Done & Done!

Well, the deed is done. The Chimp is part of God's army now. We had the Christening last Saturday and frankly, it was pretty painless. Certainly the ceremony itself was easier than preparing for it. Each time I find myself engaging in some pagan ritual I am astounded at how many minute details must be adhered to. Or maybe it's just my mum.

Either way the day was a pleasant one and the Chimp was a champ! She fussed very little despite the bizarre circumstances (see photo below) and looked super cute in both her church dress and the Christening gown for afterwards.

My brother (the godfather) showed Herculean strength holding the Chimp in one arm throughout almost the entire ceremony and Gern (the godmother) was a real trooper, standing up in front of a strange crowd (our family), taking part in a bizarre ritual a la the Byzantine Era, all the while having hot wax drip across her fingers. I hope I get to return the favour some day - Lord knows I owe her!

We all headed back to my parent's place afterward for a bite to eat and it was strangely relaxed. My family was all there, loud as ever and the Hubby's family was also there, though not seeming traumatized by my family in the least. Nor by having to spend time with each other either. It's a bizarre situation at best with the Hubby's family, and if you know the story, you know why. If not, it's not really my place to tell it. (sorry!) It could be that we are all just getting used to each other - it was a totally pleasant day!

Apparently the only thing left for us to do is to head back to the church one Sunday to take communion (which, I'm pretty sure I've never done before!) and get the paper work taken care of. One more tradition I can check off my list!

Part Of This Nutritious Breakfast...

Ever since I can remember my family has been a family of gardeners. I'm sure for generations back my ancestry is one of subsistence farming. So naturally when I grew old enough to have a patch of dirt to call my own, I felt the need to plant something in it.

Perhaps you'll recall that I'm not a by-the-booker and so you won't be surprised to learn that I am a VERY lazy gardener. However, thanks to the hot and rainy weather we've been having in Ontario this summer, I've got a pretty good crop growing in my patch of dirt (and I do mean patch - the "garden" is probably 8 x 5 feet in total).

This year, in addition to my grandmother's tomatoes and peppers, I planted some cucumbers and potatoes, and I'm pleased to report that I've been enjoying the food from my garden for a couple of weeks now and I'm not dead yet!

(don't mind the eggs, I never claimed to be a great chef)

I would encourage anybody with their own patch of dirt (including balconies with space for a pot or two), who likes to cook, or just to eat, to take up gardening for themselves. I cannot express how frigging cool it is to go into your own back yard and come back with food. FOOD!! For cryin' out loud. Even if it's just a pot of basil and you're pretty sure that you'll kill it - I urge you to try. Honestly, you'll feel like Tom Hanks in that terrible movie with the volleyball when he made fire. It is totally gratifying. You'll feel like a million bucks - and then you get to eat what you made! And if it dies - no harm, no foul - it's not like a pet (but could be, if you wanted).

Especially if you, like many of us, try to buy locally when the seasons are right, you can appreciate the greatness of the earth when you bite into a fresh fruit or vegetable that hasn't been picked green and shipped across the continents. It's a moving experience, I tell ya.

Go out and garden today!

Giving & Getting: Year Three

Today is my anniversary. The Hubby and I have been married for 3 whole years now and nobody has suffered any severe or lasting damage. So far.

How did we spend our day? you ask.

Well we were up at the cottage for our first overnighter with both of the girls, so of course we were at the beach. Then cleaning and packing and driving from Lafontaine, Ontario back to Toronto. Naturally both kids fell asleep in the back seat and all we could do was sigh with relief and joy.

Also, we stopped at the Cookstown Outlet Mall. They have a kid's clothing store there that I figured we should check out before school starts again in September. Sadly, we promised Mojo a visit to the Cadbury store while we were there, but it closed. So what did we do? We went to McDonald's of course! What a romantic anniversary dinner!

Then things got worse from there. Both kids were still VERY tired, but not sleeping and the chimp started crying (and I mean CRYING!) about 45 minutes away from home. God bless her, Mojo was doing her best to entertain her sister, but after awhile she just got fed up. By the time we got through the rush hour traffic and home, both kids were in tears in the back seat and Mojo wanted to go back to the Harpy's house!

All is well now. The chimp is asleep in her crib. Mojo is in the tub preparing for bed and I am in the basement writing about how much I cherish domestic life with my hubby three (actually five) years later.

No, it's not glamorous, but it ain't bad neither.

My father-in-law called to wish us a happy anniversary and told me how glad he was that I married his son. Strangely, even after a day like this one (and several other sh*tty days before, during and after the divorce) I'm glad I married him too.

The thing is, I love my husband. I love him and I'm in love with him too. I think he's smart and sexy and funny and so loving and most importantly, forgiving. And I feel lucky to be with him. And I know he feels the same way about me.

The best part, I think, is that we make each other better people. Not all the time every day, but in a slow, methodical kind of way. We both want to be the best partner we can be for one another and so we try really hard to be that way. And when we can't? We say sorry and forgive each other for our shortcomings. I never imagined that compromising could work out so well in my favour. But there you have it: You give a little bit of yourself and you can get a lot in return!

Happy Summer!

Whew! I hardly know where to begin today. It seems that summer has finally started in earnest for me now that it's August. The first week or so was spent visiting with family and friends in lovely weather.

Yes, those are babies and beer in the pool - it could hardly be one or the other!

Last Tuesday the chimp and I made our first overnight forray into cottage country with some awesome teacher friends of mine and it was FABULOUS! I thought that maybe there would be some trouble with the chimp sleeping in the playpen for the first time in unfamiliar surroundings, but, of course, she was a total champ; completely accommodating so that mummy and her friends could enjoy their adult beverages and catch up with one another.

Yes, this is what (some/many) teachers do with their summers off. That's why we get them. Nobody can be as good as we have to be all year round without blowing off a little steam. (Want proof? Check out the Catholic church!)

The day after we got home, the hubby and I discovered that the chimp has got her first teeth coming in - the two bottom front teeth. She's generally a pretty good baby, so we've been spoiled and now her irritability is starting to wear us down. Hopefully it won't be too much longer though. She's going to be so freakin' cute once they come in!

On Saturday we had Mojo's 7th birthday party and, of course, it rained. Not all day. Just in the afternoon while we were having her party. That's okay though, since the kids were swimming anyway, we figured they wouldn't mind getting wet and they didn't. It was a riot. The best line of the day: "I'm a torpedo myself, actually." Try saying that with a straight face.

The kids had a great time swimming, smashing the bejesus out of the pinata and hula hooping their foul brains out. Not a bad time despite the rain.

While the hubby is off this week on vacation, we have plans for a trip to Canada's Wonderland (a now annual trip with Mojo. Last year I was pregnant and couldn't go on any of the rides -- BORING! This year I'm being replaced with Mojo's uncle and his girlfriend since, once again, I'd be standing on the sidelines with the chimp), and some time up at the cottage.

Coming up after that will be the chimp's Christening and my mum's birthday and then the summer is pretty much over. Where the heck does the time go? One minute you're twiddling your thumbs and then next minute you can hardly find time to check your email! I'll take busy over bored on most days though. Just as long as I get a bit of down time now and then.

Hope everybody else is having as good a summer as we are!! Happy Summer!

Ferber Schmerber

Except when I'm baking, I'm not really a "by the book" kind of gal (and that's only after learning the hard way that a teaspoon is a teaspoon, not a dash, pinch or otherwise!) and so it hasn't really been any different with child rearing. Yes, I do often seek out information from sources who know better than I do and often that means consulting a book or (gasp!) the Internet, but by and large I'm a skimmer and fill in the blanks myself. I figure with something like children it's likely to be on a case by case basis anyway, so why sweat the details?

Employing the cry it out method with the chimp has been thus. And I guess it's working. But the fact of the matter is, we (or rather I) haven't really been sticking to the rules. My baby isn't always awake when I put her down in her crib and I don't feel badly about that. Yes, it likely has meant dragging this whole process out longer than necessary, but, well, too bad for us.

Despite my lack of attention to detail, things have gotten considerably better on the sleeping front (at least for the chimp). I am still waking up expecting her to wake up crying, but she's doing pretty good now. If and when she wakes before it's time for a feeding, she sometimes cries, but often finds a way to get herself back to sleep within a few minutes and for the last few nights she has been waking only for one feeding in the middle of the night and getting a good 12 hours in the mean time.

Last night, the hubby and I went out to the movies (The Dark Knight - disappointingly boring!) and my mum came over to watch the chimp. She went to bed without her usual boob and slept through the night. I'm not complaining, but I'm not going to get used to it just yet either. What I will do is hope it lasts long enough for my body to trust that it's going to keep happening, and maybe, just maybe there will be a full night's sleep in my future too!