i'm a kate spade woman

Tuesday is trash day. So, I put out the trash. But here's the full picture that's in my head: (relatively) young, (mostly) hip, urban mom in her white fluff lined Banana Republic coat, Ecco shoes, Ann Taylor slacks, black leather gloves, carrying her swanky Kate Spade purse ... hauling a big garbage pail of trash out to the curb. I wonder if that's what the designer envisioned? That's surely not what the ad campaign was about, though! Then, Richard started quoting the Jean Nate after bath commercial jingle: "Let Jean Nate's after bath splash take charge of your life!" or the Enjoli perfume commercial: "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan. And never let you forget you're a man. Because I'm a woman, Enjoli." So, Kate Spade, here's the new commercial: "I thrive in the urban jungle. I can walk my cute terrier and take my babe for a stroll in her Peg Perego stroller. I haul the trash to the curb on my way to work. And, I look hip and urban while I carry my Kate Spade purse. Strong and not afraid of hard labour. The new Kate Spade woman. " Everything about the above screams metro chic. But, I never think of myself as being in that category. Truth is, the BR coat is 3 seasons old and desperately needs to go the cleaner; the Ann Taylor slacks are courderoys from AT Loft; the black leather gloves are showing wear; the dog looks scruffy b/c he needs a haircut; the babe in the PP stroller is sick with a fever; and the Kate Spade bag... well, that's still hip and swank! Thanks for the Christmas present Richard! It ups my chic-ness.

the explorer

This afternoon Maja, Richard, and I went to the Garden State Discovery Museum with our friend Tricia. The museum is nice, similar to the Please Touch Museum that we went to a few weeks ago. The nice thing about the Discovery Museum, though, is that it has a separate section for infants to age 4. So, they can discover with out being trampled. However, I think Maja was still a bit young to really enjoy it!

Here are Tricia and Maja playing with the vehicle-themed

puzzle sorter thing game.

Miss Maja carrying around an over-sized flower in the grocery store section of the museum.

charlie dickens, by gosh

Another beautiful day in the 'hood. The sun was shining and it was unseasonably warm. Our friends Mark and Monica came by for brunch, and then we went for a lovely walk. I think the temps were up around 16C -- you probably didn't even need a jacket!

Here Maja (asleep), Mark, Monica, Emerson, and Richard are enjoying the sunshine! And, Mark posing with Dickens and little Nell. Interesting, the only life-size statue of Dickens in the WORLD!

keep the faith!

Sorry folks, I've been writing drafts and not posting them because I wanted to include pictures. This involves having time to sit down at the computer at home and upload them. And somehow, that doesn't seem to happen. What I need (hint hint dear hubby) is a small, portable digital camera that I can upload pictures from at work. Because I sit here infront of the computer for 8 hrs straight! But, you know this already. So, gentle readers, have patience and I will catch up on my drafts. But not tonight, I have choir rehearsal. And last night I was going to do it... but then I ended up hauling out the paintbrush and bucket of primer and did some work on the first floor. Have I mentioned that I LOVE online shopping? What's to lose, really? Take Zappos.com. You log on, search for a shoe you like, and buy it. It gets shipped to your door in 4 days, for free. Biggest whoops would be if it didn't fit -- but then you can ship it back, for free. And for me, this is a much less time consuming process than going to a shoe store. And, the other huge bonus with Zappos (no, they don't pay me to advertise for them) is that I can browse the sales! People, it's cheaper than going to the store. I save time, I save money, I don't pay for gas/transit/parking... The internet rocks my world.

sniffles

Miss Maja has another cold. While I do sing the praises of daycare most of the time, I curse it when baby gets sick. Poor munchkin was totally snotty and worn out yesterday when I picked her up. She had a good sleep last night, though, and seemed a little more Maja-like this morning. ----------- I'm in such a funk about the house these days! I am so so so so sick of the construction that (in my mind) is taking forever. I can't stand it. The contractor has been coming sporadically for 2 weeks, and each day he says "I'll finish tomorrow". hmph. And please don't tell me that I'll love it when it's done and that it'll look great, because I won't believe you and then ya'll be upset when I'm not excited.

le weekend

Hey, it worked out as planned! Saturday had a rough start, though. Just as I was about to leave for Water Babies, Maja NEEDED a diaper change. So, I ran up to the third floor and cleaned her up. During this process, the toilet overflowed. So, I'm standing there with a 1/2 dressed squirming baby and dirty toilet water on the floor. sigh. I put Maja down on the floor in her room, went back in the bathroom and threw some towels down to sop up the mess. Ok, I thought, I'll mop the floor when I get back from class. I go downstairs to the first floor. I hear an ominious drip drip drip drip. There is water (dirty toilet water) dripping on my kitchen floor. On the first floor. Aforementioned toilet is on the third. Cursing ensues. I grab Maja and dash up to the second floor to throw more towels on the puddle in the hole that is soon to be a closet. Of course, there's no light in there so I can't see -- and not to mention that I'm still hanging on to Maja. And where's Richard? Walking Emerson. More cursing -- I'm now running late for class; I can't find my cell phone. I can't find paper or a working pen to write a note for Richard. I make sure no NEW water is coming from the toilet (this involves another trip up to the third floor) and find paper and a pen. I scrawl a note for Richard, find my cell phone, get a coat on Maja and myself, grab the diaper bag and swim bag and get out the door. Walk to the car, which is parked 1.5 blocks over only to find that the damn car seat is still in the trunk (I took it out when I gave a carful of adults rides home on Thursday night after choir). More cursing. Dump the bags in the trunk, grab the car seat. Breathe deeply. Sit the car seat down, strap Maja in. Then attach the carseat. Tighten straps. Maja's not happy about this. Shut the door -- you can't hear her screaming then. Get in the car and zoom to Water Babies. Anyway, the rest of the weekend was not as exciting. We did go for our walk along the Schulykill River Trail on Saturday afternoon. The weather was warm! Crazy-warm for January -- I think it was about 14C. Left, Maja giving us a smile from the stoller. Right, Richard, Maja and Emerson at the Water Works. Sunday afternoon Maja and I said goodbye to Sarah, Alberto and Sam. Maja and Sam spent some quality time playing on the floor together.

siren call of the weekend

It's Friday. Friday morning. The weekend calls me, lures me... What is on the agenda? Saturday morning is Maja's Water Babies class. I can only hope that the instructor has brushed up on her kiddie songs (a few verses of Wheels on the Bus and [#] Little Ducks can't hurt!!!!) or she will face a mutiny. Bored parents with splashing babies is not a good combination. I don't know if Maja really notices if there are songs or not, she's just so darn happy to be in the water! If it doesn't rain in the afternoon, Richard and I plan on taking Emerson and Maja for a walk on the Schulykill River path. This is part of the Emerson-needs-to-lose-weight campaign and the Family-outdoor-activity campaign. I feel like a war general with my campaigns. I suppose I'm too tall to be Napoleon, though. Not to mention the gender thing. Sunday... in the afternoon we've been invited to a final-shindig at Sarah, Alberto & Sam's house. They're moving to DC in a few weeks. sniff. The promise of Argentinian empanadas is strong, and I hope that Maja and I will be going. Also, Sam and Maja are 2 days apart in age -- so they have a good connection, even if they can't express it to each other yet. You can see some early pictures of Sam & Maja here. Heh, Maja looks funny so bald! ------------- Maja had her 9 month appt yesterday. She's a 'tiny mighty'! Stats: 16lbs 10.1 oz (13th percentile); 2'3.2" (36th percentile)

argh

I think this will be a popular title for many of my blog postings. I like the word and it describes how I feel (most of the time) quite well. STILL haven't remembered to bring creamer/whitener for my morning coffee at work. This can go on for quite a while. Also, I finally brought my water bottle from work home so that the dishwasher can work it's magic on all the grossness going on in it... and the water bottle has been forgotten for 2 days now as well. So, I drink water out of my coffee mug. I did remember about the water bottle at some sleepless point last night (2am?) and did the old "put the wedding ring on the other hand" trick so that I would remember to pack it this morning... but I still forgot. Now, the ring just serves as a reminder of how I can't remember anything and that the trick didn't work. I think if I switch the ring back to it's regular spot that all of my reminders and rememberings will be negated and I can start with a clean slate. shrug. And, speaking of shrugs. (nice segue, no?) I went to my LYS (local yarn store) yesterday. Finally. I picked up some nice dk merino blend in navy and brown to knit a birthday sweater for a friend's son. And then... I browsed. I left the store with the birthday sweater yarn AND 1 ball of kidsilk haze merino (a lacy shawl?) AND 5 skeins of handpainted merino wool in Pink Posey (oh decadence. $22/skein...) AND 1 ball of Noro. sigh. The cashier asked me what I would do with the Pink Posey and I replied: I have no idea. I may just stare at it for a while. I showed Richard the yarn last night and I think he was a little surprised over my excitement with the Pink Posey. I was almost giddy when I showed it to him. Now, what to knit with it... I'm thinking a shrug/bolero/ballet sweater. It's definitely destined for 'something special'... But, of course I have to finish the scarf that is on it's third reincarnation. I started it 5 years ago when Richard and I met...I may finish it one day. Here's what it looks like now, and I _am_ working on it during my lunch hours. Maja has started 'clapping' and was showing off her new skills this evening. It was pretty funny to just sit and watch her clap. She claps for a few minutes, then stops and looks in amazement at the palms of her hands -- maybe she is trying to figure out why her hands feel different after she's been smacking them together? Don't your hands/palms feel tingly after you've been clapping for a while?

toybox

Maja got a toybox from us for Christmas. Such a practical gift. Of course, it's from Ikea. And it's not sold as a toybox, but a coffee-table storage cube. But hey, it works. It's already full of toys! Here's Maja inspecting the contents... good call from Richard about leaving the lid off. Lids can slam on baby's fingers and also prevent aforementioned exploration of the toybox. She's tall enough now that she can reach in and grab stuff... but mostly she just likes to look.

MLK Day

...well, I kept thinking it was President's Day, but what the heck do I know? I'm Canadian. Which, I think, is a valid 'excuse' given that most of my neighbours a) don't know anything about Canada and b) don't really know where Canada is. Anyway, the daycare was closed and I had a vacation day as well -- so it was one-on-one time with Maja today! We started the day off by going to the Please Touch Museum with Danielle and her daughter Hannah. Here's a photo of Danielle with Maja. After the museum, Maja and I went to Richard's work for lunch. Maja enjoyed 'walking' around the office with me and visiting everyone before settling down for some veggie burger, fruit, and pureed squash. Mmmmm. Here's a photo of Richard and Kathy (the office manager) with Maja. As if we didn't do enough already, when we got home I dragged Maja and Emerson out for a walk. Mostly because Maja needed a nap -- but Emerson could use the exercise! Did I mention that the poor pup is 5 lbs overweight?

We took a nice walk on campus in the sunshine. The wind was a bit cold, but Maja didn't notice/care as she went straight to sleep. As soon as we got onto campus, Emerson insisted on hopping up on the benches for a break. Probably because during the summer that's where Richard and I eat ice cream from the Ben & Jerry's. That dog has got some high hopes (it was 15F with the windchill -- I'm not eating ice cream) and a good memory.

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Plant progress

here's the progress on the bulb that I was given for Christmas by Elyn.

the beginning

Well, I guess I'm finally sucked into blogging. Not that this is anything new... but hey, I'm reading everyone elses random thoughts, so why shouldn't I subject them to mine? At any rate, there's so much going on and so many people to keep in contact with, that blogging my slice of life seems like the next reasonable step. Will this be more time efficient? Can I blog once a day instead of sending 20 emails a day? Not that I dislike emails. So, I'll try this. It MUST be easier than maintaining a website (and cheaper). And I can keep everyone up to date on Miss Maja, the Mighty Emerson, and my dearest love Richard. ---------- It's Friday the 13th. I'm not uber-superstitious, but I will definitely look 3 ways before I cross any streets today. Has anything gone wrong yet today? No creamer (liquid or powder!) for my morning coffee. My student intern didn't show up (food poisoning?) for work. Emerson is scheduled to get a bordatella vaccination this evening, and I was/am tempted to reschedule -- only because we had one horrible, horrible experience with his vaccinations once. And why tempt fate? But, we need to get the vaccination done because the boarding kennel where's he's booked for a vacation in February requires it. Richard is going to take him and I will stay home with Maja -- and anxiously await their return! Here's Emerson, moments before his trip to the vet...