zombie mama

I'm not sure if I need to up my caffeine intake or it's the hot weather catching up with me, but I have been so groggy lately.
It seems to take me forever to wake up and I have been having the deepest sleeps ever.
I manage to get eight hours + of sleep each night, yet I don't really wake up feeling refreshed.
I feel as though I'm in a perpetual haze all day long.
I've actually started drinking espresso in the afternoon just so I am able to function.

But if memory serves me correct, I get this way at this time every year.

I like summer and all, but with it comes feeling a bit lazy, which in turn makes me feel antsy.
I'm not great when I'm not kicking it into high gear.
I like to be on the go and when things chill out, I have a really hard time embracing it.
It's not like I haven't had to do anything though.
I'm still taking Lulu to camp each day and doing all the regular "fun" domestic stuff.
I guess I'm just caught up in that same old "I should be doing this" or "I could be doing that" state of mind. When all I really want to do is well...nothing.
Oh the guilt.

But it's mid summer and I know I should just take full advantage and try to relax while I can and stop "shoulding" on myself.
It's O-kay to feel lethargic from time to time.
That's what summer is all about.

Anyhow not I'm complaining, because I know just around the corner things won't feel so carefree.

viva las vegas

I love the sound of fresh lake water softly slapping against the side of a canoe, the distant call of a loon, or maybe the buzz of a cicada high on a tree top.
And is there anything nicer than the sound of leaves gently rustling in the wind?
Or maybe the sounds of splashing and laughing children echoing across a lake....
Ahh the sounds of summer.
sigh....

Well not my summer per say.
My summer vacation sounded more like constant ringing of slot machines.
 And **bleep**what the **bleep** I should have doubled down g-d damn it!!!
And the wonderfully intelligent sounds of drunk people.
And the constant dinging of an elevator with Cher cranked inside. Then again I suppose it could have been worse.
I also heard plenty of this which was o-kay, only I could had done without having to hear it 18 times over the course of the weekend.
And the ever present "Dude, tonight's going to be *beeping* awesome dude, let's get liquored up pronto *bleep*" 
Clearly the movie The Hangover was inspired here.
or last but certainly not least "where can I find "premium" Russian prostitute around here?"
Said with heavy eastern European accent.
All heard whilst breathing in lovely clouds of fluffy white marlboro cigarette smoke.
ah...the sounds and smells of my summer....
sigh..

Okay maybe a slight exaggeration.
But if you are looking for a relaxing summer getaway, Vegas is NOT the place to go.
So no great surprise here.
However if you are looking for a place to wear some trashy high heeled hooker shoes, short skirts, and I mean short, tight tank tops, a bucket load of perfume, love 50 degree heat, crowds and plenty of loud music everywhere, and mostly you feel like you wanna just
Par-tay and stuff yourself to the point of sheer gluttony, this is the place to go.

Then again, that's not why we decided to visit Sin City mid July.
I know, hard to believe I didn't want to strut my stuff in 7 inch stillettos...
Though admittedly I do wish I had packed some elastic waisted pants when I bellied up to the all-you- can-eat dessert buffet.
I'm pretty sure that my sweat currently smells like cheesecake..


It was actually Big Daddy's parents 50th anniversary and all the family met up in Vegas.
Definitely not my first choice, but hey might as well go with the flow and everyone is from the west coast so it kind of made sense.
The weekend flew by and despite my complete lack of love for Las Vegas we had a fun time.
Lulu met her new adorable cousin and got to see her grandparents for the first time in over two years.
It is grandma's happy place after all.
We also got to know our future sister in law, who couldn't be nicer.
Yay finally someone I can relate to in the family!
Bonus that it was all very short and sweet.
In on Thursday, home by Sunday.

Anyhow it's good to be home.
Bonus that we are up $100 from when we left.
Maybe we can put that towards a weekend up north before the summer is over...

too hot to eat

The last few weeks have been hotter than Hades here in Toronto.
We have broken all kinds of records.
Fortunately we have air conditioning and haven't had to be outside for the worst of the heat wave.
So glad Lulu was in the shade for most of last week at the Brickworks camp.

I'm okay with hot weather, but it does tend to make me lose my appetite.
And that is not an easy thing to do..
Not always a bad thing once and a while I suppose.
I just don't feel like cooking or even eating when it's 35+ degrees outside (45 with humidity)
Aside from chips and cold beer of course.
I haven't felt like eating out either.
Extreme heat always freaks me out when it comes to food safety in restaurant kitchens.
Shudder...
Besides so few restaurants have seasonal menus that appeal to me in the summer months.
That is aside from side from Vietnamese food.
Vietnamese food is perfect on a hot day.
Maybe not the Pho soup per say, but Bun is the ticket.
Delicious cold noodles, shredded fresh veg, grilled BBQ pork and shrimp on sugar cane.
Yum.
Even better with an iced Vietnamese coffee.
so so good.

What's your favourite food to eat when it's too hot to cook?

camp grandma & grandpa

Lulu has been at camp "Gran & Grandpa" all week and I can't believe how fast it has flown by!
It's the one time all year that I can just completely relax and not have to worry about her.
Well I suppose I always "worry" that she is okay, but I feel at ease knowing that she is having fun and is completely fine.
Though when I dropped her off and said good-bye her tears unhinged me a bit, but I knew that after a few minutes she would be completely okay.
Besides she is lucky that it wasn't at a camp up north like some of her friends are starting to do.
I can't even begin to imagine how dramatic our good byes will be when she starts doing that.
If she ever agrees to do that.
Until then it's Niagara-On-the-Lake for a couple of weeks each summer.
Oh the poor little thing...

She's so incredibly lucky to have such amazing grandparents.
Her week will be filled with swimming, art camp, play dates, tea parties, treats and more kisses and hugs than I'm sure I could possibly ever shower on her in an entire year.
My parents are so enamoured with Lulu.
I wish I had that type of special bond with my grandparents when I was a child.
Unfortunately distance made that difficult, not to mention I had so many cousins that I was never numero uno the way Lulu is for my parents.
She's also lucky that they're still so young and energetic that they have no problem keeping up with her.
In fact, I have a hard time keeping up with them!
When you look up The Perfect Grandparent in the dictionary, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a picture of my folks in there.
They really are fantastic.
Such a lucky girl.

Anyhow with all this freedom we've been trying to take full advantage of our temporary empty nest.
We went out for dinner a couple of times and took the pooch for walks after dark.
Who knew that it would be such a small luxury to go for a walk in the neighbourhood together after 9 pm?
But truth be told, we've both so tired lately that all we really want to do is just enjoy the quietness of the house and relax in the backyard.
G-d we're getting old..
Big Daddy has especially been working like crazy and really could really use the down time.
Bonus that our neighbours and their *daycare* I mean kids, are away at the cottage, so it's super quiet and a nice break to not hear crying, screaming or fighting for a change.
We want to try enjoy all the peace & tranquility while we can.

But once again, as nice as it is to have a breather from being a parent, it goes without saying that we both miss Lulu and look forward to having her back home.
Because as nice and mellow as it is, it always feels like something is missing when she's not around.

Until then, I'll be sitting under the tree in the back yard reading my book, not thinking about anything or anyone for the next 24 hours enjoying the sound of the birds, cicadas, and Chelsea snoring at my feet.
Ah the sounds of summer...

happy belated

Had a very low key Canada day long weekend.
We enjoyed the back yard for the first time all season and came to the conclusion that it might actually be quieter in the city than in Cottage country on a long weekend.
The neighbours were away and there were no trades making any noise.
Holy construction on our street...
We didn't hear any jet skis, power boats or people across the lake "given' r" all night long.
All we could hear were the birds and the crickets.
It seems as though our entire neighbourhood has made the annual pilgrimage up north for the summer.
Fine by me.
There are times when I miss our family cottage and wish my parents hadn't sold it.
And occasionally I'll even miss the boat.
Just a little bit.
But after being able to just chill out and do very little this weekend- especially not having to pack, prep, slather on the bug repellent and be stuck in traffic, I realized that it's really not so bad to be city bound in the summer.

Then again, big daddy was on MLS all weekend "checking things out".
So who knows what next summer may bring?
Until then, just enjoying keeping things simple.

Happy Birthday Canada.
Glad that you are my home & native land..

happy pride weekend

                                                  this about sums it all up.....

farewell grade one

It's difficult to believe another school year has come to an end.
Any anxiety I may have had a year ago about how Lulu would do in grade one is long gone.
We were very fortunate to have had an excellent teacher this year.
I say we, because it makes all the difference as a parent when you have an open and easy to talk to teacher who you really feel is the perfect fit for your child.
Not to mention that Lulu absolutely Loved her.
Such a huge relief.
I only hope Lulu has many more teachers in her academic future as caring and patient as her first grade teacher.
Now if I could only stop her tears now that won't see her all summer.
Last night was rough to put it mildly.
Poor thing.

She also lucked out and had an excellent group of classmates.
No bullies or real serious trouble makers.
The girls in the class all seemed to get along pretty well and there wasn't too much drama throughout the year.
whew...one year down only 11 more to go... lord help me.

Fortunately Lulu really connected with one little girl in particular who I just adore and hope that they continue being "B.F.F's" as the years go on.
I am relieved because there were very few girls that Lulu really fully clicked with %100.
Sure she gets along with almost everyone but it's hard to find your girlfriend soul mate in grade one.
Not to mention when you are 41..
Then again, I have made some really great connections this year myself.
So good things often take time and patience.
At least that's what I kept telling Lulu all year long.

I actually try to discourage her from worrying so much about finding a "best friend" and encourage her to think of everyone as her good friend and not to get so caught up in all that.
But I have to admit, that whenever I see these two together my heart just melts.
I really like the way they seem to bring out the best in each other and are both polite and still really sweet and play so well together.
Fingers crossed that this also continues.

Aside from the social aspects of school Lulu did extremely well and I couldn't be more proud of her.
Haven't seen her report card yet, but something tells me that it will exceed my expectations for her.

Like I mentioned, I met some really great women through out the year and had the opportunity to get a little more involved in the school aside from just being a class parent like the last few years.
It feels good to be a part of a community and to try to make a difference to our school.
Though I'm not entirely sure if I want to continue on this particular path next year, still trying to figure out a politically correct exit strategy.
It's a bit like the mafia...once your'e in....
Not that I don't want to help out, but time is valuable and I really want to focus on other things next year.
like * cough cough* my career...or lack thereof.
Time for a change.
Big time.
Oh how I miss my old life sometimes.
And the last thing I want to become is some angry PTA mom.
Still want to help, only in maybe a different way.
I've got the next two months to figure that one out though.

That being said I love to volunteer in the class whenever possible and want to try to still be available to do that next year in addition to finding myself and what I really want to do for the rest of my working days.
I am really looking forward to a break from all the school politics.
I'm also really looking forward to spending time with Lulu and not running around on such fixed scheduels for a while.
Not only do I need that, I think she needs it as well.


So all in all Grade one was a very successful year.
We both learned a lot.
I think I did almost as much as Lulu.

friday night delight

 

I forgot how much I love Terroni.
Or should I say "we" love Terroni.
It's definitely a family favourite.
It's always so consistent and each time we go there we are almost never disappointed.

When they closed for renovations last winter (Yonge & St. Clair location) we missed it and didn't really find a decent neighbourhood replacement.
Enter the months of frozen pizza on friday nights.
The only good thing is that we probably saved a ton of money.
there's something to be said about staying in and cracking your own good bottle of wine.
Terroni is good, but inexpensive it is not.
I still can't believe we spend close to $20 on Lulu's pizza or Gnocchi.
But it is so worth it. yum..
When we really needed a fix though, we would head a few more blocks south to the Adelaide location.
Big daddy also orders lunch from the Queen st. location at least once a week as well.
Lucky him.
We are fans, what can I say?
But now that the new Summerhill location is almost finished (aside from the new patio) we are so happy.
It's our Friday night no-brainer.
Though I have to also give a shout out to the new Pizza Libretto location on the Danforth.
Also excellent.

Haven't taken Lulu there yet, but I'm sure she will approve.
Oh and for the record, the "sunglasses" she has on in the photo above, are actually the 3D glasses she got at the movie before dinner.
The girl is stylin' but not that affected.
yet. gulp.

How about you, what's your favourite go to family restaurant?

happy fathers day

You never fail to make us smile...

Happy Father's day! Xx P.G. & Lulu

june express

It's funny how when you have small children you think "when they get a bit older I'll have so much more free time."
But you don't.
Or at least I don't.
The days or should I say months are just flying by.
The last month of school is always a bit of a scramble.
All in a good way, but it seems like so much happens in the last month of the school year.

But at least I can take a big sigh breath of relief that some of Lulu's after school activities are coming to a close.
No more rushing after school to dance classes and piano for a while.
Ahh..
For now she can just enjoy playing with friends and practicing her "cross overs" on the monkey bars and working on her cart wheels.
No rushing, no more "hurry up we're going to be late!"
That goes for me as well.
Well the playing with my friends part and not rushing so much.
and no I haven't perfected my cartwheel yet either..

There are so many social things happening over the next few weeks.
I'm trying to pace myself and take each day at a time.
Canadians really do try to make the most out of summer and it's seems like we have things booked already all the way to September.
How did that happen?
As long as there is still some down time and a chance to read, relax, stay healthy and catch up with friends I'm happy.

We've been debating starting a major reno for quite some time now and I can't even imagine starting a huge project at the moment.
We keep bumping it from the priority list even though we would love to fine tune some of the things we wished we had done when we first moved in almost 8 years ago.
I already mentioned the time flying part right?
Anyhow I guess there is no perfect time to staring ripping out floors and doing a kitchen renovation but I know that it definitely isn't June.

Anyhow bit of a boring post, but that's all I've got for now.
Like I said, very glad that the school year is winding down.
Though the thought of Lulu moving forward into grade TWO blows my mind..