EXTRA! EXTRA! This just in!!!!

"Committed non-violent Victoria mother gives swords to her children for Christmas. Friends are shocked. Children are ecstatic."

Okay, they're not real swords. They're made of styro-foam. They're silver. They're cool. And they're not guns. Okay by me.

The kids have been having sword fights since they got these things. Daughter will so nonchalantly walk up to brother, toss him his sword and say "en garde!" and smack him in the head with her sword. So he'll chop off her hand. So she'll try to stab him in the gut. If she fails, she'll stick the sword between her legs and say "Look at my huge stinky penis!". Oh man is it funny.

Family has gone home, and we are back to life as a foursome. kit and I are dividing our evenings between playing Blokus (so great!) and debating designs for our yard. Kit has a glint in his eye at the prospect of renting a Bobcat and digging up our entire yard in January. We're just negotiating on the logistics of putting cobblestone all over the yard, including under the climbing tree. I'm thinking if we bought the kids some cool skater helmets and forced them wear them at all times in the yard, it could be safe. Plans are still in the air, pics to follow.

Yes I'm still pregnant. ARGH!!!!!!!!! It's silly to even care or think about it, I've been later with each kid, so this one should be no different. But how to pass the time?? It's just not in me to sit and read, though I have now a stack of interesting books I'd like to know back to front. Yet I'm wasting time folding laundry and surfing eBay. Yeah it's kind of relaxing, but not really. And so any time I feel slightly sick, or have aches and pains, I think Ohhhhh, is THIS labour? When I know exactly how labour is, and it involves only insomina and a huge craving for pancakes. No nausea, no aches, no pains. Not in the beginning anyway. I need some distraction. You'd think 2 kids and a man off work would be enough, but they're regulars, I see them all the time. I could make a quilt, but I'm still short 3 squares. I won't name names. Let's just say I'm related to all the men in question, by blood or un-legal marriage. All the squares I've received are, as usual, so fantastic. Thank you!!!

Okay, I've procrastinated enough with you guys, I need to go 'relax'. maybe relax means watch home reno shows all day, or 90210 re-runs on TV Tropolis???? I bet it means go for a long walk, but I doubt that'll happen.

This entire post has been written to the background sounds of 2 kids screeching through the house, cries of "I cut off your leg!" and "I got you!" being flund left and right. Oh, and now the eldest of the tribe has requested some chocolate. Well, it's after 10 am, so why not?


C

For this, I have no witty introduction . . .

Hannah has broken her nose. There, I've said it. oh gosh it looks bad, but she's amazing, happy, calm, says it doesn't hurt anymore. We were coming in from the park yesterday, and she was indulging in her new passion, which is running. Very well, and very fast. She turned the corner on our front path and fell straight into the CONCRETE steps, no hands. Hit the bridge of her nose on the CONCRETE step. Screamed like you'd expect of such a nasty injury, none of this skinned-knee blubbering, this kid was hurting. Within an hour it was fat, and got fatter as the night wore on. A trip to emerg before bed confirmed that she was indeed safe to go to sleep and that there is nothing to be done but wait for the swelling to go down and then hope it healed straight. For now, she has the exact nose of the boy Rocky in that Cher movie Mask. And it's all purple and grey. It's hard to look at her sweet face, but she is her same old self. I just want it to heal and shrink. Now!

We had a lovely Christmas, and now have a great choice in games to play. The children got great games and I gave Kit a couple new ones, so between the 4 of us we're playing at the kitchen table alot. Both kit's parents and my Mom and Al were able to come to our house, and in a rare show of letting go of all control, I let Susan and Cheryl make everything for dinner. I bought ice cream for dessert. It felt pretty good, and I think I'm quickly going to get the hang of this whole 'letting go' thing. I made quick work of my remaining To Do list items, by simply crossing them off and deciding they weren't that important anyway. Yes!

But like all lessons, they aren't learned in a vacuum. Now I need to learn to NOT do things. As in relax, lie about, read for pleasure. So far it's not going well. The urge to go shopping is strong. I can only stop myself by remembering that I do not need anything, and that if I go look, I will go buy. So I'm staying put. Mom and Al are sticking around for a few days, and I hope to take advantage of Al's shared inability to relax/need to do things, and give him a few simple projects to work on for me. See how I can take my life learning and use it to help others? Gives me that warm fuzzy feeling.

I am listening to some great music these days. The new Be Good Tanyas, an Alberta band called Nathan and the newest Decemberists cd are all getting lots of play in our home. Kit is trying to devote more time to his own music playing. He has acquired a banjo and wants to get into some great banjo stylings, so he often plays along with the banjo parts in those cd's I've ben playing. Seems banjos are the new thing to play. I'm thinking I could try getting into the piano again. My Dad sent us an electric piano for Christmas, and I think if I can find the music for some artists I like online I could be motivated to plunk away at it a bit. We shall see if either of us actually stick to these whimsical ideas.

I have no pictures of Hannah's sadly inflated face, so don't ask.

Now that Christmas has somewhat 'passed', I feel I can no longer ignore or deny the fact that I'm due to have a baby in a few weeks. Whole thing is still just too 'far off', and I know it won't be real until I'm actually in pain. Then I'll click in and freak out. For now, I'm just staying in my bubble of denial. And still really want to eat snow or ice chips.


Sorry to end on a sad note, but I have some news. My friend Rachel passed away yesterday, after a nice Christmas dinner with her children and close family. She was at home in bed, with everyone there. She defied all odds by hanging on until Christmas, which was her goal. She'd been unable to digest any food after a tumour appeared in her stomach a few weeks ago, blocking her digestive tract entirely. She was a fantastic, loving woman who will be missed by many. If you'd like to see some gorgeous pictures of her you can visit the website her brother created for her: www.rachelslight.novatone.net/index.html I hope I can remember her each day, but I also know that as time passes, my own life will take over and she'll not come up as often. That is sad, and yet it is how life is. She leaves behind her dear husband Aaron, and two lovely children; Sumiko is 18 months and Cesar is 4.

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas, wherever you are and whomever you're with. I hope to see each of you soon.

kisses
C

I have a few minutes free, thought I'd stay in touch. What can i say about our lives lately? Kit has finished work as of today, won't be back at it until end of January most likely. Yay!! The kids have been counting down the days until there were 'no more work days' for Dad. Now they can focus on counting down to Christmas. Oh man their stocking stuff is SO great! I love it! And their grandparents have gotten them great things they'll really like and use. Can you tell I'm excited for them to open their gifts? Kit has his usual challenge, I provide him with little to no suggestions of what I could use, or would like. It seems I've gotten so into de-cluttering and concluding that so much stuff just isn't worth the money to pay for it, that the result is a gal who has no ideas for basic stocking stuffers. What I want (peace, a healthy bod, a calm brain . . ) cannot be bought, so might as well fill my stocking with chocolate and martini fixings. My goal, upon the birth of this last critter, is to take up martini drinking, in a big way. Kit has long suggested self-medication as the only solution to coping with being home with kids all day (a job he is firm that he will never ever do) and I think 2007 is the year to try it out. Don't worry, it'll just be a fashionable pre-dinner cocktail. And pre-bed one.

We just returned from a short trip to Vancouver last week. Took fuul advantage of the holidas and the fact that my mom and Al still live in Vancouver = childcare. We went to hear The Decemberists at The Commodore, and it was great. I really really like this band. And I haven't been to The Commodore since a DOA concert in '92????? So that was a nice change. Kit and I so often do not go to shows together. I can't justify the cost of the ticket, we usually don't have childcare, and I'm happy to listen to music turned up loud at home. I'm glad we went, you should check them out. We visited with friends at went to a wee Christmas party (more childcare used there too!) ate at our fave family spot (The Naam on 4th) and just generally lived it up while we could. Took Leif to the Body World 3 show at Science World, he thought it was okay, liked the rest of the place more than the dead people. He found them 'not very interesting'. The wicked thing is now that we're back in Victoria, we have childcare here too, as Kit's parents have recently moved here. Not that grandparents in general are simply seen by us as childcare. but boy is it nice, having not really had any before. tomorrow we're off to see Casino Royale, something Kit has been wanting to see for awhile now. And yes, childcare has made that posible too. Is it clear how much I am all over the in-town grandparents? Woohoo!!

Big developments on the loose tooth scene. While the main loose tooth is still in fact in his mouth, there is now this huge, wide 'new' tooth poking up through his gums behind the current loose tooth. I know this is so not a big deal for you, but I think it's so cool. Little dude's losing a tooth!!!! And is typical Leif style, it is taking it's own sweet time to fall out. Did I mention his labour was 2 days? See my point?

Hannah, oh Hannah. She is hilarious. I don't know where she picks up her coy grin, her eye-rolling (okay that's from me) and her sashaying hips. She's 3 for heaven's sake!!!!! She is a sassy and firm gal, tossing out all her big words like 'certainly' and 'surely' and 'I didn't ask you I asked him!'. Between helping me out at every chance possible, and then telling me off and ignoring me like a pro, she's a keeper.

Me, I'm fine. On the whole I feel great. Honestly, I'm stiff as an arthritic old woman and tired to the core. But that's just how it goes, you know? Whether I manage a good night's sleep or not, my bones ache and my joints crack. But at least if I've slept I'm less of a bitch, so there's a bright side to it all. But I'm good; happy, healthy, moving along fine in my off-balanced bod. All I really want to do is eat snow. Wierd huh? it's constant lately, a desire for the cold chewiness (sp?) of a nice fresh scoop of snow. I'd settle for chips of ice to gnaw on, but my sad sad cracked and crowned teeth are evidence of my weakened dental strength, and I'm not willing to risk it. But I could eat snow all day, if only it was still snowing here. Tonight we got chinese takeout instead, which put me off snow for just a little while.

Okay, it's late now, I'm off to bed. (That's code for eat mandarins and surf for CSI re-runs. Tomorrow I'll be cranky and stiff, but tonight . . tonight the kids are asleep, Kit's out, and I'm in the mood to vegetate a bit. )


If my father or brother are reading this, listen up! I need your quilt squares dudes!!!! (If you happen to run into Kit's brother, give him shit too).


kisses
C

Back in October we had our 2nd Annual Giant Pumpkin Contest. We began with 5 teams, as usual, but 3 of them met with various problems that hindered any growth. That left us and Shona and Ryan to duke it out. Last year we ruled all with our 69 pound miracle. But this year they crushed us, with 82 pounds of pale orange flesh. Their daughter Isla brought her own wee triumph to add to the pile.

Next year we shall prevail . . . .

Master Leif and she who rules all . . ..

Mystery revealed . .

. . for many people, Kit is an enigma. Hardly anyone's ever met him, and more than once I've been accused of making him up. So here's a pic, taken by Leif, of my partner in the manufacturing of genius beings. He's a good guy. Anyone who lets his children play with his wife's prized camera while she's at work must be fairly relaxed, right?