Trout Lake

One of the reasons I agreed to move to the East Side was the proximity to Trout Lake.  I often take Baby around it, we stop at the swings, and say hello to the ducks. I've been noticing playgrounds way more since having a baby, knowing that I will probably spend a lot of time on them soon, and man, there are quite a few old, and rotten playgrounds around the city. Kids love these so much, it's sad to see how lame some are. I'm 37, and I can still remember my favorite childhood playgrounds. With the near completion of the new Trout Lake Community Center in 2012, I was hoping I could see a bit of the $22 Million allotted to a new playground. I don't see it anywhere on the plans..... hum.... I was fishing around on the Vancouver Park Board project website, and it looks like there are no plans for it in the near future. The new playground at Kits Beach cost 1/2 million dollars. HALF a MILLION dollars! I guess that's what it costs these days. AND it's really, really fun! You can tell the community loves it when you see 30 parents chatting with lattes in their hands and 40 kids freaking out on the new swings and spinning climbing ropes.  My only other hope so far is that Lord Selkirk School up the street will win the Aviva Community Fund and get a new playground! We find out on January 25th, 2011 if we win!! Cross my fingers! I want a new swing for Baby! (and me!)

Cultural Differences at Hillcrest Pool?

What a great pool! If you haven't been there yet, Hillcrest Pool is across from Nat Baily Stadium at the bottom of Queen Elizabeth Park. I've attended both the deep water and the shallow water aquafit classes and what a fun workout! You can really make it as intense as you like; but you have to follow the instructor, not other participants, most are very elderly and don't seem to be moving much. As a 37 year old new mother, I wanna move! Out of my way ladies, make some waves! :)

The facilities are excellent, the change rooms clean and easy to use. There is even a baby cot, so you can have your wee one with you while you change. After the class, I like to lounge in the hot tub, capacity 70 people! What a great way to soak the Mommy arm and back aches.

There are some funny cultural differences in public pool behavior that need some getting used to. I don't know about the men's changing room, but some Asian ladies like to put their leg up and scrub their privates very vigorously, which, to me looks a bit painful. Personally, I like to treat my lady parts with tender care, it's not like I'm out working the farms with no pants on. I don't know, it bothers me to see this. What ever happened to "When in Rome, do like Romans do."? I've never seen non-Asians do that. I don't really feel comfortable saying to the lady across from me in the showers, "Uh, would you mind scrubbing at home?". It would be funny if suddenly there was a sign on the wall with a sticklady with her leg up in the shower saying: "Please no vigorous scrubbing of vagina in public showers."

I've also noticed signs up asking swimmers not to spit in the water?!!! I don't remember ever seeing this before at public pools. Is this a new thing? Hoarking phlegm in the water, yum! Isn't it obvious that one should consider the others when cleaning the pipes? Do we need a sign to remind us? Scary-weird. I've had friends tell me that they don't go to certain pools because the spitting is too prevalent.

One day I arrived in the changing room and saw a lady sitting on the bench cutting her toenails. The nail bits were flying all over the floor. I couldn't handle it and whispered to her: "You're going to pick those up, right? There are people here walking around bare foot. Maybe you should do that at home." Now, she happens to be Asian as well. I've never been to public pools in Asia, so I don't know. Is that normal? Are pools there more like private bathrooms there? Would someone please enlighten me? Is this common practice or just bad behavior by a few?

Time Out

Baby is almost 1 year old. I'm finding myself being extra conscious of my time breastfeeding him, knowing that some day soon, he may not want to anymore. I've noticed that there's something so relaxing about sitting, Baby at my breast surrounded by peace and quiet. Like a mandatory time out several times a day. Like parents say to their kids: "Sit there and think about what you've done!" and I do. I sit there and admire my Baby. It makes me think about Muslim people who pray 5 times a day. I suppose we could do the same, Muslim or not, but there something nice about having someone, or something to "force" you a bit to stop. And a latte at Starbucks doesn't count. Maybe breastfeeding is part of the whole big amazing miracle of birth, not only to feed our babies, but to allow moms a moment of respite. Amazing, isn't it?

The Men are Out to Lunch

Literally!

Grandpa arrived from Brazil yesterday and my Awesome Husband has taken him and the Baby out for lunch while I wait here for my girlfriend to go out to eat! I haven't gone out with her since Baby was born! Thank you guys! Awesome Husband is sooo cute sometimes. He asked me 10 times about how much water to add to Baby's mushed up veggies to warm it up to perfection, and confirmed that yes, he would need to bring the diaper bag, just in case, and restaurant friendly toys and... and... and...then they left.

I don't remember the last time I was in my house, alone.

I feel like I should do something! Take advantage!

Put the stacks of photos in the family album- nah!
Switch the laundry-nah!
Clean the gunk at the bottom of the stove which smokes up every time we use it.-nah!
Fool around with the camera- Yes!

Christmas Eve Mass

Yup, I'm one of those "practicing" Catholics who occasionally go to mass. There were a lot of us at Christmas Eve Mass. Most of the time, I am conflicted about being Catholic, there is so much I disagree with and yet, I forget it all when I walk into church. There's something really magical about a packed church on Christmas Eve...

Last year, I was pregnant and about to have my son. I thought a lot about Mary, traveling on a donkey (she's must be blessed to suffer that) and having her baby in a pile of hay. How brave she was to have this child and trust that everything was going to be okay. So I sought comfort in that. That I could be brave and that my birth would be great. And it was!

This year, I thought about us, us on earth, children of God. I thought about my son, how much I love him, and then I knew how much God loves us. As his children, we can fall and make mistakes, and he will always love us. Isn't that comforting? That we are always loved?

God loves me, even if I only "practice" occasionally.

A Christmas Present to Myself

... Knives.... you know you have these your drawer, don't try to deny it!:

• The one that wobbles from side to side making your cheese slices more like cheese lumps.
• The one that feels like an axe, winding it up way above your head to get any cutting power.
• The one that feels like a saw, back and forth, pushing hard and working up a sweat just to get through the skin of a tomato.
• The one that gives you blisters! Blisters? Yes, blisters!
• The one that should be for cutting, but is only good for poking the toast out of the toaster
• The ones that are rusty, bent, and dented, the ones you grab out of a friend's hand, and say: "Oh, no don't use that one!"

So this year, as I notice that I spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing meals for my family, I decided to splurge. Get the best tool of the trade, and drop the cash on the counter! $161 of pure joy! Presenting my new Henckels 8" Professional Chef's knife, all the way from Germany!

I came home and tested all the crappy knives on a potato. Then I pulled out "Henk" and massacred my potato with a giant smile on my face and what feels like butter in my hand. I've made a special place in the drawer for him with little "Henky" which we got as a wedding present. All the other knives have gone on to knife heaven.

I am definitely adding "Henk" to my previous post "Mommy Tools of the Trade" along with my slow cooker and our dishwasher!

Christmas Shopping is a Breeze!

Yup, I've decided that it's actually easier to shop for Christmas with a kid in a stroller. This means:

a. There is no time to browse- I had to know what I wanted and where it was before I left the house
b. Wherever my stroller got stuck, that's as far as I'd go. If I can't reach it, I don't buy it.
c. I didn't enter stores with crowds, line-ups or salespeople I couldn't identify from afar.
d. No easy parking? No shopping.
e. I used simple language: Man-need soap with man smell. Shirt-red-large.
f. I said no to stores with narrow aisles, breakable merchandise at stroller level, narrow doorways, and salespeople who followed me around.

Isn't it great? Knowing what I wanted before I left home and then choosing stores I knew I could push a stroller through made the whole thing so much easier! No more hours of browsing, humming and hawing about will so-and-so like it? or maybe I should get it elsewhere in case it's on sale etc....

As for wrapping? It was great! Baby sat with me, ripped and crumpled the paper, pulled the tape out of the dispenser in ultra long strips, mangled the ribbons and undid most of what I could manage to finish. I loved it!

So next year, if you need a good way to limit the shopping frenzy, take my kid along. I'll stay home and sip on eggnog. :)

6 Week Nutrition Challenge

Is this the right time of year to try this 6 week nutrition challenge? Why not? I've enrolled a friend who is going to take this on with me until our last challenge day February 1st, 2011. We haven't decided on a prize yet, but I'm going to think of something big!

1. Eat one big salad a day.
2. At least one serving of beans a day
3. One serving of steamed greens a day
4. Avoid white flour
5. Avoid sugar
6. Satisfy sweet tooth with fruits
7. Limit holidays sweets: Select 1-3 sweets (ie: 1 dessert or 3 small cookies) (except Christmas Day)
8. Limit coffee to one small cup a day.
9. Drink water throughout the day.
10. Allow for 1 cheat a week

So today is the 1st day. It's good to have a fridge well stocked on the first day! Looking forward to my beet, pecan, feta, and pear salad! Yum. Plus a small lentil soup! Double Yum. If anyone else reading this post is interested in joining us, write us a comment! We'll let you in on the prize! (It's going to big!!!)

Here are my potential pitfalls! I'm naming them in bold so they know I'm aware of them!

Cookies....
Chocolate....
Frozen waffles...
Baked goods of any sorts... 
Here are your replacements you deliciously sweet yummies!

Dates and other dried fruits
Nuts
Boxes of mandarin oranges
Frozen berries
Carrot sticks
Organic apples

Wish me luck!
 

If These Ads Are Ridiculous Now, What Will Today's Ads Say About Us Later?

http://www.shockblast.net/sexism-vintage-ads/

Take a look here for more sexist ads from the past. Isn't amazing? I laughed when I read most of these, and at the same time I can't help but think about some of the images we see these days like why are so many women in music videos practically naked? Soft porn... to sell a song? Boring. Women's magazines are no better. How many articles can one write about how to please your man? How about pleasing yourself, besides buying a new Full EyelashTriple Lashfull Bashfull Super Length Mascara? Well, I don't really want to go down this road, I may not come back, there's too much to say. I just hope that in the future, we can laugh about how stupid today's ads are (even though, most of the time I'm already rolling my eyes). Do we really fall for these? I would like to think that I make choices more logically rather than lead by my primitive ego, but I wonder.... Sometimes I long for the days when things were not all covered in advertisements. Bus stops were just bus stops, and buses were just buses. There were no sneaky ads on ceilings, sidewalks, bathroom doors, and at the bottom of public pools. I've stopped going to movie theaters because I don't want to sit through 40 minutes of ads just to save a decent seat. I can barely handle t.v. anymore. I'm saturated. Seems it's time to go to the woods. That's a pretty safe place to be adless. But then again you never know....

Mommy Touch

It's fairly common knowledge these days that physical touch such as holding and rocking a baby has physiological and emotional benefits. It's been proven that touching increases the baby's heart and gastrointestinal function, and promotes respiration. Also, holding and rocking often helps digestion. Kissing, cuddling, making eye contact and massage are all ways parents bond with their child, letting them know that their needs are being met. But what are the effects of physical touch for mommies?

I ask myself this because the other night, my husband was rubbing my back in bed and all of a sudden tears came gushing out.  I couldn't really say why I was crying, just that a flood of emotions just let loose out of me. What a release! I can say that since the birth of my child last January, I feel like I've been in a never ending aerobics/yoga/weight training/marathon event. The toll of lack of sleep, lugging my wiggling Baby and the emotional roller coaster of adjusting to parenthood seems to have wound itself up in every fiber in my body. Everyday I feel like I need a massage. Everyday I feel like I need 100 hugs.

Wouldn't it be great if MSP could offer a free monthly massage to all moms? (with childcare included of course) Prenatal massage has shown to relieve stress, reduce water retention, muscles and joint pain, and increase circulation. Some studies even show that women who receive regular prenatal massage reduce the probability of suffering from postpartum depression. I don't think any woman would argue that quiet music, a calm atmosphere, and physical touch can ease what is quite possibly the most stressful time of a woman's life. I think I will scrounge around in my Christmas budget and find a way to treat myself to a massage. So, next time you see a mom you know, give her a hug. Take her hand and squeeze it. Rub her shoulders. When you say to her; "Keep in touch!" Mean it and do it!

My "Did That" List

Last weekend, my husband was upset about having to do "chores" and even though I pointed out that we had in fact not done any chores for 3 days, it still felt like there were chores out there for us. And the thing is, there are. The "to do" list never ends especially with a kid. Some days I feel like I've never left the kitchen. Other days I feel like I'm stuck in a perpetual laundry nightmare. And those are the just the basic household chores.

95% of the time, the "to do" doesn't bother me. It's life. Things get done, some get postponed, some forgotten, some don't get done. What if I kept track of a "did that" list? To increase my awareness of all the things I do get accomplished, even the little invisible things. So that's the plan for today. Here it is:

1. Read 2 magazine articles in bed before baby woke up!
2. Fed myself and Baby breakfast.
3. Played a scrabble word with my uncle online.
4. Cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher.
5. Researched baby eggplant recipe for dinner tonight.
6. Put one load of laundry in.
7. Crawled up the stairs behind Baby twice and squeezed his butt.
8. Changed Baby 7 times.
9. Tidied up closet while Baby played with laundry basket.
10. Played with blocks, sang, read books and was a human jungle gym.
11. Cleaned bathroom while entertaining Baby with toys.
12. Rocked and sang made-up lullaby for Baby and put him down for a nap.
13. Drank tea and ate yummy Christmas cookie.
14. Cooked eggplants for dinner while Baby napped.
15. Took a shower. ahhhh! Love the shower.
16. Burned eggplant dinner.
17. Fed myself and Baby lunch and cleaned up the kitchen.
18. Phoned magazine subscription to change our address.
19. Lugged Baby and giant bag of books to the downtown library.
20. Played in the library with Baby, my friend Lynn and her daughter H.
21. Picked out a giant new bag of books for Baby and me.
22. Bought a chai latte for the ride home. Yum.
23. Read new books with Baby and put him down for a nap.
24. Watched t.v. for 20 minutes.
25. Prepared dinner for Baby.
26. Comforted Baby when he woke up with a runny nose.
27. Talked to a friend for a few minutes on the phone.
28. Made plans for a Christmas lunch next weekend.
29. Showed Baby the night lights outside.
30. Kissed and hugged husband when he arrived home.
31. Launched some flying kisses for Baby and my husband while writing this.
32. Ate dosas with my husband. Yum.
33. Cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher.
34. Lay on the carpet listening to the bedtime stories my husband was reading to Baby.
35. Watched a little t.v.
34. Read a new library book in bed.
35. Kissed husband and snuggled up to him, closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Wow! Look at that. I accomplished a lot on my "did that" list!

Michelle Allard with the Magic Hands

Michelle is a great friend I've know since high school, 20 years ago (already, yuck). She's multi-talented, and when I say multi-talented it doesn't really seem to capture what I really mean, more like multi-talented in many different ways with lots of talent. Yah, that's better. You could say that she might have magical hands... She uses them a lot to transform living and non-living things into new, beautiful, unique, and thought provoking shapes. I would never assume that I can talk intelligently about the art that she creates, most of the time I can't understand what artists are saying about art even though it's in English. But I can say that when I see her pieces, I'm taken away from myself and the room I'm in for a moment. They make me smile. I want to touch them. And that's what I like about her work.

I went to her opening the other night. Put Baby down to sleep and booted downtown to see her piece. Downtown at night! Oooohhh, it's been so long. I miss those nights of fancy cocktails... I digress. I took a picture, but my camera (it's the camera's fault not me) just didn't do it justice. SO, I'm posting other images you can easily find online instead. Google her and you can find lots of neat things she's done. Go Michelle! You're awesome!

My Neighborhood Watcher

Am I a bird-person?? I never thought I was, but it seems I notice them all the time. Geese in formation, crows chatting, an owl eying me, and recently this eagle on the tower behind our building. In the mornings a thousand starlings sit on that ugly tower and chat about their plans for the day, and then this eagle comes by to admire the snowy mountains.

Step Away from the Baby

Do you know why I have an awesome husband? Because after a long last day at work, saying goodbye to his co-workers and packing up his things, he comes home and takes over the screaming, crying and whining baby. My patience was already wearing thin when I got my finger caught in the clasp as I was trying to tie Baby into his highchair. It hurt so much I started crying, like a tired, damn it hurts, I can't take this anymore, and it's kinda of funny at the same time type of cry. And then baby started to cry again because I was crying. What a mess. My husband swhooshed in just at that moment. I swear I heard the sound of his super hero cape whip up behind him.

I've run away upstairs. I can still hear a faint cry but I choose to ignore it. For my sanity. I choose to ignore it. Thank you my husband. Meu querido.

Date Night!

I really can't remember the last time I went out on the date with my husband. It had to be before the Baby was born.... Oh, no. It was one week after Baby was born, it was our anniversary. My parents came over to babysit while was dragged our tired bodies to the neighborhood sushi restaurant. It was short. It was not glamorous. I think I wore my pajamas. It was great! When we came home, my parents had decorated our kitchen table with paper bells, a cake and sparking juice. That was almost a year ago...

I've got that tune from the Black Eyed Peas in my head.... "Tonight's gonna be a good night..." If I can keep my eyes open. I woke up at 5am this morning because of hungry Baby. I hope I can muster up some energy to have decent conversation with others. I'm going to wear a slightly annoying g-string to help keep me awake. And some slightly itchy make-up. And put on some slightly tight shoes....

And I'm going to look GOOD. Dammit. It's about time. 11 months of saggy butt maternity pants, too tight pre-pregnancy jeans, yoga pants, t-shirts, and slippers. Enough. YES to the g-string for a smooth butted pair of silky pants!

"Cause tonight's gonna be a good night!"

Babyproofing Your Marriage- A Great Book

"I expected to add diaper, pacifier, formula to my new motherhood vocabulary-I didn't think f*!k and s#*t would feature so prominently!" Lisa married 5 years, 1 kid

Babyproofing your Marriage, 2007

Funny. Babyproofing Your Marriage-How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows is a hilarious, down to earth book written by real mom authors, Stacie Cockrell, Cathy O'Neill and Julia Stone. At first, I was saying to myself: "yawn, not another self-help book that takes 233 pages to explain a one paragraph concept.", but I decided to give it a try and do some armchair reading slash breastfeeding.

I absolutely loved this book. It covered everything that's missing at those mommy groups and what other parents are too tired to share with you. The best chapters are "What's the score? The post-baby battle of the sexes" and "The sex life of new parents. Coitus non-existus." Too tired to read? Cartoons are included.

What's also really nice about this book is that it's written for both women and men and highlights real examples from both moms and dads! Also provides lots of useful advice on how to say goodbye to your "single, where should we fly to this weekend, pour me another glass of wine self" and embrace "your turn to change diapers, what's my name, I'm so tired self."

Visit the library or order online!