Today was a thinking day... Help us all.

I just left my wife...

... left her watching some stupid Grey's Anatomy spin-off show about Childbirth and all that crap. I hate these lame shows.

What I really hate is that I watched about half of it and could get addicted to it... Therefore I cannot watch. Must not watch. I need to do school work. Yeah, that's it... and blog. :)


A new feature on this blog is my restaurant review of a "family friendly" establishment which I critique based on it's food (my kids don't eat fries - don't put them with every meal), access, how friendly the staff is to children, how friendly the facility is to children (like high-chairs, changing table - in the guys bathroom too), and the speed of service and cost.

Good places in Toronto include; Safari on Avenue Road. The bathroom is not convenient but they know how to keep families happy. Staff are super-friendly and food is generally out-of-this-world. Then again, my kids love their currie pasta and chicken-chipotole chowder.

Other good places in TO; Hersheys - have toys for the kids there too, and Hershey is a uber-friendly guy.

Applejacks, the Rainforest Cafe and Mandarin get top marks too.

But tonight we had an experience... Ugh. We went to a place called the China Buffet King in Richmond Hill. Got there just after it opened, so we expected it to be pretty empty, but I was SO disappointed after this meal.

1. The service SUCKED! Have you ever had to ask a server to clean off your table? I asked for Soya sauce and instead of getting it for me (you know it was me, UM and the 2 kids), the server point in the general vicinity and walked away. I had to ask for napkins, the bill, then had to hunt them down to get it back. Just brutal. We actually left no tip. For what? We did everything?
2. The food? Below average to average. Huge trays of food with very little on it. Selection... below average too. They try too hard to do a little of everything but do nothing well. 2-3 dim sum items, 3-4 sushi items, a huge dessert section and fresh veggie row that looked good (not for $16.99 each, though) and the rest of the food was lazily prepared. For example, the shrimp, not peeled, the mussels and squid, chewy (overcooked), the chicken with bones in it, breaded shrimp which looked like they were breaded and stuck to a potato wedge. All just weird and gross. I couldn't find anything to put on my plate.

Urban Daddy's recommendation on China Buffet King... Stay home and eat kraft dinner... That way if you feel gross after eating it, you'll have no one to blame but yourself.

Question:

Is it considered politically incorrect to have a conversation with a work colleague while in the bathroom - or more specifically in a stall. I know guys are different than gals since we are only in stalls for one reason, you gals are in there for everything, so when a guy talks to you from inside a stall, it's generally really weird.

What about if the guy is talking to you and at the same time passing loud gas, grunting and moaning? Creepy? For a guy... YES. Well this happened to me Monday. A very odd colleague walked into the washroom while I was washing my hands, proceeded to get into a stall, make a TON of gross noises, including farting and grunting even when I tried to escape and had the door open he still was fighting the fight that people at the elevator (20 feet away and around a corner) were wondering what the hell was going on.

I was left shaken... Probably also because this guy never washes his hands and leaves with newspaper tucked under his arm. UGH.

Is that grounds for dismissal? Good thing I'm not in charge. :)

My boy was at the dentist this evening for a check up. Got to ride the chair, had his teeth counted (he told the hygienist he had 5 teeth, he has 20). He got checked, met the dentist, got the orange toothbrush he wanted, and berry flavoured floss. It was all really cute. When we got home I heard him thank his Mummy for taking him to the dentist... Awwwww.

Tonight I had to run...

... and run I did.

I've got a lot on my mind and I'm pretty stressed out so I needed a release. I chose to run. So out I went at 11pm tonight and I ran the farthest I have run since I herniated the disk in my back. It felt good. I'm still stressed, but I feel a little better.

A random sampling of what is on my mind today

• My last 2 MBA course which I fell a couple weeks behind in, but am trying to get current in
• Our Nanny's last day is Friday and we have a new one coming from Hong Kong at 1am Sunday morning - we still need to get the current on packed and out and we are back to square one with the new one... so much to teach. Our current Nanny has been with our family for 2 years and she will be missed. On the other hand, there are some things we did without to please this one that we will not be doing with the new one. Can't wait.
• We are having a mini-renovation done in the basement... Always stressful
• Apparently now is the time to look for schools and camps for next year for the kids... Are you kidding me???
• My back still gives me a little pain/stress and I need to lose weight and keep an eye on it. But I really need to lose weight. I've dropped only a few pounds, but a few inches just from exercise
• Urban Mummy... enough said
• Dentist appointments for the family
• My working future... I'm wasting away at my current employer, they fail to utilize my strengths and one I complete my MBA I'll have to shut up or move along... still undecided.
• Some fucking insect that bit me and drew blood in my vegetable garden. I was picking, like 30 tomatoes, and something latched on to my finger until I pryed it off. I now have a slight rash on my wrist. I think it was a spider. Waiting for my super-powers.
• Why my son cries when I take him to school on Tuesday's and why he keeps hitting and kicking and making his little brother cry. He knows better, he really does.
• Office politics. A very good friend of mine at the office once got upset with a few of us because she thought we were not being considerate of her around our group coffee breaks. Fast forward 2 months and this same friend breaks our coffee club and goes whenever she wants with whomever she wants... So why does it bother me??? Can't decide. Common sense tells me to forget it as being childish and move on, but part of me feels slighted as the organizer of breaks when after, like 2 years, it changes this way... Truth be told, I'm kind of glad it happened this way. The group was getting too big and since a bunch of them started hanging out after work, I've really realized that as a Dad, I don't have that much in common with any of them. I can't go out drinking after work and staying out until 1am, I don't have the flexibility to disappear on weekends and as for clubbing, well, I'm not 21 anymore... Been there, done that. So this has allowed me time to realize that I have to worry about me and my family and take care of my courses... My meal ticket. Nuff said.
• Clothes... I need new clothes... Nice ones. I'm tired of the same crappy clothes. I want to be taken shopping by my wife and have her pick some stylish clothes for me... If I'm going to be worth a million bucks, I need to dress and feel like it.
• Why it's midnight and I am no closer to bed than I was at 9pm.

And other stuff that crossed my mind this Tuesday:

• My youngest son's passport (expired)
• Pregnancy photos from the day UM gave birth that we still need to pick and I think about every day!
• Care and nurturing leave
• A too good to be true potential career move
• Where are my recruiters?
• Taking both cars in for service
• Phoning our grandparents
• Returning stuff to Staples
• Buying a bathing suit for Saturdays first swimming class
• Fixing the printer I somehow broke without even touching it
• Washing the dirty windows on the inside of the car
• Putting air in my bike tires and the strollers
• Taking pictures of the many stuff we are trying to sell on Craigslist.com
• Getting my motorcycle license
• Boating license
• My work team in which we no longer have a team leader but I somehow have filled in that void in an informal manner... As expected.
• and so much more

Sigh.

Sports thoughts...

I like that Hornswaggle is Vince McMahon's son... Makes me laugh.



The Blue Jays are so .500 it makes me sick. .500 winning percentage and 15th place in a 30 team league. Geez. I can hear the chanting now... "We're average... We're average".

Can anyone give me one good reason to vote Liberal??? Didn't think so. Besides being responsible for Ontario dropping to last in many significant categories, I find it just insane that Dalton McGuintey - Ontario's premier, keeps advertising how great he is and has to use biased people in these ads, like the current boss at the Daily Bread Food Bank where his leadership colleague worked - Gerard Kennedy - worked. And don't forget my MPP who Dalton kicked out of cabinet, but still finds no shame in running. Mike Colle, give it up... even if you do win, you've embarrassed your constituents... Go away gracefully.

Yom Kippur is coming up and I wish all my Jewish readers an easy fast... May you be enscribed in the book of life! And break fast is at our place! Woo hoo.

UrbanDaddy's baseball 3 stooges for the weekend.

Ramirez, Soriano and Drew...

Who?

Exactly.

Ramirez and Soriano play baseball for the Chicago Cubs and both did something this past weekend that really got my goat. They both hit home runs. Why is that a problem??? It's not that they hit home runs that bugged it, it's the way they hit them that has me annoyed. You see, both players, upon hitting the baseball, stood at home plate for a few seconds to watch the ball travel and also made some stupid-ass gesture before tossing their bats aside and trotting around the bases.

Two things come to mind in this instance.

1. If the ball does not leave the yard, these guys are going to have to run their asses off to get to second base as opposed to those players who run full out right away and could land on third or home
2. After watching this display I really hate the rule MLB Commissioner Bud Selig put in which penalizes pitchers from throwing at batters, because if I'm the pitcher who just gave up those homers, my next pitch is right in the middle of their backs to let them know that I don't appreciate they lack of professionalism...

J.D. Drew...

Who? This guys is an ass. All I remember of this clown is that he refused to play for the Philadelphia Phillies - who drafted him - because he was "too good" for that organization. You see J.D. told whomever that would listen that he was going to be the best baseball player ever (snicker, snicker). He said he was going to his .400, and lead the league in hits, runs, home runs, and bullshit.

So here were are, like 10 years later, J.D. is on his 4th team I believe and he is... well... average. But every time I see him, I hope someone will smack some humility into this clown. He probably has his own hall of fame in his basement. Loser.

From wikipedia:

1997: Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies
Drew was the second overall pick in the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Drew and his agent Scott Boras elected not to sign with the Phillies, sticking to their guarantee that they would not sign for less than $10 million dollars. The Phillies had no plan to pay an unproven player this amount of money, and despite Boras' warnings, drafted Drew nonetheless. Consequently, Drew ended up playing for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League.

1998-2003: St. Louis Cardinals
After playing for St. Paul in the 1997 season, Drew was selected fifth overall in 1998 by the St. Louis Cardinals. His first at-bat, in the 6th inning, ended in a strikeout, and he finished the night 0-and-2. In Drew's first appearance at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, he was booed loudly, and even had batteries thrown at him by two fans. Drew struggled to stay healthy, landing on the disabled list every season he played in St. Louis.

2004: Atlanta Braves
Drew was traded to the Atlanta Braves in December 2003, where he had the best season of his career while finally managing to stay healthy.

2005-2006: Los Angeles Dodgers
In December 2004, Drew signed a 5 year, $55 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which included an escape clause after the second year. In 2006, Drew exercised his contract option clause, forgoing $33 million over the next 3 years to become a free agent. The Dodgers' General Manager Ned Colletti said in a teleconference that he was "surprised how it came down. Everything we had heard, everything that had been written led us to believe the player loved being here." This was especially a surprise since a few days before, Drew had told an LA Times columnist on how happy he was in LA and that he was looking forward to the upcoming 2007 season.

2007: Boston Red Sox
On January 25, 2007, Drew officially signed a 5-year contract with the Red Sox worth $70 million. Drew's revised contract has a clause that allows the Red Sox to opt out of Drew's five year contract after three or four years if Drew has extensive injuries due to a previously existing problem in his right shoulder.
Drew has played poorly so far in his debut season with the Red Sox, experiencing one of his worst career offensive seasons. Through September 9, Drew is batting just .252 with 7 home runs, 96 hits and 49 RBIs, far below his normal production.

Public image:
In his book Three Nights in August, Buzz Bissinger mentions St. Louis manager Tony La Russa's agony over Drew's lack of passion. La Russa tells Bissinger that it seems Drew has decided to "settle for 75%" of his talent, in large part because of his enormous contract.

L'Shana Tova

To all my Jewish readers, I hope you all had a wonderful New Year and are prepping up for the big Yom Kippur fast - pregnant women aside - Friday night.

Did you end up going to family for dinner Wednesday night? Thursday night? Was it ok? Check out what happened to us...

Wednesday night, dinner at my wife's Grandfather's condo. Dinner called for 6:00pm, why? because we have 2 children who go to bed at 7:30 and we hate having to put them to sleep there, or having cranky kids crying and being very unhappy. While not that unreasonable, the moving of dinner time from 7:30 to 6:00 did not happen because "we" had kids, but rather because her cousin (the oldest grandchild) had a daughter and since she thinks dinner should be earlier too, it was changed. We all win.

So we arrived Wednesday night just past 6pm, and there were already a few people there, and almost everyone else showed up before 6:15 so we were ready to eat, except that my wife's Aunt had not showed up yet and we decided to wait for her. UM's Aunt has 2 children and no grandchildren, so I think the concept of eating early for the sake of the children is lost on her. She is a very dominant personality who knows pretty much everything and is not afraid to tell everyone just that. Remind me one day to post why her daughter does not talk to us... something about getting married 3 weeks before her... 6 years ago... Something about "stealing her thunder". I know. Childish, eh?

So while waiting - now 6:45, UM decides to feed the kids and has plenty of help from my mother and sister, and her mother and father. The kids eat, and play. One of the big toy attractions is a wooden Rosh Hashanah play set that UM bought for the kids which possesses among other things, 2 wooden round challah breads which the Happy Boy loves to carry around with him. How is this relevant... read on...

So it's is now 7:10 and the kids are getting cranky and so are the adults... No sign of UM's Aunt and there are 16 other people waiting to start.. dinner was, after all, called for 6:00. So we decided that we need to start and when they show up they can join us... I'm sure they'll understand, right? They are over an hour late and there are kids waiting to eat.. No problem right?

Read on...

So we all get to the table and are set to begin when we realize that we have no challahs - you see her Aunt was bringing the challahs. So while UM's grandfather reluctantly agrees to begin, he sees that everyone is smiling and laughing and having fun and ready to go, so he spots the 2 wooden challahs in front of the Happy Boy and he invites my son and his 2 wooden challahs up to the front of the table to have a prayer made over the bread so we can begin. Together great-grandfather and great-grandson make the prayers over the challah's and smiling and laughing, they share a moment and we are ready to eat.

First comes the chopped liver and gefilte fish, then comes the soup... But as the soup is being served, guess who comes into the condo... without the challahs, and PISSED OFF.

She walked in with her husband (puppet), daughter and son-in-law, and housekeeper, and without even an apology for being over an hour-and-fifteen minutes late, but instead bitching and moaning about not having seats saved for herself - you know, she's 61 years old, has been coming to dinner for 61 years, and how dare we not leave her a seat, blah, blah, blah... at this exact time, the Baby freaks out and UM takes him to walk and feed him in hopes he'll clam down and we can stay and, you know, eat dinner. She passes her Aunt and says to her - in a probably pissed off tone - that she can have her seat because now she needs to take care of the baby, when her Aunt loses it. She comes at my wife yelling and screaming at her - something about her shit not stinking and how important she is... My wife, never backing away, but trying to step away, tells her Aunt that it was not her decision to begin eating, but everyone decision, you know being that there were 16 other people she left waiting. So her Aunt, still with no apology in sight, walks away, mumbles to her family and they sit beside the rest of the family at a small round table (how embarrassing, eh?) take all the bottles of wine - including the bottle my mother brought - open them up and start eating and drinking without talking to anyone. They ignore the rest of the family, are rude to everyone else and quite frankly ruined what was shaping up to be a fun evening.

Our kids lasted only 1/2 more, so we left, without eating more than appetizer and soup - and I so badly wanted to go give her Aunt a piece of my mind.. selfish bitch. But I declined... it is the new year after all and I want to be inscribed in the book of life... yadda yadda.

So our new years starts in a unique way. I despise her Aunt and her family and their holier-than-thou attitude. They ruined our evening while at the same time showing the rest of the family what asses they are. so I guess it was a good evening after all.

I apologized to my mother and sister for their behaviour... like making tea for everyone but not offering it to my mother and sister long after we left.

Bad things come to bad people... wait, they already a miserable, unhappy people without kids/grand kids... now the rest of the family hates them... it does work...


The rest of the holiday was AWESOME... good food, good fun, good family.

:)

L'Shana Tova.

9.11

Today is the 6th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks against our neighbours in New York City.

Today I am very sad for all those who lost loved ones in the cowardly attack. I feel for these families and wish the strength to go on.

Today I am very angry to see and hear people celebrating these attacks and releasing videos prompting for more cowardly attacks.

Today I wish all these scumbags will have the same happen to their loved ones that has happened to these innocent people.

Today I want to hear from everyone that what happened was wrong and that as members of the human race we should all get along. All we want is to be able to lives our lives in a safe manner in the pursuit of happiness. Sometimes we need to make sure that everyone gets a fair shake of living this way. Not everyone has experienced the opportunity to be able to live free, able to speak their minds, question their leaders, practice their religion freely and be able to explore opportunities regardless of whether they are a man or a woman.

This is what makes our country and the USA desirable to live in by people all over the world. It's worth fighting for.

Today, like the last 6 years, is a very sad day.

He loves his Daddy...

The baby does... He really does.

Today he blew me a kiss. A few of them actually. First time I have seen him do that. Awwww. What a cutie. He's 11 months old today. Oy Vay! Brings me back to when he was born and my disc was out and I could barely carry that little heifer. Now, thank goodness, I can carry and toss around that 24 pound frame.

I feel like he has grown up so much in the past week. He does my taxes, makes me coffee in the morning and just finished a case study on the Security Management and Manufacturers Industry. Oops, that was the Happy Boy. The Baby Boy waves, claps on commend, says something that sounds like "bottle" and like "ball". Blows kisses, shakes his head no, has given the odd kiss here and there, tries to stand on his own and has been heard saying, "no" and "clap". But what impresses me the most is that after 11 months of being beaten on by his older brother (out of love only folks), he now covers his head, turns away, and lets out a fake scream/cry whenever his brother gets too close. Nice. He's 11 months and he's playing us. Love it!

Today, at the park - which I hate going because all I end up doing is pushing the baby on the swing while the Happy Boy plays, otherwise I end up sweeping little pebbles out of the Baby's mouth and clean has face as he sneaks handfuls of sand inside - I noticed the Baby really wanted to go down in the sand so I knelt beside him ready to prevent a buffet situation and sweep for rocks when I realized he was actually playing in the sand and not eating it. Huh? My baby has grown up. Didn't eat so much as a grain of sand.

He really is growing up...

Oy.

Planning his 1st birthday... Who to invite? The dilemma of inviting friends for a second child so close in age when the 2nd one really does not have any friends of his own. Sigh. Anyone have any experiences they can pass along.

Thursday Thirteen

13 News Items that have intrigued Urban Daddy today...



1. 3,000-year-old beehives unearthed in Israel. I'm not sure what about this story intrigues me more, that there were bees 3000 years ago in the "Land of Milk and Honey" or that someone digging was able to identify them as being beehives... How often do you see 3000 year old beehives that you can identify these ones. What did the architects do? Say, hey lets call, Joe, he knows what a 3000 year old beehive looks like.


2. Tenor Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71. Sorry to hear that... Heaven will sound better.


3. Fred Thompson announces candidacy for president – Ice T to be his VP if elected.


4. Early adopters sour over iPhone price cut – Hmmm, sounds like the iPod video problem UrbanMummy had, when she bought the iPod and they lowered the price the next week and came out with a newer design. Nice of the staff to let her know. at least in this case, all the iPhone owners will be receiving a $100.00 credit. I guess it's too late to ask for a credit from the iPod video... Oh well. We'll know to ask next time.


5. Not enough for luxury. $2 million may become the new benchmark for a fancy home in Toronto. Geez. I'll take 2 please.


6. Food additives make children behave badly - Britain’s food watchdog is warning all parents today of a clear link between additives and hyperactive behaviour in children. Research for the Food Standards Agency has established the “deleterious effects” of taking a mixture of artificial extras that are added to drinks, sweets and processed foods. It has led the FSA to issue the advice to parents who believe their children to be hyperactive that they should cut out foods containing the E numbers analysed in the study. But the FSA has been accused of missing an opportunity to protect children and all consumers by failing to impose a deadline on manufacturers to remove additives such as Sunshine Yellow and Tartrazine from their products.


7. Facebook, the hugely popular social networking site, risks provoking anger from its users by opening up details of individuals to the web at large. A new public search feature will soon mean that basic Facebook user profiles — carrying names and photographs of the site’s members — are accessible through search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Hmmm. Good thing I removed all access.



8. Osama Bin Laden arises from the ashes to criticize the British PM's. Who the hell is this guy and why would anyone listen to him anymore? He is a murderer, and a big coward who has resorted to hiding in caves in Afghanistan to avoid capture. Real hero. Brave, brave man. At least Saddam Hussein hid in a well in his own country. Osama bin Jackass has to hide in the rough terrain of a giant sand box called Afghanistan... Respected leader? HA. Big fucking loser, is more like it. I do, however like the fact that his own cave has a nice dressing room in it that allowed him to dye and trim his beard and touch up his complexion. Want to look good to the terrorists he is instructing. Idiot!



9. Major League Baseball officials will investigate reports linking St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel and Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Troy Glaus to performance-enhancing drugs.
The New York Daily News said that Ankiel received a 12- month supply of human growth hormone from a Florida pharmacy in 2004. Sports Illustrated's Web site reported Glaus -- the Most Valuable Player in the 2002 World Series for the Anaheim Angels -- got multiple shipments of steroids from the same supplier. Damn. All this from that idiot Chris Benoit. Hey, if you do the crime you do the time. Send a message to kids who look to these athletes as role models and suspend or fine all these guys for life! Well except Glaus, he's a Blue Jay now. But if he ever gets traded to the Yankees or Red Sox, then it's life. :)


10. The big joke that are the Ontario Liberals have released an election platform that promises big spending initiatives, including billions more on education and health. $14.7 billion, actually. Without raising taxes, or should I say, by telling voters they will not raise taxes but doing it anyways... the Liberal way. Oh! And don't forget the promise of a holiday in February... Oh joy! And free beer for everyone... Desperate times call for desperate measures, eh Dalton?


11. Some girl from some Disney production called High School Musical II or something like that had nude pictures "leaked" onto the Internet. Oh joy! Another role-model in the making. Move over Lindsay and Britany.



12. The parents of a British girl whose disappearance sparked a four-month international search were declared suspects by Portuguese police Friday, their lawyer said. Looks like these 2 pieces of work, both doctors, were found to have traces of blood in their rental car that matches to that of their daughter. Give me a break. Jail awaits these 2 if all the evidence is true. How could they?!? Let alone the act, how could they waste the time of all the locals and their friends looking for this girl if they knew where she was all the time.



13. Federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion yesterday leapt to the defence of ideological mentor - and former Canadian Prime Minister - Pierre Trudeau, slamming former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney for his attack on the deceased Liberal icon. Mulroney criticized his former nemesis for his pacifism and opposition to conscription during the Second World War and for wearing a Nazi arm band while Jews and other religions were being murdered in Germany and Poland. But thank goodness the Liberals have this dim light-bulb called Dion, as he said, "That's what he was saying when Mr. Trudeau was alive, now that Mr. Trudeau is no longer around, he wants to revisit what he said? He should argue with himself." Yes, Stephane, he should argue with himself... HUH? What? Errr, ok. Seeking to clarify his position, the Liberal leader said, "If he (Mulroney) is unfair for all the personalities as he has been to Mr. Trudeau, nobody will read his book for very long." Yup. You got it. Bang on Stephane. Whatever you meant to say.

I dread the day this guy becomes PM. Corrupt party. Incompetant leader.

Thoughts for a beautiful Labour Day

It's 30 degrees outside and I'm inside... So hot, so tired.



UrbanMummy goes back to work tomorrow and totally blames me. I don't blame her. I did, afterall, tell her that I would have a new job that would be able to support her and I by November... November 2001. Gulp.



Opportunities like this come by very infrequently, if ever, and if you don't grab the bull by the horns it'll pass you by and you will regret it forever. The last time I thought this way was after meeting UrbanMummy for the first time on July 1, 2000. That sentiment is beginning to creep into my head again. I made the right choice 7 years ago and I'm going to make the correct choice this time around too.



We have tomatoes in the garden... purple ones and orange pear shaped ones. They are yummy. Why, though, does The Happy Boy ask me every 30 seconds if the unripe ones that I brought in the house are ready? Does he think when I tell him they need to ripen that it will happen immediately or does he just have no sense of time. Or... Does he think these damn things grow on trees??? :)



We had to cancel our potluck playdate this afternoon because the Happy Boy has a croup cough... call in the hounds.



Looks like our Nanny woes are over... Our current Nanny leaves September 15th and the new one is due to arrive on the 16th or 17th.



Tuesday, tomorrow, brings a whole new schedule for the Urban family. School starts for UM and THB, school starts for UM and for me (my LAST 2 courses, then I'll have my MBA), I need to arrange a mixer for my class and discuss promotional licensing with them, I go back to physio for a back-checkup this week, my volunteer time with the local big brothers program and the rate-payers organization begins, my job search continues and the Jewish high-holidays are coming right up and I need to up the exercise / healthy eating... Can you say 4 hours sleep again. :)



Well the kiddies are due up from nap any minute and maybe I'll run them outside again... A nice long walk to Starbucks. LOL.

That was fun!!!

Today was a busy day, full of fun. I have not had this much fun in a long time.

Here's how my / our day shaped up...

Morning out to the doctor to have the boys looked over for their 3 month lube and oil, er, back to school check-up, and the boys are great. Gaining weight, developing according to schedule, just fine.

Then home - nap for the baby, then off to playgroup. There were a couple other Dads there and we ate, and played with the kids - changed a few diapers and had a blast. I've become the official burper for one of the Mom's. Nice title, eh?

Home again, naps for both kids, then off to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) to meet my mother and sister for the evening. It turned out to be a super-fun evening full and we got home just past 11pm and the boys we awake most of the evening.

The Happy Boy went on a few rides and his face light up while on them all. He smiled, laughed, waved and even tried talking to the other riders during the adventure. He especially enjoyed the cars he got to ride in that looked like a fire truck and ambulance. He sat in the car smiling and waving until the ride started. Off shot the car as Happy Boy scrambled to grab the wheel and start steering. He steered, smiled and waved for most of the ride, except for the few minutes spent staring at the track as he tried to figure out how the ride works. He's a funny boy.

The Happy Boy also loved the motorcycles, the tour of the firestation and seeing the fire truck from the 1940's, the CN Tower and all the fabulous colours it kept turning, the spotlights from the Convention Centre, the Snowbird and dog tag given to him, all the games, lights and action, and of course spending time with his Bubi (my mother) and Aunt (my sister).

Side note: I grew up going to the EX with my grandparents and those memories will be with me forever. I felt a bit nostalgic as my son was there with his grandmother.

Side note II: In the car looking for parking I pointed out the CN Tower to the Happy Boy and told him it was the tallest of its kind in the world and goes right up into the sky. About 30 seconds later, I hear the Happy Boy say the following, "Baby Boy, that is the CN Tower, it goes up into the sky...
Awwwww. I love that.

So back to me: I won a stuffed cow on the Whap-a-Mole. I always win, but at the CNE some machines are fixed so I look for the winners machine and use it after he/she leaves. Took me two games to win.

Won a stuffed dog tossing baseballs into a panda's mouth. Cost me $10.00.

Won a blue elephant by throwing a baseball 53 MPH according to a radar gun, then telling the attandant that I was going to throw the ball 55 MPH the next time. I did, and won. Funny how that worked out.

We bumped into some old friends we lost touch with when they disappeared into the suburbs, and a co-worker. Neat!

All in all, I had an awesome time hanging out with UrbanMummy, playing games, being out on a Friday night and having two very tired kids in a stroller being quiet just looking around. It brought back memories about when we were dating, well, except for the fact that I have a bigger gut, less hair and spit-up on my shirt and shorts.

So if you are in the TO area and thinking of going down to the CNE, I say go! You wont regret it.

Cheers.