitter if she could stay while I went to Wal-Mart to get the meds. Sure, no problem. I got to Wal-Mart and found I had no wallet. Dropped the meds scripts off, came home, got the wallet and headed back. And waited. And waited. Eventually they told me they were waiting for a fax from the doctor. She had put Meg's name on both prescriptions...they were for the same anti-biotic, but one in liquid and one in adult capsules...Finally, they gave up and filled it anyway. I was there nearly an hour. I wish they had said something when they first faxed it, as I would have just gotten Meg's and came back after dinner for mine!

Tuesday was a get together for my family. With the passing of my aunt in the summer, no one knew what to do about Christmas. She had been hosting it for over 30 years, although last year she didn't for a number of reasons. We didn't want to exclude my cousin, but we also felt it was time for our immediate family--my two brothers and our parents--to have their own celebration. Since all the children live down here, and our parents live "up north", it seemed logical to do it here. We have the biggest house, and the biggest brood, and I really wanted to do something new. Rob, however, did NOT want a party, with two extra dogs and 5 kids, and people he's not fond off....so I planned it for the afternoon, while he was at work. No meal to prepare, serve, clean up, etc, a time deadline for everyone leaving....LOL. It was a wonderful afternoon, although I think we need a better family room. With the piano in the house, there's not much room for seating in the 'living' room, the family room is awkward too, the 'dining room' is where we tend to hang out, but the seats are hard....Anyway, I hope we do it again next year, and I hope Rob will join us :)

Wednesday was the only day that we were all home (except Rob)! I don't remember the day, but after the kids went to bed I went to Wal-Mart (after 9pm). I was surprised by how busy it was, but stunned at how few cashiers were open. It was a LONG wait in line.

Thursday, the kids went in the afternoon to see a play with their grandparents, so I wrapped presents. After 2 1/2 hours, I realized I did not need to be hiding in the cold basement, I could have been using the dining room table! LOL! I got almost everything wrapped, but sadly, forgot that fact and found out late on Friday night that there were still some significant things to wrap!

Friday, Rob was home, although I think he probably went out shopping; I think he took Lucy....

Saturday was Christmas, and this is what the kids saw when they got up (plus their stockings):

Yes, we used our little mini tree again. We didn't want to try even the fake tree with the crazy puppy. Lucy got a guitar for Christmas...I had been trying since her birthday! After lunch, I tried to tune it. I found a website, and it said the 6th string gets tuned to E below middle C on the piano. So I did that, using my tuner. I thought it seemed like a high note for the 6th string. Then I tried the 5th string....and broke it!!!! I felt terrible, Lucy was furious. Turns out that the 6th string is an OCTAVE below that E. Then, I tried to get her new camera working. It didn't seem to realize there was a memory card in it. I tried loading the disc to get the real manual, but it wouldn't load. The website wasn't working right. It wasn't till after everyone went home that I just happened to open the camera from a different angle and was able to push the memory card in further. But then, it was putting an annoying date stamp on each picture...still couldn't load the disc the next day.

Rob's parents and his brother came over. I took too few pictures, being stuck in the kitchen, even though I thought I had everything planned out well. This is the moment before the picture above (which was cropped!).

Yes, the window is horrifically filthy with handprints. Yes, John looks bored out his mind. Yes, I knit those socks their mother is wearing :)

The big gift I got Huey was a "real" photo and video editing program. I made sure it would accept QuickTime videos as that's what his camera makes and our program doesn't like them. I saw that it could use Vista. I saw something about Service Pack 2....had heard about that before, but didn't know about it. Turns out, we didn't have SP2....and Microsoft had stopped supporting Vista. "We" had tried to download the updates before, but it wouldn't work. Rob spent all afternoon on the Tuesday trying to get it uploaded, and it finally worked. There were many updates we were missing. I don't think things run any better, but I was able to finally upload the disc from Lucy's camera! Her and I went to the music store while Rob worked on the computer. It was very busy! Got her string changed, and then she had a meltdown when she looked in the new book and saw she was going to have to actually work to learn to play the guitar! LOL.

The rest of the week is a blur...late nights with Meg screaming, Rob working on his truck, me working on some belated Christmas presents....there was no public skating unfortunately, no snow, nothing to do!! We all stayed up on New Year's Eve, then Meg had a tantrum that was epic. What a way to start the new year!

This Year in Review---November

2011-01-20T09:48:00.005-05:00

I really want to start blogging here more about our lives. I use Facebook a lot, but often want to get more into the meat of the status update....but I get sidetracked, LOL. It's easier to post pictures on FB too. We recently got our yearly family newsletter from my relative....got to hear about all her trips, all her kids' trips, her puppies, her baby ducks, her new kitchen, her new pool....I'm not going to fill you in on our last year (ie...if there could be a problem, there was a problem), but here's what's been going on the last couple months.

Meg got the monthly character award for her class, on wacky hat day. The award was for "empathy" which she is surprisingly really good at (although she still has times where it seems impossible for her to be so clueless as how her actions affect other people!). There are only 8 kids in Meg's JK/SK class, and 3 of them are girls. At snack time, all the kids went to sit at one table, but there wasn't enough room for one girl so she went to another table. Meg saw her alone, and went to sit with her!Lucy had a party for her birthday. We couldn't think of a theme, and then it hit me...how about "Diva/Red Carpet"? She felt a little too old for Princess theme, but did actually wear her princess ball gown. We had a red carpet, and punch in (plastic) wine cups, and hors d'oevers, and dangly stars, and make your own pizza (which was supposed to be on "crystal" plates but I forgot), and cupcakes cause they're all the rage (they were NOT arranged into some vaguely identifiable shape). The girls were supposed to watch a movie....but, as you can see in the picture...it was all a big blur.

Shortly after Lucy's birthday is Meg's. With only 2 other girls in her class, we decided to invite 2 or 3 girls that had moved on to grade 1. None of them responded with either a yes or a no. How rude! One of the two girls in her class couldn't come, and her cousins couldn't come either. So, only the last girl (the girl in the empathy story) could come, which was great for her as it was her first friend's birthday! The four kids decorated gingerbread houses. I had put them together the night before, and realized I didn't have anything to actually put them on, esp. for the girl to take home! Dug out some trays! It started off scary as Hayley grabbed the icing bag and squeezed in the middle, without twisting the top, and icing came flying out of the bag! But she got the rhythm quickly after that. Sorry about the sideways picture! Don't know how that happened! I was really impressed with Meg's house. She sat beside Hugh, and at first, she just started globbing on the icing. Then she saw what he was doing with outlining the shingle lines, and copied him...all on her own!
Her actual birthday was mid-week, so we invited Grandma and Grandpa over, and she wanted cupcakes like Lucy (for her party, I made her a 5 cake like Lucy had when she turned 5...just a big 5 on the cake (Rob made the stencil), filled in with pink sparkles). Since her birthday was on a Wednesday, we got to go skating too!

Hard to believe this is public "Parent and Tot" skate. There is usually less than 10 kids there. I wish I could have taken the other kids when they were young. I've seen some pretty tiny "real" skates here, and I wish I had known they came that small! With the outdoor rinks in Orangeville, we could have really got them going sooner if I had known!

The very end of November brought us our hot tub! After 15 months of indecision, Rob finally made up his mind. It's an "Alaskan" tub, the "lower end" of Arctic Spas, pretty basic model, but an 8 seater with two pumps, instead of the 7 seater, one pump model of their 'regular' line that would have still cost more. It's been lovely, although I'm still not keen on the position of the tub, LOL.

Catering to the Kids

2011-01-07T10:16:00.003-05:00

Food issues. Sigh. What parent doesn't have at least one food issue at some point in their parenting career? There are some common complaints we all seem to face and some common suggestions on how to deal with them.

Don't give them anything else to eat; if they're hungry, they'll eat it. For how long should we hold this up? I've heard of some parents giving last night's dinner for breakfast! If they didn't like it at dinner, what would have made them like it while they slept?

I'm not a restaurant; this is what is served. That's being a bully. What adult would make themselves a meal they know they don't like, and then expect themselves to eat it? Would you invite a guest to dinner, and knowing that they're vegan, make them cream of chicken soup...and then say "I'm not a restaurant, you won't starve..."? Or, expect them to make their own dinner in your house?

"It tastes fine to me/It's not chewy to me" Why should you expect everyone in your family to like the same thing? We insist on the kids trying everything, but I also know that if they have already formed an opinion, they won't likely change their mind with just one bite. Meg loves fish, but last night she refused to try some catfish. She might have liked it, she might not have. But it wasn't worth a battle.

"You liked it last week" Yeah, and last week Melissa was her best friend and this week it's Maddie. Maybe she was more hungry last week. Maybe it tastes a little different tonight. I find this one SO frustrating, but I have to respect their opinions at all ages if I want them to grow up and know HOW to have and share opinions.

Having kids with sensory issues complicates things too. They (my kids; not all kids with sensory issues) have trouble chewing meats that adults find tender. I help out by cutting meats as small as possible for them, but sometimes that's not even enough, they only want 'easy' foods. Do I give in? Is there a way to make steak or pork chops easier to chew? I've even served veal only to be told it was too tough! Meg has the issue of over stuffing her mouth and then not being able to chew and swallow it all so I often find piles of chewed up food in the sink! She's done the hard work, LOL, I don't know why she doesn't just swallow. She also doesn't mind eating with her fingers, and doesn't feel when her face is dirty. But she does love to eat, LOL.
Lately, the big issue with Hugh has been the sound of knives on our stoneware. Like nails on a chalkboard, this common dinner noise is painful to his sensitive ears. So much so that he will either gobble it down and leave, or wait till everyone (esp. Daddy) is done eating. I can accommodate him by giving him a plastic plate, or a stoneware plate with a plastic fork...but I don't think Daddy wants to use a plastic knife.

With parenting, we're often faced with how much to compromise. When are we catering to our kids, and when are we just trying to make a harmonious meal time?

Parenting When it Matters Most

2011-01-05T08:30:00.006-05:00

Why is it so hard to be an effective parent at the times it matters most?
There is something I have noticed among parents, especially new parents. The ones that complain the most seem to be trying to make their child/baby fit into their world. The other parents, the ones that mold their world to suit their baby, seem to have it "easier".

Lets back up a bit.
How often do you hear "My baby won't sleep" "My baby has it's days and nights confused" "She wants to eat every 2 hours!" "He hates the crib" "I can't get anything done!" What if we turned these statements around: "My baby likes to be awake" "Our ideas of when to sleep are not the same" "Babies sure have tiny tummies" "How wonderful to snuggle while we sleep" and "Everything else can wait, babies are tiny for such a short time".

Why would we do this? We're the adults; shouldn't baby conform to our lives? But why should baby?
Imagine his life before being ejected. Constant warmth, constant confinement, constant noise, constant nourishment. Sleep when sleepy, awake when energized. Never have to feel hunger, a wet diaper, cold dry skin. The birth process is a rude awakening for most babies in our 'modern' culture. And then we want them to eat/sleep/wake when WE want them to?

How many parents look at a newborn's life from an anthropological viewpoint? Sure, you might know your baby likes to be swaddled, but have you thought further back than that? Why should your baby "want" to sleep alone in a crib? How can we think a baby should "want" to eat only every 3 to 4 hours? Sure, we know they have a tiny tummy, but do we know why? Why do we get upset if baby "wants" to be held all the time?

These aren't "wants" to a baby! They are biologically programmed needs to ensure baby's survival. Unfortunately, what baby needed to survive 10 000 years ago is what makes parents feel like they're not going to survive this stage, LOL.

I used to feel, before having my own children, that I understood them quite well. But what it really was, was that I knew how to respond to them. I still had some crazy ideas before Hugh came along.....we were going to have a schedule (except for nursing), we would have firm routines, we would have experiences and opportunities for educational exposures. But what he taught me was that what I wanted was not the same as what he needed. I could mold to him more easily and sanely than making him mold to me.

Before Lucy was born I heard about Dr Harvey Karp and "The Happiest Baby on the Block". I read the book while pregnant, and again in her first few weeks cause, dangit, I was NOT having another "Huey". Sure, Lucy was a happier baby, but is it because she's got a different disposition, or is it because I learned that humans are the only species born not able to support their own head? Was it the 5 "S's" that made her happy, or did they just make it easier to be a parent?

Ah. Easy parenting. Lazy parenting. Some say it's letting the dog lead the walker. But it's not. It's doing the things that make life easier for everyone, based on knowledge of the why's and when and your own child. Some children co-sleep well, and this makes them happy. Some babies do not co-sleep well, and forcing them to makes everyone unhappy. Doesn't mean you're not following attachment parenting if you don't co-sleep :) Breastfeeding is a LOT easier than bottle feeding, AND it's better! (Except for in those 10-15% of cases when it's not). Babywearing is SO much easier than carrying a carseat, or a stroller, or letting your baby scream in a bouncy chair because you're "afraid of spoiling him".

When Hugh was quite little still (around 4 months), I finally got to the library to see if there were any parenting books that could explain him. I found Dr. Sear's and his "High Needs Baby" book. Aside from the "7 B's of AP", I learned the one bit of info that has played the biggest role in my parenting: "A need that is filled will self-extinguish, a need that is suppressed or forcibly extinguished, will remain a need but perhaps unrecognized as a subconscious driver of behaviour". (Not a direct quote!).

Think about yourself. Ever had a craving for potato chips? The "experts" say to have some popcorn or some carrots, for the crunch. You eat the whole bag of carrots and what do you feel? That you still want the chips!!!! If a baby needs to be held, they will continue having this need until THEY feel it's been met. So, if you leave your baby to cry in the stroller, or bouncy seat, or crib to "teach" them....what they are learning is that you don't care about their needs and won't meet those needs. Babies will then go one of two ways. Some will rev it up. Others will withdraw. It's okay to say, "I'll give it a few minutes to see what happens" but when it goes on and on, repeatedly, or your attitude is "he's got to learn", then their need never gets met, and it doesn't go away. I have a "signature" on my emails that says "Children should be held by people, not things; Try a sling". What the "cry it out" baby has "learned" is that being held by a THING is better than being held by a person. Isn't that sad? Now think about how that gets internalized as the child grows and starts to form relationships with others.....

This idea of filling needs doesn't stop with infants though. Dr Karp has another book "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" and really, I think it applies to people of all ages! This Christmas break was a hard one for Meg. Although she's not the best kid to get into bed at a decent time, her behaviour over the break, at bedtime, was out of her normal repertoire. The days weren't too bad, but she was suddenly having tantrums again. But then every night at bedtime there was screaming, coming out of her room, total defiance, screaming, etc....one night we had a disagreement right before bedtime. I knew she'd never go to sleep unless we resolved it, so we did, and I told her that a talk and a snuggle could solve anything. So, the rest of the two weeks, she'd start screaming "I want a snuggle" instead of going to bed. Well, after two hours of this, who wants to snuggle?! I explained that I wasn't going to 'reward' her bad behaviour that way.
Finally, on the second to last night of the break, I "gave in". About an hour earlier than she had been at least getting quiet the previous nights, I laid down and rubbed her back. She was asleep in under 10 minutes and slept all night! The next night was now a school night, and I tried it even earlier. She has a music player that goes for 6 minutes....longer than it took her to fall asleep! Of course, now I'm feeling horrible for the rough two weeks when I didn't "give in".

Would it have been giving in? I thought about what life was like for her during the break. She went from having me alone all morning, to sharing me with the entire family (even Daddy was home for a week). Asking (screaming) for a snuggle was her way of saying she hadn't met her need of mommy-time. She has a need for one-on-one time with me. Perhaps all the kids do, but they don't express it so vehemently.

So, next time you find yourself in a 'battle' with your child, especially over something that seems out of ordinary, dig a little deeper. Has something changed? Even something simple like a different cereal for breakfast or having to wear a hat. Children really don't want to be "bad". They really just want things easy too. But because they operate more on a biologically driven basis, rather than a knowledge driven framework, they have a unique way of expressing things, LOL.

Editted to add:
I just want to say that Meg wasn't wandering around for two hours every night for two weeks screaming "I want a snuggle". It was more like...an hour and a half of trying to get her to at least stay in her room, settle down, stop tantruming about something, etc....and THEN she'd start with the "Snuggle me". If she had just skipped all the rest hubabaloo and just started with teh "Snuggle me", I would have just laid down and snuggled with her, like we did for the last couple nights of break. Hindsight....but even last night, the snuggling did not work until 11pm when she finally laid down and was asleep in under a minute.

Using Babies for Activism

2010-12-14T13:03:00.003-05:00

I think it's great to parent with intention. Whatever your philosophy is, it's great to have a basis for your actions. I've talked about being a lazy parent---breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping, etc. Those are principals of "Attachment Parenting" as well. I love to let other parents know that there is a name for this parenting, and all the ways that being a 'lazy' parent is actually good for your children. I know I've sort of brainwashed Meg about babywearing as she often mentions about seeing sad children in strollers and wants me to make a sling every time she sees a pregnant woman! LOL.

But I don't use my children to further the "AP" movement. Nor do I go around pushing it on others, I just try to let moms know there are other options out there. I have been reading a blog lately called "Peaceful Parenting" (I don't want to link directly to it, because I'm not interested in starting any sort of 'war'). I agree with most of her ideology....it's all good for our babies. Recently (Fri. Nov 12 2010), she posted pictures of clothes for babies and adults that they sell, with parenting activism slogans. Now, some of them I did think were funny! "Eat Local" with a graphic of a baby breastfeeding (graphic, as in drawing, not graphic as in real and up close).

But some of the shirts I just don't think are appropriate for children to wear.This one says : Breastfeeding, Sling-riding, sleep-sharing, intact Lucky Boy

Really. Why do you need to advertise all that on your child's shirt? Why isn't he IN a sling? If he were, you wouldn't be able to read all that. And what happens when he gets to be oh, 12 or 14 and his girlfriend is looking at his baby book....

Oh, wait. Here's one for older boys!

I don't need to know this about your child! As a teacher, what would I say if he came to school in this shirt? I know, nothing here is offensive, or perverted, or sexual....but still. It's one thing to share your beliefs when someone asks for them, but it's another thing to use your children to spread the word. How is another little boy who was formula fed, stroller stuffed, solitary slept, and circumcised going to feel? Unlucky? How will his mother feel? That might depend on if she cared about those things, but even if she hadn't cared one way or the other about co-sleeping or formula, etc, she still did what she felt was the right thing for her and this shirt implies that all other types of parenting are wrong and perhaps even damaging.

What I would love to see is a shirt that says "Ask my Momma why I'm so lucky" or "Ask my Momma how you can have a great babe like me!"

Labadee, Labadoo...

2010-11-16T11:26:00.002-05:00

I should forget about "The Rest of My Life" and just write about Labadee, Haiti. It appears that's all anyone comes to this blog to read. Oh, and some come for the visit to Jamaica. LOL. So much for the breastfeeding, gentle birth, babywearing advocacy, or the delightful pictures of my brood. We had a great time in Labadee though, and I hope my posts reflect that and let others look forward to their day too. However, Labadee has undergone a HUGE transformation since Oasis of the Seas starting docking there. But it's still a nice place to rest and relax, or have some fun too.

Update on Images on the Web

2010-10-05T12:57:00.002-04:00

I haven't yet found out an easy way to find out if my blog pictures have ever been stolen. If anyone knows, let me know! However, I spent a few minutes today Googling different word combinations about babies, diapers, woolies, etc to see if anything comes up in their Image results. But with THOUSANDS of results, I can't sift through them all.
But something did happen that startled me. I have another blog, besides the knitting one. It was made after my mom and dad's 40th anniversary party in Aug 2007. I wasn't using Facebook at the time and it seemed an easy way to show off large numbers of photos from the big day, and other extended family events. There hadn't been any "stats" available for it through my Blogger dashboard, but today I looked again. One page had been visited. You can look to see how people got to your blog and I followed it to bing.com search engine and some searches with combinations of the words "mom" and "pantyhose". There, on the first page, is a picture of my cousin's daughter....not a mom, and not even showing below her waist (but the caption under the photos is "...after straightening her pantyhose...but judging by her expression, maybe before"). Two rows below that image is one of Meg, from the same post.

How on earth could I know that writting that ("adjusting her pantyhose") would bring up her picture on a search engine? I don't know how popular Bing is, but when I typed the same words into Google, I didn't get the pictures (at least, not as far as I scrolled down). I got a ton of pictures I really didn't need to see on a Tuesday though. And hopefully none of my kids ever Google "pantyhose".
What other phrases should I Google/Bing? And how can I track my photos?