12 things I know about my kids

I may grumble about my crazy little boys but I have loved having a seven and five year-old. The major change over the year has been their huge leap in independence. It’s the little things that make the big difference. Our eldest now gets himself ready for school and will prepare toast or cereal for himself and his brother. Meanwhile, the young’n has become self-sufficient in the bathroom and can finally buckle his own seatbelt. Ahhh… small but mighty miracles.

As they both have birthdays approaching, I thought I should take a moment to reflect on these ages before they are gone. This is what I know for sure. Continue reading

I kicked a clown and I liked it

clown

When I was eight I kicked a clown in the shin as hard as I could. I don’t like clowns. I think they’re creepy and I make it a policy to never turn my back on one. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m scared of clowns, but many people are. Coulrophobia is often cited as the third most common phobia, only ranked behind needles and spiders.

So why are so many people scared of clowns? They’re funny and entertaining, right? I’m not so sure. Let’s look at some of the clowns who were around when I was growing-up: Continue reading

Tin anyone?

I have never understood how the “traditional” wedding anniversary gifts were originally designated. Why paper for the first and wood for the fifth? I mean, you need wood to make paper… you’d think the order would be reversed, right?

Yesterday was our 10th wedding anniversary and to mark the occasion we went for sushi. Then, so we’d be out late enough for my Dad to get the boys to bed, we wandered the neighbourhood and into our local bike shop. We bought new helmets for each other. They are not made of tin. Continue reading

A friend calls me Wilma Flintstone. I call him Keith.

I am a notoriously late-adopter. As such, I have only recently joined the twitterverse. Even more recently, I learned the term twitterverse.

The list of people I follow isn’t very long; there are my writing friends, my friend friends, and publishers who I wish were my friends. I also follow a few people I think are hilarious. Yes, of course I mean you. Continue reading

Heroes

By now you’ve seen the pictures and clips. You have read the posts, tweets and texts. You have seen how Bostonians immediately dropped everything to look after their city. Thousands of shocked and displaced runners were clothed, fed and housed as an incredible reply to the horrific bombings. I love Boston and her people, so this didn’t surprise me. In fact, there was only one thing about yesterday that did surprise me. Continue reading

Have truer words ever been blogged?

A fellow parent recently referred me to this article; To parents of small children: Let me be the one who says it out loud

You are not a terrible parent if you yell at your kids sometimes. You have little dictators living in your house. If someone else talked to you like that, they’d be put in prison.

I read that and shouted, “Hell ya!” Continue reading

“Smiles everyone!”

My sister and I loved Fantasy Island. Each episode began with Mr. Rourke and Tattoo driving to meet the floatplane in their tricked-out orange station wagon and snappy white suits. As the guest stars stepped onto the dock to be greeted by bikini girls, Mr. Rourke would describe the gist of their fantasy to Tattoo while hinting at an inevitable plot twist. Really great television! Continue reading

Wrong Hands

Wrong Hands, cartoons by John Atkinson

I just spent a lot of time on his site and I’m not regretting it one bit.

vintage-social-networkingsesame-street-view

He’s funny, he’s topical and he’s Canadian. You’re a triple threat John.

Long time listener, first time caller…

Now that I’ve launched myself out into the blogosphere, it’s only appropriate that I pay homage to someone that I have quietly followed for years. Dooce, or more specifically Heather B. Armstrong, is a professional blogger out of Salt Lake City. In 2001 she started her blog as a forum for her take on pop culture and life as a single woman. This early foray actually led to her being fired from her job because she had written stories about people at work. Now blogging is her job and there is no one to fire her so she is pretty unrestrained about her content. Continue reading

Images of me

Don’t get too excited; there are no actual images.

My new passport was just delivered by our mail carrier. I’m sorry I’m not home more often to greet him. I could tell he was also glad to see me and shared in the fun of a new passport by his jaunty greeting, “It’s your passport!” He seems like a lovely man. Continue reading