In which I blab on about a variety of topics.

I spent the weekend in Vancouver with the kids, the plan being to take in the Stanley Park Christmas train, city lights and the Santa Claus Parade.  Then, this happened:

Being sick when you are little sucks. It’s hard to communicate what you feel and you can’t help much beyond back rubs and cuddles.  And midnight/2am/4am Tylenol and kleenex doses.  Thankfully, they both seem to be on the mend.

Rory and Will rallied for the parade, Anja fell asleep…

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QOTD:

(scene: Rory is having a hissy fit because we’d planned an adult evening without him).

Me, to Will: “What’s going on?”

Will: “Oh, Rory’s losing his marbles because you’re leaving”.

Me: “Hmm, well – are you ok with it?”

Will: “Me?  Oh yeah.  You should go, you guys totally need a break”.

(scene: Rory, on the couch, legs in the air)

“I feel a celebration coming on!”

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Knee surgery looms in January.  In the meantime, I’ve been running and kind of biking (and by kind of, I mean hanging on for dear life on the rollers while staring at a dot on the floor so as not to lose focus).  I’ve also been trolling the internet and planning 2 types of race schedules.

1) The one I’d do if I were single, rich and responsibility-free (read: Phuket, South Africa, New Orleans, Texas, Mexico, Hawaii… just to name a few destinations).

2) Reality.  I’ll be coming off of surgery, have 3 kids to focus on, don’t have that much race mojo anyway.  Any suggestions?  Oh, I’ve been talked into the Test of Metal after a 9 year hiatus.

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The cooking project continues and I’ve been diligent about trying new recipes.  In the process, I’ve learned a few things.  First, don’t try to fool the kids with things like “These quinoa burgers are just like real burgers”!  They’re kids, not idiots.  Truth helps.Next, I’m much more of a 1 dish kind of gal.  If I have to cook a main and 2 side dishes to all be ready at once, something is bound to be over-done, under-done, too hot, too mushy, etc.  Plus HEY LOOK SOMETHING SHINY!  I’m too easily distracted and there are always 3 little people talking to me at the same time between 5-6pm.  Finally, I keep waiting for that love of cooking to spark.  But I’m thinking this is one blind date that’s going nowhere…fast.

On the bright side, I made myself laugh the other day when Will came barreling into the kitchen demanding to know what was for dinner.  I answered “Windowsills.  Now get out of my kitchen”.  Verbatim what my Mum used to say to me…

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If, like me, you harbour romantic notions of living in Canada’s north, do check out Tandi’s blog.  A healthy and funny dose of reality!

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It’s here… another ski season.  Day 1 for me started with these two and it was both painful and awesome.  Anja delights in folding in half and laughing when she hits the ground.  Rory seeks jumps like it’s his job.  The two of them collided more than once and I ended the day with sore legs (snowplowing is evil) and a full body sweat.  Here’s to more days on the hill and less days of plucking them off the ground!