Im fighting a loosing battle

I keep getting ideas for new posts but forgetting them. I think I may be loosing my memory. I fear I am getting old. Here is the mounting evidence in support of my old age:

- I found 3 new grey hairs this week (all of which I promptly plucked)

- I say things like "I remember that gas only cost 33 cents a litre when I first started driving"

- I have a kid. No, worse. I have a toddler.

- I actually eat breakfast at breakfast time

- Young people offer me their seat on the bus.

- I play 'Sag. Where is it?" rather than "Tag. You are it!"

- I have more food in the fridge now than beer in the fridge.

- I look forward to getting into my PJs and having a dull night.

- I turn of the lights to save money, not to make things romantic.

- I find myself singing along with the elevator music and saying "I loved this song when I was a kid"

- I have a party and when I apologize to the the neighbours they say "I didn't hear a thing!"

- I have begun to think that having sex while Kahlen is asleep in the next room is 'wild'

- My friends are getting married and divorced instead of hooking up and breaking up

- I no longer know what time all the fast food chain restaurants close at night.

- my grocery list actually include vegetables and fruit and not just 'rice' and 'kraft dinner'

- A late night run is now made to the grocery store for diapers instead to the liquor store for 'one more bottle'

- more and more frequently I find myself thinking "you know,my mom was right about this."

Terrifying. Truly terrifying. I remember the blog ideas were 'great' and would most certainly entertain the masses (most likely at my expense). I honestly can't remember a single one though. Hmmmm. This bites (Eeeek. Even saying THAT makes me old!)

Ladies Night, Fingers to Toes

We had another Ladies night. This time we went to the Pure Nail Bar in Port Moody's Sutter Brooke Village (kitty corner from New Port Villiage). The Nail Bar advertises: "after hours parties-beginning at 6pm, book your own private party. reserve the nail bar any night of the week and you and your guests can get pampered exclusively! minimum $400 to be spent in services."

I thought a private party would be a fun idea, and I wasn't opposed to being papered either. So I rounded up the gals, called the Nail Bar and booked us in, and sat back eagerly awaiting the night out away from Miss K (who has become a tantrum queen). I should have been more savvy and more attentive to my intuition when, on the day of our ladies night, I got a call from the nail bar. The converstaion went somthing like this "... blah blah blah. Would you mind coming in earlier tonight? The party is booked or 7pm which makes it a long day for the girls. 6pm would work better for us." To which I replied "sorry no, 7pm was booked for a reason. No one could possible get there any earlier." Admittedly, I was lying. We could have gone earlier but I was annoyed that they called on the morning of our ladies night to change the start time, when they had know about the party for nearly 2 weeks prior. Hmmmph! So, we arrived at the Nail Bar, eager to relax, eat, chat, drink, and unwind while being pampered. As soon as we walked through the doors we were quickly herded to the couches and encouraged (strongly) to get our services started. I had hoped to grab a drink, unpack my goodies and say "hello" to the other ladies before settling in for my services, but I sat down anyways and decided to go with the flow. I sat and was pampered and enjoyed my Mani-Pedi Combo ($65 with tax and gratuity included) and chatted with Emily and Candace who were nearest to me. Well, to be honest, I chatted with everyone... loudly. I had fun laughing with my friends and eating too many brownies (thats DC). BUT... I have a gripe. Just one. The whole experience felt rushed. From the second that the woman called me to see if we could come earlier, I felt rushed. Get in, get your services, and get out. I wanted to chat and catch up with friends. I wanted to luxuriate with friends and get pampered. I wanted to relax. I wanted something different than my normal day-day frazzled state. I wasn't able to FULLY relax and unwind because I felt like the 'girls' HAD in fact had a long day, and were ready to go home and relax themselves (they were friendly though). So we were kind of rushed though our services, had a quick visit in the Nail bar, gobbled our delish snacks (good job ladies!), and headed to Starbucks so we could spend more time catching up.

All in all, I had fun, but wasn't 'wowed' by the Pure Nail Bar. Might be a fun afternoon destination with a friend but Im not going to encourage anyone to book an after hours party with them. I hope the ladies had fun regardless of the rushed feel. It was great to see you all and catch up. I promise the next ladies night will be MUCH more relaxed.... im thinking someplace with alcohol.. ha ha ha.

Notice how we all went with bright colours for our toes. Only one person went with a bring colour for her fingernails, the rest went neutral. Hmmmm ;)

Finger Paintin s'cool, m'kay?

My baby is growing up. This week she started clapping, started waving hello and goodbye, and started understanding me when I talk (well Im pretty sure, since she seems to do what I ask her to now). She is quickly changing from a baby to a toddler before my eyes. It makes me a bit weepy, I wont lie, but it also fills me with immeasurable pride. I am a proud momma when I watch her solve problems, learn new skills, and communicate more and more with me. She is my life's hugest joy, which is cliche, but what can I say... its true!

Today I decided that we should try finger painting. Her hand/eye coordination, her finger dexterity, and fine motor skills are so much improved that I thought it might be something she would not only enjoy but also be quite good at. So I searched online for some 'eddible finger paints' (which believe me is a MUST with an 11 1/2 month old) and decided that some vanilla pudding (Jello brand of course) and a few drops of food colouring was the easiest and most palatable choice (most of the other had flour and cornstarch. ICK!)  

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I rounded up the necessary supplies. A package of vanilla pudding, some food colouring, a few containers to mix different colours in, some paper, and some tape to keep the paper in place.

I put a little pudding in each of the cups and added some food colouring.

 

I put Miss K in her chair and attached the paper to the tray 

(this alone was FUN FUN FUN for her, she laughed her butt off)

I put some puddin' on the page and just left her to her own devices. She was cautious at first...

 

... but quickly realized that the paint was not only fun... it was DELICIOUS!

 

and so began the eating, more than the painting. Ha ha ha!

She did manage to make some beeeeeutiful artwork though. Well beautiful by 'mom standards'.

In case you are desperate for a one-of-a-kind Miss K Original finger painting, we are accepting orders until the end of the week :)

Mario Bros. Coma

Imagine this. It is 7:53. Your child is always in be bed, sleeping in 7 minutes.  The new Mario Bros game is prepped and ready to go in the Wii, the beer is cold, and the PJs are waiting warm from the dryer with extra fabric softener. "SWEET!" you think to yourself, just like a grade 8 boy having heard confirmation that his friend actually touched a boob. "SWEET SWEET SWEET!" Only... that kid, doesn't go to sleep. The beer waits, and PJ are donned and quickly, and unceremoniously, covered in drool. The lesson? Life with kids rarely goes as you planned.

The good news, however, is that we all still had a great night.
Kahlen stayed up, but barely! She lay on the floor all snuggled up in the 'nook' of the breast feeding pillow, which happened to be draped in the worlds softest blanket at the time, and gently nibbled on her teething ring. We termed this the "Mario Bros. Coma".  She stayed in that coma, silently nibbling away, for nearly 2 hours. It was almost comedic. No. It WAS comedic. There were times when Steve or I jumped up or made a loud noise, just to make sure she was still breathing. She was adorable! I realize this type of stillness might be normal for some babies, but Kahlen NEVER stops moving. NO JOKE. She is like an energizer baby (check out the previous post where I taped her playing for 20 minutes in time lapse. You will begin to understand just how much she moves). So it was a nice break for us, and she seemed to really enjoy the terrible video game playing skills of her parents!

Now the actual game. It was comedy at its finest. I swear we have never laughed so hard in ages. We laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and SUCKED! We were terrible! Horrible! Im sure the beer didn't help our cause. It was the first time since K was born that I indulged, and had 3 whole drinks. Im not ashamed to admit, I was drunk. Ha! Pathetic! But we had a blast and stayed up till nearly 2am. As we dragged out pathetic, tipsy, video game playing asses to bed, we lamented about how K would be up soon and that we would be "sooooooooo tired". As an additional perk to a fun night, we also had a babe who slept for 10 hours. BLISS!

So. If you have a crazy baby, a wild baby, a baby who never stops moving. Turn on the Wii and put that baby in a Mario Bros Coma and enjoy your night!

Fun with Time Lapse

Today I had some fun!

No, really! I had TONS of fun.

I was goofing around on my lap top while Miss K slept and I found a few new things that my

Mac Book can do that I didn't know it could.

So I started to goof around. I started to play. Then Kahlen woke up and the real fun began.

I give you my 'energizer bunny' of a girl!

Muffin Tops

Before I dive into the 'meat' of my latest culinary fiasco, I should make it clear I am speaking literally about muffin tops and NOT the fat parts of my waist that bulge over the top of my pants creating a 'well baked' effect, and causing me to lament about not working out enough.

So, my latest culinary delight...more accurately, fiasco. I was having 'the girls' over for an evening of Big Love, Movies, and chit chat. In keeping with Steve and my agreement (which is to use all the food in our pantry before buying anymore 'pantry food'), I decided to bake some muffins for my guest and use up some of the pantry goods. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone, so-to-speak. So I dug up the old family recipe for oatmeal toffee muffins from the dusty vault in my memory (I feel obligated to emphasize it was VERY dusty, so you judge me a little less as your read, and feel more pity than disgust at this posts conclusion) and pulled out the necessary supplies. A bag of Skor toffee baking bits and a bag of oatmeal muffin mix. Okay, its not really an old family recipe, but the ingredients were in the pantry (in keeping with the deal) and made for a good indulgence for my story. Play along! Where was I? Oh yes... I pulled out the ingredients, mixed them together, poured the batter into the mini muffin pan (I make minis cause they are so darn cute) and then had an unfortunate realization. I forgot to grease the muffin pan. "SHIT!" I exclaimed. I really did. Out loud. Kahlen gave me a disapproving look, then went back to chewing on her stuffed hippo. "Darn it!" I corrected. Being the lazy baker I am, rather than removing the batter, cleaning the muffin pan, greasing it, and repouring the batter I say "Meh, Im sure it'll be fine" to myself. It is NOT fine. I cant get the muffins out of the pan. No, that is a lie. I CAN get them out, but when Im done with them they no longer resemble muffins. They look more like a pile of discarded muffin crumbs. Which I suppose is essentially what they become, so its fitting. I try in vain to scoop a few out, to salvage just a few, to serve my guests. No dice. Each attempt produces a more pathetic excuse for a muffin than the last. So I give up, put a tea towel on top of the muffin pan (to hide the evidence from my guests) and forgot about the fiasco until my guests left.

Then I engaged in full blown shame spiral... I ate the tops off the muffins. Out of the pan. In my undies (okay I made that part up but it makes for a better story). They were DE-LISH!

And, once I was sufficiently stuffed with muffin tops I left the muffin pan on the coffee table, waddled to bed and had a great sleep. The next day, I looked at the pan. "Shameful," I muttered to myself. I moved the pan from the living room, to the kitchen, and unceremoniously dumped it, face down, in the sink and forgot about it. I finally decided to deal with the pan tonight. The muffins were not only baked on/in, but were now stale and even more stuck on (which I didn't think was even possible) cause the toffee bits melted and then hardened after spending some time in the sink! So I grabbed a spoon, turned on Days of Our Lives (Beau and Hope, just get back together already!), and proceeded to scoop the crusted, stale, remnant muffin bottoms from the pan. Glamourous!

I suppose the point of this post is to... uhhhh.... no point really. Anyone have any ideas about the moral of this story? Suggestions welcome. Be kind though. I may be a terrible baker, but I have feelings. Ha!

Greatest Inventions

I was doing some pondering this evening, as I sometimes do, and I gave some thought to the inventions that have helped made my daily life what it is today. Some of these, include:

*Telephone (1876)

*Automobile (1885)

*Remote Control (1898)

*Washing Machine (1907)

*Bra (1913)

*TV (1923)

*Credit Card (1950)

*E Mail (1971... Yes before the internet. Wild! I know!)

*PC (Personal Computer-1973)

*Mobile Phone (1977)

*The Internet (1983)

*WWW (World Wide Web- 1990)

*GPS (Global Positioning Device- 1993)

taken from the 'Timeline of Historical Inventions' found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_historic_inventions
(and YES, I know wikipedia is VERY unreliable, but come on, its after midnight and K is going to be up soon)

(NOTE: this is by no means an exhaustive list. My life IS more exciting than this... I think?!)

There were a few things that were missing from the list. I felt compelled to give them their due recognition, since they have made my life 'better' in some way. So without further jibber-jabber:

*The soother/dummy/pacifier/binky (1902)

*Spandex (1959)

*Silica Cat Litter the kind that you never need to scoop/change the pee parts (1958)

* 'slip on' shoes (1200 BC)

*Breast Pump (1854)

*Chewling Gum (1870)

*'Old School Madonna Songs' (1984)

*Hair tie/Ponytail holder (1957) and the Bobby Pin (1922)

*Instant Mashed Potatoes (1962) Invented by a Canadian too!

*After Eight Mints (1962)

* Revlon 'Big Apple' Red Nailpolish (1932)
*Days of Our Lifes (1965)

(Note: this is STILL by no means an exhaustive list...*sigh*... my life appears pretty simple though)

So, There you have it ladies and gentlemen (though I suspect I have zero male readers).

The close/end/cessation of my evening ponder.

Oh wait I forgot one:

*The Pillow (3500BC)

Classy Lady on a Saturday Night

OK. Kahlen is asleep. Steve is at work. Im alone on a Saturday night.

SWEET! I look around at the mess. Im not being modest. This place looks like a bomb went off. REALLY. I have photographic proof.

Brace for impact...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... MESS!

Yes you are seeing that correctly! The laundry baskets are full of clean clothes that need folding. The kitchen counter is covered with dirty dishes (but I cant put them in the dishwasher because its already full of dirty dishes). The table is covered with dirty clothes. The couch is covered in 1/2 folded laundry. There is a package of toilet paper in the entry way. And you know what?

Im not going to change a thing. Its Saturday night after all.
Its time for a P-A-R-T-Y!

So how did I spend my night? I watched 'He's Just Not That Into You' and ate an 'improvised dinner' (which means you take whatever is left in the house and mix it together in a way that ALMOST tastes good). So what did I make to eat for my wild night in?

  

YES! You saw it correctly.

Instant mashed potatoes with bacon bits and sour cream and a tangerine pop on the side.

OH BABY! This is the high life!