Clutter Clearing

Time to close the Drawer for good.

Why? Maybe it is because my life doesn't seem so cluttered anymore. Maybe it is because there is plenty of room in our new house - room enough that the clutter rarely threatens to overwhelm like it used to. Maybe it is because "thirdrawer", while chronicling some of the more humerous moments of the last two years, is also a virtual-place I associate with some of the ugliest times of my life - and some of the ugliest, most hurtful people I have ever known. And to be honest, they are no longer welcome to read about my life now.

Maybe it's just time for a change. Like so many other aspects of my life it is time for a new beginning.

For the time being this site will remain as an archive with no new posts.
I'll be emailing my friends my new URL soon.
If you don't get yours, drop me a line and I'll send you an update!

Cheers, Shan

Stir Crazy

After two and a half weeks of being the primary caregiver in this family it is only fitting that I come down with one Mother (pardon the pun) of a head cold! The day S returned to work (wednesday) I awoke with a sore throat and no energy - and no-one to stay home and take care of me!

It's the weekend now so you would think that with S back home I would relish the thought of just lazing around all day... ARE YOU KIDDING? I've been STUCK here for three weeks now with only an occassional foray into the real world. The absolute LAST thing I want to do is spend any more time here; not reading, not watching tv, not cleaning, not sewing (a project for Liam's school - a whole other story), not staring into space, not again, not any more. Not. Absolutely.

Where Have YOU Been?

It has been quite a couple of weeks.

It all started with a perfectly formed "dewdrop on a rose petal" on Liam's side. There was only one but it heralded a change in daily life as we know it like the crystal clear ring of a bell.

Shortly after I called Steve to inform him of the Pox on our house he called me back with the news that a long awaited day-surgery (not a vasectomy - why does everyone assume he had a vasectomy?) appointment had been made for the following Wednesday. This, I thought, will help break up my stay-at-home purgatory just when it will start getting to me. Steve will be home, recovering for a couple of days, and I can get out of the house...

I should have paid closer attention to that bell tolling.

Steve's surgery, although it was 'minor' and went well, has resulted in him being in constant and excruciating pain for a week now. His 'couple of days to recover' suddenly morphed into a two-week at-home recovery with a regimen of pills that required a spread sheet to keep track of (I'm not kidding, I actually made a spreadsheet). So just as Liam was getting better I acquired a new patient who spent most of his very few waking hours stoned and basically immobile. As I described his situation to one friend last week (after I spent his first day home from surgery calling my mom for childcare and running around picking up various prescriptions, including painkillers, they FORGOT to tell me about at the hospital probably in part due to his BAD reaction to the codeine they had given him) "He’s currently barely conscious, incoherent when he does speak, and ‘handsy’ - so basically a dirty old man in a 36 yr old body..."
She responded with gifts for the poxy boy and a very large bottle of fortified beer for me (aptly named Amnesiac) - some people just get it! (not that I have been able to drink it...)

Steve is almost out of painkillers and we have been rationing him the last couple of days (it's much nicer having my actual husband here for parts of the day) but the (2nd) experimental night-with-only-Extra-Strength-Tylenol was a complete failure. At least I'm still clinging to stable physical health, even if my mental health has taken a beating. While Steve has been shut into a world of pain and hallucinations, I have been trapped into a non-stop single-parenting/nursing role and both of us are losing the sense of who we are.

So, of course, today the inevitable finally happened and Zoe woke up with the pox. They don't call them childhood diseases for nothing. She is three, so inspite of her cold-like symptoms - which give her a cute husky little voice - and fever, she has more energy than Steve and I combined. As Liam and I were setting off in the pouring rain, school-bound on foot and bike, Steve was drawing a bath for the newly spotted girl (My mom claims a warm bath will draw the spots out faster and they suffer less. Whatever - Zoe loves baths). Upon my return, Steve informed me that Zoe, critisizing his bathside manner, had some precious words of wisdom for us;

"Dad, you are NOT a very good Mommy"
"You are a really GREAT Daddy though"

And with that I heard the bell ring again.
This time it helped to clear the fog that started to roll in two weeks ago.
You can always count on your kids to help ground and centre you when you need it most.

Blast From the Past!

Remember when there was no need for babysitters and you had the energy for an all nighter? In another country? Ok, so maybe that's just me.
Anyways, catching up with old friends has been a spontaneous hobby of ours this past year. The latest arrival, Amazing Larry, is an old friend from the days when S and I were in a band together! He hooked us up with a MySpace Video from Fortune & Maltese & the Phabulous Pallbearers - A Garage Band from Detroit Michigen we hosted locally and toured briefly with far too long ago. The following footage is from a very sloppy (we didn't bother rehearsing) gig in Vancouver.

Just Like Me / Try A Little Harder


In their words... "Impromptu workouts of "Just Like Me & Try A LIttle Harder" Live in Vancouver, B.C. with Members of Captain Cook & The Nootka Sound."

Strangers and Fiction

(NOTE: I find myself telling this story often these days so I thought I should post it here for general consumption)

My mind was drifting in the din of Holiday shoppers when I felt the tug at the front of my jacket. Liam's urgent whisper brought me back to the crowded express line at our local grocery store;
"Mom, Zoe's talking to a stranger." His tone implying that although he was concerned for her safety, he was also hoping this time he would be the instrument of her really getting in trouble.

Where Liam was squashed in front of me, the accused delinquint was similarly squashed behind me so I had merely to turn my head and look down to witness the transgression. And there she was, head tilted slightly, looking up at the dreaded Stranger; a diminutive elderly lady with short tightly curled pewter locks, not much taller than Zoe herself - they were singing Jingle Bells to each other. I chuckled softly to myself and mussed liam's hair; "Thankyou for telling me Liam, but I think in this case it's ok."

As they completed their duet and realized that they had an audience, the Stranger immediately noticed Liam's recently acquired gap-toothed grin and turned her attention to him. Beaming, he proudly displayed the empty space and neighbouring loose tooth. Not to be upstaged by her brother's sudden garnering of the spotlight Zoe launched into a display of overeager enthusiasm for her elder brothers suddenly fascinating dental display:
"Oooh Liam, can I see?"
"Ooh, wow!
All the while standing on tip-toe and poking her little fingers into Liam's mouth, prodding here and there as though teeth were the most amazing thing she could imagine. Never mind that she couldn't care less about the state of Liam's mouth in any other given situation.

The amused stranger turned to me stating in a conspiratorial whisper, "She's going to be a dentist."
To which I replied with a knowing smirk, "No, She's going to be an actress."

(ASIDE: Zoe sings almost constantly and it seems that this time she found a willing duet partner. Later on outside the grocery store, where her enthusiastic carolling travelled more than a mere few inches, she managed to trigger at least two passersby into subconsciously joining her.)

Deep Freeze

Just another West Coast winter...NOT!
Second snowfall in a winter and a deep-freeze to boot. (I know I know. Big effin' deal, right? Well it's OUR version of climate change so go suck it!). Not that a west coast deep freeze (translation: actually below zero during the day) is anything like the deep-freezes of my prairie childhood (translation: actually below -30 during the day, occassionally with a bonus windchill dropping temps to -50 or so). But it's still pretty freakin cold.

The Kids love it though.
Liam has decided that Snow is the best thing to happen to Outside since we left the old yard and all the climbing toys. He's been honing his snowball-throwing and angel-making skills whenever he gets the chance. We have yet to purchase a sled (? I never thought I'd need one out here and they sell FAST when the snow does fall) and stake out a hill. Maybe next snowfall - and at this rate it could be as soon as February.

Zoe, on the other hand, is working on developing her pallet for snow. I've managed to convince her to stay away from yellow and brown snow, and the salted stuff on the sidewalks etc, but even two day old stomped on snow that still looks relatively white is worth a try as far as she is concerned.

Box No More

OOoooohhhh! A new version of Blogger...

Despite the fact that I NEVER seem to actually post here anymore, I do occasionally sit down and beat my head against the computer screen trying to dislodge whatever is blocking the writing impulse. I do write - just not coherently or consistently and certainly nothing I'd like to share with the world at large. So here is attempt number 20065 or something like that.

At least the computer is no longer on a box in the hallway. Our fab-u-lous internet cafe is finally set up and wowing the guests - or at least Steve everytime he uses the main floor bathroom. (You have to know the layout of our house to get that one).

See, I was just interrupted by Zoe demanding something random from me. THIS is the source of at least one component of my writers block - CHILDREN.

And the other is just the fact that time passes....like 2 and a half days since I started this, so far...

ZOE

Grrrowly Grrrl

(NOTE: this post is from Sept 27th! )

It's Wednesday so both kids are home all day today. Could be daunting, contemplating a day where I have to entertain them both for the entire day; so I started, at breakfast, by banishing the TV for the remainder of the day. So far so good. The house is calm, the kids are playing. I seem to have a few moments to myself to write.

Although we all love the new house there are times when all the moving and new school and what have you gets to the kids. Most recently, Liam has decided that with all the new stuff we are buying for the house he isn't getting his fair share. He has been resorting to tirades about how we never get him anything; Christmas is too far away, his life is so terrrible, he hasn't ANY toys and he NEEDS King Jayko RIGHT NOW!! Sigh.

Zoe on the other hand seems to be going through another developmental bout of tantrums over whatever annoying thing is most convenient; food lately. I commented to one mom the other day that she has recently gone from a well rounded and positive relationship with food to a diet consisting primarily of chicken, cheese and chocolate. This week it has been further reduced to sausage rolls and, um, orange juice. ...This too shall pass.

The point of all this is that she is back into her completely out of control temper tantrums which are really hard on my hearing - my ears were ringing for an hour after yesterday afternoon's tirade. But somehow, even in her anger Zoe can manage to make me smile - sometimes.

Zoe's sense of order permeates even her worst moods it seems. Yesterday at lunch, after a whirlwind session of pickups from preschool to kindergarten, we were all pretty hungry yet both kids insisted on foods that had to be cooked - space shape chicken and sausage roll - so they had to wait. Zoe was really mad; stomping around the kitchen shouting how she wanted her sausage roll NOW! (and refusing offers of cheese, crackers, apple etc). But her stomping was hindered by discarded shoes from our entrance as well as Liam's abandoned jacket and backpack. So, with exaggerated actions punctuated by growls and shouting she kicked all the shoes out the door and slammed it. Then she picked up Liam's Jacket and backpack and marched them over to his hook where she hung them up growling the whole time.

Later in the day she came across my hoodie which I must have taken off in her room. She brought it to me stating "Mom, I found this on my pajama drawer. Mom it doesn't belong in my pajama drawer, you should put it away."
As I was busy doing something else I didn't put it away, I just draped it over a chair. Later she found it again and brought it to me admonishing my lax behaviour with a "Mom, you should hang this up on a mommy hook."
Touche little one!

Bounty

I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving weekend, 2006:

I am thankful for my beautiful children and all the facets of their personalities that make them unique - make them who they are.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband and the chance we have taken to rediscover one another and renew our friendship, our love and trust, and our faith in our future together.

I am thankful for our wonderful new home which is everything we could hope for and more.

I am thankful for my true friends; those who stand by me when things are rough and those who are far away but always close to my heart.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

10 More Reasons I'm Not Blogging These Days...

1) The computer is sitting on a box in the hallway.

2) I'm not quite finished calculating the Feng Shui of the new house.

3) We don't have curtains yet and I prefer to blog in the nude.

4) I've spent the last week mowing the lawn.

5) The laundry machines are due tomorrow and I just found the computer under the mountain of copper, PEX, ABS, drywall dust & dirty clothes.

6) We've found Jesus Christ Superstar!! Thank-You Rotel & B&W!

7) The Silverfish were winning for a while there but we've beaten them back.

8) BTS insanity.

9) Paint fumes.

10) The computer is still on a box in the hallway.

The Ghost of Home Owners Past

Time for a new post - whether I'm ready to write on or not.

Life is very busy with two houses and two sets of reno's on the go. In the middle of all the prep at the new house the ghost of Heik still haunts us in the old place: The suite bathroom turned up some concerns in our buyers house inspection - and then the little girl downstairs stuck her hand through the tiled wall in the tub! Yes, Heik, running out of aquaboard (the blue/green drywall for bathrooms), and too cheap to spend $15 (or whatever 1997 costs would have been) on another board, chose to fill in the back wall of the tub with random pieces of regular drywall!! Steve removed nearly 25 square feet of mush, tiles and mould early this week. Thankfully the damage was minimal beyond that and the blue board everywhere else was fine. We now have a tiled wall setting with grout (properly backed with aquaboard) and it should be ready when our tenants return from Disneyland on Saturday.

Unfortunately all this business takes us away from getting our NEW house ready for us to move in.
Ah yes, the new place; another endless round of renos in our future, but we're excited about it. And the difference with the new house and all the various layers of 'mistakes' is that as far as we know they are due to home owner amateur renos rather than the so-called professional work of the previous owners of our current (? it is SO confusing talking about two 'homes') house. That is the reason behind all the scorn for the renovations in this (arrgghhh!!) house - they were done by a self-proclaimed professional contractor and house builder!! Not that his business has been listed in the phone book for years. One of those fly-by-night contractors who goes belly-up and reopens as someone new, we suppose. Still, we'll miss having the ghost of Heik to blame for all the crazy reno's in the new house - and there are some doozies!! I may even start a whole new blog just to cover the reno's on the new house!

Come to think of it, we may just blame Heik afterall.

Holy Hopping Markets Batman!

There was a large gathering of Superheroes in our backyard a week ago. Maybe that has something to do with the insanity of our lives lately. Or maybe not.

Normally the annual Liam backyard awesome weather kidfest birthday bash is the culmination of weeks of stress and preparation. Not so this year. Just to mix things up a bit we thought we'd buy another house and put ours on the market.

I first drove past our new house just over a month ago. Since the first mls-email to Steve there has been this sense of building momentum that pretty much nothing could stop. And so, it isn't much surprise to us that less than 24 hours after listing our house we had an accepted full-price offer. C-R-A-Z-Y! One week later and the subjects are off, the SOLD sign is up and we should have the keys to our new house by tomorrow!
Phew! That was fast!

Now begins the fun stuff!! We're moving from an old 1912 house to a newer... 1915 house!!
Ah yes, so begins the next round of renovations!

I Spy With My Little Eye Something That is... RED!

There are only three colours on a logging road; grey, green, and if it's a nice day, blue.
Given this environment, a game of 'Eye Spy' can quickly get boring - kinda like 'eye spy' with Dory in Sydney Harbour - until Liam spies something 'red' that is.

Let me backtrack for you.

A beautiful Canada Day retreat after an insane week of our latest home reno's (which were inturn launched by Steve's inaugural injury - the words 'CHAUD' and 'HO' burnt into the palm of his hand. A whole other story!)... where was I?
Oh yes.
There we were on the logging roads behind Cowichan lake and I'm my usual white-knuckling self while Steve drives the narrow, windy, loosely-gravelled, barely-engineered roads at the 'posted' speed limit (if you can call spray paint on a piece of plywood nailed to a tree a 'posted' sign). We were both tired from a week of 1am or later bedtimes and still feeling the stress of days to come, so it isn't any wonder that we ended up having a bit of a 'discussion' about whether or not the speed of the car was appropriate to the road conditions - specifically the curves. After Steve asserting that he was driving safely and me asserting that he could be taking the curves a bit, ahem, ALOT slower, we lapsed into an awkward silence.

That's when Steve got it into his head that a game of Eye Spy was just the thing to break the tension. The kids love playing Eye Spy so they got right into it. And I tried to tell myself I was overreacting and to just chill, and got into the game as well. I spied something 'dark grey' - the shadows on the road - and that even had Steve stumped for a few guesses. Pretty good eh? Well, there wasn't much to choose from - as I said: grey, blue & green.

And then Liam spied something red. This was the moment we learned that playing Eye Spy on a logging road is NOT a good idea. What could be red? Steve was particularly baffled and took a split second to peer around inside the car, rather than keep his eyes glued to the road. That, of course, was the exact moment the road decided to do one of those things only logging roads can get away with: namely, narrowing dramatically while sliding into a blind curve at the bottom of a hill that ended in a thickly gravelled sharp turn onto a one-way bridge over a chasm. Did I mention that up until this moment we had completely forgotton our Jeep Cherokee has Four Wheel Drive? - Particularly useful on dry gravelly logging roads with unexpected sharp turns; Not particularly helpful when unengaged on those same gravelly logging roads.
Is this taking a while to tell?
Try being in a two-wheel drive Jeep sliding slowly (he wasn't really driving that fast) out of control on loose gravel at the bottom of a hill, unable to make the sharp turn and heading for a really big log at the side of the road. Now that takes forever!!

Fast forward to the next scene: We have managed to back the jeep up to a bit of a pull out (we crashed at a blind curve remember, and our tail end was sticking into the bit of road where the next vehicle would be coming from - not to mention that any vehicles coming over the bridge would be blocked by us and then they would be in a blind curve for that direction... bad situation). The left front fender was mashed into the wheel and making a horrendous noise. Both of us were freaking out trying to find something lying around that would work to pry the fender away from the tire. (Note to Self: Pack crow bar and duct tape on next camping trip.) Meanwhile the kids were in the car wondering what had just happened - and why were their parents dancing around outside the car...?

Along comes the next vehicle; a beat-up V-dub van (of course! we are on a west coast logging road afterall). But strangely Steve recognizes the van, and I belatedly recognize the driver. One of Steve's co-workers. The thing is Steve only has three co-workers, and this particular one works only a few weeks a year. What are the chances? To top it all off Alistair is the one co-worker who takes the piss out of anyone who does anything he feels is particularly stupid. Like say, driving a jeep on a logging road in TWO WHEEL mode, instead of 4wd. And playing Eye-Spy with your kids on a logging road while taking curves a bit faster than you probably should. So what happens on the logging road has pretty much no chance of staying on the logging road. At least he had duct tape and some longish metal things that could pry at steel fenders slightly better than rotten bits of wood.

Long story short: We made it to the campground (avoiding sharp right hand turns as best we could) having shed the last vestiges of stress from the previous week. Somewhere in that long slow slide into the log it became clear that just enjoying the weekend was far more important than stressing about chores at home or how long it takes to drive from A-to-B. It turned out to be the best family camping event we've ever had. But no more Eye Spy!

New Beginnings

Look! A new mommy butterfly!!
Originally uploaded by Sheriagogo.

It was time to head inside after a Father's Day morning of yard clean-up and get ready to go out for lunch; I was finishing up some under-the-deck sweeping, Steve had already bounded inside to change, and Liam was just heading up the stairs when Zoe started to shout "NO LIAM! Don't go up the stairs! There's SOMETHING on the stairs!!! It's a BUTTERFLY! It's a new MOMMY butterfly!!!"

It took a moment for her words to sink in. I had no idea what she was talking about so I finished up and went to investigate. Liam was frozen half-way up the stairs and Zoe was standing at the bottom, pointing and shouting. And there was a new butterfly just hanging there off the bottom step, drying it's boldly coloured new wings.

I called out to Steve to bring the camera and then peered under the step to look for the chrysalis. I had just swept behind the steps so I knew the butterfly hadn't been there only a few minutes before. Sure enough, there was the coccoon, stuck up under the step.

New beginnings. A good omen for the various things we have on the go these days.

Little Giant

Liam was in his first play last night.

He was cast as the Giant in a re-worked version of Jack and the Beanstalk - mostly because he is really good at stomping and glowering and he has a big voice. Of course all the most prominant personality traits of a five year old tend to fade away under the blinding lights of the stage - or in this case, rows of parents in a community hall. But it was cute.

Most of the kids stood shell-shocked and expressionless while Joan, their teacher, read an animated narration that included physical prompts and verbal cues. Apparently the lack of expression was, in most cases, due to intense listening for these cues; for suddenly a mini actor would momentarily spring to life and say their lines; some with more expression than others. Liam kept up the glowering, but it is pretty hard to stomp barefoot on a linoleum coated cement floor - nothing to reverberate. And his much reduced big voice wasn't too bad in comparison to some, not as good projection as others. Only one little girl burst into tears - but then the golden harp always was prone to emotional outbursts. All in all an big success!

So Liam has had his first taste of the Horak trade; I wonder where he will take it from here?

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Liam has developed this odd little habit lately.
As soon as Steve or I start the shower he jumps out of bed (or runs upstairs) and ducks under the outer shower curtain, tucking himself under the tub (the newly exposed cast-iron footed tub) for the duration of the shower. And as soon as the water is shut off he shoots out of the bathroom faster than a speeding bullet. When questioned about his strange behaviour he blushed and said he just liked the sound of the water and how warm the tub was. No super-hero behaviour here despite the fact that in most cases the speeding bullet is in Bat Man or Spider Man Pj's.

SuperHeroes are big around here these days - mostly Batman. The recent influx of the odd bits of Grandpa Horak's legendary comic collection have helped to cement an already budding interest in the world of superheroes. Budding - because various marketing items like Spiderman backpacks, Batman Pj's and the stuff his Gang introduces him to have created a familiarity; Cemented - because suddenly we have a source of deeper information on these brightly clad super-heroes; AND his Dad knows tonnes of stuff about them, having grown up with the Complete Horak Comic Book Collection as his main source of reading material. Liam needs to be able to soak up INFORMATION if he is going to develop an interest in any given topic. He just loves to KNOW stuff.

Liam is a surprising little boy. He's one of those kids who tries out the full emotional and behavioural spectrum at home, drives us nuts, and then goes out into the world; a model of little boy behaviour. One of his teachers called him "laid back" the other day. Laid Back!!?? Our Liam? Wow, I wish I knew that kid!
Actually, I have caught glimpses of him:
When his buddy Zach has a meltdown at the end of Preschool because he doesn't want to go yet, Liam is the cool kid, saying "Hey Zach, It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow". I keep expecting him to say "chill man" he's so cool about it. And then there are the instances when I'm watching our neighbours daughter (soon to be 4 and a handful!!) and I have to referee an interaction with Zoe that has resulted in screeching; Recently, after I had reprimanded Isabella for grabbing a toy out of Zoe's hand instead of asking, Liam chimed in all been-there-done-that, "yeah, Isabella, my mom says the same thing when I do that. It's just not worth it. You should just ask her for it, nicely." Who is this kid??

Out in the world, Liam is the kid who walks his own path, confident in who he is and not giving in to peer pressure when the Gang isn't doing what he wants to do - or doing something he doesn't think they should. He thrives on knowing his boundaries; he seeks out the rules of any new situation and then settles in to watch. He'll follow when he wants to, lead when the spirit moves him, and he does his own thing if nothing else inspires him; a far cry from the sensitive little toddler who cried at every imagined slight, breaking down at every stumbling block life threw him. We still see that little boy around here - and that's a good thing. As long as he feels safe to explore his emotions at home we know we're doing something right. Preschool has been good for him, and despite our early reservations, we think he'll do fine in public school. Besides, he has his sister to help him learn about bullies.

Liam is a little boy of Hearty Laughs, Deep Sensitivity, Black Moods and Goofy Humour. He loves to wrestle with his dad, fight with his sister, and negotiate 'deals' with me all the time. He is a good big brother and always helpful when a sitter is over (so they tell us). And, oddly enough, he seems to have good taste. He always likes to look good, and he really loves getting his photo taken - especially at SEARS. But recently I have been sending him to get dressed on his own - as in picking out his own clothes. At first I found myself cringing as I heard him coming down the stairs, expecting a mismatch like only his father is capable of, but so far he is always coordinated and spiffy - and a looker to boot. I'm not sure if this is due to some innate sense of style or just his observant nature picking up on my past co-ordination efforts. Probably the latter.

He'll be FIVE in a month. He's growing up, our little boy - right before our eyes!
Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet, but fast enough.

Movin' On

All Right! Enough! You can stop calling me 'Cabbage Tit' - it's getting old.

I have a new hard drive now. Very exciting! Makes doing stuff with my computer less, well, fraught with fear and danger. We shall see if that translates into more blogging. Or just more time wasted in general.

But seriously, the cabbage is old news. Get over it.

When All Is Said And Done...

Just call me 'Cabbage Tit.'
No, seriously, I have spent the last 48 hours or so with cabbage leaves stuffed inside one or another of my GAP built-in shelf bra tank tops. For those of you nursing moms who hear tell of this strange barbaric 'cure' for a plugged duct, let me tell you now: IT WORKS!!! Finally, sweet relief! Oh, I've had plugged ducts before, but as any la leche league inductee can tell you "just nurse through it and all will be well." Trouble is, Zoe weaned over a week before the duct in question went and got itself plugged. And the LAST thing you want to do when you've just weaned is express milk in ANY form. So what to do? Cabbage leaves! They are even the right shape for the job. Maybe that's how someone came up with the idea....

Anyways, I guess it is news that Zoe is now weaned. We always figured it would be easier with her than Liam and it was. Only two nights of insisting that she get her nummies before she started reminding me "No Nummies, right mom?." She may be only two but there are times when she channels 22.

The other night I got up because she was fussing and I thought maybe she needed to go pee. The issue turned out to be water and after that was satisfied she handed me her cup and said "you can go now" as she cuddled up to her pillow. I sat there on the edge of the bed dumbfounded; "I can go now?" I asked her incredulously. Eyes still closed, she nodded "yes." And so, at 2am, I was dismissed by my 2 year old.

With no nummies to see her to sleep at night, Zoe spent her first week trying to figure out how to settle down into sleeping; there were stories either with Liam and Daddy or just with Mommy (while Liam and Daddy read about space) to help with the transition and then the lights went out. But for Zoe this wasn't quite enough so she would promptly start talking out loud about whatever came to mind while her poor tired brother across the room tried to sleep. If she would just whisper! That was my goal: "Zoe, it's lights out time. It's dark now, now we whisper. No Talking! Liam has to go to sleep."

The night after I was summarily dismissed from my bedside duties, Zoe again woke up in the night and needed to pee; for that matter so did I, so I met her in the bathroom. She wasn't actually cranky, just a bit sleepy. I was talking to her - softly, but I was talking. And then she pipes up in a high pitched whisper: "Mommy you should whisper, it's dark."
Touche my little one!

Top Ten Reasons I'm Not Blogging Much These Days

10) Still recovering from my recent alien abduction.

9) I'm busy balancing my Qi.

8) So many beer, so little time.

7) Three Words: En Ech Ell

6) I'm exploring other ways of talking to myself.

5) The Scorpian T-shirt, Strawberry Shortcake Outfit, Batman PJ's and 'Cat' PJ's MUST be cleaned... EVERY DAY!

4) The Playmobil Vikings have staged a siege - water and food are in short supply.

3) My ears are still ringing - there's no room for other thoughts.

2) I can't stop thinking about boats.

1) Um, ah...ah...what's the word? ... oh, yah.. "Writers Block"