I wrote this post yesterday — Tuesday, December 21. But then my blog went haywire. Apparently we were “raided.” Raided. This is sooo because of the solstice/lunar eclipse. Because a) when on earth does that ever happen? and b) I’ve spent the past three days dealing with the IT guys at work, too — all of whom are flummoxed by the computer problems I’m having. I am cosmically clashing with technology. Anyway, read this now — before your computer poofs into stardust.

It’s the winter solstice, December 21, and there was a lunar eclipse last night, woahh! Double Rainbow! In celebration of this monumental event — when was the last time there was a concomitant lunar eclipse and winter solstice in your very own backyard? — I give you Random Mysterious Lunar 21.

1. At 3:43am last night, which was approximately smack-dab in the middle of the eclipse (2-5am), I bolted awake, looked at my clock as I always do when I wake up 45 times a night (thanks to a little boy who refused to sleep unless he was on top of me for three years), threw on my fuzzy pink slipper boots, a too-short black coat, and dashed out the back door with Betty White in tow. I was a little bit afraid of vampires and zombies, but I sucked it up. And this is what we saw alone together in the backyard in the starry black of night….

2. Betty White refused to look up at the moon no matter how frantically I snapped my fingers in the air so she’d tilt her head in the moon’s general direction and maybe lock eyes with it for a second and become enlightened. But no….

3. Minden also refused to become enlightened when I tilted his head to the sky…. But I still think he’s brilliant.

4. MAAARGE!

5. Josh came outside when I nudged him unapologetically awake, and he took this really creepy-awesome picture apparently while slipping in the snow….

6. Speaking of mysterious round things, check out BAKED APPLE. All you need to do is fill a cored apple (leave apple bottom in tact) with crushed walnuts, raisins, cinnamon and a drizzle of syrup, and place it in the oven covered with a little water on the bottom at 350°F for half an hour or so. I’ll post it in the kitch with more deets when I’m a little less lazy….

7. My wise friend/yoga buddy/brilliant macrobiotic counselor Alice would approve of my baked apple. I know because I just ate her surprisingly delicious “Intuition Stew,” which she was awesome enough to leave for me at the yoga shala today — verklempt. I feel so intuitive right now.

8. Alice asked me if the Monkey knew our Dreidel video may be shown to thousands of people. “Of course!” I said. “She couldn’t sleep the night before her teacher showed it to her Kindergarten class three times, and shrieked with utter glee, ‘I AM ON TVeeeee,’ and tilted her head inquisitively while asking, ‘Mama, why don’t you show my face? I want my face on there.’”

9. Justin Timberlake as a Cup o’ Soup. OMG. I can’t deal.

10. Just like her mama, the Monkey (already) loves boys. But apparently they’re not allowed in her room. Which brings us to our next mysterious round thing….

11. And other mysterious drawings…?

12. …among the many others that she taped onto her door. Never mind Bawbara — move over Debby Travis AND Martha Stewart!

13. Mysterious WRITINGS have also mysteriously popped up on her now-mysterious radiator…

14. …and on her now-mysterious dresser…

15. Please send eco-friendly children’s marker (and sticker) remover? Who’s the PR rep for that. We could do big things together here!

16. She’s talented, that Monkey…. Karen Kain and Mikhail Baryshnikov must also move over. Bring it on, So You Think You Can Dance! Bring. It. On.

17. One of my favourite parts of the Monkey’s dance show was definitely the bar work. That fifth position is tricky! (I also loved the part when another little dancer interrupted the teacher to whisper “I have a Zhu Zhu pet” in her ear.)

18. The Monkey’s brother’s favourite part was no doubt the candy-cane-Rice-Crispy-square-and-cupcake “pawdy” (trans. “party”)….

19. Mmm, food colouring. I was so proud.

20. I’m also so proud because (are you ready?) THE RASCAL IS FULLY TOILET TRAINED. Fully and FINALLY toilet trained. Turns out he had no idea that he could “hold it in.” I literally had to teach him how to “hold it in” — to do what moms would call kegels and what yogis would call bandhas. Yes, I taught my 3-year-old son kegels and bandhas, and he hasn’t had an accident since. Go Rascal!

21. I can’t keep up at all with my email. And I feel terrible about it because I rarely get around to responding to your comments. To fix this problem, I’ll be responding to all your comments in the comment section — unless I have something intensely personal to share with you.  (I’ll definitely email to say a special “hey” once in a while, though.) It’s going to be fun, Gorgeouses! So check back after you leave a comment, okay? Also, leave comments. You know, so we can test this out…. Oh, okay, what blogger doesn’t love comments?

Happy solstice! And congratulations to all of us for getting to the end of this post. Did you happen to see the eclipse? DISCUSS.

Love!

xo Haley-O

Why am I not blogging today? Or, yesterday? Or, the day before? You ask? Because I’m too busy. I can’t believe it. I’ve never been TOO BUSY to blog. What’s worse (if that’s a bad thing) is that I have SO MUCH to tell you. Here’s a tidbit: 1) GLAM book launch (at which I look entirely too large in photos — but, we all know I have body issues); and, 2) AYURVEDA consultation (during which Indian doctor stuck his fingers UP MY NOSE). More on those later this week. For now…, I have HEADACHE. Dizzy, throbbing, head-splitting headache. WHY? You ask (or not)? Because I spent the entire afternoon/evening at Monkey’s first a dance recital. And Josh is away (wah). So, I had to get both kids ready and out the door for an AFTERNOON/EVENING full of dance dance dance. TWO SHOWS for one little monkey.

I’m SO proud that she got through it…. SO proud that is was HER that the audience was laughing with at because she was making binoculars with her hands — instead of dancing — to try to see us in the audience(!). And, her cheeks have NEVER looked so big. Her hair NEVER so cute and poofy. Oy. I couldn’t take it.

It was during that little number (what, 30 seconds of two ONE-HOUR shows) that I realized my big girl….

…is still such a little little girl….

And, then on the way to the car I realized I lost my keys. See these?

They’re my mother’s set of keys to my house, WHICH I’m now using. MY keys — car AND house keys, EVERYTHING — are somewhere in downtown Toronto. Likely in a sewer grate because I, my exhausted children, my parents and MAJOR PREGGERS sister AND her little boy looked everywhere for my poor keys.

THAT’s why I’m not blogging and have headache today. KEYS! I LOST ALL MY KEYS! Dammit.

LOVE!

xo Haley-O

Not going to say it. Since the ear infections went away, a certain somebody has been STTN. You know what that means, right? I just can’t say it because I’ll jinx it and it’ll all be OVER. Happens every time. Okay, sleepingthroughthenight. He’s been SLEEPINGTHROUGHTHENIGHT. Shhhhhhh! It’s been about four nights, and he’s even waking up in the morning withoutscreaming! Which is so sweet — I may even start remembering my dreams again….

Only 17.5 months and he’s sleepingthroughthenight. ONLY! I know, I am SO LUCKY! Okay now I’m getting cocky…. Heh. Pray for me….

In the meantime, I AM TIRED (just when you thought you’d heard the end of that). It’s just that today was daylight savings. Which means the 9:45am yoga class I teach every Sunday was, in fact, at 8:45am. And the 10:30am class I teach right after it was actually at 9:30am…. Since Monkey was WITH COLD today, I thought Josh-O could take Rascal out and I’d relax with her at home the rest of the day and recover. I had this lovely little fantasy of her lying on the couch in front of the TV– perhaps falling asleep — Pablo, Thomas the Train and Iggle Piggle in her arms, as usual.

Alas, there was NO relaxing. The Monkey insisted that I play with her the ENTIRE DAY, except for the half hour I got when she was preoccupied with her Mood Mudd (LOVE)….

While Josh went to the mall and hung out with his friends and Rascal, Monkey and I did three puzzles, practiced our skipping (after her dance teacher pulled us aside and told us to work on it with her…; and, yes, I take that very seriously — 5, 6, 7, 8! MOVE IT, MONKEY!), practiced our handwriting…

…made this bird….

Josh-O got home at 5:30, just in time for the dinner Monkey and I prepared together….

It was a long day of PLAYING. At certain parts, I wanted to cry a little bit. I LOVE being with my Monkey, don’t get me wrong for a second — she’s my sidekick, my little love, my best friend (yes, she’s turning into a very mature little girl before my eyes)! But, I didn’t have the energy for this all day. I needed to sit. I mean, after how many hours? Seriously. I don’t know WHO can PLAY all day long without going at least a little bit crazy.

It was SO worth it, though. Monkey and I needed the time alone together. She felt special having me all to herself. And SHE HAD A GREAT DAY. There’s really very little that’s more rewarding than giving your child a great day….

And, now, I give you the latest addition to our family….

Her name is Hyacinth. And she just happens to be pictured here RIGHT next to the Bermuda postcard ERNA sent me in anticipation of her wedding…. Did I mention I’M GOING THERE? ALONE in less than 3 weeks (ooo, better get that DIET going)!

Oh, and one more thing one more thing! NEWS! I’m a contributor at the new CANADA MOMS BLOG. This is TRÈS cool, Gorgeouses. I am so honoured to be a part of it. You have to go to the site to see what it’s all about. Keep in mind, though, that it’s still really new — still technically “under construction.” I’ll be posting there a couple times a month about stuff that matters to me as a Canadian mom. In this first post, I talk about my evening out at The Ballet with it’sgrandma last Thursday — check it!

Love!
xo Haley-O

P.S.: Cheaty has a movie recommendation. She’s not particularly proud of this recommendation, but…check it?

P.P.S.: Toronto Gorgeouses: Check Goodies for Disney on Ice’s March Break production at the Rogers Centre. There’s a discount code there waiting for you! MWAH!

Oh gosh. I’m so preoccupied watching The Golden Globe Awards that I forgot I had this post to write. It’s just, I haven’t enjoyed an award show this much in a long time. Maybe it’s the Brad Pitt, or the STEVE CARELL, or the Johnny Depp…, among others? The Angelina Jolie in sparkly white dress….going home with the Brad Pitt (I find that so hott). The ADORABLE Steven Spielberg….

The reason I’m actually (FINALLY) writing something right now is because, sadly, Colin Farrell is boring the Starbucks Soy No-Water Chai Tea Latte out of me…. And, that takes A LOT. (I’mbackonthewagon. But, LD tells me her naturopath told her that it’s totally not my fault I’mbackonthewagon. My BODY is craving the noxious caffeine-and-sugar combo. So, totally NOT my fault that I can’t kick this habit.)

And, I just got a tweet from Margalit explaining why Colin isn’t perhaps as captivating as he used to be: “Son has Angelman’s Syndrome, VERY rare genetic disorder with terrible outcome. It’s so sad.” Sad, indeed. If I’d known that, I’d have appreciated his speech more, and the new, sober, thin, humble Colin Farrell. My prayers go out to him and his family. Luckily they have the wealth and resources to give James the good quality of life that, I’m happy to have just learned, many children with Angelman’s Syndrome are capable of having.

In any case, hearing things like that makes you realize the triviality of some of your own issues and appreciate life’s fragility.

And, today, I really appreciated both my children. I surrendered to my exhaustion from not sleeping in several days (RASCAL!), stayed as present as I could, and just took everything in: the Monkey’s first dance class, and her teething, sleepless brother’s endless activity.

Monkey’s first dance class has left me utterly fahklempt. It was so precious.

She looked so adorable in her pink leotard and tights, her pink “gymnastic shoes,” her pink “hair thing.” It’s quite the dress code, actually. We went to the dancewear store to buy everything just yesterday. It was the very same dancewear store to which my mother took ME when I was Monkey’s age. Isn’t that crazy? I was so nostalgic…. This dance store has been open since 1972….

So, her very first dance class has come and gone. They don’t allow the parents to look in — which is a shame, but it’s smart…. They have blinds on the windows to the classrooms. Of course, I peeked in through the teeniest cracks in the blinds and in the door and watched my little Monkey skip around and NOT LISTEN to instructions! That’s my girl! The 14-year-old assistant caught me peeking, though. *BUSTED*! Oy.

They open the blinds on the last Sunday of every month, and I AM ALL OVER IT! Cannot wait.

After dance class, Monkey went to the basketball game with Josh-O and his friends, and their daughters….

Go, Monkey!!!

Meanwhile, I stayed home with the inconsolable Rascal. The past week of sleepless nights is, no doubt, a result of aching gums. The poor little guy’s cheeks look like an alcoholic’s nose….

He must have slept for maybe 45 minutes today. The rest of the day was spent eating playing with playdough, painting (I still have a big red dot on my nose!), drawing, playing with the Monkey’s Backyardigan dolls, feeding the squirrels. I know, total excitement. But, he was adorable and so sweet, as always…. And, I stayed present. When I couldn’t, I held a kitty….

By the time Josh-O came home, I was beat. And, Rascal was still running around eager to play….

But, did I mention…? We painted. And, for me, there’s nothing more relaxing or rewarding than painting, …and yoga. And, maybe this is what it takes to get me back to the easel: a teething little 15-month-old who wants NOTHING but to be with his mama…, to try new things, to be creative…. Did I mention, to be with his mama…? and all night long…? Aaaarrrrghh!

Hope you had a great weekend! What did YOU do?
Love…
xo Haley-O