I listen to Virgin radio throughout the day and especially like listening to Nat and Drew in the morning. A few weeks ago, they were discussing jean shorts on men. Nat railed against any men of any age wearing any sort of denim shorts; Drew didn't think they were that bad. As I listened, I wondered to myself if anyone even wears those things anymore?! I'm no fashion icon myself, but denim shorts on guys went out about....1993!
Unfortunately, since listening to Nat and Drew's broadcast I've seen them all over the place. Usually the offenders are men in their 50's or 60's (we live near several "adult oriented" developments). Often they are wearing socks with their sandals and are attached to giant SUV's or little convertibles.
I realize that 50 year old men are probably not my typical audience but just in case you're out there reading this: Dudes, jean shorts do not look good on you. You don't look like you did when you were in your early 30's, you just look like someone who is washed up and trying too hard. They are not practical either; denim is heavy in hot weather and you can't wear them at the golf course. Jean shorts are best paired with tacky beer logo tank tops circa 1989 and in that time period they should remain. Go to your local Gap and get some nice flat front khaki shorts instead. Please!
Ladies, if you personally know one of these offenders, save him from himself and burn the jean shorts while he's out one day.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Shrinking Jill
I forgot to post weight loss for the past couple of weeks...last week I held steady, but this past week I lost 3 lbs, for a total of 4.4 so far.
Babysteps....
(I "celebrated" with an oat fudge bar from Starbucks...boo!)
Babysteps....
(I "celebrated" with an oat fudge bar from Starbucks...boo!)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Grey hairs
I guess it was inevitable...in my early thirties, I began to spot the occasional grey hair here or there. I'm not one for old wives' tales, so I'd yank each one out and it didn't seem like there were two growing in its place.
Lately, though, there seems to be a forest of them sprouting along the edge of my hairline! Way too many to yank out. Perhaps it's a function of being in my mid-thirties. Or maybe it's due hormonal changes because of last year's pregnancy and now everything shifting back to "normal" (whatever that is). Or maybe having three kids really does give you grey hair! Probably, it's a confluence of events, a perfect storm if you will.
It feels a bit like adolescence when you're sure everyone notices that you're having a bad hair day, only instead of noticing that your mall hair is unevenly backcombed or your cowlick prevents the middle part required for perfect hair-feathering, now everyone is noticing that you have random hair shooting out like little grey pubes.
All I know is that I now need to colour my hair every six to eight weeks rather than just for fun. Like I have time for that!
Lately, though, there seems to be a forest of them sprouting along the edge of my hairline! Way too many to yank out. Perhaps it's a function of being in my mid-thirties. Or maybe it's due hormonal changes because of last year's pregnancy and now everything shifting back to "normal" (whatever that is). Or maybe having three kids really does give you grey hair! Probably, it's a confluence of events, a perfect storm if you will.
It feels a bit like adolescence when you're sure everyone notices that you're having a bad hair day, only instead of noticing that your mall hair is unevenly backcombed or your cowlick prevents the middle part required for perfect hair-feathering, now everyone is noticing that you have random hair shooting out like little grey pubes.
All I know is that I now need to colour my hair every six to eight weeks rather than just for fun. Like I have time for that!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
My day didn't totally suck...
After re-reading the last post, I realized I may have come across just a smidge on the grumpy side. Actually, the rest of my day was really great. I lost three more pounds this week, Gavin's growth is right on track, I finally got a guy booked to scrub the outside of our house and do the windows, the express pay station at the airport parking lot actually worked, my parents are back safe and sound from France, and it turns out our tax return will be a little bigger than we originally thought. So on the balance sheet of crappy vs. good things, the good things definitely win.
Up your nose with a rubber hose, NEXUS!
Our family travels across the border to the US a fair amount, so when we first heard of the NEXUS program being implemented about seven years ago, we were thrilled and applied immediately. Remember that rush of getting to be first in line when you were in elementary school? It's a similar buzz when you get to whiz past a bunch of cars sitting in a two-hour border lineup. As soon as each of our first two children were born, we applied right away and had adorable photos on their cards of each of them at eight weeks old.
Over the years, the program has evolved and some of the guidelines have changed. There is now an on-line application process, a NEXUS program at the airport (YVR) and expanded access at the land crossings near us. Unfortunately, the exact rules and guidelines seem to change based on what day it is, who you talk to, and what kind of mood they're in.
We encountered this at Christmas time when we travelled to Palm Springs for a week. Having the land crossing NEXUS, we had heard that all you have to do is get the iris scan and a sticker put on your card and that would entitle you to use the NEXUS lanes at the airport. The children are too young for an iris scan but if they're travelling with us we just needed to check in a "special" lane. Going down south, we couldn't see this magical "special" lane and we were redirected a couple of times by some rather intimidating border guards, but eventually cleared NEXUS without having to wait in the huge customs lineup. Coming home, again, we could see no NEXUS lineup to check in with the children. Turns out that on the Canada side, you have to wait in the ginormous lineup if you have children. Even if you have NEXUS, even though the people in the NEXUS office at the airport assured me that the children would be able to travel with us when I originally had my irises scanned....nope. This particular border agent we spoke with was having nothing to do with any of that. Super frustrating, because the whole point of us getting the iris scans was to avoid the big, stupid lineup on the Canadian side - it's really awful to wait in with kids after a long day of travelling - so we might as well not have bothered.
Fast forward a few months...Gavin is born, I immediately apply for his registration and SIN, and as soon as I get it I fire up a NEXUS application so we can hopefully get down to Birch Bay this summer. (For those of you not local to Vancouver, the border lineups recently have been HORRENDOUS due to construction scheduled to go well into 2010). I get the letter requesting us to schedule an interview, call the number, get an appointment at the airport for today (June 9) at 3:20. I arrive...no appointment. WTF?! Can you please fit us in, I ask? I've just spent an hour in traffic with a five year old a two month old (who had his shots today). Pleeeeease? The dude goes to check, comes back and says the American agent would do it but that the Canadian agent needs a letter from the father giving permission for Gavin to have a NEXUS pass. WTF?!?! I've been through this process twice before with each kid and renewed both their passes in the past two years and have never needed this. I've never read about this anywhere and the agent who originally scheduled my (phantom) appointment never mentioned anything about it. Apparently it says that this letter is needed right in the online registration, but not on the paper one. Of course, I filled in the paper one. Very long story short, we have to go back in three weeks, letter in hand. I betcha ten bucks that because the sky is purple that day, the rules will have changed again.
Which brings me to a saying I am going to try to singlehandedly resurrect...
Up your nose with a rubber hose, NEXUS program.
(That makes me giggle.)
Over the years, the program has evolved and some of the guidelines have changed. There is now an on-line application process, a NEXUS program at the airport (YVR) and expanded access at the land crossings near us. Unfortunately, the exact rules and guidelines seem to change based on what day it is, who you talk to, and what kind of mood they're in.
We encountered this at Christmas time when we travelled to Palm Springs for a week. Having the land crossing NEXUS, we had heard that all you have to do is get the iris scan and a sticker put on your card and that would entitle you to use the NEXUS lanes at the airport. The children are too young for an iris scan but if they're travelling with us we just needed to check in a "special" lane. Going down south, we couldn't see this magical "special" lane and we were redirected a couple of times by some rather intimidating border guards, but eventually cleared NEXUS without having to wait in the huge customs lineup. Coming home, again, we could see no NEXUS lineup to check in with the children. Turns out that on the Canada side, you have to wait in the ginormous lineup if you have children. Even if you have NEXUS, even though the people in the NEXUS office at the airport assured me that the children would be able to travel with us when I originally had my irises scanned....nope. This particular border agent we spoke with was having nothing to do with any of that. Super frustrating, because the whole point of us getting the iris scans was to avoid the big, stupid lineup on the Canadian side - it's really awful to wait in with kids after a long day of travelling - so we might as well not have bothered.
Fast forward a few months...Gavin is born, I immediately apply for his registration and SIN, and as soon as I get it I fire up a NEXUS application so we can hopefully get down to Birch Bay this summer. (For those of you not local to Vancouver, the border lineups recently have been HORRENDOUS due to construction scheduled to go well into 2010). I get the letter requesting us to schedule an interview, call the number, get an appointment at the airport for today (June 9) at 3:20. I arrive...no appointment. WTF?! Can you please fit us in, I ask? I've just spent an hour in traffic with a five year old a two month old (who had his shots today). Pleeeeease? The dude goes to check, comes back and says the American agent would do it but that the Canadian agent needs a letter from the father giving permission for Gavin to have a NEXUS pass. WTF?!?! I've been through this process twice before with each kid and renewed both their passes in the past two years and have never needed this. I've never read about this anywhere and the agent who originally scheduled my (phantom) appointment never mentioned anything about it. Apparently it says that this letter is needed right in the online registration, but not on the paper one. Of course, I filled in the paper one. Very long story short, we have to go back in three weeks, letter in hand. I betcha ten bucks that because the sky is purple that day, the rules will have changed again.
Which brings me to a saying I am going to try to singlehandedly resurrect...
Up your nose with a rubber hose, NEXUS program.
(That makes me giggle.)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Ever wonder what mommy-guilt looks like?
...A great big stuffed purple horse. (Gavin, you look like I feel!) Let me explain...
I forgot Amy's show and tell this morning. This is not normally an issue as she is very good at remembering to bring something to share and has some interesting things to prepared to say about it, even if I don't practice it with her. The problem today, however, was that Gavin was supposed to be Amy's show and tell and, therefore, she needed me to bring him in! We were in our usual big rush this morning after blissfully sleeping in until 7:45 (thank you, Gavin, you amazing 2-month old, you!). I arrived at the school in yesterday's smelly clothes because I didn't see the point in wearing nice fresh clothes before having a shower...which I planned to do upon returning home from drop-off. Got back to the house, fed Gavin for half an hour while playing lame video games, and suddenly realized at 9:30 that I had totally forgotten about Amy's show and tell. Feeling about an inch high, I fumbled Gavin into his car seat, headed back to the school (still in yesterday's smelly clothes) for show and tell, mumbling some lame excuse about mistiming a feeding.
I forgot Amy's show and tell this morning. This is not normally an issue as she is very good at remembering to bring something to share and has some interesting things to prepared to say about it, even if I don't practice it with her. The problem today, however, was that Gavin was supposed to be Amy's show and tell and, therefore, she needed me to bring him in! We were in our usual big rush this morning after blissfully sleeping in until 7:45 (thank you, Gavin, you amazing 2-month old, you!). I arrived at the school in yesterday's smelly clothes because I didn't see the point in wearing nice fresh clothes before having a shower...which I planned to do upon returning home from drop-off. Got back to the house, fed Gavin for half an hour while playing lame video games, and suddenly realized at 9:30 that I had totally forgotten about Amy's show and tell. Feeling about an inch high, I fumbled Gavin into his car seat, headed back to the school (still in yesterday's smelly clothes) for show and tell, mumbling some lame excuse about mistiming a feeding.
What about the horse, you're wondering? Later, while birthday shopping for a friend's party at Toys R Us, I bought that big, ridiculous toy for Amy, just because she asked. Which is terrible parenting. For which I have even more guilt. At least it was half price.
Nice.
Nice.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Clutter!!
The state of my house is a physical manifestation of my mental state. When I feel like I've got things together, so goes my house. Unfortunately, I am drowning in clutter lately which gives you a clue as to my current mental state (thanks to anti-depressants, I no longer sob uncontrollably when faced with it!).
I have all this baby stuff and now need to find places and spaces to put it all. The tricky thing with baby stuff is that you can't really put it away because you need it all the time. And once the house starts looking a tiny bit cluttered with baby stuff it doesn't take long before it's totally cluttered with everyone's stuff. I'm finding it difficult to keep with the mess with all the nursing (which has been non-stop during this little heat wave we're in) so it doesn't take long to get totally out of control.
After I had Trevor, our first child, I found FlyLady on the internet and she really helped me get it together. I got way off-track after I went back to work from my mat leave with Amy. Time to rediscover FlyLady, I think!
I have all this baby stuff and now need to find places and spaces to put it all. The tricky thing with baby stuff is that you can't really put it away because you need it all the time. And once the house starts looking a tiny bit cluttered with baby stuff it doesn't take long before it's totally cluttered with everyone's stuff. I'm finding it difficult to keep with the mess with all the nursing (which has been non-stop during this little heat wave we're in) so it doesn't take long to get totally out of control.
After I had Trevor, our first child, I found FlyLady on the internet and she really helped me get it together. I got way off-track after I went back to work from my mat leave with Amy. Time to rediscover FlyLady, I think!
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