Here’s a little something to tide you over while I’m away in the country…. Because I know you’re missing me SO much. To let another day go by without posting would be just cruel of me. Cruel. Heh.

Anyway, just to be even crueler, I thought I’d show you whom I’m hanging out with in the country. No, it’s not Clive Owen. He’s overseas working on a movie — couldn’t make it. It’s HIM:

His name’s Rusty. He and his fluffy girlfriend Pepper are brand new additions to the country house and landscape. This kitten has the life. He gets to roam around acres of farmland and all its Alice-in-Wonderland-y nooks and crannies and he gets to curl up on the couch and right here beside moi on the kitchen chair….

Bad blogger that I am, I forgot my camera cord — or whatever that thing’s called that lets you transfer photos from your camera to your computer. So this is the only photo I have to share with you today. My in laws emailed it to me before we left. It was a very sneaky and effective way to get me out here. I’m kidding, of course: I don’t do bribery; although I will do just about anything right now for a grande soy no-water chai latte, only because there ARE no Starbucks for miles here — bribe away….

Please don’t tell Minden about Rusty, or Clive Owen. (That sentence is deliberately ambiguous, btw.) Oh wait, he reads my blog. (Deliberately vague.) So, never mind….

xo Haley-O

I have VLOGS for you today — from out here in Farm Country, Canada. This is part of the MOMCENTRAL “Flip for the Holidays” tour, and goes along with our FLIP CAMCORDER GIVEAWAY (and more video) over at Cheaty Goodies. I’m taking a week’s holiday from blogging (I think), so these should keep you entertained ’til I get back, I hope!

EDIT: THIS POST HAS BEEN MOVED (AT THE GENTLE REQUEST OF MY SPONSORS) TO MY “RECOMMENDS” SITE. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ‘EM, GO CHECK MY HOLIDAY VIDEOS NOW OVER HERE!

Happy Holidays!

Love!

xo Haley-O

I was in the country this weekend. Just for one day — a “High Holy Day.” And what a SHORT one day it was in the peaceful now-golden fall acres of farmland. Checkit:

I don’t have much to report (except that I may or may not have gained at least two pounds). There were no always-anticipated alien, zombie or vampire sightings. No waking up to a crop circle. Just your regular weekend in the country with FREAKISH SUNFLOWERS….

Not freakish enough for you? CLOSER:

This thing, just to give you an idea, is bigger than MY HEAD. Not that my head is that big. Actually,  I have quite a small head. But, IT’S BIGGER THAN MY HEAD. And totally heavier.

Blowing in the wind….

I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. Nature. Is. Awesome. I love her.

And, speaking of love…. If you want to see my little RASCAL modeling TEA CLOTHING, you have to get into bTrendie with invitation code CHEATY. He’ll be up Monday to Thursday. Here’s a preview….

…Complete with his new “The Igor” haircut….

Oh! And our bTrendie buyer/co-founder LISA LITOWITZ says HI! She was positively brillers at getting Rascal to pose, so she gets a cheaty shout-out….

GORJ!

Love!

xo Haley-O

Minden missed me so much. While I was vacationing way out on my father in law’s farm near Montreal, he hid under the couch. My mother had to call the cat sitter who herself was nervous about his whereabouts. He was under the couch, or in the cupboard, while his sister, the uncharacteristically spry MARGE, gallivanted about the halls — soaking up the bliss of an empty, kidless house.

It’s a pretty farm. I’d say “pretty little farm,” but it’s far from little. Acres and acres of land on all sides. It’s beautiful — quite stunning, really, especially at my favourite time of day, dusk, when the sun is going down and brushing its pink, purple, orange strokes across the sky and along the hay-bale-dotted horizon. Ahhh…. Air. Country air. Enough to make you insane after a week of total isolation and no nanny.

Anyway…. C’mon, I’ll show you around….

The swimming pool…. We spent most of our time at the pool, and we have the sunburns to prove it. By the end of the trip, my dives were PERFECTION. We’re talking Chinese-Olympian PERFECTION.

The kiddie pool, aka the HOT TUB. Farmer Zaide has hot water in his hose, and we made good use of it.

You don’t need other peeps in the HOT TUB to have a HOT TUB PARTY!

FROG! TOAD!

TREE FROG! AT THE DOOR. I wanted to feed him but no one would let me. I love feeding the animals, but it’s not always recommended — especially in the country where there are more than just SQUIRRELS (Howard the Squirrel, since YOU ASKED, is thriving here in the city — I love him, too).

Tub o’ Fish. Happy, big-arse goldfish.

Inukshuk.

Tomatoes.

Romaine lettuce.

Zucchini! Did you know zucchini is a FLOWER?

Beans.

Rascal. Not farming. Just fondling the UR-UR on his new shoes….

UR-UR. “Mama, lootz! UR-UR!” (Translation: “Mama, look! TRAIN!”)

Sunflower. In bloom.

Carrot FAIL.

We ate them anyway. They were difficult to peel.

Potatoes from the farm — so many from one single bush! Made up for the carrot fail.

ME! On the FARM. In my now officially SIGNATURE hat. Glowingish (but bitchy) from FULL-ON detox — more on that later.

Windowsill.

Josh surprised me with a day trip to beautiful OTTAWA (an hour away)….

I wasn’t prepared for the trip AT ALL. I arrived in the big city wearing crocs and no makeup — total farmer. HENCE I insisted we hide from Chantal, Annie, and Loukia deep in the downtown market, which was fascinating, by the way….

The next day, we went to our beloved Montreal (1.5 hours away), where we found a water park….

Monkey loves her some water park….

So does Rascal. Those are shorts, by the way. 10th percentile, BABY!

Oh yeah….

When we got home Sunday evening, Minden came running to the door and jumped me like Dino when Fred Flintstone walks in the door. And he hasn’t really shut up since. I missed the little fluffball….

Little does he know we’re away NEXT WEEK, too….

TOTALLY missed you, too, Gorgeouses….

Love!

xo Haley-O

I can’t come to the blog right now. Washing my hair. Eating corn. Swimming. Lounging in hammock. Buying forgotten diapers and sippy cups. Drinking behr. Watching Ratatouille again, Big Brother. Tweeting. Being a bitch Fighting major Starbucks Withdrawal (capital S, capital W). Reading ma book, and flirty gossip magazines — OMG, Heidi Montag posed for Playboy and, wait, why, pray tell, does that surprise me? Listening to crickets, loons, cows…, crickets. Spritzing the kids every five seconds with sunscreen. Begging Monkey to eat anything other than APPOH JUICE (cursed apple juice). Schvitzing. Swimming. Schvitzing. Swimming.

I can’t come to the blog right now because I am IN THE COUNTRY. Back soon!

LOVE!

xo Haley-O