Even though A. and I made the switch to cloth grocery bags a few years ago, we continue to collect a staggering number of plastic bags. They do come in handy – always good to have one in the diaper bag for emergencies and they do help with the cat litter these days. But lately (and by ‘lately’ I mean ages ago but I’ve been trying to ignore it) I’ve noticed that our grocery bag cupboard is getting a little crowded:

So crowded that the bags are actually trying to escape.

Today’s resolution: tackle the plastic bag cupboard. But what to do with them? I could get one of those Ikea plastic bag sorters but I’ve never had much luck with those. Hmmm…make a plastic bag doll? That sounds dangerous. I think perhaps finding a place that will recycle them is best. And it just so happens my local Metro does this! Woot.

In other news, did you happen to catch the election last night? Enormous Sigh. I’m thrilled for Jack, don’t get me wrong, but I want to punch Harper in his smug little face. Boo. BOOOOO I say.You know what? I don’t even want to write about it anymore. I’m just…disgusted.

Update on previous resolutions: I didn’t drink much water this morning; I was busy baking biscuits for Ms. FM and Mr. T. The thing is, I’ve been pretty amazing with the water consumption lately so MAN ALIVE did I feel it. Being hydrated is apparently addictive – who knew? Also strange? The biscuits are still here. I mean I had a couple during the Tuesday playdate but the rest are still here and not just because I was restrained by social graces from eating all 12 to myself. No, some small amount of will power lurks within me. A teensy weensy amount. *pats self on back*

*considers rewarding self with a biscuit…*

I must say, having an organized fridge has done wonders for my eating habits. For one thing, it’s hard to reach for the junk when the apples are openly judging you from the crisper. And I no longer have 12 containers with varying levels of sour yogurt hanging out in the back of the fridge, which (unsurprisingly) has left room for more tasty greenery and pots of leftover soup. Excellent.

The same level of organization cannot be said for the outside of our fridge, however. I know what you’re thinking: who cares about the outside of the fridge? And that’s a fair question. But I’ve been on this big Clear the House of Junk and Clutter kick and the outside of our fridge is getting a little out of control:

What do you see here? Well, there’s a invitation to a diplomatic event that happened six months ago. Various pictures of friends and family, which is fine, but I hardly need three pictures of Budsie on the fridge. And some of the family ones, such as the picture of darling GabeyBaby, need to be framed. Our voter cards are there but not for long obviously. Also pictured: an ancient grocery list written on crinkly paper that should really be replaced by this week’s menu, a few phone numbers which are already logged into the computer, a business card for a winery we’ll likely never go to, a note from A. (*heart*), some funny George Bush and Sarah Palin quotes (staying!), a save-the-date card, a Turkish monkey from AH and KM who really belongs in Budsie’s room, and an assortment of fridge magnets.

Yeah, some of this stuff can definitely go. So today’s resolution: de-clutter the outside of the fridge. Check it:

All fridge magnets stay because they all rock. The picture of my awesome siblings stays for obvious reasons, as does the most recent picture of Budsie. And this week’s kick ass menu is posted to remind me of what strange new dishes I plan on trying out. A mushroom soup for lunch today, methinks. Nom!

Update on previous resolutions: Rodney Yee is trying to kill me, of this I am sure.

What an awesome Sunday! I was sad not to be able to make it to the Kids in the Capital party but the little park vacation we had today was a good second place. Budsie is coming around to the idea of swings, thank goodness. I cannot WAIT to go on picnics with him in the park and go swinging together. Did I have the kid so that I could have an excuse to go swinging? Maybe…

Anyway, as it is the first of the month, I thought a recap of this last month’s resolutions might be in order. Just to see what the ol’ success rate is…

*Remember to charge what I’m worth – check! And it hasn’t meant a really serious downturn in business yet so yaya!
*De-xmas the house – check! The tree is down as are the snowflakes. Not a drop of xmas left upstairs. I still haven’t figured out where I’m going to put xmas…we seem to get more xmas every year and I’m running out of room for boxes that contain xmas. Hmm.
*Clean under the stairs – this started off well but then I found a few other storage procreation piles in our other storage spaces and now have to rearrange everything. Capital sigh. But I will prevail!
*Find new clients – check! I continue to send out cold emails and have heard some positive feedback. Nothing big but still – progress!
*Research, purchase and figure out new car seat – check checkity check!
*Complete taxes – check! But not as early as I would have liked.
*Stay on top of all laundry – check! And I’m super proud of this one, although it hasn’t been going on that long.
*Sell old stroller and buy new one – half check. The old stroller is unsold, but looks spiffy. And the new stroller is here and awesome.
*Research candidates – check!
*Donate dress – check!
*Fix purse – well, I have found a place. Just need to get off my buns and take the purse in now…
*Empty out email inbox – check! Nothing but emails from A. (which I simply can’t trash) and important emails from the last 6 months.
*Volunteer for a cause that’s important to me – check! Application in the mail…I’ll keep you posted.
*Unpack suitcases right after coming home – check! Again, I’m super proud of this one. Sure, the suitcases are sitting precariously on top of a pile of storage children in the closet but whatever. They aren’t in the hall, and they aren’t still full of dirty laundry and forgotten cosmetics. Baby steps.
*Re-organize front room – check! And I love our little breakfast nook. *beams*
*Donate cell phone – check!
*Stop with the damn junk food every time I leave the house – epic fail yesterday but I remain hopeful.

By my calculations, that’s a 76% success rate. Not bad, not bad at all. In terms of the other resolutions, I won’t bore you with details (not yet anyways) but overall I’m looking at a %74 success rate so far. Excellent. Room to grow, but still.

On that note, today’s resolution: clean that damn front hall closet. It was silly to leave it the other day and since A. was home, I thought it best to get on it. In my humble opinion, spring = no more mitten piles. And it’s spring now (do you hear that, snow? It’s spring goddamit!) so the mittens and the gross, salt-coated winter boots and the giganto winter coats can all just mosey on downstairs to the piles of Stuff To Sort and Be Ruthless With that seem to be taking over our room and Budsie’s. Some might look at this as just moving junk from one place to another, but it’s organized junk movement I swear. The closet looks spiffy, I can find the kid’s shoes, and if we have company over, there is somewhere to hang their coat and put their shoes. Success! (I suspect that my feelings of jubilation with respect to the clean front hall closet will be somewhat dampened later when I trip over a winter coat pile on the way to the loo…but whatever).

Remember: ELECTION DAY tomorrow!! VOTE!! Do it.

And therefore goes to lady shows. National ones, at that. And she certainly does NOT drink pints at a smelly wings bar and watch stupid UFC fights in which grown men dance around (I’m sorry but that’s EXACTLY what it looks like) and pretend to kick each other. Nor does she stay up even later to watch hockey players LOSE in double overtime. But more on that tomorrow.

I forgot to post today because I was at the lady show and then making food and then out with A. and EH and other A. for beverages and sports and then well, I just plum forgot. Or got a teensy weensy bit tipsy and decided to post at 1:27am…

Today’s resolution: to avoid junkfood while at the lady show. Oh dear, crazy fail. From the popcorn cheezies to the onion rings to the crazy wine samples to the pints of beer, Ezmy failed today. But tomorrow is a new day. One which will hopefully not include a teensy hangover but which instead will be full of apples and cheese and other healthy nibblies. Oh and water. Hmmm, I should probably go have some of that.

Bed!

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.