Kids say the darndest things!

Nyk brought Chaeli to my office today to help us decorate for Christmas. Last year, Nyckee was in the hospital trying to have a baby, and I was on Chaeli-duty so she helped us decorate; my coworkers thought it would be fun to have her back this year.

When one of the ladies asked if she was going to help decorate the tree, she said, "Yes, and I'll help put the ribbons up high and higher!" We have a long winding staircase in my office and yes, sure enough, last year she helped a couple of my coworkers put big red bows up on the railing. I thought it was so clever -- she was only 2 last year when she helped us decorate, but she totally remembered.

They had to leave before we were finished decorating, but since her destination was school, Nyk had no problem getting her out the door. On her way out she stopped and waved and shouted, "Goodbye, everybody!" Hahaa, such a little superstar.

Tonight I was watching TV, a cartoon kind of show, with Nyk and the kids. The characters were watching fish through a hole in the ice -- there were 4 or 5 fish swimming back and forth. Chaeli said, "What is that?" I said, "It's fish!". She said, "No, it's not fish. It's five...it's seven...(Nyk and I looked at each other blankly)...it's trouw!" I said, "Trout?" and she said, "Yes! It's trout!" And I think it actually was supposed to be rainbow trout. Nyk said, "Trout are fish, too" and Chaeli said, "No, trout are not fish -- trout are trout." Who knows where that one came from, hah!

Other notable mentions from today:
Blu-dough instead of Rudolph. Don't know why, but she says Blu-dough every time until someone corrects her then she says, "Yeah, Rudolph".

Lawyers! When we were having pizza in the boardroom at work today, Chaeli noticed some pictures on the walls of 19th century lawyers gathering around a table, deep in discussion. She said, "Everybody is sitting at the table. They're eating!" I said, "Maybe, but I think they're talking. It's lawyers!" But I said lawyers kind of creepily like most people do. Later, she was talking about something else and she said, "Lawyers!" like it was almost a swearword. Hahaa, how early they learn. :P

Lastly, and it's not incredibly clever, probably, but it seems it to me -- one of the ladies asked how old she is. She downed a drink of juice, looked right at the questioner and said, "Three!". Oh, so very clever! I just love her! :)

November 24, still no snow (yipee!)

This has been the best Autumn so far! I could do quite nicely without snow this year. It's been quite warm too, and tomorrow is supposed to be above zero again. A big thank you to my niece and her husband for moving here from BC and bringing their lovely weather with them. :)

It's been busy around here lately! Mitchie and I went to Edson last weekend for a whirlwind trip (gone for 36 hours, 12 of them on the highway) and we had so much fun! We went to see my mum and my brother and his family, and also to go to a benefit concert for a music scholarship in Emily's name. It was such an awesome weekend!

We had a nice visit with Mum then went to T and J's for supper on Saturday. We had a great time and enjoyed the kids so much (though it was really hard to be there without seeing Emily). The concert was a lot of fun, too. We sat at a big table with T and J and got to know some of their awesome church people at the beginning of the night. After they left, we made some new friends (Mitchie is the BEST person to go to something like that with -- she makes friends instantly!) and stayed until the end. The band people, whom we befriended, asked us to the after-party (sounds so racy, but they're all middle-aged, happily married nice people!) but we graciously declined. It was 3am our time and we had to get up in a few hours! We were so impressed with the Edson people once again. They are really a good bunch.

Sunday we went to T's church with Mum and met up with our friends from the night before. T is such a good speaker -- I wish we could go every Sunday. Then a quick lunch with Mum, and back on the road. We stopped in Edmonton for a coffee with Mr X (he's working there right now, in the City of my heart!) and got home by 10pm feeling all warm and fuzzy from the awesome weekend.

This past weekend Mr X was home for a few days, which was lovely, but he's gone again and the house feels quite empty even with all my four-legged family around me. I sure wish he could be here more -- he's so much fun. wah, poor me.

Work has been stressful for me lately, blech, and I'm a bit grumbly these days. I'm missing Nyk a lot now that she's back at work -- she used to come over for a long walk every night and she'd bring the kids over at lunch for a little visit, so I'm really feeling out of the loop nowadays. She works 3 to 11pm most nights, so I don't get to see them nearly enough. wah, poor me again.

Mitchie is awesome, though. She takes good care of me! She's a busy chickie, though, and I don't want to whine about not seeing her enough or she'll rearrange her life to accommodate me, hah. I think I need a hobby. Actually, Nyk and I are going to a scrapbooking workshop in a couple of weeks (she's been making the most amazing cards!) so that might be just what I need!

I popped by Nyk's house to see the kids at lunch today. She just cut Carson's hair and he looks so adorable! He looks like a boy instead of a baby now, but he's so tiny so it's the cutest thing! awwww! He's standing on his own now, so walking can't be far away. He turns one in a couple of weeks -- I can hardly believe it!

I bought a new book today, called The Shack (I think), so I'm going to pack it in early tonight to try to shake this headache that has been following me around -- it's always fun to go to bed early with a new book. I lead such an interesting life, heh!

Another satisfying week in the bag

This has been a really good week, all things considered.

On Tuesday, Barack Obama won the US presidential election. Why do I, a proud Canadian, care? Well, any US election affects Canada, but this one was especially sweet. First, the Democrats are back in. That's a good thing for a lot of reasons. I wonder what the state of the world would be right now if Al Gore had won in 2000? No one knows for sure, but I think it's safe to say we wouldn't have lost close to 100 Canadians in the Middle East by now. And how many US soldiers dead, injured, or otherwise changed forever, not to mention the virtual destruction of Iraq and her people? Would the US economy be in the toilet right now if there had been a more responsible administration at the helm for the past 8 years? (Where is G Dubya, anyway? Has anyone seen him lately?)

Of course, we don't know yet what kind of a President Omaba will be, but he seems to be a brilliant man with a conscience and an uncanny ability to surround himself with the right people. He wasn't brought up in a wealthy, privileged home yet he has made it to the top seat in the land (arguably the world). I think he's there for the right reasons and I think, as hard as his job will be, that he will bring some positive changes to the White House (and a puppy!).

But one of the most exciting things about this win is that the American people have voted in a black guy. A black guy in the Oval Office.

What must this mean to the Little Rock Nine, a group of brave African American kids who stood up against hate at its ugliest and fought through crowds of angry white people for their newly-won right to attend a public high school in the late 50s. They actually brought the National Guard to stop the kids -- that's how much the State of Arkansas didn't want to end segregation. The Federal government finally stepped in and, with the help of the 101st Airborne division of the US military, the kids were able to enter the school. The hate against these brave teenagers, just trying to get an education, was so strong. Where did they find that kind of bravery?

What must this mean for every black American who remembers the days prior to JFK's Civil Rights Act of 1964, when they couldn't even vote. (1964, if you can believe it -- that's so recent!) For everyone who sang "we shall overcome", the day is here. Civil rights at its finest. Oh, there is still hate, racism won't disappear in our lifetime (if ever), but there is a voice in the White House for racial equality that cannot be ignored. I can't imagine what this means to the black community who have fought so hard and so long to be heard.

God Bless America. It is a beautiful day.

Then, as if that wasn't enough for one week, the mighty Edmonton Eskimos made it into the second round of playoffs yesterday. I can't believe it, but I love it!

And today Mitchie and I went to church and out for brunch, and then Chaeli and I went to the movies.

I can't stop smiling today. It's been a really, really terrific week.

I went to sleep at 9:30 last night

And that's not the worst of it: I actually went to bed at about 9:00, read for a bit and totally fell asleep by 9:30. Slept like Rip Van until 6:30am when the radio came on. What's up with that? I don't actually ever DO anything -- how can I possibly be so sleepy?

I feel like a million bucks today, though. I must have needed it. I just might do it again tonight. We'll see how Obama is doing at 9, then I'll decide if my book and pillow will trump the most important election outcome in decades. Right now my money is on the book.

Chaeli came home from her monthly visit with her other dad (well, to my house, actually) last night. Right after she got here she found one of her toys -- a small plastic monster that had a blue light in his eye -- chewed up by a dog or dogs (could have been any of them or all of them). She was really tired, actually sleeping when she got here, so it was a bit of a bigger deal than it probably should have been since she hasn't ever liked that toy since the first day she saw it. Right away she figured out that I should buy her a new one. I needed to take her home anyway, so it seemed like a good way to get her in my car to go home -- a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a new monster.

Somewhere on the 5-minute drive to the store, the need for a replacement monster turned into the need for a new PetShop toy -- Chaeli's favorite collectable toys. That was okay with me; monsters are overrated. It didn't take long to pick the one she wanted because it was one of the few she doesn't already have. When we were waiting in the lineup to pay, a nice lady in front of us turned around and commented on cute, adorable, sweet Chaeli's cool new toy.

Chaeli gave her the raspberry. pppppffffftttt. We (nice lady and me) were like, wha?

Chaeli said, "I spit at her. She wanted to take my toy and give it to her girl." (Hey, not my kid. Just here with her. I don't teach her this stuff. heh) It was actually kind of hilarious. It sounds awful, but it wasn't. It was funny in a Coen Brothers kind of way because she's usually so sweet and gentle and smiley. We talked about it all the way home, how it wasn't nice to spit and why we don't spit at other people. She understood, she agreed, and as we were going into her house she decided it was only okay to spit at people outside.

Then I knew where it came from. Pre-school. Pirates in the playground. Monsters under the slides. Chaeli Power. Hammers in pockets (fake hammers)to "hit" the boys. Boys. I shiver at the thought of small boys in playgrounds. But I think she will be able to hold her own. Being sweet and smiley isn't always all it's cracked up to be. You have to have a little bit of chutzpa when the occasion calls for it, or the bullies will win. She's going to be okay, and I'm glad she has a bit of a feisty edge when she needs it. I just hope the nice lady understands it was nothing personal.

Now about this Carson guy...

I talk about our Chaeli all the time because she's three and a half and has lots of interesting things to say and do in her busy life.

Today it's all about Carson. Almost 11 months old, about two feet tall, weighing in at around 20 pounds, eight shiny white teeth and just about as cool as Matt Damon. Really. This guy has it all. He's cute, funny, determined, unpredictable and has nerves of steel. Observe the picture above: He's calmly running commentary on whatever it is he's watching on TV, while not one but two dogs are waiting for him to share a piece of his bread with them (which he may or may not do depending on how much he's enjoying said bread) and he's covered with purple freezie which he managed to break into himself after I gave him an unopened one.

I've always loved Carson, of course, but it's just lately that I've begun to realize what a rockstar he really is. I was always a bit scared to be alone with him for too long because he's still being breastfed and, as a result, likes his mom quite a bit more than he likes the rest of us (added to my lifelong fear of babies in general). But lately he's had us all amazed by his go-with-the-flow independence.

Nyk has started work again, so the village (Miles' mom and grandparents, and Mr X and I) has kicked in to help out with the kids around Nyk and Miles' work schedules, thereby avoiding daycare issues. Yesterday Mr X and I were on duty for a couple of hours. Chaeli was, of course, no problem at all, but we were a bit worried about what Carson would think of us when he woke up from his nap. What a trooper he is. He looked totally surprised to see me when I went in to pick him up but he was just fine. We played, he drank juice, ate crackers and kleenex, we bonded. I am no longer afraid.

Today Chaeli is with her other father and Mr X has gone back to work so it'll just be Carson and me. I can hardly wait. Perhaps we'll go for a walk.