Yesterday’s resolution was a resounding success. Have a looksie:

Breakfast nook? Check! Office space? Check! Ugly rose-pink walls? Unfortunately still check. Painting, picture hanging and re-tiling will have to wait until some other day. So will the front hall closet. Perhaps when Mr. Budsie is five…

Anyway, while cleaning this area, I found a few intriguing things, not the least of which was this:

Timely, no? I have a small stack of these postcards that one of the English relatives gave to me two thousand years ago. I remember thinking when I was 8 that Diana’s dress was just a little ridiculous. I’m sorry to say that my opinion has not changed. Nobody needs that much sleeve. Kate’s dress on the other hand? Pretty great, although as both the lovely EH and I noted over coffee and apricot jam this morning, if you are going to choose a McQueen, why not go all the way? Ah well.

Also found in the paper pile: one $4 cell phone. My trusty old pre-iPhone4 QWERTY phone. I never know what to do with old phones. I don’t want to throw them out but I don’t want to hold onto them either, waking up one day to realize that I’m 80 and living in a house full of old cell phones. Previously, I’ve given the phones to friends in need but no one I know wants my army green and grey QWERTY no matter how much I rave about how awesome it is. Hmmm, what to do?

Today’s resolution: donate the cell phone. I found a place in Newmarket, ON called the Charitable Recycling Program that takes old phones, refurbishes them and gives them to people in need. Plus, for each phone received, the Charitable Recycling Program will make a donation to the charity of your choice (yaya Planned Parenthood O-town!) Excellent. Budsie and I went to the post office today and sent the phone along with my completed volunteer application. A very successful day indeed.

Today has been an odd day. Well actually, it started last night with unnerving emails that continued into my Thursday. I do not like things getting in the way of my awesome Thursdays, and this did upset my morning. But it wasn’t just unnerving emails. I seemed off all day, trying to pour unboiled water into the Bodum, unable to bake and make breakfast at the same time (a skill I thought I had mastered), forgetting to put shoes on Budsie when we left the house, emailing A. but using the complete wrong email address, etc. I blame the wind. Knocked me off kilter.

Things should clear up tonight though. The darling EH is visiting, which means wine and rants and loveliness. Woot. However, in tidying for our guest, I realized that our front hall has come to resemble a dumping ground for everything I can’t find room for upstairs. Old strollers, barely used car seats, bags of new donation clothes, and paper piles crowd the area. A feeble attempt at an office is buried under this junk. There is nowhere to hang a coat or put a pair of shoes. Oh except for on the back of an unused stroller. Yep, the first thing you see when you walk in our door is this:

Awesome.

Today’s resolution is therefore another spring cleaning resolution: tidy and re-organize the front hall. I’m going to try to include the front hall closet in this but the success of this endeavour will depend greatly on the Budsie’s ability to nap for longer than 15 minutes. Wish me luck!

Update on previous resolutions: Awesome Thursdays have been a mixed bag…but today I’m going to make an awesome vegan hot & sour soup that is sure to perk me up. Homemade hot and sour soup + EH loveliness = Awesome Thursday!

Hello!

So we’re back in O-town all relaxed after a whirlwind East coast family vacation. Ok, we’re not actually relaxed – impossible to be relaxed after spending five days whipping around showing the baby off to as much family as possible. But it was a good time. We visiting A.’s folks, aunts, uncles, grandfather, and of course Miss Knit’s shiny new baby, IC or Little Red as I shall henceforth refer to him. Staggering quantities of beer were consumed. Oh and I broke my McDonald’s rule, consuming my first McDonald’s burger in 10 years. Epic Diet Fail. Here’s to another 10, I say.

Anyway, when we arrived home last night, A. was good enough to immediately bring the suitcases downstairs to our bedroom. Argh, suitcases. This has got to be my least favourite part about vacations or travelling of any kind – the unpacking part. A. isn’t a fan either. And because of this, both of us have been known to continue to live out of suitcases for at least two weeks post-travelling experience. It’s not until the underwear and socks run out that I really feel it necessary to unpack the darn things. Even though I hate living out of suitcases, and even though I hate tripping over said suitcases in the morning, I apparently do not hate either of these things as much as I hate unpacking suitcases.

But it’s really rather silly to keep living out of suitcases when a mere 15 minutes could be dedicated to unpacking and getting it all over with. So that’s today’s resolution: unpack from vacation, including carry-on (my carry-on can stay packed for months – pathetic). I’m going to pop Budsie in the crib with some toys and have at ‘er. Furthermore, I’m going to put the suitcases away and NOT leave them out in the hallway to our bedroom where they would previously have remained until our next trip.

Update on previous resolutions: The Britax was tested out on the trip – resounding success. Also awesome? The shiny new umbrella stroller, a Guzzie + Guss that I can fold up with one hand while holding my massive child in the other. YAYA!

This morning I woke up to this little news gem.

If I haven’t made my position on this issue clear, allow me to do so now. Sex education is one of the most important things we can teach our children. Abstinence only does not count as ‘education’. We are doing society a grave disservice if we do not equipe our kids with knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and the importance of respecting the choices of others in these and other areas. Your kid is going to have sex, like it or not, and you won’t get to be there when they choose their partner or their protection, if any. Wouldn’t you like to know that you’ve armed your child with all of the information they need to make an informed decision?

And speaking of information, people need to know about their options when it comes to pregnancy and having children. And there do need to be options, people. You may not like it, and it may not be for you, but abortion and adoption are viable choices for women in this country. And we need to keep it that way. Furthermore, we need to support these programs in other countries. It’s the only responsible thing to do.

Why do I feel so strongly about this issue? I had to make a choice myself in 2001. I was 21, pregnant and not with the guy,  I shared a one-bedroom basement apartment with sexy AB, I drank excessively, and I worked as a part-time waitress in a Mexican restaurant and therefore had no money. I was lost in every sense of the word. My family lived across the country and at that point I wasn’t really close to any of them. Having a baby was the worst thing I could do, both for me and that baby. Now, you could argue that I should have taken the steps to clean up my life, maybe move back in with my parents, have the kid and sacrifice myself to that one mistake I made one drunken evening. You could argue that. You could also argue that people often rise to the occasion in difficult circumstances and that maybe if I had had the baby, I would have risen to the challenge and been a super mum. You could argue that too. And maybe terminating the pregnancy was a selfish decision in some people’s eyes. It certainly was in the eyes of my boss, who fired me not long after having the abortion.

Or you could argue that that was the first of many responsible decisions I made in my early twenties. It’s a decision that has shaped the course of my life. A decision that prompted me to go back to university and finish my degree, a decision that made me realize I needed to clean up my act. It was a difficult decision, but I do not regret it because at that time the only responsible thing to do was to not have the baby. And if I hadn’t made this decision, I would never have met my husband and I would never have had Budsie, my favourite little person. So I am eternally grateful that I lived in a city and province and country that provided me with options. Free ones at that.

I am tired of listening to people, particularly old, white men, rant and rave about how I’m a baby killer and that women like me do not appreciate the value of human life. I am tired of the argument that I should have taken responsiblity for my mistake, as if terminating the pregnancy was not a difficult decision that required me and women like me to take responsibility for ourselves, and to live with the results of our choices forever. I am tired of listening to anti-choicers who claim to be “pro-life” and who are all over protecting a fetus but have no interest in supporting that fetus, or it’s mother, once it becomes a baby. I am tired of having to remind people that just because they don’t want to do something, doesn’t mean that they should be allowed to stop others from doing what makes sense for them. And I am tired of a government that allows religious belief to so strongly influence the decison to fund an important organization that provides valuable information, funding and counselling services to those in need.

So today’s resolution: volunteer for a cause that is most important to me. I’m filling in my volunteer application for Planned Parenthood immediately after posting this post. And I’m asking you to stand up against those who seek to take your options away from you. And to remember that even if you never need these services, someone else definitely does.

Note: A., Budsie and I are off on vacation this weekend – woot! I’ll be back Tuesday with some nifty pictures and humormous tales from the East. Happy Pagan Bunny Day!

Check this out:

This is, well was, a box of chocolates from February 14, 1990. A boy by the name of Nicholas gave these chocolates to me. And I kept the box. Strange because I’m not usually sentimental this way. Sorry boys, but if you dated me and gave me a gift, chances are it’s with someone else right now. Particularly if it was of the teddy bear persuasion. I’m of the mind that once the relationship is over, the stuff from that relationship needs to go away. Unless that stuff is a) gorgeous jewelry (and sadly, it rarely is) or b) one of the coziest pairs of socks I’ve ever owned (which technically weren’t a gift…I stole them).

But apparently, I keep old chocolate boxes. And emails, which brings me to my daily resolution. I was looking through my emails today to make sure I haven’t missed any important replies (I have – EM, an email is coming to you soon!!) and I realized that I have emails in my inbox from 2005. Not important ones or sentimental ones. But oddly, I did keep one or two from The Crazy Ex-Boyfriend. I think I might have done this for my own amusement – they are particularly crazy and remind me of how crazy I must have been to have dated such a nutter. Also in the ol’ inbox: a bunch of sign-up account emails from various groups I joined and then promptly forgot about, some old bills, random notes to myself from myself (you do it too, don’t lie), and a whack of emails from when A. was in K-town. So in the spirit of kicking off what will likely be a month long spring clean, today’s resolution is to clean out all of the email/facebook message inboxes. And in the process, to make sure I reply to the odd one I haven’t gotten around to yet.

I’m not throwing out the chocolate box though. It’s too cute.

So the car seat is here! And Mr. Budsie seems pleased:

But as you can see in this picture, I haven’t figured out how to adjust the straps and such. With the last car seat, A. was the one who did all the strap adjustments. I suspect this is because beyond the first two weeks, I was unable to lift the car seat with Budsie in it so A. did all the heavy lifting and straping in and whatnot. Which was nice.

This time around, however, I’m determined to be more useful. And that means learning about the car seat. I’m told this is a pretty straightforward car seat. Which is why I’m tempted to just not bother learning anything and to just see how it goes when we are on vacation this weekend. Tempting, very tempting. But I think Future Ezmy, the Ezmy who has just gotten off a plane with a 10 month old who likely hasn’t slept and is now up waaaay past his bedtime, might have a few choice words for me if I don’t figure this bad boy out today, while the baby is well rested and beetling around the living room. So in the interest of not having Future Ezmy hate me, today’s resolution is to figure out all of the bells and whistles on the shiny new Britax.

Update on previous resolutions: It turns out that Googling “purse mender ottawa” gets me my own post. Huh.

I’ve been handling the ‘keep purse organized‘ resolution pretty well, if I do say so myself. Sure, it still gets out of hand now and then, but never for longer than a couple of days. Progress!

So why another purse post? This particular purse, while organized, is a little worse for wear:

I’ve had this plaid number since xmas 2006/2007 and I love it oh so much. It was a gift from Lady Heather, the best sister ever. This bag can hold 1 pair of jeans, 1 t-shirt, socks and undies and a wee toiletries bag (perfect overnight bag). Alternatively, it can hold a crossword book, Vogue magazine (the September issue, no less), my wallet, a muffin and a bottle of water (perfect plane bag). And recently, I discovered that it can hold a snack container, diaper, change mat, wipes, cream, water bottle, Sophie giraffe and wallet (perfect everywhere bag). So basically it’s the best bag ever. Plus it’s plaid. *swoon*

Unfortunately, because I take this bag everywhere, it looks like I take it everywhere. And the handle, if you can call it that anymore, is kind of embarrassing. So today’s resolution: find a purse mender. Someone who can replace the handles. I’m not really sure where to start here but I’ll figure something out. Google “purse mender” and see what happens.

Update on previous resolutions: I suck at trying to lose weight. I’m just no good at it. However, I love love love my green pre-pregnancy skirt and it’s too tight. And so the battle begins between pastries and the skirt. Each will vie for my affections. Only one can win…

A couple of weeks ago, I took down our xmas tree. Which I imagine led most of you to believe that I had de-xmased our house.

Um.

Right, so the thing is, when I decorated the house for xmas, I made snowflakes and put them on the windows. And in my infinite wisdom, I decided to use double-sided tape for this project. One would think that I’d have learned my lesson from the last time I used double-sided tape on a window (we still have the reminents of a poppy picture on our front door…[and when I went to write ‘poppy’, I almost wrote ‘poopy’ *chuckle*]). But clearly I forgot about the poppy picture problem because I went ahead and put no less than 24 snowflakes on our windows and left them there until today. Or maybe until forever because I can’t seem to get them off. Argh. I’ve been putting off dragging out the vinegar and nail polish remover and other household items that might help me, so today’s resolution is to stop putting this off, and take down the now yellowing and slightly tarnished looking snowflakes. Because Easter is coming up in a week and while I don’t celebrate Easter, there is something funny about having Jesus’s birthday decorations still up on his death day. I mean technically speaking he was born again during Easter so birthday decorations aren’t entirely inappropriate. No, no, no excuses, Ezmy. The snowflakes must come down.

Update: I. Hate. Double-sided tape. But the snowflakes are down. So are the poopy, I mean poppy reminents. *chuckles*

Like many ladies I know, my prom dress was the first full-length “real dress” I ever owned. The popular colours the year I graduated were maroon and white, both of which make me look like paste, so I went with an unconventional spearmint green. With rhinstone straps. And white shoes (that you can’t see below but trust me, they were awful). Not sure what I was thinking:

Anyway, it was a great dress at the time. And I had a pretty great evening, due in no small part to how awesome I felt in that dress.

So when I heard about Fairy Godmother of Ottawa from momicon, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. Because highschool sucks enough without having to worry about not being able to get a pretty dress on the one night highschool might not suck. And I just so happen to have a few dresses kicking around that I really don’t need. A full-length, caffe latte coloured bridesmaid’s dress comes to mind…

The resolution for today then: pack up three dresses and take them to Brown’s to be donated to a very worthy cause. Fairy Godmother Ezmy to the rescue!

Update on previous resolutions: Saturday breakfasts are still going strong. I made apple cinnamon pancakes this morning – oh so good. And the stroller is clean and up for sale. Oh and I researched all of the candidates in our riding, sent a couple of emails to clarify platform positions and now feel ready to vote. Are you ready?

It’s election time again and while some of you (well, most of you) might find this irritating, I’m super excited. Ok, I’m not a fan of having a billion elections in a short space of time because let’s face it, we’re wasting money here. But as a die hard poliscigeek, election time is kind of like Superbowl for me. Or World Cup. Or some other sporting event that normal people follow.

Thankfully, A. feels the same way. So we’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting right into it, watching all the back and forth commentary on CBC, sighing and yelling at the debates, both English and French, and nattering on about nothing but election election election.Voting compasses and platform promises and scandals – oh my! Yeah, our child is going to be super cool.

But the one thing I haven’t done yet is have a looksie at the people running in my riding. Totally forgot about the fact that we moved and are no longer in Paul Dewar’s riding. I love Paul Dewar and even though I’m not entirely behind all that the NDP does, I voted for Dewar in the last election because he cares about the people in his riding and he gets shit done. Similarly, I voted for Brison in the election before the last one because well, he cares about the people in his riding and he gets shit done. This is important to me – arguably, it should be important to you too.

Once again, I find myself in a riding where the incumbant has been around since before I was old enough to vote. He’s a Liberal, which pleases me only because I know he’s going to win again and that’s one less seat that goes to the Assclown Party running our country at present. But other than that, I don’t know him. I don’t know anyone in this riding. So that’s today’s resolution: get to know Mauril Bélanger (Liberal), Trevor Haché (NDP), Caroline Rioux (Green), Rem Westland (Conservative), and Christian Legeais (Marxist-Leninist). I encourage you to do the same thing – take a few minutes out of your day and read about what the people running in your area are up to. Because even though the leaders may seem kind of lame, you’re not voting for the leader. You’re deciding who in your riding will best represent your interests on the Hill and voting for them. REMEMBER THAT! Oh and remember to vote. For the love of whatever, please vote. Only asshats don’t vote.