Ugh

Mika and I are sick.

You Can't Bring Me Down!

Gah! The madness. Saturday morning came far too early. Daddy dropped Mika off at Nana's and we prepared to start our day. Kerry and Damon came by in the afternoon and the work started in earnest. Damon is king of home repairs. I am queen of legacy hardware upgrades. Kerry and Daddy are cool too...:P While Damon fixed our walls, I fixed/upgraded systems. Frankensteined K&D's two systems into one and got my aunts almost finished. BUT..when I plugged the Mac back in...no worky! My bro thinks its just the CMOS battery and I hope he is right. Waiting to hear back from Westworld on the cost of a replacement. When it does boot, its slow and has kernel panics. Mika was up late on saturday night. Daddy picked her up from Nana's at around 10PM and she was up until about 11PM. We woke Sunday to a snot filled baby. Mika seems to have a sinus infection, allergy, or perhaps cold w/o fever. Her nose is seriously running, but that seems to be the only problem. It could be something that she picked up or it could be a reaction to grass or dust. All I know is that my Sunday consisted of mostly trying to keep Mika happy despite her grumpiness. I was supposed to hit the office and get some work done, but it just didn't happen. I wasn't feeling great either. Damon came back over for awhile to continue mudding, but didn't even stay for supper. Oh, and my internet connection was whacked for most of the weekend too. It sucked. It's like my life demands balance. Getting the walls fixed and stuff was too much goodness, so my Mac crapped out and the internet died and Mika took ill. Ugh. Even with all the lameness, it was still an awesome weekend and we thank Damon and Kerry HUGE for everything that was done.
Today was kewl too. Auntie Amber brought Uncle Dave over to meet Mika and me. Dave has our official stamp of approval because he rox. With an 'x'. Amber will not stop spoiling Mika. She brought treats including Mika's first Converse high tops (!), black AA onesie, red AA baby sweats, and the kewlest Paul Frank monkey skull and crossbones tshirt evah. We all spent the day at the mall and even though she was snotty and groggy, Mika seemed to have a blast. No one can shop quite like Auntie Amber can and Mika was taking it all in to torture me with later in life.

Both the weekend events and today's outing deserve a much better post than this, but I am feeling sickly and weak and tired. Excuses. Lame.

Mika said 'dada' tonight! She knows two words! I'm sure that she hasn't really made the connection, but we're working on it!

Amber: please take and send a photo of you and Dave in the matching trainers! :P

Dummy

D'oh..I forgot to throw out a shout to Jen for also giving Mika a Fisher-Price Hammurabi Tower toy!

Lesse...what else? Congrats to Tamara and Brenda on their new restaurant to be opened in Calgary's Kensington area this fall.

No thanks to Spartacus for leaving a dead mouse at out front door the other day.

Happy 27 Week Birthday, Mika!

Enjoy your new Padraig slippers! (Yes, Kris, I had to get them)
After being out on Whyte yesterday and NOT BUYING ANYTHING(!!), I ended up wandering over to the mall last night to find some winter footwear for the kidlet. Padraig slippers it was. Mika has long since outgrown her newborn sized pair..but they rocked, so we opted for more.

Badger Badger Badger

Rockin' Stroll

Please send me all of your money so that I can buy a Quinney Buzz stroller for Mika. Thank You.

These Days

Wednesday, Wednesday...what did we do on Wednesday? I think we wandered about in the rain because Mika was itching to get out and I was with her on that one. Later, Mika and Daddy took me to work for a while. They read news and chatted to Sheryl, the lady who cleans our offices, while I did mindless window config stuff.
Yesterday we had a treat of a day...we went to Whyte and met jenB and her freakishly cute daughter, Charlotte! Char is such a sweet little thing...it was hard not to steal her. AND she gave up one of her giggly smiles to me! I can die happy. We saw many cute things that the babies need...especially at Gravity..but hottopic online still has the best shoes..checkered baby vans! Of all the shirts and onesies that I could hear calling Char's name, none of them really shouted loud enough. I think Char needs a Paul Frank sock monkey doll. Be patient, Char...I'll find one! Jen kindly gave Mika the jolly jumper that Char has long since outgrown..Mika can now die happy too. Seriously..she loves the thing. Thanks again Jen! Jen, like her daughter, looks even better in person. She's hot. Her butt rocks. Can I say that about a woman I just met? I suppose so. Sorry Mom!
Jen gave us and all of our gear a ride over to see G afterwards. It's amazing how much was crammed into her car!
Of course, I was all freaky and nervous about things as I often am when I meet people for the first time. I think Jen and I need to leave the kids with their Dads for an evening and have that pitcher of margaritas that she mentioned...nothing like tequila to calm your nerves. Jen rules anyway though.
Today Mika and I are off to the market to get supplies for tomorrow's dinner. Daddy is going to BBQ up a feast as part of our "Thanks for fixing our plumbing disaster and subsequent rot" to Damon and Kerry. We have to run over to G's and have a quick visit when Daddy gets home from work and then off to Ikea to get some laminate hardwood for our closet floor. I'd like to do the whole room, but there just isn't time or space for that this weekend. Tomorrow will be some kind of mayhem. As will Sunday. Jeebus help me.

Monster Mash

Uh, yeah. I created a monster. For some reason, I thought it wouldn't hurt to let Mika taste the mashed potatoes I was eating for lunch. After all, she had already eaten two thawed carrot cubes, so it's not like she was particularly hungry. Two Mika bowls later and she is still sitting here demanding more. Smashing her toothbrush on the highchair tray and baby-birding at me like mad. Why do I do these things?

Life on the Edge

We made it to Whyte to meet Kristeen and Saoirse after all! The weather was crap, but we did it anyway. There's always the Varscona lobby to play in when you get tired of the rain. We wandered, and wandered, and wandered. It was great. I want to eat Saoirse in two bites, she's just too cute. And empathetically so! Whenever Mika made a mew or cried, Saoirse would start too. I felt bad that Kris' feet were wet...I'll have to remember to pack extra socks next time! Again, we had a fantastic time and are quite thankful for our new friends. While its easy to find kewl people online, real life is often full of twits. Nice to find someone online that easily transfers to real life too!
We made it back home just as Daddy did and it was off to the clinic for Mika's immunization appointment. She handled it all well...just a bit of screaming and crying after the needles, but was easily distracted by a mobile. Mika was entertained watching the slightly older kids toddle about and play at the clinic while we waited for 15 minutes to elapse after the shots. Mika kicked and squealed and giggled and seemingly can't wait until she is running around causing chaos as well. Mika's sleep was a little off, but that was the only side effect of the needles. Phew!
The weekend has been busy too. Kerry and Damon came over, we visited G and Nana, went out to Alcomdale to see the Gates family, and other assorted mayhem. Today we're dropping Mika off at Nana's after a visit to G. We're working out a trade system with K&D: Damon helps Danny replace some rotted 2x4's in the bathroom and we fix their computer, upgrade as we can, and give a few lessons on whatever they want. Or money...whatever works. We're going to head over there today and see what can be done. Tomorrow I have to go to work when Daddy gets home as time is quickly running out for this project and we don't even have the drives formatted, let alone the OS installed and everything else. Time to get my butt in gear. Good thing I work well under pressure.

Sweet!

Crocheted Baby Docs from Etsy

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Mika!

My bright and beautiful little baby girl is growing up too fast. Mika slept through until shortly after 7 this morning. What's up with that? It's madness! Sheer and utter madness! Mika is currently napping as I wait to hear from Kris as to whether we'll still be meeting today. Rain and wind can often make for less than pleasurable whyte ave walks. Then again, they can also make for pleasurable walks as there won't be as many people out. Mika goes for round 3 of her immunizations tonight. I hate taking her, but am too paranoid and dominated by murphy's law to not get her shots. Thankfully, Daddy always holds her for the needles. I am such a wuss.
Must make formula, fold diapers, throw Mika's laundry in the dryer, shower, pick up toys, etc. etc. - The usual routine!

Mika...I promise that we'll do something fun for your 6 month birthday, just maybe not today.

Glorious Day!

OK, it was a really good day, but perhaps not 'glorious'. Unfortunately, I cannot think of any other song title with the word 'day' in it that would work either. Bastille Day, Eric's Had a Bad Day, Every Single Day, One Day In Your Life, Day Tripper, Living For Today, In Between Days, etc. etc. Open to any suggestions. Er..anyway...

Mika's baby shower at Daddy's work was overwhelmingly fantastic. We thought it was just going to be a bunch of the ladies gathering in one of the board rooms to pass Mika around for an hour..a coffee and cake type of thing. This was a full-on shower! The fine folks at AADAC are far too kind and generous to Mika. We had an awesome potluck spread for lunch. One of those you-name-it-it's-there kind of spreads. Mika tried the tiniest drop of hummus. A treat from Daddy. Her face was priceless! She looked like a caricature of herself, eyes squinted, mouth puckered, nose and forehead scrunched and head twisted. I wish I had the camera on at the time. She reacted to all of the people as one would expect someone Mika's age to react: some she loved, some she freaked out on instantly, some she was indifferent to. The best was when Daddy's boss walked in and said hi to her. She instantly puked. He won her over later by letting her play with his blackberry. Daddy stood and opened a tableload of Mika treats. I felt all awkward because pretty much everyone there gave her a gift when she was born. I didn't really know what to say...so I nestled myself amongst the people at the table and let Daddy do all the work. :)
He hauled home a huge computer box full of stuff tonight and has more to bring home tomorrow. It's craziness I tell you. Like a shock and awe attack of baby gifts. Mika has many new clothes, toys, books, dishes, toiletries, bath stuff, and a picture frame. And a toysrus gift card that Daddy is not going to use for a playstation game! We talked to Daddy's coworker, Deniz, and might take Mika to hang out with his family sometime soon. Mika can meet their boys Ellis and Avery! Ellis is almost out of toddlerhood, but Avery is only 6 months older than Mika.
The doctors appointment went well. No lectures or anything and now I feel kind of guilty for thinking that the dr. would say anything negative. The doc was really pleased with Mika's development. Mika weighed in at 15 pounds even and is 27 inches long. She isn't very fond of the doctor, but she likes the tongue depressor things. It was over quite quickly and we went upstairs to visit Grandma at the office. We didn't last very long there either as Mika was fairly exhausted and needed a nap in a bad way. So bad that as soon as I put her in the stroller, she passed out. We made it home about an hour before Daddy did. Once he got in and Mika had supper, we were off again! Over to visit G and tell her about Mika's adventures. G had been sick earlier in the day, but was doing better by the time that we arrived. Mika's been asleep since about 8:30. She had but a wee poo today, so I am expecting a 3AM diaper blowout wakeup call.

Me and Mika

Me and Mika
Originally uploaded by Anna Karenina.

Yay Auntie Jenn!

Lucas and Mika

Lucas and Mika
Originally uploaded by Anna Karenina.

Mika with her Uncle Lucas at my Mom's place. She seems to always like his brightly coloured or high contrast tshirts. She'll be saying 'Codewarrior' and "Cyber Rights Now!" before we know it.

Behind The Wall of Sleep

Mika slept through the night! Again, I panicked at about 8 AM thinking she had somehow suffocated. She slept from just after 8 last night til 8 this morning. She was in the corner of her crib cuddling her kitty when I went in.
It's pouring rain and I have to take Mika downtown on the bus. She has her baby shower at Daddy's work, then a doctor appt., then a visit to Grandma.
Yesterday we went for lunch with Auntie Laura. She brought Mika two pairs of sleepers...Thanks Auntie Laura! Headed over to the cheesecake cafe again. Their menu is so extensive that I think almost anyone could find something that they like. Mika spent most of her time on Auntie Laura's lap. Mika digs bling. And Auntie Laura. Daddy came home from work and almost immediately went back out over to my office so that we could get the VPN setup and working. Mika and I stayed here and handled the client side of things. It looked as though we couldn't get it running until Daddy corrected a typo he had made on our ip. Yay VPN. Sadly, there I was at 10:30 checking to make sure the backups were running smooth at work. Some things never change!
Monday we just stayed in.
Sunday, we went over to Grandma's for a BBQ. Ted's grandson Mitchell was there and wanted to make use of their firepit for a weenie roast. In addition to Grandma and Grandpa Ted, Mika got to see her cousin's Alice and Jamie, and Uncle Lucas and Auntie Jenn! A good time had by all. For someone who isn't German, my mom can sure cook up the bratwurst. Boiled in beer even! Mika handled herself quite well this time. No major screaming fits! Though she does need to spend more time with Grandma.

Heart of Saturday Night

Mika had quite the day yesterday. She finally got to meet some friends and family that we hadn't seen since before she was born. First, we went over to Irene's parents' garage sale. Irene informed us that two of her girls were going to be there helping out, so we went to surprise them, even though we'll be seeing them next weekend in good ol' Alcomdale. Almost everyone from Irene's family was there, except Irene, Ian, and Coleen. Mika met Aunties Alice and Lou and Uncle Daniel, who was in from Saskatchewan. And *finally* she got to meet Katie and Jaclyn, who are as cute as ever even though they are quickly becoming all grown up. Mika checked out Jaclyn's earplugs, hair, and the patches on her jeans with great interest. My budding young punk! From the sale, we picked up Irene's stuffed raccoon, Daniel, for Mika as well as a Metis sash from Lou! The other kewl score was a Lego pen from Lou. I am sucker for anything Lego. Upon arriving back home, we realized how much we miss Ian, Irene, and the girls. Now we're looking forward to the visit next weekend even more!
Mika came home, had lunch, and a nap then we were off and running again. This time, out to Sherwood Park to Uncle Steve's place to meet up with Daddy's family. Mika finally got to meet her cousin's Leo and Amos! Er...1st cousins, once removed to be precise. Mika stared and stared and smiled and smiled at Amos. He is too frickin' cute for words, so it didn't surprise me that she was so taken with him. Uncle Steve suited up Mika for her first jolly jumper experience. She did really well, though she didn't jump much. Mika would freak out stomping when I told her to "Mosh it up", so that was pretty kewl. I couldn't believe how well she handled the crowd. Oma, Anna, Barb, Urs, Nana, Steve, Darlene, Leo, Amos, Jackson, and Lucas were all there. Doesn't sound like a huge crowd, but when they're all in one room, it can be slightly overwhelming, but Mika handled it like a champ! Smiles and giggles for everyone!
Today we're off in search of more organic produce to puree for Mika and then over to Grandma's for a weenie roast. Grandpa Ted's grandson, Mitchell, is in town staying with them and he wanted to make use of their fire pit with a weenie roast. Auntie Angie, Uncle Jim, and cousin's Alice and Jamie are going to be there too. We haven't seen them since Easter. Mika gets to play with the big girls today! I think Jamie is just over 2 and Alice is about 5 years old now.
Whew...so much for a relaxing weekend! I have managed to add a few more cd's to my iTunes collection this morning: 4 x Mudhoney, 3 x Metallica, 2 x Descendents, one more each of Bad Religion, Bach, Neil Young, Joy Division, The Jam, Agent Orange, and Arrested Development. 3979 songs and many more to go....

Happy 25 Week Birthday, Mika!

MIka was an absolute gem today, aside from a short crying fit on the way home from G's. Naps and bedtime were perfect. Twas a day of playing, singing, dancing, stories, and a damn fine bath for Mika. With the usual laundry and crap thrown in. I think that's just a given in any house with children. Or me.
Daddy got home and we went off to hang out with G for awhile and Mika was asleep by the time we got home. Sweet!
The Sherman girls were supposed to come by today, but they all have colds! So lame! They figure it was something picked up at the airport. Gross. They'll all be well soon and maybe we'll see them next weekend. Off to see the Gates' in Alcomdale next weekend too. Ah Alcomdale. I love the No Services sign as you pull up to the turnoff on the highway.
Danny's aunt and cousins are up from Eugene, so we're off to his bro's house in Sherwood Park tomorrow for a get together. Amos is turning 15, so it's a birthday party for him. He and his brother Leo are two of the coolest kids that I have ever met. Before we go, we're dropping in on the youngest two of the Gates girls. They're in town helping their grandparents with a garage sale. Jaclyn, the youngest, supposedly has her hair in a chelsea-hawk now and i wanna see it to believe it. By next weekend, it could be something completely different, so I'm off to check it out. Plus they haven't met Mika yet and that's just wrong!

The UpDate

Mika and I embarked on an adventure yesterday. We had a date! The lovely Kristeen and her beautiful daughter, Saoirse, met up with us at The Mall From Hell. I was late...nice. I would have been right on time had I remembered where to find the meeting place we had agreed upon. I went a bit too far down the mall and had to backtrack. Anyway, they were easy enough to spot because both of them have eyes that could double as lighthouses. Beacons of blue shining through the fluorescent lights! For two women who have never actually met, the initial meeting was smooth as golson. A quick "hey how's it going" type of thing and we were off in search of sale priced Robeez or other kewl shoes. I have always been a very tense and anxiety ridden kind of person, so of course I was sweating like a sow in heat over meeting someone new, but Kris was kind enough not to say anything about it, even after she thought I told Saoirse that her nose was big. We strolled all over that bloody mall and I think I only ran into Kris' feet, ankles, and stroller about 7 times total. nice.
Saoirse is as sweet as a baby girl can be. I *so* wanted to steal her. She and Mika sized each other up at first with the classic Maggie Simpson baby glare, followed by a staring session as the mama's strolled. Soon after, they were swiping at each other's faces with baby glee. After some puppy viewing at the pet store, Saoirse showed Mika how to stand on a bench using the backrest for support and they watched a bit of mini-golf. Daddy came to get us after about an hour as we had grocery shopping and cleaning madness to do before bedtime. The date was far too short. Kristeen is definitely the kind of person and mama that I appreciate. There are many odd little similarities between us that make the coincidence of finding each other seem less like a coincidence and more like being guided by the fates. I hope we get together again soon as I didn't quite get enough. I don't think Mika did either because she was holding on to Saoirse's sleeve with the baby death grip when it was time to go. Plus I want to try the seemingly addictive Starbucks drink that Kristeen had and will never ever remember the string of words used to order it without her help. Though, as the lady at the counter at the Starbucks took one look at Kristeen and rambled off the order "You want a {insert starbucks lingo here}, right?", I guess I could just go back and ask for the drink that the cute blond lady with the uber-cute baby in the jogging stroller always has.

For those who read Neetsirk, Saoirse seems neither too skinny or pale. She's just right for being Saoirse! And this time it was Mika who got the question from a stranger: "She's a girl, yes?"

Responsible Shopper

Oooh..I was checking out Todd's site and came across this link. Schweet! Todd rocks. Good luck with the move, man!

Thursday's To Do List

Aside from daily chores, like laundry, dishes, picking up toys, Mika duties, etc.:

clean fridge
wash kitchen floor
clean upstairs bathroom
wash Mika's bedroom floor
vacuum entire house
reorg attic so that loft is no longer a storage area
clean loft
dust everything
clean glass/mirrors
shower
meet kristeen at the mall :)
meet Daddy and go grocery shopping
come home and finish whatever I didn't get done during the day

If I have time, I'll consider something like eating. I managed to get through yesterday on 2 slices of toast and a few coffees. Not so healthy. When I saw that I had gained another 5 lbs. yesterday, the desire to eat kinda left me. I have had no energy whatsoever lately, even when eating normally. Ever since my milk supply vanished overnight, I just haven't felt good or right. I can't tell if it's mental/emotional or physical..or maybe a bit of each. Since the disappearing milk, I've had about a total of two weeks period free. I bled for an entire month prior to taking myself off the bcp's that the doc had put me on. (I'm convinced that the pill is what killed my milk so drastically) My body is still playing period peek-a-boo. I've been a big loser about going to the doctor about any of this because I'm scared that she's going to lay into me about the breastfeeding. I already feel like a huge failure about the lack thereof and don't want a lecture. Mika has her 6 month checkup next week, so it will all come out then anyway. The weight thing perplexes me though. I don't eat all that much and walk more than anyone else I know. How can I be gaining instead of losing or at least staying the same? Muscle weighs more than fat, but I don't think this is a case of me bulking up in the muscle department. Ugh. I dunno.

Then Mika does something like stick her tongue in my mouth as I am kissing her and I feel much better.

Small Change

Hrm...Audioscrobbler seems to have been absorbed by last.fm or something. Ah well..at least Daddy can still check up on how badly I am warping Mika with music while he is at work.

Mika sat unassisted for awhile today in her crib. I had to put her down for a few minutes and do the diaper pail deed. I thought she would flop over as usual, but she stayed up until she reached too far over. It was kind of funny to watch her because she'd start falling to one side and quickly put her hand down to steady herself. Over and over. Like some weird baby version of Dance Dance Revolution or something. Mika Weeble.

Later, she stood unassisted at the coffee table for a minute or so. I was trying to read to her, but she was more interested in the box of Things That Babies Should Not Have. I held her up to the edge of the table, she put her feet down and stood there wildly flailing at the above mentioned box.

Ant dropped by today with an invitation to his and Lori's wedding. It's a teaser invite because there's no way that we can attend their wedding, much as I would love to. It's happening in October on Salt Spring Island in BC. The reason that there is no way I can attend is that I am covering for him at work while he goes off to be wed. Either he goes to his own wedding or I go. Lori's both smart and hot. I'd marry her. Hmmm.....
Mika didn't want Ant to leave. She was holding onto his shirt, not wanting to let go. She pressed her little hands and face against the window and watched him go out to the truck and drive away. Then she turned and looked at me as though his departure was somehow my fault and that I had better do something to fix it. At least I know which office to drop Mika off at when I go in for the refresher training thing.

Monkey See, Monkey Doesn't Do

From what I have read, Mika should be imitating our actions and words. She doesn't. When I repeat words to her in an attempt to get her to say them, she looks at me like I am an idiot. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday trying to get her to say Mama to no avail. When Mika went down for a nap late in the afternoon, I could hear her through the monitor repeating the word Mama over and over again. All excited, I went in to see her. Mika clammed up and wouldn't utter a sound. Just stared at me like I was nuts as I excitedly tried to get her to speak again. I realized then that this was not the first time that Mika stored some bit of info away for later testing. The last time we saw Cousin Lucas, he was repeating the following: Ba Ba Ba brmbrmbrmr (raspberry sort of thing). It didn't dawn on me at the time (see why Mika looks at me like I am an idiot?), but later that day, she was making the same sound.
It would seem that she is storing info for processing at a later time. Executing her batch file at night before she goes to sleep. I wonder what she does with the action part of it though? It's one thing to repeat new words and sounds, but how is she processing the actions (hiding a block under a nesting cup, peek-a-boo, etc.)?

Freak Out!

A few of the things that sucked about Saturday:

PMS
Cranky Mika
Heat + Crowds + Loud Parades = Special Form of Hell
Mika Meltdown due to above equation
Losing Daddy at parade
Daddy moving car due to parking restrictions - the traditional meetup place if you get lost was lost too.
Being out of tampons

Things that didn't suck:

Finding Daddy just before I lost it along side of Mika
Going Home
Dinner (soy ginger chicken burgers)
Dessert (choco banana pocky)
Getting tampons

Today Mika spent two hours alone with her Daddy while I made a pit stop at work. I was impressed..there was only one stain on her clothes and he did a good job on the diapers. Mika also had her daily poop while in Daddy's sole care, so that kinda rocked too. Yay! Not my turn!
Both the work server and the new server were being fussy. We seem to be missing some software for the new one. At least I got the key from M$. At first I was surprised when someone answered on a Sunday afternoon, but then I figured that M$ prolly employs call centre people all over the world so that someone is always answering the phones. That was my only progress with the new server: obtaining the prod key from M$. Nice.
The only thing I did to Yoda (work server) was reschedule the friday backup. Explorer was crashing and I bailed and left Anthony alone with a fussy server. Nice. It was kinda weird to be back in the office. Nonetheless, within minutes I had taken over the laptop and chair and was back in my little work world. I even managed to splash yogurt and lettuce all over a couple of glass office walls and the hall carpet. Kinda like a tag...a "marina wuz here" signature. Clumsy nerd alert. It was sweet.
Mika was happy, playful, and bright all evening and went to sleep with little hassle. The sounds of her playing in that damn exersaucer are still echoing in my head. Mika loves smashing her rattles and cars into the mounted exersaucer toys.
She has this weird little toy that has a face with LED eyes on one side, a mirror on the other, and these teether ears. It has three features that baby can activate via buttons: flashing eyes, vibrations, and playing electronic classical tunes. It's kinda creepy and fairly annoying. Mika loves it. Three features, on and off, all day.

Meme Tagged!

gah! I've been meme-tagged by Chair!

id.i.o.syn.cra.sy -a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group

Write down five of your own personal idiosyncrasies. Then, if you wish, tag five people.

Uh...OK. I'll try to limit it to five:

1. Handwashing. Total OCD with the handwashing. Must. Wash. Hands. Constantly. As such, my hands are dry and crappy looking. All. The. Time.

2. Skateboard Love. Yes, I am 30 years old and am still in love with my skateboard. I don't ride it much lately given the extra 40 lbs. on my body and how it affects my balance, but love it I do. The deck is a Santa Cruz Jason Jesse Sun God. Hollow body indy trucks. Ancient Hosoi Rockets (92A) wheels and the best damn bearings ever. You spin one of those wheels and they keep spinning for evah!

3. Astrology. I make myself seem much more flaky than I think that I really am by constantly analyzing people and events based on astrology. Why? I just don't know. Must be something about being a Libra.

4. Folding Laundry. I blame this one on my mother, who has been known to iron sheets and pillowcases and teatowels and such. ANYWAY..the laundry in my house must be folded Just So. Except sheets. Towels follow the 1/3, 1/2, 1/2 rule. Pillowcases are 1/2, 1/3, 1/3. Tshirts must look as though they are ready to be put on display at the Gap or something. You get the idea.

5. Talking to Inanimate Objects. I talk to inanimate objects. They don't usually respond verbally, so I'm probably not as insane as this last item makes me sound. When I am at work, my coworkers often think I truly am insane as I try to reason with printers and copiers and servers and such. Thing is...it often works. A few kind words of encouragement to the colour laser and it stops jamming. A pet and compliment to the file server and it stops crashing. And so on. Ooh..and I saw this today and felt a little less insane.

I could go on and on. Fascinated, yet terrified of insects and other animals. Lights, mostly streetlights that turn off or on as I walk past them. Rewashing dishes that Danny has done. Yeah. I *can* go on and on!

Hrm...I don't think I know of 5 other people to tag. My brother prolly won't go in for this stuff. Neetsirk and Ant perhaps?

Happy 24 Week Birthday, Mika!

Oh Mika. You're almost 6 months old. What am I to do? You're growing and learning and terrorizing like mad. I wish you could stay as wee as you are now forever.

On that note, we're off to pick you up from Nana's. You've been there all evening while we went to the driving range and out for a nice dinner.

Summertime!

Our little vacation in St. Albert will soon be over. It's been great..and as my Mom predicted, we want to sell our tiny dark condo and move on up to a house. Now. It feels like too much to take on right now though. Fixing up the condo to make it "sellable" alone would be hella work. St. Albert is a nice little city. I think I prefer the Big City though. Easier to get around and a better recycling program. Mika has been enjoying herself too, even though her favorite items (gymini and exersaucer) are back at home. Mika's bed is in Auntie Serena's room. Auntie Serena is a virgo/libra cusp. Her room is the epitome of seaside cottage decorating perfection. Nothing spells perfectionist like a virgo/libra cusp! Everything is white and/or delicate looking. Now blemished with a bassinet. Serena's fancy lace throws on the bed are covered in a huge flannel blanket and change pad. On the first day, we were coaxing a frightened Selby out from under Serena's bed. A fancy white cat food saucer thing with a fresh heap of some super fancyass canned cat food placed on a perfectly aligned white throw rug in front of the bed. Selby came out, had a bite, and ran for other cover. Daddy brought Mika in for a change right after Selby bolted out of the room and, of course, stepped in the cat food and then down onto the white throw rug. I washed it and put it back and am hoping Serena won't notice a thing. I'll fess up to it later after Shawndee reads the backposts and rats me out to her sister. :) These are the kinds of things that you can get away with when you've been friends for over 25 years.
We will be going out to get fancy new cat food saucer things today. Daddy seems to have a thing for them. Last night he broke the same one that he stepped on earlier in the week. Pulled a glass from the shelf without noticing until too late that it had a smaller glass nested beneath. Smaller glass hit cat food saucer thing and shattered it to bits. Yeah. We're the best housesitters evah!

We've been lulling Mika to sleep with the 80's station on Galaxie. All those songs that I had forgotten and never wanted to hear again. Parachute Club? really. Sleeping Bag by ZZ Top. Eternal Flame by The Bangles. Hurts to be in Love by Gino Vanelli. I think you get the picture. Sadly, Daddy and I remember most of the lyrics to those damn 80's songs, so its easy to sing her to sleep. We're not so good at the 70's lyrics or current top40 or anything else on Galaxie, really. The poor child is stuck with us singing Bryan Adams and Honeymoon Suite. Or the Spoons! Oh the Spoons..that Romantic Traffic. Chalk Circle! Gowan! Heh...the Canadian content is killer. Sadly, I still enjoy the Platinum Blonde songs. Anyway, it puts Mika to sleep pretty dern quick. For the only way that she knows how to make. it. stop. is to go to sleep.

Mika is enjoying having her Daddy around this week. Two adults to cleanse, fold, and manipulate all day. We went for a walk on Whyte yesterday as we needed to get laundry soap from EGS. We stopped in at Nana's place to see how she was doing and to let Mika see her cousin Lucas again. Last time she saw him, it was meltdown mania. This time, she was delighted. She tried to smack his face and hug him at the same time. If she keeps that same attitude towards boys later in life, she'll do just fine.
Oooh..Mika spit up on her Dad's head this morning. It ruled! He was giving her a shoulder ride at the time. Luckily, he was wearing one of those damn bandanas on his head. Dude needs a haircut. We both do. (Amber? Are you there? We're trying to figure out how to get a Calgary trip in before the end of the summer. Sorry I haven't called you back yet either. Nice friend!)

Serena told me that there are many bigass black spiders in the basement here, but I have not seen a one. Saw one of those cute little black and yellow caterpillars though. The best critter sighting so far has been the wild canaries in the backyard.
We're cleaning up the place today...Daddy was just vacuuming with the crazy old upright Kirby. I'll be doing the stairwell and kitchen floor. Whee! It always seems easier/more fun to clean other people's places than my own. Even as a kid, I had no problem cleaning my friends' rooms, but my own was a permanent disaster unless my Mom flipped out and cleaned it herself.

Speaking of which, I have typed too much and cleaned too little this morning. Off to sweep!