Expand and Contract

Well there you go. My last post was in July. Figures as much. I was thinking yesterday that my personal tagline should be "expand and contract" or "all or nothing". Seems absolutely appropriate in light of my posting neglect.

I have had a lot going on in the last couple of months. I had a full two weeks of intense in-class coursework, piles upon piles of readings, daycare pick-ups and days of "what-the-heck-are-B-and-I-going-to-do-all-day". Meanwhile I was asked to work three days a week on contract, to which I accepted. So here I am, finally with 5 assignments out of the way and a stack of reading to do (which may or may not be neglected today); I am ready for a "me" day. Do you like the use of that semi-colon? I do too, thanks.

I may or may not update my badly neglected ipod playlists and go for a run today. I really feel like my body needs it. My body feels like it's in the "expansion" phase of expand and contract. Victor and I incidentally quit eating wheat a week ago, and we feel excellent. More clear headed and less grumpy, that's for sure. But we've since replaced wheat with things like corn tortillas, potatoes and rice. I'm not feeling like it's good for the waistline. And may or may not be good for the bowel system if you know what I mean.

The most important thing going on is that Bella is turning TWO YEARS OLD in a week and a half! It's unbelievable. Where did those two years go? So cliche, but it seems like just yesterday, she was learning to lift her little head.

Yesterday, as we were sitting at the dinner table, I asked her "did you play with Denny today at daycare?" to which she replied "no, I no play boys". Shock! She shocks me with these full sentences and thoughts. And especially her anti-boy sentiment at only two...which I had to explain to her that she should always remember to be nice (but inside kept thinking, you go girl!). Not sure if the "be nice" mantra is such a good one anyways. Truthfully, this girl is maturing way too quickly and I wish I could slow it down in someway. But that's her pace, and I have to keep up!

So her halloween extravaganza will see her suited up, baby giraffe style:

I must say, my favourite part of the day is picking my little giraffe up from daycare and seeing her smiling face and wide open arms saying "mommy". And to match, our nightime routine is up there in the top two: reading those books under a cozy blanket and "Bo", her teddy in our arms. The point where I turn off the light and we sing our song together "aruru mi nina" in Spanish. The same song my mom used to sing to me as a child. Except I changed the lyrics from "if you don't go to sleep, a coyote will eat you" to "if you don't sleep, you'll eat a piece of corn". To avoid those nightmares...am I right?

Tawit Tawoo

Oh me oh my oh. Here I am, posting from work for the first time. Typically, I don't even have time to say hello, let alone type out an entire blog post. But this summer, things are different. It's been about a week with much ado about nothing. I sit here thinking "can you spare a square?"...of work that is. And nada. So I tip-type away pretending to be busy when really I'm emailing a friend about that party on the weekend that was "off the hook" or "off the chain". I didn't really say that actually. I probably used the typical "ridiculous".

So anyways, as I sit here, checking my Aeroplan points and looking up my healthcare spending account balance, I wonder if I'm making the right decision to leave work. I've started fretting a little that we may not have enough money to pay a lease on an office space, and buy a copier, and pay for medical. This morning, Victor offered this "it costs about $6,000 a month to rent an office space on X street". WTH? Never even thought about it. The fact that I'm going to have to bring in about $10,000 a month to be comfortable? RIDICULOUS.

And so ofcourse, I'm not going to do anything about this worry but hope for the best. I mean, it's in two years time. And hopefully, when I'm off work, I can put together a stellar business plan that itemizes all these costs so nothing is a surprise.

And further to this having too much time on my hands to think, I've been getting on Victor's case a lot. Thinking of all the things that should get done, and actually saying "why the heck aren't they getting done?" Not good for the solid relationship front. Although, Victor takes it all in stride. He's a good man, my man.

And Bella, well I miss her much when I'm here with not much going on. When we could be at home together, or at the park or having a dance party in our kitchen.

Well, four hours down. Lunch time then another four to go. And only two more days of this until the weekend, hoorah!

Happy 134th Canada!

What a Canada Day it was. We started off at the mall of all places, where I had to return a few things. As we strolled through right at the moment of stores opening, we walked by the Apple store where a crowd had gathered. I said aloud to Victor "why the heck is that store always so packed? I don't get it? I mean, how many people on any given day can be in the market for a laptop or ipod?" Then all of a sudden, we heard a deep voice singing Canada Day. We looked in and saw that all of the staff were standing at the front of the store, singing, while a bigger dude in the middle, was leading the pack with his beautiful voice. It felt weird. I guess the anti-consumerism rants proferred on me by my dad were coming out on me. And it wasn't only me, but a handful of people in the crowd were all laughing at the ridiculousness of it. I had a good laugh to myself.

So we went about our day and made our way to H&M where further rampant consumerism ensued. I kind of love rampant consumerism right now.

After coming home for nap time, we made our way downtown, to...well honestly, to eat. The skytrain ride was a bit stressful as B is now scared of the tunnels. So we had a screaming child on our hands, who at the each stop would say to me really sincerely "I'm done mommy". It was kind of cute (not the screaming part), and we figure she needs to ride the skytrain more often to get used to it.

So we walked around the convention centre and tried ALL the food (chinese, portuguese, french, french canadian, italian). It was good times and an expanding waistline of fun. We walked a ton more and finally made it back to the stage to watch the Grapes of Wrath play a few songs. Bella was a bit tired but showed us a couple of her dance moves in the middle of the crowd. For the most part though, she protected her Dora doll from other kids who tried to snatch it.

And so that's it for now. And the diet starts today :)

Tantrums, tough times and things

Nooooooooooo mammy! NO!

That's what I've been hearing all week. It's been a symphony of no and throwing fits fit for a queen. Can't watch Dora? Screams. Don't want to eat more than two bites of toast? More screams with flying toast for further effect. I even heard the word "stupid" in the mix. And on top of it all? Her first real lie. After Victor put her to bed while I was out for dinner, B screamed "I poo poo daddy, DIAPER CHANGE". He went in to change her, and was met with a mischievous smile, and then a laugh when there was no poo to be found.

Excuse the poo talk by the way. It's just part and parcel.

We also had a few outings with screaming (and I'm talking, LOUD screaming to the point where an old lady had to cover her ears) just for fun. Like it's a game.

This whole business of testing the waters is trying on me. I'm not sure how to react. I'm a calm person, and like to use reason. But them rules don't apply anymore. The calmer I am, the more she tests my patience. The more I reason, the more unreasonable she is. And so I need to keep in mind that this is just a phase. And that we'll get through this. It's only when we're out of the house that things get really bad. So maybe we'll just stay in for the next year. But no, then she'll never know what is acceptable outside of the house and I'll have a tantrumy child on my hand for the rest of my life.

And the thing is, she's cute...and much of an angel. She's smart and advanced and sweet like candy. I love this little munchkin to the end of the world and back. So this phase? I can handle it. We just need to work together, become a team. Give her all the attention I can so we become a happy duo. I'll let her stop to pick flowers and not hurry her along so that we can make it to that birthday party on time.

And truthfully, she amazes me. I watch her with other kids and I see this young girl (no longer a baby) with as my uncle put it "enormous and exceptional self-possession". She's a leader, with immense confidence and a ridiculous sense of humour. And I want to encourage all of her amazing qualities more than anything.

Wearing an outfit picked out by none other than Queen B.

On another note, I've been on vacation for the past week and have never been so busy. After 6 months with no real vacation time, I booked myself solid with things that have been left off the list. I even got voted onto a board of directors. And am now slightly wondering why I get myself into things that take time out the things I really want/need to do in life. It always seems like a good idea at the time. Does anyone else do this? Do things they really don't want to do? I'm sure a lot of people do but sometimes I feel like my whole life involves a list of commitments. When in reality, all I really want to do is spend time with friends and my immediate family. And exercise ofcourse. In an ideal world, I would go for long walks and hikes with Bella and friends, shop and lunch, cook gourmet dinners with Victor and enjoy a glass of wine at night. And ofcourse, fit work in there somewhere. I guess we all need a good balance of things we want to do and things we have to do. But I tend to do things I don't have to do, but do anyways. Something to add to the list of "things I need to work on".

Tangent: Anyone else think "things" is a funny word? I do.

A Walk in the Park

Hey...ho...I'm back. Whew, this past week was kind of a rough one. I worked too much overtime and got in an argument with HR, almost died of strep throat (overdramatic, yes but the ambulance was involved at one point) and received a hefty tax bill in the mail. I've been mad face since Friday but am dealing. And as my Norwegian aunt says in a deep slavic voice "stop your complaining!" (when speaking about Canadians in general at a lunch we had recently).

I decided to deal by going shopping and buying myself a pair of badly needed shorts to enjoy this beautiful weather that we all expected to have all weekend. Unfortunately, the only glimpse of said nice weather was this evening, when B and I decided to take to the streets:

This girl is all about enjoying every single moment of life, even when life puts things up your nose. I think I'm going to take a page from her book of life and not sweat the small stuff.

We also took B to the aquarium for the first time ever on Saturday. And I must say, this girl is more interested in playing and interacting with all the people rather than really caring about the big fish. And much more interested in her goldfish crackers than the beluga whale show. She has an agenda of her own and I truly love it.

Remembering Pixie

I guess it's been ages since I updated y'all on life in casa Bella Vida. I had been so busy leading up to my grandma's memorial that I hadn't had a chance to post about it. It's now been a week since family gathered and remembered the life that was. It went off well, we chatted and nibbled and celebrated a fiercely independent woman's life. And here is the montage I put together to accompany the speeches (WARNING: I am posting this for Bella's sake when she's older...not sure it will be of any interest to anyone else):

The theme of all the speeches was that my grandma was unlike no other. She was a liberated, independent woman...a woman who "wasn't into mothering" but rather into living life to its fullest. She was a woman who never ran out of words in any situation. She was a man's woman...or should I say, she loved men and men loved her. Even in her care home, she preferred sitting with the men. She always said they were more interesting. And I remember the day she asked that I call her Pixie rather than grandma...not wanting to give away her age.

During the speeches, my brother kept walking in and out of the room, at times just poking his head in to say (loudly) "Linda, Victor wants to ask you something". Or "MA, can you come here?". Meanwhile, Victor was outside with Bella as she rapped on the window "Moooooommmy!!!". It's nice to be wanted but man, I just wanted to listen to the speeches. Overall though, it was great. You can't have a family gathering without some entertainment I guess.

Speaking of family, I feel badly for the mom dissing in my last post. She's actually quite an amazing woman but there are times where a daughter and her mother have issues, no? Can't always be perfect. C'est la vie and life goes on.

Now I better get back to vegging. It's been a tough week and Bella is mad ills. Like illa sick. She had popsicles for the first time today, which was fun. But that was the extent of fun. She's also been super snuggly which is the BEST thing in the world. Yet it's not because she wants to be, she's just too tired to squirm or squawk or push herself out of my arms.

That's it, I'm outtie. Ciao for now.

Missing easter bunnies, famous people and yikes, sometimes I dislike my mother

This post is going to be a mish mash of thoughts and goings-on in the past few days, starting with the build-up to easter. Victor and I had this plan to dye real hard boiled eggs for easter to avoid a chocolate binge. Mainly due to the fact that we both have a bit of an issue when chocolate is around and Bella seems to be catching on and being a good little chocoholic in the making. So we boiled some eggs on Friday in anticipation for a dye and decoration job on Saturday. We ended up doing the egg paint/decoration in a mad dash in the morning, then went out looking for an easter bunny for Bella to feast her eyes on. We had planned to go to a breakfast with bunny at our local community centre but found out it was sold out and that the easter bunny apparently wasn't coming anyways. Bella being none the wiser spent time at the playground instead. And Bella pulled out something new from her bag of tricks, she can now climb up to the slide and slide down all by herself. I was in mom awe.

Then Victor and I had a fun conversation on Sunday, we listed all the famous people we've seen in our lives. I reminisced to back in the old days when I used to go out after 9pm (regularly that is). I met Judd Nelson at the Cambie of all places. Judd of the Breakfast Club fame. A friend of mine called him over and he put his hand out to each one of us and said "Nice to meet you, I'm Judd". I really wanted to tell him that I wanted to french kiss him when I was 10 but I'm sure he hears that kind of thing all the time.

I also saw Ice T once while walking with a friend down Seymour. He was standing near a tree, with one of those nylon stockings covering his hair. We noticed that there was a guy to the left of us taking a pee in full view of our leering eyes. Everyone was deer in headlights. My friend, who was very Italian catholic said out loud "santa maria madre de dios" and made the cross sign. Both guys laughed and asked where we were going that night to which we both replied "home". I wasn't entirely positive that it was Ice T but low and behold, we heard that he was in town filming a movie shortly thereafter.

I also saw Hayden Christensen and Joshua Jackson standing on a street corner in London. I had just come out of a shoe store and was walking down a residential street and saw them both before me. I had my camera and thought "why not?" and walked up to them and asked for a picture. I was a bit more ballsy back then. They were both super nice and shared in my enthusiasm about being from Vancouver. They laughed at the fact that I still had a point and shoot film camera. I think I might have left them feeling a bit embarrassed...not by my camera but by my annoying fan-ness.

There are a few others but I think I'll leave it at that. I'm sure you'll really be interested in that fact that I met Mariah Carey's now husband.

Victor's famous people list involved soccer players only so it's not much to relay here.

I wanted to get to the fact that easter dinner was the pits this year. My mom thought it would be funny to be rude to me in front of her friends. She may have even said something which could be translated to "ugh, this girl never cares about anything". She completely disregarded my demand that Bella not eat any more candy. She also ordered my dad around like he's a little pup. He could care less and just goes with it, being almost 66 and used to it after 35 years. I guess I can never show her this blog now since I'm being so blunt but really, she really gets under my super thick skin. Sometimes I want to divorce her from my life but I know how good she is with Bella for the most part. And she is a good person inside, 60% of the time.

I really hope that when Bella is in her thirties, that she will enjoy spending time with me. I plan on doing the complete opposite of what my mother did in raising me and hopefully this will make all the difference.

Smile when you go over the bumps

I'm in the midst of creating a montage (or what my uncle keeps calling a "multimedia extravaganza") for my grandma's memorial. I've been scanning pictures and trying to find just the right music and transition sequence to make things just right. It's tough trying to capture someone's essence in pictures. But my grandma is a good subject because she was so true to her feelings and revealed a lot of herself in pictures, whether good or bad.

My grandma was a writer, painter and photographer without even realizing it. She was so talented but never really pursued her dreams until it was too late.

She always defined her career as the office manager at St. Mary's hospital in Sechelt. When I sat with her the day before her 93rd birthday, she grumbled about how the nursing home staff wanted to interview her regarding her life. She said "I really don't want to bore everyone". Or something to that effect. I ofcourse told her she was being ridiculous, but she just said "I worked at this very hospital...and I'm still here! How interesting is that?"

I can say with extreme certainty that her life was much more interesting than she let on.

Today, I came across this picture that she took:

She was an avid skier and grew up gliding down Hollyburn mountain. She skied until she was in her mid 70's if you can believe it. Her motto was "smile when you go over the bumps". Sort of a metaphor for life.

My grandma wasn't the kind of woman who loved to cook and clean. She was an adventurer. She travelled and met people from all over the world. She wanted to become a journalist when she was younger and was hired at the Vancouver Sun many years ago but turned it down after moving to Williams Lake to follow a man (an artist) she had fallen in love with (this being after she and my grandpa split up).

All her life is chronicled in a manuscript that sits in a trunk in our hallway. She attempted to have it published in her 80's, sending copies to editors and publishers...to no avail. I've yet to read it but have picked through many of her short stories, letters and various diaries that reveal a new layer on every page.

I am so proud to have had such a woman as a grandma and am so glad that she chronicled her life for me to see. Maybe not her intention but priceless nonetheless.

My grandpa and grandma. Speaking a thousand words.

Bummed

My bum feels totally violated. And no, not in that sense. Now let me tell you why:

I was on a packed skytrain on my way home from work and this guy behind me kept pressing his bum up against mine. I kept trying to move forward but he would just move back further. So I start pushing against him and he wouldn't budge. It was like he was enjoying it! This all started just before Main St. station and mine. I really couldn't tell if he was doing it just because he was squished and couldn't move...so as soon as I was able to turn around (I had three massive guys - completely unrelated to the bum guy - standing in front of me...I was essentially blocked in!) and check, I did. And he turned and looked at me so it was super awkward. When I looked back, it clearly looked like he had enough room to at least lean forward to avoid the bum rub. By that time, it was already my stop and I got off. I felt like I should have said something but I felt like I had nothing concrete to say other than "stop touching your bum to mine!".  I felt so violated by the whole exchange that I called Victor right away and told him I was going to shower when I got home! I shivered at the feeling of his bum against mine.

I guess, in our society, we are so used to having our personal space. And even on a packed skytrain, I think most people try their best to avoid completely invading someone else's space i.e. having the important body parts not touching. So it seemed completely obvious that this guy was really trying to invade my personal space and even violate it. I was totally bummed on the skytrain. And now I'm having a glass of wine in hope of that not ever happening again.

Victor, by the way, asked me if I want him to find this guy. Even though I was grossed out, I think it was innocuous enough to avoid my husband giving him the bum's rush :)

My favourite things:

Dew drops on cocktails and tanqueray sippins'. Hmmm...as cheezy as that was, I'm attempting to express my newly recovered joy of actually going out on a Saturday night. I've been out for drinks two weekends in a row and I'm diggin' it. Last night was drinks at Chill Winston, with Biiiictor and a couple of friends. Last weekend was a well-needed girls night (even though an early one!) with Rawbean. I think Linda's getting her groove back.

Other favourite things? Let's bullet this:

• Lazy sundays with good coffee and cute babies.
• A husband that loves to cook and clean up the kitchen.
• Brown paper packages tied up with string (I just had to because, well who doesn't?).
• Warm sun on your back while you read a good book.
• PVR'ed Bethenny, RHOC and Holmes Inspection.
• Breakfasts with eggs and potatoes.
• Walks to the park with crisp wind that settles.
• Watching Bella clap and "yay" the loudest in Sunday gymnastics.

And finally? The fact that all my favourite things are for the most part intangible.

To-do list obsession

I have to admit it. I'm an obsessive to-do list maker. I seem to have a to-do list a hundred pages long on a daily basis. I pepper my day with "I have to make sure I do this..." and "I better get this done today...". I write it all down in my day planner, on my blackberry, on receipts and scattered notebooks. It's "go for a run", "clean the bathroom", "read chapter 3 and finish two assignments", "order flowers for grandma's memorial", "get Bella's teary eye checked out", "buy milk". SEE? I'm so obsessed that I totally just to-do listed on my blog!

You know the truth behind my to-do lists? I never get anything done. I write it down to get it off my mind, then forget about it. My tasks go into the list abyss.

I'm not sure what I can do to fix this. Maybe I just need to do less rather than try to accomplish too much. Maybe I'll actually get things done if I stop loading up.

My mom has started taking a yoga and meditation class everyday and said to me "just breathe and slow down". Even though I rolled my eyes at that, I think that's going to be the first thing on my daily to-do list from now on.

Pig Roasts n' Cuddles

The past few weeks have been those kind of weeks where you write a post and then save it to finish later. Resulting in a backlog of unfinished posts which I have decided to post post-humously (fun pun?). So here goes:

This past weekend, we went to a big pig roast party. And what came out of the whole thing is that I decided to quit eating meat...well, I mean the non pesca variety of meat. So formally, I'm embarking on a new eating adventure which is extremely exciting. And which may also result in a less expensive grocery bill!

But my real point about the pig roast is that day-by-day, Bella just amazes me. She is the happiest, most vibrant little babes. Ofcourse any mother would say that but I am really in awe of her personality beginning to shine. She spent a fair amount of the night in the middle of a huddle of adults and became the entertainment. She danced for us, sang for us, did a lot of "how big is Bella"  and pretended to make tortillas (my mom can take credit for that one), which everyone got a kick out of.

Here she is gettin' super jiggy with it:

This mothering thing just gets better and better every day. And I'm not even complaining about being woken up at 6:30 EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE FOR THE NEXT I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY YEARS.

Truthfully, I would give up any amount of sleeping in for even just a day spent with Bella. Even though I caps'ed that sentence above, it's really not that bad.

Today, I woke up to hear B singing in her crib. I picked her up and we cuddled on the couch for a bit. And something about it just made me feel so darn happy. Cuddles tend to do that.

Back in time

I feel like time is moving like a G6. Or flying like a G6. I can't keep up these days. There's this guy that I sit close to at work who is probably, let's say, 22. He listens to music while he works and we make jokes that he's listening to Jay-Z. And I think, isn't Jay-Z for the old folks like me? I think nowadays, Far East Movements, and whipping your hair back and forth are way cooler. I could be wrong on that last one.

So I'm attempting to study after putting the banana to bed. But by the time I'm ready to sit down and crack open the books, it's already 9:30 and I'd rather be sleeping. This has become my life as of late. This makes me want to turn the clocks back to those days when I would come home from work and eat a quick bite to race to get ready to go out, all fresh and new. You know that feeling when you were on top of the world? Young and spry and full of life? I listened to a friend of mine describe her most recent Saturday night where she hung out at a music studio, drank wine and sang music with boys and guitars. The night unfolded to drunk friends and ridiculousness. I told her I felt like an outsider listening to her story, like "tell me more" with my face pressed up against the glass. Those days are so shiny in my mind. Big hoop earrings and ridiculous nights with wine.

Can you see up my nose?

I can't imagine going back there...back in time. Or maybe I can. I think that maybe I would appreciate it more. Back then, I used to wonder if  there was "more to life than this", those late nights, dancing, dressing to impress. And there certainly was. There most definitely was more to that. There is being a mom and using every last corner and curve of your heart to love that little being that laughs and giggles at the stupid things you do.

But I still wish that once in a while, Victor and I could get out and drink some wine and enjoy each other out of the confines of our four walls x 2. Thing is, I find it so hard to make the effort. And not just with Victor but even any late night event with friends just seems too much. And then I fear the hangover the next day...that lazy, dull feeling. How can I ever make B laugh or clean up that last thrown spaghetti strand off the floor with patience if I have a pounding headache? It's tough, this mom thing. Worn out from work and wanting to unwind yet unwinding means laying on the couch for a measly five minutes before cracking open a book or emptying the dishwasher. Most times, unwinding means singing and signing itsy bitsy spider and head and shoulders, knees and toes.

I know that other parents do it - have nights out once a week or some crazy thing like that. I just can't see how. But I wish for the desire to just do it. And I wish I may, I wish I might.

Sour face

Victor just introduced me to a Chinese remedy, given to him by his new friend. It's a bitter tea that has left me with sour face for the last hour. I can't get rid of sour face. My forehead is in a constant state of furrowing. I tried shaking it off in front of the mirror but it's still there.

Anyways, I don't know what the tea is called, but I'm going to nickname it "bile". Apparently, it increases energy, improves your mood and cleans out your system. And even though I was sceptical, I totally feel it. And I only drank a half a mug full.  I might get hooked, but only if it doesn't cause forehead wrinkles from all the furrowing.

So in completely unrelated news, Bella is in love with earrings. See example here:



My little gypsy


Anytime she sees anything resembling an earring, she puts them up to her ears and cries for me to put them on. She's 16 months going on 16 years.

I got my ears pierced when I was right out of the womb. And I think I must have moved while they were getting done because one hole is lower than the other...so much so that there's really no lobe to hold earrings on my right ear. So I think I'm going to wait to get B's ears pierced. I want to make sure she's ready and willing before we take that step. Definitely to avoid lop-sided earring holes.

So as you can tell, this was a post to "just post". I have limited material today.

Accepting acceptance, big life changes and coffee shop pick-up lines

As you can tell by the above title, I was accepted!!! I realize after writing this that I never really divulged what I was applying for or for that matter, what I was hoping to be accepted to. So here goes: I was accepted to a master's program that I have been living and breathing and eating and sleeping. I have been immersed in a crazy amount of desire, buckets of it actually, a desire to be accepted into this program that I believe will change my life. And two days after my interview, I was told that I'm in! Immediately I was insanely elated. I was at work when I found out and all I could do was sit at my desk and smile. For 3 hours. I texted Victor and emailed a couple of friends. Then just sat there for 3 hours working away and not being able to concentrate.

Then you know what I did when I got home? I started to let doubt seep in again. I started to think "do I really want this?" "Maybe this isn't actually what I want to do." Then "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?" Typical me, after receiving good news, I celebrate first for a short while, then start to doubt with a smidge of fear. Funny being I am. But I've reconciled with myself and everything is good. I'm still a little fearful because I have a couple of difficult years ahead of me, but all in all, I'm in a happy place.

With this news comes some big decisions as well. The master's program requires me to devote 40 - 60 hours a week to my schoolwork. So that's like 40 - 60 hours on top of having a full-time toddler and job. It's tough to even imagine how I will cope...so Victor and I are thinking of some ways to manage this. And we'll leave this discussion for later.

So amidst the good news and celebration, we also won $75 on a lottery ticket on Saturday! Which was super well-timed because we had planned on going on a little road trip over the weekend. We drove up towards Whistler and stopped in Squamish. Had coffee and met a super cute couple with a baby. It was strange, because we talked for only a little while and I realized we had a lot in common. Then, Victor, B and I went back to the car...and I said out loud "I should have given them my number or facebook or something". And Victor said, "why don't you?". So I kind of boldly walked back in and gave them my facebook "handle" and email address. I totally just picked up a couple in a Starbucks. It definitely felt like I was asking them out on a date. But they seemed cool with it. I mean, they could have "wtf"-ed to each other after I left, and I may never hear from them again. But c'est la vie no?

And now I'm going to get ready for bed...10pm that feels like 9pm but really feels like 11pm to me. Good night!

As you shoot through the sk-y-y!

After my interview, I went for lunch with a friend and was ECSTATIC. I felt relieved, proud and giddy at the same time. I felt like I really nailed it. Then doubt started to set in. We went shopping at H&M and all I could think was "why didn't I say this?" or "why did I say that?" as I flicked through racks of flowy dresses. Then my mom called and asked if I asked them what they thought my chances are. NO. I didn't. That would have been a great question to expand on and respond to any concerns they had. I hate the aftermath of interviews. All you can think of is how you could have done better.

Despite this, I think the interview went well...I felt like I was on my game. For the most part.

And so while I drove home, I decided to play the crystal ball radio game. It's silly but I'll ask a question in my head, and turn the radio to a random station. I'm sure you can guess what I asked. And you know what I got? Katy Perry's "Fireworks" verse: "As you shoot across the sky...baby you're a firework...come on let your colours burst...".That put a smile on my face...because all in all, I'm pretty sure I really was on fire.

And so now I wait for 2 months to find out if they chose me out of THREE HUNDRED applicants. Yikes, now I'm more nervous than I was before the interview.

BUT the cutest thing of all? Was when I was trying on my suit for the interview and Bella looked at me and said "spicy!!!".

Where ya been?

Hola amigos! I've been keeping a low profile lately...and mainly just working and working and a little more working. Which has left me pooper scooped by the end of the day.

Do you ever feel an aversion to your computer when you get home? I do. The last thing I want to do is sit down and write when I spend most of my day doing the same. But I love this blogging game and I need to commit.

So anyways, I guess since I last posted, I've aged two months. And so has my little bean burrito. She's now of the jumping variety as well since I enrolled her in gymnastics! What fun! Although, I spend most of the time sweating from chasing her around the gym. While the other toddlers sit and listen to the teacher, B is making a b-line to the trampoline...or the balancing beam...or the BALL PIT. Caps necessary because apparently it's the most exciting thing since sliced bread. The good thing is that I get a bit of a workout on those early Sunday morning classes.

And so back to me. I have an extremely important interview on Monday. One that will determine my future for the next couple of years. And all I can do is bite my nails. I had planned that this weekend would be all about prepping for my interview. But so far, I've cleaned the apartment, bought groceries and helped my mom get back into her place after Bella dropped her keys down an elevator shaft! And now I'm totally exhausted and ready for bed at 8:16pm on a Saturday night.

Oh also, I saw the movie "Just Go with It" last night and loooved it. I could have been easy to please as I was tired and brain dead. But it was a good light-hearted and funny (yet completely unrealistic) movie. Adam Sandler at his best with just ridiculous (but not overly cheesy) slap stick humour.

The movie date all started after V and I had made chicken and corn tortilla fajitas. My mom was over as she was locked out of her place. We thought it was the perfect opportunity to get out together. So we picked a movie randomly and drove out to Riverport theatre in Richmond. When we got there, we were both so tired and thought (aloud) that maybe we should just get popcorn and play some video games. But the popcorn just didn't feel right without a movie in front of us. Hence the reason why we ended up buying tickets. The movie ended at 11:40! It was a late nite at casa nostra to say the least. And now I'm posting when I really should be in bed, to make sure I get my rest for the big day on Monday.

So buenas noches!

Complaints Department

So I must have some sort of magnetic ability to induce seizures or something. Last Friday, I was on the skytrain tired and annoyed about my morning commute when the passenger beside me started leaning into me. Then she started convulsing. On me.

After helping her sit down and pressing the yellow emergency strip, it came to me that that's two seizure incidents in a matter of two weeks. I think some people go their whole lives without witnessing a seizure. Crazy.

Then the weekend was a mess of me lying on the couch wishing I didn't have BRONCHITIS. That's right bronchi-kill-me-now-tis. And Bella either gave it to me or I gave it to the poor girl. I feel like a sick magnet (seizure magnet...everything horrible magnet).

And to top it all off, my brazilian blowout didn't turn out like I had hoped. My under hair (I don't know what to call it but anyone who has curly hair would understand) is super nice with defined curls, but my top hair is stringy and frizzy. And I kind of look like Larry of Larry, Curly and Moe. OR Krusty the Klown. So the outlook is not good on the growing it out front as I may need to cut it short to survive this haircut.

Further complaints:
I don't have enough clothes (that fit) to last me a full work week.
I can feel a pimple coming through on my top lip.
I just scrubbed the floors yesterday and they're dirty again.
I can't stop this nasty hacking cough.

On the brightside:
It's payday week.
Bella is getting better.
Christmas gift cards!
My throat's not sore anymore.
Kettle corn!

Seizures, Cooped Up Inside and Bump-It's

I haven't posted in a while, mainly due to Christmas and New Year's and all things festivous.

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. We even had a mad rush to the children's emergency ward as Bellita had a febrile seizure which scared me senseless. Then a fever, then a rash. It's funny how life is, perfectly healthy one second and then all of a sudden, BAM! SEIZURE, FEVER, RASH. Out of nowhere.

We've had to stay in for the last few days because of her fever. So now I'm feeling like a caged animal. Just seeing the sun hit the roof tops outside my window is enough to make-a-me-crazy. I think I might take B out today despite doctor's orders.

I also had my hair done yesterday and need to show it off. You can't get your hair done and then stay inside. The world needs to see it, no?

The "gettin' my hair did" experience was very funny. From start to finish the story is quite funny from all aspects. You see, I had been wanting to get a Brazilian Blowout for a while but couldn't justify spending $300 on my hair. So I was excited to see a Brazilian Blowout special on LivingSocial (a local company that sends you daily offers/sales/coupons via email) for $150. I finally made it to the salon (they were booked for weeks) and the experience was AWESOME. I walked into a Jersey Shore episode. The girl that did my hair was 18 years old, tanned in January, had a bump it (I SWEAR) in her hair, and fake nails that were sparkly and long. I was a little worried in the beginning but she knew her stuff. And assured me that the Blowout isn't as bad chemically as it used to be...they used a keratin solution and required no masks or anything. It was simply pure protein applied to my hair, then blow dried and ironed out.

I was in the salon for 3 hours and got to witness a loud silver-haired beefy Italian guy go in for a 20 minute tan (they also have tanning). To add to the entertainment, the girl doing my hair divulged that she had the "hots" for one of the clients...who came in shortly. I had to sit right beside the guy as they flirted. Well not really flirted, but I could feel the sexual tension. They actually didn't talk directly but talked through the other stylist (who had told him that my stylist thought he was hot). Wow, I feel like I'm in high school after writing that sentence. Was totally uncomfortable yet hilarious to witness. And in the end of all this delicious entertainment, I ended up paying another $150 dollars (expecting to pay only $65 for products) due to the length of my hair, taxes and additional product that I decided to buy. So in total, it added up to the $300 I would've paid at another salon. But without the added entertainment. It was so good, that the RHNJ marathon didn't seem as interesting when I got home.

And so we'll see how my hair looks in three days, after I get to finally wash it and see how the curl turns out.

Not much of a reflective New Year's post...and there was not much going on on New Year's Eve to tell a tale of. We spent the night with a sick little princess, ate lobster, crab and shrimp for dinner, tried putting the bean to bet at 8:30 but she partied until almost 11pm. We were exhausted after that and decided to just clean-up and go to bed by 11:30. We were still awake at 12 and gave each other a New Year's Eve kiss, said "Happy New Year" and then quickly fell asleep.

And Christmas melted my heart with Bella walking around and dancing, entertaining the crowd:

Happy New Year to you! And to all a good night!