Off and Running

Okay, people. You are all very sweet. I appreciated all the nice comments right after Talia was born - "You look great!","You look exactly like you did before you got pregnant!","You must not have gained anything besides the baby!" But it's time to face facts. I do not, in fact, look like I did before I got pregnant. I did, in fact, gain more than 7lbs 3 oz. And things are looking far from great on many a morning here in S.A. So when I recently got the community leisure guide in the mail (a piece of legal paper, 1-sided, totally awesome!!) and saw that someone was starting a running clinic, I looked at my not-so-tiny baby in the jogging stroller (which has so far been used for brisk walking at best,) and thought it's time.

Tomorrow I am officially back in the swing of things. Hard to believe I ran 3 half-marathons the year before I got pregnant. These days I mostly run from the couch to the fridge! When I used to be an avid runner, my running club made all the difference. I hope the runners in my new club appreciate funny and/or sarcastic comments gasped out at random intervals. I wonder if I'll have to be funny completely en francais?

Check out Talia's tiny shoes, lined up at the front door. Looks like she's ready to be off and running, too. At least she's neat.

Trying Not to Sweat the Small Stuff - Even if it Kills Me.....

I bought a box of tea that I like at Costco. So that means I will have tea for the next 12 years, or I will be well prepared if a crowd of 500 of my closest tea-drinking friends show up at my place. Awesome! Except, so far everytime I have a cup, the little paper tab falls off, and the weight of the tea bag pulls down the string into my hot, delicious beverage.

I realize there are a lot of big things wrong in the world right now. Wars, economies, illness, loss. But honest to God, the tabs falling off my tea bags are enough to give me a nervous breakdown. How am I going to escape from the real problems in life if my tea lets me down? What am I expected to do, USE A SPOON?!?! Unacceptable. I will have to follow Talia's lead and let it all go to have sweet dreams like she's having in this picture.

In other news, Talia is learning from her fur brothers. Following in the footsteps of Ernie, she has started scratching the snack tray on her exersaucer when it is empty. I hope she doesn't also pick up licking herself in front of company and barking furiously at cars.

ps - Shout outs to Shan for finding the Gemini sale and Sandra for reminding me about it! Great deals, and I loves me a bargain.

Easter-rific!

Well, a good time was had by all this weekend. Talia caught on to Easter right away. Here are a few pics of her getting along like a house on fire with her Easter treats. Grandma & Grandpa came up for supper and a good visit. Talia packed away ham faster than I could chop it up for her, which reminded me of The Great Ham Incident of 2007:

We'd had our 2 tiny pups, Bert & Ernie, for about 2 months by the time Easter rolled around. We had faithfully only given the boys dog food and dog treats, reserving the people food for the people, when we hosted Raine Family Easter. I bought the biggest ham ever sold at Sobey's (that fact has yet to be confirmed by Sobey's, by the way) and our supper was a raging success. Since I was feeding a crowd of Raines, even though it was a giant ham, we made short work of it. My darling husband carved up the leftover ham and we were left with a nice ham bone. Thinking that pups need Easter treats, too, we tossed the boys and the ham bone outside.

10 minutes later I went to check on the progress. I was horrified to see that the nice sized ham bone had actually been about 80% meat & fat (or in other words, STUFF THE DOGS COULD EAT), and the dogs were reeling from "the ham sweats." I picked up the tiny sliver of bone that remained and called the boys inside. Bert managed to waddle in, while Ernie got hung up on the 2 inch threshold. His little tummy was so full of ham, he literally got stuck and his little paws couldn't reach the floor. The Great Ham Incident of 2007 ended with a long night, 2 sick little puppies, and a disgusting kennel to clean out in the morning.

Funny, the boys weren't nearly as interested in the ham this year.

PS - for any of you planning a drop-in any time soon, 2 of 3 routes into our community are officially blocked off as the ring dike has been partially closed. While this keeps us nice & dry, it makes me crazy when I just want to go to the mall, yo.

Thank You, Mother Nature

Well, after yesterday's frenzied pumping of the window wells ALL FRIGGIN' DAY, Mother Nature is helping a fella out with a spring snow storm. Awesome! I am staying inside, warm and cozy, relaxing while m'baby has a long winter's nap. And while I know all this snow is inevitably going to melt and end up in my window wells (creating another lousy day like yesterday) or possibly making the difference in the flood-caused evacuation, I also know that day isn't today, so I don't care.

This afternoon Talia and I are off to visit Talia's possible future daycare. It is right down the street, so the snowstorm won't stop us. (Talia isn't scared of any snowstorm, she'll be safe and dry in Daddy's boot, after all.) I really hope it all works out. My awesome friend Marci has a spot for Talia in her home daycare, which is close to my office, but that office is too far away. I just can't justify having Talia in the car for 2 hours everyday if there is a spot for her this close to home, even though Marci would love her and spoil her and teach her so much she could skip elementary school and go right to Junior High.

Watch Out America, Here We Come

So Talia has 2 "aunties" that love to make a fuss over her but mostly love to use her to one-up each other. For example, they like to make separate dates with us and then while cuddling m'baby and whispering sweet nothings in her ears, they will slip in little gems like "Auntie Tammy stinks" or "Auntie Michelle will never be your favourite like I am..." The Aunties are going to have to call a truce, though, because the 4 of us are off to Grand Forks next month for a girl's getaway! Woo-hoo! I am embarassed to admit I have never been to the States, not even for cheap booze or a trip to Target. I am so excited I doubt I will sleep between now and our departure date.

I'm even getting my passport updated for the big excursion - since none of my ID matches, and it's been 2.5 years since the botched name change (I mean wedding) I'm using our trip as the motivation I need to get my identity finalized. (Get yer suggestions for super hilarious middle names in now....)

This pic was taken the same day as Tally's passport photos were taken. Apparently they won't accept a photo for a passport if it has a plastic fishbowl in it, so we decided to go with the professional passport photo. But this one is way cuter.

Team No Name?

Talia and I are all about the competition. We are on a team at my workplace, it's for a nutrition & activity competition. We get points based on how many steps we take in a day and how many servings of fruit, veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy we have in a day. Talia is bringing us down in the steps, but she's eating enough fruit and veggies to cancel out Michelle's Coca-Cola addiction. Our team name is still up in the air. Suggestions so far have been The Winners, Team Burger King, and Russia.

Yesterday I wore my pedometer, eager to kick everyone's ass, only to find out that when the weather is cold like this, Talia and I are sedentary. D'oh! I put Talia to bed and did laps of my house - downstairs, around the basement, up the stairs, around the main floor, back downstairs, again and again and again for 1/2 an hour. Bert and Ernie were confused - they started out stuck to my side, then just went up and down the stairs with me, an eventually decided to keep a close eye on my progress from their bed. Lazy dogs.

So far today we're up to 3,200 steps. Pathetic. And since it's freezing cold again (what's up with that? It's MARCH, for goodness sake!!!) it looks like I'm back to the basement. I better hurry up before our daily 4:30pm company comes over...... is Ashley really pregnant? will Katherine Chancellor be okay after the explosion? will Jill finally believe that is her mother? will Jeffy Pink and I bond over our common love for Y&R?

The Great Indoors

This weekend Grandma & Grandpa are paying us a visit because the RV show is in town! Grandma & Grandpa have been talking about getting a tent trailer since I started dating their handsome son. (That was over 9 years ago, if any of you are counting.) I'm not under any illusion that this weekend will bring the great tent trailer saga to a close. Don't get me wrong, I love my in-laws like crazy. They are funny and kind and are so good to us. They raised my husband, who is the best man I know. But they occasionally make me want to pull my hair out when we talk about the tent trailer. Again.

The funniest part (or LEAST funny, depending on if you are me or not.....) is that Rainer is just like his parents. Guess who has also been talking about getting a tent trailer for at least the last 4 years. Those of you who know Raine probably think he's all rugged and outdoorsy, and all over camping. Well, when you grow up surrounded by water, rocks, trees, etc. you can't help but be outdoorsy. Until it's time to sleep, that is. You can take the boy out of Keewatin, but you can't take the comfort of his own bed out of the boy. Good old Raine, he's tried really hard to like camping, he just doesn't understand why you would want to go somewhere to fish, swim, hike, and enjoy nature, when you could do all that at his parents' place and still sleep in his childhood bedroom. Bless his heart. It's not his fault he married a Girl Guide, after all. And for the record, if they sold tent trailers by the cash register, I would have already bought us one.

The pics are from Clear Lake, Summer 2007. The arrival of The Stinker disrupted our annual McQueen Family camping trip last summer! I wonder how little Tally will like the tent this year???