Well, I have not been around much and when around have been in a procrastinating mood and in need of a jolt. I even think that this account has expired. I need to look into that.

I did do my escape to NYC at the beginning of June. Planned 5 days of shopping and museums - saw the museums shows I wanted to see, was even incredible geeky and went all the way up to the DIA:Hudson (80 minute train ride out of NYC) to see the Torqued Ellipses sculptures of Richard Serra that I had first seen in 1997 before seeing the 40 year retrospective of his work that the MOMA was putting on. Got a facial and pedicure. Went out to dinner (and bars!) and felt footloose and Lolo free. The shopping was a complete disastrous and despite having budgeted a fair bit for this trip, I only bought one top and a skirt.

Got home and the Lolo said MAMA, which she now says on a regular basis. Hurray!
Got home and found out I was pregnant! Oops on the bars, but there is no sense fretting about it. I had a bit of a scare and bleeding at one point, but an ultrasound confirmed all is OK. Now it is the routine of blood tests, etc... I am due at the beginning of February. So far: nausea (check), tiredness (check), acne (check)... I had nothing with the Lolo so I am a little frazzled. I am so sensitive to smells that certain ones - poo - will make me throw up. On the upside, no more diaper duty for me! On the downside, I will throw up at the smell of my own poo which frankly in the realm of pathetic-ness must rank me pretty close to the top.

We got back last night from our 3 weeks in Tuscany. It was wonderful, but hectic. I'll post pics if I can. The Lolo loved the house we had. There were chickens and ducks and rabbits and cats and a turkey. Every morning, afternoon, evening, she would issue the order: WALK! And off she would go with one of us trailing her. We are entering the 2s. naOoooo! says Lolo when she is not pleased. She makes her "no" sound like the cry of Victorian grand dame faced with a great tragedy: dramatic, anguished, and utterly hilarious coming from such a small frame. We all end up laughing which I am sure she will include in some later autobiography in the chapter: my family, endured tortures.

More later as my Victorian dame has woken up. MILK!

AAgain a long overdue update.
( Work )
( Family )
( School end )
( VACATION )

I can't wait till next week and then August. Is it possible to fast-forward life?

The Lolo has begun to talk! Sort of, kind if, well maybe if we push the definition of talking a bit…
She says: Juice, Egg, Quiche and one mention of Olive. Of course, she still does not say Mama, or Mummy, or any other term that may refer to me even in an oblique manner. The babysitter comments that maybe if I were a food group, she would say it. I point out in a “it’s worse then I thought” tone: I WAS a food group – fifteen months of being a food group. What do I get? Nothing. “Olive” score: 1; “Mama” score: 0.
Ok, so what if Olives are her favourite food and that we have to hide them so that she does not demand them for breakfast, lunch and supper? I used to be in demand too. Now the only attention she gives my breasts involves pulling at the nipples and testing the elasticity of my skin. *ouch* Not that I even have any breasts at this point. I had been told about the post breast-feeding reduction and was prepared. I, however, did not sign up for the post breast-feeding disappearing act. It was definitely NOT mentioned in the brochure. Hubby says that at least I did not get the post breast-feeding droop; I scowl and respond that I would have to have something for that something to actually droop.

My Hubby is strange. I have come to realize that I don’t even register his oddness until I relate a seemingly banal event and have a group of people re-evaluate the distance they are currently standing away from me. This week at work, a colleague was saying how her son thought the computer was a tool that showed pictures of himself. I comment that Hubby and the Lolo search for pictures of little monkeys and oohh and ahhh at them. They also go through the paper every morning and find all the animals, in particular this little monkey that is part of a Telus (mobile cie) ad campaign. Work colleagues’ reaction: little monkeys??? And then I make the mistake of mentioning that he sings, well lalalalalalas, national anthems to put her to sleep with a special double billing of the Welsh one. Again, work colleagues look at me oddly. I relate this to Hubby. He believes that he is fulfilling a dad’s obligation to be eccentric. I smile and nod. What else can I do? My step-kids roll their eyes at his various comments and antics – until I point out to them that they are actually related to him and therefore share some of the same genes. They get a little worried. I assure them this behaviour is hereditary and will probably come out later in life.

Back in deadline mode and trying to enjoy this weekend because I know that I will not be getting a day off for the next two weeks. Deep breath, dive in and picture NYC – here I come….

I wrote up the previous post and sent it in to our national paper: the Globe and Mail.
Here it is.
They omitted the opening which was a criticism of their coverage, and managed 4 pictures of him on the front page.

( Letter to the editor )

Enough

I had not intended to post on the Virginia Tech tragedy, but the front page of this morning’s paper, The Globe and Mail had me reeling. The cover story included a grand photo of the killer with detailed commentary on his self imposed isolation and anonymity. Enough! Let him have in death the anonymity he had in life. Let his actions and his victims be remembered, not him. He does not deserve any mention beyond the epitaph of killer, murderer, madman. Let him be faceless, nameless. Let his family move on. Let all imitators and glory seekers look for other means of being immortalized.
Why is that I can remember the name of all three of the Montreal killers, but none of their victims? Montreal has been horribly marked by three school shootings: the École Polytechnique Massacre on December 6th, 1989; the Concordia University shooting on August 24th, 1992; and the Dawson College shooting, on September 13, 2006. Yes, 2006 – just 7 months ago.
I remember being utterly furious that every news report kept repeating the killer’s name, every newspaper had his name plastered on what seemed like every page. Enough, enough, enough!
Report on the tragedy, remember the victims, let their images and names be on every front page of every paper. Let their names be the ones that come to mind – not the monster that killed them.

École polytechnique :
Geneviève Bergeron (b. 1968), civil engineering student.
Hélène Colgan (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
Nathalie Croteau (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
Barbara Daigneault (b. 1967) mechanical engineering student.
Anne-Marie Edward (b. 1968), chemical engineering student.
Maud Haviernick (b. 1960), materials engineering student.
Maryse Laganière (b. 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department.
Maryse Leclair (b. 1966), materials engineering student.
Anne-Marie Lemay (b. 1967), mechanical engineering student.
Sonia Pelletier (b. 1961), mechanical engineering student.
Michèle Richard (b. 1968), materials engineering student.
Annie St-Arneault (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
Annie Turcotte (b. 1969), materials engineering student.
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (b. 1958), nursing student.

Concordia University :
Matthew McCartney Douglass, Civil Engineering professor
Michael Gorden Hogben, Chemistry professor
Professor Aaron Jaan Saber , Mechanical Engineering
Phoivos Ziogas, Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair

Dawson College:
Anastasia Rebecca de Sousa, Dawson student

The mis-matched post
Must work on cv for a job that I don't really want...
Pippa is having her 13th bday this weekend. Hubby and Pippa and a friend are off shopping for supplies. She wants a Poker theme! All 7 of her friends are sleeping over. I think my evil stepmother routine needs a new jolt of evilness.
Her sister had a Barbie theme for her 18th. What is the world coming to?
We are on a birthday roll, as it seems that we are to host a friend of Emma's bday in a couple weeks. We don't even have the kids then. So she and her friends will show up have a party (and they better clean up) and then she will go back to her mum's.
The Lolo is continuing with her new found peacock screech when she does not get what she wants. I don’t know how many of you have heard a peacock cry, it is awful.
This morning she stood in the hall and let out continuous screeches and would not stop – no hugging or soothing would do. I finally took her upstairs and got her distracted enough to change her diaper and dump in her crib (not a popular move).
She is only 18months. I thought these tantrums started at 2. She has decided to skip the MAMA part of her development and jump right into the “the world revolves around me” phase of a 2-year old. Sigh…

I went to the clinic this morning and the diagnosis is : maybe whooping cough! I got some antibiotics (yuck) and went home. I am presently in my office and will try to get some work done (unlikely) and some clean up-mail-bills etc. dealt with (I hope) and maybe just some rest (likely) and reading some fic (most likely).

I got prescribed a rather serious cough suppressant (with narcotics!) that I am only allowed to take at night. A non-renewable prescription that can knock me out. After about a week of no sleep and the previous week of very late nights working, being knocked out sounds absolutely heavenly.

On the up although strange news, I got head hunted yesterday. A call out of the blue from an agency: would you be interested in this job? I was rather stunned. I have no clue as to how they got my name and the job is exactly what I want to be doing and for considerably more money than what I make now. I am going to apply and see what happens. Ideally, I want to convince the cie. to hire me as a consultant rather than an employee and that way, I can bring the contract into my firm (with the increase in salary for me, of course). I want to develop the project management side of the firm (which at the moment consists of only me) and need to bring in clients in order to do it. None of the partners will go and hustle for this kind of work. They each have their specialty. I need to do it myself if I am going to stay there and do what I am doing at present. As much as I do love architecture, I like running the show and that is what I am doing at present on my little insane project, and I dread giving it up once the project ends in June.

I guess I could just jump ship too... *bites nails*

I am sick - no surprise there. I had a huge deadline last Monday and worked 74 hours that week and over 60 the week before. Result: lost my voice, developed a cough (that ohh, so helpfully prevents me from sleeping) and have now deteriorated into a stuffy nose and sore throat. I am going to go the clinic tomorrow.

I have another huge deadline (well part 2 of the same project) coming up in 3 weeks. There is no way I am going to make that one considering that last week was completely wasted work wise. I took Tuesday off and was sick on Thursday and Friday was a holiday. Thursday was the great illness due to my own stupidity day. I had taken cough syrup that had expired in 2003! and proceeded to add vomiting and chills to the rest of my ailments.

As a result of all my coughing, Hubby has not slept in a week and is now feeling rotten. He has escaped to sleep in the TV room, which has hosted almost every member of the family this past week. I have slept there, Thomas slept there (after Hubby went to sleep in Thomas' room). We are a musical bed household.

Easter and its four days off should have been restful, but we ended the weekend feeling more tired then before. We did manage to see friends we had not seen in ages and went to Ottawa to see the in-laws. There was also that rather frightening transformation of the Lolo from sweet angel to furious devil when her chocolate was confiscated. She threw such a fit that she threw things. She is 18 months old! Another interesting Lolo development is that someone taught her to stick her ears in her fingers when we ask her to listen. Death shall befall one of my step kids after I figure out who the guilty party is.

The Lolo participated in another lab experiment (Infant Language Acquisition). I had to fill in a form and check what words she says. Mama ... no check on that box still. In fact there were hardly any checks at all. She does not speak and I don't think that she will for a long time. She has no need for words. She understands everything. We can ask her to go get a book and name the title of the book and she goes and gets that specific book. I have to admit that I find that rather impressive. I would be really really impressed if she said Mama, but at this point, I think she will be reading Proust before saying Mama. She thinks it is far funnier not saying it.

I need to post new pics of the monster. All I have on my computer is this one. She is looking far too angelic.

What I wrote as a comment on her FIA site closing post:

Thank you for all your hard work. I know life comes first and it did amaze me that you were able to run a website and deal with dunderheads AND deal with school and life and Milo. Real life does come first.
I don't even know if you realise that through your site and your DG fic and obsession, you have opened a whole new world up for me and I am sure for many others. This world goes beyond the actual fanfiction. I had never heard of livejournal, forums, etc... and now through you and thanks to you, I have "met” wonderful people. Your site helped me through a burnt out / mini-depression after I had quit a job that really was not suiting me. It gave me an escape, another world to get lost in.
So again, thank you. I wish you all the luck in your academic pursuits and with Milo and hope that whatever comes in the future, you might remember the good that the site brought to people rather that the bad dunces that the site brought upon you.

Stolen from mynuet.
The Belgian ambassador is a friend of mine. I will have to tell him the news.

You scored as Belgian. </td> Belgian 88% Swiss 63% Danish 63% Irish 63% French 50% Spanish 50% Dutch 50% British 50% Italian 50% Polish 50% German 38% Russian 25% Turkish 13% Molvanian 0% Which European nationality should you have created with QuizFarm.com

I love Origami. My wedding dress even had an Origami theme. A friend sent me a power point of the work of Hojyo Takashi. I can't post the power point, but here is a pic and his website link. Really really worth checking out. It is incredible. Consider as you look at the images that each figurine was folded out of a single piece of paper - no cuts, no glue.



http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~origami/004phototop.htm

Hubby came back on Monday night. He brought me back Smarties and Rowntrees Fruit Gums. Smarties in the UK taste far better than the ones we get here. And I know all you US citizens are going: Smarties??? They are chocolates, very yum yum, especially if they are British. And we all know that Smarties make you smarter and that you have to eat the red ones last. Rowntrees, you just can't get in North America.

Not only did he bring me back the candy, he brought ME back the candy - with strict instructions that they were for ME. No need to share with the kids. My eyes went very big and round. No sharing? Nope. I managed to supress my guilt enough to take my bag of goodies and bring all my loot to work. They are safely stowed away in my desk. I am bringing a box of Smarties with me to Toronto tomorrow for my consultants' meeting. I sent an email out before leaving the office saying that the meeting was mandatory, so I figure maybe a little bit of candy will ease the grumbling of being bossed around.

I did share my candy at work. Jesse who sits next to me lived in the UK and shares my opinions on the subject, altough most people in the office were WTF? until they tasted them, of course. Jesse also understands the guilt factor. She hides some of her kids' Halloween candy so that they forget they had any. Her excuse is that she is saving their teeth, but then she brings the candy to work and gives them to me! I do eat them, but do feel at times like I am stealing the proverbial candy from a baby.

But candies are yummy. I actually have a gum ball machine at my desk with a pile of pennies next to it. Anyone can come and get a gum ball. Yup, I am an adult...

Tomorrow - my crazy weekly 15hr work day... sigh.

What a weekend: running around getting all the little bits and errands done for the kids. I am exhausted and have not managed to do a single thing that was on my list. I did go for a brief walk and got a soup pot, one of those huge deep ones with a thick bottom at 40% off too (Hubby has been wanting one for ages). The soup pot was a pain to carry with the Lolo on my back and a long walk home; the bottle of wine and the 2 baguettes did not help. The wine was a treat to myself for surviving the week, but upon opening it, I realised that it was corked... yuck. Now I have to return it which is a pain and no wine for my celebration.

Pippa and I got into a real tiff about her room. I had told 3 weeks ago that if her room was not in order for March break, she would be grounded. It took a lot of "I cleaned my room" - Evil stepmother goes and checks - "Pippa go finish cleaning your room" - "It's clean" - evil stepmother inspection - "Pippa go clean your room" - "Grumble grumble grumble" - really pissed off evil stepmother "Do you want to go to Ottawa with your friend, or not?"... My definition of a clean room does not include candy wrappers on the floor or apple cores on the dresser. Apparently there are other cleanliness standards that allow for that.
I finally told her that if my bi-weekly cleaning lady has to stay later and charges me extra because of the mess in her room, I was taking the money out of her allowance. Let's just say that that was greeted with an impressive decibel level of protest. It is a terrifying reflection on the bedrooms of this household that the person with the neatest room (excluding my dresser area) is Thomas = 16 yr old boy. And when I say neatest, I don't mean that his room is actually neat. Neatness is relative in my universe. And when marrying someone, I beseech everyone to remember that certain traits are hereditary, and if the habits are bad ones, I can guarantee that they will be passed on and amplified. Hubby’s dresser and closet are also a disaster zone.

On other news: the Lolo seems to have decided that she will not eat supper in her highchair. If supper is presented on a low footstool that allows her to eat and walk and perhaps take her bowl for a stroll, then supper is devoured. If she is in her chair, then there is much protest and food thrown on floor. *sigh* It was bad enough having to clean the kitchen floor after every meal, now I am having nightmares of having to clean the whole house. I think I will have to get her a booster seat and see if she prefers the more adult way of eating. She did enjoy is at K's wedding brunch and even insisted on feeding the woman sitting next to her much to the amusement of everyone at the table.

Life has been strange: hectic and slow at the same time.

( The wedding )

This week has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. It is only me and the three kids. Even my weekly Toronto trip was no problem. Thomas and Pippa had to get themselves ready for school and Lolo's nanny came at 7h30, so that the kids could cab it. Then they had to deal with supper and putting the Lolo to bed. On Thursdays, I leave the house a bit after 6am and get home at close to 10pm. Aside from a messy kitchen, that I forced Thomas to clean up before we left this morning, the experiment was a success. As this does tempt me to repeat it and leave them in charge more often, I am not sure they are necessarily happy that it went so well.

Hubby gets back on Monday, so I have a rushed weekend. Thomas is off to Europe on a hockey trip (! – his school team just won the local championship) and I have to get him packed. Pippa is off to Ottawa for a few days with a friend. And me, I am off to bed. I can't wait till June (NYC here I come).

Hubby and I go for long walks on weekend and we generally do errands and some groceries and what not while out. Hubby decides he wants to get the Lolo more books - she loves sitting and "reading". So in he goes to the local book/toy store while I go to the bakery. Upon joining him, he drags me to this display of stuffed animals and insists that we buy one of them.

So I now present the latest stuffed "animal" to join our family.


And for those of you who are not microbiologists and have not recognized it. Let me present to you: Giardia! Yup. From Giantmicrobes inc. The tag has an image of the giardia lamblia protozoan parasite and a detailed explanation of how one catches it and what it does to you.

Should you be interested in adding microbes to your stuffed animal collection, you should be pleased to note that among the specimens available are: halitosis & e-coli. There were quite a few others but their names escape at the moment.

Condolences on having a husband who actually bought the toy are welcome.

I have Tuesday morning off from work. So does that mean that I don't work on Tueasday morning? HAHAHAH Let me see: laundry, vaccuming, wash kitchen floor, clean up, groceries... but no I am not working. I am slaving (cause if it were work, I would be getting paid!).
So here is a salute to all fellow slaves of the household. I salute you all and hope that your burdens are lightened.

I just beta'd 2 chapters... yeah. One to go.

Holiday plans are being formed. Hubby is considering a home exchange. He has friends who do this - literally trade homes with another family for a few weeks. There are websites for these exchanges all over the world. Cars are also exchanged. All this at no cost. You list pics of your house, a list of places where you want to go and a time frame. I am a little nervous but who knows?

Now to answer my interview questions...

This is not a good thing – being relieved when Monday rolls around is a sign of something not right in the universe. This weekend like the last one a mad rush and I am relieved it is over.

Friday night: Hubby is getting back from Chicago late. Pippa has a dance (!) that starts at 7pm. She and a friend need a drive there and an early supper. Her friend is sleeping over.
Thomas is at a hockey tournament and needs to be picked up at 7pm. Emma (& 4friends) are going out for supper. Lolo’s bedtime is 7pm. I looked at the lot of them and went AHHH!!!!!

In the end, Emma delayed her dinner reservations so that I could get supper, bath and Lolo to bed and then do all the driving. Pippa agreed to arrive late at the dance and Thomas’ bus was late and I picked him up even later. I get home – Hubby had just arrived, so I gave Emma & co. a lift to the restaurant.

I finally get back home and Hubby asks if I knew that all the friends were sleeping over. So Friday night kid count in house = 9!

I can leave the Saturday morning breakfast rush to your imagination…and then the mad driving all over again – Thomas to hockey, Pippa to acting class and Emma & co. to various destinations. Thomas’ team did win the tournament! And I actually went to the game (which is a rare thing these days) so I got loads of brownie points.

What did not get done this weekend: groceries, laundry, clean up, etc… *sigh* Sunday night I tell the kids that if their rooms are not cleaned up (including the floor of the closets), they will be grounded for the March Break – looks of utter horror and exclamations of revolt. That is SO mean! I point out that I have given them a 3 week notice and all complaints and excuses will not be listened to.

First of all:

Happy VALENTINE'S Day to all.

The world works in strange coincidences.
After being in the dog house on Monday (because I had deserted my step-children to go out for supper and then did not think to as for the autograph of a hockey player that was at the table next to me), I am the coolest step-mum alive... yeah me. And all this, in part, thanks to lj.

Coolness #1 Emma (eldest step-daughter) tells me that she has been looking up fashion stuff on the web and has become obsessed with runway shows. Me, cool person that I am, let her in on a few sites and show her where she can find the Christian Dior Haute Couture show on youtube and she is very impressed. (so thank you____faith for all your info)

Coolness #2 comes from youngest stepdaughter Pippa who is the only one in the family that is aware of my interest in D/G fiction. She has teased me incessantly about it. She is 12 and yesterday asks sheepishly what site I go to. I send her to FIA and she is now reading The Dangers of Mistletoe by CCC. I happen to be beta'ing that fic - so I had a huge laugh at her expense as she came to me today and pronounced that she is addicted and that D&G had better be together in all the stories on FIA. Less amusing was that part of our supper burnt because she was reading fic instead of watching the oven as I had asked her. I have yet to figure out how to put the Lolo to sleep and finish cooking supper. I am also now worried about all the smut on FIA - so may have to have a discussion about what is allowed and what is not.

Coolness #3 - step-mum to the rescue. Thomas (step-son) asks me how he could have flowers delivered to his girlfriend. This would be the girlfriend that on Sunday he would not admit to having. "She isn't my girlfriend," says Thomas... aha. I suspect said-not-girlfriend may have informed clueless 16 year old boy about the consequences of ignoring Valentine's day and said 16 year old boy perhaps got the point. So the yesterday evening, my advice is being solicited. I ordered flowers for him this morning and away they went. He is lucky that she lives near our florist. They would not have been so accommodating otherwise. I did not even insert any flowery poetry as I had threatened to do. Apparently flowers are OK but poems are not.

All in all a good couple of days.
Except for all the snow! When will it end?
Fortunately a certain teenage boy I know owes me for some flowers and I intend to make him pay with a shovel.

The problem with long breaks between posts is the length they end up being.
So skip skip skip.... this is probably not that interesting.

( ”skip )

*sigh* single parenthood for this week and is it really only Tuesday?

Hubby has canceled his trip this week - he finally clued in that going to New Orleans and then to Chicago, after having just been in NYC, may not be the best way to keep his wife happy.
So yeah! He is still going to Chicago, but at least I have him home this week.

Today I will get zero work done. *stressed sigh*
This morning I did a COSTCO run - I had to get supplies for the bridal shower being held at my house this weekend. 25 girls - I know 4 of them. I think the planning is finally under some sort of control.

This afternoon, I take Emma and Pippa for some shots. The Lolo will stay with the nanny. After the doctor, off to a party supply store. Pippa needs a blond wig and I will see if they have anything for the party. I am a little miffed though. Pippa asks on Monday night where can she get the blond wig she needs for Wednesday! *GROWL* The kids have just come back from 2 weeks at their mother's. Did the errands and supplies they need get bought? NOPE. Thomas lost his gloves, not replaced and Pippa's wig. And who is doing all their trips to the doctor's? ME.

I am in a grumpy: "I actually work for a living and do more for *your* kids than you do" gripe mode. *sigh and rant over*

Pippa just called - the school apparently has some sort of water problem and the kids are being sent home. *the evil step-mother to the rescue*