Happy December!

I'm trying to squeeze in a few posts while I have the time. It's the first of December and it is snowing.

Nothing makes snow more exciting that seeing the glee of one's children in seeing that snow. Joffre and Alec haven't seen any snow since last Christmas in Manitoba, and they are beside themselves!

Scarecrow

I saw the oddest thing on the way to a friend's house today:



Yes, that's a baby doll, suspended and twisting in the breeze over a vegetable garden.

One assumes it must be quite effective at keeping the birds away. Lord knows it creeped me right out.

Death and Good Omens

So, I've been re-reading Good Omens, written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Both Pratchett and Gaiman have written Death as a character in their solo careers, and here they are, respectively:



The Death that figures in Good Omens is more along the lines of the former, Grim Reaper type, as he is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. And that sort of makes sense.

I do wonder, however, if there was some debate over which Death to use. Because the one that ended up in Good Omens really seems like Pratchett's handiwork. He even talks in ALL CAPS.

Doin' Good, Feelin' Good

We joined the CAN - Cooperative Auto Network. This is a vehicle co-op, where you pay a flat fee to join (reimbursable when you leave), and then pay a small monthly fee and mileage costs to drive vehicles in the pool. So far it's working pretty well, although because of booking vehicles late, Aaron has had to bus to pick up the vehicle, and then bus back after dropping it off. But it has been nice to have the option to drive from time to time - well, for him to drive, anyway.

And the coolest thing about the minivan we had is . . . built-in car seats! The backs of the middle bank of seats fold down to reveal five-point-harness restraints, good for 20-50 lbs of kid (mine, at 30 and 46 lbs, fit perfectly). No lugging our car seats in and out, no fussing with installation, nothing. Now that's convenient!

When I Was Kid . . .

. . . Flintstone vitamins tasted waaaay better. Blech.

Dawn of the Camera Phone

I've always sworn there was no need to have a camera in your phone. I mean, really. What's the point of a phone that takes pictures of lousy quality? Why, to have a camera at hand at all times (since I'm never without my cell phone), to snap impromptu pics of my kids and - because the quality's lousy - have small .jpg files to upload to blogger, or email to family.

That's why.

And man, am I using it.

Where We Live Now

I like it here. It's designed around families. It's green, safe, welcoming, and full of interesting things for children to do, with a minimal amount of parental involvement. (not that I'm lazy, but, ya know).

There are lots of playgrounds in the complex:


And all the roads through the complex are pedestrian, so the kids are free to run around as they please:

Why I'm Not Writing About Law School

Because I'm not in law school yet, of course! I feel like this blog is all about the kids, but trust me that will change - once I'm doing anything that isn't all about kids.

Hair Saga

Caveat: only read this if you actually want to hear all about my hair.

You know how sometimes we make ridiculous, insane hair decisions? Well, last September I got my hair permed because a friend of mine had done so, and I loved her hair. Except, of course, that my friend is Japanese, and so has totally different hair than I do. Despite my insistance upon a loose, ringlet-style curl, using large rollers (note: I know almost nothing about hair styling, and probably was asking for something impossible), my stylist insisted that she knew what she was doing and used little tiny rollers. So, I ended up with a tight kinky wave. Almost like crimped hair. And super, super frizzy. Oh, and the first 2.5 inches of hair, from the scalp down, didn't take the curl because it was new growth after my last colour. And the stuff that *did* take the curl turned a brassy colour after the perm.

Yeah. I went through many months of carefully attempting to fix my hair every day, with mixed results. I cut my hair once in that time - I wanted to cut off most of the curl, but I knew that if my hair was short, what was left with curl would turn me into a puff-ball. I did colour a couple of times, to tone down the brassiness. By the end of it all, the last few inches of my hair was ugly and dry. Then there was the fact that the perm relaxed unevenly, meaning I had portions of stick-straight hair, lots of frizzy-but-not-curly hair, and areas of beautiful wave. Blech.

So yesterday I went and got my hair cut. It's still got a bit of wave to it, and now it's a sort of long bob, or pageboy cut. Of course, I made the dreadful error of not asking the hairdresser the price of the cut ahead of time, and so shelled out $27 for a cut I had to fix up with fingernail scissors later, at home.

So, to sum up: never, ever, ever perm your hair. Also, don't assume a haircut will be cheap just because the hairdresser works in a dive and gives shoddy haircuts. And, finally, remember that time heals all haircuts.

Our House

This is our student family residence:




I'm not leaving till they kick us out.

Back on the Wet Coast

Well, we got here Monday. I have a cold, so as the plane landed in Vancouver, my ability to hear dwindled to almost nothing. It's getting better, but still not good. Several weeks - months? - of exhaustion fell on my head as soon as stepped through the door of my new, permanent home (well, as permanent as makes no nevermind), and I'm just now beginning to emerge from under that, as well.

I love the apartment. It's really a two-storey house, with a decent kitchen, small dining room, big living room, 1.5 baths, and 3 good-sized bedrooms. Storage is reasonable, especially because we have a large storage room immediately adjacent to our door. We also have a nice patio that looks out onto a green space, and we inherited a barbecue from the previous residents. Once our furniture and the bulk of our possessions come from Peru and Manitoba, we will have a real grown-up home.

Of course, it was sunny for the first few days we were here, but now it is gloomy and rainy. But I don't mind. I'm taking it pretty easy for now, getting my bearings, getting the kids settled in, and looking forward to summer. The wonderful thing about how we've timed all of this is that we've gone from South American summer to Canadian spring, and now we're heading right back into summer.

Man, winter's going to be a blow.

A Perfect Example of the Title of this Blog . . .

. . . suddenly, we are cat-owners-by-proxy. Which is to say, our housekeeper's son took in a stray kitten, and I've taken some responsibility for it, dealing with vet care and so on, and letting it stay at our house during the day, when there's nobody home at their house. But these things snowball (guess what Joffre named the kitten?), and I have a feeling the shift of ownership is going to be inevitable. The kids are totally smitten, and it's heartwarming to see how loving and caring they are with the little guy.

But we can't take a kitty back to Canada with us.

I want a kitty.

sigh . . .