Madonna Controversy

Many people have been crying foul as Madonna goes to Malawi to adopt her second child. Several agencies have suggested her daughter-to-be would be better off in her home environment, as would any child. She faced similar criticisms when she adopted her son David Banda from Malawi a year and a half or so ago.

Here's my take - obviously in a perfect world, children would never be taken out of their homes. Their parents would love them and raise them, no one would have more children than they could handle, or be unable to have children they want so very much. Everyone would be able to have just the family they want - nothing more and nothing less. But that is not the case, unfortunately, and the same fates which left Ari and I unable to have 'children of our own' (I hate that expression), leaves parents with children they cannot raise, and children without parents.

In both David's case, and new baby girl's case, as far as Madonna goes, they were in orphanages in a very poor African country. The former had a widowed father who could not take care of him; to my understanding, the latter is actually an orphan. Madonna is many things I dislike, but compared to many other celebrities she has raised her children well - we know of them, she does not hide them or make them unnecessarily afraid of the spotlight she lives in, but she also doesn't exploit them to it. She provides a good home environment with rules we all should live by in terms of TV watching, junk food, etc. Yes she is at this point a single mother, having divorced ex-husband Guy Ritchie, but they seem to at least have an amicable co-parenting arrangement. To be raised by a very wealthy, yet down to earth (as far as child-rearing is concerned) woman as opposed to dirt poor and effectively parentless in Malawi, is far preferable.

Is it important children know their roots and their culture? Yes - and Madonna provides that. She took David Banda back to Malawi with her this trip and introduced him to his biological father - a man who I have no doubt loves David, and wishes he could parent him. I admire his willingness, despite, I'm sure, missing his son deeply, to provide as good a life for him as he could. I'm sure he wishes he could have made a different decision, but he felt he couldn't - no one took the child away from him, he gave him up. I fail to see where staying in an orphanage, or being adopted to other, poor parents within Malawi, would be a better life for David or his soon-to-be-sister than the one they have been and are about to be provided.

My 101 Things/101 Days redo

As I said giving myself a do-over - replacing the things I had already accomplished, and starting tomorrow (Monday).

((Mar 30-July 8))

I'm taking this idea from my friend Tatiana, to set out 101 goals for myself in the next 101 days starting today. Some will be easy to attain, others harder, some will be important and 'deep', others will be slily fun, and we'll see how it goes. I'll update here as I knock goals off my list. Please feel free to follow along, or to do with me. :)

** items which have been 'strike-thru'ed (line through them) are done. :)

1. Lose 20 lbs. (0/20)
2. Finish the novel I've started writing.
3. Do one nice thing for someone every day. (0/101)
4. Do at least 1/2 hour of exercise every day. (0/101)
5. Be consistent enough with the radio show to get it going live.
6. Join the Babytime group at the Kitchener Public Library.
7. Find work for at least 2 more weeks of the summer.
8. Read at least 3 books. (0/3)
9. Go to church each week (0/13)
10. Finish my cross stitch I'm making for Liam.
11. Clean out the guest room (which has become a storage room).
12. Go to a dress-up dance with Ari.
13. Have one nice bubble bath a week. (0/13)
14. Learn 1 more dance (eg Salsa, Meringue).
15. Go roller blading and not quit after 5 mins.
16. Get my bike fixed.
17. Clean out the car and get it washed, vaccuumed and tuned up.
18. Have at least 1 play date a month. (0/3)
19. No messing with my hair - no cuts, no perms, dye touchups only. (0/101)
20. Go through my clothes to see what fits, what I wear, what i don't, etc.
21. Ditto shoes.
22. Cook for Ari at least once a week. (0/13)
23. Organize our actual storage room.
24. Donate my time to one good cause a month. (0/3)
25. Go to one new restaurant a month. (0/3)
26. See one movie a week. (0/13)
27. Donate my tutoring money to charity.
28. Get my retainer wire fixed.
29. Read at least a chapter of the bible a day. (0/101)
30. Know where we're going for summer vacation and plan it.
31. Sign up for an English course for summer semester so I can get my English AQ for the fall.
32. No pizza. (0/101)
33. Have one night a week with Ari set aside for fun ('date night' even if it includes Liam). (0/13)
34. Redo our back yard.
35. Create my unit plan for camp.
36. Read one book in French.
37. Go to the U.S. to buy diet Cherry Coke.
38. Take LT to one new city a month. (0/3)
39. Have a mani/pedi.
40. Tell Ari I love him every day. (0/101)
41. Learn a new skill (knitting, an instrument, a language).
45. Try one new wine a month. (0/3)
46. Share one piece of writing for the purposes of critique and feedback.
47. Finish 'Thank You' cards for LT's gifts.
48. Get one famous person's autograph.
49. Redo the linoleum floors in my house.
50. Set aside $30 ever week I don't have fast food for a non-food treat (eg CD, DVD). Subway excepted.
51. Get one other person to do the 101 things in 101 days.
52. Look into setting up a will (unsure if possible to complete as adoption won't be complete).
53. No non-diet pop. (0/101)
54. Submit a piece of writing to a publisher.
55. Get a baby seat for my bike, and LT a helmet.
56. Blog every day (except my monthly 'no computer day' - see below). (0/98)
57. Renew and update my Apply to Education account (resume, references, cover letter etc.).
58. Call in to a radio show.
59. Go through my junk drawers (like, one in every room)
60. Get through the pile of stuff on my desk (DVDs/CDs to burn, photos to put away).
61. Go through my 'correspondence' storage space: organize it.
62. Find a place for the things I just cleared out of Mom's house.
63. Buy at least one of the board games Ari and I have been coveting.
64. Have a games night with friends.
65. Finish my puzzle.
66. See at least one friend a week. (0/13)
67. Get on the Do Not Call list.
68. Call the diaper service and get LT into cloth diapers.
69. Be on time to things. (0/101)
70. LT's naming ceremony and open house.
71. Redo the chips the movers left in the paint job in our house.
72. Wash windows.
73. Unpack from our trip, do laundry etc. within 48 hours (by Tues. night).
74. Have a picnic.
75. Go to the gym twice a week at least (0/26).
76. Get Ari's Big Lebowski poster and McGill diploma either framed or plaqued.
77. Update my "Wrestlemania" collection
78. Beat "Zelda II: The Adventures of Link" without dying once.
79. Make one person laugh every day. (0/101)
80. Dance at least once a week. (0/13)
81. See one live theatre production.
82. Pray every day. (0/101)
83. Sign LT's adoption placement papers.
84. Sign LT's adoption finalization papers.
85. Watch and label the old wrestling videos Mom sent home with me.
86. Take LT to the zoo.
87. Make a new friend.
88. Don't miss any appointments.
89. Go swimming.
90. Go to an arcade but don't spend more than $20.
91. Introduce LT to solid foods.
92. Clean up Ari's side of the office for him (or get him to with my awesome powers of persuasion).
93. Distribute our formal LT/family photos to our folks.
94. Donate blood.
95. Bake once a month. (0/3).
96. Make a list of things which have caused me pain/anger/regret/sadness,

and burn it.
97. Go somewhere I've never been.
98. Have one internet-free day a month (0/3).
99. Have one TV free day a month (0/3).
100. Get a piercing.
101. Go to the Royal Ontario Museum.

Utterly disgusting

Most insulting piece of video I've seen in a long time.



I know it's FoxNEWS ...
Not even mainstream American opinion ...
And I know insults shouldn't be taken so seriously,
Especially considering the source.
But as the granddaughter, niece, and sister
Of Canadian servicemen -
For shame.
As if FoxNEWS had any to begin with.

Also don't forget - Earth Hour

Remember to turn off the lights, computers, etc. in your house at 8:30 pm tonight. :)

Sweetheart Saturday

I wanted to thank Ari for such a great trip this week. Despite having a very busy few days before taking off, and so being incredibly tired starting our trip, Ari was an excellent travelling and parenting partner on our first family road trip with Little Tyke. I hope I was as understanding and supportive of his being tired and busy, and I KNOW I expressed my appreciation for taking most of LT's overnight feedings for example, since I do when he's at work. But I wanted to do so publicly - we both needed a chance this week to recharge our batteries, and I had mine; I'm not so sure Ari had his, as he had a job interview in Ottawa, and did the driving (as I'm still not 100% comfortable on the major highways); but I hope it was at least somewhat more relaxing than being at work, and that I was as good a member of his team as he was of mine. :)

Love you.

Return of the prodigal blogger

So I'm home. :) I'm exhausted. We took 10 hours to get back from Montreal yesterday, and today Little Tyke had his 4 month well baby checkup and some vaccinations etc. So I'm not up to a super duper long post except to say we had a great time in Kingston and Ottawa catching up with friends, and in Montreal with family. I'm also glad to be back in my home in my bed in my surroundings with my routine (and a pile of groceries and laundry of course), but the trip was awesome. Although I did miss blogging.

Over the weekend I'm going to do a Sweetheart Saturday post and update my 101 things as I said and give myself a redo; I'm also going to wish my friend Alex a great trip as she's in Ottawa herself now visiting a blog friend of hers - road trips are fun. Hope everyone had a good week, and has a great weekend. I'll be around! :)

Update

Hi all, so here I am in Montreal at my grandma's. I just got Alex's comment on my last post about being able to autopost, and next time I travel I will do my best to arrange that now that I know how to do it. Meanwhile, I just thought I'd touch base, say we've had a great trip so far, wish everyone a good week, and I'll post again tomorrow or Thursday at the latest - the 101 things in 101 days? I've decided to restart as of Friday - and replace the couple of things I did accomplish on that list. It was foolish to start something like that two days before going out of town anyway.

Take care all and I'll be back soon. XO

OOPS ...

My promise to auto-publish might be moot as apparently blogger doesn't have that capability it doesn't seem. I will do what I can - tomorrow/Sunday, and Tuesday/Wednesday I should have fairly easy computer access at some points during the day anyway so I should be able to stay caught up - if I miss anything it will *probably* be Monday only. But just so you know if I do miss a day that's what happened.

Thanks for the understanding y'all.

Gone fishin'

Well not really but I am away as of tomorrow.

I will have some neat stuff to auto-post and share in the meantime though. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and week.

Adios, y gracias por todos los pescadas.

Just a random question ...

Did anyone see Barack Obama on the Tonight Show tonight?

First sitting president to go on a late night talk show ever. He was comic and serious all at the same time, which fits with the vibe Jay Leno has created on his show - a good appearance. I wish he hadn't made the comments about his bowling skills being 'so special olympics', not because it personally offended me (I think he was just speaking off-the-cuff and I'm used to people making un-PC comments), but because I know it's going to be made an issue of and he's going to have to apologize.

I'm going to find a clip on Youtube tomorrow and post it.

By the by - I know my list from yesterday tells us I plan to blog daily. Well I'm going to be out of town this week coming starting Saturday, but I'm going to arrange some autopost things over the time I'm away. That way if I find my way to a computer (which I probably will at my Grandma's for example), great, but if not you'll still hear from me. :) So hope you enjoy and will chat atcha later.

101 Things in 101 Days

I'm embarking on this endeavour my friend Tatiana (LuvMonkee in my blogroll at the side) started a while ago - being a stay at home mom, it can be very easy to forget your own goals, and the things you want to accomplish as an adult and a woman, not just as "X's mom and Y's wife". This is my attempt to remember that as important as my role as Mom is - and it features prominently in my list lol - my role as a teacher, a wife, a Christian, a girl with her own interests, needs a place in my life too, both for my sake, and Ari's, and LT's, to model for him what a fulfilled and ambitious person can accomplish, all while being a good wife and mom.

So without further adieu, here's my list, and where I stand so far:

1. Lose 20 lbs. (0/20)
2. Finish the novel I've started writing.
3. Do one nice thing for someone every day. (1/101)
4. Do at least 1/2 hour of exercise every day. (0/101)
5. Be consistent enough with the radio show to get it going live.
6. Join the Babytime group at the Library.
7. Find gainful employment for the summer.
8. Read at least 3 books. (0/3)
9. Go to church each week (exceptions: this week while out of town, and the week of Liam's naming). (0/11)
10. Finish my cross stitch I'm making for LT.
11. Clean out the guest room (which has become a storage room).
12. Go to a dress-up dance with Ari.
13. Have one nice bubble bath a week. (0/13)
14. Learn 1 more dance (eg Salsa, Meringue).
15. Go roller blading and not quit after 5 mins.
16. Get my bike fixed.
17. Clean out the car and get it washed, vaccuumed and tuned up.
18. Have at least 1 play date a month. (0/3)
19. No messing with my hair - no cuts, no perms, dye touchups only. (1/101)
20. Go through my clothes to see what fits, what I wear, what i don't, etc.
21. Ditto shoes.
22. Cook for Ari at least once a week. (0/13)
23. Organize our actual storage room.
24. Donate my time to one good cause a month. (0/3)
25. Go to one new restaurant a month. (0/3)
26. See one movie a week. (0/13)
27. Donate my tutoring money to charity.
28. Get my retainer wire fixed.
29. Read at least a chapter of the bible a day. (0/101)
30. Reorganize LT's drawers and sort out his clothes that fit/don't fit.
31. Sign up for an English course for summer semester so I can get my English AQ for the fall.
32. No pizza. (1/101)
33. Have one night a week with Ari set aside for fun ('date night' even if it includes Liam). (0/13)
34. Redo our back yard.
35. Get my bike fixed.
36. Read one book in French.
37. Go to the U.S. to buy diet Cherry Coke.
38. Take LT to one new city a month. (0/3)
39. Have a mani/pedi.
40. Tell Ari I love him every day. (1/101)
41. Learn a new skill (knitting, an instrument, a language).
45. Try one new wine a month. (0/3)
46. Share one piece of writing for the purposes of critique and feedback.
47. Finish 'Thank You' cards for Liam's gifts.
48. Get one famous person's autograph.
49. Redo the linoleum floors in my house.
50. Set aside $30 ever week I don't have fast food for a non-food treat (eg CD, DVD). Subway excepted.
51. Get one other person to do the 101 things in 101 days.
52. Look into setting up a will (unsure if possible to complete as adoption won't be complete).
53. No non-diet pop. (1/101)
54. Submit a piece of writing to a publisher.
55. Get a baby seat for my bike, and LT a helmet.
56. Blog every day (except my monthly 'no computer day' - see below). (1/98)
57. Renew and update my Apply to Education account (resume, references, cover letter etc.).
58. Call in to a radio show.
59. Organize LT's trundle drawer under his crib.
60. Get through the pile of stuff on my desk (DVDs/CDs to burn, photos to put away).
61. Go through my 'correspondence' storage space: organize it.
62. Find a place for the things I just cleared out of Mom's house.
63. Buy at least one of the board games Ari and I have been coveting.
64. Have a games night with friends.
65. Finish my puzzle.
66. See at least one friend a week. (0/13)
67. Get on the Do Not Call list.
68. Call the diaper service and get LT into cloth diapers.
69. Be on time to things. (0/101)
70. LT's naming ceremony and open house.
71. Redo the chips the movers left in the paint job in our house.
72. Wash windows.
73. Unpack and do laundry the day after our trip instead of living out of a suitcase for a week or two.
74. Have a picnic.
75. Find my membership card and start going to the gym again. 2 x a week starting the week after next so I have time to find it. (0/22).
76. Get Ari's Big Lebowski poster and McGill diploma either framed or plaqued.
77. Update my "Wrestlemania" collection
78. Beat "Zelda II: The Adventures of Link" without dying once.
79. Make one person laugh every day. (1/101)
80. Dance at least once a week. (0/13)
81. See one live theatre production.
82. Pray every day. (1/101)
83. Sign LT's adoption placement papers.
84. Sign LT's adoption finalization papers.
85. Watch and label the old wrestling videos Mom sent home with me.
86. Take LT to the zoo.
87. Make a new friend.
88. Don't miss any appointments.
89. Go swimming.
90. Go to an arcade but don't spend more than $20.
91. Introduce LT to solid foods.
92. Clean up Ari's side of the office for him (or get him to with my awesome powers of persuasion).
93. Distribute our formal LT/family photos to our folks.
94. Donate blood.
95. Bake once a month. (0/3).
96. Make a list of things which have caused me pain/anger/regret/sadness, and burn it.
97. Go somewhere I've never been.
98. Have one internet-free day a month (0/3).
99. Have one TV free day a month (0/3).
100. Get a piercing.
101. Go to the Royal Ontario Museum.

Funniest commercial ever

Also - Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! :) Luck o' the Irish to ye.

Sweetheart Saturday

This isn't a testimonial to how wonderful Ari is today - though he is.
This isn't a story or an anecdote - although I have plenty of those.
This isn't to gush about how happily married we are - although we, well, are.
This is simply to apologize to Ari for passing along my blasted cold,
To tell him he's a trooper for going in to work today despite sounding like a frog (like me!),
To thank him for still looking after Little Tyke when he could last night
(I'd have done it all but I was still sick too - poor LT with TWO sick parents!),
And to let him off the hook if he doesn't feel like being my date tonight,
As he's already done so much.
I love you honey - feel better really really soon.
*hugs and kisses* (since you can't get my germs now anyway, nor can I get yours lol).

Sick and tired of being sick and tired

Well my blog heading should explain where I've been the last few days. I've been sleeping, reading a lot, watching obscene amounts of TV, and taking care of Little Tyke the last few days trying to feel better. When I've had some energy, I've been planning LT's naming ceremony (coming along beautifully!), running errands (I bought a new dress for said occasion which is beautiful, and LT has grown out of a lot of his clothes so we bought him some new ones), and straightening up the house I let get messy while sick (y'know, doing the dishes, throwing out my snot rags lol ...). I also auditioned for a play last night though I'm guessing from the fact I haven't heard from them yet I haven't been cast. But we'll see.

I still feel like crap (check out my podcast at my wrestling blog to hear my nice sexy voice) and have pretty low energy, but I felt well enough tonight to do said podcast, have a glass of wine and update here so I figure that had to count for something. ;) Sickness sucks, but I've got to say it's been a good week - LT nor Ari have caught my cold, the house looks good, and I now know all about all kinds of weird phantom illnesses thanks to 4 days worth of "Mystery Diagnosis" on Discovery Health lol. It's been good times too planning the naming ceremony, and the vacation we're taking in two weeks - I think my mom was saying I'm pretty chipper for a sick person, so that's gotta count for something. ;) Hope all is well for you all too.

The Rock Obama

A great clip from SNL last night - really funny:

Sweetheart Saturday

So I was going to write about how Ari looked after Little Tyke and me last night when I had a cold ... or how he's taking me out on a date tonight while LT spends the evening with Grandma ... any number of good things like that. And those are all true. But then I read Alex's Sweetheart Saturday over at I'm the Mom, and I've got to second her vote. When left to my own devices, I have to admit I'm a sandwich, KD, or eat out kind of girl - Ari is a good cook, however, and is very intelligent about swapping in one kind of oil for another, or using different cuts of meat, or what have you, with different recipes to make them as healthy as possible. I have complained at times he only has a few meals in his repertoire, but

1. He's always looking for and trying new ones, and does well with those too so it isn't really a fair complaint and

2. Even if that's the case, if he makes them well, we enjoy them and they're healthy, then so what? lol It's more than I can do.

Well that's not true either, it's more than I DO do. I can cook - and quite well in fact - it's just not a chore I particularly enjoy and am more than happy to usually let Ari take care of. Especially since he's home earlier in the days from work now. Although when he was working until 7, 8 and 9 pm, I did often have something ready for him to eat when he came home ... even if at least a couple times a week it was cooked using a phone. ;)

Remember to turn your clocks ahead tonight guys and don't let the loss of an hour's sleep get you too bad! :)

Ooooh ...

OK I'm not the world biggest Britney Spears fan by any stretch but I've got to give the girl her props. After the 2007/2008 she had, a very long sabbatical from touring, and a few false starts at a comeback, the girl proved on opening night of her 'Circus' world tour last night she can still go.

Check it out:

Happy thoughts

- going to the movie with my friend Marjorie tomorrow. Should be fun.
- Little Tyke's adoption is just about final and we're planning his 'naming ceremony'.
- some chores I've let slack around here are coming together
- my mom's coming over tomorrow; happy to see her too
- life's pretty damn good all told I think.