my mother’s day surprise(s)

i called in sick yesterday – i actually felt myself coming down with something on sunday (mother’s day of all days) but it hit me harder monday morning. i’m back to the daily grind but am feeling so weak.

still, i managed to have a very nice mother’s day weekend.

my favourite part was saturday morning. doug was working but i mentioned to him earlier in the week my plans to take chaeli out for brunch while he was on shift – as a mother-daughter, pre-mother’s day celebration. and we hadn’t gone back to cora‘s for awhile so i figured we were due.

as we were getting ready the morning of, i asked chaeli if she knew where we were going and she said, “yup! i’m taking you to cora’s!”

“oh,” i said, “did daddy tell you already?”

“uh huh – but it doesn’t really make sense. i can’t drive so how can i take you?”

“well, don’t worry about that. i’ll drive.”

so off we went.

as we stood in line, waiting to be seated, i teased chaeli, “so, does this mean you’re paying?”

she stood there and smiled. then she slowly nodded and reached into her little hand bag. to my surprise, she pulled out a gift card for $25!

i asked her, “did daddy give you this?”

“yup!” she said, very proud of herself, obviously, for being able to keep a secret for half a week.

the gift card was more then enough to cover our breakfast – there’s actually a remaining balance which we will use up the next time we go back (with doug, of course).

my mixed berries and french toast brunch

chaeli had the kid’s eggs, sausage/bacon, potatoes, toast and chocolate milk. i had their french toast and mixed berries special. it was EXACTLY what i had been craving for awhile. thick french toast (they used ciabatta bread), a generous heap of sliced strawberries, blueberries and my favourite, blackberries – all drizzled with raspberry coulis, a light cream sauce and then sprinkled with icing sugar. i ate most of it without any pancake syrup because it was that good on it’s own. i only added the syrup at the end just to see what it would taste like.

what a nice surprise! i text-ed doug right away to thank him.

after brunch, chaeli and i went to winners for a bit of shopping. i was looking for a pair of summer, low heel, black shoes and a pair of sport sandals for chaeli. she had me try on a lot of shoes, though – picking out some outrageous heels i would never wear! funny thing, one pair looked great on me but the price wasn’t low enough for me to feel that it was a good enough bargain. and i wasn’t sure what i would ever wear with it.

i treated myself to a new yoga matt and chaeli to a new casual dress. hobbes also got two new toys which he’ll get on his birthday this weekend.

the next morning, he came home from his shift with a bouquet of flowers for me. and a bouquet for my mom as well. chaeli was disappointed we didn’t get a chance to do breakfast in bed but she did help doug prepare my favourite way of eating eggs – eggs ‘n toast.

we had little time to sit around and enjoy our sunday morning since we had to prepare some food to bring over to my parents’ place. but i managed to have half an hour or so to sip my coffee and listen to some jazz.

worshiping the sun

this weekend was the perfect type of weather. not at all hot but with the right amount of sunlight to make it warm and beautiful. we found ourselves outdoors quite a bit – not wanting to miss the chance to worship the sun.

i started my saturday morning with yoga – a routine that included some very nice sun salutations for warm-up. quite fitting, if you ask me, for the type of weekend we had.

after doug came home from his shift and we had our breakfast, we headed over to the rouge to continue our love for the hiking trails and bio-diversity of nature. it was officially our first hike of the year. we saw many species of birds and butterflies, as well as a slithering gardner snake.

there was one part of the trail that divides into two paths – a lower one taking us to the bottom of the forest/valley and a higher one that continues along the ridge. we opted for the lower one and then found an area clear enough but off-path to exercise our legs as we made the steep climb up.

chaeli wasn’t exactly thrilled about this part but as she started to get use to her body and balance (and learned that on the really steep parts, it’s okay to use her hands on the ground – nature’s dirt, after all, isn’t as dirty as it looks), she started to enjoy herself. at the top, another valuable lesson was learned – pushing forward and positive thinking will get you through it. and yes, she CAN do it. she just had to try. on the way back, she twittered on about how she was able to climb such a steep hill.

as for me, it was just simply exhilarating. moments of feeling my feet about to give and slip away, only to catch my balance right at the last minute and climb my way out of the tricky area – yeah, that felt good. a winter-long period of strengthening my legs seemed to work. but until i had a chance to test it out, i really hadn’t see what my hard work amounted to.

saturday night, we went out for wings, fries and beer (beer is a definite treat – i rarely drink it and when i do, it’s just the occasional one to two on a weekend). chaeli enjoyed her plain wings and shared with us the poutine appetizer we bought. topped off which chocolate milk and eating all our carrot sticks, i say she was well fed.

sunday morning, doug woke up before us and headed to work. the weather continued to bless us and i refused to spend our time inside.

chaeli and i headed to the zoo (thank you zoo membership – once again, you serve us well) and enjoyed our breakfast at the peacock cafe just inside the entrance and then a leisurely stroll to see animals from both the indo malay and african safari areas.

i thought the zoo would be a bore to chaeli by now – what with our almost yearly, annual membership from the year she was born. but now that she is older, she’s more interested in animal facts and so as we stopped to take a look at the different types of species (anywhere from fish to snakes or from birds to lions), she had questions of which i was able to answer most of them (thanks to my own upbringing from my father – who taught me to respect animals, nature and to understand how everything works together).

she’s also much more sensitive to all the ones that are endangered. sadly, a lot of our stops had one of the following signs – endangered, vanishing species or high risk. what will become of our world?

we came back for lunch and some light house choirs (and chaeli had to study for a french spelling test) before heading out to a dog park in order to get hobbes some fresh air and a chance to stretch his legs.

hobbes is not at all worried about helping himself. all the other dog owners laughed at him as he continually came back to help himself with every single water dish that was available. compared to all the dogs there, he was running around the most – made sense that he needed the most water.

it was a great day with chaeli and hobbes – we missed doug, though. on such a beautiful day, of course we wished he could have spent it with us. that said, i’m glad that the reason he had to be away from us was because of his job. not just his job, not even just his career now, but his lifestyle.

girl time shopping, brunch at the mill and hobbes the monkey

it was a strange weekend – not a bad weekend. just one where i never felt i could get enough sleep even though i had at least two nights of solid sleep. but come afternoon, i would be ready for a major nap. not just a power nap – but i’d be down for at least an hour… or more!

i’m thankful chaeli’s at an age where she knows to play on her own and be quiet while we’re snoozing. it’s essential – with doug’s 24 hr shift work, he sometimes (like this sunday) comes home completely zonked after going to a few, or even several, fire/medic calls overnight. he doesn’t sleep the whole day away but needs a couple of hours on the couch in order to make it through to night time.

but around all the sleepiness, we had a good weekend.

since doug was at the fire station all day saturday, i took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping for chaeli. mainly, she needed some summer, casual sandals and a new pair of aqua socks. i needed to do a bit of grocery shopping and as a treat, i bought myself some lovely, sterling silver hoop earrings – and i also bought a pair of sterling silver ‘s’ (for ‘shy’) shape earrings. i’m wearing the ‘s’ shape one right now. just one on the middle hold of my right ear. it’s small and hugs the ear but very cute. chaeli enjoyed picking the ear rings out with me.

i also bought chaeli some new capri tights and a couple of t-shirts on sale at the children place – but i notice that i don’t enjoy buying from there anymore. it was great while chaeli was growing up but honestly, that place seems to stay close to the same styles year after year, only changing colours and patterns. i think i need to explore more junior stores for chaeli. the only reason i go back to the children’s place is because they do have both basic long/short sleeve t’s and graphic t’s, usually, when on sale, at a decent price.

sunday morning, we went to our friends’ house – P & L – and left hobbes with their dog in the kitchen. we stayed for a bit to let hobbes get comfortable and then my friend, P, gated them up in the kitchen.

we then headed out for a sunday brunch at ‘the old mill’ (it’s an inn famous for weddings, showers, has an inn and a spa and well known for it’s sunday brunches) to use up these gift cards we both had. anyway… as we drove off, i look back and what do i see? hobbes’ face pressed up against their living room window.

that’s right. the little monkey jumped the gate (the kitchen is at the very back of the house) and ran to the window to watch us leave. i was a bit nervous of what he would do during the 2-2.5 hrs we were gone but when we got back, all was fine.

though i felt sorry for their dog. all that time, he was stuck in the kitchen while hobbes, the guest, had free range of the whole house.

easter monday – father and daughter day

i have to blog about easter but need to sort through the photos and upload them first.

i use to be more devoted to my photography – lately, i just haven’t been inspired. which is fine. when we go on our vacation this summer, it might hit me then. so a break is not a bad thing.

for now, i’ll blog just about yesterday. it was easter monday and while i had to work, doug and chaeli both had the day off. i wish i was with them, of course, but didn’t mind so much because when i got home, due to the lack of homework and the absence of the after work/school rush, it was a peaceful evening.

in fact, its what i look forward to during our summer months. there will still be the drop-off and pick-up with chaeli’s summer camp. but not having to dedicate time for homework makes a huge difference in one’s daily schedule. i look forward to the day where she’s doing homework more on her own, though i know (or predict) that we’ll still have to push her to just hurry up and get with it – the earlier she can get it done, the more time she has for leisure activities (this is what we’re trying to teach her now – it’s a never-ending struggle). and it’s not that i don’t appreciate the homework she’s given – obviously it has its value. but still – when you don’t get home until close to 6pm and you want your kid in bed no later then 8:30pm because she has to wake up around 6:30am the next day, it’s a very, very tight schedule.

this is when i get why it’s easier for one parent to stay at home. or why people hire a nanny.

thankfully, on days doug does not have to work, it’s made the schedule a little easier. for one, he will do the drop-off and pick-up. but still… the rush hovers over us. maybe not as greatly, but it still does.

anyway, yesterday was not like this type of day and i was very thankful of it. i had time to create an antipasto spread while we had some yummy, mixed spring greens, bococcini and procuitto salad (honey-lemon dressing) and some leftover roast beef from easter dinner. i sipped my red wine – one we bought last fall when doug and i went on a bit of a self-guided wine tour in the niagara region (aged for several months now, it definitly tastes better then the day we taste tested it) – and indulged our generous spread. no one was really served anything – all was just put in the middle and up for grabs by fingers both large and small.

doug also took chaeli to dim sum earlier in the day. i admit i was a bit jealous but at the same time, was glad to hear they did a father-daughter thing. just the two of them. in fact, they had a great day together which made me feel content. they have been spending some of their spare time painting miniature war game soldiers and yesterday, had enough to start a game (no idea how it’s played but it seems to involve rolling a dice and measuring out distances – this is doug’s geeky guilty pleasures).

it’s always a challenge to entertain a kid all by yourself and i admit i wasn’t at my best this weekend. friday was not so bad – chaeli and i went to the dog park then i treated her to mc d’s for lunch. we spent some time geeking out on sci-fi movies like transformers and star trek (2009 release). but on sunday, my stomach was bothering me and i had very little sleep the night before (late night + snoring husband) so she was left on her own with her nintendo while i took a couple of naps. doug made up for his by doing a lot with her yesterday.

mortal kombat, dry pasta and denis leary

another weekend come and gone and once again, plans to sit down and blog just never happened. on one end, i’m sad that i’m not blogging as much. but on the other side of the coin, i’m glad i’m living my weekend to the fullest.

we didn’t do anything major this weekend. saturday was rainy so we stayed in. except for saturday morning, when i went shopping at costco to replenish some supplies and ended up coming back with a ps3 game – mortal kombat vs dc universe.

needless to say, we geeked out all afternoon on the ps3. chaeli was in love with our new combat game. and then we ended up watching the last half of bullet proof monk (we saw the first half before – never got to finish it). i asked her if she liked watching these types of martial art combat movies. and she nodded with enthusiasm. it totally reminded me of my own childhood – i grew up watching b-rated kung-fu and karate movies with my dad.

so i looked up mortal kombat and streetfighter dvd prices. they were awful movies but i can’t help it. any chance to educate my child’s geekiness in the world of video game characters and comic books is pretty much a priority for me.

i know – they were bad movies. but the cult following was pretty big and yes, i admit – i’m one of the numbers that make up that cult.

we ended saturday night with some very thick AAA rib grilling steaks (thank-you, costco), garlic mashed potato and steamed brocolli.

sunday was a nice sleep-in morning, followed by a pancakes and sausage brunch – and some fresh blackberries to go with my pancake (it’s my latest thing – i’ve been buying them almost weekly). after some more geek-out time between doug and chaeli, i asked that we stop before the rest of the day gets wasted away.

we got ready and headed out for a walk in a nearby park with a fenced-in dog park. before leaving, we caught the ice cream truck and enjoyed a treat – even hobbes.

sunday evening, doug made a dry pasta that called for string beans, soy beans, asparagus, grilled chicken cubes and sausage – with a garlic and lemon, oil-base sauce. he sprinkled it with some toasted bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. best home made pasta i’ve had in a long time.

in between all these low-key activities, i have been watching Rescue Me – i’m near the end of season 2 and am totally hooked. what is it about denis leary’s character? i love him and hate him – sometimes going back and forth. it’s definitely the bad-boy image. sometimes, he is like a hero but then he’s a scumbag.

and yet – he gets all the women. while it’s fiction, lets be honest. this happens in real life pretty much all the time.

march break madness

i actually planned on blogging during my week off for march break. what can i say? i had other things to catch up on. some work at home, yes – but also i wanted to catch up on spending time at starbucks with my husband, after our morning workouts, and having some short naps with hobbes during siesta time. my priorities were shifted last week.

on top of that, a recap of weekly events:

• chaeli went to a march break art camp. i always am on the fence of sending her to any type of camp during the winter or march break. but truth be told, i wanted to get some personal things done and keep her productive and, of course, chaeli wanted to do this which made the decision easier. well, it was an amazing idea. she had a blast. while this program was run through the city, making it extremely affordable, what i liked was that they had special instructors who lead each of the 5 elements of study – painting, printing, craft, pottery and chaeli’s favourite, photography. this was not a camp run just by teens (though teens were there to assist). she’s signed back to this place for two sessions in the summer.

• we had fabulous weather so after picking chaeli up in the afternoon, we would go to a dog park or take hobbes out for a walk.

• on the one rainy day, i took chaeli to a nail place. we both got a manicure – though i have to say i’ll never go back to this place again. the cost was not at all worth it. while the one lady did a good job on my cuticles, she took too long (making the wait for chaeli a bit tough). and the lady who did the paint job… well, it was the worse ‘professional’ paint job i’ve ever received. i think back to the day i went out with my friend, B, to get our nails done for only $8 and am almost sick to my stomach that i had to pay $15 for my nails at this place (problem is that in my area, that’s the going rate). at least chaeli’s paint job was only $6.

• we went to a new sushi place – all you can eat. it was decent but not amazing. but they did have an amazing array of sushi, maki rolls, sashimi and handrolls – all made fresh with each order and then brought to your table. still, it was nice to go out to eat mid-week rather then have to cook and clean up dishes.

• we ended the week watching a live, professional lacrosse game downtown. when we first arrived at will call to pick up our tickets, we were told that they didn’t have our seats available for the section we purchased for. the girl actually tried to give us seats in the upper bowl section. we purchased seats in the reds – lower bowl and 2nd section behind the platinum rows. i wouldn’t have it. so after waiting for another person to hear us out and then for him to discuss with his manager, they gave us our three tickets. but we only realized how close we were to the field when we got to our seats – they gave us platinum centre… ROW THREE! the photo below is a bit blurry because we used doug’s blackberry – but it shows how close we were to the action.

Toronto Rock getting their ass kicked from Buffalo Bandits

• i got to squeeze in a couple extra yoga sessions which was in itself sheer bliss for me. my body felt it, though. they were not easy classes – both had elements of power yoga.

• we ended our weekend quietly but managed to go out for one more outing at the dog park by cherry beach. doug worked saturday, however, so i stayed up watching twilight – breaking dawn part 1. which was much more restful then doug who had four calls to go to overnight, leaving him with only, at most, two hours of sleep. the below is hobbes, cuddling up to a very tired firefighter (something hobbes is now getting use to):

"daddy - you're finally home! where have you been all this time?"

last autumn hike

these were taken last month on our very last hike before winter.

we don’t want to stop the hikes through winter – we’re just hoping to get some good deals after boxing day for some snow shoes.

pretty wet lands

hobbes loves the fresh air

changing colours of the meadow - still beautiful

chaeli stood where some deer had pressed the tall grass down

trail leading us back home

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.

a little witch and one sad lumber jack…

little mischievious witch

little scary witch

saddest little lumber jack ever

deep fried turkey, high park and a humidex

it’s the last surge of an indian summer with the humidex hitting 29 celsius this weekend.

gorgeous and glorious! i do pray for one more weekend like this before  the cold hits us – at least one more.

we had a wonderful feast at my parents’ place. everything was perfect! that turkey was deep fried and doug and i did an amazing job on the mashed potatoes and bread stuffing. my mom also prepared some honey-glazed yams which were a perfect addition to the rest of the food. plus, the pumpkin pies turned out great, too.

i was so full by the end of our meal and yet it was easy to nibble a little bit more here and there.

yesterday, the good weather continued with even more warmth and sunshine.

we spent the first half of yesterday at highpark – mostly at the off-leash walkway/trail and some of it at the zoo and playground. it was a last minute decision. i literally woke up and had to get everyone ready because i knew the park would fill up fast.

first, a quick stop at alternative grounds to get some organize and fair trade coffee beans (tasts better and is actually cheaper then starbucks). then a brunch at butler’s pantry.

both chaeli and hobbes had a blast!

a little creek under a bridge

chaeli climbing the playground castle

perspective from below

i believe this is a heron

happy kid - happy day

i spend the rest of the sunday doing what i enjoy most – lazying about and most importantly, getting a very well-deserved, long overdue, afternoon snooze.