Welcome 2011

Wow, this site really is Virtually Stale. I hate to ever admit that John was right about something but....

December was insanely busy mostly due to another successful year for the Sugarplum Fairy. I made some very positive changes to how I ran the business this year. I'll devote a post to the business soon as well as one to our Christmas hubbub but for now I wanted to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. I look forward to tomorrow mainly to get my healthy eating back on track. Tomorrow I go back to my no wheat, no dairy, no sugar regime and I think my gut will thank me for it. Not to say I haven't enjoyed the reprieve over Christmas. I certainly have but I've reached the point of too much of a good thing. Also some exercise would be helpful too. I vaguely remember what that is. I look forward to recommitting myself to my health.

2011 will be good in other ways too. I'm taking another course in my quest to get my TESL certificate, I hope to expand the baking business, I would like to blog more regularly and read some books that I've been meaning to pick up. None of these things are resolutions so much as some not-too-lofty goals.

I definitely do not expect to be awake to ring in the New Year tonight. In fact, I plan to head to bed shortly, read a little Marian Keyes and then gently snore my way into 2011.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Featured on SavvyMom Ottawa!

Sugarplum Fairy Homebaking, my other persona, is featured on SavvyMom Ottawa today! Go have a read (and order some baking if you feel so inclined :) ).....

That's what you get for referring to this as Virtually Stale

John just told me that "Virtually There is Virtually Stale." Hah. Funny guy.

Truth is there doesn't seem to be enough minutes in a day right now. I'm baking, freezing, andtaking orders for Sugarplum Fairy, taking the kids to their activities, changing diapers and playing with Henry, we've got all the usual church Christmas stuff going on, I'm still trying to get the Christmas decorations up around the house (that project stalled yesterday) and I haven't done anything about the 25 Days of Christmas project which has now been whittled down to 23 days at the most.

I'm not actually stressed about these things and how busy I feel. I still have time to help Emily with her homework, bake with Hope, tickle Henry and cook with John.

However it seems what has fallen off is the blogging. Something had to give.

I'll try and get here when I can but the reality of having your own baking business is that early December is mildly CUCKOO.

I must tell you about one small glimpse from my week though. This week was the last in the current gymnastics session for the girls. And the last week means that parents/siblings are invited in to watch the class, take pictures and see the routines that they've worked on. I went to Hope's class on Tuesday morning. Three and four-year-olds jumping around and hanging off ropes and tumbling and being generally chaotic. It was great. Hope is an amazing listener, she is extremely focussed on her task and her teacher and she is extremely persistent. If she can't accomplish something the first time, she tries until she does it. And without getting frustrated. That's pretty amazing for 4 years old. These qualities aren't true just at gymnastics. I've noticed those things in her for a while. They'll serve her well.

Yesterday we went to Emily's class. Hope was with me. Henry (all 23 pounds) was on my back in the Ergo baby carrier. By the by, my back is still aching today after having him in there for that hour. Emily's class had actual routines (sort of) that they worked out and performed together. There was floor work, beams, trampoline, etc. I've been to a few of Emily's classes but not for a few weeks. John has been taking her. I was WOWED at her progress. WOWED, I say. The child can do a full round-off and cartwheel. I have never successfully done a cartwheel so don't even ask about a round-off. She has almost mastered a handstand. I was really taken by her grace and athleticism. I knew she had athletic tendencies but it was amazing to see how after a few short weeks, her skills were really honed and she is so comfortable in her body, how it moves and what she can do with it.

Right now John would tell you that she does not get that from me. At which point I would do a double flip and drop him with a flying kick to the crotch. How's that for athletic, honey?

The Sugarplum Fairy bakes again!

I have a dual personality. My other persona is The Sugarplum Fairy. She bakes, she rolls pie crust, she delivers!

You see, I have my own little home-baking business where I do the work and customers eat the rewards. My business is called Sugarplum Fairy Homebaking and I've decided to dive back in this year after taking last year off (since we were living in another city with less than ample kitchen facilities for this kind of thing). However, this year I've decided to make some revisions to how I do things.

First, everything will be delivered frozen. This will allow me to accept orders up to a certain date and then bake for the two or so weeks following that and deliver everything at once. This way I'll actually be able to relax during the week or two before Christmas and really focus on my family. My other change will be how I deliver things. I didn't like the cake boxes I used last time from both an aesthetic and environmental perspective. So this year I'm offering to transfer the goodies into personal containers when I deliver them or to hand them over in Christmas tins or reusable Ziploc bags. I think this will work much better.

I just finished my 2010 Christmas price list. It's up on my Sugarplum Fairy blog right now. So, for anyone in the Ottawa area, if you don't like to bake or just don't have the time.... let me do it for you!

Feeling pink

One week.

One full week has passed since my last blog post.

That is not remarkable. What is remarkable is that it has only been a week because it has felt like A THOUSAND DAYS.

A thousand days filled with goo and blurry vision and itchy eyes.

That's right. Our house has been infiltrated. Infiltrated by conjunctivitis. Pink eye by another name.

Somehow we have avoided pink eye until now, six and a half years into this kid thing. I have no idea how we missed this swinging axe but we did.

But this week three of us have fallen. I am the one currently sporting the eyes that make me look like (a) I just had a wicked cry, (b) I was heavily in the sauce last night, or (c) I have pink eye.


This morning at church I was telling someone about Emily's ongoing issues with public performance and how she still often breaks down when confronted with having to stand in front of a crowd and do something (I've talked about this before here and while it is still an issue that we deal with, it is in fact getting better). The person who I was talking to gave me a shoulder squeeze and said "Oh, poor you... it's okay."

Which I thought was really nice, but sort of weird too.

And as I walked away it dawned on me that my flaming and drippy eyes totally made it seem as though I'd just spent the last 30 minutes crying, in fact sobbing uncontrollably, about the fact that my six-year-old wouldn't sing in the choir.

Um, yeah, so who looks like the weird one now? Yeah, that'd be me.

Oh, so the next question you are probably asking is why I was at church when I had a raging case of pink eye.

Because I've made it my mission this week to use my infectious family to spread the pink eye love all over Ottawa, THAT'S WHY!

Feathered friends post

I have my first post up at Kids in the Capital. Please go and have a read!

First taste

I realize that this week the blog has become a bit kid-centered (given that 2 out of my 3 posts are about the kids... that puts me at 66% kid posts). I hope to have other things to talk about next week.... but don't get your hopes up too much.

Anywho, Henry had his first solid (or at least, semi-solid) food tonight. He took to it like a house on fire. I dipped the spoon into the bowl of rice cereal/breastmilk and he lunged at that spoon like a fat kid on a Smartie. And that pretty much describes the way the rest of the bowl went down.

Going back to the dark ages

I have something to confess; something I've been thinking for a while but was a bit hesitant to admit to. Yesterday I embraced my feelings, my minority opinion and I'm putting it out there:

I don't like Twitter.

Yup, it's true.

I kind of feel leashed by it. As a blogger, I feel almost obligated to be involved, as though if I'm not tweeting through the evening or spending my time retweeting or responding to tweets or just reading tweets, then somehow I'm not really plugged into the whole blogging and social networking scene.

I've decided that I don't care.

For me the value of Twitter is finding out about interesting things going on in my city, keeping me up-to-date on current (very current) events (I found it invaluable on the night of the municipal election), knowing what close friends are up to (but really, I can just email or use Facebook for this, which I much prefer).

For the most part, Twitter makes me feel like the kid who shows up to a party and doesn't know anyone, or who no one really talks to; I spend my evening standing in the corner wondering how everyone knows one another, or what the heck they're talking about.

I spent enough time living that for real (as most people have) and don't enjoy reliving it as an adult when I'm confident enough in myself to say "smell ya later" and move on.

So, I'll continue to use it if I need to promote something or follow a current event or feel the need to have a laugh (I highly recommend Denis Leary's and Stephen Colbert's tweets). But beyond that, I'm pulling out. All done!

If you want to know what I'm up to, you can become my Facebook friend... or just email me... currently known as "the old-fashioned way."

Now that is something to make your head spin.

Faces

Look at these kids... are they not the cutest?

It was a Wiggly party!

So, you may remember that I mentioned that I WON TICKETS TO SEE THE WIGGLES! I was just a little bit excited. Really, still am a little bit.

The anticipation leading up to last Wednesday was formidable. We were all very. excited. Well, except John, who was just scared since he was tasked with looking after Henry for the 3 or so hours we were expected to be gone. That would likely require Henry to be fed. From a bottle. And that, my friends, is where the challenge lay.

However, as though the stars were aligned and it was all meant to be, things worked out perfectly.

First, the traffic was fine. Second, we found a great parking spot. Third, there was little merchandise for sale and therefore minimal whining about buying anything (which we didn't). Fourth, the Wiggles rocked the house! Fifth, the traffic home was actually okay, considering it was 4:00. Sixth, Henry slept and ate like a champ. Woot!

And now.... The Wiggles. They put on a great show. It's everything a fan would want: all the hits, some of the newer songs, all the characters you love, lots of funny banter, LOTS of time walking through the audience, reading the signs that kids wrote for them, picking up roses brought for Dorothy and bones for Wags. Lots of dancing. LOTS. These guys must be exhausted after the show. Especially Anthony who carried Dorothy around the entire audience and back onto the stage. That guy sweats a lot during a performance. There were lots of jokes just for the parents, which I appreciate. Jeff particularly wooed me with his Van Halen riff.

The show went on for about 1.5 hours. Both girls were tired by the end.

Had I actually had to pay for tickets, I would have declared it great value for money. And next time, assuming I don't win tickets again :), I will pay for tickets because it really was.

Hope will have your back when you need a laugh

Today was a sad Sunday. We lost a member of our church last night, Leonard, after an accident two weeks ago. Leonard was a big yet gentle presence and friends with everyone. It's a sad day. He was a fixture for Children's Hour, a program I'm heavily involved in and so his death not only touches all the adults in the church, but the kids too, making it even more heartbreaking.

This is what was on my mind for most of the day. The rain and cold matched my mood, although I did really enjoy the day, snuggling, talking and playing games with the kids. That always makes for a good day but I needed a bit of cheering up nonetheless.

Enter Hope.

For those of you who are feeling the same right now, this is for you. Warning: there will be descriptions of girl parts. If you're not comfortable with that... well, you probably wouldn't be visiting this blog anyway, now would you?

Back to Hope.

We had started our nightly routine which we've dubbed "naked time." Naked Time is mainly for Henry who I strip and lay on a blanket on the floor where he squeals and rolls around and poops on the cream-coloured carpet when my back is turned. Hope has joined in the fun recently, minus the pooping, stripping naked and running around before her bath or until someone tells her to "put your jammies on for Pete's sake!"

Actually, it is sanctioned. By me, anyway.

So tonight. I'm sitting beside Henry ensuring, hopefully, that the poop hits the blanket this time, and Hope walks in, stops beside me and starts squeezing herself. Down there. Her labia. Squeezing.

Me: Hope, do you have to pee?
Hope: No.
Me: What are you doing then?
Hope: I'm doing the Squeeze Dance.
Me: What's the Squeeze Dance?
Hope: I squeeze like this... [squeezes herself twice]... then I jump like this..... [leaps like a ballet dancer] and then slap my knees.

And that is when my mood was lifted as I snorted and chortled and guffawed my way into a sunnier place. That kid is awesome.

Wiggles here we come!

I am so, so, so excited to report that I am the winner of tickets to The Wiggles (and if you don't know who that is let's just call them Australia's most successful export), who will be playing at Scotiabank Place this Wednesday! I won the tickets through Dani's blog Postcards from the Mothership and to say I was (a) shocked and (b) deliriously excited to win would be an understatement of epic proportions. I may have used some mild profanity when I wrote Dani back but she said that my enthusiasm made her day, so I'm glad that my slight potty mouth could put a smile on someone's face.

I was likely more excited than even the girls who are two of the biggest Wiggles fans the world has ever known. I videoed their reaction while I told them the news:




Possibly the best part is when Emily ensures that she won't miss the ENTIRE day of school. Phew, that could have been the WORST.

I love my little nerd.

Thanksgiving in review

We had an amazing Thanksgiving Weekend. I won't even be able to accurately remember all the things we did, the things we laughed about, the food we ate (okay, I can probably remember the details of the food since I'm slightly food-obsessed). Also, given that I was having such a great time, my photos of the weekend are scant so you'll only get a smattering.

John's sister, Sue, her husband, Steve and their kids, Kennedy and Claire, joined us for the weekend from Cambridge. We spent A LOT of time with them last year when we were in Waterloo and we really miss them. Like, A LOT. It was great to have a full weekend with them and feel like we never left Waterloo (minus the Ottawa scenery out the door).

On Saturday morning we went to Miller's Pumpkin Farm south of the city. We had lots of fun roaming around the patch, riding the wagon, jumping on straw bales. (As an aside, I can't really see us going back there in future years - the nickel and diming was a bit much. If I'm going to buy a pumpkin out of your pumpkin patch, don't charge me a dollar to ride the wagon to get there. Just sayin'.)

On Saturday night, the whole crew (including John's brother and his family) was at our house for a supper from that great Canadian institution, Swiss Chalet. In the evening, the girls all had a sleepover in our girls' room (a sleeping arrangement that continued through the weekend) while we adults sat up and laughed until we couldn't stay awake any longer. (Had to be at least 10:00 p.m.)

On Sunday we went to Carleton, along with the rest of Ottawa, for the annual Butterfly Show in the greenhouses. We met friends Pam, Jim and kids there as well as John's brother, Mike and his family. Hope was too overwhelmed by the crowds and preferred to hang out in the lobby with me, which I didn't mind because I was feeling a bit claustrophobic anyway. Next year we're going on a weekday. From there we walked to Brewer Park and spent a good hour or two hanging out there with the entire family and Pam and Jim. The kids had a great time, didn't mind the cold air, and we adults loved just hanging out and talking. I loved seeing Sue and Steve finally get to know Pam and Jim after we've talked about each of them to each other for so long.

We spent the afternoon lounging at our house and then headed to Mike and Cibele's (John's aforementioned brother) for a Brazilian meal that Steve kept referring to as fishwater (actually call fejoada, but truly, when said, sounds like 'fishwater' if it was said with a strong Brooklyn accent). The funniest bit was at lunch that day when we adults all started simultaneously whistling the tune from Bridge on the River Kwai after Steve started talking about being served fishwater while in a Second World War work camp. It was hilarious (not the fact that people were in work camps. That kinda sucked for them.). The kids thought we were all nuts.

On Monday, Sue and I took all the girls to Starr Gymnastics, where we also met up with Mike and Cibele and their daughter Sofia, for drop-in gymnastics. The kids had the run of the place. Being a drop-in, we adults were in there on the action, too. My legs were so tired later from trampolining. I totally ROCKED the hula-hoop though. That Wii Fit is totally paying off!

The rest of the day was lounging and preparing our Thanksgiving feast. Which was AWESOME by the way. I kicked serious turkey ass. And pumpkin pie ass too.

All the other bits of the weekend involved Sue holding or entertaining or changing Henry which was such a huge break for me, she has no idea. Not that Henry is that difficult, he's really quite easy, but still, it meant I could sit and do nothing or have tea or whatever I wanted, something I often don't get to do. And Sue loved it too. Win, win!

The only thing "wrong" with the weekend was that John's mom, The Omi, wasn't able to join us. She was supposed to be here but came down with a nasty cold and had to stay home dreaming of turkey and stuffing from afar.

I guess I was able to remember a lot after all, an improvement over Mrs. Short-term Memory, my other persona. Here is the smattering of photos that I was able to capture during all that fun:

Hope and Kennedy ready for the hay ride

Emily does her ritual pumpkin dance

Cutest baby ever. Which one is the pumpkin?

Sue reveals her true persona. Just kidding!

Hope tries to make a dash for it before I make her go back in that greenhouse again.

A typical attempt at getting a photo of all the cousins together.

Mummy brain: not just for mummies anymore

Some of you may not know that John is currently on parental leave. This means, for those non-Canadians out there, that he is receiving employment insurance from the government plus "top-up" from his employer so that he is receiving 95% of his salary (not all employers do this... but the large ones - and nice ones - often do) for something like 30 weeks of leave. He's at home with us until April. Pretty sweet. And some of you Americans actually complain about a socialist state? Puh-lease. It's pretty great from where I'm sitting.

Anyhoo... so John is fully participating in getting the girls off to school, lunches made, cleaning done, all those lovely domestic chores that occupy a mummy's brain for a good part of the day. He's still squeezing in a bit of writing and is on campus a couple of times a week but he is most definitely on parental leave.

And this was very obvious yesterday on our way home from an afternoon at the apple farm when I realized that so-called "mummy brain" had somehow spread to John.

The sun was shining, we were cruising along a country road about halfway home when:

John: CRAP! Where are my sunglasses? (thinking he left them way back in Mountain at the farm)
Me: (looking at him curiously) Um.... on your face?
John: (dumb silence)
Me: (hysterical laughter)

A positive update on Henry

Someone who lives in this house with me has pointed out a number of times that my early posts about Henry had an, um, negative tone to them. It's time I rectify that, whether you buy the assessment or not.

Henry was a very typical newborn. He slept fitfully but not badly. He needed to be rocked to sleep. He loved to breastfeed. He was 100% normal. The only hard part of that was that I had two other kids... and we were about to move. So I did indeed find the whole newborn stuff a bit more stressful this time around.

When we moved back to Ottawa, Henry's sleep improved - he typically slept from about 8:00 until 1:00 and then up around 4:00 again and then around 7:00 or 8:00. Not bad at all.

His naps though.... oh, don't get me started. His morning nap was and still is somewhere between 20 minutes to 45 minutes (if I'm lucky).

And then he had a week where he was up at night every 1 to 2 hours. Ouch.

Again, 100% normal.

But a few days ago I reached my limit on his crappy naps. I deduced that when he had good naps (like on travel days when he naps for long stints in the car) he sleeps better at night. It was time to take action.

If you follow me on Facebook you'll know that I expressed a bit of angst at letting a 4 month old cry-it-out. I've never been much of a cry-it-outer. Emily threw up when we tried it with her. End of experiment. Hope was so stubborn that she was hoarse after a week of crying. Awful. And not willing to do that again.

I threw caution to the wind three days ago when I was on the phone with my friend Meredith and Henry woke after a 20 minute nap. I just had a feeling that he could do it. So, I kept talking, he kept crying, badda-boom badda-bing he was back asleep thirty minutes later. Yes, he was pretty mad in those 30 minutes but it so paid off! The next day, I put him in his crib awake, 3 minutes later he was asleep. Since then, if he goes to bed awake he fusses for a few minutes and then goes to sleep.

Last night, he slept from 8:15 to 5:40 this morning. Hello success! I've got this parenting thing licked!

Ahem... I must divulge that I'm typing this while listening to him cry through the monitor after a 25 minute nap.

So maybe his naps still aren't perfect but he's doing great, being so cooperative when I need him to be and sleeping great at night.... for now. I'm under no illusions. I know how these babies operate. Next week could be a different kettle of fish.

But even on the bad nights this dude gives me laughs and smiles and cuddles and cute stuff that would melt anyone's heart. Perhaps there is a bit of bias... but I'm willing to say that this is one great and easy baby right now. Way to go, Henry!


His latest favourite move is to grab his feet - the happy baby pose - and laugh and giggle while I change him. And his laugh! Oh his laugh! I have to record his squeaky gaspy snort. It is so funny.

On Friday he had his 4-month check-up. The guy is humongous. He is 20 lbs exactly, 70 cm long. We now have to upgrade to a new car seat which means our Snap N Go stroller will now be useless to us as well. The price you pay for having a bruiser I guess.

Hm.... still crying. Perhaps morning naps just aren't his thing.

Now we are six

Now we are six

by A.A. Milne

When I was one,
I had just begun.
When I was two,
I was nearly new.
When I was three,
I was hardly me.
When I was four,
I was not much more.
When I was five,
I was just alive.
But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six
now and forever.

Emily,

You turned six on August 11. Today is September 21. I'm only two months late in writing this letter. At least I'm writing it this year; I seemed to have missed last year and maybe the year before. I will miss no more! I don't want to look back in twenty years and foggily remember how amazing you were at this age.

I won't gloss over it: the last two years have been challenging with you. You are an extremely intelligent kid but you are also very emotional; apparently it's common for these two things to go hand in hand. Being 4 and 5 is emotional for most kids but it seemed to wallop you especially hard and you had a hard time learning how to deal with those emotional swings. Through perseverance and as much patience as we could muster, we seem to have taught you how to handle it all a little better. You still have your moments, especially when you're tired, but you are much more mature about it now. You still need reminding sometimes that you should slow down, take a breath, or take a break in your room until you can talk about things calmly. There is still work to do but you have come a long way.

And boy, you're smart. You love school. You are thrilled by learning new things. You can't wait for me to start teaching you piano (gotta get on that). You love learning French again and you love numbers but by far your favourite thing to do is read. You are reading chapter books as quickly as we can get them from the library. A few weeks ago on a trip to the cottage you read through a Jigsaw Jones mystery (your current favourite series) long before we even reached Algonquin Park.


And while you love being six and being in Grade 1, you are still are little girl who, if given the choice, would somedays (like this morning) stay home with us rather than go to school because you're missing us now that you're at school full days, every day. I love that you feel that way because I feel that too. I miss you.

You still love crafts... any kind. Your favourite show is still Mr. Maker and you often come upstairs after watching an episode with a new craft idea to try or an inspiration for your own creation.

You and Hope continue to be the best of friends. Yesterday you were both playing school in the backyard using the chalkboard that I'm making for you. You both love to pretend together or play sports or put on shows for us.

You've become a big sister again without any problem... you loved Henry from the moment you saw him and you haven't once resented him being around. You run to see him every day and smother him with kisses and hugs and play. He absolutely adores you. You're a great helper to Mummy too, both with him and Hope.


You still show a love for sports. This year you're trying out indoor soccer and you've already told me that that this spring you're going to play baseball. Real baseball, you say, not t-ball. I'm excited to see where your interests take you in sport. Last year in Waterloo, you really advanced in swimming and you're excited to get back to that too.

Our transition to Waterloo and back was hard for you. You had an amazing year there though. You loved your school, your teacher and all the friends you made. We had a great social life there and both you and I are missing it even two months after being back. We hope to get back there permanently one day. I know it will be another transition. But you've got Mummy to watch your back and help you through the emotions of it. I understand it because you got those traits from me. We'll do it together.

I love you so much Emily. You'll always be my big girl, my special friend, my awesome helper, my sous-chef, my gardening buddy. I honestly could never have imagined a more perfect six-year old.

A wee schedule

I've decided that the best way to even make a small dent in the housework around here is to have a regular schedule that I follow each week. My duties each day will be small but I'll do the same thing in order each week. If I at least get this stuff done, then the house will be livable. Anymore and I'll feel like a freaking star. So here it is:

Monday: change the sheets
Tuesday: clean the bathrooms (we have four so that is no mean feat)
Wednesday: vacuum
Thursday: dust
Friday: groceries

I know that it doesn't seem like much, and it isn't but it will hopefully keep me on track to do one small thing each day that isn't just changing diapers, doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen. Sometimes that feels like all I do. Within this schedule I'll also be fitting laundry and sweeping and (rarely) mopping.

Since my focus is primarily to be with the kids, I think this will give me the balance I'm looking for: lots of play time and a house that is fit for humans and not just pigs.

Happy birthday to my 4 year old

My sweet Hope, you've had a great year and you've changed a lot. This year we clearly saw you go from pudgy toddler to big girl very quickly. It seemed it happened all in one month. You thinned out, you started using words like "nearly" and "appropriate" and other words I didn't even know you knew. Your speech still needs a little work, particiularly with your s, sh and j sounds, but I love how you sound. Our neighbour in Waterloo said you sounded like a cartoon character and she loved to hear you talk. Most people have the same reaction, loving to hear your voice and character come out when you speak.

You did so well in Waterloo. You made lots of friends, handled the moves easily and absolutely loved preschool at St. John's last year. You were enthusiastic about just about everything and you and I really enjoyed our days together on our own. You were and are such a great companion for me. We played lots of games and did crafts or went to the farmer's markets or had playdates or went for bike rides.

You still make us laugh constantly and we can always count on you to be in a great mood. You have so much empathy and love... it just bleeds out of you. For example, I made a dog's breakfast of your birthday cake on Tuesday. The icing just wouldn't cooperate to write Happy Birthday Hope. I was really mad about it and sorry that your cake wasn't how you wanted it. You said: "It's okay Mummy. I love it just the way it is. You don't need to be upset. I love it."

You completely melt my heart, just about everyday. I love that you still love to hold my hand when we walk. I love that you absolutely must kiss Daddy and me before bed. I love that you always want to sit beside me.

You are growing into a big kid now. And you seem as perfect now as you did when you were born. I love you Hope!

My labour today

Happy Labour Day to everyone.

My labour today consisted of Week 1 - Day 1 of the Couch to 5K program, otherwise known on Twitter and the like as #c25k.

Yup, I hit the pavement with my running shoes and iPhone and ran. And walked. And ran again. It is a learn-to-run program after all and that's how it's done.

So I'm outing myself to all of you. My goal is to participate in the Santa Shuffle Fun Run in Ottawa on December 4 running the 5k fun run. Anyone want to join me?

I'll post updates occasionally. Wish me and my aching legs luck!

Henry 365 update

It seems I fell off the wagon for a while but really it's just that I haven't been on the ball uploading the photos.

Until tonight.

I went crazy organizing and downloading and uploading and whatsit. So, go on over to Henry 365 to see what's new.