I see your Elf on a Shelf, and I raise you a group of snowmen on the bathroom counter

After a fairly warm fall/ early winter, the world is suddenly covered with a thick blanket of snow and very, very cold. It looks very pretty and of course the children are delighted with the festivity of fluffy snow a week before Christmas, but … [Continue reading]

Snap back to reality

Oh, you guys, it is SO DARK. It's still a week away from the shortest day of the year, and the sun rises at 8:32 and sets at 4:28. There has been low-lying cloud and fog, and the other day I went to pick the kids up from school at 3:30 and the … [Continue reading]

My Orlando break from reality

Here's a fun way to lose weight and tone up those legs: walk 72 kilometers in 5 days. That's what I did this past week, on my trip to Disney World and Universal Studios. I'm going to just come out and say it: we have taken the kids on lots of … [Continue reading]

One of these days these feet are going to walk all over you.

I found out that Billy Idol just turned sixty this week, and when I mentioned my surprise to my husband, he was nonplussed. "Why wouldn't you think he'd be sixty?" he asked. "His big hits all came out in the early 80s." That wasn't what I meant, … [Continue reading]

Chocolate and no more moustaches

This week has been frantically busy and it's only Tuesday. Actually, it's only 6:30 in the morning, on Tuesday, but it feels like it should be at least Thursday. Not to mention it's December 1; I feel simultaneously like it's still mid-November but … [Continue reading]

Hashtag: Boner Killer

In lo, these many years since my children have been in the public school system - and even before that, when they were in a privately-run preschool - I have seen my share of Spirit Days. From Twin Day to Olympic Day to my much-loathed Dress As Your … [Continue reading]

Rod Stewart performs Sound of Music favourites, and other reasons to live.

This weekend I got so much done; in addition to all my usual things, I also made sugar cookie dough, gingerbread dough, gingersnaps, banana muffins, and squares. I cleaned the house and we put up the Christmas tree and decorations - no, it's not too … [Continue reading]