The week that was... Happy Birthday Big Boy.

Happy 3rd birthday to my big boy! You made it to three years old and along with that you bring some good points and some quirks. You are empathetic, so your teachers say, and we have seen. You speak very well for your age and use words like, "similar and available". You know how to speak well enough that you are able to put on a baby voice and character and speak in that weird way to us and others that we forget how articulate you are. You like to come to Mummy and Daddy's bed every night because you heard a noise or don't want to be alone. You make me laugh, even when you are being serious and asking me questions like, "Does Auntie R have a penis?", or, "Why do people say bless you when you sneeze?". Even tonight when you bit me, snacked me, knocked over your brother or jumped on Mummy, you are still our little big boy. I love you!



Tinker toys - remember them? I grew up playing with them. I had a few. They became boring as they started to break and my folks never bought me more. Well... They are back! (Were they ever gone?!?) Our big boy got 2 sets of them for his birthday and he loves them... Well loves having us make stuff for him like a car, elevator, or microphone that he can sing with, but he really like taking the orange ones (the really long ones), putting a round piece on the end and bopping his baby brother over the head with them... Nice.



Birthday Cake?!? Maybe not. Linus told me last night that he gets cake for his birthday, and balloons and gets to play with his friends. He was right. But then without taking a breath he told me that he doesn't want cake, but presents instead... He's only going to be three... Oy.


So after his birthday party we took all the presents into the living room with Linus, and had him open all of them as we decided what he had already, what he wouldn't play with and what he could have and play with now. He loved the dump truck and the wood fire truck, but the Fisher Price battery operated dinosaur that roars and tries to bite was not a winner as it made Linus run for cover. He did however tell me that he is keeping that toy for when he is bigger and it wont scare him. LOL. So we asked Linus to set aside 2 toys and we had 2 toys from Hanukkah and we packed both kids into the car and took them to the local Fire Station to have him donate the toys for Christmas Wish. Linus gave the toys to the fireman (and didn't start crying and asking for them back this year), and we all proceeded to the fire truck after a brief tour of the station. Linus and the fireman sat in the fire truck and Linus was shown how the truck operated and all the fancy bells and whistles. We left after about 35 minutes and headed home. I like this tradition that UrbanMummy started.



As I try to write some of this I am watching the BBC and news that Benazir Bhutto was killed a political rally. She, apparently, is not the 1st opposition leader killed while Pakistan is under the rule of General Parvaz Musharraf. Hmmmm. What really comes to my mind is, "What's with these people? Have they no morals? Killing for the sake of killing in the most cowardly way". I really have no patience for suicide bombers, especially this coward that shot and killed Bhutto, them blew himself up killing close to 30. Extremists must go!



Toronto Marlies are 21-5 so far this season and no one cares...

Some holiday thoughts....

1. Coal in the stockings of every upper-management type that works for the Chicago Bulls basketball team and approved the firing of coach Scott Skiles on the 24th of December... Couldn't wait 2 more days
2. Jamie Lynn Spears - 16 - is pregnant. First there was Brit, now her little sister. Seems wacko Mom allowed her to have a live-in 19 year old boyfriend. Duh. This woman is actually writing or has actually written a book on parenting. HA HA HA. I want to be in line to get that book, not to buy it but to smack every person that purchases one, and give them their money back. But, do we know that the dad-to-be is really this 19yr old boyfriend or could it be... Kevin Federline? He does like to be looked after financially, and already knows the Spears family... Hmmmm.
3. Congrats to UrbanMummy for finishing her diploma after not so long ago completing her Masters... No more courses, please dear... No more.
4. Our baby-boy - Stewie - now knows that if he calls, "da da" that I will give him attention, so he spent all day doing that yesterday. I love it!!!
5. It really is illegal to shovel your snow from your driveway or walk into the street. Tell your friends and neighbours. :)

Why, why, why???

Why did facebook have to add a new application to the Jedi vs. Sith application that also keeps track of stats and is Star Wars themed?!? It's not like I was already trying to kick the Jedi vs Sith habit, but now I have a new addiction... damn!



Why does my oldest son - hereinafter referred to as Linus (see UrbanMummy's blog for the reasoning) no longer deem it necessary to sleep through the night? He sleeps from - on average 8pm to on average 1am, then he sits in his bed wailing, usually something to do about wanting his mummy, or not wanting to be alone. Then I hop into bed with him and once I fall asleep, he leaves his room with his blankie, walks quietly down the hall and jumps into Mummy and Daddy's bed with Mummy. Grrrr.

Today I received my degree in the mail and 3 advanced diplomas in, as far as I can figure, in classes that I excelled in. So I now officially have my MBA. Now I can focus on my Masters of Marriage...

For all my readers who are celebrating Christmas, we here at the Urban Daddy household wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

I am SO done...

I am.

Finished. As of 2am last night/this morning when I emailed my Corporate Finance exam to my professor. My last exam. My last course. I'm done. I'm finally done, after three long years. I'm done. I registered for business school one week before The Happy Boy was born in 2004. A couple people suggested to me that there is no way that I would be able to see this through to the end. To them, I laugh. I did it. Now all I need is another kick-ass mark on this exam, an acceptable mark in this course and then its just a short wait until I receive my Master of Business Administration. Finally. So how do I treat myself today?!? I didn't. I was a pallbearer at the funeral of my Uncle, whom I mentioned a few posts back, had fallen ill with cancer. I'll miss him because whenever I missed my dad (13 years younger than him) I always knew I could talk to or see my Uncle and he'd remind me of my Dad or talk to me about stuff they did growing up. That option is no longer available. Another thing that dawned on me is that with my Dad, Uncle and their parents gone, the next generation is myself and my 2 cousins. One cousin has all girls, but between 2 of us, we have 4 boys and still know very little about our heritage short of a few stories told here and there. It's kind of surreal.

In both one of my best and worst moments in recent memory, I was thankful to have my wife there to keep me honest, and for that I owe her a lot. She stood beside me through 3 years of classes and assignments and while she didn't always appreciate the late nights and frequent classes, I know deep down inside she wanted this for me as much as she wanted her masters degree that she got not too long ago. She just has trouble showing it sometimes. I'm proud of her.

So besides an obvious lack of sleep - Saturday night got about 2 hours sleep - I've been thinking about life after MBA and I have a lot on my mind. Some of which include:

• A white Christmas. While I don't celebrate it, per se, I like a white Christmas. With all this snow we have and the possibility of more coming, I think it's a lock. Merry Christmas to you all.
• I want to take a cooking class, or classes. My father-in-law said he wants to take them with me too. Really? He also quit smoking 3 weeks ago. I'm so impressed. Good on him.
• I got re-assigned at work starting today - ho hum.
• I hope the tech company that I have been consulting with manages to get moving forward so I can further develop the Finance role I utilize for them.
• I'm updating my blog - soon to read others - and both my kids are coughing in bed. It's just past 11pm and I wonder if I'll be able to get more than 6 hours sleep tonight... That would be a huge treat. :)

Time to finally get ready for bed before 2am. It's been three long years...

... and then there was one...

... one course left. Finally. I only imagined this day way back in December 2004 when I registered and was accepted to graduate school that I might be relieved to be completing my designation. Back then, we were soon to be parents and had all this "time off" coming. Fast forward 2007 and we have 2 kids, both of us are working and taking courses, and I have begun consulting with a tech company hoping to get them off the ground running... Needless to say, we have no time. I have no time... But I will. Soon.

I just completed one course, business strategy, and within days I received my final mark in a percentage. 91%. Not bed, eh? This would be right up there with my economics marks, my accounting marks (100% in financial accounting), new product development(s), organizational behaviour(s), marketing, human resources management, and hopefully soon Corporate Finance. Whew. I'm tired.

Tired, and not that smart. :) You see I have an exam due December 17th. 60 questions. I've already done 10 of them and I still decided to take Brian Mulroney's memoirs from the public library on a 7 day loan. I don't read very fast and the damn thing is 1100 pages. Yes, 1100 pages, plus. Mission Impossible. :)

Oh, time to get back to work... So I can read... or sleep.

What's up with that?

My son... The Habs fan?!? NOOOOOoooooo. Say it ain't so!!!

The Happy Boy was drinking his pre-bed cup of warm milk when I turned on the TV to see the score in the Leafs game. He saw the game and said, "I don't like that! I don't like hockey". Hmmph, I thought to myself. He'll like it one day. Then an update came on the TV and it was of the Canadiens scoring a goal, to which the Happy Boy pointed, smiled, clapped and rejoiced. I was beside myself. I said, "buddy, that is Montreal?!?", to which he replied, "I like Montreal. My friends Mom is from Montreal. My friend goes to Montreal sometimes..." Damn.

Aww, I know why he likes the yucky Canadiens... Their uniforms are red and his favourite colours are red, pink and brown. I'll have to show him the Black Hawks and the Hurricanes. He can be a fan of either of those, but NOT the Habs. I'd never live it down.

Let it snow

A very busy weekend at the UrbanDaddy household has been capped off by a lot of snow (and now rain) around the house. I love to get out and shovel first thing in the morning but figured it might not be a good idea to leave two children in the living room to play together while I shoveled and UrbanMummy worked on her assignments. I left it, but checked it often to make sure it was still there... It is.

Once again the old adage, "Bad news comes in threes", came true on Sunday as The Happy Boy fell at a birthday party this morning splitting his lip, I found out my sister's budgie is dying (man, she loves that thing), and my Uncle (my late father's brother) has cancer. Bad, bad, bad.

The Happy Boy incident happened at a birthday party when my son decided he could ride a riding car off of a wooden platform but failed to consider that when the front of the car hit the floor, he would go - face first - into the steering wheel, splitting his lip. Fortunately, he did this in front of 2 good friends of ours - both doctors - who were able to examine him and gently let me know that he was alright, before telling me why I should be concerned that he wasn't alright. When they handed him to me his face from the nose down was covered in blood, as were his hands. I thought his teeth had been knocked out or had gone through his lip.

Turns out he just split the inside of his lip with his teeth and once in the arms of Mummy and cleaned up, he soon realized crackers were more interesting to him than sympathy and off he went to play and eat. That's my boy! Tough as nails. Just like Daddy who has played ball-hockey with bruised ribs, a separated shoulder and numerous knee injuries.

As for my uncle... I have three uncles, two on my mother's side that I no longer talk to and one one my Dad's side (he is 13 years older than my Dad) and once my Dad passed away, I found that being around this uncle really brought back memories and made me feel comfortable. To find out today that he has cancer and was not well was very upsetting for me because I'm not sure I am mentally prepared to say goodbye. I may not always have the opportunity to see my uncle but knowing that he is there and that I can always ask him questions about my family or my father was very comforting. Losing my grandfather just days after returning from a heritage visit of sorts to Poland was disappointing and this would be on par. Although my uncle is 82 years old, he shows very little sign of his age except for being bow legged because he doesn't want to undergo knee replacement surgery (pain and fear) and the fact that he votes Liberal. He makes a great apple pie, loves to talk politics and reminds me of my Dad in so many ways... It's eerie. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Other happenings:

I've had to call on my few blogger friends to help with some seasonal issues, like whether Santa exists or not. You see, were are Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas, so essentially, Santa does not exist to us, and my son wanted to know why. For this, I have sub-contracted Laural of The misadventures of (pregnant) mommy Laural. http://lauraldawn.blogspot.com/ I'm sure there will be more issues relating to the tooth fairy, where babies come from and the Easter bunny... Loads of fun. I encourage all of you to comment with your tips, hints, techniques and thoughts... All comments are welcomed.

I also found out this Sunday that I do not finish my MBA December 7th as I previously mentioned, but rather that is the ending date of my business strategy class. On the 7th I get my final exam for Corporate Finance, then have to bust my ass to complete it, and do well. Class ends December 17th... Whew. I can't wait. There is a list a mile long of things to do in the house.

P.S. Anyone have a great Hanukkah idea for m'lady? I'm stuck! Everything she wants she orders online after memorizing the credit card number.