Sunday, August 31, 2008

Citizens of Capilano


We waited, and we waited, and waited, and waited.....

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Keepin' your cool.

Ok, one thing that I've always been sure of...I was planning on keeping my cool once I became a parent.

No siree, I was not going to get a 'mum' hair-do, nor would I be sporting elastic waist jeans and I'd just say 'no' to practical shoes.

I had no intention of carrying around a pastel colour diaper bag with a cute teddy bear on the side either. Nope, I found myself a very cool black messenger style bag, that to look at, you'd never guess was crammed with wipes, diapers, extra baby clothes, Cheerios, bottles, soothers, toys, and all the other necessities needed to take out a human (weighing less than 10 lbs) for an hour of shopping.

And nix-ay on the kiddie tunes as well...only the Wiggles managed to slide under the radar on this one. On the whole though, both my kids thought that John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Jamie Cullum was 'their' music, and I was being very nice to let them listen to 'their' music all the time. I say you have to train them young to insure that they have good taste in music. That's what my parents did, so really I'm just keeping up with tradition....time to say, 'aaaaah'.

I have also tried to instill a sense of style upon them as well. Being that I have a background in fashion, I couldn't stand the thought of them cruising around, wearing sweat pants and gum boots, one pant leg tucked in, one out, paired with a non-coordinated shirt....perish the thought!!! Just typing that visual makes me go all light headed.

All in all, I'd say I've done a pretty good job at keeping my cool since becoming a mum. I'm a non-mum hair, zipper jean wearing, black boot sportin' mama, with stylin' kids in tow. But as all of you who are parents will already know and all of you parents of the future will find out....sometimes, you have no control over your cool....DAMN!!!

I'm referring to the precious moments where your kids need to speak their minds, and they need to speak it LOUD.

A couple of months back, after Gavyn's soccer game, I was heading to the parking lot and having a chat with the coach. To set the scene for you a little better, coach Ross is about...I'd say 23, if that, and a bit of a 'dude' if ya know what I mean.
He's a volunteer firefighter, and a bartender at a local restaurant.
This was his first year coaching, and as we were walking I was asking him if he'd be coaching next year, as Gavyn said he'd sign up next season if he could be on coach Ross's team again.
So we're talking about that, and then he's telling me that we should come to the restaurant where he works, good Italian food, etc.
Tony and the boys have gone ahead towards the cars. So we are fully in one of those 'long lost' adult conversations....he's giving me tips about what to order at the restaurant, talking about the fresh authentic ingredients that they use, etc.

When we get up to the cars, Owen is crying and poor Tony is frustrated, and Gavyn is as impatient as ever....
I'm trying to finish listening to Ross when Owen comes up beside me....'mum'....'mum'....muuuum....'MUM'!!! I do my best to ignore him for the moment but he's not going anywhere.
I don't want to be rude and cut coach off mid-sentence, but Owen is persistent.
I apologize and look at Owen...."what do you want O??'. I'm annoyed because like most kids his age, mum is the first person that they go to, even if dad is standing right there.

He replies...'I NEED TO POO!!!!'

Yup, there you have it...the moments where you no longer have any control over your 'cool' factor. Lucky for me, as this is kid number 2, I've already had lots of these moments, so they don't phase me so much anymore.
Ross just laughed and I said, 'sorry, it looks like duty calls, I guess I'm heading home now'.

Before I left, I felt like warning him ....ooh, coach Ross, your time will come....and when it does, not even that eyebrow piercing is gonna help save your cool!!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

And the songbird keeps singing....

I am a song bird.

Not necessarily one of those birds that you'd enjoy listening to, but one who sings never the less. The good bit is, I have no illusions, as some of those ' I pity the fool' people on Idol do, that I sing well. The bad bit is, I don't really care how I sound....I'm going to sing anyways. Don't get me wrong, I'm not terrible, I have spent a few years in my youth in choir. Did productions of Tom Sawyer....'scat, scat, scat...darn that cat, drat that cat' and of course the epic 9 page song that we did from Joseph and his super d-duper colourful coat....'way, way back many centuries ago'... etc. I can also remember the vocal exercises, moo, moe, ma, may ,me...what the hell the point of that was is beyond me. Regardless of true talent, I sing because I love to and I do it often, as in daily.
Aah, but not to worry, where I lack in real vocal talent, I more than make up for in creative song choice and the way I re-tool a song.
Let's just say, I take a song and 'make it my own', thank you Paula for having one sentence that makes sense.

The latest ditty that I have been singing is the lovely tune, 'Dude Looks Like a Lady', by Aerosmith. But, in my version I's kickin' it Ella style. Complete with a whole round of scatting thrown in for good measure. I think I sang this about 20 times the other morning, each time changing it up a bit...gotta keep it fresh.
I also do a rather wicked version of 'Rock and Roll All Night', by Kiss, in the style of, hmmm, let's see, I'd say, picture Nana Mouskouri singing around a campfire...that's how I'd call it. I can really bring down the house with this one.

And because I truly am a creative soul, when I'm not working my own versions of the 'classics', I make up my own tunes. Sometimes sung to the tune of a popular song and sometimes purely my own composition. Quite often these little gems are sung with a 1940's vibe....as I really do believe in my previous life I was one of those songbirds sent to entertain the troops...(no, not in that way!)...ya know, like I was the lost Andrew sister. I know what you're thinking...you're 'lost' alright sista!!

I also sing back answers to the kids....'no we don't have any cookies, so stop asking me before you drive me insane'...all sung in a pleasant manner of course.
Sometimes Owen will say, "STOP SINGING"! I know he's just kidding though, he loves it, not fooling me Mr. Brown Eyes. Oooh that reminds me, 'don't it make my brown eyes blue....'

Yep, I do break into song on a regular basis. Good thing for you to note though, unless you're living with me, you may never have to suffer the sweet sounds of my singing. Did I say 'suffer??' I meant, you may never get to enjoy the sweet sounds of my singing.

At least, I think they said I sounded sweet....couldn't hear them over my singing.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Fashion Math

Black underwear + white linen trousers = WRONG!!!