Take a Quiz About Me

I noticed a quiz on a blog site that I regularly visit and thought it was a "cute" idea (sorry Huw).

However, I was stunned at how difficult it is to think up ten questions about myself that readers of my blog would know the answers to. Me thinks my blog needs more content in the future.

Anyhoooo, here is the link to the quiz. All results are reported directly to me. Yup. You got it. This is a test. And .... go!

Technology and Gadgets

So despite having worked in the technology industry and having an understanding of packets and IP transmissions, I am technologically challenged. Living with uber geek has helped me feel inferior in my ability to work something as simply as a DVD player. You see, my DVD player has four remotes in order to play a "wide screen, surround sound audio" Mighty Machines "At the Garbage Dump" DVD.

But technology is what excites my significant other so, like in any good relationship, I fake it.

This year for Chrismas, I received an MP3 player. I did not know that I WANTED an MP3 player but, now that I have one, I love it. The challenge here is that my spouse is a controller of technology, even when it does not belong to him. He very nicely loaded all my music on to my MP3 player for me: GreenDay, Evanescence, U2 and Sarah McGlochlin (sic). The trouble is that I listen to dance music (cue the groans). There are a few songs I really like by GreenDay, nothing by Sarah McWhatever and who is Evanescence anyway?

I searched frantically through the playlist (I could figure out how to do that and increase - not decrease - the volume). There was no Eminmen.... there was no Usher ... no fiddy cent .... This MP3 player is broken I assured my spouse. It has been sold to you containing garbage not music! As the one in the house that is NOT the controller of technology though, I have no idea how to take off the garbage and re-load music. I hate being dependent on anyone. Especially for something as simple as music choices.

I will master this MP3 player and make it mine! Waa haa haa. Now, how exactly do I turn the music down, honey????

A Canadian Childhood

I wish I had had pictures of this.

There is something very distinct about childhood in Canada. In the winter it is synonymous with skating, hockey, snowball fights and snowmen. It seems a shame for those further south to miss out on what seems a vital part of being a kid to me.

This winter my eldest is playing hockey on an organized hockey team. So is everyone of his friends. In addition, because hockey twice a week is simply not enough, almost every day after school he drags his net across the park to his friend's street. His friend also has a hockey net. They will happily play road hockey for hours with their respective younger brothers.

For Christmas, nestled gently among the MP3 players and X-Boxes, was a set of goalie pad gear: pads, face mask, goalie stick, etc. Now, for the record, this is the THIRD set of road hockey goalie pads in our house but this set was black and red: the colours of the Ottawa Senators. Funny enough, Liam's cohort in crime also got goalie gear for Christas (but in the Toronto Maple Leafs colours, poor sot).

Hang in there. I really am getting somewhere with this.

A couple of nights ago there was freezing rain in Ottawa. It layered the park with a beautiful sheen of glimmering ice. Very slippery ice. But, hockey does not stop for freezing rain, man! Liam straps on his hockey pads and helmet, snow pants, gloves, etc. and ventures across the park carrying his hockey net. My significant other calls me hysterically laughing. You see, he got about ten steps and slipped on the ice. The net falling on top of him and getting caught in his helmet. Rather than running out to help, my loving spouse chose to laugh.

Liam's friend, also seven and completely loaded in goalie gear ventured out to help him. Also falling all over the place on the ice. The final time, he had fallen on his back and could not get back to a stand because of the bulky goalie pads. Again, my SO offers zero help but by this time he is laughing so hard that incontinence is a problem.

Finally, the two boys get over to the other side of the park, nets and all. It is at that point they realize they have two goalies, two nets and no players. You see, the four year olds have gone on a hockey strike until they TOO can be goalies. So he and his buddy settled on the side of the road, goalie gear, nets and all, to play tamagatchis instead.

Ah, a Canadian winter.

What Movie Am I?

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

My Logic is Below Average and Other Tales

Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

The Riot Act

Todd and I are mean parents. Mean, mean, mean.

You see, our house is unlivable these days. We are all busy and under a great deal of stress preparing for the Christmas Season but, apparently, none of our three children are capable of playing independently, even for five minutes, without chaos erupting.

Now, I am sure you think I am exagerating. I assure you I am not. I have timed them while trying to clean up the kitchen after a meal. The two youngest cannot play with their toys for more than two minutes without a fight erupting. And they are the ones that get along. When you bring in the eldest, there is no limit to the nasty exchanges.

So, contrary to my husband's soft spot parenting, mean mom came in. When I arrived home my spouse had lost it. Completely. All three boys had been sent to their rooms. And there was wailing and nashing of teeth. So, I took away a Christmas present.

For the record, this was not a surprise. I too, had lost it over the weekend and sat down for a heart-to-heart. The boys are given ample warnings but, when they do not listen, I will take away a present. Grandmaman, I know this will kill you to hear but the situation has really gotten to this point. So far, Aiden has lost two presents and Liam has lost one.

They do have the opportunity to earn them back with good behaviour. When they are "caught" being kind to each other or helping out they can earn back a present that they have lost.

I have no idea if this system is going to work and how I will manage this after Christmas but it seemed to work last night. I can home to an unhappy house filled with chaos and aggression. At bedtime last night, the boys helped each other get ready for bed. Without being asked. Without fights. The only trouble that I see is taht they were looking over their shoulders to make sure there were witnessed. I can only hope that the behaviour becomes internalized at some point.

Either that or I am giving them away to a farm. And not a nice one.

How MisCommunication Happens

Even the best relationship based on honest, open communication has its ups and downs. It is frequent, nee constant, that I think I communicate clearly and the result is a slightly stupefied look on my spouse’s face. A stupefied look that I can even see through email.

Today, in an email thread discussing our plans for New Year’s Eve, we were throwing around the idea of heading to a friend’s house party. In working the idea back and forth, I put in a note that one of my clients (Corrections Canada) has asked if I can drive to Kingston (about 2 hours away) to visit a correctional facility. Then the conversation moved back to New Year’s.

I came back to my email an hour later from my spouse. Under the heading New Year’s Eve, it said: Where something sexy. It might be a nice treat for the boys who have not seen a girl in a long long time.

To which I asked more about the nature of the New Year’s Eve party and what exactly was planned…

Quitting before you even start

So, some of you faithful readers :-) know that I have been looking for a caregiver. We have gone through multiple routes and finally decided on a woman coming into our home. We have completed police checks, reference checks and gone through an agency. While no-one can predict the future, she looks like a good fit for our family. Her nickname is even "banana" shamelessly unprofessional UNLESS you are a nanny.

So today was to be her first day. She was supposed to start at 7:30 am and shadow my current caregiver to get an understanding of school times, bus times, preferences, etc. And that is how the story begins.

I work early, you see. This morning, I had left the house by 6:10 and was given the responsibility of calling at 7 am to wake the house up. I was busy and did not get to the call until 6:20, when I got the voicemail. It seems that "banana" arrived early for her first day. Very keen. Unless your spouse (who I might add is 6'1'' and a big guy) thinks it is your sister and runs down the stairs to the door wearing his wife's fuzzy purple robe. Short, fuzzy, purple robe.

But wait, there's more.

My darling sister, who is my current caregiver, had another morning with car problems. While she is supposed to arrive at 7:30, I spoke to her at 7:25 and told her to get in a taxi pronto, since her car had not started. I now have a strange (and probably nervous) woman in my house with no-one else awake and a naked husband.

So, my new caregiver - I will call her that since she has not yet given me notice - had to jump in with two feet today. The look on her face when I got home said it all.

I am calling another agency now, just in case. And I think I will enter "sense of humour" as a necessary dominant trait.

Election Platforms

So, as the Canadian readers know, Canada is "in the throes" of a federal election. There was a vote of non-confidence over some miniscule thing that no Canadian really cares about however, it toppled the Liberal government, allowing the rest of us to spend our holiday time listening to the garbage each side will throw at each other.

Or is it?

This week we learned that this election will be based on something unthinkable: daycare and support for parents. So, I says PARDON??? That is completely interesting to me. Talk more, I encourage the newspaper.

All three of the potential parties have differing platforms:

The Liberals will throw more money at the problem and allow a decrepid, federally supported daycare system to create spots for more children. This is a great solution for parents living under the poverty line. Now, they will only have to wait 6 months for subsidized daycare, living from welfare cheque to welfare cheque because they cannot afford to pay a sitter.

The Conservatives have decided *until they get into power* that stay at home mothers need a break sometimes too. And in fact, even the middle class finds it difficult to pay $2000 a month in care for their children. They have offered the voting massess $100 a month for each child in the family under 6. Currently, there is no talk of income qualification and no details on what the family should do with the money. It is their assurance that they understand it is expensive to raise children and sometimes you will need daycare.

The Democrats ... well, who really cares what their platform is? They have no chance of getting into power and if they did the deficit would balloon to mammoth proportions in their term, crippling the Canadian economy for generations. Wait...?

The chances of the Conservatives getting into power are pretty slim but, if that is to be the election platform of choice I will be ringleading as many people as possible to vote for the one that makes my life easier. When you tack that together with a 2 percent reduction in the GST, I am on board. Nah, it won't happen until my kids are 6, 8 and 11. I just know it!

O, Santa Claus

My middlest has written a note a note to Santa. Rather than a long, lengthy explanation he has chosen the efficient route: he wants a train for his Thomas the Train set and he wants a Terrain Twister.

This would seem simple for most parents. The child has set reasonable expectations and is not greedy by any stretch. The trouble is not with the train set - both my father and my father in law have "purchased" trains for him for Christmas. My trouble is with the Terrain Twister. It is $80 at Toys R Us and, more importantly, is completely lame.

He will play with it for a day and never look at it again. It is a ball that turns into a car and runs over things; then turns back into a car. It is no better than a 97 cent Hot Wheels car stuck inside a tennis ball. I can make that for under $2 and it will have the same play value. It is the one thing that he has consistently requested though and there are concerns in the household (read, not by me) that he will be disappointed on Christmas Day.

In my opinion, he will open up his multitude of trains, match that with the x-box from Santa and this Terrain Twister will never rear its ugly head again. However, I defer to the uber MIL and have directed the letter to Santa to his alternate address in SouthWestern Ontario. Sorry grandmaman. I have no idea how to respond to this one and am tossing the ball over to the more experienced player :-). It will be interesting to see how "Santa" responds.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I always wanted to have one of those houses where the kids congregated. I grew up with a friend whose house always had a fridge packed with food and whose couch was always comfortable for the *then* stylish Nintendo64. We all met there to go out places. Half the time we never made it out the door. We just stayed where we were comfortable. And, because his mom never interfered but never seemed too far away, we were never able to get into too much trouble.

I want(ed) that for my kids. Be careful what you wish for though, cause sometimes you get it. Friday night there were seven kids at my place watching a movie. For the record, I only have three. So I did what Nick's mom would have done. I ordered pizza and became the short order cook for drinks and snacks, and the referee for when things did not go right.

As my spouse was out enjoying a night of Christmas shopping, it was a hectic night of keeping everyone's stomachs full, minds challeged, and,for one, their bottoms dry. And I rolled along with that.

Saturday was no different. The doorbell rings constantly. And now, the kids just show up. They don't need to call. They know, if we are home, they are welcome. Sunday, saw an additional two kids playing in the backyard then warming up inside with the Nintendo. And more snacks.

What I never realized with Nick's mom was that she HAD to work. They could not have afforded all the groceries on just one salary. :-)

I Did It

I have finally made it to the stage in my career where I am paid more for my brain than a common prostitute makes for a day of sex.  Sad comments on society in my opinion however, supply and demand apparently drives this silly economy and as long as there is demand, there is usually someone willing to supply.

I have done the dance between the private sector and the feds for as long as I can remember.  I like the money and the freedom of the private sector but the job stability and benefits of the feds.  I am hoping that I have found a compromise.

On November 28th, I left employment in the federal service and began consulting.  Same job, same responsibilities, more money.  Since I had contacts in place, I already have three federal clients with two more in the wings.  Three at a time would be the maximum that I can juggle successfully and will be more than enough to pay the bills.

It is a risk, I understand.  And I am not a risk taker.  In the past I have been known to make all the sensible choices and take the road that looks the most solid.  This has done me well and frankly, this consultancy path is also looking quite solid.  When you have the contacts in place anything is possible.  And the money....oh, the money!

The challenging side is that I am not a vacation taker.  I am a worker. With a regular job, you look forward to your 3 weeks holidays; you use up a reasonable amount of your sick leave; and you take days off here and there for family commitments.  As a consultant, when I don't work, I don't get paid.

The per diems of consulting are supposed to allow you to store up a bit of cash and take the time off when you need it.  But commitments to clients and the drive to please make taking those days off difficult, entitled or not I feel like I am letting people down.  It will be something to balance and no doubt my spouse will strive to keep me in check.  

There is something to be said for the freedom and the - get in, get out - philosophy.  I think it will play well into my ADHD, always looking for the next thrill philosophy.  It is an exciting path with the opportunity to meet new people and learn new skills along the way.
There's always the feds as a back up as well, I suppose.