Ah, We're on the cusp now laddies.

I love this time. Tomorrow is September 1st. Things are starting all over the place. Like beans tossed in a field a few weeks ago, now the fresh green sprouts are poking upwards. "Look there, there's another one!"

School is starting for Sam. For Monty. For me. And for Jay, who is after getting his MicroComputer Assisted Design Certificate at Mohawk.

I am starting a new writing project.

My Wednesday book group is starting up again.

My ma and I have some gigs happening after almost a two month break.

I am starting the process for a Self Employment program Sept 10.

I am going to be doing Sunday School for the 2's and 3's, the little gaffers.

Sammy is starting piano and karate again.

I need to be starting to go to the GYM again!

Thats all I can think of for now. It's enough. Today I am going to clean. Unbelievable how we got home Sunday to a spotless house and two days later it is like there was a hurricane. Then I am going to write. Then I am making Greek Pita Burgers for dinner because I have also started a meal planner thingy that you get emails for every week with a grocery list. Last night i made Spiced Pork Chops with Rice Stick noodles and steamed cauliflower. Turned out great. I actually just bought a pork loin roast for eight bucks and sliced it into pork chops because I didnt like the pork chops at No Frills.

And tonight is Amazing Race! I missed it last week so I am looking forward to it. Speaking of amazing and racing my lady luck is crawling up the stairs like it's her part time job. And pulling up on everything. She is not long for walking, I fear. Then my life will take a little turn for the busier. As if I ain't busy enough. Ah, well, she looks pretty cute poking her head up over everything. I guess we'll keep her.

G'day.
A.

We had a Great Time.



It was a really awesome week! We swam and canoed and kayaked and ate (too much) and walked and slept and read and made sand castles and played mini golf and chilled out and I give the Delawana Inn and Resort two very big Thumbs UP.

Personally, I managed to read two whole books. I got two massages at the Wanakita Spa. Jay and I went for walks and a pontoon boat ride together. Sam actually has a golf swing now. Monty had a blast at his caterpillars camp. Lucy got fatter from all the lovely food. (Actually, I think all the Forderers got fatter!) Our room was really cool, with a screened in porch overlooking the lake. It is a beautiful resort, tons of fun things going on and really nicely taken care of.

We would totally go again. It was a great vacation and can I say that the only dishes I did were four bottles a day in the bathroom sink? And two little loads of laundry which was lovely because I put them in and then climbed all by myself onto this big rock over the water and read my book? And when we left in the morning our beds were made when we got back! Whoopee!

Now, of course the kids had their little flare ups and I almost had a conniption fit when we went on this sunset cruise with them because I could see monty falling overboard every five minutes. But all in all, a fantastic time. The only things I forgot to pack were my bathing suit and Sam's underwear. Which was no biggie for me because that meant I got to go to a shoppe in Honey Harbour and buy a new suit. And as for Sam, when you are eight and can wear swimming trunks everyday, underwear are the last thing you are worried about.

The food was insane. Glorious buffets every morning and evening, beautiful dining room with smart looking servers who were very accomodating. As I was smothering my second breakfast of belgian waffles and strawberries with fresh whipped cream I could not help thinking how nice it would be to be rich. Except that you would weigh three hundred pounds.

We went on several kinds of boats- pontoon, speed boat, cruise ship, kayak, canoe, paddle boat.

It was just the thing for jay to be able to sit on a bench and read his Stephen Ambrose and think nothing of work for a week.

Well, it is back to life, back to reality right now and I can hear that there is some dismantling going on in Monty's room right now so I better go investigate.

Have a great day, all.

A.

Bye Bye!

We are off on our vacationne in a few minutes. Man Alive we are bringing a LOT of stuff. I have been packing for hours and hours, and I still keep finding things to bring.

Soooo looking forward to our first real family vacation! We have never gone anywhere for more than one or two nights, so this should be awesome.

Delawana here we come!

See you in the blogosphere when I return next Sunday. Hope y'all have a great week.

A.

Three days from now I will be sitting down to dinner with Jay and the kids at the Delawana Resort. Two days from now I will be at Jay's work barbecue. One day from now I will be in the pool at Valley Park, having a family swim. Right now, oh forget right now it is not half as pleasant as the first three. It's called trying to get Monty to eat his shepard's pie.

I tried to dye my hair blonde today and it didnt really work out. It is a glowing light pumpkin color and I look like a raver or something. Monty said, "Mommy?"
"Yeah buddy?"
"Are you still Mommy?"
"Yes Monty, I am."
"You're Amy, right?"
"Yep. I am Amy."

So I am freaking my kid out as well as myself. I am going to Shoppers to buy some dye later and get it looking a little more normal. Word to the Wise. If you want to go light blonde you can't get impatient and rinse out the dye before it is done doing what it's supposed to do.

Also, dark eyebrows look really wierd with squash colored hair unless you are trying to do a Trainspotting look.

Any HOO. I better go make sure the masses arent wearing supper. Daddy working late tonight.

A,.

Since it is my and Jay's anniversary, thought I would dredge up an old photo of us "BC" (Before Children)



Man those were different days. The year was 1992. Jay was heavy into his motorcycle that summer, a 1971 Triumph Tiger that he rebuilt from the frame up. It was a cool ride, 650cc, silver tank, stock pipes, lotsa chrome everywhere that I would help him shine up with cotton soaked in NEVER DULL on sunny mornings, when all we had to do that day was get on the bike and ride. You can see in the picture how black with grease and oil Jay's hands were from working on it all the time. I confess, I actually used to think that this was sexy!

We were both in school that year, he at Mohawk and me at Mac. We lived in this house on Wilson Street with his buddy Boyter (who is now my brother in law as he hooked up with my sister pretty soon after we all moved in together) and this other guy Dennis who was a bit of a tool but paid his rent on time. There we made a music jamming room in the basement, soundproofed it with sheets of styrofoam, and we had a mixing board and stuff. It was a cool room, with posters of RATT and Steve Vai on the walls. We advertised around and a couple of bands would rent the room from us by the hour. It was actually quite lucrative. For about a year, I think we maybe paid $100 each for rent and bills.

This pic was taken at my parents place, August '92. I think it was during a barbecue for my sister and her boyfriend going away or something. When my parents still had their pool. When we would sleep in so late on the weekends we would barely make it to West Fifth by four o clock pm. When us four kids were all happily stumbling along in our own directions, doing the early 20's thing, finding ourselves, going to school, working at good jobs and bad jobs, dropping out of school, dating, shacking up, breaking up, moving back home....

Fast forward 12 summers. Jay and I are the same, I think, in a lot of ways. A lot less hair is involved, three kids are in the picture now, as well as a career or two, and lots of life lessons. The bike is gone, sold to a guy for 1700 bucks after being stored in different garages for ten years.

Reminiscing is great. I am grateful that I had this time to do it. Grateful for everything, matter of fact.

A.

Kinda tired and ready to hit the scratcher, but i havent blogged in a few days so I thought I would get on here.

Took the kids swimming tonight to Huntington Park. What a beautiful pool! Really, we are so bloody privileged to live where you can hop in your car and drive to this gorgeous pool where a whole family can swim for six bucks. It was a little tricky for moi, as Daddyo was working late so I had the three kidlets avec moi. But with Monty in a life jacket and us staying pretty much in the teaching pool, I was able to hold Luce the whole time and just keep an arm out for eggbert when he lost his balance, and Sam was a riot doing all these sort of somersaults and hand stands. "Mom! Mom! Did you see that?!" Of course I didnt really swim but absolutely got my exercise. And after was funny because I hadnt really planned it out, the whole changing thing. I got Monty and Lucy changed but there was nowhere to put Lucy to change myself, so I had to just put my shorts and top back on over my wet bathing suit. Looked really nice going back to the car.

Ah well, it was fun anyways. And I love that woozy after swimming feeling you get.

I am getting the Forderers ready for VACATION this week. We leave on Sunday morning. But Jay's work is having a family barbecue day on Saturday so we need to be finito before that, so momma aint stayin up all night trying to find sunscreen and swimmin trunks. I have a list for each family member. It's nuts. Just for Sam alone is

5 pairs shorts
5 T shirts
2 pairs swim trunks
1 pair pants
1 pair track pants
1 hoodie
2 pairs socks
7 pairs underwear (I can hear it now, "MO-OM! Why'd ya have to write THAT on there?!"
1 hat
1 sandals
1 running shoes
1 pair pajamas
1 beach towel
1 book to read
1 pad of paper and drawing pencils
1 toy (which he is begging me to be his whole Mega Monsters Mountain with five Mega Monsters already)
1 rain jacket

That is just one kid. I am already pooped, how bout choo?

I am handing him the list though, and I will check his Jar Jar suitcase to make sure all is well. He IS eight, he should be able to handle it. Of course, being a GUY he will lose this ability over time, and end up like his father, who can't find a pair of underwear because I have put them ON TOP of the dresser and not IN the drawer.

I bought kd lang's new CD 'Hymns of the 49th Parallel' and I am absolutely loving it. Her rendition of 'Bird on a Wire' cannot be played too many times in a row. Neither can 'Helpless'. (apologies to Jason Silver here, who is probably very tired of hearing me go off about that song.)

Read in the Spec today about a little 9 year old boy who died in a car accident on the weekend. He lived just a little ways from here, on Cochrane street in East Ham. He died and his sisters are critical condition. They were in a van and their mom driving tried to overtake another car, ended up hitting it and going into a ditch. All three kids were ejected from the car because they werent wearing seat belts. The dad was quoted in the paper saying that they had probably wanted to lie down with pillows because it was a six hour drive to the cottage. How do you live with yourself after that, if you are the one responsible for allowing kids to take off their seat belts on the highway? My heart goes out to all of them. And my heart screams out to anyone with kids--SEAT BELTS NO MATTER WHAT. No matter how much they whine. No matter how long the journey. No matter if there is no traffic. What I do with Monty, who is apt to unbuckle his seat belt sometimes, is stop the car as soon as I can. Basically I make it like the car won't drive anywhere unless everybody has thier seatbelt on. Wouldn't that be a good idea? Have the seatbelts wired to the ignition. Car only starts when all the seatbelts are buckled. If someone takes a seatbelt off enroute, little alarm goes off. I mean they make it so you can't leave your keys in the car, that you can't leave the lights on without the ding-dong ding dong. So how hard can it be? And how much more important?

Alright well I have ranted myself into exhaustion. I will signo offo and good night to everyone. Or guten morgen if it is tues morn when you are reading this.

SEAT BELTS.

A.

He Won. Good for him. Congrats to John Heffron for taking the cookies home in a bag! I really enjoy his style of comedy, and he has been the most consistently funny comic on the show.



It is 10:12 and I have had one of those mornings. I dropped Sammy off at Jojo Silvers, then drove Monty to his VBS on the west mountain. Where he was a complete bum and wouldn't go sit with his group. He kept hanging off my legs and almost knocking me over with Lucy in my arms. So I sat a few pews behind and told him to go and sit with his group. And he did the two or three steps away from me and then kept running back to me. So I said that's enough. Go to your seat now I am leaving. But he wouldnt go to his seat. He was acting like a bratorama. So I said, okay, go and sit down or we are leaving.
And he still came back. By then I was frustrated and slightly embarrassed that my kid was making this little scene. So I took him firmly by the hand and we left. Then we are in the parking lot and he says, "Please mommy, I wanna go to church school now." I say "Nope. You had your chances and now we are going home."

He drops to the ground and has an epileptic type tantrum. Kids are walking by and staring. I am trying to pick him up while not dropping Lucy.

I got him into the car and he screamed all the way home. Took his seatbelt off twice en route. Threw a toy at Lucy's face.

So home we get and he is immediately taken by force to his room.

Remember that scene in the Sixth Sense where the little boy who sees dead people is trapped in that closet at the birthday party and you hear all this banging and screaming because he is getting attacked by something?

Really, I am always surprised that Monty hasn't given himself a concussion when I let him out. Now he is out and he keeps saying, "Mommy, I am ready to go sit in my seat and be good." and then I say, "No, Monty. We are not going." and then the crying and freaking out starts afresh. The sheer stamina of kids amazes me.

It is too bad though. Because today was the last day and they were having a little performance and party thing and the parents were invited. I was looking forward to it. But I have to stick to my guns now that they are drawn. And it is a gloomy sort of day and the angel baby Lucy is miserable. Being home with the kids can suck sometimes. Especially when the home in question is a bit (a lot) messy.

Okay now Lady Luck is crying and who knows why so I better go and hang out with her.

Toodle-oo kalamazoo chief perdue ping lei foo how bout you.

Fola Shola.

Well, little Johnny Heffronny did excellently tonight, I would say he performed the best out of the three comics, and that he has the best chance of winning. GG did well too, and absolutely could win, but I am rootin for Johnny. Alonzo is a little too bitter, I think he will get the black vote of course but as a comic he lacks the warm fuzzy factor.

Man, what am I, some kind of Last Comic Standing self-appointed critic? Get over meself, eh? We had fun watching, although mr monty slept from five till almost ten, then woke up and was WIRED FOR SOUND. So we watched LCS with a small spiderman flying about the room. That kid is a riot. He is calling himself Montgom'ry now. Montgom'ry Forewerer. He comes up to me and hugs me and then kisses me right on the mouth and says, "I'm gonna get married." And I say, "To who?" "To YOU, mommy." I say, "You can't marry me, I'm married to Daddy. Who are you going to marry?"
And he says, "Alexandra, AND Paulina." (neighbor girls his age.)

Bless his polygamic little heart. Hope these ladies know that their beloved will be leaving at night, off to swing through the city streets and fight crime. He has worn Lucas Silver's spiderman costume so Non-stop in the past few days that he has given himself a heat rash all over his neck.

On other fronts, I am off to Mac tomorrow to register for Sept. I am taking a Women Writer's course during the DAY. Monday and Thursday mornings. Don't know how the hell I am going to work that one out yet but where there is a will theres a way. The night courses that are on the very short list of what I get to take are crapola. Critical Thinking? Blech. Gender Issues in Literature? Ugh. This one looks good, and i have actually had the prof (Lorraine York) before and she was lovely. So I am going to make this work.

Alright well I better get meself off to bed. VBS comes pretty early in the morning don'tcha know.

A,.

big night tonight!

It is the finale of LCS. I soooo want John Heffron to win. He has a great stage presence, is young and could do anything in a sitcom. But I think it will be Gary Gulman, folks. I think people are not over the Seinfeld style yet, and want more. GG bugs me. He is a little too natty, a little too smirky, a little too formulaic for my taste. But he will probably win. Oh well. Should be a fun night anyways.

I have to post one more look at my kids picture. Monty fell asleep watching guess what movie.

Just a quick pic to say Good Monday Morning!

I love how a picture can give ya a boost.
A.

Last Three Comics Standing.....

Well, two outta three ain't bad. Gary Gulman and John Heffron are in, Tammy Pescatelli (who totally deserved to stay) is gone and Alonzo Bodden is in.

Damn. I thought there'd be one gal standing for the final three.

Tuesday Aug 10 is the finale, I kinda wish they would have dragged this out a little. What keeps me floatin' though is that they are going to do a new one in the fall instead of waiting until next summer. Cool, eh? I think this is one of the better reality shows out there. Well, actually I think nine out of ten reality shows are absolute crap, but this one rocks. I wish I could try out for it. I would probably bomb but it would be fun to give it a go.

My vaycayshun is over. Boys came back tonight. My parents looked like they needed about three days worth of sleep. My mom said she hadn't even bothered to put on make up for about four days. I felt kinda bad for them, but of course not bad enough that if they offered next year to take the kids for a few days I would totally go for it again. Hey, you gotta know your own limits eh? Bless em though. Sam and Monty can't stop talking about Grampa's house and all the fun stuff they did. And I swear they both got a little taller, and of course they looked really cute to me.


Lucy was thrilled to see them both. I think she thought they were gone for good, since their rooms were so clean. My tidy fly-lady house is a bomb again. I don't feel like picking up the pieces tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to a barbecue at my brothers for my dad's 60th birthday. Looking forward to it. And Sunday we had planned (forever ago, back in June I made this plan, and it felt like August 8th was soooo far away and whoops there it is!) to go to Westfield Heritage Village avec les enfants. So that should be good, too.

Alright well now you know all the news fit to print and I have some Johnathan K. to read.
Toodles.
A.

Last Comic Standing

Right. I meant to post about last nights episode, where I must say all six comics did a great set, a few of them had the best set I have seen from them so far. Tammy Pescatelli was excellent, and the best part is that she had fun, which in my opinion shows a high level of skill. If you can relax enough to enjoy yourself out there, you are at the top of your craft. My pics for the top three which I think will be announced tomorrow night are
Gary Gulman, Tammy Pescatelli, and John Heffron.
We shall see......

Sorry I got cut off yesterday and only wrote a wee bit. Just got back from Costco, ostensibly to get milk and sugar and something for dinner, but somehow a pair of jeans got slipped in there, plus an inkjet cartridge refill kit.

Like I said yesterday, I am enjoying my week very much. Today I am decluttering and cleaning my bedroom, and getting the computer out of here. I keep reading about how the bedroom has to be a sanctuary, and trust me, this place aint no sanctuary. It is more like a storage depot for orphan items, an ebay office, a baby nursery, a playroom, among many other things. Every available surface is covered with crap. The feng shui in here must be bloody toxic. How relaxing can it be to come in here and see my house tax bill stuck to the wall with a thumbtack? Why do I still have a branch from Palm Sunday four years ago sticking out of a picture frame on the wall? And a plasic bin with books spilling out of it behind my bedroom door? I need that show where they get all the junk out to come here and kick some arse.

Jay and I saw The Village on Monday night. Very much enjoyed it. Fantastic acting from Ron Howard's luminous looking daughter, Bryce Howard. Neat story with great twists from M. Night Shyamalan. Wicked shots of simple things that carried so much weight! Like a rocking chair on a porch, with mist curling around the edges of the frame. Really a well done movie. I didn't want to miss thirty seconds of it.

I have to say though, that I usually enjoy the movies I go to. There is the element of 'being out of the house' that tints everything with a happy brush when I go see a film. Must be where I am right now. There have been a few that I wish I had waited for video, if I cared to see them at all, like, um Reindeer Games comes to mind. But for the most part when Amy goes to the movies, she has a good time as a default, because she's there.

Anyhoo. I better go as Lady Luck herself is sleeping and I want to get started on Monty's room of horrors. Boys rooms are great. They have this distinct smell, and it is not a terrible smell. It is just a boy smell. Sort of a salty smell, with a tiny hint of wet dog and earth. And, well, a teensy smell of pee, if you are Monty and leave your underwear all over the place.
Okay on that lovely note I sign off. G'dauy.

This week is like my personal vacation.
My mom and dad have had Sam and Monty since Sunday, and if all goes well, they should have them for most of the week.
Can I say it is really great to be here alone all day with Lucy? And that things have stayed in their places all day today? And that Jay will be coming home for dinner soon and I am actually relaxed and looking forward to our meal? Which just happens to be fish, because I want to make fish once without anyone going "EEEEEUUUUUUWWWWWW!!!".