My life in Music

2004-08-28 - 11:18 p.m.

it's 11:15 and I'm tucked comfortably in bed, back from my Norah Jones concert... on the whole way home, I was mulling over this entry...

My late teens and early twenties Since I only saw a few concerts in high school, I spent my early twenties in large arenas, mostly The Forum, screaming my head off to the sounds of John Mellancamp and Bon Jovi, and my yearly visit with Rod Stewart. They were loud nights with the girls, hours spent in front of the mirror teasing the hair and drinking Fuzzy Navels to get the buzz going before the show.

My mid twenties In University, my taste matured to Barenaked Ladies and Moxy Fruvous, we saw lots of College bands at the corner pub, the shows were mostly an excuse to drink beer by the pitcher and be on the lookout for cute frat boys...

My late twenties and early thirties I fell in love with Blue Rodeo long before I fell in love with my husband. It was the first thing we had in common, the reason we talked for an entire new year's eve party. So our dating life was marked by an endless series of Blue Rodeo concerts, at outdoor festivals and small theaters, but mostely, by extrememly long drives and Super 8 Motels to see *OUR* band play in american dives where we would get to hang out after the show and chat with the band. We became fixtures, they recognized us, my girlfriend even hooked up with the keyboard guy for a while. From Montreal to Ottawa, Burlington to Buffalo, there isn't a concert in the North East we didn't attend, we hung around til the wee hours, our voices gone from singing every single word of every single song....

And now So tonight we took in our first show as parents. Norah was fabulous, but it was a bit weird..... The arena was full, not an empty seat in sight, but the crowd was, well, suburban. Not funky young parents who still groove to the beat, more like the neighbours across the street who drive the mini van and wear tennis shoes with tapered jeans. You could hear a pin drop between songs, something I have NEVER seen at any Montreal concert. We're reknowned for dancing and standing up through everything! But tonight, everyone was polite and quiet and very... toronto-like! The set was very homey, with carpets on the floor and fabulous orange lights hanging above her piano, which was covered with a beaded throw. But it was so... punctual. It started on time, and finished at 10:30. My parents, the babysitters, were shocked to hear us come in before their movie ended at 10:55!

But just because the concert was so sedate, it doesn't mean I didn't give it my best shot: I wore my brand new Long and Lean Gap jeans, cute pink heels and a red tank with tangerine paisley print, very rocker chick... My husband actually called me Sexy.... I'll keep this outfit in mind if we ever make it back to another Blue Rodeo gig!

Anything to add? 3

A date with Norah, and the husband!

2004-08-28 - 3:43 p.m.

a few weeks ago, hubby and I went out to a comedy night, leaving the Dumpling with her doting grandparents to be spoiled rotten for an evening. At the time, I saw two posters in the lobby of the venue: HArry Connick and Norah Jones. Hubby isn't a Harry fan, and we didn't want to buy Norah tickets in advance because we were unsure of how evening babysitting including bedtime would work out. Then we forgot about it and the show mostely sold out.

Today, hubby called and said there were 650 new tickets available, did I still want to go? Well, duh! Excpet my parents were already off on their long bike ride and were not answering their cell.... so we didn't buy tickets and left them a message to call when they returned. Sure enough, they just got back at 3:30, and thanks to a speedy online connection, we will be seing Norah at the Bell Center tonight, while Dumpling gets her faced stuffed with strawberries and cuddles from Mamie and Papie....

What's a girl to wear???

Anything to add? 2

olympian in training

2004-08-26 - 12:10 p.m.

well, I got over whatever slump I was in earlier this week. I think having to go back to work on a regular schedule (hubby and I have to split the day in half, no more summer employee) has made me appreciate every single second spent with the Dumpling. When I'm at work, I miss her. When I'm home, I don't mind reading the same book for the 20th time, whereas before, I got bored after 12....

In Dumpling news, I find that in the last few days, she's become much more mobile. She's always moved around a lot, but now, she's got two signature moves. I wish I had video, but let me try to explain:

In move number one, she sticks both arms out front and a little to her sides, elbows bent a little, and moves her arms up and down like a rapper doing some weird dance moves. She does this rapidly in succession and then falls on the floor 'cause she's laughing so hard! Or runs arounds the room cackling and starts her dance move again. Of course, we have taken to immitating this move, which only makes her laugh even more. We did this for almost an hour last night, I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard!

Her second move is what I like to refer to as the Olympic Toddler Speed Walking Event. She tucks her tumbs under her armpits, makes fits with the rest of her fingers, thus putting her hands and arms in a very aerodynamic position, leans forward as if she was going to fall, and then proceeds to run around the room at top speed in no particular direction! She'll then trun on a dime and run the opposite way, in this bizzare arms-tucked, half-folded position. What makes it even funnier is that in order to attain faster speeds, she purses her lips. There is an absolute difference between the speed she moves at with and without the pursed lips. When she puckers up, get out of the way!

Again, this kept us entertained for the better part of the morning!

TAR5 I wasn'tonline, so I didn't get to put in my 2 cents after this week's episode. Can I just say, that's exactely why Canadians sew big old maple leafs on the bags and carry Tim Horton's mugs everywhere they go, to be quickly identified as Canadians. Because Colin was the absolute picture definition of "Ugly American Tourist". Now tdon't you go sending me all kinds of mail, I KNOW 98% of American tourists are not like that, but unfortunately, tourists like Colin are what stick in people's mind, not nice polite people like Chip and Kim. And "Do you Speak Swahili?" has to be the BEST COMEBACK EVER by a local! I'm afraid that if Colin and Christie manage to win this thing, it's going to spoil my love of TAR forever. Flo was a hard enough pill to swallow, I don't think I could continue watching if Colin wins. There should be something in this race that rewards sportsmanship and good travel behavior...

Anything to add? 5

I'm a bad mommy

2004-08-23 - 11:10 p.m.

today, I wasn't a very good mommy.... Monday is the one day of the week when neither of us have to go to work (other than Shabbat of course) and usually, we still split the day so we both can do the parent thing AND have a little time to ourselves. But today hubby had appointments both morning and afternoon, so I was alone with Dumpling all day, save for an hour at 4:30, but I had to make dinner at that time, so my only alone time today was used cooking.

I know. Millions of women out there cook and clean and work and do a thousand worthwhile things AND take care of several children and don't complain. And here I am, complaining that I didn't have a minute to myself today. That's why I'm a bad mommy. Not because of how I treat the Dumpling. I played games and fed her bread slices at Walmart to keep her giddy and bought her bright yellow rain boots that I let her wear around the house just 'cause it's funny and it made her laugh. But the whole time, I was thinking about stealing five minutes to knit or read my blogs or flip through People Magazine. And for a brief, very, very brief moment, I wondered what life would be like if I listened to my SILs and got a helper. Not for the baby mind you, but for the sticky floor and the dirty dishes and all the apple sauce stains on my clothes.

And then I felt so guilty for even entertaining the possibility deep in my head for a nanno-second that I Swiffered the floor, cleaned all the counters and yes, I even did dishes. I do not do dishes people. But I did them today, to purge myself from the evil thoughts.....

And speaking of my cleaning frenzy and related products, how much do I love the new Saran Wrap Press and Seal stuff? Holy crap that stuff works well! Hubby is a big fan of foil, which I hate. I don't know why, I hate foil. He stores all kinds of things in foil, I can't stand the stuff. I like the cheap throw away tupperware. But baby left overs require those tiny little containers, and then, you have to do dishes... which of course, I do not do! So when I saw the tv ad for the new Press N Seal stuff, I had to go out and buy it. And it's the answer to my prayers! It sticks a thousand times better than the regular Saran Wrap, I don't have to transfer the leftovers to another container and it's really leak proof. I know it is because I left some chicken soup in an odly shaped baby bowl, wrapped it up and turned it upside down just to check!

Anything to add? 5


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