the art of being lazy

i had my first lazy sunday of 2012.

more importantly, it was the first lazy sunday in a very long time.

as i sat on the couch, listening to tunes and sipping coffee, i commented to doug, “you know, this is what i miss. we use to do this so much more often. especially before christmas – we would carve out some time once or twice a week where we would just sit here with the tree lights on, some christmas music and would either talk or read or just do nothing at all…”

this past sunday, i stayed in my pj’s and spent a majority of my time sitting on the couch reading comic books (buffy the vampire slayer, season 8). i did do the laundry but other than that, i was in complete pamper-mode.

i even dressed appropriately. i had on my large, navy blue, old navy t-shirt which is my favourite pj top, pj bottoms that are like lounging shorts, a big, purple, over-sized, v-neck sweater that i got a long time ago (so it’s very old and therefore very comfortable) from cotton ginny (i don’t think that store is even around anymore) and my blue, fuzzy socks (i have one pair in pink too).

it was the best lounging outfit. yes – lounging clothes makes a big difference. the art of picking what to wear can make or break one’s comfort and optimal laziness. i woke up with that goal and wasn’t going to give up the opportunity for my lazy-sunday.

i succeeded this past sunday.

xmas 2012 loot

as usual, we made out pretty darn good this year.

Doug’s loot (left to right):

1. The Pacific – DVD TV Miniseries: This is something Doug has been wanting for years now. It was a gift from me. I would have bought him the blu ray version but the price was still a bit on the high side.
2. Spaghetti Western: There’s 20 classic spaghetti western movies on this one DVD. It’s one of Doug’s guilty pleasures so I made sure Santa had this in his stocking.
3. Moroccan Tagine: Another item that’s been on his list for a few years now. The problem was that it was really tough finding a place to buy from where the tagine was authentic and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. There are a lot of modern ones that boasts that it can be used both in the oven and in the stove but the cost is about 3 times the amount. I sent the link from Amazon to my PIL who have a drop off place just south of the border which they go to often (for their store). It was shipped there and so was a gift from his parents.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides: My aunt and uncle bought him the fourth Pirates of the Carribean on blu ray. We have the first three – Doug loves anything with sword fights and adventure.
5. Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting: Another stocking stuffer I made sure Santa would bring for Doug. He hasn’t put it down since Christmas day.
6. Beer and Stein Gift Set from LCBO: When I saw this in the store, I really didn’t realize how big both the beer can and stein was until Doug took it out of the box. The can itself is probably around 2 pints or 3 regular beer bottles.

Doug also got a very nice Canadian Team Olympic apparel hoodie from his sister and BIL. Chaeli got him some animal crackers in a box shaped like a fire truck. He also got a slew of shaving lotion, cream and some dipping oil & vinaigrette.

Chaeli’s loot (left to right):

1. Crystal Making Science Kit: A gift from Doug and I. Yes, it’s educational but it was actually one of the things on her wishlist. We haven’t cracked it open yet because I’m saving it for a rainy day.
2. Squishy Squinkies: My parents bought this for Chaeli. And if I never had Chaeli, believe me, I would not know what a Squinky is, let alone a Squishy Squinky. They bought her the gum ball set (since all Squinkies come in these clear, plastic balls that open down the middle) as well as extra Squinkies to kick start her collection.
3. Captain Underpants #5-7: A present from Santa – to feed her obsession with the dude that wears nothing but a cape and underpants.
4. LalaLoopsy Silly Hair Doll: Here’s another item of which I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t become a parent. Chaeli loves styling the hair which bends sort of like a continuous crazy straw. This was a present from my aunt and uncle.
5. UNO: There’s nothing more in the word that Chaeli wanted from Santa then the classic UNO game. We’ve played it so much during the holidays that I’m ready to enter any UNO tournament out there. If such a tournament actually exists.
6. My Farm Around the World – for Nintendo DS: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a couple of DS games. Here’s one that was a stocking stuffer.
7. Operation: A present from my SIL and BIL which I’m happy to say is like the retro, classic game. When I did some window shopping here, all I could find was the Pixar Car’s Mator version. Not that that wouldn’t have been cool – but there’s something about the retro style that just can’t be beat.

Chaeli also got some other cool gifts, like the Phineas and Ferb books, Star Wars Life Saber lip gloss (the lip glass lights up), a Hello Kitty digicam from her godparents and Jenga from Hobbes.

Shy’s loot (from left to right):

1. Body Shop Hemp Gift Set: This set contains hemp cream for my hands, body and feet. And it does the trick! My hands are ultra dry during the winter so I usually need some serious moisturizer but without that greasy, oily residue. The hemp hand cream really gets absorbed into the skin. The scent is a little stronger then I would like but because it is on the musky side, I don’t mind. I’m not a fan of the flowery and fruity (except coconut or citrus) scents. Santa Doug bought this for me.
2. Sims 3 on PS3: A gift from my sweet Chaeli (with help from Doug, of course). I’m sad to say that I have had no time to play this game. Can’t wait, though!
3. National Geographic – The Photographs: A great coffee book with all the significant and influential photographs capturing both culture and history around the world. This was a gift from Doug.
4. Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw: A stocking stuffer that will be well worth the read, I’m sure! It’s a softer side of Bourdain now that he’s got an adorable little girl and is settling down into family life. But the softer side of Bourdain, I would imagine, is still edgier then most people’s hard side.
5. Horrible Bosses: I got this from my SIL and BIL. What a great gift! I love this movie and can’t wait to watch it again and again.
6. Snow Shoes: Santa (Doug) got a pair for both Chaeli and I. Doug’s pair is back in T-Bay so we’ll have to get that shipped over soon so the three of us can enjoy it.

I also got a $50 gift card for Reitman’s from my PIL. They inserted it in one of these beautiful, hand-painted wine goblets (Doug got one too to make it a set). I also got season 1 and 2 of The Cosby Shoe from my aunt and uncle. And a DVD remote control from my parents for our PS3 system.

there’s just not enough hours in a weekend

i don’t want to say that there’s not enough hours in a day. because that would mean that i would just end up spending even more of my daytime at work.

but hours in a weekend? yes, please. at least leading up to christmas.

i can’t believe the “biggest and best holiday of the year” (according to my 7 year old) is less than two weeks away.

TWO WEEKS!

thankfully, shopping has been done but now the dreaded part awaits – the wrapping. and i really wanted to start this past weekend but it was hard enough to fit time in to decorate the tree.

we did it though – i mean, we had to get pizza delivery just to get it done in time without a late bedtime for chaeli… but we did it.

we also kicked start the season with Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe Christmas Show this past saturday. we went with new friends, p. & l. this year, something p. and i floated around as an idea last year.

a good idea it was! we met up for some yummy pub food at a local irish pub. the difference with this pub’s food is that it’s a bit more upscale without the upscale price.

then after the show, we went to another bar for some midnight snacking and beverages.

i can’t remember the last time doug and i stayed out until midnight. this is exactly why babysitting is required every now and then. i need to remember that!

it was such a fun night. and while the show was superb, my favourite times were more just the talking, laughing and general good merriment experienced by all.

hospital visits, shopping online and tis the season

my dad went to the ER last tuesday night.

it was really, a horrible week.

he did get transferred into a normal room but even then, we still didn’t know the full story of what was wrong with him. he arrived at the hospital suffering horrible upper, abdominal pain – he wasn’t even able to stand up fully. he was also shaking violently and uncontrollably and had a soaring fever. it was evident that his pancreas was inflamed but why, they didn’t know.

by friday, we knew the name of the bacteria – gamma negative bacilli. by saturday, we knew the strain of the bacteria – e coli. and by sunday, we learned that the e coli was actually produced from within his body – his gall bladder. which will be removed after he heals.

they changed the type of his antibiotics three times – the first not really working because at the time, they didn’t know what bacteria it was and when they found out, they knew right away that the antibiotics they were using was useless. gamma negative bacilli responds to only a few types of antibiotics.

i left work early everyday to be with him, even though he protested, stating he would be fine and i needn’t come everyday. i didn’t want to tell him that i was doing it more for myself then for him. all that ‘not knowing’ part flooded me with unfortunate memories of when my grandmother entered in to the hospital. and she never came back.

but, it seems that he is progressing slowly back. now that he’s at home, a nurse comes ever evening to administer the antibiotics through IV. he will continue on the meds until a week from now. then he’ll have to go back for more blood work to determine if they’ve zapped the bacteria – they need to have it controlled before they remove his gall bladder.

i’m more relieved then i was leading up to this past weekend. but still… i’ll feel better once those test results come back with a big fat negative.

to relieve my stress, i’ve been taking advantage of all the great deals online. i visited two online stores and saved myself a great deal. not only were all items on sale but there was an additional discount due to black friday. plus, free shipping and a use of a gift card for one of the stores. i think i walked away saving around $200.

click below collage to see individual purchases:

clothes, clothes, clothes - and some boots

i also purchased some ‘jeggings’, a couple of casual t’s, two more blouses and these faux-snake skin pumps (something i’ve been wanting for awhile now). i also purchased a couple of tall boots last month… but i honestly have to dedicate an entire post just for boots alone. i’m not a huge fan of shopping (though doing it online is great) but one day, i hope to have a closet just for shoes and especially boots!

and to keep myself even more in good, positive spirits, i’ve been thinking and planning for christmas. this weekend, i’m looking forward to putting up some decorations – outdoors and indoors. but not the tree – or the train that goes around the tree. we’ll leave that to the weekend before since we want the tree to be fresh. and for hobbes not to destroy it.

but that last weekend, doug will start working at his assigned fire station. i can then plan to send hobbes to daycare on the days he’ll be working (which is only that one day during the week leading up to christmas weekend). i know hobbes. no way he’ll be able to resist ‘playing’ with the tree. or the ornaments on the tree. the last thing i want is to come home with a tree fallen over and ornaments everywhere.

anyway – i love christmas decorations. having our living room/dining room decked out will set a peaceful vibe.

madly rushed and random

• chaeli had her surgery last week to get a cyst removed from her bottom, inner lip. it was a cyst that’s been there for several months and while sometimes, it does go away on its own, hers decided to stay. she was nervous. i was nervous. but they had a pre-surgery orientation two days before which was designed to ease any fears in children. it was a fabulous program and made a huge impact on both of our nerves. i would say that it cut down our nervousness by 90%. i’ll be writing a letter to the hospital, commending them on a great program.

• i have been wondering for quite some time now – does katy perry have issues with letting go of her teen years? it seems that 3 out of her 4 last singles released have been about teen dreams and/or angst. maybe she’s just gearing towards a demographics. at least that’s what i hope. because otherwise, well, it’s a tad pathetic. and embarrassing. katy – you’re not a teen anymore. live in the moment!

• i finally buckled down and did some shopping. and it was a good timing – i found some amazing sales. i now have enough of a wardrobe without having to wear any of my big pants, skirts and tops where i had to sadly hold up the bottoms with a belt. i even bought a pair of black, knee-high boots! loving the boots. they’re slick and quite comfortable with nice height from the heels.

• doug made amazing chocolate chip pumpkin muffins yesterday. i ate two of them for dessert and brought in two more for today. granted, one of them is suppose to be for my manager but i haven’t told him yet. just in case i end up eating both!

• i wanted to create another wordpress blog for just my ‘guilty pleasures‘ but there’s something wrong with the import function. i went to the discussion board and it looks like a lot of people are having the same problem. what’s ironic is that it’s just an xml file exported directly from an existing wordpress blog (under the respective category) and yet it’s not working. i still am waiting for a response from support – it’s been a few weeks now.

• as of this past weekend, i have only the final items to shop for christmas gifts: one more stocking stuffer for doug and a present for our annual kid’s secret santa exchange.

he said, she said – with holly’s

doug has this superstition tradition – you have to have some wrapping left to do on christmas eve.

i’m not sure exactly who he thinks he married to but if he took a moment to understand how his wife works, he’ll know that i certainly can not stand leaving anything to the last minute.

and wrapping gifts the night before christmas just before actually placing the presents under the tree and in the stockings, isn’t how i ease into the christmas festivities.

even so, this year, i figured i’d leave two presents to wrap last minute. and thankfully, the family member i’m wrapping it for could sit there watching me wrap both of his gifts for the entire time and STILL be mega excited when he gets it the next morning. because really, what do dogs know about surprises? we do it for ourselves, not for them.

so – one toy and one treat. both for the dog. to be wrapped on christmas eve.

and as a side note, i seriously can not believe christmas is just three days away. i woke up thinking, “well, i suppose the count down begins” except that the count down had really begun long ago. but for me, i basically have been putting the thought of christmas on hold during the week because i’m more concerned about taking my christmas holiday without stressing and worrying about all the work waiting for me when i get back in the new year.

which is, unfortunately, why i’ll be bringing work home with me.

chaeli pre-holiday update

so it’s that time of the year again. the pre-excitement of christmas has made my sweet, little darling into the the spawn of lucifer.

alright – that was definitely an exhaggeration. but if you compare some of chaeli’s more recent behaviour to who she truely is – a very well natured and well behaved child, you can imagine how challenging it’s been these past couple of weeks. and it’s not that she doesn’t try – i can tell that the pressure of being good, the extra sugar intake (not to mention the caffiene intake from all the chocolates), plus just the sheer excitement of christmas itself, has collectively funnelled together in her little body, causing her to basically act, well… possessed. for a lack of a better word.

oh… and speaking of being the little devil, my own offspring went to school the very next day after doug and i took that sample, canadian citizenship test to announce how i did.

from what i was told, the conversation started something like this:

chaeli: ms. kothari?

teacher: yes, chaeli?

chaeli: do you know what mommy and daddy did last night?

teacher: wait… chaeli, do i really want to know what goes on in the privacy of your home?

chaeli: mommy and daddy were taking a test – and mommy got a LOT wrong! daddy only got two wrong and mommy is usually always right.

teacher: test? what test? why were they taking a test at home? you must mean they were playing some sort of game.

chaeli: no. it was a test. i saw it. they had to pick a, b, c or d.

btw, that’s how the conversation always goes with chaeli and her teacher. she learned to first ask if she really needed to know what we do at home after chaeli told her that hobbes likes to bark at GO trains and daddy barks with him and mommy doesn’t like that, leaving the poor teacher to wonder why doug barks along with our pet dog to begin with. chaeli omitted to explain that sometimes doug likes to get hobbes going for sport; he gets close to hobbes and lets out a low ‘woof’ which is like an on-button that gets hobbes all worked up – OF COURSE I DON’T LIKE THAT!

anyway, i was pretty sad that neither doug nor i could attend chaeli’s christmas show. this was just not a good year at all for me to take time off work and the show was in the middle of the afternoon. just in case, i asked chaeli what she would prefer – that i arrange to leave work early and go by myself or have both my parents go and video-tape the whole show. she was excited about the latter so it all worked out.

but here’s the deal. the day before the show, she came home with a letter stating that if we wanted to, we could pack some make-up with a comb for the day of the concert.

i looked at doug and said, “make-up? do they know who they are asking this from?”

aside from eye-liner and eye-brow definer, all i have is a plethora of lipstick and lipgloss. i use to have eye shadow and blush but i threw them out years ago after never using them for a very long time (and was pretty sure they went stale). they couldn’t have asked the least likely person to own enough make-up to lend to her daughter… had they had asked a week earlier, i’m sure my mother would have had somethng.

anyway, chaeli went with just red lipstsick and glittery lip gloss, as well as some glittery hair gel from earlier that morning.

and i thought my baby-in-blue looked smashing!

TGIF random

• friday! finally. we’re heading over to my aunt’s place after work for chinese hot pot. i haven’t had hot pot in months – it’s just not something doug and i crave until the cold weather hits us. and now that we’re moving into winter, oh yeah – hot pot it is!
• don’t know why, but i’m totally into Pink as of lately – now listening to Ave Mary A. great stuff to workout with. next track is Bad Influence.
• doug is going to be gone both saturday and sunday during the day so it’s up to me to tire hobbes out tomorrow before we leave him for the whole evening on his own (have a party tomorrow night to go to) – chaeli and i will check out a new dog park not too far from where we’ll have to be tomorrow noon.
• it’s unbelievable but i just realized in the next couple of weeks, i’m going to have to organize my christmas presents and start wrapping all the ones i’m going to ship to t-bay. as for shopping, i have two more gift certificates left and a couple of CD’s.
• unfortunately, doug’s moustache for movember is growing in fast.

christmas shopping

even though i started much later in my christmas shopping, i will most likely be done earlier. i think, though, it’s only because i bought just so much less year due to a stricter budget. but i’m happy that a lot of what i got, i watched for price drops. i don’t think i paid anything for it’s full price – some were a steal.

i only have to buy for my mother, one more stockings stuffer item for doug, two gift certificates and a couple of birthday presents that fall around christmas time.

i was going to add presents for the teachers but i remembered we were going to bake a variety of different types of cookies for them and make them into packages. i may even look into making chocolate truffles.

Protected: it starts with a tough morning…

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password: