All this talk of bananas has made me crave a Rocket Fuel Smoothie from Fresh by Juice for Life. One of my favourite restaurants in the T-dot, since it is vegetarian, but I always leave feeling stuffed. Since I can't get downtown, I looked up their on-line menu, and it looks like it includes espresso, banana, maple syrup and cinnamon, and your choice of milk. Hmmmm, my choice is Silk Vanilla Light soy milk, which just happens to be in my fridge right now. Gotta go get fueled!!
Man, I'm blogging about my mid-morning snack, what am I avoiding???
How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
By wishing all of the Stateside Voxers a most excellent long weekend. Happy 4th of July!!
Last night was the first night that ReRe went right into his crib after stories without needing an extra cuddle or rocking to help him fall asleep. The reason he was eager to get into bed was because Red Teddy, a little red teddy bear that was a Valentine's gift from his grandmother, was in his crib, and ReRe wanted to cuddle with him. He's shown little interest in cuddling with toys, even though I have actively encouraged it as a way for him to fall asleep without myself or his father. The reason that Red Teddy made an appearance was because yesterdat was Teddy Bear Picnic Day at preschool, and he randomly picked him as his +1. I'm glad, because I'm awaiting the delivery of the mattress for his big boy bed, and the more comforts he will have for the transition, the better. I'm just so surprised how the order of his stages of sleep are so different than any book I read, and doing what was right for us, rather than what was prescribed, has always been the best decision. Yes, it has made it difficult for anyone other than us to put him to bed, but we've worked so hard at getting a predictable (and peaceful) bedtime routine together, that I don't want it compromised.
According to ReRe, ambulances pick up people with big boo-boos and take them to work.
While falling asleep the other night, ReRe spontaneously said, "Simon Says, tickle your ears!"
While I'm very happy to hear his speech coming along, I'm also just a little sad at hearing the end of some of his own words for things. For the longest time, he called bananas daddle-la's, watermelon was watermetton, and oatmeal was o-o-oatmeal.
That's it for this week!
I'm serious people, if you like reading and blogging about it, then Lex has free books for you at http://www.minibookexpo.com/. The rules are simple: Claim it, Read it, Blog it. This year, in addition to books picked up at the Toronto Book Expo, Lex has publisher-direct books from dozens of publishers, mailed directly to you, both in Canada and the US. There are also RRS and Twitter link-ups, for those of you who connect in digital real-time. And while I'm at it, if you eat in Toronto or Ottawa, you must purchase a copy of CheapEats Toronto or CheapEats Ottawa, the definitive guides for good food at low prices in these two cities. These guides are written, directed and produced by Lex, with whom I had the pleasure of sharing a burgoir (fancy burger) yesterday at Craft Burger on King Street. You know you are part of the digital age when you start a lunch conversation with, "Now pretend I'm not caught up on your blog...."
Monday resulted in two majorly good things:
1. I finally got in to see my doctor, who was able to find nothing wrong with my hip at all. Her conclusion was that I strained a muscle, and because I refused to stop, it took forever to heal. (It's still not entirely right, but it's better right now than it has been for the past month.) It seems that as long as I make sure to stretch and warm up properly before and after I run, I should be fine. (Though now I have no excuse for slacking with the half-marathon training. Guess that means I should man up and work out more.)
2. Ladytron!!!!!!!
Black Car
True Mathematics
17
Ghost
Destroy Everything You Touch
I'm Not Scared
Playgirl
Kletva
International Dateline
Runaway
Also, I'm enjoying the second sock much more than the first one. It might be finished after this weekend - lots of time with the boy's family in Vermont for the weekend, which means lots of time knitting for me!
Lex introduced me to a new listserve that has me addicted: http://www.helpareporter.com/. It is a list put out trice daily by a guy names Peter Shankman, and basically it is a list of pitches from journalists looking for expert or anecdotal points of view. I've replied to one request, a woman looking for environmental tips for new moms. The requests range from the very serious, to very light, to almost absurd. But the thing is, we're all experts in something, and if not, we all have opinions, and there are journalists, authors and freelance writers out there who want to hear from you. Here was today's list for the evening (full stop means they got enough responses):
1) FULL STOP: Andrea Kay and "Intense Focus Executives."
2) FULL STOP: Ways to make your child feel special
3) Decline of Pay-Per-Post Job Boards (Boston Business Journal)
4) Got Asthma? (Reader's Digest)
5) Hotel Restaurants and Gas Prices
6) Brain-Boosting Tibetan Secrets (Woman's World - On Deadline)
7) Consignment Shoppers (Philly Only)
8) Aculpoco - Top Tips
9) Commercial Real Estate Merger
10) Stopping Antibiotics Too Soon (Reader's Digest)
11) Prolonged Labor - Anecdotes
12) Hotels vs. Vacations Rentals
13) Speedstyle Seeks Insights
14) A day in the life of a rancher
15) Fit Female Role Models
16) Green Hotels/Hotels that Recycle
17) Employee Loyalty
18) Celebrity Wrist-Watch Lovers
19) Latina Youth and Suicide
20) Insurance and Classical Singers
21) Need Film Professors or Expert
22) Single Minded Women Needs Experts
23) Teen Girl Campaign Volunteers
24) Holiday Gift Guide
25) Daily Task Management
26) Profiles of Baby Boomers
Each e-mail contains more detailed information on each request, but you get the idea. If you think you would like to get the list, just go to the link above, and sign up. I've just found it fascinating how many different things people are writing about today.
For the first time in I don't know how long, I flipped open my planner to this week, and there was nothing in it. Well, there was one little note "Table/supply pick-up" for this morning (tables and dishes for the BBQ), but that is done, and I'm staring at a week with nothing planned. I'm getting a sick, panicky feeling in my stomach. It may be because I pretended I wasn't home just now, when the JW's came knocking, but I think it is the blank slate of a week with which I am having a hard time dealing.
MUST.
PLAN.
Quickly. Right. Agreed to teach Colleen how to knit this Friday night. Must go to Romni Wools (20% off everything, making some things below cost, people). Must make shopping list for Romni. Lex said she might be free for lunch this week, right? Oh, the library called and my reserved book is in. Feeling better. Tomorrow is a holiday, so ReRe will be home all day; must plan activities. Should we try to get to TO Island? Discuss with Getalife. And OMG, I must clean my office. And isn't this weekend Afrofest? Phew, that's 2 days scheduled, right there. What else? Hotlink every possible noun in blog. Done.
Now what? Oh right, I'm Self-Employed. Last week I had a flurry of meetings with potential clients, which I think is why I have very little planned for this week - something flipped my over-commitment switch, and I stopped making plans. We also had a very busy weekend, with our Canada Day BBQ (which went really well, no rain, yah!). So now that I'm realizing how busy last week was, I'm seeing why I haven't committed myself to very much this week. I'm also thinking about the possibility of full-time employment, and the fact that all this opportunity for self-planning may come to a screeching halt very soon, and that I need to tak advantage of my time while I have it. Hence the panic. So while I make a mid-day trip to the library, I'm going to think about all the things I would do this week if I knew it was the last week I had to myself before starting a job full-time. And the funny thing is, I think I'm going to use my time to Plan. To finally make a weekly dinner plan, along side a weekly housework/errand plan. These are things I've been trying to put together for months, but have never had the pressure of really having to make my non-work hours as efficient as possible. The added benefit is, if I don't end up going back to work full time, and stay self-employed, these plans will help me to segregate my work-time from my non-work time, as I will no longer feel the need to do things, like go to the library mid-day, when I should be responding to all those nice folks who made time to meet with me last week. That, I have planned for this afternoon.
Hmmmm, now that I've got the week planned, time to find me some lunch. Anyone have any hints on planning your non-work time to its greatest efficiency?
I've not been doing so well with the socks lately. I decided to cast on a second pair, with the Noro yarn, and wound up frogging it. I knit some more on the embossed leaves sock, thinking that it was punishing me for being unfaithful in having cast on for something else. I finished the sock, went to try it on, and realized that I'd somehow made it about an inch too short. Ripped out the toe, set the damn thing aside, cast on for a different sock in a different yarn. Loved the colorway, didn't love how splitty it was, especially with the stitch pattern I was using. Frogged this one too, redid the toe on the first sock (to the correct length), broke a needle in the process.
I still really want to cast on for a new pair of socks, but I suspect I should finish this pair first before something really bad happens. Stupid cursed socks. I don't even like them that much.
From Amy Burhoe Designs. (More info here.)
I was just listening to the CBC, not sure which show, but they were talking about the best cover songs ever, and their top choice was Youssou N'dour covering Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom." Just thought I'd share, since it really is awesome, awesome, awesome.
I'm just taking a break from some preparations for a BBQ we are having tomorrow. I realized today that I had left downtown Toronto, in body, mind and soul, when I heard on the radio that today was the Dyke March and tomorrow was the Pride parade, and I was completely unaware of this. When we lived on Yonge Street, we always offered our apartment as a staging ground for any out-of-towners who had come to the T-dot for the weekend, but this year, it wasn't even on the radar screen. I felt kinda bad having scheduled my Canada Day BBQ during the Pride Parade, but then I thought, if anyone was offended, they would have told me, and there have been no complaints so far.
Now, the weather forecast is 60% probability of precipitation, with a chance of thunderstorms. So why am I still having it? Because we've had a few people say that they were planning to go out of town, but now that the weather is bad, they are going to stay home, and come to the BBQ, so the BBQ is actually the rainy-day alternative for some, so how could I cancel it? We'll just push all the furniture back and have everyone inside.
So for everyone celebrating Pride this weekend, have a great time!! I'll raise a toast from my rain-soaked suburban deck.
