Monthly Archives: January 2010

An email request

I just received an email from Elena with the subject:

“I want you now, tell me reciprocate and get me!”

The body of the email isn’t very earnest either. I spare you the details except for one sentence:

“Come on, help me to remove my sadness”.

I have a hard time believing (s)he is sincere. It breaks my heart.

Disney Playhouse Live

We took Olivia (sorry Christien!) to see Disney Playhouse Live last Saturday. She is a huge Mickey & Minnie fan as well as the Tigger and Pooh show. Fortunately the show featured both of these groups as well as the Little Einsteins (curse them!) and Handy Manny.

Olivia absolutely loved the show. She yelled and screamed when requested and danced and clapped throughout the show. One thing I thought was hilarious was that she would wave to the characters when they appeared on stage as if expecting them to notice and wave back. Very cute.

Afterwards in the car she pretended to be the host of the show and to organize the party that they were having in the play. That was before the classic meltdown that happened at Swiss Chalet.

Before the show, Olivia had her first skating lesson. She had only been on skates a couple of times before this so we started her off in the ‘never have skated’ group.

I could not believe how quickly she was able to stand up on her skates and start walking/gliding without any assistance. Soon enough she was even pushing off and getting some distance in her glides. The instructor noticed this and quickly promoted her to the next level where I think she is properly aligned. That is, she isn’t the worst skater in the group, but she isn’t the best….although I would say she’s in the top 3. Now that the groups are set she will start learning skills as they rotate around stations that will teach them how to skate backwards, hold a hockey stick, etc. etc. Before next class however, we have to upgrade her skates.

Back to the meltdown: after skating for 45 minutes, Olivia said “I exhausted myself”. Add that to attending the play for a couple of hours and it’s not hard to see why she had a meltdown. I forgot how taxing skating can be.

Yet, she loves it so I’m happy to take her….considering it’s at 1:45 in the afternoon, not some unholy early time.

2009 FFB Champion of the World!

Yes, I have re-acquired the coveted Dick Butkiss Tropy as the champion of the Monday Morning QB Fantasy Football League. It has been three years since the trophy has resided in my home. And the timing couldn’t be any better. The last time I won it, Olivia was the same age as Christien, and she had a blast putting poker chips inside the cup.

This is the 4th championship in 10 years that my franchise has won the trophy. Twice with the former owner, and twice myself. The first time I won was a back-to-back for the franchise where I would say 75% of the team was inherited from the previous owner. This time however, only 3 players remain from the previous owner….and NONE of them were in play on championship Sunday. Continue reading

Evening life has settled in more nicely these days. Just recently I remember basically chasing Christien around as soon as I got home from work right through to bed. Sprinkled in with trying to find time for Olivia and keeping the peace between the two. Over the holidays there was a transition that took place. Now Christien is more involved in his play and is willing to sit with his toys or at the very least run around in the same room with his toys for an extended period of time. Or even watch a bit of TV. This has allowed me to either sit in the chair for a noticeable amount of time or better yet, sit on the floor and play with him. Yes, there is still the need to do damage control and chase him around the house, but it is not as constant and tiring.

Also, Olivia and Christien are playing more and more together….and better and better. All this leads to less ‘on alert’ behaviour for me and more enjoyment. As many can attest to, I am a little more apprehensive than the average bear and as such have often fallen into a mode where nighttime homelife was considered to be more of a ‘work’ thing than enjoying it as the everyday life that it is. I think this is something I am putting into the past and am settling into this life of watching my kids go psycho around me and loving it. Part of this change I’m sure is because we are sleeping more consistently now that Christien is older.