Goodbye 2010

It has come time to say goodbye to 2010.  It feels like the year that never was...where did it go?   I was looking through blog posts from the past year and realised things I thought happened in the summer actually happened in January and February - how strange is that!?  Why was I so apathetic about so much of it?  Just thinking about this Christmas I could've easily skipped over it and gone on with my life without regret...I am surprised at how many people I know feel the same way.  Most people I know didnt bother with presents, decorated out of obligation, and have opted to pack up their decor early.  Perhaps we squeezed all we could out of 2010 by Halloween and just needed to get on with new beginnings, fresh starts and the big plans we have for 2011.

It's not that I didnt enjoy 2010....it just seems like it was more a time of laying groundwork for bigger things.  It is the year I had my midlife crisis.  It shocks me but I spent a good chunk of the year trying to recapture 1985 and everything I felt, learned and cherished that year.  My ipod has been playing a lot of Phil Collins, Miami Vice, Van Halen and Def Leopard - I keep finding myself closing my eyes and I can almost transport myself to a high school dance or party.  I can conjure the way my locker smelled (a combination of Finesse and Wind Drift) and the way the cafeteria sounded every day at lunch time.  Suddenly, while writing this, I remembered my grade 9 crush.  I wont say his name here, I havnt seen him since and for all I know he has google alerts and will crawl out of the woodwork to shatter the memories - I prefer to keep him tucked away as a handsome teenage boy in jeans, topsiders and a rugby shirt rather than a 40-something, balding, out of shape, peaked-at-eighteen middle aged man who will no doubt be wearing short sleeved dress shirts.  I will remember him as the boy who, while knowing I had a gargantuan crush on him, stopped to make sure I was ok when he saw I was crying in a secluded hallway.  A simple kindness, but one that might've shaped my view of men from from then on.  Perhaps my husband owes him a beer.

2010 was the year of the most amazing Olympics I can remember!  Canada put on an awesome show and many incredible performances!  I've never been prouder to be a Canadian and we showed the world how it's done!

2010 was a year of perspective.  One friend was airlifted to the city while going through a heart attack and another lost her home to a fire.  I stopped more than a few times this year simply to count my blessings.  I told the Suburban Prince that a friend always says 'She's rich' when she is asked what I do for a living.  His response?  We are.  We are?  Huh?  Yes, we are rich.  We have our health, a roof over our heads, cars in the driveway, food in the fridge, electricity, running water, heat and the means to enjoy a nice life.  And, each other.  What more does anyone need to be defined as rich? 

Remember waiting for months for the new Sex and the City movie?  I had such high hopes and left the theatre feeling a bit let down.  Sure the parties and antics and outfits we fun, but isnt Charlotte's conversation with Miranda what we really walked away with?  Even when we get everything we want, life can be hard sometimes.  Children certainly show us what we are made of and who we really are.  Sometimes mommy just needs to get away and be her old self to be able to appreciate (and tollerate) what she has at home.  And that's ok.

2010 brought us the follow up to The Official Preppy Handbook and I know I was counting down the days leading up to it's release.  The silence was deafening.  Dare I say it?  True Prep wasnt all we hoped it would be?  It followed the format, stayed true to the ideals and certainly helped us through the fleece minefield!  But what was missing?  Lisa Birnbach told me she had no idea we were looking for an update....I told her we could've used some help through the 90's.  I dont know if we learned anything new but it certainly reinforced, for most of us, we were going in the right direction.  For those of us who weren't born American, to a legacy, near a country club or sailing school, we need the reassurance from the prep of all preps and for that, Lisa, I thank you.

In 2010 my blog went in every direction...maybe this year it will find it's place - much like my life.  I spent this year 'finding myself' but let's not get to deep, I like to find myself at cocktail parties and charity events.  I often wondered if I am writing a lifestyle blog - I write about my lifestyle so who knows.  Do I think I am writing a preppy blog?  It never occured to me to define my blog that way as I couldn't imagine writing only of preppy things.  My preppiness is a natural state so it's not like I think it is anything special.  Certainly not special enough for me to put thought and typing into it.  I just blog what I like, what I observe and what I think is funny.  Whatever my blog ends up being...please dont ever call it a 'mommy blog'...there are enough of those out there as it is!

For the first time in my life I actually considered being a party planner.  I dont know how I fell into this except that I have a small child who has birthdays and I have a big ego.  I have never done anything half way and dont like to be outdone by anyone.  Perhaps not my best character trait but without people who go over the top, the rest of us might not know the bar is set high and at least make an attempt to reach it.  I love throwing parties and with my blog I have had a chance to showcase what I do.  So many people are gracious enough to think (or at least say) I do a good job and the suggestion came up many, many times, 'You should be a party planner'.  Maybe 2011 is the year for this.  Maybe now I feel the time is right.  Maybe now it will all come together.  Maybe now I know what I will be when I grow up.

When one goes through a midlife crisis, one has to confirm their worth.  One needs to know the last 25 years meant something, that one learned something and in a sense, has cast a shadow.  As I entered the 40th year of my life I kept asking 'What have I accomplished?' and struggled to find the answer.  Im not a captain of industry, hadnt become famous, hadnt created anything, left my mark on anything, changed anyone's life or path and I certainly didn't feel I had done much but float through life, easy peasy, on a pink cloud, never really needing to put much effort into anything.  But 40 loomed.  Waiting.  Daring me to prove something.  Anything!  I started thinking my life over and realised I had learned an awful lot.  So many people had come and gone, so many places have been visited, relationships ended, loved ones died and through it all I listened to people...so many wise people, but I also listened to myself.  I dont consider myself a very deep person but somewhere inside I had something to say and it started pouring out, onto my keyboard and into the blogisphere.  I took the most important things I have learned over the last 25 years and turned them into a book.   A book!  While I was dancing through life, unbeknownst to me, a book was brewing.  It isnt a big book nor it is my last book, but it will always be...my first book.

While I was busy trying to perhaps define myself I was invited to join Rotary International and tagged along with a friend to a few meetings.  Smartest.Decision.This.Year.  Suddenly I was where I belong!  Surrounded by fun, ambitious, energetic people who are dedicated to bettering our community.  I suspect this is my big chance to make a name for myself in our little town.  To show them what I'm made of.  I see a step-and-repeat in my future!

In 2010 I met my dear friend High Heeled Life.  Who knew anyone near me would ever read my blog and find a connection!  From the moment we met we have been great friends and I am so grateful for that first email she sent me that started it all.  I know my life wouldnt be the same with her and MrG in it and I love knowing the Little Prince has an auntie and uncle who dote on him and have become a part of our family.  Without HHL my book would still be sitting on my laptop waiting for someone to believe in me and for that I will forever owe her a debt of gratitude.

I have always loved theatre and for some reason saw more shows this year than I have seen in the last 10 years.  I can only assume it is because when mommy finally got back into life and out in the world, I decided I was leaving no stone unturned, no cork unpopped and no show unseen!

The Little Prince found his voice.  At last.  After months of work, classes, an amazing school and the never ending efforts we put into him, he has surpassed the level expected of him and at his 3rd birthday will be tested for kindergarten.  A whole year early!  My heart overflows with pride everytime he runs down the hall yelling 'Mommy, mommy, mommy!!', a word I thought I would never hear.  I am brought to tears every time I think of how far he has come and know he is destined for greatness.  The love I have for this child is unfathomable, indefinable, overflowing, unending and every time he puts his hands on my face and comes in for a big sloppy kiss I am brought to a place of peace and I know where I belong.  At two and a half he can count to 100, spell his name, recite our phone number, name every animal we have ever shown him and repeats everything I say...the good, the bad and the not so pretty.  The best Christmas present was hearing him sing Frosty The Snowman.  I guess we both found our voices this year! 

2008 was the worst and hardest year of my life.
2009 was about picking up the pieces and survival.
2010 was about figuring it all out.

2011 is going to be epic.  Huge.  My year. 
It's the year I simplify, minimize and take everything I prepared for this year and make it happen. 

Happy New Year!


Have a fabulous day!

And that, my friends, is how you play hockey!

Congratulations Team Canada!


Congratulations to Team USA for winning silver and Team Finland for winning bronze!

Also, congratulations to all of the Canadian athletes for winning more gold medals than any other country in the history of the games!

Have a fabulous day!

Advice for Team Canada!

Have a fabulous day!

PS...I still have Olympic mittens! Email me to buy a pair!

Oh Canada!

Basic hockey instructions.

1. Gather the fiercest group of women in the world. Be sure you include moms. Moms are more fierce than they even realise.

2. Give them sticks, skates and some ice.

3. Send them to the Olympics and tell them to win the gold for the 3rd time in a row.

4. Watch them do it!


Congratulations to the Canadian Women's Hockey team! You make us all very proud!

Congratulations also to the Team USA for winning silver and Team Finland for winning bronze!


Have a fabulous day!

**My regularly scheduled post will appear later today**

My thoughts on the Olympic opening ceremonies!

Don't miss my Olympic giveaway! It's the post below this one!

I know I am a week late with this post but my computer problems have put me way behind in my blogging schedule! These are some of my thoughts on the opening ceremonies - a little bit of randomness for a Friday morning!

The games started on such an awful note. Nodar Kumaritashvili tragically died when he crashed on the luge track in a training run. Our thoughts are with his friends and family. It took so much heart for the Georgian team to walk in to the opening ceremonies.

As the teams started to come in I saw a familiar face! One of the team doctors for the Albanian team lives around the corner from me. His son was born at the same time ours was and our little ones have gone to the same baby programs in town. The funny thing is I bumped into a friend who works for him the other day and she didn't mention he was gone and she was getting a 'boss break'.

I loved how the athletes came in before the show started! I never understood why they are made to wait in a parking lot then brought in at the very end!

I must find out where the team from Azerbaijan gets their uniforms! I simply have to have a pair of these pants! My golf teacher is coming back from down south in a few weeks so I need to get my golfing wardrobe ready to hit the links. I think these pants would be the perfect addition! The Suburban Prince called them Azerpajammies!

The funniest commentary of the evening was about Dow Travers of the Caymen Islands. The announcers on NBC had us chuckling through the whole show and we burst out laughing when they said, "He was born in the Caymen Islands, went to school in England, attends Brown and now trains in Aspen. Despite this life of hardship has managed to make it to the Olympics!"

To clear up any confusion - Michelle Jean is the Governor General of Canada. She is the highest ranking official in the country and was appointed by the queen. Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister of Canada which makes him not the elected leader of the country (like the way it works in the US) but the leader of the elected party. Notice he was not sitting with the other heads of state? That may be his own fault since he has shut down Parliament and Canada effectively doesn't have a federal government at the moment. In my personal opinion the country does just fine without them!

Are there enough words to describe just how phenomenal KD Lang is? When she burst onto the Canadian music scene many many years ago she was wild and wacky! Now she truly is one of the most talented singers in the world. She has always defied definition - much like Canada! Here are some her videos, including her performance at the 1988 Olympics! Hallelujah was written by Leonard Cohen and he is reported to have said she performed it to "its ultimate blissful state of perfection."

When I was in high school we had to read Who Has Seen The Wind by W.O. Mitchell. The segment of the ceremonies depicting the young boy running through the prairie while Joni Mitchel's Both Sides Now played was just as painful as reading the book. Don't get me wrong, I love the song but teamed with one of the most boring books ever written...snoozefest!

At one point the Canadian channel had us suffering through a French singer who obviously was not told this is meant to be fun and uplifting and who performed something I would expect to hear at a funeral or some other dirge appropriate time. We decided to see 'What the Americans were saying about him' but NBC was airing a long Coke or Apple commercial.

Could there have been any more problems with the cauldron? I heard the final torch bearers had earpieces so they were hearing from the technical people to just hang in there but they still looked very awkward! I wonder if they rehearsed the cauldron beforehand! When Wayne Gretzky was leaving the building it looked like the door wouldn't open! At this point I could feel the entire country holding it's breath! Didn't it look like the flame went out when the second cauldron was lit? I gasped then sighed with relief!

I was very happy to see both of Terry Fox's parents involved with the games. His father ran with the torch earlier in the day and his mom was one of the flag bearers.

Anne Murray. Hmpfh. Does anyone in Canada like this woman?

The light show was just incredible! Whoever created it did an amazing job! The whales and the ice both blew me away! So simple but so powerful!

I loved how the audience was a part of the show - having everyone wear the white ponchos was brilliant! Creating a blank canvas in the stands certainly allowed the show to expand beyond the stage!

I need to figure out how to rig up some falling snow/leaves in my house! It looked so beautiful! One of the commentators said it perfectly - 'It is like sitting in a snowglobe!'.

The First Nations are the actual hosts of the games this year since they are being held on Aboriginal land. Canada is a complicated country! I was so impressed at how the dancers performed for the entire time the athletes were coming into the stadium! That's stamina!

Did you notice the northern lights in the middle of the stadium? I have googled but cant find a photo of it. Since I have never seen the northern lights I had no idea what the big thing above the show was supposed to be!

Did you think the fiddlers looked like street people? For a moment I thought they let the protesters in! I hope the rest of the world doesn't think this is what all Canadians look like! Speaking of the protesters...when we saw the torch in Toronto the protesters we saw were all Caucasian - and the actual hosts of the games are the 4 First Nations...hmmmmm interesting.
(The Suburban Prince just pointed out that I didn't explain why this is interesting....well...the protesters are protesting the games being held on native land!).

Have a fabulous day!

Olympic Torch Photos - Part 2

On a whim we decided to go to a town about 20 minutes from here to see the torch in the daylight. We got a great spot on a quiet street and waited in our warm car until we saw the caravan coming!

This torch bearer was running so fast it was very hard to get a photo of him!

Once the first torch bearer passed us I started running to the next block to catch the torch coming around the corner - yes I have done a lot of running in the cold to get photos of this amazing event! I missed the flame being passed to the next torch bearer but I did get a couple of great photos!

I was the only person standing there with a camera so I got this perfect shot! Doesn't he look proud! As well he should!



Honestly after all that running I was thinking someone should give me a torch and I will be a stand in for anyone who gets tired!

Tomorrow we are going into the city to see the talk show Steven&Chris being filmed then heading to city hall to see the torch brought there. A girl I grew up with is the torch bearer bringing the torch to the big stage! Her name is Vicky Sunohara and she was the captain of the women's hockey team...yes THAT women's hockey team...the team that took gold in the last two winter Olympics. She wont be playing in the Olympics this year as she had twins this past summer!

I promise tomorrow will be the last time I chase the torch so we will get back to Christmas stuff on Friday!

I have extended my Christmas giveaway until Sunday so please don't miss your chance! Just click on the photo on the sidebar on the right!


Have a fabulous day!

Olympic Torch Photos

On December 15th the Olympic Torch came through my town! We stood in the cold to watch the caravan and cheer on the torch bearer!

One of the support vehicles!



Coke never misses a chance to do some marketing!



Coke gave out these cool glowing bottles!



Here comes the torch!



I heard the torch bearer for this leg was once a local gym teacher!



She looked so happy!



The red mittens are the official torch bearer mittens and have been sold in stores in Canada - I have a couple of sets so look for a giveaway during the games!



How cool that the torch goes right by someone's house!



She is heading to where the next torch bearer was waiting - she was walking and I started running and pushed my way through the crowd...



....and just missed the torches touching. Bear in mind it is very cold here, had started snowing, I have a head cold and had just run after the torch - sorry the pic is a bit blurry but I had to hold the camera in the air to get a photo over the crowd!



The flame on it's way to the next city!



Have a fabulous day!

I'm Sick :O(

Happy Monday everyone!

Don't forget to enter my Christmas Giveaway - click on the photo on the sidebar!

I have been sick since Friday - nothing too bad but certainly a sore throat, runny nose and lots of sneezing! Blah!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! On Friday a friend came over for pizza and a movie - Love Actually which I have seen 100 times...and it was the first time my friend had seen it! Shocking! Her husband wont watch 'chick flicks' with her so now that we are friends she has someone to see all the nice movies with.

On Saturday we went to my parents' Christmas party and on Sunday I stayed in and felt sorry for myself once I finished baking 6 dozen cranberry white chocolate cookies for the Suburban Prince's workmates!

Today I have all sorts of little errands and tonight I am going to a party store with a friend to get supplies for her 40th birthday party in a few weeks. We (yes, we - I am the party princess of my town!) decided to go with a snowflake theme since her birthday is in January and she likes blues and greys. This is the perfect time of year to find snowflakes in the party stores!

Tomorrow the Olympic Torch comes through our town so we will be there to take lots of photos then we will jump in the car and race to the next town where there will be a celebration for the Torch. I will post photos of the runner and the torch - wish me and my camera luck!

On Wednesday I have my book club meeting and I need to bake or cook something to take with me - it is our annual Christmas potluck.

On Thursday we are going into the city to see a live taping of Steven & Chris (a Canadian talk show kind of like the Martha show with guests, crafts, cooking, makeup, fashion etc) and then high tea at one of the hotels.

On Friday I have my Girls Night Christmas Cocktail Party and on Saturday I can fall down!

In between everything I need to wrap gifts and find a ham to take to Christmas dinner at my in laws! Plus, I have the Suburban Prince home now until after the new year so he will be making messes and underfoot - did I mention I am sick? I am so tired right now I cant imagine what I will feel like by Friday!

To top it all off our tenants have decided to leave 6 months early and don't feel they are under any obligation to the lease they signed! We have lawyered up (I love that term!) and have to sort through this mess so I have that stress on top of everything else! And I am sick...did I say that? OK to be honest none of this would be stressful at all if I wasn't sick and so tired!

On the plus side the Suburban Prince is home for a few weeks so he will hang out with the Little Prince so I can nap and get other things done. We don't have to worry about any entertaining until New Years Eve so I don't even need to keep the house clean this week. I am in demand - which is such a nice thing...I wouldn't be tired if I didn't have lots of friends and activities!



Have a fabulous day!