The boo experiment

Boo!

Just testing.

It's Halloween. That spooky time of year, when everyone gets to be kids and play 'dress-up' and none of your friends can make fun of you for it. I have friends who LOVE this time of year. Me? I'm more of a Christmas fanatic. Still, I have total appreciation for the lengths that some people go to create inventive costumes or artistically carve their Jack-o-lanterns or decorate their houses.

If you haven't already seen this video - it is amazing what people will do in the name of Halloween fun!

One Pumpkin to rule them all
Gotta love this one (especially if you are a Lord of the Rings fan)

Admittedly, this year I haven't gone to any great lengths to decorate my house nor do I have some spectacular costume and while my Jack-o-lanterns may not be the most creative, they were designed by my two boys and that makes them special.

Still I wanted to do something on this day that would be worthy of blogging about. So this Halloween, I thought I would try something new (tee hee). I call it the boo experiment. It's really quite simple. Starting this morning I texted and emailed 100 friends and family and all I said was "Boo!", nothing else. Then I waited to see how everyone would respond and here are the results:

Out of 100 people Boo!ed:

58 people - Did not respond at all. (Now while you may want to contribute this to a total lack of Halloween spirit, I think it is slightly more likely that people just haven't checked their emails yet, after all it's only been about 10 hours, and most of the people I facebook emailed. However...it is also entirely possible that they were so paralyzed by fear from reading my Boo! that they were completely incapable of responding. I'll let you be the judge.)
1 person - Responded but said nothing about the Boo! nor made any reference to it being Halloween - how lame! (okay, so this was my neighbour and when I texted her, she was stranded on the street because her car broke down and she had to wait for her husband to come get her...so maybe she was a little pre-occupied)
16 people - Said 'Boo!' back to me
5 people -  Wished me a Happy Halloween
3 people - Just laughed
1 person - Tried to make a joke "Boo who?"
1 person - Just asked if the boys were excited about tonight (actually that was my brother)
15- Were TOTALLY SCARED! nice! :)

Probably the most creative response was from a guy who was in the same residence as I was in University. His response: "GAH! A ghost of Holmes House Past!"

I find it interesting just how people express their fear - I got everything from Ahhhh! to Argh!  I even got a (gasp). Several people thought it was important to tell me that I did indeed scare them (9 to be exact). Even my own husband responded with an Ahhh Eeeek. (Don't worry, he's okay now)

Now of course I am left to wonder if any of the 60 remaining people will email me back over the next few days...

In the meantime, there is some Halloween chocolate that has my name on it...shhhh, don't tell Jill!

From our little bat family to yours - Happy Halloween!

WILT #4

Friday night my friend Kim and I went to this cozy little place called The Cafe on Main and Winebar to listen to her friend Emily sing. Emily, by the way, has an amazing voice! I always find myself jealous of people who can sing...scratch that, people who can sing and sound good! As much as I love music, I know my limits. Singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' to my two little monkeys is as close as I will ever get to singing stardom. But I do love music, especially when you get to listen to it live in some small venue where the singer is just a few feet away from you. Nothing better.

So Friday night Emily sang some songs by an artist that I had never heard before - Sarah Slean. Sarah is a Canadian singer/songwriter (yup, thought it was about time I put some Canadian content into the WILT section). I checked out some of her other songs and can now officially say I am a fan (albeit a new one). This is "I Know" - check it out and let me know if you are a fan too.

You had me at bigger closet

Question:What do you do when the house you live in suddenly doesn't seem big enough but you don't really want to move?

Context: We live in an amazing neighbourhood! Our house is on a corner lot so we have a decent size property. Our next door neighbour plows the snow off our driveway in the winter. Our back-up babysitter for when relatives aren't available lives across the street...yup, that's right, I said across the street (so convenient for driving her home! I'm kidding, we don't actually drive her...she's  drives herself). My son's school is also on the same street so we can walk him to and from school everyday. My husband has a mere 7-minute walking commute to work, which means he can come home for lunch when he's working at the office. Oh, and did I mention that we love our neighbours! And isn't that one of the biggest gambles about moving - you don't always know what your new neighbours are going to be like.

Needless to say, we have no plans of moving. So what to do?

Answer: You put an addition on your house! Or in our case, you put an upstaris addition on your house!

Awesome!

Initially we were going to finish our unfinished basement. Right now it is one big room that is our laundry room/guest room/playroom/storage room/office (mine). Besides being a tad creepy down there with all the spider webs that seem to so quickly accumulate (regardless of the number of times they get vacuumed up), it is also friggin cold! How cold? Picture me working in my office wearing a parka and a toque (for my American friends that would be a winter hat).

Then we started toying around with the idea of putting a room above our garage. A few phone calls later and we found ourselves sitting down with Bob the Builder (no joke that really is his name) and later checking with the bank to see if it really was possible (which it was). The plan was to make one big room and have it serve as both my office and the guest room.

The really exciting part came when we sat down with the builder and the architect and we discovered that we could expand the room at the front and the back and that our one big room was now going to be TWO big rooms. Not only that, but one of the rooms was going to be bigger than our current master bedroom! And if you are thinking what I'm thinking - then we're both thinking that there needs to be a little room shuffling going on.

For me it gets even better - I will finally have a decent size closet!!!

You don't understand.

This is my current closet.

Correction: this is my current closet that I have to share with my husband. (I can just sense the jealousy...no wait, my mistake, that's pity)

This, by the way, is my oldest son, Theo. He insisted on being in the picture - he also graciously demonstrates just how small our closet is. The top shelf is all of my husband's stuff since it is too high up for me to easily reach (seems the original builder thought it would be funny to pick on short people - stop laughing tall people).

Now that we've designed the rooms the way we want them, the next step is for the architect to make final sketches and then the builder has to apply for a permit. Once the permit is acquired - the renovating begins! (The builder thinks that should be in about 2 weeks time!)

That being said, along with all the other NEW stuff that is going to be happening in my life over the next year, I thought I would document our house renovations as well with pictures of the before, during and after. And when it's all finished, you can all come for a visit! (okay stop packing, I was just kidding)

So here is our cute little house as it looks right now:

The front view

The back view

My friend John and Throwback Thursday (TBT) #2

John and I were teenagers when we first met . We have always lived thousands of miles away from each other (he's originally from Minnesota) and for almost 20 years we lost touch with each other (technology wasn't as good back in the 80's and boys aren't always the greatest at writing letters - surprising, I know). Yet, through the marvels of facebook we were able to reconnect again. Back then he was not only an amazing friend, he was an amazing person - 20 years later, nothing has changed, well, except for his hair (believe it or not he went from having a mullet to being bald).

Several months ago (March 18 to be exact) John found out that he had a brain tumour and on April 4th he had an operation to remove it. Amazingly enough the surgeon was able to remove 95% of the tumour! Several bouts of chemotherapy and radiation later and John is doing okay. In fact, he came through everything with his sense of humour still intact. Plus he has an amazing support system - especially his now fiance, Jenn. She is truly remarkable and gives a whole new meaning to the words "stand by your man". He also has an incredible group of friends and family who held a benefit concert for him this past Sunday (which I wanted so much to be at) to help pay off his numerous medical bills. To learn more about his story you can visit http://sindelarge.com/.

As you know I'm a Canadian girl (and proud of it) and my friend John is an American (and equally proud of it). He currently lives in Arizona and I was lucky enough to have the chance to visit him for the first time in 20 years this past August. Funny how there are certain people in your life that no matter how much time or distance separates you - when you see each other again, all the years just seem to melt away. That is exactly how I felt when I saw John.

During one of our conversations, John talked about how his perspective on life has changed. He also shared with me his desire to pursue one of his biggest dreams (which I bug him about weekly - I'm sure he's starting to think - 'man, I shouldn't have told her'). It was that conversation that really got me thinking about my own life and the things that I want to accomplish. Which is why I decided to do this blog and tackle "The New". When I'm old and gray, I don't want to look back and think, man, I wish I had done this or why didn't I ever try to do that? So I ask you, what are your dreams? What is holding you back from pursing them?

That's John in the middle and the beautiful brunette is his fiance, Jenn.
(We're in Sedona by the way)

The other thing that John and I share is a love and appreciation for music. Interestingly enough, when John was going for his brain surgery he was told that there was a possibility that he might lose his ability to appreciate music. It is hard to imagine what that would be like...

So on this Throwback Thursday, I have decided to play John's favourite song before the surgery - Dave Matthews Band - #41 (the live version from 1999)...oh and in case you're wondering, it's still his favourite song now.

While John still isn't the best at writing (I guess some things never change!) I'm so happy that we are friends and I look forward to him being around for a VERY LONG time!

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait...and wait, and wait

It's funny how the things that excite you in life change over time. Now, don't get me wrong, I still get excited about the usual things - visiting old friends, date night, Christmas, "me" time - but now there are new things to get excited about. And new moments that make me proud...

In the continuing potty training saga - Isaac has been doing great peeing on the potty and I'm so happy to report that there have been no peeing accidents over the past couple of days. Even better, I had a proud mommy moment yesterday when Isaac came up to me on his own and said "mommy pee." I asked him if he needed to use the potty and he nodded his head (which is actually for Isaac more like a whole body nod, which I just love) and sure enough after I put him on the potty he peed!

The pride and excitement were short lived though because not long after that he pooped in his underwear...sigh

But today is Day 6 of potty training and Day 6 is turning out to be an amazing day!

It started out as a pretty typical morning, well except for the fact that I slept in this morning and had to rush to get the boys fed, changed and Theo ready for school. Plus, since Daddy is in Edmonton at a clients', I had to walk Theo to school this morning too. When we got back, Isaac and I hung out for a bit and then I did my workout (Jillian of course). Then it was time for me to shower.

Now comes the dilemma. Do I put a diaper on Isaac now, knowing that we have to leave to pick Theo up shortly after I'm done showering and getting ready...or do I chance it? 

Needless to say, I decided to live on the edge. I toted the potty chair upstairs to the bathroom and said a silent prayer before hoping in the shower that there would be no 'accidents' while I was dousing myself in water.

Now, we have one of those showers that has a sliding door that you can sort of see through (though everyone appears distorted and blurry) and I kept looking out to see how he was doing. At one point I saw him stop and sort of pace around a bit, so I opened the door slightly and said "Are you okay monkey?" He then pointed at the potty. Crappy.

Picture this (okay, maybe not literally): Me with conditioner still in my hair, running out of the shower naked so that I can help Isaac get his pants down and onto the potty as quickly as possible. I tell Isaac to stay where he is, hop back in the shower and rinse my hair. I get out of the shower and wrap a towel around me in time to hear Isaac say "I'm finished mommy". I help him off the potty and look inside and to my surprise and delight (yes, I said delight) - my son has made his first poop on the potty!!

So here I am, wrapped in a towel, hair dripping wet, clapping and shouting "Yay!!" and "Hooray!!" and Isaac just looks in the potty, points and says "uh-oh".  I hug him and say "No honey that's a good thing! I want you to poop in the potty!" He still looks at me with his quizzical toddler look. Again, I imagine him thinking "Really? Those 3 little brown things in there are what you're excited about?"

"And guess what Isaac? You won the car!!" More excitement (now from both of us). I quickly get changed, since the car is downstairs (and I don't want to scare my neighbours). And wouldn't you know it, it is one of those toys that has tiny screws on the bottom bolting it to the box. It took me 15 minutes to break into the thing! I probably could have been in and out of Fort Knox in less time than that. In the end it was worth it.

I was so happy that he had accomplished this milestone and my happiness was only doubled when I saw the look on his face when he got to play with his new car for the first time.

Since it wasn't long after Isaac got his new car that we had to go pick Theo up at school, he naturally had to bring it with us.

What I'm Listening To (WILT) #3

My friend Paul has great taste in music (and Paul, if you are reading this, don't let it get to your head). He was the one who actually found this song and the cool video that goes with it. The really neat thing about this video is that it isn't the official video for the song - it is a video that someone put together using clips from the band playing and scenes from a short movie called 'U-Bahn' directed by Hendrik Holzemann. Regardless, the effect is really quite impressive and if you didn't know better, you would think it was the official video. The song's pretty good too - enjoy!

This is Bloc Party with "Kreuzberg"

To poop or not to poop? That is the new question

Ever have one of those moments where the whole world feels like it is moving in slow motion, just like in the movies? Where even your voice sounds all slow and distorted - Noooooooooooooooooo!
Yes, that is exactly the feeling I had when I watched my naked-from-the-waist-down 2-year old poop on the floor! Thank God it was the hardwood and not the carpet.

It seems in my explanation of where and where not to poop, I forgot to mention not to poop on the floor. Silly me. Well that was remedied in short order. 'No Isaac, we do not poop in our underwear or on the floor, we poop in the potty. We go poop or pee on the potty...or both"

We leave him in his birthday suit (with the addition of a shirt and socks) for the rest of the day and apart from a few close calls, we manage to go the rest of the day without any peeing accidents.

The amazing thing about this whole process is seeing the look on his little face when he discovers that he did indeed pee in the potty and there is a reason why his parents and older brother are getting so excited. That slow smile that turns into a huge grin, followed by his own shout of "Yay!"  (Though I still picture him looking in the potty and thinking 'Really? This is what you get all crazy excited about?')

Now, you may have caught on that earlier I said there were no 'peeing' accidents...yes, sadly, we were not so lucky in the poop department.  We had put underwear and pants back on Isaac for dinner time and shortly after we had finished eating, the potty timer went off. We all produced our standard potty time excitement and Isaac came marching over to the potty. I had to help with his pants and underwear since he'd been doing this without them for most of the day. I noticed a second too late, as I was pulling down his underwear and sliding him onto the potty....he'd already pooped! And now there was poo on the potty, in his underwear, down his pant leg, on the floor and oh God, yes, poo on my hand (Ew!) 

I can't help but think that in some ways the poo on the floor was much better than this! At least it was easier to clean up.

So we ended Day 2 with some success in the pee department, a total strikeout in the poo department and complete success in the polishing off a lovely bottle of red wine department! (Even mommies and daddies need rewards for potty training)

Day 3

Isaac wakes up this morning and I realize that he has the fullest pee-soaked diaper possible (mental note: our son is definitely not ready for overnight potty training). Once again, a very tired mommy tries to mentally prepare herself for the long day of potty training ahead. I would love to tell you that the morning went amazing, but who're we kidding?

He had 4 peeing accidents before we finally managed to catch him in time to pee on the potty and all before 11 a.m. (good thing we bought an ample supply of underwear and pants...though I'm not looking forward to the extra laundry)

Just 5 minutes after his first successful pee on the potty for day 3 and we have poop accident #3. This time it was the smell I noticed first and though my attempt to get him to the potty would have made even Flash Gordon proud - I was sadly too late! So at this point we still have not managed to get Isaac to successfully poop on the potty. We even bought this super cool Hot Wheels Super Stunt Vehicle with lights and sounds to award him once he does do his first business on the potty...but so far, no luck :(

We also realized that we need to be more diligent about catching him before he pees his pants, (without having to leave him on the potty for the rest of his life), so we developed the 'dryness check' which we do every 5 minutes. So far, this has definitely helped the cause! Since implementing this new strategy, there have been no accidents!

Of course, we still have a long road ahead of us. We still need to get to the point where Isaac can tell us that he needs to use the potty without the use of the timer and of course we haven't done the 'road' test (basically taking him out of the house in just his underwear). Oh ya, and then there is that small matter of him actually pooping on the potty...but all in due time.

The thing I have learned since becoming a parent and interacting with other parents is that we can be extremely resourceful when we need to be. I have a friend Joanne who kept a potty chair in the back of her SUV while she was in the midst of potty training her daughter - sheer brilliance if you ask me! In my opinion, whatever works, whatever helps maintain your sanity - go for it! And with that last piece of advice, I call it a night...I'm sure there will be lots of pee and poo in the morning (just hoping most of it makes it into the potty first).

Potty training. Oh joy. Oh bliss.

The interesting thing about potty training is that you are essentially telling your child to do the exact opposite of what they have been doing for the past 2 years.

No, do not pee on yourself.

I can just picture my child's thoughts "But I just did that yesterday and that was perfectly okay with you. Why is it suddenly not okay today?"

Because now you are a big boy and big boys use the potty (and to be perfectly frank, mommy is kinda sick of changing diapers).

So with this somewhat crazy notion of breaking with the norm, we attempted the potty training process last night (armed with a reward chart, stickers, chocolate and hot wheels of course).  With the method we are using, we basically set a timer to a desired amount of minutes and when it goes off it is Potty Time!! (kinda like party time except with pee) If he pees on the potty, he gets a reward. If not, we reset the timer and try again.
Before beginning, I put Isaac on my lap and said "Isaac, today we are going to learn how to use the potty."  I explained how this process was supposed to work. I showed him the reward chart, along with the prizes for peeing. I let him choose his first pair of underwear. I set the timer for 10 minutes. And I said "Now remember, we pee in the potty, not our underwear."  And within five minutes...

He'd peed in his underwear.

Accident #1.

Okay, regroup team.

New underwear. New pants. Reset the timer. Repeat the reminder. And 2 minutes later...

Accident #2.

Followed very closely by Accidents #3, #4 and #5. It seems our son is a master at not only holding onto his pee and letting it out little by little but also waiting until he is off the potty and back in his underwear before doing it!

Okay new plan! Time to bring out the big guns! Insert 'Cars' movie into the Blu-ray player, load Isaac up with liquids, plunk him on the potty and let nature do the rest! And...
SUCCESS!

Isaac makes his first pee on the potty - crowd goes wild!!  His trophy: a sticker, a piece of chocolate and his choice of hot wheels car. High fives all around!
Funny thing is, with all the jumping around and excitement, I realized that my half-naked little man was still leaking drips all over the floor - so daddy rushes him back to the potty and says 'Okay Isaac just let it all come out' and sure enough within minutes, our little guy has accomplished his second pee on the potty! More stickers, more chocolate - tons of excitement!

Time to call it a night - literally. And since this is a new thing for all of us, we have no qualms about putting a diaper back on him for the night. We'll start the whole thing again in the morning...yippee.

Day #2

Once again we arm ourselves with underwear, pants, stickers, chocolate and hot wheels. Once again, I explain the process, this time with extra emphasis on the part where we pee in the potty, not our underwear. We plunk him on the potty, we wait...nothing.

Okay, maybe he just doesn't have to pee right now. No problem. Put just underwear on him, not pants. Set the timer for 10 minutes and we'll try again.

Well after escaping the potty our little monkey decides to sneak off to the dining room, where he promptly unloads his bladder.

Ugh.

Scrap the underwear. Maybe he's just too comfortable going pee when he's wearing something (regardless if it is a diaper or underwear).

At this point in time, I put daddy on watch and go change into my workout clothes for my 'date' with Jillian Michaels. We're going to be working on my trouble zones today...yippee.  When I come down I turn on the blu-ray player, forgetting of course that the 'Cars' movie is still in there from last night. Sure enough it starts to play and Isaac, without any prompting goes and sits on his potty.

Hmmm...this could be good. Sorry Jillian, we're going to have to postpone our date (I'm sure you can sense my disappointment), some things just take precedence.

1 hour later...we have pee in the potty! Woot woot! (picture me doing my version of a touchdown celebration)

Of course, I shouldn't get too excited...after all he's only managed to pee in the potty 3 times and peeing is only half the battle. Still, for now, I will take these small accomplishments! I'll keep you posted on how the rest of it goes.

Oh and for the record, I did resume my 'date' with Jillian while Isaac was sleeping and one of us is not happy about it.

To pee or not to pee? That is the question.

It's time.
I knew this day was coming.
The dreaded PT is upon us...

potty training.

Now, I know what you're thinking - I've already been through this once, so surely, surely it should be easier the second time around. Right??

But sadly, I am fearing the worst. Isaac my now 2-year old does not seem the least bit interested in sitting on his potty seat. Oh he'll play the music and flush the pretend handle, but actually use it for its purpose - heck no!

Of course, you cannot just jump into potty training...well you could, but I wouldn't recommend it. No, you must first arm yourself with every possible potty training weapon you can find:

lots of underwear - check.
pants, pants and more pants - check
night time pull-ups - check
timer - check
reward chart - check
chocolate (yes, I am not above bribing my child) - check
prizes (in our case, cars, trucks and anything else with wheels) - check
sanity - hmmm...still working on that one
patience - (mental note: go to store and get an ample supply of this)

And of course every potty training mission starts with a plan. In our case, we are going to use what worked with Theo, something my husband stumbled upon on the Internet: "Potty Training Made Easy, Fast & Simple" (I like the sound of that!) by Johanne Cesar. Why we chose this? Because the (in our opinion) brilliant Johanne has successfully potty trained over 317 children (including her own!) through working as a children's daycare teacher. Not too shabby! Plus, everything she had to say made so much sense. I'm not going to go into a lot of details about her method - I'm simply going to say that it works! Our oldest wanted nothing to do with potty training (he was 3 at the time) and once we tried Johanne's method, he was fully daytime potty trained within one week!

So with fingers crossed and mops at the ready, we plunge ahead to our next great adventure - potty training child #2! (I'll let you know how it goes)

In the meantime, if you are struggling with potty training (your child, not yourself) or you're looking for a great approach to begin the process - check out Johanne's website: www.thepottytrainer.com

Throwback Thursday (TBT) #1

It's Throwback Thursday! Fer shur, I'm like, totally stoked for this!

Yup time to dig up an old song and some old memories! And every Thursday there will be a new 'old' song.

Of course, it is only natural that the first throwback song is one of my all time favourites - Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes". This song has been with me through the good and the bad. How about you - what does this song mean to you?

What I'm Listening To (WILT) #2

This is 'When It Rains' by Paramore, a perfect song for a rainy day. Is it raining in your part of the world?  This is also the live acoustic version - I love it when bands sound just as good (if not better) live as they do on their albums.

My love-hate relationship with Jillian Michaels

Muffin tops, stretch marks and cellulite, oh my!

There's no place like my 20's, there's no place like my 20's...damn, need to get a new pair of ruby slippers because apparently these one's aren't working!

What happened to my eat-whatever-I-want-and-not-exercise-high-metabolism-fat-burning body??

Oh wait, now I remember - I had kids. Actually, it was the second one that did it - showing up 2 days late and leaving me with the 'gift' of extra weight around my middle that I cannot seem to get rid of! (As if the 9-months of pregnancy discomfort wasn't gift enough!)

Yes, like so many other mommies, I am cursed with some extra flab on my belly, which I have not-so-affectionately named my 'chub'. To add insult to injury, one of my 2-year old's favourite things to do is lift up my shirt and pat my belly to make it jiggle. Yes, thanks for that Isaac, it's always nice to have a reminder.

So, faced with this new enemy, I decided to take action. My secret weapon - Jillian Michaels. Enter the 30-day shred or what I like to call '20 minutes of getting my ass kicked everyday'. Now if you have never tried a Jillian Michaels' workout before and you enjoy sweat and sore muscles then I highly recommend her - her workouts are intense but well worth it! In the 'Shred' she has 3 different levels. I naturally started on level 1 (that was about 3 months ago) and am somewhat embarrassed to say that I am still on level 1. I did attempt level 2 - that lasted all of one day and I went right back to level 1. It is my goal to one day make it to level 3 but I've made an agreement with myself that it is okay to take baby steps to get there.

If you do lack the motivation to workout then I also highly recommend that you hire a personal trainer. I, myself, am lucky enough to have an amazing personal trainer - one who works for free, is super cute, persistent, supportive and gives amazing hugs...never mind the fact that he is only 2. Don't be fooled though, he may be a toddler, but he is relentless! One morning when I was taking too long at getting to my workout, he actually said `Time to workout mommy! Let's go mommy!` and then proceeded to get out my weights, yoga mat and yes, even my running shoes. He will also work out with me. Well, I should clarify that, he will do the warm-up with me and then he usually gets bored and goes off and plays with his cars, returning occasionally to sit on my stomach while I am trying to do sit-ups (guess he also feels that my abs need the extra work).

Of course, If I thought the 'Shred' was hard, "No More Trouble Zones" (also by Jillian), is sheer torture (40 minutes of it to be exact)! The day after I did it for the first time, I hurt in muscles I didn't even know I had! I have only attempted it once more since then.  It is a whole new test to my will power. But I am absolutely determined to lose the chub! I'll let you know how the battle goes.

Now, if only I didn't like ice cream so much...

My personal trainer - Isaac

What I'm Listening To #1

So I'm a HUGE music lover and thought it would be fun to share that love of music here. I am pretty eclectic in my musical tastes. As proof, here is a selection of some of my favourite tunes: 'Renegade' by Eminem and Jay-Z, 'What Hurts the Most' by Rascal Flatts, 'Time to Say Goodbye' by Andrea Bocelli, 'Always' by Blink 182, 'I'm Missing You' by Case, 'Some Enchanted Evening' by Colm Wilkinson and 'Cath' by Death Cab for Cutie (how cool is it that there is a song with my name as the title!).

Right now one of my fave bands is SafetySuit, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the first song I share with you is one of theirs. This is their new single "Let Go" and if you dig it be sure to check out some of my other favourites of theirs: 'Stay'; 'Someone Like You' (very cool video); 'Apology'; 'Anywhere But Here' and 'What If'.

The Pursuit of Oxytocin

It's official, while men may have bragging rights when it comes to the size of their brains, women actually have 7 times more connective tissue in theirs and use both sides of their brain more than men!

I started reading this new book by John Gray (the author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) called Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice. It talks about the differences between men and women and how we can better understand each other. So far it is a very interesting (and informative) book.

According to Mr. Gray, men need testosterone to survive and the 'drug' of choice for us women is oxytocin. This is apparently the key to our happiness! So where does one go about obtaining this oxytocin?? Not apparently at the drug store (I know, I tried). Nor can it be obtained in some back alley (tried that too - was not successful - but did meet a lovely gentlemen named Meat). No, apparently it is a hormone and our body has to make the stuff. Great.

So how exactly does one go about producing this happy hormone?  Apparently by doing things that one enjoys such as getting one's hair done, leisurely shopping, getting a massage, spending time chatting with girlfriends, perhaps over a glass (bottle) of wine...hmm I'm starting to like the sound of this. Oxytocin isn't just important for a woman's happiness, it is also important for her health as well. Oxytocin is what helps women deal with stress and keep that sometimes evil hormone cortisol under control.

Men also need to find ways to restore their testosterone levels as testosterone is the key to helping them deal with stress. For men, rebuilding testosterone is as simple as just sitting on the couch for half an hour. Yup, they have it easy! For women, just sitting on the couch can have the opposite effect and make us more stressed out because we think too much about all the things we should be doing instead!

Oh, did I mention that men, unlike women, are able to shut off their brains?  This makes so much more sense to me now! So, when you ask them what they are thinking about and they respond with the patent 'nothing', they really are telling the truth!

I find it so interesting to learn that the differences between men and women really are backed by scientific research now. And who knows, maybe by the time I am finished reading this book, I will actually understand men better...well, maybe.

So wives, girlfriends, tell your significant others that in the interest of your health and wellness you need him to give you a foot massage! Hey, he benefits too, he can relax on the couch while he does it! And if that doesn't convince him, tell him that foot massages stimulate the part of the brain next to the sex centre! (wink wink)

Me, I'm off to produce some oxytocin of my own! I have a wedding to go to and I love weddings!
So nuff ramblin for one day - I'm off to get my dance on!

The Beginning

So I guess I'm a blogger now...hmm, never thought I would ever be saying/writing those words. But yes, a couple of months ago I started to get the urge to write my own blog and that urge just wouldn't go away. Then these little 'signs' kept appearing in my life, like watching the movie "Julie & Julia" on TV one night (didn't love the movie, but I did like the concept behind it) and I started to seriously consider the idea. Everyday more writing ideas would pop into my head, usually while I was trying to catch a few z's or in the shower (I do some of my best thinking in the shower as is reflected in our water bill - eek!). Until finally I decided to take the plunge and here I am. 

Of course taking all of the ideas in my head of exactly how I wanted my blog site to look and making them into reality has proven to be a difficult task for someone as computer geekly challenged as myself. So, begrudgingly, I am checking my perfectionist's hat at the door (for now) and admitting that this is a blog in the making. I guess it is akin to a fish swimming in very shallow water, I may flop around for a little while, but eventually I will get into deeper water and start swimming and after that the ocean's the limit!

So why blog?

Well...when I was a little girl, the only thing I knew for sure I wanted to be when I grew-up was a mother. Fast forward to the present and I have accomplished that (twice) and I'm left thinking, okay, now what? 

And don't get me wrong - I ADORE my kids! Sometimes though, being a stay-at-home-mom can be kinda lonely. Throw in the fact that my hubby is away so much with his job and his paid 'hobby' (a.k.a. being an international assistant soccer referee) and suddenly life isn't looking so great. It has gotten so bad that when Joe is away I go into 'survival' mode - basically I wake up and just try to get through the day (without totally losing my sanity) and then do it all over again the next day, and the next, until he gets home. But really, who wants to live like that??

I don't.

Especially when I know that things aren't going to change for at least the next 10 years. This year alone my hubby has been gone for about 109 days out of 286 days (and that doesn't count the nights where he has to go back into the office to finish what he didn't get done). The longest stretch he was away at one time was 35 days and I felt like I barely survived it. After that stint I gained a whole new appreciation for those with spouses in the military who are deployed overseas for numerous months at a time - I have no idea how they make it through that long! (I have an enormous amount of respect for single parents as well) I would also like to give a small shout out to skype (what did we do before video chatting??)

So here is the dilemma I was faced with: an insanely busy husband, two kids who are at least 15 years too young to be considered self-sufficient, and a burning desire to find a way to be happy despite myself.

Solution: "Ramblings of a (Canadian) Redhead" is born! Of course, I knew I couldn't just sit around and write about life, I had to DO something! So, drum roll (this is the part where you make drum noises while pretending to air drum with your hands - hey, I don't have a big budget...yet!)

I have decided that starting on November 1st, I am going to attempt to do something NEW every week and then blog about it (insert oohs and aahhs here). Yes, too often I have found myself stuck in the humdrum of my daily routines and it is time to shake things up a bit! Now, this does not mean that I will be doing something crazy adventurous every week like climbing Mount Everest - let's be realistic, I am still a mom of two young kids after all - however, I can promise you that everything I do will be something that I have never done before! I'm excited! How about you? This is going to be a whole lot of fun for me and hopefully mildly entertaining for you at the same time. So, no matter who you are, or what your struggles in life are, I hope that my "Journey into the New" will inspire you to step outside your own normalcy and try something different (mental note: find a cooler title for this) - and ya, I would love to hear about it too!

Okay - nuff ramblin from this redhead - time to publish this baby!