It Is Unusual: Carlton's Awesome Dance Moves/Retro TV: Prince of Bel Air

My ten year old son is watching the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  This was a show I watched many, many years ago.

Retro TV!  This scene is a classic.  It generates multi-generational laughs.

Funniest Conversation Between Eight Year Olds

My daughter and her friend were walking along talking.  Her friend said, "Sadly, my imaginary boyfriend just passed away."

My daughter didn't miss a beat.

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth.  "Oh my goodness, how terrible!  I'm so sad that I never got to meet him!"

Hmmmm....on so many levels....

I Am Spartan! The Spartan Super near Toronto, July 19, 2015

This is me:

Yesterday I did the Spartan Super at Brimacombe ski hill in Claringdon, Ontario.  Not only did I do a Spartan, but it was on the hottest day of the summer.  One good thing about all the mud: it was nice and cool!

The Spartan is a 13+K race including 23 obstacles.

I am an endurance runner, and I expected more running in this race.  However, for the majority of it, racers go up and down the steep ski hills.  The hills are so steep that mostly everyone walked them.  Even the downhills you couldn't run flat out because they were too steep; one so much so I had to go down in a squat position.

As you can imagine, going up and down hills like this, your calves were often feeling like jello just in time for the obstacle at the top.  The relentless sun didn't help.

This is a hard race; definitely a good challenge!

You got one chance to attempt the obstacle and if you failed you were required to do thirty burpees.  I saw many people only do a couple of burpees or none at all.  I also saw people fail the obstacle but then just keep trying until they did it.  I was determined to do it 'by the rules'.  I think altogether I did 150 burpees.  It seemed like more.

I made it over all the walls on my own (I was running solo, as my partner had to pull out).  I was happy about this because most of the women were getting help from teammates.  Especially for the wall that was a backwards incline!

I also did the strength work without any major issues (pulling weighted propane tanks up to a certain level by rope, dragging weighted tires on a chain up and down a muddy hill, carrying rocks and other weighted objects up hills, and so on).

I was hoping to do the rope climb, but I hadn't done enough training.  I looked up tutorials on rope climbing a few nights before, but didn't have the chance to practice on an actual rope.  The S hook looks a lot easier to accomplish than it actually was (for me, anyway).

I saw many people try the rope climb (which was very high over land and I saw a few people fall down quite a distance) and fail.  Part of my strategy was to go straight to the burpees.

If you know you can't do it, you're wasting energy trying and failing and then you still have to do the burpees.

Ideally I would like to do all the obstacles but I knew that rope climb wasn't going to happen.

The same with the rings.  I had bought fingerless gloves to help with climbing (and I would highly recommend them, as you are constantly pulling on ropes or chains) and I thought they would help with the rings, too.  But there was a huge mud  pit right before the rings and you had to crawl under barbed wire so my gloves were coated in a thick covering of mud.  Not very helpful on rings.  Burpees again!

There was tons of mud on the course.  Shoe-sucking, almost up to your knees, smelly mud.  I saw some people who were completely stuck and had to have teammates pull them out.  People lost shoes.  You can't run at all on these long stretches.

I saw a few people puking (I'm sure the extreme heat was a contributing factor) and people who were injured.  It looked like twisted ankles and pulled muscles mostly.

Once we ran by a creek and I wanted to throw myself face first into the water, I was so hot.

There were hoses spraying out water and I would run into them all happily, arms outstretched and yelling, "Woo hoo!"  It felt like the best shower I'd ever had.

NOTE:  there aren't that many aid stations and they are very, well, Spartan.  Only water.  No Gatorade, no snacks.  And for the women it is important to note that there are no portapotties on the course at all either.

Despite the heat I was in a good mood for the whole race (except when I failed the climbing wall challenge two blocks from the end by grabbing the top of the wall!  And then I realized I was doing the men's wall anyway.)

On my way up one hill, I was surrounded by racers, and I remarked good-naturedly, "Damn gravity!"  Someone else yelled, "Damn hill!"  Another guy chipped in, "Damn body - I should be fitter!"

Once when I was crawling through a mud pit under barbed wire a guy beside me said, "How's it going?"  I said, "It's going GREAT!  The mud feels awesome."

On most of the mud stretches, it was best to stick to the sides.  The trees are your friend at this point.

There is a point in every hard race, I find, when you ask yourself 'why'.  Why am I doing this to myself? Why am I running up ski hills and carrying heavy objects up hills on such a horribly hot day?  Surely there must be better things to do with my time?  But in the end, you are challenging yourself.  You learn about yourself out there on the course, having to keep putting one foot in front of the other even when it's hard and it's the last thing your body wants to do.  You will have bragging rights for the rest of your life that yes, you did a Spartan Super race.  And why not?  It's better than sitting on the couch.  Much more character-building.

I loved jumping over the fire at the end - fun stuff.  We got a nice technical T-shirt, a really great medal, a Clif Builder's Bar, water, coconut water, and a free yogourt.  There was loud music on and great energy.  King Sparta was there mingling on the grounds and he would also send all the heats off by making us yell: "I am Spartan!"  And: "Aroo".  Not sure what that is, but it sounds good.

Now I know exactly what to train for before I do the next Spartan!

A Nine Year Old's Vision of Progress

We were talking about cyborgs.  My nine year old son was talking about how exciting this possibility is, and I was nodding my head in agreement.  My thoughts were running to the new developments on eye implants that can help people see.

My son continued excitedly, "If I was a cyborg it would be awesome!  I could shoot rockets out of my butt!"

Funny, that particular advantage had escaped me until now.

Forget improving quality of life.

Just what we need - a world of people shooting rockets out of their butts.  The possibilities are endless.

I'm An Embarassment to my Kids...Already! How Can that Be?

Why are we always so hopeful?  We think, "I won't make that mistake".   Until we do.

We think, "I'll be the cool parent!"

And then we find out we're not.  Contrary to all of our completely unrealistic expectations.

I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this until my kids were teenagers.  I was wrong.

I love to listen to loud music in the car.  That's cool, right?

Apparently not.  My nine year old son now insists that I turn the music down a whole block before we arrive at his school.

It's bad enough that they mostly don't think my music is cool (what is THAT all about?), but now the actual volume level is a problem?!

And then today I was with my seven year old daughter at her school.  We walked over to stand under the school overhang, as it was raining.  A little boy in her class was sitting there.

I said, "Hey, Josh!  How are you?  Wow, cool watch!" (He was playing with his Lego watch.)

He muttered something unintelligible.

My daughter leaned over to me and whispered, "Not cool, Mom.  Not cool."

I hissed back, "What?!  Socializing isn't cool?  Being friendly isn't cool?"

I'm doomed.

Eagle-Eye View of Dubai: Amazing!

This is why I wish I could fly.

A Milk-Cam: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

The ubiquitous milk container.  It doesn't look like the one I have at my house though.  Do you know why?  Because somebody filled it up and cut the end open!

At my house, the milk bag always looks like this:



Empty!

And, worse yet, apparently no one knows who emptied it and didn't replace it.

I have decided extreme measures are necessary.

We need a milk container cam.  It would change everything.

Who's with me?

What Kind of Lunatic, I Mean Runner, Goes Out in an Extreme Cold Weather Warning?

I like to think I am pretty hard-core when it comes to running.  I have been running all winter through this very cold weather.  When people question my sanity for running in the cold, I have been known to say dismissively, "Oh, it's fine as long as you dress for it."

This morning I woke up early and got ready for my run.  As soon as I stepped outside, the cold took my breath away.  "Wow!  That's really cold.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll warm up as soon as I start running."

Well...not so much.  It just kept getting colder and colder.

Initially I tried to stay positive.  I was even thinking in my head about where to take the kids later on in the day (P.A. Day) and I was still considering taking them to see a frozen waterfall.  I thought, "I'll just bundle them up and bring a thermos of hot chocolate - no problem."

Soon enough I began to realize how cold I was, to the point that tiny icicles had formed a row along my eyelashes.

I began to wonder if I was getting hypothermia.

The only thing I wanted to do was run faster so I could get home and to the warmth!

I was happy I was only doing a 5K.

As soon as I stumbled inside, I noticed my face mask and hair were completely white - it wasn't snowing but I assume the condensation from my breath had frozen over everything.

I checked the weather forecast: 'EXTREME COLD WEATHER WARNING - -24 degrees (6 a.m. this morning) with a windchill of -29.

No wonder I froze. On the upside, I am sure I ran so fast to get home that it was a PB! (There are better and much more comfortable ways.)

Still, what kind of lunatic would run in this weather?  That would be me.

#hashtag

It's all about the hashtag now, it seems.

My children even talk in hashtags.  My son will say to his brother snarkily, "Why are you doing that? Hashtag 'smart one'!"

He will then ask me, "Can I play my PS3? Hashtag 'immediately'?"

I respond: "After homework is done, of course - hashtag 'you know the drill'!"

My daughter will get up to leave the room, yelling at me as she goes, "BRB, Mom!"

The evolution of language is a fascinating thing.

Apparently texting has become the new communication system, even when we are interacting verbally!

For those of you who #don't understand, interacting verbally is an outdated mode of communication in which people use oral language.  And not short forms, but actual sentences.  And they are generally spoken at least in the general direction of someone's face and preferably using eye contact.

I wonder how things will be several years down the road.  Will people still use any long forms at all?  Or will it all be 'c u l8r'?

Wow, I sound old. OMG!

Why does that keep happening?

#that's life

Real Christmas Trees Versus Artificial: It's All About the Memories!

Every year the same debate arises: is it better to have an artificial tree or a real one?  People say the artificial trees are easier and less mess.  Exactly!  What's the fun in that?  I love to do things the hard way.  I mean, what I appreciate are the memories that go with getting a real tree.

Every year we drive out to a Christmas tree farm with my parents and our kids.  We walk through the grounds until we find a tree we like, and then we cut it down.

It's the adventure of it all.  The freezing cold wind.  The hot chocolate I bring in the thermos. The arguments.

Dragging an artificial tree out of a basement just isn't the same.  Will the kids fondly remember that?

I realize I'm biased.  And that there are other good memories such as decorating the tree with Christmas music on while drinking wine.  Or maybe that's just me.  (We do that too.)

I like that we have a tradition of always going to cut down our tree.  And the fact we are creating some memories they will have for always.

Like how the three kids fought all the way to the tree farm about whose turn it was to put the angel on the top of the tree this year.  That was festive.

And about how the kids couldn't agree on which tree to get, so there were two in contention.  When one was chosen, the child whose tree lost out starting crying.  See what I mean?  Good quality family memories they will treasure forever.

It's all part of the experience.  Someone's always crying or arguing anyway; it may as well be at a beautiful Christmas tree farm.  Am I right?

Hey Rosetta! 'Welcome'

I love this song!  It's got such a catchy melody, and the lyrics are amazing.  They're about welcoming a new baby to the world.  I love these lines: "I'm sorry this is it/it's cold and hard/and badly lit/and there's no backing out of it."

Those Pesky Apologies!

My son is having a very tough time grasping the concept of an appropriate, sincere apology.  The other day I told him he had to apologize to his sister for throwing his ball and hitting her in the head.  

Ryan:  "Sorry....SUCKER!"

Me:  "Try again!"

Ryan:  "You shouldn't have put your head in the way of my ball!"

Me:  "And...again!"

Yesterday my son Colin was practicing his trumpet, a brand-new instrument for him.  Very new.  Still very much a work-in-progress, shall we say.  Only a parent can appreciate the sounds of a child practicing something like a trumpet or a violin.  (You know who you are.  Thank you.)

Anyway, Ryan did NOT appreciate it, and he wasn't exactly shy about showing it.

"SHUUUTTTT UUUPPPP!" he yelled.

"Ryan,"  I sighed, "Can you please ask nicely?"

"Will you please SHUUTTT UUPPP!  SHUT UP!  SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

That went well, I thought.

Ella ran up to me crying today because Ryan said her face was 'fat'.

"I meant fat and CUTE."

"RYAN!"

It reminded me of the time Colin accused Ryan of calling him an idiot.

Ryan protested, "I never called you an idiot...you IDIOT."

Sigh.  Back to the drawing board.

Vance Joy at the Phoenix, November 1, 2014

Vance Joy makes me feel so old, but how I love him.  I love his music.  Every single song. I admire his songwriting.  His lyrics are old like me.  Listen to some of these:

"I know, I know that I can do no wrong in my father's eyes/And I swear I swear that I will test this out/before the day  I die." - Play with Fire

"And I will read in to everything you don't say/All of your silent ways" - Red Eye

"Think that it's worth it?  Well I hope that you're right/You're falling asleep/on the Red Eye tonight." - Red Eye

"Do you like walking in the rain? When you think of love/do you think of pain?" - Mess is Mine

"[You] Say I don't look much like a lover/Doesn't mean that I won't try/to set your world on fire/every once in awhile." - Best that I Can

"Don't walk too proud/don't talk too loud/And make it up as you go/And take whatever you are given/And leave what you think you know/at the door." - My Kind of Man


The concert was amazing.  He switched between two guitars and his ukulele.  He told us anecdotes; he was warm and funny.

Amazing music and a great rapport with the audience.  I bet the next time I see him, it won't be in a small place like the Phoenix.

The Airborne Toxic Event October 11, 2014 - Amazing Show at the Danforth!

I saw ATE last night at the Danforth Theatre in Toronto.  It was an amazing show!  One highlight was before the band even began their set.  Queen music was playing on a stereo, and what seemed like the entire audience joined in together to sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.  Someone even waved his lighter.  Great moment. But of course, ATE was even better. I love this band, and I was so excited to see them.  They exceeded my expectations.  Mikel had tons of energy and enthusiasm.  His voice is unbelievably good - really nice tone, and he has a very good range.  The light show and the presence of all the band members was excellent.  Mikel and the band were obviously happy to be there, and it showed.  At one point, three of them were playing the drumset simultaneously.  Mikel was playing several different guitars as well as the keyboard and the drums.  I love the sound of the violin as well.  They have so many great hits, like: 'Sometime Around Midnight', 'Changing', 'Numb', 'Wishing Well', 'Innocence', 'It Was All for a Woman' - I could go on and on.  The Danforth was a great place to see them.  If you have a chance to see them and you're a fan: go.

My Husband is a Good Sleeper....Too Good, Really

The other morning I had just gotten up - let me rephrase that - I had dragged myself out of bed against the better judgement of every fibre of my being, because it was almost school time, and I knew I had at least one child to prepare for going to school.  My husband wandered downstairs looking disgustingly refreshed.  He saw my son sitting there, and remarked, "Why isn't he at school already?"

I looked at him closely to see if he was joking.

"Do you honestly mean to tell me," I asked slowly, gritting my teeth, "that you have no knowledge of the fact that he is sick?  That he was up at least three times in the night crying?  That not only did I give him medicine but I also gave our other child medicine as well?  That I also cleaned up vomit from the floor?!"

My husband backed away, shaking his head slowly, as if that would soothe me.

I continued, trying not to yell.  "I was up AT LEAST six times in the night, and I am now completely exhausted and hanging by an extremely thin thread.  And you are telling me that you didn't wake up ONCE?"

My husband regretted asking, I can tell.  I regret marrying such a sound sleeper.  It's downright annoying.  Yawn.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back...

My daughter is sick today - coughing and feverish - so I'm keeping her home.  I usually work every day, so I thought, 'Great.  While she's lying on the couch and recuperating, I can get lots done in the house!'

I've been trying to clean my shower curtain by spraying cleaner on it and then scrubbing it while it's still hanging.  This has not worked well.  This was finally my chance to take the whole thing down and put it in the washing machine and hope for the best.  So I did.

A while later, I walked into the bathroom, and stopped short.  It was a disaster.  There was water everywhere.  Pools of dirty water across the entire floor.  Sopping wet towels were lying in the mess.  Even the cupboards were wet.  What on earth happened?

My son - and I am still in shock about this - had taken a shower voluntarily.  I don't know if he noticed that there wasn't a shower curtain up.  Does he even know the purpose of one?  Apparently not.  He could have gone to the other shower, but I guess that didn't occur to him.  So he just took a shower anyway.  And then left all the mess.

It seems so hard to get ahead, sometimes.

At least I got the rosebushes trimmed.

Eramosa Karst and an Amazing Tree

Mini-Golf Mayhem

I have a list in my head of summer things to do with the kids, and mini-golf is one of them.  So I was excited about our outing the other day.  We hadn't yet made it to a course, and I was anticipating lots of fun.  That was my first mistake.  I even had a pre-game talk with the kids about good sportsmanship, positive that would prevent any issues.  That was my second mistake.

It was a pretty typical outing in that it all went wrong.

No, no, I'm exaggerating, of course.  We all had fun.  Just...not quite in the way I expected.

First of all, Colin lost his ball.  And I mean lost.  There was no getting it back.  It fell down between a crack in the rocks in a waterfall.  Gone.  So I gave him my ball.  He lost that one too.  Luckily I was able to retrieve that one, after long moments of fruitless searching, and then shoving my head into a very scratchy bush when I finally found it in order to grab it.  .

And Ryan got a hole in one!  Unfortunately it was on a hole we weren't playing, so I don't think that counts...

Then one of them started crying because he kept missing the hole and got frustrated.  Again, it wasn't me crying, so I suppose that was okay.

And although I kept informing Ryan that we were NOT playing baseball, he eventually wound up and hit his ball so hard that it flew at least 100 feet and actually hit a teenager in the chest.  It bounced right in the middle of his chest and then hit his golf bag.  The poor guy wasn't even ON the course.  He was lounging against the clubhouse.  (Once again, I am so sorry.)  

Oh well.  I think Ella had fun.  Next up - laser tag.  I'll try to be optimistic.

Chicago! It's Definitely My Kind of Town

We had a great family vacation in Chicago.  We stayed at the Palmer House Hotel, with the famous Empire Room - a place where people such as Frank Sinatra and Sonny and Cher performed, among multiple others. We visited the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, The Chicago Institute of Art, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and we saw the Blue Man Group show.  We also, of course, went out for deep-dish pizza at Giordano's and Molinari's.  Chicago is a beautiful city, especially (surprisingly) downtown.  Even the skyscrapers are beautiful, and I don't think that is something I have ever said before.  There are amazing and well-maintained green spaces everywhere.  The architecture is gorgeous.  There is tons of culture.  It's a healthy city, too, which I love.  There are runners everywhere and great places to run (waterfront trails and so on).  There is delicious healthy food easily available.  Sign me up!

Art Institute: (Monet, Rodin, Picasso among tons of others)

Lincoln Park Zoo:  (totally free and very amazing)

Shedd Aquarium: great place, kids loved it

City Scenes:

Field Museum: fascinating

The Bean: okay, I didn't get it.  People are just looking at their reflections.  It's a big silver bean.  Sorry, but ?

American Girl Store:  tons of girly fun!

Blue Man Group Show:  we all loved it!  Highly recommended.

If you have a chance to go to Chicago, go.