Forgetfulness

Since having kids, I have become forgetful. It could also be that having kids coincided with going through my 30s and into my 40s.... but I prefer to blame the kids ;)
I used to have an awesome memory: Phone numbers? No problem. I will call you! Agenda? No need! I will remember! Faces? I could always remember your name and how I met you. Birthdays? Let me pick up the phone and wish you a happy day on the right day... Now, I can barely remember my name, whether I need to get a certain kid to a certain place at a certain time (plus or minus half an hour) and if I turned off the stove ;)
I remember coming back to my PhD studies after my mat leave with Alexander. Someone visiting our lab asked me what my project was about and I totally blanked. I had no idea... even after spending the last 3 years on it. I think I made something up... seriously. At that very moment, I panicked... What happened to my memory?!??! Flash forward 12 years and I have become somewhat accustomed to it ;) Well, at least, I can laugh about it ;) Or I can just blame the kids ;)

Wishing you all a happy Monday... I mean, Tuesday... Wednesday? Who cares.... as long as it is happy ;) xox

RIP Nicka's hermit crab

On Friday, we noticed that Nicka's hermit crab (remember them?) had come out of his/her shell. We figured that it needed a larger home so I cleaned a few shells and put them in the tank. Some hermit crab website (yes, they actually exist. There are quite a few too. Who knew?) recommended to put the shell near the crab so that it has easy climb in access. We did that... except the crab decided to hide under one of the plastic dinosaurs that we put in the tank to liven the place up. Unfortunately, the crab found it's final resting spot under that dinosaur... and now it (the crab... not the dinosaur) is compost in our garden (sorry, no ceremonious burial). I spent a good part of today cleaning out the tank, just in case it was sick or something. Yes, I am a sucker.

RIP Nicka's crab....

Empty shell :(

Another 10 random facts

1. If there are 25 of a type of item on the store shelf, I always seem to pick up the only one that does not have a price tag/bar code on it... and it is honestly not done on purpose ;)

2. Lately, I find myself being the type of woman who talks to people in bank lines... Andreas thinks it is funny that I can talk to people like that... I am surprised to find myself actually in a bank line.... ;)

3. I still love my new toilet. For further explanation, read this.

4. For some strange and probably self-punishing way, I am looking forward to flying to Sweden with the 3 boys... by myself... just me and them.... outnumbered! ;)

5. Yesterday evening, I played soccer in the rain... and actually enjoyed the rain part.

6. The first 2 things that I want to eat when I arrive in Sweden is Scandinavian style pizza (it is very different than what we have in North American) and Risifrutti (cherry is my fave).

7. I am now officially getting Alexander's hand-me-down soccer cleats.

8. Nail polish on my fingernails lasts about 5 milliseconds, no matter how professional the job might be ;)

9. I came up with 3 things that bug me about summer (just to be fair to winter): big mosquitos that like to hang out around my ears, mud on my kitchen floor and bananas that seem to go bad in about the same amount of time that it takes me to wreck my manicure ;)

10. I missed international wine day! Seriously! So bad!


Now, here for some oldie-but-goodie random photos ;) Wishing you all a great day xox

Mother x-ray vision

Sometimes, I run an experiment at home: I leave something on the floor that I would normally pick up (ie: a plastic bread tie,a dust bunny, a piece of scrap paper). It kills me to leave it there but I want to make a point. I want to find out if anyone in our house also sees it..... besides me, of course. So far, my experiment has yielded some interesting results: NO ONE ELSE SEES THE DAMN THING THAT I HAVE LEFT ON THE FLOOR. They will kick it by accident. They will walk over it. They will look at the floor until they get to the offending piece that should not be there and then conveniently look up at the ceiling. What is my conclusion? I must be abnormal. Secret x-ray vision, maybe? Ability to look into a garbage dimension? I must have some kind of super power BECAUSE I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THE CRAP ON THE FLOOR!!!!! But, I have to give the boys some credit: I really think that they don't see it. Or they are the best actors in the world when they look at me in disbelief when I point out the offending crap... So, I like to think that I have super powers... Anyone see my cape? ;)

xox

I see a speck of dust under the bed... and it bugs me.... but no one else sees it ;)

Glimpses of the weekend

Most of the weekend was filled with soccer (all boys, including Andreas). My league has been on a spring break lately so I haven't been playing... but I have been busy coaching. Yes, apparently having 3 boys not listen to me is not enough in my life ;)
The weather has been great and, despite all the running around, it was nice to reconnect with friends that we haven't seen for most of the winter. The little lilac tree that Andreas planted for me a few years ago is about ready to bloom and, with the bit of rain- on top of the sun- that we had this weekend, everything is very green. I managed to get a bit of sun on my face during our Saturday games. Did that ever feel nice! I even put away all the winter clothes... and found about 10 kilograms of rocks in Oliver's coat pockets. Andreas even made us all an awesome Monday pancake breakfast!
Now, our Monday holiday is winding down and the boys are finishing up their homework. I am enjoying the last bit of not having to be anywhere. Back to work tomorrow!

Wishing you all a good week xox

From Oliver's winter coat pockets!!??!!

My little lilac tree

Warming up for Copenhagen

Pancake breakfast

Homework

Noise with boys

This is a holiday weekend. I always look forward to the relaxation, quiet moments, calm that comes with a long weekend "off". Needless to say, I am naive. Long weekends are NEVER relaxing, quiet or calm. They usually end with me looking forward to going back to work... or wine.... or both (but not together..; c'mon... I AM professional, you know) ;)
The boys, before the chaos of soccer games hits this afternoon, were allowed to spend time playing video games. You would think that this is a quiet activity that they can do together. Nopes. I had to close the basement door because the noise coming from downstairs is louder than my radio, which is in the same room as me.. and I can still here them... yelling.... but, at least, not AT each other but WITH each other. Guess that counts for something.....

Happy weekend to you all xox

Happy birthday, Montreal!

It is Montreal's 375th birthday today. I know... all you Europeans (and just about every other continent) will think that it is not too impressive but, for North American standards, that is pretty old. I found this celebratory video on Youtube and I thought that I would share it.

Happy birthday, Montreal. I <3 you! Je t'aime, Montréal!

Seven

Today, this boy turns 7 years old! Time flies when we are having fun :) We love you, Oliver!

Happy Mothers' Day!

Today- for Mothers' Day, I did absolutely nothing. I had my nails done and was fed caviar with freshly peeled grapes. The boys sang lovingly to me, while I enjoyed the moment with a fantastic glass of champagne in hand. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yes, it was Mothers' Day. Yes,  I was blessed with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and lovely cards. Yes, I am thankful for the honour of being called mamma. I was also blessed with 2 little boy birthday parties... one of which was Oliver's (his actual party... the other was one where he was a guest). Mothers' Day meant putting loot bags together, wiping up spilled apple juice, cleaning chocolate covered faces, singing Happy Birthday in my usual off-key sort of way and trying to supervise 11 sugar filled little boys ;) I also got to help with homework and make cupcakes for Oliver's class party tomorrow;)

Actually, how fitting... and appropriate... and real ;)

Wishing you all a very happy Mothers' Day xox

Waters receding

Today was, luckily, a dry day. Heck, we even had sun :) The flood waters are very slowly receding. Good news- yes- but it is also a point in time where people start to realize what they lost :( I volunteered at the boys' school today (they had a fun run around the block) and, when I was outside, a boy came up to me and asked when the kids would be running. I told him soon and asked if he was one of our students. He said no and proceeded to tell me that he was visiting his aunt and uncle because his house was full of water. Ugh! How do you answer to that one? Poor family!

One good thing about this flood: it is nice to see people wanting to help each other. This afternoon, I picked up some toiletries to donate and the lady at the cash was actually suggesting things that other people had not bought yet. Imagine- a live grocery list ;)

It will probably take months for some of these families to get some sort of normal back to their lives. Terrible, yes, but I hope that they can feel that others care...

Happy Wednesday to you all! xox

This is one of the fields where I play soccer in the summer. No, it doesn't usually look like that. (Picture found on the net)

No break

It is still raining... :(

My mother sent me these pictures today, taken from a drone (I have no idea who actually took them so my apologies for the lack of photo credits). It shows part of the flooded area, about a 15 minute drive from our house. Actually, on Saturday, my weekend soccer game was cancelled because the place where we play (about 5 minute walk from the area in the pictures) was deemed dangerous to bring people into :(

On the top picture, the actual river is on the right hand side. On the bottom one, the river is at the bottom of the image. The rest of the water is the flood.. and covering parking lots, streets and peoples' properties :(

If you can, please send positive "dry" thoughts to our neighbours. It is really appreciated!

xox to you all!

Rain, rain

Normally, I don't mind rain at all. In my opinion, I will take it over snow any day ;) The thing is that, lately, there was been a ton of rain and some of the communities around us are flooded. No one remembers having seen the rivers and lakes around Montreal so high before. My Saturday morning soccer games have been cancelled today because the streets that surround where we play are literally rivers. It is pretty serious: people are actually out with rowboats on what is, normally, not meant for rowboats. I heard on the news this morning that the military is being called to help with sandbags and evacuating people from flooded homes. Unfortunately, we are supposed to get even more rain soon. This is one time that I am glad that we do not have waterfront or near waterfront property!

If you are living in one of the affected areas, please stay safe... and, hopefully, dry xox

I took this picture off the internet. It is about a 10 minute drive from where we live :( Stay safe, neigbours!

The small stuff

Sometimes, it is all about the small stuff: nice weather, mirrors telling me that I was hot (!), blooming tulips, cool window displays and, best of all, a coffee pod that was hiding in the bottom of a box that I had thought was empty.

Hope you all had a great day xox

Why! Thank you! ;)

This found coffee pod totally made my day!

Spring

This morning, we had to leave earlier than usual because I had to drop Andreas off at the train station. Nicka and Oliver did not want to go into daycare so we stayed on the playground until the bell rang. It was lucky for Nicka that some of his friends were also early and he got to play ball with them. Oliver, having friends that usually arrive later because of the bus, was bored. For entertainment, I joked that he should pick up some of the 5 million earth worms that were on the ground (it had rained last night). Apparently, that was the BEST suggestion ever because he made a pretty good attempt at picking up every one of the 5 million earth worms and delivering them to the grassy area.

Thank goodness for spring! :)

PS: sorry, about the lack of inspiration in my blog posts lately... Hmmm... come to think of it, sorry about the lack of blog posts period ;) I am in grading land... and totally swamped. Happily, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... just wish it was closer ;)

xox