On the elderly, fear, and Ice skating

As winter begins to present itself in full force, I\m again reminded of more reasons to be mortally afraid of driving with children.
When the First Snow hits, the drivers in the city remind me of little kids playing hockey, falling down a lot, crashing into each other, and usually forgetting altogether about the puck.
When the first melt comes, everyone becomes stock car racers,  trying to urge all puddles off the road by driving as fast and reckless as they possibly can.
Then the final freeze. When all the slush that's left on the road freezes over, and is made 'luxuriously' smooth by those fast tires.
Now, being where I am, it's pretty common for everyone to know how to ice skate, from a very young age, no less. But somehow all that training goes out the window when tires re applied instead of skates. Our insurance here is gov.t regulated, I think mainly because no other competing company wants to have to cash in on so many claims all at once.
Also, maybe it's the snow, maybe the cold, but a lot of people lose their sight really easily in the winter, eyes glazed past the 'baby on board' and 'student driver' stickers, which are pretty much no good here.
Then there are the types of bad drivers to negotiate with:
We've  got teens with novices licences wanting to joy ride and scare the crap out of everyone they drive beside; or Albertans, who are used to speed limits twice that of ours; or little old ladies who just want to get to bingo in their old school tanks that take up two lanes; or the farmers who only follow dirt road speeds and don't pay any attention to any driving sign,road mark, or light. I could go on, but those four types feature prominently, and for that alone the bus doesn't sound so bad.
But then I'm left with a conundrum on the buses too, since toting around a baby in the heavy-duty stroller that's needed for winter is pretty much banned from the bus, and the price of a bus pass costs more than insuring my car and filling the tank every month, ( though I have a pretty old and crappy car, so that cheapens things up a bit too)  and the buses are usually so cram packed with students and elderly, that there's no room for even me, let alone a baby.  So I'm left to drive on side roads to most of my destinations, waiting until peak traffic has passed, which only leaves about 4 hours in the days to drive, and I'm pretty much screwed in the bad driver department, since you'll never escape the little old lady with the penchant for bingo.  *sigh*

Everything sounds better in the Bathroom. Except frying meat. That's just disturbing.

 Here. Have one of the Best Canadian Bands Lead guitarist. In a Bathroom.

Eldest's Conditional Training

The family rule has been that no X-mas decorations go up until after mommy's b-day, that way it actually feels like X-mas. This year, since Hubby was out of town, and I was running out of ideas to keep both kiddos simultaneously entertained, and since eldest was all 'X-mas decorations!', and 'We should really get some decorations that we can decorate this year',. and 'When do we get to start making the X-mas Treats?' Usually I like this part too, because I get to go to the dollar store sand grab a whole bunch of crap to put up, and I love baking and giving people sugar overdoses, (especially myself) and mostly because then I get to wander around all the stores that bring tons of X-mas crap in and I can giggle like an idiot at the huge X-mas balls,

 or Santa on a rope,

 or the Rudolph that wiggles his tush at you when you walk by. 

 So this year, the house has already been half festooned with x-mas crap, in an effort to keep kiddo busy.

hehe, hairy x-mas balls...

Also, on a completely different, yet somewhat related topic, Nobody gets that when I start singing "sisters", that it's actually an X-mas song, since it comes from White Christmas, the movie with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney (before she got the crazies) *sigh* even I know more stupid x-mas trivia than most.

This is the first day it seems best NOT to have candles on my cake.

As I type this, my youngest is currently typing on his keyboard, not quite copying my movements so much as beating the crap out of the keyboard. Also, he's now learned(from me) that if he says 'UM NOMNOM' in his loudest voice, he will eventually get some type of food. Conditional training. Although whether I'm training him, or whether it's the other way around is uncertain. But nevertheless, learning is being done in this house.


My birthday is today, so I won't type much, but it's early enough that no one else is up yet, so no harm, no foul. I got a wireless keyboard and mouse from eldest, who just couldn't wait any longer, so I got it last night. The A sticks so that any word I've typed with an a in it has had to be corrected, and I can no longer reaach the enter key with my pinky, but they got it so I could hook up the computer to the T.v. and watch movies, especially when they aare both out of the house, and youngest is asleep.

I'm a quarter of a Century old today, and I've been bombarded with requests to go out and party, but since I'm still feeding youngest, it's probably the best excuse not a great idea, and I'm too lazy to pre-make aa days worth of food for my little piglet, so I'm staying home, at least after I get my new tat with my bestest home girlie.

So, bon-voyge, and a verry merry un-birthday to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

hmm. the 1 button sticks too.

No, I'm sorry, I can't play Pattycake, I'm left handed.

I'm left-handed. Not a big horrible thing, I know, but an imposition no less. I've always had issues with writing, my hand smearing ink and pencil alike, and my words cramped and slanted. But since the Computer got popular in school not too long after I started writing, that was never a Big issue. Even in Grade 4 when my Teacher had lunch-time Calligraphy classes, and she had to spend several hours extra with me because I was the only lefty she had taught other than herself, it was no biggie. It wasn't until I got into baking and cooking that being a leftie started to seem like a horrible thing. You would be amazed the utensils used in cooking that are for the majority, can-openers, pizza cutters, knives, etc. Even when I was stirring, it seemed so much more natural for everyone else than it was for me. I'd try to stir, and my shoulder would go up to my ear, my elbow out, my spoon or spatula getting constantly stuck in some invisible rut that only lefties could feel, while righties were smoothly stirring away, like they were whipping up a cloud. I began to try to do things right-handed, as some of the sports I learned were taught me by a rightie, and so it was easier in some ways, but it was of no use, as I felt like I had cut off some vital limb and was limping through my tasks, watching with tearfull eyes at everyone who glided past. I was teaching a friend to make fudge one time, and even she seemed to note that, while my finished product was amazing, putting it together looked painful. And all the sudden, Writing was important again, and though supremely tasty to clean up, I knew I could never be a cake decorator.
And of course, lefties have been made fun of for forever, from the Internets, to Religions, to bully-kids with nothing better to do( I still have fingers that don't point in the same direction thanks to them), to the Simpsons and South Park alike.
This post, like many others of mine, fails to have a point that I can match up in my brain, since my brain seems to have ADD when making valid points, but I think the gist of this rant was to say that we are all different, we all have things that we do differently. That does not make us bad. Or slow. Or Evil. It just makes us different. And as much as we are all the same, we are all different. So get over it.

Day two, the X-mas Spirit.

My household has always been rather muted during the holly-days, as we're not religious, so have no religious functions to attend, we're rather homey, so have no all-out-drunk fests to go to, and though we try to keep up with the Jones', we don't go through the big trouble of emptying our savings accounts to appease our children and the latest fads, although we don't go all crazy at what others get them. Our children, or at least the oldest one, as our youngest doesn't care about much but pooping, eating, sleeping and attention, knows the value of things, and the value of the hard work it takes to get those things. Of course he's still a bit of an 'I-want-er', as all kids his age are, but he knows better than to freak out his disappointment, he's well on his way to understanding that "Things" aren't important, but people are. That point seems moot in todays society, where you're only as valuable as what you own.  I don't see X-mas as a time to try and best each other with the things we give, nor do I see it as a time to please family members or appease social obligation, I see it as just a chance to get together if you want to, or be alone if you don't, and just relax and enjoy what's been going on the past year. I'm sure I've pissed more than a few people off with my way of thinking, but if I've offended them by not going to their house to praise the labours they've gone through to elevate they're social standings, that's their issue, not mine. Today's society needs to relax around the holiday season, and realize that if they don't get their kid that new x-box, or if they don't go to their neighbour's big dinner, toting praise and bottles of expensive wine, that they are not a failure as a result. That is all. and all-important.

Day One, the explanation.

I've decided to do the Nablopomo challenge again this month, as December's theme is Zeitgeist, or time spirit, meaning writing about the times we live in, and our place in todays culture. Eazy peazy right? we'll see.

Seems I could keep this up for the whole, month, as X-mas is coming up, and I always have loads to say about X-mas.
so here we go!