Some days I will curse this

We have Signed the contract and Paid the deposit.

Deal closes in September.

Seems we are property owners in


SPAIN!!!!!!!

(Breathe in through the nose, and out through the mouth.)

Huh?

Sleep? What's that?

Blog? DO I have a blog? I thought I just had work and work and working on selling the house.

Life is progressing at a crazy pace....

More later.

For Beth and Beth

Went on another road trip...off to Kingston to meet the kids and their bud from the cottage...in light of the vast road trip and the Via rail strike, our friend decided to drive that far and meet us....

SO

We stopped and played mini-putt which was pretty cool, though honestly, 18 holes are too many....and then we went to......Bullwinkle BETH.....this one WAS for you, I actually totally went there for you......to Arbys for the very first time in my life and I had a cheddar bacon roast beef sandwich....and for Burkina BETH I had a Dr. Pepper!

Thinking of you ladies.....

The road trip was fine, though I hate driving....hate it.

Kids are washed up, laundry spinning, the dishes can wait till tomorrow thankyouverymuch, now to wait for the younger ones to crash and I'll walk the dog.....

OH, and I talked to Youngest about the camp debacle, she is annoyed with them and sad, but not crushed, and is pretty content to go to the previous camp....mature. I'm impressed.

Camp update.

The camp with that form I was talking about was the Toronto Raptors Basketball camp, so the coverage and use of the images etc etc etc. could have been extensive. I am told there would have been media there at the opening of camp, and the kids would have been in a photo shoot on both the Monday and the Friday. Uniforms provided, and they are required to change into them for the shoot.

I was given two choices when they finally responded after I sent a follow up e-mail. I could withdraw my child and they would refund my money, or they could attempt to run the process and keep her behind the cameras. I asked how much filming would be going on - virtually continuously - and how she would be able to participate meaningfully in the program. He didn't have an answer for that.

Can you just see how much fun that would have been for her? OK...Youngest's turn for the drill...cameras off...., OK youngest, you can't do this drill till everyone is finished, and you don't have a partner cause we can't film you! Oh, and don't speak while we are filming either.....

Seems to me that this is more of a marketing event than a camp. The form was certainly designed to protect the marketing rights of the organisation with no concern for the rights of the children.

Sad.

She won't be attending.

I haven't had a chance to tell her that. SO looking forward to that conversation.

Some folks have cojones

Get a load of a section of a parent release form I am supposed to sign for a camp for my kid.

It is to a prominent camp with large advertising campaigns.

(Adjusted slightly for brevity and legibility, bold is my own)

I, the parent, grant the camp permission to collect and utilise information on my child and to collect and use my child's name, voice, statements, photograph, image, likeness, actions at the program and biographical data in any live or recorded form (including but not limited to, any form of video display or other transmission or reproduction), in whole or in part, for promotional, commercial or any other purpose, in perpetuity worldwide on standard and non-standard television, home video, print, electronic and on line media (including, without limitation, the Internet) ...... I hereby give permission to (....)and their officers, directors, governors, owners and affiliates to collect and use (my child's) contact information inc name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.... blah blah blah.

Can you image?

These are kids??????

Just how stupid do they think we are? The stunning thing is that lots of people will sign this.

I sent an e-mail stating that I will never in any way sign, agree to or give permission for this section. I then asked if that will impact on my child's ability to participate in the program.

I've had no response.

tick tock tick tock

My computer is so slow, I am going to write at work tomorrow.

Hope you had a great day...mine was insane busy, but good. Signed the forms to get the house here on the market, talked to the man about a new offer on the house in Spain, and went out for dinner with my Mom...

SWEET!

and scary.

Cheers everyone!

O

So many Chuck stories, so little time!

Chuck the Barfing Dog Goes to Ottawa.

Thanks to the wonders of modern pharmecuticals, he didn't barf. He did have a LOVELY time running through the woods sniffing a million animal smells and discovering what chippies are.

He also slept in a tent.

He didn't think that was such a good idea. You see, here is my theory. He was abandoned and had to live on the street, so I figure he likes that roof, walls, house idea quite a bit. He got into the tent happily enough, but when I zipped it up? Whining and pushing against the walls. He whined for an hour and a half straight. Honestly.

Then he resigned himself to his fate in lowered and more vulnerable circumstances and went to sleep.

Can I add that sleeping with the dog is somewhat overrated.

BEDHOG!

Woke at 4 am with my legs bound in place.

Kick kick, flail flail!

He had a lovely morning running around sniffing at things, then he found a nice juicy cow pat; 10 minutes before we were to leave to drive back to TO.

Rolled in that sucker but good.

Got thrown in the lake.

Have I ever mentioned that he HATES water?

Not a happy puppy. Less happy as I went to throw him in the second time to rinse the soap off. Poor thing. Then we still had to rinse some more bubbles off with a bucket.

Gave him a gravol...man those things taste bad....and we drove and drove and drove home again.

The car smelled like wet dog the whole way home.


Think I'll be taking the train next week if I can work it out.

Poor pooch.

Eeeekkkk

Enmeshed in negotiating for the house in Spain!

At the same time, Chuck has his chin on my shoulder and is whining gently while wagging madly.

Cross your fingers for us, and I'll see what I can do about letting poor Chuck uncross his legs.

Road trip!

I AM CAUGHT UP!

I am finding the schedule here is a little restrictive...blogging at all? A challenge.

Reading blogs and finding out what all you lovely people are up to? Challenging too.

I have actually gotten through my reader, though I will admit to not having read every single one of your updates, though I have read the most recent. A girl can only do what a girl can do...human and all that.

Giant road trip this weekend, with the girls and Chuck the barfing dog and a complete stranger too boot....should be SO much fun. (um, maybe NOT) I love a good road trip, don't get me wrong, but this sounds like it is going to be a doosey...

Wish me luck.

7 to 8 hours in the car.

Have I ever mentioned that my kids HATE being in the car? Hate it.

Ho hum.

Last time we did this drive I ended up standing on the side of a road in rural Quebec screaming at eldest and threatening to make her walk the rest of the way. Her behaviour had not been exemplary either.

Oh the joys!

Advertising

On one of the radio stations here in TO, specifically on Virgin 99.9, I will name names, are running a new ad for an amusement park who I ethcially refuse to name.

It is disgusting.

The audio on the ad is a deep agressive man's voice, speaking to a woman as her rapist.

charming

The first time I listened to it I was so transfixed by horror that we listened right through. To my neverending delight I had eldest in the car with me. There was a pause after the ad ended, and we both voiced our stunned confusion and sheer vomitous repulsion at this ad.

She is even faster than me at turning off the station, and I have to confess, we won't be listening much longer if it goes on.

It is one of those moments that makes me lose faith in humanity. That an ad like that could be conceived, then approved, and made is simply terrifying. Can you imagine sitting around thinking up ideas and actualy having the nerve to say, "Hey, why don't we simulate a rape on air, that'll really bring them in!" And it got the go ahead!?!?!

That a radio station consented to run it and that they think it will sell.

There really are people out there who can at best be described as creepy. Worst? Don't want to go there.

God some people are repulsive.

Honestly repulsive.

May my kids never come across any of them.

Nobody's kids.

Wishful thinking. We already are coming across them every time that ad comes on.

Makes me want to spew.

Teen comments

Random comments,

Even the most jaded teen with purple and black dyed hair, all black skull clothes and a big fat pout on her snout can still go "aaaawwwww" at my cute dog, with her Dad, in public.

Teenagers live in an alternate universe where it makes sense to be the last to take something out of a trunk and forget to close it; where being asked if your towel is dry has nothing to do with the fact that it is the towel you need for swimming and should be put into your bag for the day.

They also live in a universe that notices that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not allow for gay marriage, maybe....the book we have here says, "All men and women have the right to get married and start a family, once they've reached a certain age. It doesn't matter what race, nationality or religion they are. A man and a woman can only get married if they both want to."

Now, it doesn't actually say that men cannot marry men, and women cannot marry women, but it does imply heterosexual marriage.

Maybe teens live in a universe where they are looking at the big picture and not really sweating the details. Their Moms and Dads are still around enough to keep the ants/rats/pestilence away when they never do dishes, and to make sure they have the towels for swimming, so they get to focus on the good stuff.

Like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Teens are pretty cool.

They are also just a little bit weird.

Cheers,

O

Back to regular programming...

Hello everyone!

Monday morning and all seems to be fairly well. That is indeed, a good thing.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, we hung out at the boat and got a little bit done and a bunch of napping which was absolutely lovely.

I do want to know though, why is it that so much asian food seems so much more like food. We went for Vietnamese Phò last night, man I love that stuff. It is a meal that totally agrees with the food guide, it is lovely and light and flavourful and not greasy....

So very very good.

Oh, now I am all hungry again.

I also want to know what it is about driving that makes me so crazy. I HATE driving. Hate it. hate it hate it hateit.

Anyone else out there?

Can I also add that teenagers can be hilariously harsh.

HARSH!

Happy thoughts going out to you all, be glad you're healthy!

Life is good,

Have a great one,

O

Getting there....

Today is the first day I have really felt a bit like myself, some energy, the old brain seems to be firing up again, and I actually feel like talking to people a bit rather than curling up in a corner and rocking back and forth quietly.

That is indeed A. Good. Thing.

Another good thing is that we are going to head off to the boat despite the universally dreary forecast for the weekend, we don't anticipate getting much done tomorrow, indeed I don't anticipate getting much done at all, but it should be good, even if we just lie around and read a lot.

Lunch today was LOVELY.

I know some folks don't like eating alone, especially in a restaurant. It has never bugged me.

Today I knew exactly what I needed. Japanese food. Only choice. Rice is a nice binder, the seaweed is CHALK full of minerals, the fish is great, simple, easily digested protien and the veggies are just the right amount, plus there is usually avocado which is too good for you to talk about.

Miso is full of benificial bacteria, just like yogurt, and I could use some recolonising I imagine, and it is so yummy.

I brought a good book for waiting, I sipped my soup, I slowly ate my beautiful delicious very spartan pieces of sushi and then sipped my lovely warm clear green tea and felt SO GOOD.

Not full, not bloated, not ill.

Fed.

At last, enough nutrients are getting through that I am starting to function again.

It is SO wonderful.

Wishing you all health.

Have a great weekend,

O

Work + slow recovery = no blogging.

Sorry about that, I've been missing it, but I so had to sleep.





Improving and that is a very good thing. Even managed to walk the dog last night with the girls!





WOOT!





Hanging about the house so much does also reduce your outside feed for blog topics, which is a bit of a shame. So, let's have a go at something I read on one of your blogs, apologies, I cannot remember whose. It was called first folder, tenth photo. The name pretty much implies it all.

Here's what I found:

I took this when Youngest and I went up to Hannover for a week to hang out with Nomad's kids, and after dropping them at school one day, we saw this lady ride by, with a cello no less on her back. I was MOST impressed.

Happy Friday all,

Cheers,

O

Silk purses

Lying around feeling unwell, but improving, I've been doing some surfing....

So far, I have listened to/watched:

The Dalai Lama on Buddhism, (which was,predictably about Buddhism) I listened to Obama's speech in Cairo on Youtube, which I had long waited for time to hear, and which was astonishing. The man has no fear. I listened to Steven Pinker on The Blank Slate (which was unconvincing) , and on Declining Violence (which was heartening) over at TED Talk, along with Gever Tully on the Tinkering school, and on 5 dangerous things we should let our kids do (which was too short for all that he isn't a brilliant speaker)

I have King Lear lined up, I have heard an exerpt from Pride and Prejudice read by an actor from The Wire, if you've ever watched it. I hadn't till I watched some clips. The reading was a little weird, I think they were trying to make it feel intimate and Sunday morning with your lover-ish, but it felt a little odd. Though they chose a great passage, where Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, the first time.

Then I tackled some annoying computer problems, and all is much faster now.

I am getting a little tired of being sick though, can I just say that?

still sick but improving.

The runs are such a drag.....

sick

gross

catch ya later

500 pages

Revised, rewrote, edited, added to and chucked out about 500 pages of text today. When I was done I had about 300 or 350 pages of decent text.

Yup, you read that right.

It was quite a day. In between that I photocopied, and handed out and explained a good portion of it too. Taught and organised, as well as sorted other stuff.....

Still more to re-do, but that was ENOUGH.

My brain is a wee bit weary.

Went for the simple dinner tonight, frozen pirogues and cut up raw veg. In bed at 9:30, well before Eldest.

We went mullberry picking after dinner with his pooch-y-ness.

Nice end to the night.

Weird day here in Canada, felt like Monday all over again, but it wasn't. I am all confused.

Gonna have to revise a bunch more tomorrow and decide what more I have to write for it.

Kinda looking forward to it, and kinda not.

The blog is definately getting the weak and moth-eaten tail end of my writting tonight.

Happy Canada day folks.

I think I am going to have to write this post when I am less tired.

Big fat mental blankness....

thinking about walking with Eldest today to teach her about the route she has to walk next week for camp. 45 min each way.

thinking about how Youngest is not happy with the racing at her camp, though I am not happy with the fact that they didn't make her wear a hat, drink water or apply sunscreen, which may be why she isn't happy with racing.

thinking about discussing hair styles with a friend.

thinking about visiting family.

thinking about sharing the pool with four loud space-dominating Russian men.

thinking about missing the man.

thinking about the neverending task of feeding teens.

thinking about needing to cut my toenails, but I left the scissors in Spain (TMI?)

thinking about shifting gears again tomorrow and going to work again.

thinking about the fact that the computer won't let me into my comments, so I'll have to read them tomorrow.

thinking about Chuckbacca stealing chicken upstairs, then running out the door, leading them all in a merry chase, and when he lost them, going back to eat more chicken.

thinking about bed.

OH, and can I just add: teens, they are just like snakes. They eat, sleep and hiss at us from time to time. They also will sway and dance to music. Haven't quite figured out the skin-shedding aspect though, maybe that would be the various versions of themselves that they try on and discard before they become comfy in their own skins.

Thinking that this is enough for one night.

Sleep tight everyone,
don't let the bed bugs bite....

cheers,

O