Ode

Dear vessels out of which we daily sup,
Wherefore is it so hard to clean you up?
At six o'clock we gather for to dine,
Why are the dishes still unwashed by nine?

If anyone else needs some encouragement in their kitchen they should probably watch this. (You should also watch it if you like getting emotional for no good reason.)

Oh, and if anybody has any really great tips for keeping the grocery bill down, I would love to hear them. My maternity benefits run out any day now...



Edited to add: By "nine" I mean nine the next evening. Or the evening after that...

A Message For Motorists Everywhere

Dear Drivers,

As you may recall from Bike Safety in grade three, when I am on my bike I AM A VEHICLE. This means that I follow the rules of the road just like any other vehicle. It is very hard for me to do this when you won't let me. For example, if I have a stop sign and you don't, please don't stop to let me cross the street. You are not doing me a favour, or doing the right thing. What you are doing is teaching your children bad cycling habits and slowing the flow of traffic. I have tried and tried to get you to stop doing this, but from now on I will not try anymore. When you let me cross the street I will go. Not because you are so nice and I would never have made it across if you hadn't stopped. Not because it is my turn to go. Only because if I try to wave YOU to go we will end up waving at each other for five minutes until I finally go anyway because I can't get you to (even though, as previously stated, you have the right of way). I will still shake my head at you, even if it turns out you are someone I know (which may have happened today.) I just thought you would like to know.

Sincerely,

erin k

Just Ducky

My little Monkey is a Duck. I was a bit surprised when I found out that he passed his swimming lessons. He got a report card and everything. It turns out he can do things like

"Child experiences water on face"

and

"Makes water move up, down, forward, backward".

And as a parent I

"Helps child move/float while wearing a PFD"

and

"Watches demo of airway obstruction technique".

Oh yeah. We're good. And he got a homemade fish-shaped cookie and a sticker to show for it. (Come on Red Cross. What happened to badges. I can't sew a sticker to anything. Sheesh.) At first I thought the sticker said "Swim Nation". Then on closer inspection I saw that they spelled nation wrong. And THEN I realised that it actually says "Swim - Natation". ("Natation" is French, by the way)

On a similar note the following conversation took place in the car on the way to the Lake on Friday...

erin k: What does that mean? (referring to a deer crossing sign with the words "Night Danger" underneath)

Music Man: Umm. It means there's danger at night.

pause. stifled giggles.

erin k: I thought it said "Night Dancer"

more stifled laughter so as not to wake a sleeping Monkey.

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I'm a little (okay, very) late in mentioning this, but you should go check out Musings of a Crunchy Domestic Goddess' Breastfeeding Collage for World Breastfeeding Week. I'm on there. Can you see me?

Facebook, Facebook, Go Away/ Monkey Business

Dear Facebook,

I am scared of you. Yet everyone seems intent on getting me to join you. What's the deal? A few weeks back we got four invitations to join in three days. This is silliness. I am already way less anonymous out here in this so called "World Wide Web" than I would like to be. Do I really want people I know (read: used to know) to be able to contact me? The truth of the matter is, I don't even know how you work. But everyone wants me to join and that's enough reason for me not to. It seems to me that the MySpace people are much less aggressive. Maybe I'll join MySpace just to spite you.

Sincerely,
erin k

***************************

I feel better now that I got that out of my system.

In case anyone is wondering, this is what is new in Monkey's life...

-He has his last swimming lesson tomorrow. (he will miss his Friday lesson as we head out to Northern Ontario for the weekend.) Do I give his swimming teacher a thank-you gift?

-He has been enjoying his new Chariot bike trailer. He will enjoy it even more when Music Man gets his bike fixed (which is hopefully happening as I write this)

-He said "Good-Bye" to his cousins, who left on Sunday morning for Asia. We are so glad they got to spend time together, even though he won't remember it. The next time they see each other will probably be two years from now.

-He has learned to climb the stairs. Yup. Just like that. Now we have to keep a super close eye on him when we are in the basement (read: I can't get wrapped up in reading blogs when he is down here with me.) Crazy.

-He is cuter than ever. Seriously. He just keeps getting cuter and cuter. (This will stop eventually, like when he is 12.)



(I'm trying to think of a clever way to end this post, but it's not going to happen.)

Butterflies

Social ones that is. We have gotten together with people for the last three nights in a row. That is basically unheard of for us. But it often seems to happen that way. Boring Boring Boring Boring then suddenly a burst of social activity. But don't worry, I'm not complaining.

I guess no one loves me enough to send me to the Glen though, since it is halfway through Glen week and I am nowhere near Santa Fe. Oh well, maybe next year. (I know, I know, probably not next year either, but it's nice to dream...)

I've been too busy/unmotivated to post these days. Monkey is taking swimming lessons this week. It's kind of silly, I know, but mostly I just want him to get used to being in the water. Today was his third lesson and I can already see an improvement. He is more excited about the water and less resistant. He won't "pass" his level though, seeing as he doesn't understand things like how to blow bubbles. He'll just be in Ducks again next year.

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Now, I'm not usually the kind of person who enters online contests, but...

Amy at Musings of a Crunchy Domestic Goddess just opened her new store Cute as a Bug.
She has cute t-shirts etc for babies, and is giving one away! You should also check out her other store, Attached at the Hip. Very cool. Leading me very nicely to the fact that it is


WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK!!! August 1-7. Please encourage a breastfeeding mother this week. It is the best thing she can do for her baby. Let her know you think she is doing great.

Pining for the Glen

It's nearly Glen time. Oh, the Glen. It is like the most fabulous summer camp ever, except way way better and for adults. Imagine this...

A college campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A whole lecture hall full of Christian artists. Painters, poets, novelists, songwriters. Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants. More food for your brain and soul than you can digest.

We wish we could go to the Glen again this year. We had such a wonderful time last year. We got to know so many great people. We learned so much about art and faith. We were opened to new ideas. We were challenged, we were stretched, we were affirmed.

Have a look at this picture. Do you see the man with white hair and a blue shirt in the middle towards the back? That's Eugene Peterson. Eugene Peterson! He wrote "The Message". And he spoke every night at chapel last year at the Glen. That is the kind of person you can meet, chat with, eat breakfast with at the Glen.

And look at the next picture. That is me and the Music Man on the left with Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, aka Over the Rhine. A rock star is touching my 6 1/2 month pregnant belly. Only at the Glen, folks. Only at the Glen.





So, in closing, if anyone has a large sum of money to give me in the next week to cover flights and tuition, I will love you forever and ever, and I will frolic my way down to Santa Fe.

June Cleaver I am not

(note: my technical difficulties seem to have resolved themselves. hoorah.)

I want to be a "together" mom. You know the type. (In fact, in my imagination you are all that type.) The moms at the park whose children are wearing clothes that match. Who speak with enthusiasm to their kids. Who look like they have showered AND brushed their hair in the last 24 hours. I fear I will never be that way.

I had it all planned out. When we moved into our new house I would magically become organised, creative, energetic. I would have a weekly menu. I would have a task for each day of the week (Monday - Laundry, Tuesday - cleaning and vacuuming, etc.). The little counter on the side of my kitchen would have neat and tidy in- and out-trays. Has it happened? Of course not. Moving house cannot change one's personality. What was I thinking?

It's not that I don't have the capacity to be organised. I have always been very organised at school or at work. Somehow it just doesn't transfer to home. Go figure.

So perhaps I just need to reevaluate my goals. I guess it's okay that today is Tuesday and I did sweep the floor but didn't vacuum or clean the bathroom. I did manage to keep Monkey clean, fed and relatively happy. I did manage to make supper (even though the rice on the menu had to change to macaroni when I discovered we are out of rice...). And, as of 9 o'clock in the evening, I have managed to have a shower AND brush my hair. I guess I'm doing alright.

I'm sure June Cleaver wasn't nearly as fun as I am anyway.